I got off the phone with Braintrust and pondered the mystery of Reilly Kubosh. After a few minutes, I gave up on it and went back to what was really important: my date. I returned to begging my grandfather to teach me to drive.
“You have to,” I pleaded. “I don’t have any other options.”
“There are always options, Jim,” was his reply. “Let’s just see what we’ve got here.”
As usual, Gramps was right. After discussing the matter, it seemed that I actually had three options: (1) have my mother or grandfather chauffeur us around all evening; (2) allow Gramps to enter my brain and “take control” during the times when I was behind the wheel such that he would actually be driving; or (3) take a cab. The first option was completely unacceptable. The second was almost as bad; the thought of Gramps running around in my brain during my date gave me the heebie-jeebies. That left the third; not ideal, but any port in a storm.
*******************************
Before I left, my mother insisted on seeing me. It was my first real date, I suppose, and - despite constantly encouraging normal behavior on my part - she seemed a little nervous, as if maybe she didn’t want me to go.
“Just watch yourself,” she said. “Be careful.”
“Be careful of what?” I asked. “I’m just going on a date, not trying to catch a supervillain.”
“Some girls can trap you a lot easier than a supervillain. Not all of them can be trusted. And even smart guys have a tendency to be stupid around certain girls - especially if they’re pretty.”
I gave her a hug and left, not fully understanding everything that she’d said.
**********************************
Electra didn’t seem to mind a cab at all. I simply told her that my car was in the shop and she accepted my explanation without question. She looked great, choosing to wear form-fitting black jeans and a light blue blouse. Although she had mostly foregone makeup again, she did have on a luscious shade of red lipstick. On my part, I chose to wear jeans and a golf shirt.
The house where I picked her up wasn’t where she lived, of course. However, she didn’t like the idea of being picked up for a date at League HQ (and I didn’t blame her), so she used a friend’s address.
We met her other friends at the movie theater. There were two other couples (to the extent Electra and I could be considered a “couple”), all of whom I recognized as teen supers. A big guy named Herc who was a super-strong brawler but not the sharpest knife in the drawer intellectually. His date was a brown-skinned beauty named Aqua who had some sort of water power. The other couple consisted of a fellow named Nemesis who could turn other supers’ powers against them and a waifishly thin girl called Rapunzel, who could use her ankle-length hair like additional limbs.
The movie was okay, but nothing to really write home about. The storyline involved an intergalactic hero’s efforts to stop a plot that could destroy the universe. It seemed to contain the requisite number of explosions, fistfights, and other eye candy, so I’m sure it met with general expectations.
Truth be told, however, the movie had less than my full attention. I spent a good portion of the time trying to act in a manner that was completely natural but which would, at the same time, let me either hold Electra’s hand or put my arm around her. She was apparently a seasoned expert at avoiding both. If I tried to take her hand, it would be at that juncture that she reached into the bucket of popcorn that I’d bought. If I tried to put my arm around her
“You have to,” I pleaded. “I don’t have any other options.”
“There are always options, Jim,” was his reply. “Let’s just see what we’ve got here.”
As usual, Gramps was right. After discussing the matter, it seemed that I actually had three options: (1) have my mother or grandfather chauffeur us around all evening; (2) allow Gramps to enter my brain and “take control” during the times when I was behind the wheel such that he would actually be driving; or (3) take a cab. The first option was completely unacceptable. The second was almost as bad; the thought of Gramps running around in my brain during my date gave me the heebie-jeebies. That left the third; not ideal, but any port in a storm.
*******************************
Before I left, my mother insisted on seeing me. It was my first real date, I suppose, and - despite constantly encouraging normal behavior on my part - she seemed a little nervous, as if maybe she didn’t want me to go.
“Just watch yourself,” she said. “Be careful.”
“Be careful of what?” I asked. “I’m just going on a date, not trying to catch a supervillain.”
“Some girls can trap you a lot easier than a supervillain. Not all of them can be trusted. And even smart guys have a tendency to be stupid around certain girls - especially if they’re pretty.”
I gave her a hug and left, not fully understanding everything that she’d said.
**********************************
Electra didn’t seem to mind a cab at all. I simply told her that my car was in the shop and she accepted my explanation without question. She looked great, choosing to wear form-fitting black jeans and a light blue blouse. Although she had mostly foregone makeup again, she did have on a luscious shade of red lipstick. On my part, I chose to wear jeans and a golf shirt.
The house where I picked her up wasn’t where she lived, of course. However, she didn’t like the idea of being picked up for a date at League HQ (and I didn’t blame her), so she used a friend’s address.
We met her other friends at the movie theater. There were two other couples (to the extent Electra and I could be considered a “couple”), all of whom I recognized as teen supers. A big guy named Herc who was a super-strong brawler but not the sharpest knife in the drawer intellectually. His date was a brown-skinned beauty named Aqua who had some sort of water power. The other couple consisted of a fellow named Nemesis who could turn other supers’ powers against them and a waifishly thin girl called Rapunzel, who could use her ankle-length hair like additional limbs.
The movie was okay, but nothing to really write home about. The storyline involved an intergalactic hero’s efforts to stop a plot that could destroy the universe. It seemed to contain the requisite number of explosions, fistfights, and other eye candy, so I’m sure it met with general expectations.
Truth be told, however, the movie had less than my full attention. I spent a good portion of the time trying to act in a manner that was completely natural but which would, at the same time, let me either hold Electra’s hand or put my arm around her. She was apparently a seasoned expert at avoiding both. If I tried to take her hand, it would be at that juncture that she reached into the bucket of popcorn that I’d bought. If I tried to put my arm around her
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