my story...again

[Julie the GI girl]

i'm testing this out again....let's hope it works. if not...well...i'll....do something. lol


It was a bright sunny day, only a few clouds in the brilliant blue sky, and the cool ocean breeze made the temperature perfect. That’s one good thing about being stuck on a tropical island, Gilligan thought to himself. The weather is almost always nice.

The young first mate of the ill-fated Minnow was taking his morning walk to check on the lobster traps. This was one of the rare chances that he got to be alone, and he looked forward to the chore. It was his time to let his mind wander and think about things. Mostly he thought about the island and the other six castaways. He wanted to go home, there was no doubt about that, but he knew it had to be harder for the others. Ginger had her career abruptly ended and didn’t know if she’d still be known if she ever got back to Hollywood. Mr. Howell longed to be back overseeing his numerous corporations and watching his money roll in. Mrs. Howell missed all the social events that came with being a rich society lady. The Professor actually seemed to be enjoying his time on the island, there was plenty to study and experiment with, but Gilligan knew that he wanted to go home too. Mary Ann came from Kansas...so far away and so different from the tropics. She missed her family and her farm. The Skipper...well, he mainly missed food. This was a nice island, and they all got along like one big happy family, but still...it wasn’t home.

Gilligan reached the lagoon and pulled out the lobster traps. Eight lobsters...what a catch! There was enough for dinner, plus one more if somebody wanted seconds (most likely the Skipper). They’d eat good tonight! He talked to the lobsters as he put them in the basket. He knew they couldn’t understand him, or at least he was pretty sure they couldn’t, but for some reason when he talked to them he rarely got pinched. No one else on the island could collect them so easily. He had to admit, he had a way with animals. He sort of felt bad for the little guys. How can the girls stand to cook them? They were made of tougher stuff than he was. Especially Mary Ann... He admired her. She hardly ever complained about their situation, and she was strong-minded and brave when she had to be...for a girl anyway. She was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend on the island. Everyone else could get fed up with him over any little thing, but Mary Ann always forgave and forgot.

Gilligan finished collecting the lobsters and started back up the hill to camp, letting his mind wander again. Just then, something in the lagoon caught his eye. It was a canoe! His first thought was to jump up and down and yell, but then he took a better look at the man paddling the tiny wooden vessel. Clad in a grass skirt and decorated with bones, tusks, and feathers, everything about the deeply tanned man flashed “headhunter” in bright neon lights. The most alarming thing about him was the shrunken head that he wore on a rope around his neck. Gilligan went wide-eyed, imagining his own head in its place. I’ve got to go warn the others!

He started to run back to camp, but at that moment his shoelace decided it was going to come untied. In true Gilligan style he tripped and crashed into the ground, sending the lobster basket flying into the air.

The headhunter didn’t see Gilligan, but when lobsters started falling from the sky and raining down on him, he was startled to say the least. One of the lobsters took a large claw and delicately pinched him...right in the backside. The headhunter yelped, turned the canoe around, and paddled out of the lagoon faster than humanly possible, almost as though he was in fast forward.


Gilligan watched the headhunter leave, and then raced back to camp.

“SKIPPER! PROFESSOR! SKIPPER! SOMEBODY!” he yelled as he ran.
He turned the corner of the supply hut and ran right into the Skipper.

“Oof! Gilligan! What’s the matter!?”

Gilligan was out of breath and his words flew a mile a minute. “I was checking the lobster traps and I saw a canoe and there was a headhunter and he had a shrunken head and everything and he looked real mean and he’s gonna kill us and I’m too young to die Skipper I don’t want to die Skipper!”

“Ok, Gilligan! Calm down little buddy! I can’t understand a word you’re saying!”

The Professor came out of the hut. “What’s all the yelling about?”

“Something scared Gilligan.”

Well that’s nothing new, the Professor thought to himself. “All right, Gilligan,” he said calmly. “What frightened you? Did you see something?”

“Yeah!......a headhunter!”

The Professor’s expression changed from mild interest to worried concern. He looked over at the Skipper, who was equally worried.

“Are you sure it was a headhunter?”

“Sure I’m sure! He even had one of his hunted heads around his neck!”

“Where was he?”

“In the lagoon. He left when I dropped the lobster basket. Maybe one of them pinched him.” He imitated snapping claws with his hand as he said it.

The Skipper’s head snapped around to glare at Gilligan. “You WHAT?” he roared.

Gilligan quickly dropped his hands and looked embarrassed. “I tripped and dropped the lobster basket and the lobsters all fell into the water.”

“That’s just wonderful, Gilligan! You managed to drop our dinner!”

“Skipper, please. This could be serious,” the Professor interjected.

“Of course it could! Now we have to come up with something else for dinner.”

The Professor ignored his last comment. “It’s a good bet that the headhunter Gilligan saw was a scout. He was probably sent ahead alone to see what this island was like.”

“Yeah, and to see how many heads are on it!” Gilligan added.

“But he went away didn’t he?” the Skipper said.

“Probably only temporarily. I’m afraid that he’ll be back, and with his entire hunting party.” Another thought struck him. “Gilligan, did he happen to see you?”

“I don’t know, Professor....it all happened so fast.”

“If he did, then he knows there’s at least one person on this island. There’s a better chance of them returning if they think they may be able to get a trophy.”

“A....a trophy?” Gilligan squeaked out as his hands flew to his neck.

“Yes, Gilligan.”

Just then Mr. Howell came walking by. “Ah, Gilligan my boy! Just the caddie I was looking for!” He dramatically dropped his bag of oyster shell golf clubs at Gilligan’s feet as though it weighed a ton. “Manual labor....how vulgar!” He noticed the look on Gilligan’s face. “Are you feeling all right, son? Perhaps I should find another caddie....” He glanced over at the Skipper and Professor.

“Certainly not!” the Skipper growled.

“Mr. Howell....” the Professor started.

“Oh it’s so hard to get good help these days!” Mr. Howell complained.

The Professor continued, only slightly annoyed at the interruption. “Mr. Howell, we have more important things to worry about than golf right now.”

“My boy, in the business world there is nothing more important than a game of golf!” he boomed, and then added softly with a sly grin, “You have to know which potential partner to let win.”

The Professor sighed and continued. “Gilligan saw a headhunter. It’s up to us to form a plan of action; to be prepared for a possible attack.”

“Attack! Good heavens, that sounds dangerous.”

“Yes. It could very well be. I don’t think it would be wise to let the woman know anything about this unless it becomes absolutely necessary.”

At that moment Ginger was coming down the path, unnoticed by the men.....As usual she thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. They seemed to be discussing something important. She could see the Professor talking, his brows lowered and eyes narrowed in the deepest seriousness. She slowly moved toward them, and came close enough to hear the end of their conversation.

“So we all agree to not inform the women of our actions?” the Professor was asking.

The Skipper, Mr. Howell, and Gilligan all agreed, and they went their separate ways.

Ginger watched them leave. “The men are up to something,” she thought out loud. “I’m going to find out what.” She silently crept away, her suspicions aroused. Gilligan would be the easiest target. He was so shy; she could get him to tell anything just by getting close to him.

Ginger followed the path that Gilligan had taken, hoping to get him alone. She was disappointed when she found him collecting coconuts, under the watchful eye of a very unhappy looking Skipper. She sighed. Maybe later.

* * *
Dinner that night was a gigantic fruit salad. It was actually very good, but the Skipper made it plain to everyone that it was Gilligan’s fault that they weren’t eating lobster. He didn’t reveal any more about the subject, only that Gilligan had been clumsy and dropped the lobsters into the water.

Gilligan tried to smile, but it was obvious that he was sorry and embarrassed. He didn’t know why he was so clumsy, but it seemed like he was always messing something up.

Mary Ann glared at the Skipper and then moved next to Gilligan. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s ok, Gilligan. It’s not like we’ll never have lobster again.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back weakly. “Thanks, Mary Ann.”

The rest of the meal passed in silence.

* * *

The next day, Ginger was still trying to get Gilligan alone. So far she hadn’t been able to find him away from the Skipper. The two of them seemed to be working on something secret, but she would never find out what it was if they were never apart.

Frustrated at her slow progress, Ginger got up from her hiding place behind the bushes and turned to leave. She was getting enough experience in spying on this island that she could join the FBI if they ever got rescued. And that casting director said I didn’t make a convincing secret agent...ha! She smirked. Her acting skills were becoming much better since they’d been shipwrecked. If only the film critics were here now.

Ginger’s thoughts took an abrupt turn as she passed a small hidden clearing and detected movement out of the corner of her eye. She ducked behind a tree and peeked out from around the trunk. It was the Professor. He was seated on a log working on something. He appeared to be concentrating, and she knew he was probably completely unaware of his surroundings. She smiled to herself. For a man of such vast intelligence, he was completely unaware of a lot of things....mainly her.

Ginger got an idea. She couldn’t get Gilligan alone....but perhaps the Professor? Would he tell the big secret if she tried her “powers” on him? She sighed. Probably not, but still...it was worth a try.

The Professor was working on his latest project. The threat of headhunters was a very real one, they had been here before, and they could very well return. He had been making guns. It was amazing what could be made out of bamboo, coconuts, and clam shells. They needed to be prepared in case of a possible attack. Coconut bombs were made easily enough, but they weren’t always convenient or practical. There had been guns on the island from time to time, but they always managed to break or get lost. Gilligan made sure of that. But it had also been Gilligan that had stumbled (literally) over a large crate filled with ammunition that was hidden in a cave, so credit had to go where it was due. Guns could be made. Bullets on the other hand were beyond his skill.

The Professor examined his current project within a project: a water gun for Gilligan. It hadn’t been his idea...the Skipper had insisted because he “didn’t want his little buddy to accidentally shoot himself in the foot.” The Professor had sighed and agreed. In his opinion, everyone should be armed, but an argument with the Skipper was useless. Besides, the headhunters wouldn’t know it wasn’t real, and it was unlikely that Gilligan would shoot at them anyway. The Professor looked down at his work and wondered if he could ever bring himself to use the weapon. He didn’t want to kill, or even hurt, anyone. When it came to protecting the women, he would do anything he could, but he hoped that it wouldn’t come down to war with the natives.

He was just putting the finishing touches on the water gun, when he was startled by movement beside him.

“Hi Professor,” Ginger said with a sly smile.

“Oh, hello Ginger,” he replied as he hurriedly concealed the water gun behind his back.

“What are you working on?” she whispered as she sat down close to him.

“Uh....it’s nothing Ginger...just an experiment.”

She moved even closer and stared in his eyes. “What kind of experiment?”

“Nothing that you’d find very interesting I’m afraid.” He instinctively backed up. I hate when she does this... But then he had a sudden thought. Did he really hate it? She was his friend, like family to him on this island, but he knew that he hadn’t really been thinking of her as family, especially not recently. . .

*******It had been two months since Erika Tiffany-Smith had been on their little island. The Professor couldn’t believe that she had been so smitten with him, and he was impressed by her interest in science. Well, he thought she had an interest in science. She was far more interested in romance however, which he knew very little about. He had gone to Ginger for help. She was a woman and his friend, she could give him advice. But he had left her hut not with answers to his problems, but with entirely new problems. She had kissed him. It was only supposed to be a lesson, but it had left him more confused than ever. Just being near Ginger had made him feel nervous and....different. Erika didn’t have that affect on him at all. Why did Ginger? It had made him question his engagement. He knew he couldn’t possibly marry Erika when he didn’t feel anything besides admiration for her. Ginger had shown him more than just how to kiss, even if she didn’t realize it. Fortunately, Erika rethought their engagement also, and it was off. But the memory of Ginger’s kiss stayed with him. Afterwards he had spent a great deal of time thinking about the subject, and his memory recalled the time they had made the silent movie. He had been unusually nervous around Ginger then too; he even fell over his chair. But when she had kissed him, he couldn’t help but throw his arms around her and pull her closer. It was amazing! Their kiss never seemed to end, and it had left him confused and in disbelief that he had done such a thing. His thoughts took him back even farther, and he realized that the same nervous feelings had also been present when they were pretending to be together to make Duke Williams jealous. Her kiss had changed him. He treated her a little differently after it…he was a little kinder to her, more gentlemanly. And he knew that he had made an effort to be with her more often. Why did Ginger always bring out feelings in him that he never even knew were there? It was a puzzling question. He didn’t dare mention any of this to her. She was only acting, after all. She was a glamorous movie star, she wanted a handsome Hollywood leading man with money and charm to sweep her off her feet and pamper her with luxury. A simple teacher like him didn’t mean anything special to her, he was sure of that, but he had been even more nervous around her since then.....*******

No, he decided. He was only fooling himself if he tried to deny that he enjoyed her gentle touch.

Ginger moved closer still, and gently placed her arm around his neck. “You might be surprised about what I’m interested in,” she whispered, and flashed him her best smile.

She suddenly realized that hadn’t sounded quite like she had planned. She hadn’t really meant any double meaning, but maybe deep down she did.....

*******Two months had passed since that stuck-up Erika Tiffany-Smith had been to their island hoping to build a resort hotel. She’d had more spouses than most of the Hollywood people Ginger knew, and there was something about her that just rubbed her the wrong way. Ginger decided to play nice, however, when she learned that Mrs. Tiffany-Smith owned quite a few movie studios. It never hurt to make friends in high places. But Mrs. Tiffany-Smith (why Mrs.? Was she a widow? One of her husbands had probably committed suicide from being stuck with her) was interested in something else on the island: the Professor. She had taken one look at him and was instantly attracted. It reminded Ginger of a hawk ready to sink its talons into its prey. But maybe she had just been a little jealous. The Professor had certainly never treated her like that. But he was her friend. She didn’t trust Erika Tiffany-Smith, and she didn’t want to see him get hurt, but he seemed so happy. When he came to her for help, she knew she had to give it. He had been even less experienced than she thought, and so nervous! But when she had kissed him, she completely forgot that she was only teaching a lesson. That kiss was real. When he left her hut, she had sat in silent thought for a long time. She REALLY hated that Tiffany-Smith woman.

Since that little lesson, Ginger had avoided being alone with the Professor too much. She was afraid of what she might say, and she had to admit, she was a bit nervous around him. But he had been entering her thoughts more and more lately, as she replayed the memories of the lesson, and their other shared kisses, in her mind. She had even taken to calling him Roy when she thought about him, as though his name was a special title that only she could use, and only in her mind. She couldn’t even believe that she had become this childish over the Professor. Oh, he was handsome enough all right, but he wasn’t really what she thought of as her type. She figured it would pass in time. It was just an innocent crush, wasn’t it? Nothing more, nothing less. One thing was for sure, she knew he didn’t think about her in the same way....*******

Yes, Ginger’s words had definitely had a hidden double meaning, but he didn’t seem to catch it. This little act she was putting on was easy. She had done it a hundred times before to other men. For some reason she didn’t feel quite as nervous to be near him as she had been recently, since she was only acting....wasn’t she?

She continued moving closer, her one arm around his neck and her other rising up to caress the bare skin of his throat and collarbone. Her hand slipped under his shirt collar, and she ran her fingers along his shoulder and down towards his chest. She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt him shiver a little at her touch.

“Please, Professor? Can’t you tell me what you’re working on?” she whispered directly into his ear in a voice that was both soothing and pitiful. Her hypnotic charming was going along just like she had planned...surprisingly.

The Professor’s mind was filled with conflicting emotions. Her cool fingers on his now heated flesh were causing a war to go on inside his head. It was a battle between id and superego, and his ego was too confused to help. His id wanted nothing more than to give in to Ginger’s advances: cooperate with her seduction act, and then tell her the whole plan in hope that she’d continue. But his superego was telling him that this was wrong. He shouldn’t be letting her continue. He shouldn’t be wanting her to continue. He could do nothing besides sit there completely frozen.

The Professor’s ego finally decided to thaw out and wake up, and he came to a decision. In the back of his mind he knew that he did want her to go on, there was no denying that he was getting incredibly turned on by her act, but he knew that he didn’t want this. This was wrong. She was acting, it wasn’t real. None of her delicate touches or smooth, silky words meant a thing....except maybe the promise of finding out what he knew. He had to stop her.

Ginger was just about to go to the next step in her usual routine and kiss him, when she noticed the look on his face. He had his eyes closed and was frowning. His head slowly shook back and forth as though coming to a decision of some kind, then he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked at her eye-to-eye as he placed his hand over her own and removed it from his chest. He gently laid her hand down on the log and backed away until they were no longer uncomfortably close, her other arm falling away from around his neck in the process.

Ginger was puzzled by the sudden change in direction. He had resisted her? How? Everything had seemed to be going normally, what had made him stop her? She sighed to herself. I knew this wouldn’t work...he’s too smart to fall for it. Just the fact that it had seemed to be going normally surprised her.

He looked away for a few seconds, as though thinking, and then turned back to her. He stared her directly in the eye with all the seriousness he possessed as he spoke.

“Ginger, what are you doing?”

She knew the question went deeper than the obvious. She could tell by his actions that he knew exactly what she was doing. His question was more along the lines of WHY she was doing it. She tried to answer, but no words came to mind, and she looked down to avoid his gaze. What could she really tell him? She knew he had already guessed her intentions, and Ginger herself didn’t even know the answer to why she had tried to seduce information out of a man who was not easily seduced. She had almost forgotten who he was, he had been going along with it so well. It wasn’t like him at all.

There was an awkward silence. There had been quite a few of those between them lately. Finally the Professor broke it.

“Ginger, do you know what’s going on here?”

She looked embarrassed. “Here? well, um....I was just....”

“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant,” he quickly cut her off, slightly embarrassed himself. “No, I don’t suppose you do, or you wouldn’t be trying to find out,” he said more to himself than to her, and with a twinge of annoyance. He looked up coldly. “Gilligan saw a headhunter. We’re preparing for an attack.” He noticed her frightened look and softened a little. “Now, I don’t know if one will occur, I’m not certain if the headhunters will even come back here, but it’s always a good idea to have some sort of defense just in case. I’m making guns to use as weapons if an attack should happen to come.” He looked away from her as he brought the water gun out from behind his back and began to fiddle with it nervously. Ginger didn’t say anything, so he gathered up his thoughts and began to speak again, but he continued to look down, avoiding her eyes. “You know, if you suspected that something was going on without your knowledge, you could have just asked about it instead of....doing what you do.” He turned the gun around in his hands without really looking at it. He wasn’t used to saying things like this to people. He took a deep breath and continued. “You ladies aren’t without intelligence. We men are only trying to protect you, but you do have a right to know what’s happening. All three of you can usually figure out when something is going on that we haven’t told you. Why not try the direct approach instead of sneaking around?” He looked up at her and their eyes met for a split second before he looked down again. “Ginger....I know that you’re an actress, and a good one at that...but you shouldn’t be so quick to...to use yourself the way you do. You’re just doing what you know works, but you don’t think about the other person. Acting for entertainment purposes is one thing, but what you do isn’t very entertaining. Or maybe the problem is that it IS entertaining....for a very brief moment.”

Ginger was listening to him in shock, and it wasn’t because she was afraid of headhunters. No one had ever told her anything like this before. When he had glanced up at her, everything became crystal clear. In just that one quick glimpse into his eyes she had seen the confusion, hurt, anger, pain, and a million other emotions that he was feeling. She finally understood. Seducing information out of men worked, but what did it do to them? How many times had she scared poor Gilligan half to death by vamping him? She had never thought to see her acting from their point of view. She was showing false emotion...that had to be confusing for them. But she couldn’t understand why this was bothering him now when it never had in the past. He had never gone along with her act in even the slightest bit before, and she had abandoned any thoughts of even trying it up until today, because he was her only option. What had caused his change? He couldn’t possibly be thinking about her the same way she had been thinking about him….could he?

The Professor looked up at her once again. “Ginger...I...” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but was having trouble doing it. “Never mind,” he said as he looked back down. This was one of the few times in his life that he had been without words.

She felt terrible. She hated to see him looking so depressed, and she knew she was the cause.

“Professor?” she said softly.

He lifted his head, but didn’t look at her. “Yes?”

“I’m....sorry. I....I guess I never thought about it that way. Everything you said was right. I do things without thinking sometimes.”

He didn’t reply. He noticed that she had dropped her slow, breathy tone of voice and was speaking regularly. She wasn’t flirting, just talking to him person-to-person, and apologizing. What kind of change had happened to her so suddenly? She couldn’t possibly be thinking about him the same way he had been thinking about her….could she?

“Okay, a lot of times.” She had continued speaking when he said nothing in reply. “I suppose that somehow I’ve seen seduction as my talent, my contribution to the island. I don’t have brains like you, or strength like Skipper, and I don’t cook like Mary Ann. Mr. Howell tries to bribe those who can get him off the island. I found another way to make them do what I want. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does, and sometimes it works too well, and I have to quit the act before it gets out of hand. I do have values. I refused to pose as a belly dancer for Dubov. Good thing you told me he was saying Bali.” She giggled slightly at the memory, and glanced over at the Professor. Was that a hint of a smile on his face? She blinked. No, just my imagination. “I guess that I never knew to draw the line between total strangers who might get us rescued and our little family group here. I was only thinking about myself. I have my own selfish reasons for finding things out. Mr. Howell has hired me before, offering me money to get information out of Gilligan. But I don’t know how long we’re going to be on this island, and I’ve come to realize that money doesn’t matter here. Nothing really matters here. I wouldn’t blame any of you one bit if you all hated me. I haven’t exactly been easy to live with. I never meant to hurt anyone, and I hope that you can accept my apology.”

The Professor still didn’t reply.

The silence, combined with the awkward situation, got to be too much for Ginger. She stood to leave, but not wanting to go away on a bad note, looked down in his direction.

“Professor?”

No answer.

“Are you angry?” As soon as she said it, she wanted to kick herself. Of course he was angry. He would have to be incredibly understanding and forgiving to not be. It was simply a human trait to become upset over something like that, and though she’d sometimes had her doubts, she was pretty sure he was human.

He still didn’t say anything, so she turned and started to walk away.

“Ginger?”

Finally he spoke. She turned around to face him, but suddenly found that somehow she was dripping wet. She blinked several times in confusion before noticing the bamboo gun in the Professor’s hand, pointed right at her. He had an altogether irritating grin on his face as he relished watching her few seconds of perplexed confusion.

She finally realized what had happened. Much to her surprise, he certainly didn’t seem very angry with her.

“Does this mean you forgive me?” she asked somewhat sarcastically while shaking off the water.

His grin relaxed and he looked at her a little more seriously. “Well, there was no real harm done. I’ll recover. Ginger, I’d be lying if I said I hated you, or have ever hated you. Each of us can be difficult to get along with at times, I’m certainly no exception. I can see that you never intended to cause any harm by your actions, and I’m glad that you realize the consequences. I just hope you learned something from all of this.” He looked directly at her, and it seemed to her that he was looking right into her, seeing past “the movie star” and looking at just Ginger Grant. No man had ever looked at her like that. “Actually, I believe we both learned a thing or two.”

“Oh, I know I did,” she said, at first in seriousness, but then a slow, mischievous smile crept across her face. “I learned never to turn my back on you!”

Before the Professor knew what was happening, Ginger had snatched the gun from his hand and was firing a steady stream of water at him while laughing insanely.

He threw his hands up in front of him to guard against the spray. “Hey! Give that back!” He tried to make it sound like a command, but he was laughing himself, and whatever shred of seriousness that had still been in him had vanished completely.

“Come and get it,” she said with a laugh, and took off into the jungle.

He jumped up from the log, shook his head, grinned, and ran after her.

Ginger had a few seconds of a head start, but running in high heels was not exactly an easy thing to do, especially through the jungle. She looked back to see if the Professor was following, and saw that he was right behind her. If running through the jungle in high heels was a bad idea, running through the jungle in high heels while looking behind you was an even worse one. She tripped over a tree root, and since she had been turning, continued with the momentum as she fell, and landed on her back in a bed of fallen palm leaves. The Professor had been just a few feet behind her, and didn’t see the root that she tripped on until it was too late. He stumbled over it also and fell.....landing right on top of Ginger.

Ginger could feel herself blushing at the close contact and the feel of his weight pressed against her. C’mon Ginger....get a hold of yourself....you’re an actress, you know how to keep a cool head under pressure. She mentally smiled at the unintended pun, but wasn’t having much luck convincing herself that she was perfectly fine with the Professor lying on top of her. Her heartbeat and breathing were both coming a little faster. She looked up at him to find him looking down at her. A brief flash of...something...passed between them, but they quickly averted their eyes before either one of them recognized it. All of this had happened in a matter of seconds.

“Ginger! Are you all right?” the Professor asked with concern.

“I will be when you get off of me,” she replied with a slight smile.

The Professor finally realized that they were in a rather....awkward....position, and hurriedly rolled off of her. He helped her sit up and gently leaned her against a tree.

“I’m terribly sorry, Ginger. Did I hurt you? Are you sure you’re all right?” He began checking her for injuries as he spoke.

“I’m fine...”

“That was a pretty nasty fall you took. I’m afraid you’ll have quite a bruise on your arm, but other than that I’d say you’re in perfect shape.” Perfect shape indeed, he thought as he looked at her, but then mentally chastised himself for thinking it. It was so unlike him.

She was getting a little annoyed by his over concern, but was also touched that he was so worried about her. She sighed and smiled. “I’m fine, Roy. Really. Thanks for caring,” she said as she brushed a few stray bits of dead leaf off of her arm. She looked up at him and noticed a peculiar expression on his face. I’m fine, Roy. Really. Thanks for caring. It hit her. She had actually called him Roy out loud and not just in her thoughts.

The Professor was startled to hear her use his first name. It was the first time that any of the other castaways had called him by it. He wasn’t really sure why they identified him by his professional title, but he had grown accustomed to it. It was like his nickname. He looked at Ginger’s horrified expression, and had to stop himself from laughing. It was apparent that she thought she had done something wrong by addressing him so informally. He waited to see what she would do.

Ginger looked down, avoiding his eyes, and spoke rapidly. “I’m sorry, Professor! I don’t know why I said that....it just…slipped out. I didn’t mean to...”

“Ginger,” he cut her off quickly. She was silent, but she still wouldn’t look at him. How could she possibly think he’d be upset over his own name? He gently placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head up to face him. She was surprised to see a warm, ear-to-ear smile on his face as he looked at her. “Ginger, you were wrong before when you said nothing matters here on the island. One thing matters more than anything. Friendship. The way we all work together to get along and make our time here as enjoyable as possible. We all depend on each other and care about each other. We’ve been friends for a long time, and friends don’t need to call one another by titles.” He cleared his throat nervously. All those awkwardly strange feelings that he usually got around her started to come back as his brain finally registered all that had happened today. “Ginger....I....would like it if you’d call me Roy more often. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anyone say my name, and it sounds so coming from your lovely lips....I mean....”

Ginger burst out laughing. She knew what he had meant to say, but she wasn’t going to let him forget what he had said. And his voice! He was using his melodramatic “acting” voice....the one that always sounded so funny. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it.

“Your lips are quite lovely themselves....Roy.” She laughed as she subconsciously focused her eyes on his mouth. She was only half teasing. His lips were very nice. The memory of them on her own still played in her mind when she let herself slip off into those thoughts.

He was embarrassed of course, and with good reason, but her laughter got to him. He knew she wasn’t being mean, just enjoying the comedy of the moment….he couldn’t blame her for that. Laughter is contagious, and within a few seconds the Professor was laughing just as hard as Ginger. They didn’t even know what was so funny anymore…they were just laughing at each other.

It took a full minute for their laughter to slowly die down. They found themselves staring at one another, and their smiles faded as they lost awareness of themselves and could think of nothing but the person directly across from them.

The Professor couldn’t use scientific logic to explain what it was, but like a magnet his hand was drawn to her. He slowly ran the back of his hand down the side of her face, his fingers lingering at the edge of her jawbone.

She swallowed nervously at the touch. This was the first time that she could remember such a simple touch from a man having such a powerful effect on her. Her skin still tingled from the trail his hand had traced down her cheek.

“No, your lips are much, much lovelier than mine,” he whispered.

Without really thinking, he began leaning closer to her. Their eyes never broke contact as he stopped several inches from her face. He was captivated by the gaze of her beautiful emerald eyes, and she was sinking in the deep blue sea of his.

The Professor moved closer, millimeters at a time. He slowly closed his eyes, partially unwilling to lose sight of her for fear it was all just a dream, and tilted his head. He pressed his lips to hers, tentatively at first, but then with more passion as she eagerly returned the kiss. They pulled each other tighter into the embrace, losing themselves in one another’s arms. Finally they gave in to all the pent up emotions they’d had for each other over the past two months. For the first time, they weren’t acting.

The kiss lasted even longer than their movie kiss, breaking their own record. The need for air did eventually arise, and they parted, gasping for breath and filled with wonder at what had just happened. Each was initially shocked to discover that the other had feelings for them, but after a few seconds, they completely forgot all about the certainty they had had just a little while ago that the other couldn’t possibly think of them like that. Being together felt like the most natural thing in the world to them, and they were both relieved to get all the worry and doubt out of their system in that one passionate kiss.

The Professor was rather worried about his kissing abilities. He had never been good with romance, and in the past it had always been Ginger who initiated it. The one time that he had tried to kiss her first (under her direction), had been terrible. He searched her face for a reaction.

“Was that.....all right?” he asked nervously.

“That was more than all right,” she replied, rather breathlessly.

He was relieved, and smiled at her. “Well, I had a good teacher.”

She laughed. “Professor, you had the best!”

“I won’t argue with that. And please, call me Roy. You’re allowed to, you know.” He grinned, knowing he had struck a nerve.

“Aren’t you just so smart,” she snorted as she swatted him in the arm.

“Well, I do have an extremely high IQ.” A sudden memory of those exact words leapt into his head.

“That sounds familiar,” she said with a smile.

“Yes, I thought so too...” he trailed off as he seemed to think of something. “Ginger, would you care to accompany me tonight on a walk after dinner? Perhaps we can go to that one special spot and recreate a memory.” He grinned slyly.

“I’d love to.” She smiled back seductively.

“Wonderful. The first chance we get, we can slip away undetected and meet on the beach.”

She was still giving him her seductive smile as she slowly leaned closer, but the Professor wasn’t even looking at her. He was staring at the sky and squinting.

“Speaking of dinner…..the position of the sun in the sky, the colorations of the nearby nimbus cumuli, and the diminishing amount of light all indicate that it’s approximately that time right now.”

She sighed. The man always picked the lousiest times to be distracted. “Why couldn’t you just wear a watch like a normal person?”

The Professor smiled as he stood. “Because I’m not normal.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Actually, I left my watch in the supply hut this afternoon. I usually keep it in my pocket.” He grinned, and held out his hand to her. “Shall we go to dinner now, my dear? Or did you plan to insult me further?”

She took his hand and laughed. “Of course we shall….darling. You’re so dramatic. You know, I could give you acting lessons….”

He pulled her to her feet, and then close to him. “We know what happened that last time you gave me any kind of lesson…”

Ginger grinned. “Well, it took you a little longer than most to learn, but you eventually passed…. and with flying colors.”

The small gap between them was closed as Ginger leaned in and kissed him. She’d wanted to do that very thing for quite a while now, and it felt so wonderful to be able to just give in to that urge to grab him and kiss him every time she saw him that she’d been fighting for the past two months.

They parted lips, but stayed in the embrace and smiled at each other.

“We’re going to be late for dinner,” he reminded her.

“Let them wait.”

They kissed again, but this time Ginger pulled away from him.

She sighed. “You’re right. We really shouldn’t show up late….together. I don’t think I want the others to know about…..us…..just yet.”

“I understand. They’ll make a big scene about it.”

“Exactly. We need time for ourselves to talk and to….get to know each other a little better.” She smiled and looked down shyly (she was being shy now? What an effect his loving gaze must have on her). “We don’t need them ooh-ing and ahh-ing over us.”

He cringed at the thought of it. “Yes, let’s keep it secret for now.”

He took her by the hand and they slowly made their way toward the little clearing of huts that they called home. When they got to the edge of the jungle, the Professor stopped.

“Perhaps we should go in separately, so we don’t arouse suspicion. Even if we aren’t late, someone still might suspect something.”

“Aren’t you being a little too paranoid?”

He raised his eyebrows. “ooh-ing and ahh-ing?”

“Ok, I see your point.”

He gave her one more quick kiss goodbye, and then they turned and started heading in separate directions. But both of them seemed to forget one little thing: they were still holding hands. Their arms only stretched so far before they were snapped back. The Professor and Ginger collided with each other, and for the second time that day fell to the ground together.

They began to laugh as they realized what had happened. The Professor looked down at her from his position, on top of her once again, and smiled a big toothy smile.

“Ginger, it appears I’ve fallen for you.”

She rolled her eyes at the lame joke and gently pushed him off of her. “If we keep this up, I’m going to be one big black and blue mark.”

“Well, then we must put a stop to it immediately!” he gasped. “Black and blue REALLY don’t do a THING for you, dear!”

Ginger stared at him in shock for several seconds, blinked her eyes, and then burst out laughing. He had just done a near-perfect imitation of Mrs. Howell!

“Professor….did you hit your head when you fell?” she asked between laughs.

He just grinned and helped her to her feet. “Come on, let’s get to dinner.”

“Let’s make sure we let go this time, huh?”

He held up both of his hands to prove they were free.

“See you in a minute.” She smiled at him as she walked away.

The Professor and Ginger entered the clearing from opposite sides, and were greeted by…..no one.

They looked at each other in confusion. The table they usually ate at was there, but no castaways.

“Are you sure the sun had the right time?” Ginger teased.

“I’m positive.”

Slowly their expressions turned to worry as they both realized what it could mean.

“You don’t think….”

“The headhunters! Come on, there’s a chance they might still be at the lagoon!”

He grabbed her hand and they took off running down the path. When they got to the lagoon, they stopped short and stared at what they saw.

It was Mary Ann. She was leaning over a small fire and poking at it with a stick, not in the least bit of danger. She looked up when she saw them.

“Hi Professor! Hi Ginger!” she called out with a perky smile. “It’s such a nice day, I thought we’d have dinner down here by the lagoon. Isn’t the sky just beautiful tonight?”

The Professor and Ginger let out the breath they had been holding, and breathed a sigh of relief as their brains registered that everything was fine. They also became acutely aware of the fact that they were still holding hands, and they quickly let go and took a step away from each other.

“Uh….yeah, Mary Ann…beautiful.” Ginger finally managed to speak.

Mary Ann didn’t seem to notice anything suspicious, so they both relaxed.

“Dinner’s almost ready if you’d like to help set the table.” Mary Ann nodded toward the bamboo table and benches that had been set up on the sand.

“Sure.” Ginger picked up the stack of plates and began setting them down. “Did you carry all this down here by yourself?” she asked.

“No, Gilligan helped. He went to see if he could find some berries.”

The Professor went over to the fire and looked over Mary Ann’s shoulder. “Dinner smells delicious….what are we having?”

“Halibut,” she replied.

His face lit up. “With kumquat sauce?” he hopefully inquired.

“Of course. I know how much you like it.”

“My absolute favorite!”

Ginger made a face. “Well, you can have my share of it! I don’t know how you can eat that stuff.”

“You can have mine too, Professor,” Gilligan said as he emerged from the jungle with a basket of berries in his hand. “I don’t like the idea of mixing fruit with fish….yeick!” He set the basket down on the table.

“This coming from the person who eats chocolate covered hamburgers,” Mary Ann remarked.

Gilligan just shrugged. “Have you ever tried one?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t know what you’re missing. At least I’ve tried halibut and kumquat sauce.” He stuck out his tongue and made a sour expression as he remembered the taste.

Mary Ann laughed. “Well, Gilligan, guess what we’re having for dessert?”

“Dessert? Oh boy!” He clapped his hands together once and looked thoughtful, with a far too serious expression on his face. “Um….coconut cream pie!”

Mary Ann’s face fell. “Oh, how’d you guess?”

“That’s what you always make.”

As soon as he said it, he was immediately sorry. He hadn’t meant it to sound like an insult to her cooking repertoire, but the look on her face was too much for him. She looked close to tears.

“I’m sorry, Mary Ann, I didn’t mean it like that. I love your coconut cream pies! They’re my favorite! You can make two or three or four or five pies if you want!! I really do love them!”

Mary Ann smiled. Gilligan always tried so hard to cheer her up, and she knew he hadn’t meant anything by his comment. He had just answered her question honestly.

“I know you do, Gilligan. I’d like to make other things more often, but there are so many coconuts on this island, and once they fall off the trees I hate to waste them.” She got an idea and smiled. “Tell you what, tomorrow I’ll make a mango pie….just for you.”

“Aw, you don’t have to do that, Mary Ann.”

“I know I don’t have to, Gilligan. I want to.”

“Thanks, Mary Ann. I like your mango pies….they’re nice and sweet.” He licked his lips in anticipation.

She smiled up at him adoringly. “A sweet pie for a sweet person.”

He just grinned his big goofy Gilligan grin back at her.

Ginger had watched this little exchange between Gilligan and Mary Ann with a smile on her face. She glanced over at the Professor, who was looking at the scene before them with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised in amusement.

Mary Ann finally seemed to realize that there were two other people standing there besides her and Gilligan, and they were both giving her funny looks. She glanced around for a way out of the situation, and her eye caught a thin wisp of smoke curling through the air above the fire.

“Oohh! My fish!” she cried and ran over to the fire. She flipped the fish over with a fork to inspect the damage. “Thank goodness, it didn’t burn.” She sighed in relief. “Go tell the others that it’s time for dinner!”

“I’ll go get the Skipper,” Gilligan quickly volunteered, and rapidly started up the path, glad to escape from the uncomfortable situation.

“I’ll go inform the Howells that dinner is ready,” the Professor said with a slight wave of his hand as he headed up the path.

“I’ll finish setting the table,” Ginger said to nobody at all as she continued putting the utensils down.

* * *
Gilligan slowed down his pace after he was out of sight of the lagoon. What had happened back there? He had always liked Mary Ann. She was a good friend and a very nice girl. They had gone butterfly hunting together a few times, and he always enjoyed her company. She was fun to be with. But back at the table, when she had smiled at him with that warm, sweet, pretty smile….he couldn’t explain the feelings he had felt at that moment. He had wanted to hold her in his arms and stare at that smile forever. Why in the world would he want to do a thing like that for? He didn’t know the answer to that question….but he was pretty sure he liked what he had felt. He was so confused. Could this have something to do with that “birds and bees” thing that the Skipper had mentioned before? What did birds and bees have to do with girls? Gilligan shook his head in complete befuddlement. He’d have to ask the Skipper to explain.

Gilligan opened up the hut door and found the Skipper lying in his hammock.

“Skipper?” He spoke quietly. “Are you awake?” He tapped his shoulder. “Skipper? Skipper? SKIPPER!”

The Skipper fell out of his hammock with a yell. “GILLIGAN!”

“Oh, good. You’re awake.”

“I AM NOW, THANKS TO YOU!!” the Skipper roared, but then changed his tone to sound like an angry father desperately trying to maintain his temper while speaking to a small child. He forced a smile. “Now, Gilligan, what is it that is so important that you felt you had to disturb my nap?”

“It’s time for dinner.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “It’s down at the lagoon tonight.”

“Dinner! Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place!” He pulled himself off the ground with a grunt and headed for the door.

“Skipper?”

“Yes, Gilligan?” He sighed impatiently.

“Do you remember the time when that surfer, Duke Williams, was here on the island? Remember, he had the big muscles and the girls liked him and….”

“Yes of course I remember, Gilligan. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, you said something about how you’d have to talk to me about the birds and the bees. And I never did figure that out. And I was wondering….”

“Yes, Gilligan?”

“Could you explain that to me? I don’t understand what birds and bees have to do with boys and girls, and I’m kind of confused about some things.”

The Skipper smiled awkwardly. “Oh, uh…of course, little buddy….but, after dinner.…ok?”

“Ok, Skipper. Thanks.”

They left the hut and walked to the lagoon in silence.

* * *

The Professor walked up the path to the Howell hut feeling happier than he had ever felt in his life. It was the first time he’d been alone with his thoughts since all that had happened with Ginger that afternoon. He still couldn’t believe it. After all his confusion, all his worry, all his doubt….after how sure he was that she’d never think of him as anything but a friend….they were together. They were actually together. A couple. It was too spectacular for words. And that kiss….to think he had once scoffed at such things as hugging and kissing. He had even called it unsanitary! He no longer cared about bacterial transfer. Kissing Ginger felt incredible, and when his lips touched hers, germs were the farthest thing from his mind.

He walked up to the hut and knocked on the door. Mr. Howell answered.

“Come in! Come in!” Mr. Howell called out as he opened up the door for the Professor. He had his newspaper in one hand, folded over to the financial page. “What brings you to the Howell hut this fine afternoon? Have you come for a loan? I have the lowest interest rates on the island!” He leaned forward and grinned, waiting for the Professor to show he was amused by the joke. His smile faded some as he saw no reaction. “You know, because I’m the only one on the island with the money to loan…..” He grinned again. The Professor just raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms, and sighed, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn’t afternoon anymore, and not the slightest bit amused by the bad joke. “Well!” Mr. Howell said loudly, obviously insulted as he shot the Professor a look. “Don’t smile, it might crack your face.”

Just then Mrs. Howell came out from behind a curtain the divided the hut into two rooms. “Thurston, who are you talking to? Oh, hello Professor!” she called as she saw him standing by the door. “How nice of you to visit! We weren’t expecting you….oh dear, did I forget to write it down?” She picked up her appointment book and scanned through it quickly. “Oh, I KNEW I didn’t forget to write it down! There was nothing to write! Professor, I don’t believe you told us in advance that you were coming.”

The Professor and Mr. Howell looked at her for a silent second, puzzled as to how she came to the conclusion that she hadn’t forgotten to write it down when there was nothing written anyway.

“Mrs. Howell….” the Professor began “I didn’t come to visit, I…”

But he was cut off by Mr. Howell, who obviously felt that he deserved his wife’s attention the most at the moment. “Lovey, he didn’t laugh at my joke!”

The Professor just sighed again. He was starting to get a little tired of everyone either interrupting or ignoring him. Oh, but when there’s trouble, guess who they’ll all run to? he bitterly thought to himself. But he had to be patient with the Howells, they were an entirely different kind of people.

Mrs. Howell was consoling the pouting Mr. Howell. “Well, Thurston, perhaps he didn’t understand it. You know how those academic types are,” she said with a wave of her hand. She glanced over at the Professor and winked, letting him know that she was only humoring her husband. He smiled slightly in thanks.

Mr. Howell perked up. “You’re so right, Lovey! I can’t expect an egghead like that to understand good financial humor, now can I?”

“No, Thurston, of course not.” She turned back to the Professor and changed the subject. “Now Professor, why did you stop by unannounced?”

“Well, Mrs. Howell, as I tried to explain earlier, I’m not here to visit. I came to inform you that dinner is ready, and will be served by the lagoon this evening.”

“What? Dinner already?” Mr. Howell seemed surprised as he looked past the Professor and out the door at the dimming light. “By George, he’s right! How time flies when you’re reading the stock report….even if it is for the hundredth time,” he said as he tossed his only newspaper onto his bed and picked up his hat. “Come along, Lovey, dinner awaits!”

“WAIT, Thurston!” she called out with an expression of worry on her face.

“What is it, Lovey?”

“What does one wear when dining by the water?”

Mr. Howell looked over at the Professor. “You’d better start without us, we might be awhile.”

The Professor smiled. “See you there.”

“Hopefully. Save something for us, will you?”

“Of course we will, Mr. Howell.” And with that he turned and left.

Mrs. Howell was going through her wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear, when she happened to glance out the window and caught sight of the Professor as he walked away. She watched him for a moment. There was something different about him. His step seemed lighter, his pace slower, was he….whistling? Something was highly irregular. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve sworn that he was in….but no, that was impossible. Or was it? If what she suspected was true, than she had a pretty good idea of who it was that had caused this change in him. She planned to watch The Professor, and all the goings on of the island, more carefully and closely from now on. Quickly choosing an outfit, she decided that a chance to observe everyone at dinner was more important than personal fashion. She had the itch of suspicion, and it wouldn’t quit until it was scratched. She was determined to discover the truth.

* * *

After dinner, Mary Ann looked around at the mess they had left. Everyone (except the Howells, of course) had been kind enough to take their dishes back up to the clearing, and help carry the table and benches back as well. But then they had all managed to disappear, leaving Mary Ann with the job of cleaning it all up. She sighed and got to work. It made no sense to complain. Somebody had to do it, it might as well be her.

Gilligan came down the path and saw Mary Ann working by herself. The Skipper hadn’t yet answered his question about the birds and the bees, claiming he was too busy at the moment, so Gilligan had taken a walk to be with his thoughts. He had left the dinner table rather quickly….before he ran the risk of being stuck there alone with Mary Ann. He didn’t know what to say to her, he just wanted to avoid her. His eyes refused to pull away as he watched her work. She’s very pretty, his mind seemed to realize for the first time, although he had always known it. Those big brown eyes of hers….he could look at them all day. Gilligan was so confused by the way Mary Ann all of a sudden made him feel, but yet, at the same time….he was intrigued. What was this feeling? He’d heard his friend Skinny Mulligan talk about what it was like to be in love, but Gilligan was pretty sure it had never happened to him, except maybe with Herman, but she was his pet turtle. Mary Ann was different. Could this be what love was....this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach when she smiled at him? The way it felt like his heart had been zapped with electricity? Would it happen again if he went over to her? What did it mean? He wanted nothing more than to run away from her and hide somewhere to try and think through this puzzle, but he saw her there, all alone, and he knew that he should help. Gilligan sighed, attempted to gather up and bury all of these strange emotions, and walked over to where she was standing….but not too close.

“Hi, Mary Ann. Do you need some help?”

She gave him a look of genuine gratitude. “Oh, Gilligan, could you?”

“Sure. What should I do?”

“Could you dry the dishes for me when I hand them to you?” she said as she immersed her hands in the soapy water.

“Sure,” he said again as he picked up a towel. He looked down at the towel in his hands, and then, for one brief moment the old unconfused Gilligan came back. He grinned mischievously, rolled up the towel, and playfully whipped it across Mary Ann’s shoulder.

“HEY!” she yelped in surprise, and then rebounded by splashing him with the dishwater.

They both began to laugh as a small towel and water battle broke out. Things like this always happened when they were together. Even when doing chores they always made the best of things and had fun.

Still laughing, Mary Ann handed him a plate. “Here, dry this already!”

He grinned and took the plate, inadvertently touching her hand at the same time.

They both froze. Their laughter was cut off as though someone had pulled a plug on the sound. Gilligan and Mary Ann looked at their hands, then at each other. Their eyes met, and so many emotions passed between them as they stared deeply into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. Gilligan tore his eyes and his hand away as those weird feelings started to come back, causing the plate to slip out of Mary Ann’s wet fingers and crash to the ground.

“Sorry,” Gilligan said as he looked down at the broken plate. “It was my fault.”

“It’s ok, Gilligan.” She sighed.

They went back to doing the dishes, but neither one spoke the rest of the time.

* * *

After they had helped carry everything back up to the clearing, the Professor took Ginger by the arm and quickly pulled her aside behind the supply hut.

“Meet me by the lagoon in twenty minutes. I’ll go now and wait for you, and we can meet without anyone knowing that we’re together,” he said, his voice lowered to a whisper.

“Ooo…you sound so sneaky,” she said with a seductive grin as she pressed up against the Professor, who was pressed up against the wall.

He grinned, gave her hand a little squeeze, and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Twenty minutes,” he said again, and slipped past her.

* * *

Ginger went into the hut that she shared with Mary Ann to get ready for her evening with the Professor. Mary Ann would be occupied with cleaning up the dishes, so there would be no unanswerable questions to worry about. Ginger felt a little bad for leaving Mary Ann alone with the work, but she couldn’t pass up this kind of an opportunity, and besides, Mary Ann would forget about it by later. She never stayed mad for long.

Ginger sat in front of the mirror and worked on her makeup. She had to make herself look as beautiful as possible for this night, even more beautiful than what it usually took to drive men crazy. With that thought in mind, she looked at herself in the mirror, stopped, and her smile faded as the hand holding the seashell compact slowly lowered back down to the table. Was that all this was? Just another man, another date? She studied her face in the mirror. Did he really love her for who she was, or was he just another man caught in her spell? Was he just another admirer who worshiped her like a movie star goddess and couldn’t wait to kiss and tell? She felt certain that the Professor was different. When he had stared at her, it wasn’t the typical gaze that she got from men. His eyes were not filled with lust and awe, just warmth, kindness, and love. But did he really know her? Did he really love her? She wanted to believe that he did, in fact, she KNEW that he did….but doubt still crept into her mind. And then another thought struck her. Did she really love him? WAS he really any different from all the other men in her past? She had been in love before, what made her so sure that a fling with the Professor would last any longer than the others? She let out a sad sigh, checked the time, and hurried to get ready. She still had her hair to do. She was going to be late.

* * *

After slipping away from Ginger, the Professor had ducked inside the supply hut where he lived and worked. Moving aside a table covered in coconut beakers and bamboo test tubes, he pulled a suitcase out from under his bed, the only luggage that he had brought with him on that fateful three hour tour. He hadn’t built himself a closet or a dresser, space was limited in this hut, and the suitcase worked fine for the small amount of clothing that he had. He set the suitcase down on the bed, opened it, moved aside a brown jacket that he wore for special occasions and a pair of pajamas with circles on them, and took out a fresh, neatly folded, light blue oxford shirt. He had brought several extra shirts with him, preferring to keep his wardrobe simple, but now he was down to just two, the one in his hand, and the one on his back. Gilligan had destroyed one while attempting to do the laundry by beating the clothes with rocks when the women had left them, and the other he had given away to Mary Ann to sleep in, since the part of her luggage that carried her pajamas had been carried out to sea during the shipwreck.

The Professor changed into his clean shirt, and poured some water into a dish to wash his face with. Looking into his small mirror, he took a comb and attempted to tame his slightly wavy, sometimes unruly hair. He pulled out a small twig left over from one of his falls to the ground and smiled, surprised that nobody had seen that during dinner. Satisfied with his appearance and cleanliness, he turned to leave. As he walked toward the door, his eyes caught sight of his watch sitting on his lab table where he had left it. He smiled, put it in his pocket, and headed to the lagoon.

On his way down the path to the lagoon, the Professor passed Mary Ann and Gilligan doing the dishes. Or at least, he thought they were intending to do the dishes. Instead, they were busy splashing each other with water and whipping each other with towels while giggling and laughing hysterically. The Professor grinned, shook his head, and kept walking. They were too busy to even notice him.

He got to the lagoon and sat on a piece of driftwood to wait for Ginger. Taking out his watch, he saw that he still had about ten minutes before she was due to meet him, and she’d probably be late. He smiled as he thought of how silly it was that she spent so much time on her looks. It was just the seven of them, they all knew each other by now. He’d love her no matter what she looked like. Wouldn’t he? He thought about it, and realized that he really didn’t know. He could find no scientific logic or reasoning to explain or study love. Was it all just a chemical reaction in his brain based on attraction, or was it something deeper? He knew she was beautiful, but was that what made him love her? He had to admit, he had never been in love before. He knew beauty, but had never really been attracted to anyone before Ginger came along. His past had taught him that women found him attractive, but all he had to do was open his mouth and say something scientific, and they turned away from him. Just like Erika had. No matter what kinds of nice things he tried to say or do, he could never actually make himself love them. They were only romantically interested in him, they didn’t care about who he was. It all seemed so superficial. But Ginger was patient, well, most of the time, and he was pretty sure that there was something more to her love for him than just physical attraction. They had been friends for quite a while now…they had enjoyed each other’s company without any romantic feelings to get in the way. He felt that she knew him better than any other woman in his past ever had. Doubt began to set in however, as he thought about it. She had had many men in her past. Was he any different to her? Or would she treat him as just another fling? He sighed and stared at the water as he pondered the question.

Ginger came down the path to the lagoon, and passed Mary Ann and Gilligan doing the dishes in silence. It was unlike them. Usually they would be laughing or talking, or at least smiling. But Gilligan had his head down and looked nervous and embarrassed, and Mary Ann looked sad and disappointed. They never even saw her pass by.

Ginger got to the lagoon, and saw the Professor sitting on a piece of driftwood and gazing out into the water. He looked confused and sort of worried as he stared forward blankly. She came up behind him softly and silently, and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

The Professor jumped slightly at the touch, and turned to face her. “Hello, Ginger,” he said with a smile that seemed forced.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She studied his expression. “Are you okay?”

“Of course.” He smiled again. She didn’t buy it.

“No you’re not. What’s wrong?” She pressed for an answer.

He was silent for a moment, and so she decided it was time to bring up the subject that she had been thinking about.

“Professor?”

“Ginger?”

“We need to talk,” they said in unison.

The Professor smiled genuinely at her, and stood. “Let’s take a walk.”

She smiled back. “I’d like that.”

They left the lagoon and walked along the beach in silence. The two of them stood and watched the sun as it seemed to sink right into the ocean. The sky was streaked with beautiful bold strokes of yellow, orange, red, pink, and gold, as through an artist had gone mad with the paintbrush. It was a breathtaking sight.

Ginger couldn’t help it. She was filled with such awe at the colorful display stretched out before them that she very softly gasped. Unconscious of her movements, her hand reached over and took hold of the Professor’s. He stiffened slightly, but then relaxed as their fingers entwined into one hand and he could no longer determine whose fingers were whose.

As the last tiny crescent of brilliant orange sunk below the horizon, the Professor turned and faced Ginger. Her hair seemed to be set aflame, burning and glowing as red reflected on red, and her face was bathed in soft pink light. It was as though she had come from the sky itself. She was gorgeous.

Still holding hands, they leaned in until lips met lips, and their forms became one silhouette against the blazing sky.

With the last bits of fading daylight, The Professor and Ginger continued on their walk. Before long, they came to the place that held a memory for them. It was the place where they had staged a romance in order to make Duke Williams jealous enough to surf back to Hawaii and get them rescued. It was also the place where they had first kissed. The Professor hadn’t seemed so inexperienced then, but he had later confided in her that he had only been trying to act, he really hadn’t had a clue as to what he was doing. He just let her kiss him and took it from there. Now on this night, as they sat down on the sandy ground, he felt that he should confess to her that that kiss had done something to him. He hadn’t really been acting, and he had unknowingly been thinking of her differently since then. Or at least…unknowingly up until their little lesson. But first, he wanted to clear the doubt from his mind.

They looked at each other and smiled warmly. They hadn’t let go of each other’s hands since that moment on the beach, but now the Professor let go and pulled away from her slightly.

“What is it?” she asked as she saw the same expression on his face as he’d had when she met him at the lagoon.

“Ginger, I need to know if this is for real. If you’re really sure that I’m the one you want. This isn’t just something that happened because we’re both here on this island together. Am I just another date to you? Because I can’t continue this if it isn’t a mutual feeling.”

Ginger looked down. “I don’t know. I’ve been wondering the same things about you, and about me. I’ve never had a relationship that lasted very long, and I’m a little frightened because of how I feel. I don’t know if this will last either, but I want you to know that I’ve never felt so right about any man. I need to know that this is real too. That you really love me for me.”

She had doubted him? It was time that he cleared that up right then and there. “Ginger, I….I love you.” There, he had said it. She looked up at him as he continued. “I’ve never been in love before. Can you believe that? I’m thirty-six years old and I’ve never been in love. Not once in my entire life. I didn’t even know the meaning of the word until I met you. Love always eluded me, I never understood it. I don’t mean to be immodest, but many women have shown attraction toward me. But I never fell in love, because it never felt for real. They called me handsome, they made some comments that I don’t wish to repeat, but they never showed an interest in my studies or in who I am as a person. But you, from the moment I first laid eyes on you, something sparked, even if I didn’t realize it or want to admit to it. Whenever I’m near you I feel things that I can’t begin to describe. You took an interest. You’ve been a good friend to me while we’ve been here. You offer assistance with my experiments, and you’ve offered assistance in other areas as well. You know, if it hadn’t been for your kiss, I might have married Erika Tiffany-Smith?” It was time to confess. “From the first time you kissed me, I was in love, whether I knew it or not. That night that we laid here together in this very spot and shared that kiss, I forgot that we were only acting. Something happened to me.” He smiled at her with all the love he had. “And don’t worry about my love for you. The “movie star” image was gone within a few days of landing here. You are a normal person. You treat others like normal people, and very rarely have you ever tried to use you movie star status to act above the rest of us. It’s not who you are. I love you for the woman that you are, not the one that you pretend to be. I’ve always seen through that.”

She knew that he was telling the truth. It was time for her confession as well. “Professor….Roy….I love you too. And, I guess it’s time that I admit it, I think I always have. When I first saw you, I thought you were quite handsome indeed.” She smiled as she saw him turn slightly red in the moonlight. “At first, I just wanted to get you to notice me, to look at me like other men do. But you didn’t, and I couldn’t understand why. You’ve been a puzzle to me. Always kind, sometimes saying little things here and there, but never looking as though you wanted me. And I have to admit, that’s what really attracted me to you. I felt safe and comfortable around you, like with a brother, but I never thought of you as a brother. At first I wanted to be with you so I could discover what made you tick, and to try and figure out why you never made a move on me. But after a while, I did become interested in your studies, and I no longer cared if you didn’t think of me as anything but a friend. I loved you anyway, and I just loved to be with you.” She looked around at the place they were in. “And you’re not the only one that forgot about acting during that kiss. I forgot about acting every time that I kissed you.”

He looked surprised. “But you’ve kissed many men before! I didn’t even have any experience, surely I wasn’t very good at it.”

“No, you weren’t.” She smiled. “But for some reason, that didn’t matter to me. It wasn’t how you kissed, it was just that it was you doing the kissing.”

He was completely astounded. “We loved each other all that time….and neither one of us knew it.” Then he gazed into her eyes, smiled, and said softly “Well, this clears up everything.” He began to lean forward.

She put her finger over his lips. “Not quite everything,” she said with a hint of amusement in her voice. “There’s one thing that you still haven’t cleared up for me.”

“What’s that?”

“If you enjoyed that kiss that we shared here so much, then why were you so against kissing me for the movie?” She pointed at him accusingly. “I believe you called it ‘far from sanitary.’”

“Oh,” he sighed. “That.” He looked embarrassed. “Well, part of it was that I really do believe that kissing is far from sanitary. Think about it, you’re putting your mouth on somebody else’s. It’s like sharing a toothbrush.” He noticed the disgusted look on Ginger’s face and grinned. “But mostly it was because I was afraid. I remembered that other kiss, and I was still a little bit frightened by what had happened. I’d never felt anything like that before, and I was afraid of the feelings that I couldn’t explain. I’m a scientist, it’s my job to have an explanation for everything. But I couldn’t begin to explain that kiss. They say you’re most afraid of what you don’t understand, and I didn’t understand romance. So, I tried to make up an excuse to get out of it.” He looked at her. “But I’m glad it didn’t work. I still don’t quite understand these feelings, but at least I know what they are. It’s love. And I love you.”

Once again he leaned forward, and this time she gladly let him. Their lips met in a kiss that was filled with more love, more passion, than they’d ever felt before. This time they really knew that it was for real. This was real love. Their arms wrapped around each other, pulling one another tighter and tighter into the embrace. Ginger ran her fingers through the Professor’s hair, completely destroying the work he had done to comb it. He ran his hands up and down her back, feeling her shiver at the sensations that crawled up her spine. They parted, gasping for breath, and smiled at each other with all the love they possessed.

Ginger grinned. “You’re getting pretty good at that. I’d better be careful, Mary Ann might try to steal you away.”

He threw his head back and laughed, a sound that she loved to hear. “Let her try! I’m a little too old for her, don’t you think?” He grinned, and his eyes held a twinkle. “Besides, I think she’d prefer Gilligan.”

Ginger grinned along with him. “You noticed that too, huh? Wouldn’t they make just the most adorable couple?”

“Indeed they would. I saw them doing the dishes together this evening, but I don’t know how much they actually got accomplished. They seemed to be having quite a good time splashing the water around and whipping each other with towels.”

Ginger laughed as she pictured it, but then became silent and confused. “I saw them doing the dishes too, but they certainly weren’t having a good time. Mary Ann seemed disappointed about something, and Gilligan looked embarrassed. I wonder what could’ve happened?”

He shrugged. “Who can tell? With those two though, I bet it won’t last long.”

Ginger agreed. Gilligan and Mary Ann could never stay angry at each other for more than a few hours. “Do you think maybe we ought to try and….give them a little shove toward each other?”

The Professor shook his head. “Mrs. Howell already tried that, and you saw what happened. No, if they’re going to get together, they’re going to have to do it on their own. Any outside intervention or conspiracy would only make them more uneasy and push them further apart.”

She sighed. “You’re right. You’re always right.” She grinned and looked up at the sky. “The stars are beautiful tonight. I think they’re putting on a show just for us.”

He laughed at the thought of it and lay back on the sand. “Guess which one that big, bright one over there is,” he said as he pointed up.

She leaned back and lay beside him. “Could it possibly be Alpha Centuri?”

He grinned and put his arm around her. “It could very well be.”

She rested her head on his chest and they laid there together in silence. They weren’t very far from the beach, and they could hear the sound of the waves gently rolling in and breaking along the shore. They listened to the ocean and watched the stars, feeling more peaceful and relaxed than ever before. The sound of the waves gently lulled them into dreamland, and neither one seemed to notice when they fell asleep.

Several hours later, Ginger slowly awoke. At first she was in complete confusion. What am I doing outside? Where am I? WHY IS THE PROFESSOR’S ARM AROUND ME? She stared at him and wondered why in the world they were in the middle of the jungle together. Then the events of the past day came back to her, and she smiled as she remembered. She yawned, snuggled up closer to him, and closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to return to sleep. But as her brain woke up, it began to function again. Her eyes popped open. It must be getting late....Mary Ann is going to be wondering where I am… She knew that she had to get back to the hut. She looked over at the man beside her and watched him sleep. She’d never really had the chance to fully study his face before, and her eyes enjoyed taking in all the rugged handsomeness of his features. He looked so peaceful and childlike lying there, all the lines of worry and thought erased from his forehead, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a smile as he slept. The wisps of hair sticking out everywhere only added to the picture of a carefree dreamer. “Roy, the bedhead look becomes you,” she whispered with a giggle. He was sound asleep, and he looked so peaceful that she couldn’t bear to wake him. There was no reason to anyway. He lived alone in the supply hut, nobody would notice him missing. She carefully moved away from him, gently lifted his outstretched arm and placed it across his chest, and stood, brushing the sand off of her dress. There was a chill in the air, and she shivered as a small breeze blew past. Tropical island or not, the nights could get downright cold sometimes. She picked up some fallen palm leaves and covered him, careful not to wake him up. “Sweet dreams, Roy,” she whispered as she bent over and softly kissed his forehead, and then silently tip-toed away.

* * *

Mrs. Howell couldn’t sleep. She had been lying awake for hours, trying to figure out if there was something going on between the Professor and Ginger. She suspected it was Ginger that was making him goofy, because Mary Ann was so obviously enamored with Gilligan. Mary Ann and the Professor didn’t have that kind of chemistry. Too bad her matchmaking scheme hadn’t worked out, Mary Ann and Gilligan would’ve been such an adorable husband and wife. Somehow something would get to that boy sooner or later, she was sure of it. It was a perfect match. But Gilligan and Mary Ann were not her current concern. She had watched the Professor at dinner, and saw no indication of a romance with Ginger. But there was no mistaking his pleasant mood, he was in love all right. The question was, did Ginger know, and was the feeling mutual? Dinner observations had shed no light on this mystery. They had barely even looked at each other. Oh, how wonderful it would be if there was something between those two! They made such a lovely couple, and Mrs. Howell was quite certain that there were underlying feelings in each of them. Their kissing scene in the movie they had made told her that. Thurston hadn’t told them to act it out so well, or for so long…they had done that on their own. Whether they or anyone else recognized it, she knew that there were emotions buried deep down.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound outside. Someone had stepped on a stick, and the sharp crack pierced the air. “Thurston!” she whispered to her sleeping husband. “There’s somebody outside!”

He rolled over and mumbled “What do you mean, it’s not deductible? Of course it is….” He was talking in his sleep…dead to the world.

She decided she was going to find out for herself what the sound was. She crept over to the window and peeked out. There was Ginger, heading across the clearing toward her hut. Where had she been out to this late at night? It was one more piece to the puzzle that she was determined to solve.

* * *

Ginger quietly walked up to the hut and opened the door. There was a light on inside, and she saw Mary Ann sitting in bed. There was a book in her lap, but it didn’t look like she was reading it.

“Ginger! It’s about time you got back, I was beginning to worry.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s precisely two twenty-three AM,” Mary Ann said in a tone that indicated she wanted an explanation.

“You sound like my mother,” Ginger said with a sarcastic smile. “I was out on the beach, watching the sunset, and I guess I just…lost track of time and fell asleep.” She was telling the truth, just omitting the Professor from the story.

Mary Ann opened her mouth for further questioning, but Ginger quickly changed the subject. “What are you reading?”

“Oh, The History of Tree Surgery. It’s finally my turn to read it. It’s very interesting, but I can’t seem to concentrate tonight.” Her eyes seemed to lose focus and she stared into space.

Ginger looked at her faraway expression quizzically, and then moved behind her dressing curtain to change for bed.

“Ginger, do you believe in fate?” Mary Ann asked, her unfocused gaze still present.

“Well, gee, Mary Ann…I’m not sure. What do you mean?”

“Well, do you think that maybe we were all shipwrecked together for a reason? That maybe fate brought us all to this island?” She chose her words carefully. “Did you ever think that maybe two of us would…end up together?”

Ginger froze, glad for the curtain that hid her shocked expression from view. Did Mary Ann know about her and the Professor? Was she suspicious? Was this her way of teasing, trying to get a response? How could she know?! Was it that obvious? Ginger didn’t have the slightest idea of how to respond to that, but she knew that she had to say SOMETHING.

“End up together? Two of us?” She laughed slightly as she emerged from behind the curtain, wrapped in a blanket. “I suppose it’s always a possibility. Sure, why not? We all get along.” The actress in Ginger had come alive just in time to save her with a response that supported the idea without revealing anything.

Mary Ann grinned widely, but still didn’t even look Ginger’s way. “Do you really think so?” she asked with a giggle.

Ginger looked at her grin, and suddenly it hit her. Mary Ann wasn’t talking about her and the Professor….she was talking about herself and Gilligan! Ginger began to grin as well as she got into bed. “Sure, Mary Ann. I think something could definitely happen between…two of us.”

“Thanks, Ginger,” she said with the biggest smile that Ginger had ever seen. “Goodnight!” She put the book down, turned off the light, and rolled over.

Ginger smiled and shook her head in the darkness. Those two would be so adorable. If only there was a way to get to Gilligan without interfering. Although, she was pretty sure that something was already getting to Gilligan. It was only a matter of time.

On the other side of the hut, a very happy, very reassured Mary Ann snuggled in under the covers and drifted off to sleep…with an enormous smile still on her face.

* * *

The next morning, Gilligan was collecting dates when he tripped over something on the ground. He pulled himself up, adjusted the grass-woven knapsack over his shoulder that he had been using to hold the dates, and brushed the sand off of his clothes as he turned to look at what had tripped him. There, lying on the sand, was the Professor…covered in palm leaves and apparently asleep. Or at least, he HAD been asleep. Being tripped over tends to wake one up. Gilligan watched as the Professor groggily drifted into consciousness and began to sit up, causing the palm leaves to fall off of him.

“Professor? What are you doing sleeping outside?” Gilligan asked in confusion.

The Professor appeared to be wondering the exact same thing as his half-closed eyes tried to figure out where he was and why there were leaves all over him. As his location became clear to him, he remembered what had happened last night. He had been here with Ginger, they must’ve fallen asleep…GINGER! Where was she?

“Where’s Ginger?!” he burst out before he realized that he might be revealing more than he should have.

Gilligan looked at him oddly. “Ginger? She’s back at camp with the Skipper and Mr. and Mrs. Howell and Mary Ann and…” He stopped to count on his fingers. That was only five. With the Professor here, that made six. Who was missing? He counted again, out loud, and looked down at his hand in confusion.

The Professor noticed his puzzled expression as he ticked off the names on his fingers. “Gilligan?”

He looked up.

“Did you remember yourself?”

Gilligan grinned sheepishly. “Oh yeah.”

The Professor smiled, yawned, and stood up stiffly, then took out his watch to check the time. “Is breakfast ready yet?” he asked Gilligan.

“Yeah, it will be in a few minutes. Mary Ann and Ginger sent me to find some dates.” Then a grin lit up his face. “That’s the first time two girls ever asked me for dates!”

The Professor chuckled slightly, and noticed the basket full of dates sitting on the ground a few feet away. It was fortunate that Gilligan had set it down before he had tripped.

“Here, let me help you with these dates,” the Professor said as he picked up the basket.

“Thanks, Professor,” Gilligan replied as they started back to camp.

* * *

Meanwhile, on another little island…where the natives remarkably all speak broken English (maybe an English textbook floated ashore)...

The headhunter scout pulled his canoe out of the water and ran to the chief of the island.

“Ah!” the Chief said. “You have returned from long two day journey! Tell me…what you find on other island? Do people live there like other scouts say?”

The scout rapidly shook his head. “We not go to THAT island!” he said with a terrified wide-eyed look.

“Why?”

“Terrible voodoo curse on island! No people. Lobster come down from sky like rain!”

“Lobster? That not so bad. Good for cooking. Always have food, since no people.”

The scout shook his head again. “Not normal lobster! BIG lobster! Mean lobster! VOODOO lobster! They nearly kill me!” He winced and rubbed his sore, pinched behind. He was being just a little overdramatic.

“All right. We not go to that island then. But YOU tell others bad news. Big chief election coming up soon.” And with that, he turned and left.

* * *

Back on Gilligan’s Island…

Breakfast was almost in full swing. Ginger had just placed the last plate of breadfruit pancakes on the table when Gilligan and the Professor entered the clearing.

“Hi, Gilligan” Mary Ann smiled sweetly.

“Hi, Mary Ann” Gilligan sheepishly returned the smile.

They remained smiling at each other for several seconds before Gilligan remembered what she had sent him for.

“Oh, here’s your dates, Mary Ann” he said as he took the basket from the Professor and set it down on the table. A slight blush crept up his face as he realized that he had been staring at her like an idiot, when she was only looking at him because she was waiting for the dates.

“Thank you, Gilligan.” She smiled at him with warmth and gratitude…but mostly warmth. She sighed inwardly as she looked at him. What was it about him that made her stomach knot up and her heart race like she’d just run a marathon? It was Gilligan for heaven’s sake! But maybe that was the whole answer to the question.

Ginger looked at the two staring and smiling at each other for the second time in two days, and knew she should break it up before everyone else noticed.

“Hey, Mary Ann, don’t keep all those dates to yourself!” She walked over, picked up a date, and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm…nothing beats a date right off of the tree! Of course, I had hundreds of dates back in Hollywood, but those were a different kind!” she said with a grin.

Mrs. Howell looked up from her breakfast in time to see the Professor turn and look at Ginger as she made the comment. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she could see a gleam of… jealousy? in his eyes. Wait, come to think of it, what was he doing here with Gilligan? They hadn’t left together.

“Professor?”

“Yes, Mrs. Howell?”

“Where did you come from?”

He tried to think of anything to say, but he didn’t have to. Gilligan chimed right in. “I found him asleep in the jungle.”

“Actually, he tripped over me” the Professor corrected with a slight smile.

“What were you doing sleeping in the jungle?” the Skipper inquired.

[Julie the GI girl]

yay! it worked. all except the italics....which i'm way too lazy to go through and fix. when i finish and post it on fanfiction.net i'll fix all that. so when they're thinking...don't get too confused.

it ended rather abruptly...but i have to finish writing that part. the Professor made up some excuse about looking for a rare mineral, and i have to check my field guide to rocks and minerals and fine one....to make him sound intelligent, of course. lol. i have plans for that rock later though, so...ha ha. i'll finish it soon. right now i gotta go to class. bye! and as always, thanks for the nice comments.

[TheOtherMovieStar]

Still going good Julie! HeeHee, The Professor, heehee. Hey, did you see that GI is now on at 3:30 in the morning on TV Land! Grrrr to you TV Land!!! it makes me so mad.
ehh well, what are ya gonna do about it.

[JWood201]

YAAAAY!!! Julie! Whee! Perhaps I should work on story now .... I haven't look at it in forever. Heh. Stupid college...

[Gilligan Jillian]

I say we Boycott TV Land! J/K

[HIGH ENOUGH]

Originally posted by Gilligan Jillian
I say we Boycott TV Land! J/K

You know I'm just playong with ya!

Julie, I just read PART of your story, not ALL of it. But what I DID read, was good. I'll read the rest when I have more time!

[iDOhavealife]

Julie, I apologize for just now reading this. Life got very hectic with the kids back in school, school activities, etc., but I was scrolling down the page today and ran across it, realizing I hadn't finished reading it.

It's GREAT! LOL. Very true to character, and I love the dialogue (Mr. Howell, in his sleep: "What do you mean it's not deductible?"-- )

I'm going back to finish now, I just wanted to tell you I'm enjoying it. And really, REALLY, I plan to write another MA/G fic, my life has just been so crazy lately. I'll get to it eventually.

[Julie the GI girl]

thanks! i think they got a little bit out of character....but i kind of had to do that for romantic reasons. lol. ginger had to get over herself.

since i posted this....i've edited it YET AGAIN, and now there is other stuff in with the whole first "real" kiss thing. now it's more frustrating sort of. i dunno how to describe it. but they're both even more in denial. lol.

and i've continued....slightly though. i'm ready to start working on a really good scene. i won't give it away, but it should be amusing.

thanks again! and hey, i totally understand not having time to read or do anything. i've been there. and this story is really long too, so i don't blame you. lol.

[JWood201]

Heeeey! A round of sound and a welcome back for iDOhavealife. What up? And YAY for the MAG story that hasn't been forgotten. And YAY for Julie's story. I know what the really good scene she's working on is .... and it's really good. Teehee! Also, my story's been added to. So, it is not forgotten and shall be posted eventually. If not in the near future, then from my room in 'the home' when I'm old and gray. Bah.

-- Courtney (who's still mad that her cookies were eaten before mailed to her. ew).

[April_246]

Great story!

[Julie the GI girl]

lol, thanks. It's been a while. Wow.

Um...I honestly haven't been working on it...but I still plan to...someday...

I need to just force myself to sit down and write.

[Tibbs]

Originally posted by Julie the GI girl
lol, thanks. It's been a while. Wow.

Um...I honestly haven't been working on it...but I still plan to...someday...

I need to just force myself to sit down and write.

LOLOL that sounds alot like me! Seriously though , I only write when and if I'm in the mood so my fics are often long and drawn out and it ends up taking more than a year to get one finished!

Anyhoo, this fic is great! MAG are so cute!
I think Ginger and Professor go great together also!