1.10 Get Out There

Entropy stops for no one. Ivy is growing up faster than her parents thought possible.

"I'm not close friends with anyone at school," Ivy admits. "I'm afraid everyone will ignore me at the prom... or worse, make fun of my nose."

"Your nose is cute, honey," Fairuza whines.

"That's... not what my classmates think."

Fairuza tries to reassure her daughter that everyone at the prom will be too worried about how they look to spare a single thought to criticizing her.

"So... they'll just ignore me, like always," Ivy reasons.

"You don't know that unless you go!" her mother enthuses. "Get out there and dance, even if you have to dance alone."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Fairuza whimpers, seeking comfort from her husband once their eldest has been shipped to the school dance in a cute dress.

"I know she'll be okay," Rock replies, ever chipper. His daughter is an ambitious genius. She'll make it work.

And she does. Ivy's classmates, either awed by her brave solo dancing (even though she fell on her face) or feeling terribly sorry for her (I repeat, she fell on her face), all vote for her to be Prom Queen.

"The heels were a bad idea," Ivy confides to Astral the next day. "Never go with heels."

Bolstered by her confidence after winning the Prom Queen title, Ivy accepts a date request from Mikkel Frey. They agree to meet at The Drunken Song on Saturday.

Mikkel lays on the compliments. He couldn't keep his eyes off Ivy at the dance.

"You've never spoken to me before," she reminds him, "even though we've had class together our whole lives."

"You didn't seem like you ever wanted to talk," he defends. "You never spoke to me either! But I always admired how smart you were. You were always taking pressure off the rest of us, holding your hand up for every question the teachers asked and stuff."

"That doesn't mean I'm smart, it means I enjoy my studies."

"Just take the compliment," Mikkel says. "It won't kill you."

Ivy and Mikkel enjoy fresh sushi as they make small talk.

Mikkel is kind of a jock. Ivy's mom would like him.

Ivy is thinking about going to law school.

"Just like your last name," Mikkel jokes. "You're going to get that a lot."

Obligatory karaoke.

There's no dance floor, but they decide to get some practice in anyway, since prom was such a miserable failure. Ivy did her best but embarrassed herself, while Mikkel was too afraid to even try! Oh well, they can bond over their failures.

The bartender raises an eyebrow. He usually only sees people dancing in here when they're drunk.

"Gotta get down and shake it!" Mikkel instructs. "Like this!"

Ivy crouches. "Like this?"

Mikkel laughs. "Sure, like that."

They go upstairs for the shuffleboard. There are bubble machines too, but the staff guard those hawkishly, preventing teenagers from using the karaoke bar for their first high.

"I heard Bjorn Cafe will let teenagers use their bubble machines," Mikkel reports.

"Yet you wanted to meet at The Drunken Song," Ivy observes.

Mikkel winks. "Well yeah. Drunken Song has a hot tub."

"I'm not the kind of girl who would strip down to a bikini on her first date," Ivy's tone grows cross.

"That's fine," Mikkel says breezily, "but I can't abide by anyone slut shaming girls who would strip down to bikinis on their first dates."

Ivy scowls, then pouts.

"I bet you'd look beautiful in a bikini though," Mikkel continues.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. I've always thought you were hot. Those braids drive me wild. They're just so perfect. And your cute speckles..."

"I can't decide if that's shallow or not," Ivy says. He did compliment her intelligence earlier.

"What's wrong with a little shallow? Look at my pretty eyes and tell me you don't feel something shallow."

Ivy makes a face. "You're ridiculous, Frey."

Ridiculous or not, Mikkel Frey has himself a steady girlfriend by the end of the hour.

He finally gets to touch that perfect braid. Sweeeeeet.

He even got her in the hot tub! What a charmer.

"I think I'm getting more of a show than you are," Ivy giggles.

The teens work on the all-important kissing skill.

According to the moodlet, it was a great date, and who am I to argue with a moodlet?

Meanwhile, Astral has to endure a fishing trip.

Fairuza has fond memories of fishing trips with her father and hoped one of her children would enjoy fishing as much as she does, but so far it's not happening.

"Mom, this is literally the worst."

"Whoa, look at this HUGE SALAMANDER!" Fairuza cheers.

Astral glares at the horizon. Her clothes are going to smell like fish. This is gross.





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Etc.: This isn't a parody of anything. I just cannot write romance.

At least not the kind of rushed romance that these characters have.