It was morning, and Oddey was in the campus garden studying before going to her class. All of a sudden, a take-out box from her favorite cafe appeared right in front of her. She got jolted a bit as she turned around. It was Gage smiling at her. "Good morrow, Juliet," he greeted and sat down beside her.

"Good morrow, my Romeo," Oddey said back.

"How sayest thou, fair madam?"

"Aye, I am merry. Wow, you are taking this Shakespearean lingo to a whole new level, so you want this to be our thing now?" She asked him.

"If you want it to be," He flirted.

"Hmm... maybe. It just made this a very sweet morning."

"Well, it'll be more sweeter with cream macha and a box of cinnamon bun." Gage took out their drink and the cinnamon bun from the paper bag.

"Oh, wow!" She was in awe at first, then became suspicious towards him. "You did something, or you want something?"

"Relax, can't your Romeo do something sweet, but now that you mention it, I do want something. Are you free this Saturday?" he asked.

"Hmm... yeah, why?"

Gage had this smirk of satisfaction. "Just making sure because I'm planning for our date."

Oddey's eyes widened in delight. "So what do you have planned?"

"Hmm... you'll see soon enough. It will be special."

"Aw... Now I'm curious," Oddey responds in a flirty tone.

"Sorry, can't tell you, it wouldn't be fun if I do."

"Ugh, okay," she whined.

"You'll love it. Now, come on, let's eat this before going to class." Gage opened the box and took out two plastic forks so that he could share them with Oddey, then the couple began eating together.

Minutes later, the couple spotted Courtney walking in the distance and looking at them. The Juliet noticed those two looked away from each other, not knowing that those two had a spat and it was about her.

---

Later, it was practice time in the theatre club. It was Gage and Courtney's time to rehearse their part. Although after their heated argument, it was affecting not only their friendship, but their acting too. Oddey watched them while working.

The two had to go over the scene ten times, which made Madame Vestia frustrated since she hoped that they would nail it that day. "Okay. Stop. Stop," She commanded. "What's with you two today? Both of your acting is off. I need the chemistry, and I want it now."

"Sorry, Madame Vestia," They apologized at the same time.

"I had a long day," Courtney claimed, then subtly turned to Gage as he just kept quiet and put his head down.

"I'm sorry, but I have a longer day than the two of you combined. Anyway, you two sit this out for today," the professor advised.

After that flop rehearsal, Oddey saw Courtney abruptly walk to another group of friends, so then she went to her Romeo to know what was going on, "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked. "You guys seem to have... friction this morning, and now it seems it's here too in your rehearsal time."

"You could say that," Gage sighed.

"Why? Are two fighting or something?"

"Yeah," he exasperated.

"Okay... Why?"

Gage got quiet and darted to his Juliet with this blank expression on his face, "Just... something stupid," He answered since he did not want his girlfriend to know the real reason for what the fight was about. "Anyway, don't mind her."

He took her hand and kissed it, which made Courtney fuming even more.

----

Saturday came, and Gage stood in front of his car, waiting for his Juliet to come. While doing that, he could not help but think about what Courtney told him.

"Gage?" Oddey came just in time.

He shifted towards her and gazed at her wicker sandals, then slowly at her red denim skirt, an off-shoulder cropped white blouse, and lastly, her face. Gage was mesmerized by how Oddey fixed herself up for their date, "Wow! You look beautiful," He said.

The girl blushed. "You think so? Thanks."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, so where are we going?"

The Romeo just smiled. "You'll see." Gage opened the door for her like a gentleman.

"Okay, the anticipation is killing me," the girlfriend replied as she went inside.

Gage began driving. On their way to the destination, he would glance over to Oddey, contemplating about the information he heard from Courtney again.

He felt bad that they were having problems again, but it was about the girl he loved. That was the last thing he wanted.

Even though there were so many things running in his head from it, he decided to shake it off and focus on his date with Juliet. A few minutes later, "So uhm... have you fixed things with Courtney yet?" Oddey asked him.

Gage darted his eyes to he, then back on the road. "No," he answered.

"By the way, what was the fight about?"

"It's... nothing," he lied, and it made him tense that his grip on the stirring wheel became tighter. "It's stupid. We have this science test in a couple of weeks, and asked me if she could cheat it off from me."

"Oh." Oddey was convinced.

"So I said no, and she got mad. I told her that I could tutor her, but she didn't want it. She's so wrapped up with the play that her priorities are messed up."

"She did look forward to being the lead. And speaking of which, it is affecting the play."

"I don't want to be in it in the first place," Gage sighed.

"Still, she'll understand someday that you're just looking out for her."

"Yeah, I hope so." Gage got curious all of a sudden. "Why are you so concerned about Courtney?"

Oddey was taken aback. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You two, you know, don't talk to each other, I'm just wondering, that's all."

"Well, she's your friend, best friend, right? Just because she and I don't see eye-to-eye doesn't mean I don't care. I know your friend means a lot to you, so try to talk to her, for me."

Gage smiled. He was happy to hear that his Juliet truly cared for his friendship with that one person who was not a fan of their relationship. "I will, maybe someday. This isn't the first time that we fought, and then we became friends again, anyway. I know Courtney is my friend, but sometimes, I hate that she has to think the wrong way to do things."

That hit hard for Oddey once again. "Despite that, you two are still great friends. But... what if the time will come that I'm doing something wrong? What if I made this huge mistake? Will you ever forgive me?"

Gage thought about it for a second while focusing on his driving, "Honestly, I don't know what to say," He replied. "But let's not dwell on the what-ifs. I trust you, and I trust that you're honest with me. Now come on, let's not worry about that now, and just enjoy today."

"Okay." She smiled and nodded in response. The Romeo took her hand and held it until they got to their destination.

About fifteen minutes later, they were in an area that the couple was familiar with since it was a town where they lived just in a different neighborhood. They were just passing through it because their destination was on the outskirts.

Eventually, they arrived in a secluded area with just grass and trees. "Are we... here?" she quipped.

"Yes," He answered as he took off his seatbelt and opened the car door. "But I have to show you something first."

"Alright," Oddey giggled.

After a moment passed, Gage helped his girlfriend exit the car and guided her to their spot because her eyes were closed with a picnic basket with his other hand. "Almost there."

"You went all out for this," she expressed in a giddy tone.

"I want it to be special," he replied. "Now we're here. You can open your eyes now."

When Oddey opened her eyes, she saw the coolest thing she ever saw, "Oh, my God," She gasped.

Gage surprised her with a two-story abandoned old brick cottage that was covered with root branches and dried flowers with a lake at the back. "Surprise!" he chimed.

"Wow! This is cute, but why did you take me here?" She asked him with this confused look on her face. "It looks like no one has been here for ages."

"That's kinda like the point." Gage put the picnic basket down and took out a piece of paper. "I remember you told me that you want your own art school. So here." He showed her a drawing of the cottage, yet it was different.

"Oh, wow..." Oddey was taken aback that her Romeo made her a design of her school. She put it up to imagine the real thing with the sketch Gage made.

"I used to go play around here in the woods until I discovered it. I found out from History of Architecture class that this was a school back then, like waaay back."

"It was?"

"Yup, I think it was an old preschool or something around the nineteen-thirties," Gage explained. "Now, it's like this. So I thought, why not make it to good use? Do you like it, or maybe you pictured it differently?"

Tears were starting to pour out from the Juliet's eyes as she gazed at the sketch. "I love it, Gage. This is the sweetest thing," She sniffled. After that, she hugged him. "Thank you."

"So you love it?"

"I do. I do, Gage."

"I promise, when I become an architect, this will be the first thing I'll work at. A good old restoration project," the Romeo told her. "This will be a perfect art school. I mean, look at the lake over there."

"It's a beautiful scenery," Oddey said as she admired the surroundings.

"Exactly. Come on, let's set up our picnic over there."

The couple went to the back. While the art-loving girl stared at the lovely landscape, Gage set up the mat on the ground, and in it were paint supplies. He took out a small square canvas with acrylic paint tubes and brushes.

Oddey turned to him and did not expect to see some art stuff for their picnic date. "Is this...?"

"Yup, it's a paint picnic," he told her.

"Paint picnic? No way." Oddey's mouth dropped to the ground, and Gage came up with the perfect date.

"And the best part." Gage pulled away from her and took something from the basket to show it to her. "Paint, and... sushi date."

"First this place, and now a paint picnic and a sushi date? Can this day get any better?"

"There's going to be a Ghibli movie marathon."

"There is?!" She gasped in delight and then jumped for joy. "Yay!"

"Now come on, let's start painting and eating."

The couple began their activity by working on an artwork of their own and sat on the opposite side of the mat. During their date, they ate sushi, laughed, and took pictures to capture every happy moment to remember in the future.

Oddey couldn't help but find this all so very sweet. "I can't believe you did all this for me," Oddey said. "When you say perfect date, you mean perfect date."

"Believe it. Now, incoming." Gage took a chopstick and picked a cheesy tuna roll, dabbed it with soy sauce, then fed it to her.

While Oddey was chewing, she fed California Maki to him. "So what are you painting?"

"The view." He showed his work of landscape art to her.

"Wow, that looks great, I didn't know you could paint."

"Architecture is 10% creativity."

"Good point," Oddey giggled. "Gosh, I can picture teaching my future students here."

Gage was happy just seeing his girlfriend looking forward to her dreams coming true. "Me too."