Isn't She Lovely | Impractical Jokers

8:00

A bonfire crackled on the soft sand. The sun had set but the sky was still a deep blue speckled with a few stars. Dylan and Sal were laying on a woven blanket, Dylan's head resting on Sal's thigh. They both dug their bare toes into the sand. Sal twirled short curls of Dylan's hair in his fingers.

"Ducky!" he suddenly shouted in a high pitched voice.

Dylan shook their head and realized they were daydreaming. They came out of it holding a broom, standing by their supply cabinet with Gabe, their coworker, smiling at them.

"You're always doing that; off in your little world," she said.

Gabe was one of the high schoolers that worked weekends. With Dylan being one of the youngest adults, they accidentally befriended the teens in attempt to 'take them under their wing.'  Dylan told Gabe this once, who replied with "Like a mother duck!" That, along with a short stream of typos in a group chat, is how the nickname Ducky came about.

"Anyway, Mëlissa said you're about to go into overtime on your hours so you gotta clock out," Gabe said and took the broom from Dylan.

"Okay, see you next week," Dylan waved on their way back to their locker.

It was only 6:30 but it's never too early to start drinking. They texted Sal to start heading to their apartment. As they headed out of the park, Dylan passed their favorite a capella singing group, The Gem Tones.

"Hey Dylan!" a female singer yelled sweetly.

Dylan smiled and waved. "Hi Doris!"

Dylan had such a crush on Doris, who looked extra cute today wearing, in addition to her usual poodle skirt uniform and cat eye glasses, a green letterman jacket. Her dark brown hair was tucked behind her ears and ended just above her mid back.

Doris was always extra nice to Dylan. They had talked a few times and found out they have some common interests. But for the most part, Dylan's been admiring from afar; watching as many of their performances as Dylan's schedule allowed.

Also, despite the niceness and the definite lesbian vibes Dylan picked up, they were pretty sure Doris was straight.

"So, what's new, Dylan?" Doris tended to repeat their name often in conversation. Dylan loved it. "I saw you hanging out with The Impractical Jokers the other day."

"You've seen that show?" Dylan asked, befuddled. If they had only heard of the show in the last few days, it seemed likely that no one else knew what it was.

Doris smiled. "I love that show. So, like, how did you meet them; win a contest or something?"

Dylan shook their head. "No, they just came into the shop the other day. I didn't even know of The Impractical Jokers show until I met them."

"Cool," Doris nodded. "They passed by during one of our shows. I couldn't say anything because we were in the middle of a song, but I tried to wave."

"Yeah?"

Doris smiled sadly at the ground.

"Do you wanna come get drunk with us?" Dylan suddenly said.

She looked up with a shocked and confused face. "What?"

"Sal, Q, and I are gonna hang out at my apartment and drink a little bit. You could come meet them." Dylan shrugged. "Just a thought."

As they turned to leave, they heard Doris from behind them say, "Let me change out of my costume."

☆

Dylan drove Doris to their apartment. Doris looked even cuter wearing a black hoodie and jeans. She wasn't wearing her 50s costume glasses but she was wearing a 90s black tattoo choker.