Something's Definitely Different

[Riley Forrester]

Man, how do I manage to always be so nervous when I start these things? Seriously!? She's my girlfriend now! Riley thought as she sighed a little, running her fingers through her hair instinctively. However, the tail end of the thought made her smile and lifted her fears fairly easily. That's right-- Zoe was her girlfriend now. The reason Riley was all dressed up in a suit and walking towards her dorm again.

The fancy date. Riley thought, chuckling. She had to admit, even as she was nervous, she was also excited. Their first date as an official couple. Don't fuck it up Riles. Her brain snapped harshly, yet the thought brought another idea to her head. The next date. The one she and Zoe were going to purposely mess up as much as they could, just to get the 'bad date' out of the way.

Riley had to admit, she was really looking forward to that one. The sheer silliness that could probably ensue from purposely screwing everything up was going to be hilarious. And since they were both doing it intentionally, it wasn't going to be awkward or bad. It was just going to be Zoe and Riley messing around, and the idea thrilled Riley and made her anxiety wash away for this one.

It would be nice, and Riley had to admit she was honestly curious as to what Zoe would wear. Not that it mattered really. Riley had a feeling she's love Zoe in anything. Or-- NO! No no no, back up! Heel, tiger. She thought quickly, blinking  and shaking her head even as she blushed. She finally reached Zoe's dorm and exhaled, waiting for the blush to die down before she knocked.

"Hey! Zoe! It's Riley! You're extremely corny girlfriend!" Riley added with a grin, leaning back against the wall as she waited, fixing her cuffs a little. yeah, she was finally starting to relax, and the date would probably be a lot of fun. Although Riley wasn't much one for extreme class--as it reminded her too much of her old man-- she felt like she could bear it with Zoe.

Speaking of Zoe, the door opened and Riley glanced over with a warm smile. "Oh! Hey Zoe....." She trailed off as she did a double take. Then blinked. Then stared. Then blushed a bit. "Whoa." Riley spoke aloud without realizing it, and then flushed when she did, shaking her head. "You look.... Amazing, Zoe." She said truthfully

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe was wearing her date underwear.

There was actually something to that, despite the apparent ridiculousness of the statement. Zoe had, with Vera Marcello's help, gone out to Victoria's Secret. There had been a discussion regarding wearing specific underwear to particularly look special for a certain someone, and that discussion had led to this idea of "date night" underwear that Zoe at the time, had considered to be almost hypothetical. But now she was dressed in said underwear, which she knew meant that, subconsciously or not, she had certain... expectations. Expectations that she also increased by grabbing onto the vaccine for her power and her antidote and stuffing them into a clutch purse.

Knock made her jump and Zoe seriously started heading toward her room. Because she really felt like she should maybe change. Starting with the date underwear and working up, which, well, wouldn't be much of a go for now. She could already feel her phone vibrating as she'd, of course, sent the final look to Vera for approval. And she now heard her girlfriend calling and insisting she was corny.

"you can do this," Zoe said to herself. She ran her hands along her sides, taking a few more breaths. "It's a date. With a girl. That you clearly want to sleep with," Zoe flushed deep at that, chewing her cheek. No. No. don't think that. Definitely don't think about the depth of your feelings or what you've done or how you desperately want the night to go a very specific way or anything like that and definitely don't think about date underwear.

To the door. Open it. Look up to the smile. See the blush. Let Riley take in the outfit for the first time. Specifically let Riley take in the very many patches of white, lightly freckled skin that showed through the black. Or how the dress clung to Zoe's thin form in ways that probably would lead to sinful thoughts. Or how she'd purposefully let her hair down and had it styled to accent her face. Or how she'd spent hours getting her makeup just right. Or the heels that she somehow managed to balance perfectly on. Or the earrings in newly pierced ears, specifically selected to match the outfit perfectly.

"Hi," Zoe managed weakly, flushing, hearing the amazing. "You, um," more words were not going to come until she got a reaction from the outfit and Zoe knew it even as she was desperately trying to push past that and not be a needy wreck in pleasant wrapping.

[Riley Forrester]

Riley tried not to stare. Riley really tried not to stare. Only through the sheerest amount of her will had she been able to tear her eyes back up to Zoe's eyes and just stare at those with a smile. Holy Shit Zoe. Are you trying to drive me insane? Riley wondered. Staring Zoe in the eyes made it easier though. While the rest of her was undeniably the sexiest thing Riley had seen-- No no keep thoughts at eyes.-- at least her eyes were always the same.

And as Zoe spoke, Riley relaxed even more, and her smile returned to that affection, easy smile. "Seriously Zoe. Wow." she repeated, rubbing the back of her neck and chuckling a little. "You... Just wow." She said before chuckling and shaking her head. She met Zoe's eyes again and smiled warmly. "You look beautiful." She stated honestly.

Riley could've gone on about her girl friend's sudden transformation to sheer sexiness, but she remembered that they had a time frame. "Oh! Uh, we should probably go now though to make the reservation time." Riley said, glancing at her watch before looking back at Zoe and offering her arm for Zoe to loop hers through like an old-fashioned gentleman. "Shall we?" Riley asked with a wiggle of her eyebrow before she cracked up a bit. "Sorry." She apologized with a smirk

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

It took all Zoe had not to do a dance of celebration as her girlfriend quite noticeably checked her out. The dress did look good on her, she knew that from the whole aesthetic viewpoint, as it covered enough flesh to tease while opening up what amounted to Zoe's forbidden fruit. If anything, it even emphasized her natural English paleness, the white of her skin contrasting quite sharply with the black of the dress. It seemed to have rendered Riley into repeating just one word, which nearly had Zoe bounding.

Their eyes met, and Riley said beautiful. Say I'm sexy Zoe almost tried to project mentally. She could, however, see that in her girlfriend's eyes, how it was almost too hard to tear her eyes away from Zoe's slender frame. Still, Zoe couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. All this work for a few wows?

Zoe pushed down her disappointment, putting on her usual smile and taking the offered arms. She really felt like asking if the sorry was for not calling her sexy, but instead: "You don't have anything to be sorry for," came out, and Zoe leaned up to lightly kiss her girlfriend on the cheek before giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I'm all ready! It's time for our fancy, formal date," Zoe nodded. She was also tempted to add "in public" to that as well, but stopped just short.

[Riley Forrester]

Alright. So. Recap. Her brain ordered. So Zoe had dressed into the sexiest thing Riley had ever seen. Noted. Riley had to seriously struggle to keep her mind in check. Correct. And Riley honestly was very tempted to seriously kiss Zoe in the hallway. Ok. Now then: move on. Her brain commanded. Riley tried her best to listen to it.

Zoe assured Riley that she didn't have to be sorry for her corniness, and then planted a kiss on her cheek. Which did make Riley smile as Zoe went on, seemingly excited for their fancy date. Riley chuckled and leaned over to return the kiss by planting one on Zoe's cheek. "So it is. I'm excited, honestly. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the restaurant is overwhelmed by how sexy you look." Riley added almost unconsciously. Which of course had her blushing slightly at the slip. Shit. Move on Riles!

"So, how have you been feeling lately since our last date?" Riley decided to ask, glancing at Zoe with a smile even though she was still blushing faintly. He two had texted a bit, and there was that call about the road trip, but Riley honestly wanted to know from Zoe up front

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Yes! Zoe again nearly did a victory dance, and her smile certainly grew nearly into something toothy as Riley outright stated she was sexy. Even better: sexy enough to overwhelm people. That was something that people said about Vera or one of those other sexy popular girls, not shy little Zoe. But shy little Zoe had a very not so shy slinky black dress on, not to mention heels (and date underwear, but Zoe was definitely not thinking about that. Not at all. Nope).

"I've been doing really good!" Zoe said, unable to keep the surprise from leaking into her voice. After all, most of her life had been a big ball of not good, so whenever she had a long streak like this, she couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised. "I got my ears pierced," she tilted her head slightly, flushing as she realized she was technically fishing a bit for a compliment there, "and there's our trip, which I'm super excited about. Plus school's starting soon! Oh, we need to check and see if we have any classes together! We could study together!"

And yes, Zoe, while wearing that sexy dress, was now getting excited about the prospect of studying with her girlfriend, thus proving that whatever the wrapping, the present was very much the same.

[Riley Forrester]

Wow, Zoe definitely seemed happy at the sexy remark, even though the slip had made Riley definitely blush. But still, Riley focused on Zoe's answer to her question instead of her dress. Which Riley really needed to stop thinking about as they walked. So she focused, and it sounded like Zoe was surprised by her response. But then again, after all the things she had been through, Riley could understand her a little.

Apparently she got her ears pierced though, and Riley just had to look. She smiled though as Zoe flushed and continued on. Sounding like a total dork as she looked forward to studying with Riley. I am getting dangerously close to cuddling her, and I do not think that would be good in that outfit. Riley thought. "Nice Zoe! I think you'll look with earrings. And I would definitely love to study with you. We could compare class schedules when we get back from the date or tomorrow." She offered with a shrug.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe flashed another smile. "We'll compare schedules tomorrow. We should focus on our date right now," she gave Riley another squeeze of the arm. Truthfully, Zoe had been looking forward to this whole date even before she'd decided that she wanted to really impress Riley. The official, out in public, dressed up, semi-formal date. the whole thing just made Zoe quivery, her legs weak. The more she thought about it, the more excited and nervous she got. Riley did have a last name you could actually Google, after all (Zoe had after their first date), whereas Zoe... well, actually you could Google her and find information on a photo and poetry show.

For now though, moving forward, heading out of the school, feeling sexier than Zoe had ever felt before. "Do we have a car ready?" Zoe asked, looking over at her girlfriend. "I'm guessing you, um did. And reservations. Oh!" Zoe's eyes opened wide. "I forgot about that! You definitely reserved a nice restaurant, right? Not that, um, i don't like, spending time with you, alone, and all, but, um, I kind of wanted for us to be... us, outside. Together."

And now she was blushing, and fervently hoping it didn't extend further down on her relatively bared body.

[Riley Forrester]

Riley smiled back at Zoe's answer and chuckled a little at the squeeze. Thankfully, her suit let them touch without Zoe's power kicking in. And just hope arms in general. Which was really nice. It kinda seemed like something out of a fairy tale, with Riley the knight leading Zoe the fair (but devilishly dressed) maiden away. Wow. Woooooooooow. Talk about utter cheesy you dingus. Her brain commented.

As they got outside and into the parking lot, Riley fished some keys out of her pocket and clicked them. Instantly, the lights came on from a black car that was quite the upgrade from the car they had last time. Riley couldn't help but grin at it as they approached. "Yep! It's amazing what cars you can rent when the guy who rents them thinks you're a good kid. That and when I told him it was a fancy date, he let me take this one for a reeeaaally good price." She said.

Then Zoe was asking if they had reservations, and Riley could see she was nervous as well as excited. Smiling warmly, Riley squeezed her hand reassuringly with her other hand. "It's ok Zoe. I've got everything planned out. You took care of the last date-- which was wonderful, by the way. If I haven't said that enough. But now it's my turn again." She said. "And I definitely wanna impress you with this one. Cause this is our first date as official girlfriends, and I definitely wanna make it as fun and memorable as the others." She added.

The blush only managed to make Zoe seemed more lovely (And of course draw Riley's eye to the rest of her), and make Riley smile as she opened the door for Zoe into the car.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The keys appeared, and Zoe looked to them for a moment. Only for that moment, as her gaze immediately swept the lot. She was almost tempted to say that Riley should let her guess, make a game of it, but then she remembered that she was supposed to be acting rather serious. She'd dressed sexy for an official out on the town date... but that didn't mean she shouldn't have fun with her girlfriend, right? "It probably helps having a last name people might recognize," Zoe said, flushing slightly. The disparity of their wealth still bothered her. Even her outfit, sexy and eye-catching as it was, had been pieced together from borrowed or donated clothing.

Still, Riley squeezed her hand, pouring more reassurance into her girlfriend. That followed with vocals, promises of the whole thing being planned out. "I don't think we should always set the bar so high," Zoe said, looking over at Riley. She could think of one very tempting suggestion to make the date quite memorable and, if everything Zoe heard was correct, "fun." So more blushing followed as Zoe slid into the car, adjusting her skirt, trying to pull it down before realizing that it really only went that far.

Zoe actually spent a few seconds staring, noting just how much leg she happened to bare with the outfit. All that dangerous, poisonous skin just out on display for anyone to touch. Plus, there was this very real worry that Zoe might have... might have overdone it somehow. She actually jumped when Riley got in the car, only to breathe hard and look away, clearly embarrassed and, as was so often the case, wrapped up in her own thoughts.

[Riley Forrester]

When Zoe mentioned the name thing, Riley actually blushed and averted her head. Her name could easily get her a lot of things. But that was just it: Riley didn't like using her name to get anything she wants. So she rarely gave her name to anyone. "Ah, truth be told, you're pretty much the only person I've told my last name to." Riley confessed with a tad sheepish smile while she helped Zoe in.

And the mention of not needing to set the bar so high for each date, Riley shrugged. "True, but... Well, I like making them special. Although I'm all up for just casual dates where we could just relax for a bit." Riley offered before grinning. "And besides, our next date is basically trying to make it as bad as we possibly can.." She added with a grin before moving over (after closing the door) to her side and hitting in

But then, as she turned the car on, she couldn't help but stare again. Hoooooooooly shit Zoe. Riley thought before for fully making sure her thoughts were on the road. As she backed up and they drove out of the school, a comfortable silence reigned as Zoe seemed deep in thought.. "I do hope you like the restaurant." He mused. "It's really nice.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Oh," was all Zoe could manage as Riley admitted to not sharing her name. So... was that something that was supposed to be secret? Not that Zoe had gone around spreading the name to everyone, whispering into people's ears that she dated a Forrester or anything. Again she was reminded of her poem, of Riley's determination to break away from things.

Was that why she kept putting so much effort into everything? Zoe wasn't entirely sure, but she couldn't help but smile, especially as Riley reminded her about the next date. not that the smile would last: those thoughts about herself and her expectations had come over her, and she found herself staring almost at the side of the car, not certain what to say or do.

At least she had something to comment upon: "I'm sure it'll be nice," Zoe said, smoothing her dress, again tugging at the bottom. "Is, um, what one did you pick?" She asked, glancing over. She did know some: there were art galleries in the fancier parts of Kalispell, so Zoe had walked past several. She couldn't help but wonder what Riley's idea of a good place for a fancy date happened to be...

[Riley Forrester]

Riley did manage to keep eyes of the road and not on the tempting display of bare skin that Zoe's dress was showing. That Riley definitely was not focusing on at all. Nope. Keep it together Riley. Come on. Her brain instructed, hitting her over the head with it as Riley listen to Zoe speak. Although even as she did, she couldn't help but not e how Zoe kept fiddling with her dress. Maybe she was still nervous or maybe she hadn't anticipated just how much skin would show when she sat down. Which Riley definitely wasn't looking at.

"Oh! Well, you remember the food we had on the first date?" Riley asked, glancing at Zoe for a second to flash her a smile. "It's actually a really, really nice restaurant, and I figured it would be fun to go to the real deal. Reservations for it are long too. I actually had to book ours a few days prior." She admitted. Course, she didn't mention how she had had to do the same thing basically on the first date immediately after she had talked with Zoe to find out what she liked. Because that felt a little too much like unnecessary bragging.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Did Zoe remember the food? There was very little about that first date that she didn't remember, and she was almost tempted to say as much. She kept it for the time being, smiling and listening as Riley explained that yes, there had been reservations and yes, she had made them and yes, they would be perfectly fine. Zoe could feel some of the nerves leaking out with that explanation.

"Well, that's good," she managed before bringing a hand up to push back some of her hair. Just touching it reminded her of the fact that even that had been a conscious decision on her part. Since Riley had mentioned liking it down, that was what Zoe had opted for, even if she seriously worried about her inability to keep her hands out of it for a few moments.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about the ride. None of the businesses in Kalispell were all that far from the school by car, and this one was likely to prove to be no exception. "Are there any rules for this place that I should know?" Zoe couldn't help but wonder aloud before turning to look at Riley. "I mean, well, you're in a suit and I'm in a dress, so we're clearly dressed. I just, um, I think I read about the forks and spoons and all that?" Zoe really didn't want to reemphasize that she wasn't exactly from the same class level as Riley but, well, at the same time, it didn't make any sense to pretend like that wasn't the case.

[Riley Forrester]

Mentioning that it was the place they had gotten their food from on the first date seemed to calm Zoe down from what Riley could see out of the corner of her eye. Zoe even said it was good, before reaching a hand up to her hair. It made Riley smile to see the familiar motion from the girl-- showing that despite her suddenly super sexy look, it was still Zoe underneath it all. Her girlfriend; who Riley was feeling even more tender towards because of the obvious effort the girl had taken in dressing up for Riley.

They rode for a bit more before Zoe asked her next question that made Riley blink. Rules? At first, Riley was completely confused. but then, as the questions went on, Riley realized why she was asking. She's afraid she'll screw up cause you're rich and she isn't. The thought made Riley's face soften and she simply smiled and shook her head, glancing at Zoe for a moment. "No, it's normal. Nothing so crazy, I swear." Riley assured the girl with a chuckle as they finally reached their destination.

Riley got out of the car and opened the door for Zoe, offering her arm once again with a smirk. "My lady." She said, grinning at her own cheesiness.