"Can you believe it?" I lay back on my bed. "This is going to be our first time!"

Wilbur chews on his lettuce and ignores me.

"I don't know what to do!"

Wilbur chews.

"What to wear!"

Wilbur chews.

"What to say!"

Wilbur chews.

"What to think!"

I'm convinced turtles can roll their eyes, because Wilbur did. Despite how tedious, he held his lettuce, turned around, and continued to chew and ignore me.

Wren storms into my room and hurls a pillow at me so hard my eyes almost popped out.

"SHUT UP, WENDY! It's summer and I'm trying to sleep in!"

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm having a dilemma!" I throw the pillow back at her but it's misses by a long shot.

"You can complain about anything as long as it's not Vincent. That's all you talk about. I'll even let you jab me in the gut a hundred times if you don't talk about him at all for one day, ONE DAY!"

I'm not stupid to agree to that. With Wren's abs, I wouldn't be hurting her but myself.

"Alright, fine. I do freak out a lot, but this time is different. It's serious!"

"What is then?" Wren sighs.

I'm not yet comfortable talking to Vivian, Evelyn, or Olivia about Vincent. As for Ally, she is much too bold and so her advice to me is too daring. Wilbur listens for the first few time but then he started to ignore me and by the time I finish, I realized he had crawled five feet away in desperation. I was however proud he beat his old record of walking six inches.

So, I wasted no time in telling Wren. "Today is going to be our first date!" I wait for a reaction, but nothing.

"Didn't you guys already go on one?"

"That one was a misunderstanding. You see, Vivian was Vincent's date and Carson was mind. Which is totally weird because Carson is practically a sibling to me! No offense, Wren, but he punches me less."

"None taken. But, I didn't mean that time you wore a dress. I mean like the thousands of times you guys were together after school."

"But we weren't dating."

"You practically were," Wren shrugs.

"But those weren't dates nessessarily," I protest.

"Whatever you say."

"Do you have any dresses?"

"Do I look like I have dresses?"

"True..." I get up to rummage through my closest. Nothing but jeans, sweaters, jackets, and hoodies.

"Wendy?" Vincent calls from downstairs and I hear his footsteps make its way up the stairs.

"Why didn't you tell me what time it is?" I panicked, realizing it was already past noon.

"I just woke up." Wren crossed her arms. "Well, good luck." By the time she had turned around, Vincent was always in my room. "Hey, Vincent."

"Hey, Wren."

"Have fun on your first date." Wren leaves.

"Ready?" Vincent picks up Wilbur and places him back into the tank.

"Do I look ready?" I ask sarcastically, pointed to my tangled, oily bed head and oversized and stained pajamas.

"You look perfect," he beams.

"You look nice." I pat his hair. "How long does it take you to do your hair anyways? It always looks so cute."

"Not long. I kinda put some water in it and then I shake my hair. It ends up being this way."

"I hate you."

"Why?" Vincent asks, taken back.

"Cause you're perfect without trying."

Relieved I wasn't actually upset with him, Vincent jumps onto the bed with me and tightly wraps his arms and legs around me, resting his chin on top of my head.

"How did you get in the house anyways?" I ask.

"Your dad let me in just as he was leaving."

"Oh. Is it awkward?"

"Not really. I told him long ago I liked you."

"Wow, so my dad knew before I did."

"That's your fault. I probably confessed to you a billion times, but you never took me seriously."

"It's not that I didn't take you seriously... I just didn't think that you would actually like-"

Vincent kisses me abruptly. "Of course I do."

Blushing, I change the topic,"Are we going to stay like this all day?"

"Can't we?" He whines.

"No, we have to go on this date. I've been stressing all morning. If we skip today, I think I might stress until the next one."

"Aw, you're nervous? How cute!" Vincent pinches my cheeks and pulls them apart so that my lips stretched apart. I roll away to escape him.

"Wait here while I get ready."

"Fine." He goes to my desk to pick off a piece of lettuce out of the plate and hands it to Wilbur. With Vincent occupied as he gently pets Wilbur's head, I slipped away with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

When I got out of the bathroom, wet hair tied into a messy bun, Vincent had taken it upon himself to organize my apocalyptic room. Not only is Vincent perfect, his room is always as well.

"Thanks for helping me clean. All I've been doing is sleeping and eating," I embarrassingly admit.

"Can't say I'm surprised. Ready to go?" Vincent finishes placing my pens and pencils back into the cup on my desk.

"Yeah."

We go downstairs and get into his car. I'm honestly disappointed its not his motorcycle... since we would sit close... and I would have to hug- WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, WENDY? I swear I'm getting weirder by the day!

"Are you alright, Wendy?" Vincent taps me on the shoulder.

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"You were screaming just now..."

"I was?" I jumped.

"Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think anything's wrong with you or that you're weird."

"Oh," I awkwardly laugh and bury my face into my hands. "You weren't supposed to hear that. I thought I was only thinking it."

"What you were you thinking about?" Vincent leans his face closer to mine.

"Nothing!" My face lit up and I turned towards the window.

"Wow, Wendy. I didn't think you were... a pervert," he smirked.

"I'm not! That's not it. Jeez, just drive!"I shove him back towards the wheel while he continued to laugh as he pulled out of the driveway.

"By the way, where are we going?"

"Oh shoot! I didn't think about that," I sighed.

"I knew you would space out. Don't worry. I got everything planned." Vincent points towards the picnic basket in the back.

"We're picnicking?" Excitement poured out of me. Not surprising since my favorite hobby is to eat with Vincent or Wilbur.

"Not only that. At the zoo too," Vincent smiled, proud of himself for planning the whole thing.

"I feel like a horrible girlfriend. I didn't plan anything."

"You coming with me is enough." Vincent might as well be eating only honey, because every word he says is too sweet for me to handle.

For a while, Vincent had a wide grin until giggles started to bubble out of it, his shoulder shaking form trying to contain it.

"What?"

"You said you were my girlfriend... I love that... Say it again!"

"Focus on driving!" Embarrassed, I turned up the music in the car to cancel out Vincent's laughter.

Once we arrived, Vincent went to buy the admissions ticket while I held the basket, which was really heavy. Knowing my appetite, Vincent might've packed a whole buffet's worth of food inside. After purchasing them, he waved the tickets while walking towards me. We gave it to the gate person and were let through.

"Here, let me carry it." Vincent tries to reach for the basket but I move it away.

"Its so heavy. Your arm is going to get sore walking around with this thing."

"Its fine. Why else would I bring along these two hands?" Vincent swoops down his arm and takes the basket from me.

"You only need one hand to hold the basket," I laughed, happily pointing out a flaw in his joke.

"I need the other to hold your hand, silly." Just as fast as he had taken the basket from me, Vincent slides his hands into mine."

"I'm worried how you became such a smooth taker. You must've had A LOT of practice to get that good," I tease him by trying to act annoyed.

"Yep!"

I didn't even need to pretend. I could feel a tinge of jealously spark within me.

Vincent laughs, seeing my reaction. "With you the entirety of this school year. You were just really dense."

"Nice save. I was this close-" I use my other hands to pinch my finger, but left a tiny space in between, "-to throwing you into the lion habitat."

We started by going to the aquarium area, and I immediately immerse myself looking at the tiny turtles. Letting go of Vincent's hand, I press both of my indexes on the glass out of habit of wanting to pet them.

"Wilbur will be upset you're checking out other turtles," Vincent teases.

"What he doesn't know doesn't hurt him." Gasping in fascination, I stare at one that pops its head out.

"Honestly I'm the one slightly jealous that you're so interested these turtles," he laughs.

A young woman in a zoo uniform approaches us.

"Do you guys have any questions?" she asks, facing Vincent.

"Do you guys have any tortoises?"

"Yes, we do. We have a fairly large one, but its in a separate section of the zoo. I can show you the way there if you'd like.

"Thanks," Vincent agrees.

She walked alongside Vincent, endless spewing facts about every animal we passed. I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. But I would also be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed. She walked in close proximity, making it impossible for me to cut in. However, I managed to catch some of their conversation.

"You must've worked here for a long time. That's a lot of stuff to memorize," Vincent points out.

"Not really. I'm actually a volunteer here. It looks good on my college applications. Once I finish high school, I'm going to study to be a marine biologist."

She's in high school? Seriously? She looked so mature, I thought she was a college student or something!

"That's cool."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Not sure really. My dad is trying to get me to get into business like him, but I hate that sort of stuff."

"You carried our conversation well, so it looks like you know about this kind of stuff too. I'm pretty sure you can get into biology as well. Who knows, maybe we can go to the same college." She flips her brown ponytail so that it landed perfectly on her shoulder. Being out in the sun all day, her skin was perfectly tanned and sun-kissed, so that it seemed to glisten. It was irritating that her hideous zoo uniform did nothing to her look. She wore it as if she was on the runway.

Am I even on a date anymore? How did I suddenly become a third-wheel?

"Here we are," she points to an old turtle resting on pile of sand next to a pond of water. He wasn't even that large. Even if he was, I lost all interest.

"What's wrong? Do you only like tiny turtles?" Vincent turns around to check on me.

"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit."

"Okay..." Vincent nods, slightly confused by my sudden lack of enthusiasm.

It may seem counter-intuitive to leave the two of them alone, but I needed to splash myself with some water before I explode like a bomb.

Suddenly, a little boy rammed into me. Afraid he would fall over, I was forced to stand there.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

Slowly he stepped back, eyes watery while staring at his crushed ice cream cone.

"Yeah," he weakly replied.

"You're not hurt are you?"

"No... but my ice cream is." His lips quivered as he said so.

"Where is your mommy?"

Looking around, he began to burst into tears. "I don't know!" he wailed.

"Alright, calm down. I'll help you find her."

I led him towards the customer service booth, where he told them his name. They announced it on the speakers, but it would probably take a while for his mom to get there, as the zoo was quite large.

"Wait here for a bit." I left him for a bit and returned with another ice cream cone.

His eyes twinkled as I gave it to him, and he happily sat and ate while he waited for his mom. Once I saw him run to her, I left.

I head back to find Vincent, until I realized something. My entire shirt was smeared with ice cream the entire time! No wonder people kept giving me strange looks. Finding the nearest bathroom, I attempt to wipe it off with a wet paper towel. It wouldn't be such a big problem if not for the fact that it was all over my entire stomach. So, I had a giant dark spot on the front of my shirt when I walked out.

When Vincent saw me, he stopped his conversation with the girl, and ran up.

"What took you so long? I was getting worried," he sighs. Seeing my shirt, his eyes widened, "What happened to your shirt?"

"Lost kids with ice cream happened," I laugh.

Soon, the girl walked up to us.

"Ready to keep going?" She asks, a bit impatient.

"You can go ahead and help other people. We'll just look around," Vincent suggests, keeping his eyes on my stomach.

"I don't mind."

"It's fine, really."

"Don't worry. Its my pleasure."

Realizing she wasn't going to leave, Vincent didn't insist on it anymore.

"I gotta go get something really fast. Wait here, okay?" He pats my shoulder and jogs off somewhere, leaving me awkwardly standing there with her.

"You guys seem like really close friends," she comments.

"We're dating actually," I reply.

"Oh, sorry," she laughs. "Its because he patted your shoulder. Seems like a thing friends would do," she says, with underlying tones of malice.

"We were friends for a long time."

"I see. That makes sense," she giggles.

"What does?" I ask, curious to know what she finds so amusing.

"Well, I've been in a relationship with my friend before. It didn't last long. I only saw him as friend the whole time."

"If you're trying to tell me my boyfriend isn't interested in me, you should say it directly. I have to put up with so much with passive aggressiveness already," I smile, returning the same underlying tones of malice she gave me.

"I'm only trying to give you advice. No need to get all worked up." Her smile dropped and so did mine.

"If you like my boyfriend so much, why don't you ask him out? I won't stop you, I promise."

She scoffs. "Fine, don't get pissed when I do."

"I won't. I'll even pay for your date if he accepts," I laugh, which ticks her off.

"Hope you don't regret it."

"I won't."

Once she started smiling again, I knew Vincent had came back.

"Here, Wendy. You should change into this." Vincent hands me a highlighter orange t-shirt with the zoo logo in the front.

"You didn't have to. My shirt was going to dry anyways."

"It was a good opportunity. Now we can match," he beams, holding up a shirt of his own.

I smile. "Alright, thanks."

"We are going to go change, so you don't have to wait," Vincent tells her.

"Don't worry. I'll wait here," she insists once again.

We leave to change in the bathroom. Once I get out, Vincent was already done, waiting. He takes my shirt from me and leaves it with his on top of the picnic blanket inside the basket.

"My girlfriend looks cute even in a tacky shirt," Vincent coos, pinching my cheek.

"My boyfriend as well," I pinch his cheek as well. He smiles even wider, and without having to ask, I knew it was because I referred to him as my boyfriend.

Taking my hand, we walk in the opposite direction of where we came from.

"Um, isn't she waiting for us?"

"Don't worry about her. She's busy," he snickered.

"What did you do, Vincent Miller?"

"I paid a kid ten dollars to ask her a bunch of questions. We should hurry before she starts looking for us." His face was full of mischief as he chuckled to himself.

"Surprisingly, I like this side of you."

"I paid a lot to hang out with my girlfriend. If I wanted to know facts about animals, I would watch those boring documentaries."

"Hey, Wilbur likes those."

"I bet he does. I bet he loves seeing larger animals eat little guys his size."

"Its his version of a horror film."

We continued to walk until we reached the picnic area. Since it was next to the bird exhibit, a bunch of pigeons and peacocks were walking around and eating the leftover food people had dropped.

Vincent found a place relatively bird free so that they wouldn't harass us while we ate and set up the picnic. He set out a bottle of lemonade, some chicken salad sandwiches, pretzels, and some disfigured pink cookies.

"I tried to bake. They were supposed to be heart shaped, but it kinda melted in the oven," Vincent frowned.

I picked one up to try, and it was honestly really good, flavored with vanilla and strawberries. "They taste really good!"

"Don't lie," he sulked. "I shouldn't have brought them."

"Silly, taste them." I picked one up and fed it to Vincent. After chewing for a bit, Vincent smiled.

"They taste okay at least."

"They're not just okay. It's really good. I might have to recruit you for the cooking club. You don't know how many times people made salty muffins."

Everything was going swell until the zoo-volunteer girl plopped down next to Vincent.

"What a coincidence." She was short of breath, so it suggested otherwise. She probably ran all over trying to track down Vincent.

"Hey, we were going to have lunch, so we didn't bother to force you to follow us around," Vincent explained, scooching closer to me.

"I'm actually on my lunch break right now," she says, empty-handed. "I usually get food from one of the stands," she explains.

"I'll go buy you something since you were such a great guide today," I suggest, getting up.

She paused, confused by my generosity. However, she quickly remembered our conversation from earlier and replies, "Sure, thanks."

"Wait, Wendy-" Vincent calls after me, but I wave to him and leave towards the nearest food stand. I was in such a good mood, I might've unintentionally skipped there and on the way back. When I returned, her face was red and she hotly got up and left, kicking up some grass behind her in the process. I approached Vincent with two soft serves in hand.

"Where did she go?" I ask.

"Away, finally," Vincent sighed. "You bought her soft serves for lunch?"

"No, these are for us," I made sure to hand Vincent the vanilla one, his favorite.

"Then why did you say you were getting her lunch?"

"I knew she was going to leave," I happily continued to eat.

"Wendy Lee, what did you do?" Vincent suspiciously questioned.

"She wanted to ask you out, so I let her."

"What? You let another girl ask out your boyfriend?" Vincent stares at me, wide-mouthed.

"I promised to pay for the first date if it worked out for her."

"Why would you do that?" Vincent utters in disbelief.

"Because I knew it wasn't going to happen. I just wanted to get back at her."

"So you made me sit uncomfortably with her and reject her?"

"You're the one who wanted to ask about the stupid tortoise."

"For you!"

"I know. The ice cream is a token of my appreciation."