these chocodiles. oh my god.

"Uh-oh, J-Ju. T-Bird's got that look in her eye again. That Boy Crazy look!" Zeke whispered. Jimmy Junior scoffed and narrowed his eyes,

"Ugh, don't remind me. I see it."

"Would, you like to sit down somewhere and chat? Get to know each other a bit? Well, more than we have in our letters?" Tina asked.

Steve nodded, "Y-yeah! That'd be great!" he said, extending an arm before him, "After you milady."

"Ooh, polite AND cute! Thank you," Tina said coyly with a small smile.

"I try!" Steve laughed, flustered, and face a bit flushed as they walked off.

Jimmy Junior huffed. Zeke put his hands on his friend's shoulders,

"Eaaasy there, buddy. Breathe. Deep breath! Let's do something to take yer mind off'it, huh? How about we go find our own pen pals?"

"Ugh, fine." Jimmy Junior said, rolling his eyes, "But this doesn't mean I care, you know!"

"I know, I know," Zeke said, steering Jimmy Junior away.

Steve stared after them, "Soo, your friends?"

"Oh, yeah. That's Jimmy Junior and Zeke. They're good people."

Steve nodded, "My friends are around here somewhere too. I can maybe introduce you?"

Tina nodded, "Sure, that'd be nice!"

Steve found a spare seat and pulled it out for Tina. She thanked him before sitting, and he took a seat beside her.

"So, tell me about yourself." Steve urged.

"Well, I've mentioned if before but, I'm 13. In the eighth grade. I have two siblings, a younger brother and sister.  They're around here somewhere. And...I like horses and bu-..." she paused. She hadn't mentioned her affinity for butts and zombies in her letters, and didn't want to scare him off too soon. "Uh...b-boy bands! I like boy bands."

Steve perked up at this, "Really?!"  Tina nodded.

"Ya know! I was in a boy band once. I was basically the lead singer," Steve said, practically puffing out his chest.

"Oh wow," Tina said, eyes shining as she leaned forward. "Really?! Any songs I'd know?"

"Heh...well, maybe not," Steve said nervously, "We were kinda one hit wonders."

"Oh." A pause. "What was the name of your band?"

"B12. There were 12 of us."

Tina's eyes grew wide and she swallowed, "T-twelve boys? Hmmm..." she closed her eyes, her fantasy starting to take flight as it usually did when she thought of boys. After all, 12 was definitely more than 4 (Move over Boyz4Now)!

"Well, 11 maybe? I actually think one of the members may not have fully been a guy but...uh...Tina?  Tina!"

"H-huh?!"

"You...started humming to yourself with your eyes closed?"

"O-oh!" Tina's cheeks grew red. "S-sorry." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I..uh...my mind gets away from me sometimes."

Steve blinked, then gave a small smile, "I hear ya. I fantasize sometimes too....usually like in music video form in my head."

"That sounds cool," Tina said dreamily. Steve's turn to blush,

"Th-thanks."

"What else do you like?" Tina asked.

"Uh, well the usual stuff. Video games, hanging out with my friends. We role-play sometimes! Like, Dungeons and Dragons and stuff."

Tina nodded slowly, "Interesting..." she mentally nodded that he was a bit more on the nerdy side, not that she minded.

Steve nodded excitedly and continued,

"I like models!" He paused, "N-not like, girl models!  I-I mean, well, I do like them too but....." He mentally slapped himself. Focus Steve!  "I-I mean l-like, building model planes and trains and stuff. My dad and older sister thinks its just playing with toys but, it really takes a steady hand and concentration. Ya know?"

"I heard that. It takes me a lot of concentration when writing my fanfiction."

Steve blinked, "Y-you write fanfiction too?! What genre?!"

"Uuuuuuuhhhhhh....." Don't say Erotic Friend Fiction, Tina. Don't say Erotic Friend Fiction. Don't scare him off! "R-romance?  I mean, sometimes I'm inspired by movies? I wrote like a sci-fi Blade Runner-ish fic once but, yeah."

Steve's turn to lean forward, "That's so cool!"

Tina blushed, "T-thanks."

"Maybe I could read them sometime?"

"Maybe?" Tina said with a small smile and a shrug.

They were quiet for a moment.

"Dooo, you like....um..weird stuff? Like...aliens? ....O-Or monsters?!" Steve asked.

Tina put a finger to her chin in thought,

"Uhhhh...well...I, kinda think Zombies are cool?"

Steve blinked, "Really?"

"Yeah, I really love zombies!"

"Get out!  Have you seen the Thriller music video?!"

Tina beamed, "Duh!! Who hasn't?! That's kinda what sparked my hyperfixation!" Then she leaned forward and whispered, "Between you and me, I thought they were all hot!"

Steve took a breath. Oh, this girl was definitely different...and he was practically swimming in her weirdness...and he liked it. His heart was beating rapidly but he tried to calm it down as he stood and offered her his hand.

"Shall we?" he said with a charming smile. Tina blushed lightly but nodded, "We shall!" she said, sliding her hand into his.

The both stood up and started doing the world-famous zombie dance, Steve humming the beat for them to keep rhythm. Tina couldn't stop grinning.  Then, half way through, Steve did a spin move before hitting a split, coming back up, doing a small moonwalk, and belting,

"'Cause this is thriller, thriller night

And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike

You know it's thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah

Ooh"

Everyone turned to look at them. Steve opened his eyes and flushed to the tips of his ears.

"Hehe...oops."

"Oh my god, you sound amazing!" Tina said, in awe.

"Aw, t-thanks..."

"No, really?! I mean it!!" She leaned even closer to him, eyes shinging and her fists clenched excitedly. "How did you guys not make it big?! One hit wonders?! I would've been a diehard fan of your first album!"

Steve blinked, the smirked, leaning closer, "Want me to serenade you with a line from our hit song?" He asked, taking Tina's hand.

She swallowed nervously but nodded. Steve grinned as he took her hand again, singing soft just for Tina as he leaned close, right next to her ears, "Girl, you need a shot of B12, you know you do!"

And that was it.