Out of This World

Krel

He took a deep breath, nervous. Since it was apparently custom for the boy to pick the girl up for an outing here on Earth, he was walking to Andy's house to do just that. He hoped that what he had planned would be a good outing too, this whole thing made him very nervous.

He rang the doorbell and waited, hands behind his back. He shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

She opened the front door, and Krel momentarily forgot how to breathe. She wasn't wearing her normal t-shirt and jeans, rather, she was wearing a sundress that showed off her broad shoulders. She had done her hair and had put makeup on. She looked really pretty.

She grinned at him. "Are you ready?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am!"

They left her house, and began walking towards Arcadia proper. The sprawling residential suburbia soon gave way to shops and busier streets as they headed for downtown.

"So, what exactly do you have planned?" she asked, turning to him with a grin.

"Well, we both like music," he began, "soooooo..." he drew out the sound until they showed up at the desired location. Zimue Records, the place that Krel accidentally shoplifted from his first day on Earth. He since had learned a bit more about how stores on this planet worked, and had come prepared with some local currency.

"Oh hey, a record store!" she chirped. "Super cool!" She looked over at him and smiled, a big, pure, genuine Andy smile. He blushed, giving her an awkward half smile in response.

Remembering himself, he opened the door for her. She thanked him and walked into the shop. Krel followed after her. He saw the familiar pink haired punk store clerk behind the counter, she was actually pretty nice once you got to know her. Krel was a bit of a regular now, and had bought nearly all of the store's Papa Skull records. She brushed her pink hair out of her heavily made up eyes, and put a hand on her hip. "Welcome to Zimue Records," she droned, sounding like she'd rather be anywhere else. Krel waved at her, and she rolled her eyes but waved back.

Krel was going to make a beeline for the Papa Skull records, but remembered himself and went to find Andy. She had disappeared somewhere amongst the aisles of vinyl.

He found her pouring over two very different albums: a Capital Cities vinyl and an Avenged Sevenfold album in the EDM section. She'd taken the metal album from the other side of the store.

"You have broad tastes," he remarked, startling her. She jumped and made a little squawking sound, before giggling and putting her hand on her heart.

"You startled me, Krel!"

He held up his hands. "Sorry!" He smiled.

She giggled and looked at him again with a dopey expression, before turning fuschia and looked back down at the records in her hands.

"Found some good ones?" he asked, tilting his head towards her full hands.

"Yeah," she said, grinning sheepishly. "What about you?"

"Well I heard there was a new shipment in of the one Papa Skull album I do not own," he said, leaning his head the other way, towards the metal section.

Andy giggled. "You sure do love Papa Skull," she remarked.

Krel shrugged. "They make good music," he said. "I cannot argue with good music."

"Fair enough," she said, as they looked through the albums on the shelf. After a moment, Krel heard her make an adorable noise of exclamation. "Found it!" she crowed, holding it up.

"Fantastic!" he said, an eager smile on his face. "Ready to go check out?"

She nodded. "Yeah!" The two of them walked up to the counter to purchase their albums. After a moment, Andy turned to Krel and said, "This was an excellent spot for a date! Unique for sure, but that's a good thing."

The pink haired cashier gave Krel a sly smile as she handed him the bagged records once she had heard Andy call it a date.

"It's not over yet," he said to Andy. "Thank you," he said to the cashier. "See you tomorrow!"

Andy and Krel walked out of the store, Krel shouldering the bag with the records in it. "So, where to next?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

He smiled as they walked down the street. "Well, Eli told me that one option for a 'date' here is 'going out for iced cream'," Krel said. "So I thought we might do that."

"Iced... Krel?"

"Hm?"

"Have you never had ice cream?"

"Uh... no. No I have not."

"Oh my God," she said softly. After a minute she looked up, determined. "I have a great place in mind!"

Krel wasn't so sure what to make of the frozen stuff in front of him. He had chosen a kind called 'butter brickle' and Andy was happily eating 'peanut butter cup.' Krel was always wary of new foods, and this was no exception.

"So, is there no ice cream in Cantaloupia?" Andy asked between bites.

Krel pulled out a spoon, and dug it into the iced-cream. "No, there is not."

"Shame," she said, shaking her head. "It's good stuff. Great stuff, actually."

He tentatively stuck the bite into his mouth and- Seklos and Gaylen! Nobody had told him it was that GOOD! He dug his spoon into the iced-cream again and took a rather large bite, bliss written all over his face.

"It's good, isn't it," Andy giggled.

Krel took another fast bite when all of the sudden, his head felt like it was going to explode. He grabbed it and groaned. What was going on!?

Andy looked surprised, and then knowing, as if she understood what was happening. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth," she instructed. He did so, and the pain subsided after a moment.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at the iced-cream with suspicion. "I did not like it."

"That's called a brain freeze, dorkus," she explained. "It happens when you eat something really cold too quickly. Just slow down a little, you'll be fine."

He nodded, and did as she advised. Seconds later, she was making a face and clutching her forehead in a manner that suggested to Krel she needed to follow her own advice. "I really hate brain freezes," she laughed, squeezing her eyes shut.

The two of them were walking side by side back to Andy's house. So far, today had been a success. Krel really wanted to keep it that way, this was nerve wracking.

Andy wasn't saying anything at the moment, just looking around contently. Krel felt her hand brush his, and he felt a flutter of some strange emotion in his chest. It was nervousness, yes, but it was more than that. Her hand brushed his a few more times, and she pointedly did not look at him every time.

He brushed her hand in return the next time it happened, and she turned red. Krel blushed, but smiled slyly. He reached over again and brushed her hand. She turned red, but didn't move it away this time.

He slowly wrapped his hand around hers. It was awkward and a bit fumbly at first, but it was worth it when he saw her face. She looked totally shocked, eyes wide and face red. A small smile soon crept across her face, and she looked up at him with a sheepish happiness. He gave her a small, friendly shoulder bump, which she returned.

They soon came up to her house and the two of them stood on her porch. "Today was great," she said, grinning.

"I agree," he said, giving her a genuine smile in response. "We should do this again sometime."

Her face lit up, and she nodded. "Definitely!" She hugged him and then turned to the door, resting her hand on the handle. He was beginning to loosen up when hugged by her now, not quite as nervous as the first few times. It wasn't that he didn't like being hugged, no, he loved being hugged. It was more that he didn't always know what to do, or that he was nervous about the action of being hugged. Despite this, he had no problems initiating hugs, which Ms. Janeth knew firsthand.

"I will see you on Monday," he said, still smiling.

"See you on Monday," she replied, opening the door. She winked at him before disappearing inside.