A:
It was a chilly night on the deck of the boat. The moon and stars shined as a rough wind ran through. I knew it was time for me to ask Marla to be my girlfriend. It was the most privacy we'd gotten, and I doubted I'd get another opportunity that night. I opened my mouth to ask, but my heart sank as I heard the door inside slam open.
Out marched Betsy, dragging Cole behind her and looking like a woman on a mission. She walked right up to Marla and I, and wedged herself in between us. I protested.
"Betsy, what the heck are you doing? I was trying to finally ask Marla to be my—"
"Hush Andy, let me get this out."
Becky cupped her hand over my mouth as she got out what she had to say. Cole stood by staring out into the sea as Betsy held him by the collar.
"I have been agonizing about this. I realized while I was listening to that Kimberly Strokes old song, I Can't Control My Emotions, that I can't control my emotions. And you know what? I shouldn't have to control them."
Now Betsy was speaking with total conviction, like she was Moses reading the Ten Commandments to everyone for the first time. Marla, Cole and I could only watch on in awe. Marla and I did not know where she was going with this. But judging from his reaction, Cole had some idea.
Betsy continued.
"That whole situation with the underwear was a low point for me. You could say it was my rock bottom, but without that, I never could come to the realizations I have now. It doesn't matter what society thinks, society even gave up on bloomers. What matters is what I want, and to take anything else into consideration is not being fair to myself."
We all kept staring at her.
"Put simply, I want you two. Cole and Andy. I want both of you to enter into a romantic relationship with me. Let the rumors be damned."
I stared at Betsy with amazement. I was more surprised than the first time Marla entered my room as a Magical Girl. She must've seen how confused everyone was, because she felt the need to keep explaining.
"And before you ask Andy, Cole has called shotgun. So you'd need to work any details out with him."
Cole shot her a deadly look.
"You're making all of this up."
"Oh, and Marla, I see you pouting over there. Yes, you are invited. But fyi I don't like girls, so maybe you should sit out."
The situation had gotten out of hand. I, Cole, Marla and Betsy were all standing out on the deck, which was becoming more full. Frankly, I was pissed at Betsy. She'd ruined the mood. After how weird that was, I'd need to wait a little while longer to ask Marla out.
I walked off, but then I remembered she was part of the Gaia Defense Force Club, and I had a duty to make sure Betsy was safe.
I turned back to talk to her, but just as I did, the inexplicable happened. First, the harshest wind yet blew through the deck of the boat, blowing up Betsy's skirt. She was standing right in front of me, so I saw her Bloomer Family Brand bloomer underwear for more than a few seconds. That disoriented me.
But then the ship sounded its horn and made a sharp turn, splashing water up onto the deck. I lost my balance as the ship turned and I slipped, heading straight for the railing on the edge.
Behind me, I heard Marla scream as I reached out to grab the railing. But it was too late. I hit the railing with force and bounced over the side of the boat, and headed right for the water.
First, I felt the pain of my arms and ribcage collide with the cold steel of the boat. The fall from the deck to the water felt almost instant, but once I was in the water, I felt like I had another problem. My right arm wasn't working correctly. It hurt when it hit the side of the boat, but when I tried to use it to swim, I realized it was useless.
I was staying afloat, but only just. Without the use of one arm, and other unknown injuries, I doubted I'd be able to keep my head above water for long.
I didn't panic. A few months ago, I would've already been screaming and thrashing, ensuring I'd fall right to the bottom. But the new me proceeded stoically. And I had convinced myself someone would soon come to my rescue.
And that she did.
I couldn't see much between me and the boat, because of the glare from the boat's lights. So when some light rubber object hit me in the head, I was startled.
"You're supposed to catch that!"
It was Marla to the rescue, and she looked amazing. I guessed she'd slipped down to bra and panties to make swimming easier.
I used the life preserver to stay afloat as she swam the rest of the way to me.
Once she got to me, I couldn't stop myself. I grabbed Marla with my working arm and planted a long kiss on her lips. She welcomed me warmly.
Technically, it was my first kiss. I didn't know if it was hers too, but I felt in that moment I'd made the greatest decision of my life. For an extended moment, the two of us were totally connected.
We both came up for air as search boats from the ship arrived to help. Marla looked at me with pity and touched my limp arm.
"Ouch!"
B:
They ferried us back to the boat.
Up on the deck, Marla stood by as I was on a gurney getting checked out by the boat's medical staff. She stared down at me, but I had a hard time not focusing on her chest area, past the white lace bra that was now wet and clinging to her skin.
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed back and we both laughed. That was when Devin came up to us. Ignoring me, he turned right to Marla.
"Marla, there's something I need to ask you."
"Uh Devin... Do you mind? Andy and I were in the middle—"
Devin stopped paying attention to Marla mid-sentence and turned back to me.
"Can you go somewhere, Andy? Marla and I need to talk."
The medical staff woman checking me gave a disgusted groan at Devin's behavior.
"Can't you see he's sick? Leave him and his girlfriend alone."
Devin gave her a hate-filled look.
"*Pah* Who cares what you say? You're some civil servant. Marla, come with me."
Now he grabbed at Marla's arm. She pulled away and fell backwards onto my lap on the gurney. I grabbed her hand and pulled as she responded.
"I'm staying with Andy right now. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of all of us."
Devin let out an angry groan and spat on the floor.
"I guess that's fine. Why are girls always so damn stubborn?
Here's the thing, Marla. I love you. And... I want you to be my girlfriend."
My heart sank. Now I really hated Devin. He'd totally stolen my thunder.
Marla looked unmoved.
"Is... that it? Is that all you had to say? The answer is no, you can go away now."
Devin winced for a moment and gave a put-on smile that was a step away from a snarl. As Devin walked away, Kimi popped out of Marla's first.
"Hold on, we're not finished with you yet."
Devin turned back around and seeing the wand floating there in mid-air surprised him.
"Don't act all surprised now. You know all about magic. Marla, why don't you show Romeo over here what we found in the kitchen?"
Marla pulled out the silver flask. It was obvious he recognized it.
"What is that? Some sort of paperweight? Haha? I don't even know what it would be used for."
Thankfully, Devin was pretty bad at lying and Kimi kept pressing.
"This is yours, isn't it? Did you use this to cast a spell on your classmates? Usually someone your age would want to 'spike' the punch with some liquor. And I imagine you had the same plan."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do. Just admit it, you wanted to enchant your female classmates, so they'd be easy to take advantage of, didn't you?" The accusation caused Devin to erupt.
"No! No! I just wanted them to like me and give me a chance. I didn't think they'd become like this... Veronica..."
Devin clenched his fist in anger, and didn't seem to realize he'd just said that out loud. He went somewhere else for a moment. When he came back, it surprised him he was still in this situation. Then he was even more shocked that he'd just given a tacit admission.
"I mean... I don't know what you're talking about."
Devin was breaking down and Kimi was undeterred in her interrogation. She was like a shark with the scent of blood, searching for whatever the truth was behind what Devin was hiding.
"Where on Earth did you get this level of magic? That's a B-level enchantment. You can't run around casting this kind of thing as a civilian. Since you're so sloppy, someone from Speculator Authority is going to pick up on your abuse and lack of authorization."
Now Devin looked like something else had just occurred to him. He turned around and ran off.
"Let him go. We can catch up with him later."
We let Devin run off as the Medical Staff returned to clear me for relief.
Now it was late in the night. The cruise had docked and there were busses ready to take us back to the hotel. It looked like most of the students had coupled up. I hadn't gotten to pop the question yet, but Marla and I were holding hands under a blanket in the back of the bus. It looks like Cole and Luna had made up. And Carmelo had accommodated several of his female suitors, by setting huddled in a group with 4 of the girls.
I regretted not getting to ask her out. I felt like fortune conspired to prevent me from doing so, but deep down, I knew that wasn't true. I'd chickened out again. Just in a less direct way.
I turned and looked over and Marla, she fell asleep on my shoulder. I squeezed her hand and decided to focus on the major win I got that night: my first kiss. When I thought how amazing it was, I remembered I'd seen that exact scenario in my dream. Marla had rescued me and we shared a romantic moment in the water.
We got back to the hotel, and I laid down in my room. As I drifted off to sleep, I could only wonder how many more of my dreams would come true.
*Knock Knock*
I awoke from my sleep. I expected not to wake until the morning for the airplane. But it had only been a few hours. The person rapped on the door harder and I noticed Devin started to wake, not that I cared.
I got to the door and saw Cole and Ian waiting. Cole spoke.
"Are you ready? We're jumping back into Ian's Dreamscape, remember?"