(Greentext) Denise's Date (Part 2/2)

>The drive to the school was mostly quiet, though Denise asked occasional questions about what kids usually did at dances beside the obvious
>Cody couldn't answer most of them, having never been to one, so he relied on what little he saw in movies and on TV
>Coming to a stoplight, Denise glanced down at the steering wheel and suddenly realized how close Cody was to driving age
>She expected to soon be helping him with his driver's ed homework, as well as letting him learn hands-on behind the wheel while she gives instructions from the passenger seat
>She quietly made a sighing sound; it felt like only yesterday she dropped him off for his first day of third grade
>The memory of her activation was still very fresh in her synthetic mind, of Mr. Clark introducing an eight year old Cody to her as he reluctantly held his kid brother's hand
>"You kids are growing up too damn fast, you know that?" she said aloud
>Cody looked over, confused; she didn't often break her cocky character, and her words sounded like they came out of a parent's mouth rather than a robot's
>"Uh... yeah," he unsurely replied, "I guess so."
>The light finally turned green and the car continued down the moderately busy avenue, the sky turning ever pinker behind them
>Passing the town fire station, they both knew the school was only about a minute away, so Denise rushed to get her last thoughts out
>"I hope the other kids there won't mind you bringing me," she said with mild concern, "They didn't bar you from bringing nandroids as dates, let alone non-students, did they?"
>"No, not that I remember," Cody responded as he tugged his jacket downward, "I'm sure you'll be fine. Hell, I'd actually be surprised if you end up being the ONLY nan there!"
>Denise smirked, reassured that the only trouble the pair would face that night would come from Mr. and Mrs. Clark
>A short line of cars stretched out of the school parking lot as it came into view, many of them being parents dropping off attendees while others were students parking themselves
>As they entered the line, Cody was relieved to see it moving reasonably quick; cars were leaving just as fast as they were coming in
>After easily finding a spot and parking, Cody unbuckled his seatbelt while asking Denise, "Hey, you DO know how to dance, right?"
>She did the same and exited the car, vaguely but smugly saying, "I'm programmed with a few moves."
>He waited for her to come around the hood before walking towards the front entrance, his thumbs awkwardly shoved in his suit pockets
>From behind, Denise stuck her arm through the opening between his and his torso, making the pair for one second look like a dignified young couple from a distance
>As they got closer to the other students at the doors, some of whom Cody recognized, his swagger turned to regret when he saw the first few odd glances sent their way
>What he said in the car about non-student guests was solely based on his ignorance of school policy; he truthfully doubted anyone else brought their nan with them, let alone owned one to begin with
>Nothing was said, not even a single comment under anybody's breath, but he could already feel his reputation souring
>His cheeks flushed and his body language turned nervous, but Denise remained cool as she smiled and quietly greeted some of the staring onlookers
>"Bro, what happened to that confidence you had a minute ago?" she whispered to him as they filed through the door into the foyer
>He didn't answer, instead more focused on getting out of the visibility of the daylight to lessen the chance of mockery, even if only by a little

>Much to Cody's surprise, it turned out there was no restriction in place about foreign guests, so despite some more confused looks, the pair were allowed further into the building
>There was yet another crowd of people in their path, this time, in the hallway trying to cram into the multiple doorways of the gymnasium
>Cody groaned, it was more pairs of judging eyes between them and the concealing darkness of the actual dance
>One of the taller suits in particular belonged to a "popular kid" named Danny, a star on the school baseball team and an occasional thorn in Cody's side
>He wasn't a bully in the traditional sense, he just had no filter or deep respect for anyone outside of his jock circle; he could mock someone to their face without even realizing he offended them
>Unfortunately, his head happened to turn away from his semicircle of friends just as Cody and Denise cut through the crowd behind him
>His hawk-like eyes met Denise first, then crawled up the sleeve on her bare shoulder to Cody's worried face, making him snicker aloud
>"Hey, Cody!" he loudly called from a few feet away, "Nice date, bro! You gonna help her with the dishes afterwards?"
>As his friends and most of those nearby turned to get an eyeful of his target, Cody stopped to address him back, but had only a moment to think of a clever response
>A nervous "...Oh! Haha, yeah!" escaped his mouth, and Denise gave him a look of pure pity before Danny's friends likewise started laughing
>He abruptly pushed Denise through the confused crowd and finally into the gym, his face slightly red at his pathetic reply
>Inside was the disappointing payoff to what he had built up in his mind for multiple weeks: a crowded dim room with few places to sit and bad music blaring overhead that made small talk impossible
>"What a dick!" Denise shouted in his ear over the music, "Do you know that guy?"
>"...Yeah I do!" he sighed while his eyes still scanned the room, "His name's Danny! He's only in my homeroom, but everyone here has dealt with him at least once!"
>He turned to her and gulped in realization; her glowing green eyes made her stand out even more in the dark and she was gaining more attention by the second
>There was no salvaging his situation, but before he could accept defeat and convince her to leave with him, he heard someone faintly yell his name over the nearby chatter
>"Cody!" a friendly adolescent voice quickly called again but louder, "Hang on! I'm comin' to you!"
>Appearing out of the thankfully thinner crowd was a familiar face in a navy blue suit jacket: Cody's friend from Virginia, Chris
>He was in a better mood than Cody and Denise combined, as evidenced by the wide smirk reaching the ends of his prepubescent cheeks
>Chris was a little more conversationally awkward and nerdy than him, but he had this odd confidence that earned him a decent place in the student hierarchy as well as an unexpected date to the gala
>"Hey, man!" Cody greeted with courage not seen since he left the car, "When did you get here?"
>"Couple minutes ago," Chris said, "My date's in the bathroom but I saw a green, uh, light over by the doors. Speaking of which..."
>He turned towards Denise, who had protectively placed her own arm around the back of Cody's neck
>"You're Denise, right?" he asked without judgement, politely extending his hand out, "Cody's told me a lot about you! He's one of the few guys I've ever met at school that owns a nandroid! You know, my family's saving to get our own one next year!"
>She took his hand and relaxed her posture, relieved that this boy wasn't about to heckle them
>"No kidding!" she said with exaggerated enthusiasm, "Hey, if your family wants to save money, tell them Sterling models are typically cheaper the older they are!"
>"I'll keep that in mind! Anyway, my date Sarah might be out of the bathroom by now, so I gotta meet her so she doesn't think I ditched her!" he shouted, excusing himself out of the conversation in a slightly impolite way, "It was nice meeting you, Denise, and take care, Cody!"
>She was puzzled as he disappeared back into the sea of students, but Cody just shook his head and chuckled
>"He does that all the time!" he leaned over and said into the side of her head, "Chat-and-runs, I call them!"
>She slowly turned towards him, mild surprise in her eyes
>"Chat-and-runs? Wait, THAT was Chris?" she asked, remembering Cody having mentioned that phrase before

>A half hour had passed since they arrived, and talking to a friend made Cody relax significantly
>The curious looks bothered him less and less, and Denise herself took advantage of the attention to boast about Cody to passersby
>To acquaintances that recognized him, he kept a cool head and felt less embarrassed when asked about his droid
>As she pointed out to him earlier, most of the other kids were probably just jealous they didn't have one
>Needing to use the bathroom, he temporarily split from her as he went down the hall to do so
>He squeezed through the crowd and reached the doorway to the men's room, but there were rambunctious boys lingering behind each urinal in disorganized lines
>Cody sheepishly stood and waited as they loudly laughed, shouted vulgar jokes and phrases for no reason, and passed around pills in plain sight
>He groaned and left the bathroom, knowing he wasted his time thinking they would move
>Minutes later, he came back down the hall towards the gym after easily using the less populated toilet on the second floor
>There weren't as many students spilling into the hall as earlier, but the cheesy 80s ballad blaring out the open doors was the lure that brought them inside
>Peering into the gym itself, he was shocked to see the crowd heavily congested in the center, slowly dancing as dozens of green and blue dim lights lit up the large room
>While he was away and the "actual" dance began, it appeared that the faculty passed out glow sticks to regain the attention of many bored students
>Unfortunately for Cody, having to scour the dark for Denise would not be nearly as easy as before with all the lights imitating her glowing eyes
>He only hesitated for a moment before plunging into the gym to find a needle in a haystack
>All the green lights immediately near him were clearly just kids holding glow sticks, but one at eye level in the corner of the gym looked promising
>He shoved himself further into the sea of moving bodies towards what he thought were Denise's eyes, repeatedly saying "excuse me" and "coming through" as he walked
>Keeping his eyes on the light as he got closer, it seemed to bob side to side in a way that matched a female head swaying to the music; he was sure it was her
>Just as he was under 20 feet away from her, however, the "eyes" suddenly broke apart and fell to the girl's sides
>"Dammit," Cody muttered, discovering she was human and only holding a pair of glow sticks up to her head
>Desperate and frustrated, Cody began wading to the other closest green light while wildly shouting, "DENISE! HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY NANDROID DENISE?!"
>The students around him automatically gave him their attention, and before he knew it, a tall figure grabbed his shoulder and stopped him
>"Hang on, YOUR nandroid?" a gruff adult voice asked, "Is your name Cody?"
>He looked up into the stern eyes of a tall overweight man in a suit, blue light from a glow stick in his breast pocket reflecting off his thick-mustached face
>Cody recognized him as one of his class's several gym teachers, but he couldn't remember his name because he wasn't Cody's specifically
>"Uh... yeah?" he answered, "You've seen Denise?"
>The teacher then flashed him a mocking grin and started laughing as if he were a bully a third of his age
>"Heh heh, the whole point of a dance is to bring a HUMAN girl with ya, son!" he teased, "For god's sake, bringing your sister with ya woulda been the better option!"
>Cody felt the embarrassment that he thought he was immune to return in force, hot blood rushing to his face the same as when he last saw Danny
>"W-what?" he stammered, "...I thought that-"
>"Yeah, ya got some balls on ya, kid, I'll give ya that," the coach continued, "I guess when your family can afford a friggin' nandroid, you wanta show her off like she's a sports car. Thing is, bringin' her here isn't makin' anyone jealous. It's just makin' ya look like ya couldn't land a REAL date!"
>Those words cut deep into Cody's confidence like a knife; he hadn't thought of that perspective too deeply before, but it instantly made sense based on all the looks he got
>The paranoid idea of everyone mentally comparing him to a weirdo that brought an anime girl body pillow to the gala quickly appeared in his mind, even if Denise was as sapient as a human
>With dozens of classmates recognizing him and Denise casually dropping his name to everyone else, he feared his entire class would forever know him as "the guy who brought his nandroid to a school dance"

>"Oh god, they're going to eat me alive on Monday," he whispered, "I gotta get her out of here!"
>Without saying anything more to him, Cody scrambled around the PE teacher towards the closest green light
>"Hey!" he heard the man yell from behind, "Where are ya goin'? I still got more advice to give ya!"
>In ten seconds flat, he reached the glow on the opposite end of the crowd and thankfully found it coming off the face of a black-haired nandroid
>"Cody!" Denise happily greeted as if he weren't visibly on the verge of tears, "I've been looking for you, dude! The bathroom line must've been long, huh?"
>He inhaled deeply to try and calm himself, then said in a breaking voice, "I think we should go now."
>Her smile vanished immediately as she saw her green light reflecting off his distraught face
>"What's wrong, man?" she asked with genuine concern
>"Come on," he urged, "I'll explain outside."
>He took her hand and began pulling her towards the closest exit, but the song changing to a popular modern tune shifted the density of the crowd
>Cody only heard the first few notes of the melody before the gym erupted in an deafening, excited shriek, coming mostly from the freshmen girls
>As students jumped from the sidelines into the mass of dancing suits and dresses, the pair were pulled further away from their exit into nearly the center of the gym
>One rushing person pushed Cody in a way that spun him around, softly colliding his chest with Denise's
>Her green eyes were as wide with surprise as his were, yet she didn't know he was turned around against his will
>"S-sorry!" he blurted out
>Staring at her pale face, he felt his anxiety lessen and his escape become a lower priority
>That strange emotion he sensed when he first saw her dress an hour ago began filling his mind again, like a strong attraction but without much lust
>Being 14, Cody was well aware of what lust felt like, but this was different; it gave him the bizarre urge to hold and... protect her?
>"Sorry for what?" she asked as she brushed the loose hair dangling over her brow
>"Uh..." he murmured, unable to take his gaze off her eyes or concentrate on anything else, "I... don't remember!"
>She blinked and put her other hand in Cody's while smirking at his absent mindedness
>"Cody, are you sure you're all right?"
>With everyone around them too engrossed in the music to give them attention, Cody felt at ease enough to stay in the gym then
>"...Yeah!" he took a gulp and said, "I think I'm okay now!"
>"Well, everyone seems to like this song!" she observed, "Should we dance to it? We could leave after, if you still want!"
>Cody nodded halfheartedly with a drawn out "Yeeaah..."
>He didn't know the first thing about dancing with a partner, but Denise immediately took the lead for him
>The quirky yet slowish beat of the pop song led her to perform a basic back-and-forth stepping jig, something even Cody could immediately adapt to
>Their moves were very conventional compared to everyone else's, but Cody didn't care; he was actually having fun for the first time that night
>"Hey, you're not bad!" Denise complimented, "But can you- THINK FAST!"
>She suddenly spun him around and dipped him low enough for his head to almost hit the couple behind him, but she pulled him back up just as quickly
>"Wow!" Cody said with a wide smile, "I didn't expect... oh shit."
>Not far over Denise's shoulder were both Danny and the gym teacher standing side by side, watching Cody and his date like prey while laughing to themselves
>"What's the matter, man?" she playfully asked while still grooving, "Did I dip you too low?"
>"No, Danny's behind you and he's staring at us!" he replied with his glaring eyes still glued to the pair
>She had become too cocky because of that one move to even stop dancing for a moment
>"Oh, don't worry about him!" she assured Cody, "In fact, let's see if we can make him jealous!"
>Her advanced rhythmic programming activated, and without warning, she grabbed his arm with both hands and swung him around
>There was not enough space around them for the spin to work as she hoped; Cody's shoulder slammed into a girl's back and made them both yelp in pain
>"Ow! What the hell are-?"
>Hardly registering their minor anguish, Denise continued her planned finish to the move
>She dipped him again but this time, close enough to lean down and deeply kiss him like a male flamenco dancer
>Cody struggled for a second because of his sore shoulder, but realized it was what he wanted from Denise all along
>He would have gladly closed his eyes and wrapped his other arm around her, but hearing disgusted retches and snickers around him made him pull his head back
>Whether he wanted it or not, she chose the worst possible time to kiss him, as accidentally hitting the other student quickly made many of those in the vicinity look their way
>As if by cruel chance, the popular song had just ended as well, allowing the gym to fall into relative silence
>"Jesus, Cody, you ARE a freak!" a nearby acquaintance from biology class accused
>The pair slowly stood up, embarrassed beyond apology
>If Cody's increasingly warm cheeks could light up as bright as Denise's, they would have
>"...Oops," Denise whispered to herself, her glowing pink cheeks unique to all the other light sources in the room
>To make matters worse, Cody wheeled his head around the appalled circle of people and caught view of Danny laughing like a hyena with his open phone in hand
>"Holy shit, Cody!" he cackled over the crowd's chatter, "That was amazing! I gotta send this picture to my friends! You're a real playa, man!"
>"Yeah!" the immature coach beside him yelled at an absurd volume with a smirk, "Good thing ya didn't slip her your tongue! Ya woulda gotten electrocuted!"
>That particular comment made dozens of more students laugh, essentially taking the focus of the entire gala off the music and instead placing it on Cody and Denise
>Cody stood there, frozen in place with tears starting to blur his vision; the situation had become scarcely better than a nightmare
>Having never been genuinely bullied throughout his entire school experience, he had no prepared response for mass humiliation
>All he could do was turn his face red, tremble, and feel his eyes watering
>Though equally inexperienced in dealing with mockery in person, Denise reacted faster and took Cody's hand, this time quickly leading the way out of the gym and finally out of the building
>Every window they passed showed a navy blue sky outside with the stars beginning to reveal themselves
>As they rushed out the front doors into the chilly twilight air, she couldn't say anything to him other than repeated apologies
>He only replied in the form of sniffles, feeling as vulnerable as a little kid
>The least they could hope for was to deal with little punishment from Mrs. Clark upon their return home