Henrietta had thought she and Van were going to be a couple or something. She had thought this even more after they had practically made-out in front a whole bunch of people. He said it had been 'fun'. What was that even supposed to mean? It was ridiculous and the brunette felt like a complete idiot. She had run as fast as she could from the McDonald's to get home to the Mansion. Now that she was to her destination, she sat against the inside of the door and quietly let a few tears roll down her pale face.

She made no effort to stand. The girl just sat there like a lump and stared at the floor. She was still in her outfit from the date and her purse had ended up sliding across the floor. It wasn't within her reach anymore, but she didn't care. It felt like someone knocked the wind out of her and then smacked her across the face with an open palm. She wasn't sure why she was so upset about this guy besides the fact that he made it sound like he used her. Henri couldn't be sure if that was what bothered her, or actually having a big crush on the guy.

After a few minutes of staring at the floor, she lifted her head to rest it against the door. She kind of felt like talking to Twyla, but didn't feel like talking at the same time. It was a weird mix of emotions and the girl wasn't enjoying it. Why did she let a guy have so much control over her emotions, especially when they only went on two official dates? Thinking about it, she closed her eyes. Well, he makes me feel happy and less nervous about almost everything. He's good at making me laugh. Not to mention, he's soooo hot.

When her brother had been in town Twyla Ashby had used his i Tunes to download a bunch of random songs onto her Zune. He'd had a bunch of weird stuff in his i Pod and one of the more...interesting songs had been Dr.Love by Donnie Klang. At first, Twyla had been planning on deleting it, but upon listening to the track for a few too many times on repeat (she couldn't figure out how to turn it off) she decided that it was an okay song in moderation, and if she was in a dancing mood. The blond was in a dancing mood as she wandered around the Mansion, in search of food and a source of entertainment as she waited for Henrietta to come home from her big date with Evan or Ivan or whatever his name was that she kept forgetting.

Twyla was dancing down the stairs in a tank top and a pair of cut off sweat pants when she saw the Henrietta in question. The brunette was sitting near the door in the foyer, looking all slumped and not at all post-date-giddy. Come to think of it, wasn't it kinda early for her to be back in? They were going to a movie or something and then other stuff after--it was much, much too early. Something was wrong. Twyla pulled her headphones out of her ears and ran the rest of the stairs, coming to a stop in front of her best friend.

Upon closer inspection, Henri's eyes were closed and she looked broken. "Hey girl..." Twyla began in a quiet voice, as if she was talking to a wounded animal. "What's going on?" It was decided executively that she wasn't going to ask about the date, seeing as that was a likely source of the broken pieces of the brunette scattered around the foyer. Henri would tell her and then they could discuss it. Something flared in the blond as she crouched in front of the girl on the floor. If that weirdo hurt her I am so gonna kick his ass. A pause as she adjusted her weight on her knees. Or something equally painful but more verbal...or something.

The brunette picked her head up to see her best friend kneeling in front of her. A smile same onto her face a moment, but it faded just as fast. Henrietta wasn’t sure what to say at first. There were so many thoughts rushing through the teen’s mind and it all felt so jumbled. “I threw fries at him. I threw fries at Van and then ran away.” She looked down and felt her stomach tighten up. “I’m so stupid, Twyla. I thought he liked me.”

Henri twiddled her fingers and then stopped abruptly, hitting her hands down on her legs. “I kissed him. A lot. I’ve never kissed anyone like that before.” She paused. “Do you know what he said to me when I asked him what we were? He told me that he’d made out with lots of girls and that it was ‘just for fun’.” The brunette looked at Twyla. “I made-out with him and all he has to say is that it was ‘just for fun.’ Is that all I meant to him? A few kisses?”

The girl curled up and held onto her stomach. “I feel like I’m going to throw up or explode, but I’m not sure which.” Henri felt a tear run down her face. “I’m sorry. I’m acting weird over some guy I was with three times. It’s just that he made me feel happy and not so afraid of everything. I thought he liked me back, I was hoping I was going to be his girlfriend.”

Henri smiled a weak smile that faded upon contact with oxygen. Twyla's brows turned down in worry but she tried to keep a calm smile on her face. Fries? She threw fries at her date? "You're not stupid, Henri. Why would you say that? You are not stupid in any sense of the word." Maybe a little weird for throwing fries out of context but other than that the blond didn't believe that her friend was stupid--everyone had stupid moments but that didn't make them stupid. She still wasn't quite sure what the possibly stupid moment was, but it seemed like Henri would tell her.

Twyla blinked and then rocked back on her heels to plop on her butt on the chilly floor. She watched with mild concern as Henri explained that she'd made-out with the mutant boy and what his response to that was. Twyla held her tongue and waited for her to finish, anger bubbling up in her chest. Little fricker. She thought to herself as Henri ranted. After she was finished talking, Twyla pulled herself up on her knees and leaned in the space between them before wrapping her arms around the other girl in a hug.

"Oh honey..." She patted her on the back once and then rested her hands on the girl's shoulders. "You are not stupid. He's the dumba$$, obviously. If he can't appreciate you then he doesn't deserve you--you're totally going to get over him and find someone that appreciates it when you kiss them without being a jerk about it, okay? You deserve so much better than a man-sl*t. There are better people out there, people who will make you feel the same way." A thumb made its way to the girl's cheek to wipe off the tear. "You're so much better than this." Twyla's tone was strong and sure when she spoke, and the look on her face barely masked the anger the was boiling beneath the surface. I am going to have some major words with that boy.

Pulling back fully, Twyla stood up and held a hand down to the other girl. "Let's get off of this cold floor and go sit in the living room or something." She smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes.

The blonde hugged Henrietta and she put arms around her to return it. "Thank you, Twyla." Everything that she had said made Henrietta feel a little less upset. Twyla also wiped the lone tear off of Henri's face. The brunette gave her friend a smile and noticed that she looked mad. Is she mad at Van? She must be, because she looked happy when she got here. It made the girl a little happy to know that she wasn't by herself on the way she was feeling. She had felt like maybe she was being immature by being angry, but it didn't seem that way so much anymore.

"You're right. It is kind of cold down here." Twyla helped Henri off of the floor and the brunette went to grab her purse off of the floor. After she had collected her things, the two girls went to the living room. The brunette plopped onto the couch and then looked at her friend. "Yeah, so that's about as exciting as my night became. Oh, I almost threw a shake at him instead of the fries." For some reason, this made the girl smirk a little. She was guessing it had to do with the image in her mind. A chibi version of herself chucked the shake at the boy and then ran away laughing. Why is it that chibi-me seems tougher than regular-me? That's just sad."

The girl brought her attention to her friend. Since she comforted her, maybe she could help Twyla feel less angry. That was kind of the same thing, right? "Anyway, enough about me. How was your evening? Anything happen that I should know about?" Henrietta stood up a second to tuck her legs under her and then she took her seat once more. She fidgeted with her dress to make sure nothing could be seen that wasn't supposed to be. After she had finished squirming, she smiled at her friend. "Sorry, I'm ready to listen now."

Twyla was glad that her suggestion was considered worthy. She waited patiently for Henri to retrieve her purse from the floor as her mind whirred. Little creep--I can't believe I didn't see this coming. I mean, I don't know the kid and I've never met him but I'm supposed to warn her against this kind of thing, right? I just can't believe I didn't see this coming... Twyla was still berating herself for her lack of information on the boy and Henri's affections for him as they walked down the hall and settled on the couch in the living room. [/i]Deep breaths, just focus. Anything that happened to Henri tonight is not your fault, it's his. Van's the d-bag in this situation.[/i] She had to remind herself.

Twyla tried to smile to make the situation less serious. "I personally, would have gone with the shake--it would probably make a much more of a lasting impression." The smile turned into a smirk to mirror Henri's. Sometimes that girl was too nice, it sounded like the boy deserved worse than he got. 'Just for fun?' Who says that!? Twyla tried to imagine herself in the same situation and failed miserably--she was torn between epic yelling and walking out without saying a word. She liked the possible images evoked by a dramatic reaction but couldn't see herself executing either option well. I'm too lukewarm... The girl sighed inwardly.

Her hands were worrying a pillow as they sat there--just because she couldn't picture herself b*tching out a boy in a McDonald's did not mean that she could not b*tch one out on her cell phone. It was a very tempting prospect. The pillow clutching was a preventative measure from her hands pulling out the tiny phone from her pocket. "That was an abrupt change of subject." Twyla commented on Henri's question. "Nothing new here, I mostly just wandered around while you were gone--it was kinda nice. I was just chilling, you know?" Twyla shook her head as if to wave her own words away.

"So you really liked him that much?" The blond asked meekly, trying to get the whole picture of the situation.

Twyla thought the shake would have been a better idea too. Henrietta decided she didn't feel as bad now. Yes, she knew that fry-throwing wasn't something people did in their daily lives, but she was sure it happened more than shake-throwing. At least fries wouldn't have ruined his clothes or gotten him cold and sticky. The blonde noticed the sudden conversation shift. It didn't seem like she had anything to share except that she enjoyed the alone time. After sitting there a few minutes, Twyla spoke again.

She asked if Henri really liked him that much. The brunette glanced at her hands. "I thought I did, but of course I don't really have anything to compare this feeling to. I've had crushes and stuff, but this doesn't feel like that at all. I randomly think of him even when he has nothing to do with whatever conversation I'm having." She ran both sets of fingers through her hair and sighed. "That's liking, isn't it? It feels like liking."

Henrietta was now looking at the carpet and looking at how it was made. It was hard to tell because it looked like it all flowed together in one big piece. It was a nice neutral color that made the room blend. Why am I acting so interested in the carpeting? I'm not at all, but I'm afraid of what Twyla'll think about all of this. Her and Mirror are totally into each other and they're both so nice. What's wrong with me that I like the guy who tells me making out is just for fun. The girl rolled her eyes slightly and then looked at her friend. "So, what do you make of all this?"

Twyla almost winced when Henri described what she was feeling. This made everything so much harder. On the one hand--she wanted her friend to be happy and being majorly crushing on someone and then going out with the someone could make her happy. On the other hand that Van kid was obviously a douche--Twyla decided she needed more information on the situation before she could pass her verdict, no matter how much she wanted to say mean things about the mutant boy. There was one thing she could say though.

"Yeah, that's liking." She didn't want to say it, didn't want to admit to Henri that she possibly had such feelings for a creep. On its own an image of both of Mirror's faces flashed in her mind. What she was describing made sense in context with what Twyla's mind did sometimes (plenty of times) during your average day.

What did she make of it? Two things, two totally different things. A finger went to her lips as she tried to find the best way to compromise between the two options. "Well...I think that..." A pause that showed that she hadn't quite made up her mind yet. "That you need to do whatever feels right...I don't really know this kid so I can't tell you why he said what he said or did what he did--I'm not sure if you even know." Another pause, this one used to relax her fingers wrapped around the pillow. "From my experience, and I'm talking back home experience, that teenage boys are usually pretty lame--they make lame excuses and they do lame things. Nate says that sometimes they do lame stuff to keep themselves from being too open or something--like too emotional or something. I personally, think it's kinda a load of crap."

She sighed, her friendship instincts telling her to say things that seemed mutinous to the rest of her. "I'm not saying that's why he was such an a-hole, but it could be part of it." Another sigh. "If it were me I'd stay mad at him for a while until I figured out why tonight was so weird. Make him crawl back, and if he doesn't he's not worth it. You did nothing wrong, so you shouldn't have to make the first move to do whatever. You always have the choice to ignore him even f he does crawl back, Henri." Twyla readjusted her legs on the couch, not making eye contact and with her lips pulled in a thight, straight line. She was still riding the high of her initial wave of angry emotion but she knew hat her initial reaction was not always the best option. "So yeah...It's up to you, I guess." There, she'd tried to give her friend the best advice she could think of, even if it wasn't what she'd wanted to say.

The blonde confirmed that it was a definite like. Part of Henrietta felt all fluttery from the news, and the other part of her felt like she was going to punch Van in the face. Why did she have to experience this feeling so intensely for the first time over someone who seemed like he didn't feel the same way? Twyla didn't seem too thrilled with the Henri liking the boy with piercings all over his face. She understood. If Mirror ever hurt her, the girl would be so p.o.ed. It wouldn't even be remotely funny and Maya/Gawain would be lucky if they didn't have any missing teeth.

The advice was to do whatever felt right. It made sense, but still didn't help her know what to do. Henrietta wanted an answer so she wouldn't have to make any hard decisions. It was a selfish thing to want, but how could she know if she was making the right choice? What if she thought she never wanted to see him again, but then someday saw him with some really pretty girl? She knew she'd regret that, but she could get hurt if she tried going out with him again. Neither thing sounded like a pleasant option. But maybe, just maybe, her and Van could be a couple and be happy. It was too much like a guessing game and it made Henri nervous.

Twyla had sighed repeatedly, which was an obvious sign that she wasn't completely agreeing with what was coming out of her mouth. It's nice of her to try, but it's like reading a book. The brunette just smiled and looked at her friend. "Thanks, Twyla. You're an amazing friend." It was true, Henrietta had never had anyone like Twyla before. It was one of the best things about being kicked out by her mom: all of the friends that she cared about and that cared about her too. It didn't matter to them what she was on the outside, she was just Henrietta Braun and that was the way she liked it.

"Oh, I'm some kind of friend." Twyla mumbled, the anger at the situation making a cameo appearance in her voice. She readjusted herself on the couch again, unable to find a comfortable position. Finally she settled on flipping herself over so that her legs were on the top cushions of the couch and her hair was dangling down, almost touching the floor as she sat upside down. It felt kinda cool, her hair, as it hung down in a golden and pink sheet behind her. To calm herself, Twyla occupied herself with tangling her fingers in the locks, half knotting and half braiding random sections of her hair as she simmered down from full boil to a much more docile and calm state.

"I'm not being much help--I'm saying stuff that makes sense but it's not like it's easy to just ignore someone or make them want you back. If it were me I'd not make contact for a few days." Her tone brightened as she found a better train of thought. "And when he did call I'd only let the messages be brief--be kinda a b*tch about it, like all aloof and sexy and sh*t." Swearing showed she was excited, since it wasn't something Twyla did often. "And then I'd talk to him in person about everything, get ourselves sorted out before telling him if I wanted to continue whatever with him or not--maybe wait a few more days for that. Think like 'Trials of Fire' or something, if he can't take the heat he's not worth it and it's not meant to be or whatever."

"But that's just me." The blood was rushing to her head as she sat, but the girl didn't really care. For a moment she wondered if she believed if people were meant to be or not, if there were certain someones that you just were meant to meet. Was she meant to meet Maya that day? Did that make any sense? Did it apply to all the people you met or just the people you end up dating or whatever? The combination of thoughts and her rapidly rushing blood was giving the girl a headache, so she sat back up. Stars danced before her eyes but she shot up from the couch anyway. "This situation calls for chocolate. I'll be back" She muttered before rushing out of the living room towards the stash in her room.

Twyla explained to Henrietta what she thought she should do about Van. She said to be aloof and sexy. The brunette almost laughed trying to think of herself as being 'sexy' in any sense of the word, but somehow she managed to hold it in. She found herself wondering if teenagers could actually be sexy or not. Was there a certain age you could be considered sexy at? And if so, what was it? She bit the inside of her cheek in thought. Well, I guess it doen't really matter right now. I'll have time to figure it out, I hope.

Henrietta watched as her friend hung upside down on the couch, but then sat up again. She said she went to get chocolate and Henri felt her stomach rumble quietly. That's right. I threw almost all of my fries at Van. No wonder I'm hungry. She was pretty sure that a combination of that, and the mention of chocolate was what made her tummy mutter to itself. Anything having to do with chocolate could make the girl feel hungry, even if she wasn't. It was odd how she always had room for dessert, especially if it contained chocolate.

As she waited for Twyla to return, Henrietta dug through her purse and pulled out her ticket for "Alice in Wonderland". She stared at it for a minute, wondering if the movie had been good. After all, she hadn't seen much of it. It had just been random bits and pieces to her. It probably had been for the group of tweens too. They had seemed more interested in Henrietta and Van's make-out session than Johnny Depp acting like a bi-polar weirdo. She continued to keep her hold on the ticket and stared at it, her mind in a different place.

Twyla came back into the living room, armed with a bag of M&Ms and the movie 'Mean Girls'. The movie was just-in-case back up amo intended to be used if Henri became so upset that she needed to quote something. The chocolate, on the other hand, was a good first offensive meant to curb sadness and increase happy feelings while catering to a sweet tooth. The first thing the girl's brown eyes alighted on was the tiny ticket clasped in her friend's grip. Oh no, that is not going to fly. Depositing the candy and DVD on the coffee table, Twyla snatched the stub out from the other girl's hands, crumpled it up, and threw it across the room.

"Delicious candy coated chocolate? Did I mention it is in Spring colors?" The blond didn't even mention her little toss as she ripped open the bag and help it out to the brunette next to her on the couch. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Twyla asked in an offhand voice, making herself busy with organizing the M&Ms in her hand into piles based on color. It was an idea that occurred to her as she rummaged under her bed for a suitable crappy-date candy. Generally Twyla avoided confrontation like the one created by talking to Van on the phone, but for Henri she'd make an exception. Hopefully her suggestion wouldn't cause any nasty scene-like things, the young mutant hadn't been able to find any of her boxes of tissues.

Without giving Henri time to respond the DVD case was brought up in front of her face. "Wanna go to Taco Bell?" She asked behind the mask of 'Mean Girls'. Twyla needed to quote something, her best friend sense was inconsolable.

Twyla pulled the ticket from Henri's hand and replaced it with Spring M&Ms. The brunette glanced up at her friend and laughed quietly. She took a handful of the chocolatey candies from the bag and shoved half of them into her mouth all at once. As she chewed them, she leaned back into the couch and got cozy. Her friend asked a question that caught her a bit off guard. "Do you want me to talk to him?" She glanced from the corner of her eyes to look at her and saw she was sorting the candy by color. She made it seem like she hadn't just asked the question with her mannerisms.

Before getting a chance to answer, she was looking at the 'Mean Girls' DVD cover. When she was asked if she wanted to go to Taco Bell, Henrietta laughed. "I'm on an all-carb diet. God Karen, you're so stupid." Pause. "I shall now give the stage actions. Runs into the bathroom to cry over tacos and chalupas." Henri knew most of the quotes from that beloved movie, but of course most teenaged girls did. She smiled and pushed the cover downwards so she could see the other girl's face. "Pleasure to see you again," she joked at the lack of view she had had previously.

The girl cam back to Twyla's question. "Do you want to talk to him, Twyla? I mean, I'm not sure what I want right now. I'm not sure if he needs some space and he's mad or if I should just forget all of this." Henri glanced at the floor and shook her head. "If you want to talk to him, go for it. I just don't want you to feel like you have to. I guess I would like to know what's on his mind, if possible." She looked up at her friend and tilted her head slightly to one side. "I don't want you to feel like this is your problem and that you have to talk to him, you know?" It may also have been partly that she could imagine the blonde chewing out Van. It was a funny image, but she wasn't sure if it was acceptable to sic a friend on him at this point in time.

The cover was pushed down and Twyla giggled. "Boo, you wh*re." And then she rolled her eyes, to show that she was kidding. 'Mean Girl's, in all of its catty, over done-ness, was one of the girl's favorite movies. It seemed ridiculous but parts of it were dead on when it came to high school girl behavior and Twyla attributed her enjoyment to a combination of this and the fact that the lines were pretty much epic. It was good that she didn't seem upset about the throwing of the ticket stub or of the mentioning of talking to the poop-faced boy that had ruined her evening. That was what the DVD case was for though, it had given her momentary protection from any negative emotions unintentionally caused by Twyla's attempts at helping her friend.

A handful of M&Ms were thrown into her mouth to give the girl time to think about whether or not she really wanted to call the boy that she didn't even know. Maybe it would be best if she didn't get involved and Henri handled it her way? It seemed a little pushy to worm her way into the situation and possibly make it worse by saying the wrong thing to a guy that her best friend obviously really liked. "I just kinda want to call him and bite his head off--that's bad isn't it? He's a stranger and I just want to scream at this kid and tell him to get his head out of his a$$." More giggling erupted after this as Twyla realized how much she had been swearing that night.

"I think I'd make it my problem if I called him. So...never mind, forget I mentioned anything. I do think that maybe you'll want to call him if you SERIOUSLY need to know what was going on--but I stick to my original advice and would caution you to let him crawl to you instead of trying to understand his d-bag ways too soon." The blond nodded sagely, content with her own advice and the realization that she didn't have to fight all of Henri's battles for her, no matter how much she wanted to.

The blonde had said something about wanting to bite his head off more than talk. Henri laughed and nodded. "I'd want to do the same thing if someone upset you. I know I would." Twyla had made the final decision to stay out of the Van-Henri conflict. She said she would call if the girl absolutely wanted her to, but the brunette decided this may better left alone for a while. Maybe Van just needed some time to think some things out and know what was going on in his own mind. If he was confused, yelling at him wouldn't help. It would probably just be overwhelming and a big turn off.

Henrietta's hand found her way into the M&M bag once again. She got a few out and popped them one by one into her mouth. The girl stared at the TV screen, though there was nothing on. A smirk came onto her face. "I just realized that now anything about 'Alice in Wonderland' is probably going to turn me on or something." She looked at Twyla with a serious look in her eyes for a moment, but then she began to laugh. It just struck her as funny. It was more a joke than anything, but Johnny Depp would probably be forever synonomous with thoughts of her first make-out session. Maybe if her and Van didn't get back together, she could try to imagine herself making out with Johnny instead.