The first of many (Joelle)

[Koty Hura]

Thursday. Ordinarily 'the day before Friday'... Today, though, it was definitely not just another day. It was, in fact, an extremely important day.. Today was the day Joelle had agreed to allow Koty to take her on a date.

After mutually agreeing that lunch in town would be.. a bit much for one day (there was more to setting up an aquarium then Koty had anticipated, and much time and care to be put into acclimating a fish to it's new home, when done properly) Koty had been looking for an excuse to see Joelle again. She was so... light. There was nothing heavy about her. She was refreshing and bright and maybe even a little carbonated. It seemed like she'd made that day pop and fizzle. Time with her had been a cold orange soda in a week of black coffee and he had been hoping for more.

So it was with an uncharacteristic glee that Koty had texted back and forth with Joelle and agreed wholeheartedly that a date should most definitely happen. It had caught him so off guard that several days had gone by seemingly overnight, and he'd had to rush to prepare himself to meet her. Fortunately, while in a bit of a daze, he has still done everything right. His clothes were dry-cleaned, his car was full of gas, the reservations were made, he had plenty of cash, and has scoped out a highly reviewed frozen custard spot nearby that they could walk to. He had been so nervous about missing her that by their arranged meeting time, he had been standing near his car for almost half an hour and was beginning to wonder if it would be a good time to take up smoking..

Then someone rounded the corner into the parking lot and he froze.. Fortunately any nervousness he had was buried under his 'perfectly messy' jet black hair, grey cotton undershirt, black long-sleeve (unbuttoned) button-up, and gold-touched black jeans. His watch was simple, silver, small, and elegant.. and seemed to stop it's inaudible ticking as he hoped the person he hadn't managed to get a good look at yet was Joelle and that she hadn't cancelled on him (and forgotten to inform him). Whoever it was was definitely female.. and wow that purple hair..

[Joelle McIntosh]

Ever since the afternoon and evening with Kit, Joelle had been practically vibrating. It was thanks to her new best friend that this was even happening. Were it not for Kit, no texts would have been sent, and she would still simply be hoping he might text her for some assistance with Ash. Instead, she was going on a date.

She seriously needed to get Kit a thank you present.

She'd spent the day after setting the date with Kit at the mall, where she had seemed to delight in playing dress up. Jo had had to admit... Kit had taste. She'd thought she was well capable of dressing in a trendy way before, but now? Her closet had some rather adult looking things in it, and she had to admit that she loved them. The spending of Kit's Dad's money? Not so great, but the hundreds of assurances that it was fine from Kit made it a tiny bit better.

She'd spent her entire day of classes distracted, eyes almost always on the clock, and by the time the last bell rang she had all but bolted back to the dorms. Kit had already helped her pick out her outfit for the night, and she was eager to put it on again. Not wanting to risk getting it ruined during the day, she'd gone to classes in jeans, t-shirt, and light hoodie, but now it was time to dress up.

She took her time with her make up, and risking a glance at the clock made her pick up the pace a bit. Her hair simply got brushed and she grabbed a silver and white headband to keep it back a little. Now that was done, it was time to get dressed.

A quick look in the mirror, as well as peeking in on Kit to show her, and she was ready. ... Sort of. But some encouraging words and a mini pep talk, Kit-style, she grabbed her bag from her room and headed down to meet Koty.

She really did feel grown up as she trotted down the sidewalk to the mini lot where she'd first met Koty. As she neared, her fingers flexed a little on her purse strap, testing the feel of the thin, classy gloves Kit had surprised her with during their shopping spree. She'd worried that they would set Koty off, like she was trying to hide something, but Kit had sworn up and down he would like it.

Well, she would soon see. As she spotted the Mini, her heartbeat picked up a little, especially when she saw Koty standing beside it. And didn't he look amazing? How had she gotten so lucky?

Now or never. Stepping carefully in her new boots so as not to trip and fall on her face, she inched closer and paused near him, tucking her hair neatly behind her ear. She wasn't normally a shy person, but this wasn't a very normal situation, either. It was hard to think with Koty looking like... like that, which wasn't helping matters. But Dr. Neville had told her to relax, be herself, and have a good time. Standing and staring fell under exactly zero of those pieces of advice. So, gathering herself, she managed to smile at him. "Hi, Koty."