Astyr woke early the next morning and went for her now usual weekend jog. She got plenty of exercise during the week at both P.E. and cheerleading practice so the only time she got a chance to run was on her days off. She headed out into the chilly autumn morning, and after stretching her muscles, started jogging down the driveway. She had her mind on blood and wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings when she almost ran right into Randy as she reached the road.

"Hi, there," He said, helping her to keep her balance, "Got your mind somewhere else?"

She absolutely didn't want to tell him what she was really thinking so she came up with the first plausible answer that popped into her mind.

"Yeah," she said, "I just found out my best friend won't be at school for the next couple of weeks and I'm just kinda sad that he won't be there for Homecoming."

"Your best friend is a guy?" He asked, picking up on the important parts of her statement first.

Astyr rolled her eyes and gave him an answer. "Yes, my best friend is a guy. I only just moved here, remember? I haven't had a chance to meet a lot of people and he was the first person who talked to me and helped me out when I started school."

"Were you planning on going to Homecoming with him?" Randy asked.

"I hadn't actually thought about it at all." She replied. "I guess I just assumed that we would go together because we're always together at school. I've never really been to a dance before so I'm a little sad that I'll have to go by myself."

"You don't have to." He said. "You could go with me."

Astyr looked over at him and had to admit to herself that he definitely fit the bill if one were looking for a gorgeous companion. He was wearing his usual basketball shorts and his legs under them were toned and tanned. Today his chest was covered with a long-sleeved cotton tee shirt with a Harley-Davidson logo on the back, so she wasn't able to inspect his perfect 8-pack. She could definitely see herself with his arms wrapped around her and she had to really think hard to try and find a reason why going to the dance with him would be a bad idea.

"Wouldn't you be bored going to a high school dance?" She asked him.

He laughed at that and answered, "I only just graduated a few months ago. I'm not that much older than the rest of the kids at your school, you know. Probably a couple of the senior girls will be bringing boyfriends that go to college."

That was true, Astyr knew of two girls who were still dating the boyfriends they had had for years even though they were going to the university that was an hour and half drive from here. Randy wouldn't have any problem fitting in; in fact, his biggest problem might be that his good looks were too noticeable. There was something in that, though; if she were to show up to the dance with Randy, maybe Gwen would realize that Astyr wasn't trying to take Hakon's attention. Of course, Astyr knew that Gwen didn't really stand a chance with Hakon anyway but at least Gwen would have no reason to think Astyr was deliberately keeping him away from her.

"Well, I guess it's a date, then." She said. Then she blushed a little realizing that she had just been asked out on her very first date.

"I guess it is." Randy said with a smile. "What time should I pick you up?"

"Well, I have to cheer at the football game first so I'll already be at school." She told him, "I guess we can meet there."

"Alright," he said, "I'll definitely meet you there."

They spent the rest of the jog talking about Randy's job at the service station in town. When they came back to Grima's driveway, Astyr said bye and he headed off to do his normal second lap.

When she got upstairs, she couldn't wait to tell Grima about her date for the Homecoming dance.

"Oh," Grima said, "I didn't realize you knew the neighbors."

"Well, I only know Randy," Astyr told her. "He goes for a jog at the same time I do and we always talk while we're running. Have you met his dad, yet?" She added.

"No, I haven't." Grima said, "Every time I go over there, nobody's home."

"Well I know Randy works at the service station in town and his dad is probably at work all day, too." She said.

"I guess it's possible. Well, anyway, if you're going to the Homecoming dance then you need a proper dress to wear." Grima said with a smile. "What do you say we go this afternoon and find one?"

Astyr was very happy that Grima was going to let her go with Randy and she gave Grima a quick hug and thanked her. "I've never gone to a dance before. I can't wait to pick out a dress." She said excitedly.

She didn't bother changing yet since Hakon was coming to help her practice archery again. She just went downstairs and got the target set up. She was firing off practice shots when Hakon drove up and he came over to see her progress.

"That's really good, Astyr." Hakon said. "I don't think we even need to work on that anymore. How about we practice sword-fighting instead."

Astyr tried to keep her face straight as she agreed. Hakon had no idea that she was a 2nd Dan practitioner of Kendo, the Japanese art of sword-fighting. It was one of the many different styles of martial arts she had studied growing up and she had only been able to go to the class because it was offered free at the YMCA by a guy who was really passionate about Japanese martial arts. There were a couple of long sticks in Grima's ground floor store room that would do as shinai, the practice sticks that were used in Kendo, and Astyr brought these out to a clear space that they could use for Kata.

They faced each other and Hakon took a stance with his left foot behind and sticking out at a 45 degree angle and the shinai held firmly in one hand. Astyr, however, faced him squarely with both of her feet pointed forward and the stick held in front of her with both hands. Hakon told her that he would help her work on her stance later; first he wanted her to just do her best so he could see her skill level. With that he made a light lunge towards her swinging the shinai down from the right. Astyr shuffled forward and met his shinai with her own and instead of just slapping it away, she twisted to the left until Hakon was directly behind her and then she thrust the stick backwards and down straight into his thigh muscle.

Hakon hadn't expected that and he went down to his knee, his eyes wide in amazement.

"Where did you learn that?" Hakon asked her.

Astyr gave a small laugh and said, "I studied Kendo for a couple of years. That's Japanese sword-fighting." She added.

Hakon was reassessing her and he definitely was impressed with what he saw. "So that stance you took was part of your plan?" He asked her.

"Well, it's the normal stance a kendoist uses for a kata." She said. "It's pretty different from western fencing so it's a good way to throw someone off."

"Well, it certainly works, although that wouldn't be effective with a broadsword." He said. "What else did you learn from studying Kendo?"

So they spent the rest of the morning in close combat with Astyr showing Hakon moves she knew and him showing her ways to adapt them for using when fighting western-style. When the sun was high in the sky they put everything away and went upstairs to have lunch with Grima.

Grima was pleased to hear Hakon's praise for Astyr's skills as she set the sandwiches she had made on the table with the salad. They all sat down to enjoy them and they spent an hour talking of offense and defense and feints and thrusts. Finally Grima looked up at the clock and told Astyr she had better hurry in the shower and get ready to leave if she wanted to get her dress today.

"Your dress for what?" Hakon asked.

"My dress for Homecoming, of course." She replied laughing.

"Oh, you want to go to the dance." He said, "I didn't think you would."

"Why not?" she said, "And besides, all of the cheerleaders are going. You've heard us talking about it every day this week."

"I just didn't think you'd want to go and hang out with a bunch of kids, that's all," he said. "But I guess we can go if you really want to."

Astyr turned to Grima in shock and gave her a pleading look with her eyes to help her out of this situation.

"Actually, Hakon," Grima said to him with a grin, "Astyr was already asked by someone to go to the dance."

Hakon didn't actually look surprised when he said, "Well, I'm sure Gunnar meant well but he really won't be able to take her."

"Not Gunnar." Grima said clearly.

"What do you mean, not Gunnar?" Hakon was starting to frown. "If she's not going with Gunnar and she doesn't go with me, who on earth could she possibly go with?"

Astyr didn't know whether or not to be offended; she did, after all, spend almost every waking moment with Hakon and Gunnar. So she tried to keep her voice even as she said to him, "It might surprise you to know, but I do continue to breathe when I'm not in your presence." She walked off after that and could hear Grima laughing behind her.

When she came out of the shower, Hakon was gone and Grima was ready to leave. The rest of the afternoon was spent in driving to the mall and trying on seemingly hundreds of dresses. By the time they got home that night Astyr was exhausted and after thanking Grima and saying good night, she went to bed.

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