Nic Hanson was taking advantage of the mid June weather, and washing his car in the sun.

He’d just turned sixteen, and for his birthday his parents, Zac and Becky Hanson had bought him a gently used car. He glanced across the street, admiring the fair early summer weather. He loved his neighborhood, plenty of mature trees, big homes, pools and his massive family close by.

The front door to their house opened and Tamera and Emily came out onto the front porch, giggling. Nic pretended he wasn’t listening to their every word. A part of him didn’t really care that his older sister was there, he was more focused on picking up Emily’s sweet musical voice.

Emily lived across the street; another reason why he liked his neighborhood. She and Nic were the same age, only a couple of month’s difference in their ages. They’d known each other forever. As kids, they had been almost inseparable but now they rarely spoke.

Now, his sister Tamera and Emily were best friends. Emily came over a lot, as well as his cousins Candice and Cassidy. They got together and did girly stuff… Nic usually stayed out of the way; or tried to come up with the courage to talk to Emily, but he never got the chance.

Nic bent and scrubbed at a mark on his new car, trying to seem indifferent in their conversation.

Emily laughed, sweetly. It was a sound that made his chest ache.  “Well, I’d better get back before my dad finds out about the homework I haven’t done yet…”

Tamera laughed. “Me too. I’ll call you later.”

“Sure. Bye.” Emily smiled, sweeping her curtain of long, silky looking dark hair behind her shoulder. Emily started down the front path, hitching her shoulder bag into place while Tamera went back into the house.

Emily smiled as she passed Nic. He nodded a hello, and watched her saunter down the driveway. One of the best parts of early spring were the short summer dresses that seemed to be in style. Emily seemed to own a lot of them.

“Oh! Nic.” She turned around suddenly. Nic had to quickly refocus his eyes to make it seem like he hadn’t been staring after her. “I meant to ask. Did you understand any of that homework from Mr. Collin’s class? That algebra stuff he was trying to teach us?”

“Yeah. It was really simple… you know, once you got to it.” Nic shrugged. He didn’t want to admit that he had struggled with it too. He wanted to seem cool and impress her.

Emily made a face. “Well, exams are like next week, and there’s supposed to be tons of that stuff on the exam, and I’m totally lost. If I screw up on that exam, my dad is going to take away my allowance…”

Nic tried to guess the point she was expertly hinting around. “Do you need help?”

“Well… yeah. I mean your mark in that class is like a ninety-five percent or something?”

“Ninety-four.” Nic answered, simply to show off.

“Ok… Do you think you could come over later? I mean, if that’s okay.” Emily said quickly, glancing down at her feet shyly. “I mean, you don’t have to…”

“Sure. I mean, if it helps.” Nic shrugged, trying to seem impartial. He was completely excited. “What time?”

“Umm… maybe seven? Is that okay with you?” Emily asked hopefully.

“Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then.” Nic answered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Candice bounded down the stairs after she heard the doorbell ring, and passed her father who was walking through the hall to answer the door. She was anxious to go out with her friends. School had been borderline agony, and all she wanted to do was hang out and relax.

“Bye daddy!” Candice said quickly, hoping to get out the door before her father could scrutinize her outfit too much. She’d chosen it very carefully; but she knew how over protective he was of her and her sister. Sometimes it bordered on being a little rediculous.

“Hold it!” Her father said in a stern voice.

Candice sighed irritably and stopped. She turned slowly, smiling innocently as she turned around. “What’s wrong, daddy?”

“You’re not leaving this house in those shorts. They’re too tight and way too short.” He told her. “Change please.”

“But daddy, they’re in style! I spent so much on these! And mom has the same ones!”

Christy appeared in the kitchen doorway, to see what the arguing was about. She was wiping her hands on a dish towel, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t care. Personally, I think sweat pants are in style-“ Isaac countered. “Or long dresses. Try one of those!”

Candice shot her mother a pleading look, barely listening to the lecture from her father.

Christy rolled her eyes, and moved into the hallway further. “Ike, please. She’s a teenager. And she’s not kidding when she says that stuff in style. Actually, it’s pretty modest from what I’ve seen some of the other girls her age wearing. And she’s a good kid, she’s not going to be out partying. She’s just going to hang out with girlfriends…. right?” Christy prompted.
Candice nodded immediately. “Yes! Absolutely! No boys at all!” Candice lied convincingly. “We’re just going to a movie, it’ll be dark in there anyway.”

Isaac sighed turning to his wife, “Cee, please. Can you at least see my point on this? Our daughter isn’t even eighteen-”
“She’ll be eighteen in a few months, besides. Ike, do you remember when I was her age? My parents were controlling, and the first thing I did when I could was rebel. We don’t want that to happen to our family…” Christy moved her arms around Isaac’s shoulders, capturing his complete attention.

Isaac sighed. “No, Cee, I don’t want that but-”

Christy motioned for Candice to go, and Candice nodded, slipping out the door. She ran as fast as she could jumped into her friend’s car with a sigh.

“What took so long, girl?” Her friend Brittany asked.

“My dad.” Candice rolled her eyes “I swear, he’s so over protective. My mom had to distract him.”

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Daniel was fiercely playing Nintendo with his twin brother Ryan. Their basement had been turned into a game room, and it was their favorite plate in the entire house.

“Yes!” Ryan stood up, pumping his fist in the air.  “I won!”

“Yeah, on a technicality.”  Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Screw you!”

“Screw you!”

“Boys!” Zac walked into the basement with a bottle of soda in his hand. “Calm down, the Ana is trying to nap.”

“But he-“

“No buts. You mother is tired, it’s not easy looking after a toddler, you know?”

“Yes Dad.” They both answered in unision.

“Good. Now slide over and let the master show you how to really play this game.” Zac grinned hugely, pushing his way onto the sofa with his twin boys.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily was sitting in between the coffee table and the sofa in the living room of her parents house later that night. She was trying to work out her math problems, but not having any luck. They were all simply impossible; and each question was harder than the last. She looked up suddenly to see Nic with a dr. pepper can in each hand.

Nic was arguably one of the most popular guys at school. He was involved in a lot of sports at Tulsa High, and aside from being her best friends brother; Emily had the biggest crush on him. Every time she saw him he seemed to get better looking.

He handed her a can of sofa, and sat down next to her on the floor. “Okay, so, where are you stuck?”

She sighed. “Everywhere. I don’t understand a single one of these questions.” She picked up her pencil.

“Alright, first things first. You need to solve for Y…. and if Y squared equals nine, then what does Y equal?” Nic asked, leaning over her shoulder. He could see her textbook from where he was sitting, but he wanted to be closer to her. He inhaled the sweet, fruity scent of her perfume.

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s three.” Emily answer automatically.

“Alright, well, how did you get that?” Nic answered.

“Square route of nine is three.” Emily responded.

“Alright, well, let’s try this one then… expand 3(x+2).”

“That’s one of the place’s I’m stuck.” Emily glanced up at him.

“Alright, I’ll show you how to do this one… You multiply everything in the brackets by three.”

“Alright so its…. 3x+6?” Emily guessed.

“Exactly.” Nic agreed.

“Oh my god, I’ve been working on that question for a week now. I can’t believe it’s that simple.” Emily sighed. “You’re such a good teacher. ”

He leaned closer and looked at her work. “Alright, look at this one. -3(x-2).”

“I suck at the whole positive negative thing…”

“Well, it’s like the same thing. Times everything by -3.”

“Ok.. so… -3x-6?”

“Not quite. When you have two negatives they equal a positive, remember from grade school?’

She laughed. “Yeah, right, ask me a times table, I dare you.”

“Alright so what’s the answer?”

“-3x +6”

“Yeah, exactly. Do you understand now?”

“Yeah. I do…. But there are a few more things I don’t get.”

“Like what?”

“Finding the zeros.”

“Oh. Well…” He moved closer and picked up her pencil, scribbling down an equation. “Do you know how to do that?”

“No clue.”

“Well, something to remember is if two numbers have a product of zero, then one or both of the numbers must be zero, right?”

“Um, ok. So, then x would equal 2.”

“Or?”

“…Negative two?”

“Exactly.”

“Oh my god! You mean I got it?” Emily asked excitedly.

“Yeah.” He laughed, softly.

She threw her arms around him, “Oh my god, thank you so much!” She breathed.

He tugged at her hair lightly and playfully. “See? It wasn’t that hard was it?”

She smiled, and slowly let go. “You’re such a genius.”

He reached out, and cupped her chin with his hand, stroking her lower lip with his thumb.

Emily gaped at him, her mouth open slightly. She knew he was going to kiss her by the way he was watching her lips. She wanted more than anything for him to kiss her, and she waited impatiently.

He leaned over, and touched his lips to hers, in a slow, deep kiss. It seemed to last for ages before Emily pushed herself up onto her knees and leaned toward him for more contact. Her hands moved into his hair. Nic leaned toward her, his arms slowly moving around her.

He slowly broke the kiss, and dropped his hands.  “I.… uh… I should go.” He said awkwardly.

“Ok.” Emily breathed. She didn’t know what else to say, even though she wanted him to stay and keep kissing her. She sat numbly, without opening her eyes until she was sure he was gone.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^

Jack and Alex were sitting in their room later that night. Jack yawned and closed his history book with a loud snapping sound that echoed through the bedroom they shared. Alex looked up from his English book.

“Let’s do something else.” Jack suggested.

“Like what?” Alex asked.

“Anything.” Jack answered. “Come on, man. Anything is better than homework.”

“I have a test in English tomorrow to study for.” Alex answered. “I can’t fail it. I’m already going to fail the paper I just handed in…”

Jack rolled his eyes. “No way, man. You’re too smart to fail. Besides, you know you don’t have to study.”

“Okay, then what do you want to do?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know… a movie, TV, comp games, Nintendo?” Jack looked at his watch “It’s ten-thirty. We’re supposed to be studying.”

Alex rubbed his eyes. “I’m too tired.”

Jack laughed. “Then do something else.”

“Like what?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Let’s get something to eat.”

They ran down the hall, and jumped down the back stairs.

Jack put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and hit the buttons. Alex hopped up on the counter.

Their mother came into the room, and shooed Alex off the counter. “People eat off that counter. People prepare food there. You shouldn’t park you butt there.”

“Thanks mom.” Alex rolled his eyes, pulling out a bowl for the popcorn.

“Did you boys study?”

“Yes, mom.”

Christy rolled her eyes. “Don’t treat me like a disciplinarian. I mean it, do you want to eat food of a counter that smells like ass?”

Alex laughed.

“Where’s Dad?”

“Singing to Ashley. She woke up, and he’s trying to get her back to sleep.”

“Oh, alright. Can we eat this upstairs?” Jack dropped some popcorn into his mouth.

“Yes. But please don’t leave the bowl in your room though. Yesterday, when I was looking for laundry, I found a cheesie that was actually growing hair.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nic ventured down the hall, knocking on his sister’s door. When she told him it was safe to go in, Nic walked into her room and flopped onto Tamera’s bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Tams, I need your help.” He admited.

Tamera wheeled her desk chair over to her bed. “About what?”

He sighed. “Well… you see… I have this friend…”

“Uh huh…” Tamera said slowly, waiting for him to make his point.

“And he likes this girl… and well… he wasn’t really sure if he liked this girl. He does but then something happened, and now he definitely likes her.” Nic tried to clarify vaguely.

”Okay, so you like this girl. The rest is confusing.” Tamera shook her head, trying to cut through Nic’s jumbled run-arounds.

“Well… you see…. Our parents are really close and if-“

“Oh my god!”  Tamera gasped loudly.

“Tams-“ Nic said quickly, his eyes wide.

“It’s Emily!” She cried.

“Tams… Please, don’t make a huge deal of this!” He said quickly.

“Oh my god, what did you do?” She demanded.

He sighed. “You’re no help.”

“Tell me.” Tamera insisted.

“I think I’m falling for her. I can’t stop thinking about her. I mean, I couldn’t stop thinking about her before, but now it’s so much worse!” He answered.

“Oh no.”

“You’re not helping.” Nic insisted.

“No, this is huge!” Tamera mused.

Nic sighed, and got up leaving the room.

Tamera sat there stunned for a few minutes before turning back to her laptop to finish her English paper.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Emily was opening her locker the next morning. She was groggy and irritable having not slept at all. One of her best friends, Mary Jane, came up beside her and fumbled with her lock.

“Jesus, Em. You look like shit.”

“Thanks.” Emily rolled her eyes.

“Did you sleep at all?” her friend asked.

“No, in fact, I didn’t.” Emily pulled out her books for her morning classes. “When I did fall asleep, I was almost late for school.”

“Did you comb your hair?”

“Not well… got a mirror?”

“Here, I’ll French braid it. Sit down.” Mary Jane pulled out a brush and Emily sat down on her math textbook.

Mary Jane pulled a brush through her hair, “So what’s up?”

“Huh? Oh nothing.”

“Oh come on.”

Emily sighed.

“Well, I had a friend over last night… for help in math… you know?”

“Uh-huh. Guy or girl?”

“A guy…” Emily answered slowly.

“I see. And was he cute?”

“Definitly.” Emma chewed her lip. “So cute. And so sweet, and so nice…”

“Alright, what happened?”

“Well…. We… sort of…”

“Oh no, Em, you didn’t!”

“We only kissed, it was only a little one… but…”

“But?” Her friend prompted.

“I don’t know. I  liked him before. And then now I can’t stop thinking about him… And… and the kiss was so intense. He just barely kissed me and I was kind of lost. I couldn’t control it. It was… hot.” She breathed.

“Was he a good kisser?”

“Oh, god, yes.” Emily breathed.

“Then go for him!”

Emily sighed. “I can’t it’s complicated.”

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Cassidy was sitting in English class barely listening to her teacher ramble on something to do with Shakespeare. She was doodling in the margins of her notebook, when she was interrupted.

There was a knock at the door, and her teacher went to answer it. He left the room, and returned a moment later.

“Ms. Hanson?”

Cassidy looked up from her doodles in alarm. For a moment she was afraid that her teacher was calling on her for an answer and she was caught not paying attention.

“My deepest sympathies. Take your things; you are wanted in the hall. My condolences.”

Cassidy frowned. She gathered her books and walked into the hall where her mother was leaning against some lockers.

“Mom? What’s the deal? Who died?” Cassidy demanded.

“No one.” Christy ushered her down the hall. “But if your teacher asks, my mother died.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Where are we going?”

“Shopping.” Christy smiled happily.

“You pulled me out of English to go shopping?” Cassidy demanded.

“Yeah, is that ok? I can take you back…”

“No! For the love of god no.”

Christy laughed.

“Where are we going now?”

“To get Candice. Should we leave the boys here?”

“Please.”

“Alright, wait here.”

Christy knocked and pushed open the door to Candice’s art class.

Cassidy waited in the hall a few minutes until both Candice and Christy came out.

Christy laughed.

“Ew.” Candice shivered.

“What? Did she tell Mr. Stevens that our grandma died?”

“Is that the excuse she used on your teacher?”

“Yeah. What’d she do?”

“She flirted to get me out of class!” Candice rolled her eyes. “Again!”

“Ew!” Cassidy beamed.

Christy laughed. “It’s nice to know cleavage still helps.”

“Yuck.” Candice and Cassidy replied in unison.

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*

Tamera was sitting with her friend Morgan in her Music class. They were going over theory for the exam, and both girls were bored.
“Look at Mike, Isn’t he a cutie?” Morgan whispered, leaning across the row.

“Morgan, he’s like my brother’s age.” Tamera replied in a hushed whisper.

“Yeah, but he’s cute.”

“Well, yeah, in a weird punkish kind of way.”

“I think he’s way gorgeous.”

“You think everyone is gorgeous.” Tamera whispered back.

The girls giggled.

“Ladies? Do you find something funny? Perhaps you could share it with the class.” Their teacher said.

“It’s nothing, really, Mr. B.” Tamera said.

“Just an inside joke, no one would get it if we told.” Morgan filled in.

“Alright, but that’s enough out of you two girls.”

The bell rang, and the girls walked towards their lockers. They walked into the cafeteria on their way, and bought their lunches before sitting down in front of their lockers.

Tamera laughed. “That was too close in Mr. Bailey’s class.”

“I know! Thank god he didn’t ask us to say it out loud. That would have been so embarrassing.”

They both laughed.

Emily dropped her books in front of them suddenly and sat down on top of them.

“Tams, have you given any more thought to the end of school formal?” She asked suddenly.

“Not really…” Tamera answered. “I wasn’t planning on going. It’s not really my thing anyway. I couldn’t dance if you paid me…”

“Tams, you have to go.” Emily insisted.

“Why? I’ve got nothing to wear and besides, I don’t even have a date.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can dance. And we can go shopping for something to wear.”

“I still don’t have a date…”

Emily sighed. “Me either…”

“Well, I know some one I can hook you up with…”

“Who?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Alright, make him call me though. Maybe I can get someone to go with you. Got your sights on anyone in particular?”

“I don’t think I want to go…”

“Tams, come on, it’ll be so cool. Are you going?” Emily nodded to Morgan.

“No, school dances are for insecure debutants and their half-brained football team boyfriends.”

“… Ok…” Emily said hesitantly.

Tamera sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“There’s only a week left!”

“I know. I’ll call you tonight and let you know.”

“Alright, thanks, Tams.” Emily gathered up her books and jogged off to join her friends in the Cafeteria.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nic was sitting on his bed with a science book open in front of him as he studied for exams.

His bedroom door opened suddenly, and Tamera flopped into his desk chair. “Nic, we need to talk.”

He looked up, “About what?”

“Do you know about the formal coming up?”

“Who doesn’t?” Nic shrugged.

“Do you have a date yet?”

“Why? Do you want me to take you?” He laughed.

“Ew! No!” Tamera rolled her eyes.

He laughed, “I wasn’t planning on going unless I had a good date.”

“I know someone who needs a date. For some reason, she thinks she has to go, and she won’t leave me alone about it. I don’t want to go, so-“

“So you’re roping me into it.” Nic assumed.

“Well, you don’t have a date either, I know you like her, and I know she likes you and-“

“Who?”

“Emily Benson.”

“Wait a sec, Emily said she likes me?” Nic demanded.

Tamera nodded.

“Emily Benson said she liked me?”

Tamera nodded with a smile.

“Yes!!” He jumped up and hugged his sister. “I’m going to go see he right now!”

“Good… I’m tired of being in the middle of this.” She sighed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Christy took the girls home at four so Isaac wouldn’t notice that they had missed school. Both Candice and Cassidy were sworn to secrecy about their impromptu shopping trip.

They took off their shoes in the main hall when Isaac appeared at the door to his office.

“Christy, can I talk to you a moment?” He asked.

“Umm… yeah, ok.” Christy followed him into his office, where he shut the door behind them.

Cassidy and Candice looked at each other.

“Do you think he knows?” Cassidy asked.

“I don’t know.” Candice walked over to the den door, and peeked in the little crack of open door space.

Christy was sitting in an armchair, while Isaac paced in front of her.

“The school called today.”

“Really? What for?”

“Candice and Cassidy didn’t go to their afternoon classes, do you know anything about that?”

“No, why should I? Maybe they skipped.” Their mother answered innocently.

“No, they were signed out by someone claiming to be their mother.”

“Well, it wasn’t me, I was at Jenna’s all day.”

“No, you weren’t. I called, and Jenna said she hadn’t seen you all day.”

“I must have gotten there after you called.”

“I called there 15 minutes ago.”

“I went to Becky’s first. We lost track of time.”

“No you didn’t. I called Zac; he said he hadn’t seen you there. Becky had gone over to visit with Alexis.”

“I went with-“

“Don’t lie to me. I talked to Taylor too.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah. So where were you?”

“Umm…”

“You were are the school.” He mused.

“No-“

“Then where did you go?”

She sighed, and looked at her hands that were folded in her lap. “Ok, ok. So I did pick up the girls…”

“Why?”

“Because I knew how hard they’d been working to do well on their exams, and I thought they needed a break. Don’t yell at them, the whole thing was my fault, my idea.” “I’m not going to yell at anyone… it’s not a good idea that you make this a habit. Education is important…”

She nodded.

“And I don’t like the idea of you lying to me, either.”

“I know, I just… well, I don’t want to have the same relationship with my kids as I did with my mother.”

“Your mother is dead.”

“My point exactly. And my stepmother is the biggest bitch ever. I never got along with her either. And I don’t want my kids to feel that way about me.”

Cassidy looked at Candice. “I feel kind of bad now.” She whispered.

Candice grinned. “Don’t. That’s the excuse she always uses on dad.”

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡
Emily crossed the street later that night and walked up the Hanson’s driveway.

She was about to knock when the door was jerked open, and Nic stopped in his tracks with a leash around his chocolate lab Reese.

“Emily!” He cried.

“Nic!” She gasped.

“You scared me!”

“YOU scared ME!” She laughed softly.

“I was just taking Reese for a walk. Do you want to come with us?” He offered.

“Umm… sure, ok.” Emily offered, lightly patting the dog on his head.

She followed him down the street, where they turned down a trail and came to a small gully.

Nic took the dog off the leash, and let him run ahead.

Emily laughed as the dog chased a bird.

Nic led her over to some rocks, and sat down next to her.

They sat in silence for a minute, before he spoke.

“Listen, Em… It’s been a week since I was at your place and we… well, you know… and I’ve been thinking…” He sighed, “Are you going to the Formal?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you need a date?”

“Oh my god, YOU would take me to the formal?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

“Aren’t I completely not your type?”

“Who says that?”

“People who I’ve talked to…”

“Who have you been talking to?” He laughed.

“Nothing, no one. Never mind.” Emily said quickly.

“Well… come on, what do you say?”

“Yeah, ok. Maybe you can help me convince your sister to go.” Emily said hopefully.

Nic laughed. “That was a condition. She really doesn’t want to go.”

“Alright, we’ll have fun, though. Just us.”

“Yeah, I think so.” Nic smiled, picking up her hand and holding it tightly in his.

†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†‡†

Alex drove home after his date with hid girlfriend Amy. They’d been dating for almost six months now. He carefully turned into his driveway being careful not to hit the mailbox like he did last time.

He parked the car, and jogged up the front stairs.

He walked into the quiet house, and locked the door behind him. The hall clock said 11:30, as he walked into the kitchen, to get something to drink.

Candice was sitting on the counter, eating a bowl of cheerios.

“How was your date with the tramp?” She asked coldly.

“Hey, just because she isn’t a cold heartless bitch like you doesn’t mean she’s a tramp.” Alex retorted.

“Oh that’s it, you little shit-“

“Hey, HEY!” Christy walked into the kitchen wrapped in a robe. “Unless you want your father down here you’d better knock it off…”

Alex and Candice stopped arguing immediately.

“What’s this about?” Christy asked.

“Nothing.” Candice mumbled.

“Nothing.” Alex muttered.

“Alright then. I’m going to bed. Not too late. okay?”

“Yes mom.”

Christy mounted the back stairs.

Candice shoved past Alex and went up the front stairs to her room.

Alex sighed. He really liked Amy, and he couldn’t understand why Candice thought so little of her.

º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º•º

The next day Cassidy met her friends at their favorite restaurant for a pancake breakfast like they did every Saturday morning. Cassidy had managed to drag Candice along with her. Personally, Candice thought she was too cool, but humored her sister, and went anyways.

Denise was the last one to join the group. “Sorry I’m late, guys. Traffic was a bitch.”

“What are you talking about Dee? There’s no traffic in this end of town.”

The girls all laughed.

Cassidy looked around the small restaurant, and saw a familiar person standing at the counter coolly waiting to order.

“Cass! Stop staring a Joey.” Some one at her table said, a little too loudly, and all the girls burst into giggles except Cassidy.

“Guys, I was not!” She blushed.

“You were too, you’ve been crushing on him for the longest time.” Denise laughed.

Cassidy hushed them. “He’ll here you!”

“Oh for Christ sakes.” Candice groaned. “Just go over and talk to him. Ask him to formal or something.”

“No way, then he’ll know I like him, and I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole school.” Cassidy defended.

“No you won’t, look, I’ll go and talk to him.”

“No, don’t!”

“It’s no big deal, I want to get a coffee anyways.”

Candice stood and walked over to the counter, and ordered a coffee.

“Hey,” She said casually to Joey who was looking her up and down.

“Hey,” He nodded. “You’re Candice right? Candice Hanson.”

“Yeah.”

“Haven’t I seen you someplace before?”

“Yeah, sure…. Listen, my sister likes you. She’s going stag to the formal, are you going?”

“Yeah with a couple buddies of mine-“

“Good, do us all a favor and dance with her at least once.”

Candice got her coffee and sat back down with the girls.

¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿

That afternoon, Emily and Tamera were sunbathing in deck chairs by the pool. Emily turned the page in her magazine. Tamera sipped at her coke.

“Em? Have you picked out your dress for the formal yet?” “No, my dad is giving me his credit card to get a dress tomorrow. Do you want to come?”

“Umm… sure ok, I think I can get off of studying for exams for one day.” Tamera laughed.

Emily sighed. “I’ll be in Grade eleven math again next year.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure you’ll do fine on your math exam.”

“No way, Mr. Collins is the biggest bitch ever! I mean, once you reach menopause you shouldn’t be allowed to teach. It’s like five-hundred degrees in that classroom and we can’t open the windows cause she’s cold! I mean, god, woman.”

“You don’t like her do you?” Tamera teased.

“Does anyone? She’s a mega bitch, and she fails everyone.” “My brother seems to be doing well in that class…”

“He’s a genius, though. He’s got like a ninety-five percent.”

“Wow.”

Emily sighed.

“You really like my brother don’t you?”

Emily shrugged. “You know, he’s a guy…”

“Oh come on!” Tamera laughed.

“Alright, I like him. A lot.” Emily breathed.

“I knew it.”

“He asked me to formal.”

“I know.”

“You put him up to it didn’t you?” Emily grinned hugely.

Tamera laughed. “No, I just know that he can’t stop thinking about you, and I know you like him, and I told him that.”

“Great, thanks, Tams.”

“Well he is taking you to formal isn’t he?” Tamera teased further.

“Yes. Thanks.” Emily hugged Tamera.

Tamera laughed. “You’re crazy!”

Nic, Daniel and Ryan came out in swimsuits. Daniel and Ryan took a running start, and jumped into the water, splashing a good ten feet in area with water.

Tamera sighed. “I can’t believe they’ll be dating soon. They probably still think girls have cooties.”

Emily laughed.

Nic peeled off his shirt, and prepared to dive into the water.

Emily looked down over her sunglasses at him, and watched him dive in and start doing laps.

Tamera threw her magazine at Emily.

“What?” Emily asked.

“You’re drooling!” Tamera laughed.

“I am not!”

“You are too!”

“Am not!”

“Oh come on, you’re looking at him like a hungry dog, you want him SO badly.”

Emily tossed her magazine back at Tamera giggling. “Shh! He’ll hear you!”

ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
Candice was walking through the mall with her friends, Brittany and April. They walked into the shoe store, and split up.

Candice picked out a pair of boots, with a 10” heel and plopped down to try them on.

Brittany laughed. “Want me to see if they have any stilts here for you?”

Candice grinned. “I like them, they’re funky.”

“Can you walk in them?”

“Probably not.”

The girls laughed.

April walked over. “Holly shit, I love those boots!”

Brittany and Candice laughed.

“They’re all yours.” Candice slipped them off.

“Cool.” April sat down beside Candice, and put them on. “Girl, you’re crazy.” Brittany laughed.

*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*

Daniel and Ryan ventured inside and changed into dry clothes after a massive water gun fight with Nic.
They walked downstairs and opened the fridge and pantry looking for food.

Their mother, Becky came in and sighed. “You two boys eat me out of house and home, do you know that?” She teased.

“Yay!” Ana shrieked from her mothers arms.

Ryan laughed and reached for her. “Hey Ana Banana.”

“Where is Nic? I’ll ask him to watch Ana for a few minutes.”

“He’s busy watching Emily…” Daniel and Ryan snickered.

“Emily who?”

“From across the street.”

“What do you mean watching… oh… so are they…”

“Who knows?” Daniel shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll find out later.” She handed Ana over to Ryan and pulled out a pot and filling it with water.

The boys took Ana into the living room and sitting down with her on the floor.

±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±

Cassidy was moping around the house boredly. She walked into the kitchen and helped herself to some cookies, and then walked into the den, where her parents were sitting on the sofa cuddling.

“Ugh, will you two get a room?” Cassidy rolled her eyes.

“This is a room, four walls and a roof.” Christy giggled, pulling Isaac‘s arm around her further.

“You two are gross.” Cassidy rolled her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Jack walked into the den.

“Mom and dad are sucking face.”

“Gross!” Jack shuddered.

Isaac leaned over and kissed his wife briefly. She giggled.

Ashley began to wail over the baby monitor, and Christy moved to stand.

“I’ll get it. Let you guys get back to doing the nasty.” Cassidy left the room.

“Wait for me!” Jack called.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Alex climbed into his mother’s car, and started the ignition. He was going over to Amy’s house to watch a movie that she’d picked up early.

Taking out the old Hanson CD that his mother normally listened to, he looked out the window at ferocious looking storm clouds. He sighed; hopefully it didn’t storm too badly.

After stopping at a gas station for a bag of chips, flowers, and, of course, gas, he drove directly to Amy’s house. He pulled into the driveway, mostly to the left for when Amy’s mother came home. Amy’s mother was a lawyer who dealt with a lot of clients in Oklahoma City so she stayed out pretty late some nights, and Amy was home alone. Her father had died of cancer when she was three.

Alex jogged up the front steps, and rang the doorbell, shoving his hand with the flowers behind his back. The door opened, and Amy smiled seeing him. “Hey! I was just about to call your place. The pizza got here five minutes ago.”

“Cool.” He laughed, and pecked her cheek.

“You didn’t have to bring chips, we have like fifty bags.”

“I brought you something else too.” He stepped inside.

“What?” She smiled.

“Guess.” He smirked.

“Umm…. Well, I hope you didn’t bring soda too because we have gallons!”

“No. It’s not food of any kind…”

“Hmm… I give up, what is it?”

“You have to guess!”

“Is it… music?”

“Nope.”

“… A picture?”

“No. It’s a three dimensional object.”

“I give up, tell me!”

He held out the pink carnations.

She gasped. “Oh my gosh! They’re so pretty!” She hugged him.

He made a mental note to thank his father for the suggestion, and followed her into the kitchen, where he lifted down a vase that she
couldn’t reach, and grabbed two plates for the pizza.

“My mom phoned.” She said over the running water from the tap. “It’s really storming in OK city.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she says if the storm doesn’t let up then she might have to stay overnight in a motel.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah.” She put the flowers in the center of the table. “We’ve got the house to ourselves… well, at least for a couple hours anyways.”

He kissed her cheek. “Let’s eat before it gets cold. How many slices do you want to start off?”

“One, thanks. I can never eat two…”

“Whoa, you ordered a lot of pizza if you’re only having one piece.” Alex grinned.

“Yeah, so you’d better eat a lot.” She poked his side, and grabbed two cans of Dr. Pepper.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@||=||äñ§ðñ_®Ô»«@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Candice had made an excuse to go for a walk, claiming the house being to noisy with Cassidy whining about not having a date for the formal, Alex and Jack playing video games loudly, Ashley throwing a tantrum and both her parents trying to sooth the screaming child.

Candice walked into a nearby park, and sat down hard on a bench. She placed a cigarette between her lips, and frantically searched for a lighter in her pockets. She groaned; it was in her purse. And her purse was on her bedroom floor.

She snatched the cigarette out of her mouth, as an arm reached out and held out a light.

She lit her cigarette and gratefully took a long drag as the mysterious man sat down beside her.

She offered him a drag, and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand saying, “I don’t smoke.”

Candice laughed. “Why do you carry a lighter if you don’t smoke?”

He shrugged. “Always nice to have one incase a pretty girl is in dire need of a nicotine fix.”

Candice raised her eyebrows. “What’s your name?”

“Kyle.”

“Is that it or do you have a last name?”

“Baker.”

“Kyle Baker… sounds familiar… sort of… I’m-“

“Candice Hanson.”

“Do I know you?”

“Not really. I just see you around school, a lot.”

“Oh.” Candice grinned.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Tamera walked in the house from Emily’s. She met Nic at the top of the stairs. She could tell by the expression on his face that he had been waiting for her the entire time.

“Tell me everything.” He said. “Did she mention me?”

“I can’t tell you.” She walked past him and into her bedroom, dropping her knapsack onto the bed.

“What did you do?”

“We studied for our exams. I tried to help her with her math, but it’s really hard. She thinks she’s going to fail.”

“Yes!” Nic cheered.

Tamera raised her eyebrows.

“Not that she’s failing, but I can help her with her math.”

Tamera shook her head. “You’re messed up.” She laughed.

“Did she mention me? At all? I mean, did she talk about me at all?”  Nic pressed.

“Nic, she’s my best friend. I can’t tell you what she tells me in secret.”

“So she did talk about me.” He assumed.

Tamera sighed. “Get out of my room. I’m going to bed. I have to get up early to help Emily look for a dress.”

“Really? Will you tell me everything?”

“If you get the hell out of my room!”

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Alex was sitting beside Amy on her plush sofa in the downstairs rec room. Through the window, he could see the storm wildly booming outside.

Amy was wrapped in a blanket tightly, jumping at everything. At the scary or gory parts, she’d hide her eyes in his sweater.

When the movie finally ended, Alex stretched his legs and arms and checked his watch. It was nearly eleven thirty.

“Crap, Ames, I’ve got to get home. My dad will kill me if he finds out I’m later then curfew.”

“Can’t you stay a little longer? Please?” She asked hopefully.

He laughed. “You’re not scared after watching that movie are you?” He teased.

She nodded. “You can stay the night. My mom will never know.”

Alex sighed. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“I’ll phone my mom and ask. She’ll probably let me, but my dad will kill me.”

“Ok.” She handed him the cordless phone, and he dialed his own number.

After a few rings, his mother answered the phone.

“Hi, Alex.” She said.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I don’t know… I just had a feeling it was you.” She laughed softly. “What’s going on, honey?”

“I know this is a shot in the dark, but can I sleep over here at Amy’s? Her mom isn’t home, and she doesn’t want to be alone… and it’s storming really bad, the power might go out.”

“Ok.”

“Who’s that?” Alex heard his father asked.

“It’s Alex. He’s at Jay’s house. Wants to stay the night there. I told him he could.”

“Alright.” His dad said. “Just tell him not to drive anywhere, it’s really coming down.”

“Ok… did you hear that, Alex?” His mother asked.

“Yeah, thanks a bunch, mom.” He sighed.

“You know my rules, honey.”

“Yes. Bye.” Alex said quicky.

“Bye.”

He hung up the phone slowly.

“Well? Can you?” Amy asked, handing him a can of soda.

“Yeah.” Alex laughed. “It worked, I can’t believe it.”
µµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµ

Candice returned home at three in the morning. More than three and a half hours past her curfew. She quietly let herself into the house and crept into the kitchen to get a drink. She jumped when she noticed her mother sitting at the table.

“Mom I-“

Christy smiled, “Don’t worry baby girl, you don’t have to make excuses to me. I was ten times worse at your age.”

Candice smiled. “Thanks mom. But what about dad?”

“He fell asleep watching TV. I woke him up around midnight, and he asked where you were. I said you were in your room, feeling a little sick.”

“Thanks mom, I owe you one.” Candice hugged her mother and sat down across the table.

“So what’s his name?”

“Who?”

“The guy you met.”

“Kyle Baker.”

“And? Did you? You know…”

“Mom!”

“Hey, you know I have three rules. Use protection, don’t get pregnant or get anyone pregnant, and don’t tell your father.”

Candice sighed. “Amazingly no. We sat in his car because it was raining and we started to make out, and we ended up… well, not. We
just talked for hours. And I lost track of time, so he dropped me off. He seemed kinda nervous about making out for some reason… I was nervous because we had so much in common. I gave him my number… my actual number, not the fake one I give to guys…”

Christy laughed. “Can I tell you a story?”

“Sure.”

“When your father and I met, he made a big deal of our first date. Formal wear, fancy restaurant, the whole works! I spent all day getting a new dress, hair, make up and nails done… While I was waiting for him to finish his photo shoot and everything so we could leave, I began to get nervous.”

Candice laughed. “So what happened?”

“Being the sweetheart he is he made everything perfect, as usual.” Christy laughed.

Candice laughed.

###########################################################

Nic woke around noon, and walked down the hall. He peeked in on Ana who was waking up. He scooped her up from the bed and carried her downstairs to the kitchen, where he got her some juice and took her into the living room where his parents were sitting watching the news.

“Where is everyone?” Nic asked, dropping Ana onto the sofa, lightly.

Ana giggled.

Becky sighed. “Daniel and Ryan went to the park to play soccer with some friends, Tamera went with Emily to get shoes or something for the dance… and that’s it.”

“Ok. Ana-banana, wanna go for a swim?”

“Yay!” She cried.

“Mom, will you get her bathing suit on while I get mine?”

“Yeah-“

“I’ll get it.” Zac offered picking up Ana and carrying her up the stairs.

Nic changed quickly and walked into the hall where Ana ran at him in her little two-piece.

He caught her just before she crashed into his legs and scooped her up, caring her down the stairs.

“Make sure you watch her at all times. Don’t leave the shallow end, and don’t let go of her.” His mother said. “And for god sakes don’t let her go underwater.”

“Yes mom, I’ve taken her in the pool before. I know all these things…” Nic sighed.

“Mommy!” Ana yelled, and reached for her mother.

Becky hugged Ana and smiled. “Nic is going to take you for a swim.”

“Yay!”

###########################################################

Alex woke late the next morning to something making noise on his chest. He opened his eyes to see Amy’s cat ‘fluffy’ purring loudly and looking right into his face.

He jumped slightly, and the cat hissed and got down. He stretched his sore back tiredly, still stiff from lying on the sofa all night.

Amy smiled. “He likes you.”

“That cat doesn’t like anyone.” He partially sat up.

Amy laughed, “You’re probably right.” She rested her head on his chest.

He looked at his watch. “You know, I should probably get home. I need to shower and change.”

“No!” She wined. “Stay!”

He laughed and raked her freshly brushed hair with his hand. “Your mom will be home soon.”

“So what?”

He kissed the top of her head and hugged her closer.

“Ames, come on. You can come to my house if you want.”

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal.” She sat on his stomach. “If you can get up, you can go home.”

He sat up and tickled her until she managed to get away. She shrieked with giggles, until he managed to get up from beneath her.

He got to his feet, stepping over the growling cat, and walking upstairs. She followed him up the stairs.

He slipped on his shoes, and hugged her. “I’ll call you later, ok?”

“Yeah…”

He reached over and gently kissed her.

She giggled. “YOU need to shave.”

“Yeah, I know.” He hugged her. “I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Yeah.”

He opened the door, and jogged to his car. She waited in the doorway until she couldn’t see him anymore before going inside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Candice was sitting in her room flipping through a fashion magazine on her bed.

There was a knock at the door and her mother poked her head in.

“Someone’s on the phone asking for you. It’s a guy.” She said.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Candice reached over and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Candice?”

“Hi, who’s this?”

“It’s Kyle.”

“Oh, hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“Not much. Reading.”

“Oh. Cool. Umm… feel like going out?”

“Sure, uhh… where?”

“Matinee? There’s a cool horror flick playing at one thirty… interested?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Alright, I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes?”

She looked at her watch. “Yeah, ok. That’ll give me time to get ready.”

“How long does that usually take?”

“An hour.” She answered honestly.

He laughed.

“But I can hurry. I’ll see you soon ok?”

“Alright, bye.”

“Bye.” Candice hung up the phone and began digging through her closet. “Mom!!! I need you to do my hair!” She screamed.

The door opened a moment later. “What is it?” Her mother asked, coming into the room.

“Will you do my hair for me? Kyle is picking me up in twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, what are you wearing?”

“I’m looking for my blue denim skirt, do you know where it is?”

“No, sorry. I didn’t see it in the laundry…”

Candice groaned. “What am I going to wear?”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><><><><><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Emily was slouched on the window seat in her second floor bedroom, listening to music.

Her phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hey, Em?”

“Nic?”

“Yup, what are you doing?”

“Nothing, just listening to music. What have you done today?”

“I took Ana in the pool.”

Emily laughed, softly. She melted at the mental image. “That’s so cute.”

“Yeah, she’s like a little fish.” He laughed. “What are your plans for tonight?”

“Umm… nothing yet. Why do you ask?”

“Do you want see a movie? The new Wes Craven movie is playing. I know how much you love scary movies…”

“I’d love to!” Emily giggled sweetly.

“Do you want to stop someplace and eat first?”

“Oh, I’ve already eaten…. but we could stop if you want…” Emily offered quickly.

“It’s okay. I’ll grab something here before I pick you up…. The movie starts in forty minutes. Can I pick you up in thirty?”

“Totally. I can’t wait.” Emily grinned.

“See you soon.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Emily pulled herself off the window seat, flying around the room at an alarming pace to get dressed and do her hair and make up before Nic arrived to pick her up. It was their first official date, and the prospect of it made her stomach lurch. She really liked him; she just wanted everything to go well.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Candice returned home around nine-thirty, she peeled off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, where Cassidy and Jack were sitting at the table studying for exams.

“How was your date?” Cassidy asked, not looking up from her books.

Candice sighed, whistfully. “It was… amazing. Actually.”

“Where did you go?” Cassidy pressed.

“Just a movie and then dinner afterward. I mean it sounds kind of basic and mundane, but it was really nice.” Candice smiled to herself, removing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Where’d you go for dinner?” Cassidy continued.

“A sea food place down town. He was so sweet.” Candice gushed.

“Gross, can you talk about something else?” Jack groaned, rolling his eyes.

“No.” Cassidy swatted at him. “Do you like him?” She continued her interrogation of Candice.

“I… I guess so. I’m not sure. He’s not my normal… guy. I mean, normally I screw around and then I’m gone, but this guy won’t even make out with me.” She laughed. “Does that sound funny?”

“No, it doesn’t. Maybe you only want him because he’s a challenge?”

Candice nodded. “I hope not. Because I like him… he’s such a sweet heart, and so…. I mean, he payed for everything…
he only held my hand, and didn’t even kiss me until he dropped me off here.”

Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “Wow, normally all the guys you date only want in your pants.”

Jack slammed closed his book. “That’s just gross! I’m out of here!” He stormed up the back stairs.

Candice shrugged.

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Yeah, I’m going to look for him tomorrow at the exams. He’s writing a tech exam, I think. I’m not sure. He’s just so… sweet and romantic. It sounds so lame… but I actually want to see where it’s going.”

Candice sat down with a glass of dr. Pepper. “I should probably study… I have math tomorrow.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Tamera was reading quietly in her bedroom because her parents thought she was studying.

Finally, bored out of her mind, she logged onto her computer.

She got online and into her messenger, checking her email quickly.

Mere minutes later, Morgan messaged her.

*Punk_Goddess182*: Hey Tams. Ready 4 the music exam tomorrow?”

~~Tams~~: Hell no. I’m so going 2 fail.

*Punk_Goddess182*: Lol, me 2. Sit near me; we can help each other out.

~~Tams~~: Lol, Yeah that will serve well if we get caught.

*Punk_Goddess182*: screw them Did u study 4 ur art exam?

~~Tams~~: My art exams will b easy. Hopefully I’ll only have to draw some stuff.

*Punk_Goddess182*: Well, I’ve g2g. My step dad is being an asshole

~~Tams~~: Yeah, I’m supposed to b studying. C-ya

She logged off and sighed. Why was this place so boring? She couldn’t even call Emily because she was out with Nic on their first date. And even if she wanted to, she couldn’t go out; her parents thought she was studying.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~

After the movie, Emily walked outside with Nic. He smiled and took her hand. Emily laughed.

“So? Where to next, Emy?”

“Doesn’t matter,” She laughed. “You’re driving.”

He looked at his watch and sighed. “It’s eleven thirty.” He put his arm around her, carefully. “I guess I should take you home, huh?”

“Before my dad gets mad.” She laughed. “He might actually. I mean, he likes you, but now that you’re dating his daughter he’s probably going to be weird about it.”

“He won’t be too mad will he?”

“No.” She laughed.

“Ok, good, because I don’t want to screw up with your family entirely. I mean, I have to make a good impression, and taking you home late on our first date probably wouldn’t go over so well.” He smirked.

Emily laughed. “You won’t have to worry about that. Trust me, I can handle my dad.”

He opened the passenger side door for her, and then climbed into the drivers’ side.

He turned onto the road, and looked over at her from the corner of his eyes. “Emy? Do you have an exam tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I have English.”

“Ok.”

“What about you?”

“Gym. I can pick you up, and drive you to the exams, if you’d like, then we can do something afterwards.”

“Sure, like what?”

“Hmm… we could maybe go to the mall for a bit?”

“Sure!” Emily answered excitedly.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty, okay?”

“Sure… wait, you don’t mind going to the mall?” Emily asked.
“No, why would I?”

“Ok,” She laughed. “I have a bit of a shopping problem, though.”

He laughed. “It’s ok.” Nic turned into his own driveway, and parked the car, before jogging around to open the door for her.

He walked her across the street, with his arm around her. She dug in her purse for her keys.

“Well, I had a great time tonight.” She smiled.

“Me too.”

She giggled, “Well…”

“Well?”

“Well? Do I get a kiss?”

“Yeah,” He leaned over and pecked her lips.

She laughed. “You call that a kiss? Come on!”

He smiled. “Ok. Lets try it again, then.” He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close for a deeper kiss.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Alex hung up the phone after a long goodbye with Amy. He stretched and looked over to the doorway where Jack was standing, leaning casually against the doorframe.

“Was that… what’s her name?” Jack asked, frowning.

“Her name is Amy.” Alex said through gritted teeth.

“Whatever.”

“No, not whatever. She’s my girlfriend. I like her. She likes me-“

“That’s what she has you believed. Man, you are so whipped!”

“I’m not whipped. At least I have a girl.”

“Ohh, was that a comeback? That hurts, really.” Jack rolled his eyes. “At least I don’t have some bitch putting a leash on me.”

“Take that back!”

“No!”

Alex lunged at Jack, and punched him square in the abdomen. Jack swung back and connected with Alex’s left eye. They scrambled to the ground, both struggling to pin the other. After a few more punches, their mother and father came running at the noise.

Isaac locked Jack into an arm hold, and Christy meekly tried to hold back Alex by his wrist.

“What the hell is going on here?” Isaac demanded, angrily.

Alex jerked free from his mother and stormed from the room. He marched outside and started up the car before peeling out of the driveway.

Jack got away from his father, and slammed the door to the bathroom, and ran the water for a shower.

Isaac glanced worriedly at Christy, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She put her arms around him. “But I don’t like this. Not at all. They never fight.”

—————————————————————————————————————

Tamera was browsing through her email when Emily logged on to the instant messanger. She clicked Emily’s screen name and typed her first message.

~~Tams~~: How was your date?

Emily<3: Didn’t Nic tell you?

~~Tams~~: No, he came home with a big smile on his face and went off to take a shower.

Emily<3: lol, it went great. He’s taking me shopping tomorrow after our exams.

~~Tams~~: Are you serious? He must have a deathwish!

Emily<3: VERY funny!!

~~Tams~~: So… did ya kiss him?

Emily<3: Yeah… he’s a good kisser too

~~Tams~~: YUCK!!! I didn’t need detail!

Emily<3: Lol, sorry.

~~Tams~~: I gotta go, it’s late, and I should be studying.

Emily<3: Same here, I got to do my yoga and get to bed.

##########################################################

Candice walked into the house fifteen minutes late. She had been home on time, but she’d spent fifteen minutes outside saying good-bye to Kyle.

She slipped out of her shoes, and headed for the stairs. “Young lady, come in here a moment.” He father said sternly.

Candice put on her most innocent look and walked into the office where her father was sitting at the desk working away at his laptop.

“Yes Daddy?” She asked, with a sugar coated voice.

“You’re late.” He pointed out.

“Only fifteen minutes, and I was in the yard I was just outside-“

“You’re late.”

“I’m sorry, daddy, but-“

“No buts. You’re grounded for one week. No Tv, no phone, no Internet. And no seeing that… boy.”

“But daddy-“ Candice’s face fell.

“I don’t want to hear it. Go to your room.”

Candice turned and stormed upstairs to her room, past her mother who was bringing tea into the office for herself and her husband.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex was sitting on the sofa in Amy’s living room. When he showed up at her door, she was in her pajamas getting ready for bed. When he rang her doorbell, she opened it, and immediately began to make a fuss over him.

As she pressed an ice pack against his swollen left eye, he winced.

“Sorry, did that hurt?” She asked, worrying over him.

“No.” He lied. “It’s just cold.”

“Sorry, do you want me to put a towel over it?” She asked, sympathetically.

“No, it’s ok.”

“Alex how did this happen to you?”

“I got in a fight.”

“With who?”

“No one,” He answered quickly.

“Obviously it was someone, because otherwise you wouldn’t have a black eye. And you’re so mad you’re practically shaking. Who was it? And why won’t you tell me?” Amy insisted.

“Never mind, okay? Please? I don’t really want to talk about it.” He tried in a calm tone.

“Ok…” She watched him wince again.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” She demanded.

“No.” He lied. He personally thought he’d bruised a rib.

“Ok…” She moved closer to him on the sofa.

“Ames, are you ok?”

“Yeah…” She shrugged.

“You’re lying.” He pointed out.

“I’m confused.” Amy frowned.

“Why?” Alex asked.

“Nothing… never mind.”

“Tell me.” Alex insisted.

“Well… you aren’t the type of person who gets in fights regularly, because I know you. So that makes me think that it was something big. And you’re out past your curfew, so I know that it must have something to do with your family…”

“Never mind, I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“It’s too late.” She admitted.

“Sorry, Ames.” He sighed.

She sighed, and looked at his eye. “You’re going to have a shiner for a few days.”

“I heal quickly.”

She sighed, and looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. “Do you need a place to stay? My mom is closing a case so she
won’t be back until tomorrow.”

“Alright. I don’t have an exam.”

“Me either.”

“Ok.”

She sighed. “Come on, I’ll show you where the guest room is.”

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

Emily walked out of the classroom where her exam was held and walked down the hall, avoiding her friends. She loved them all, but she couldn’t wait to see Nic.

She walked outside and shielded her eyes from the sun, scanning the student parking lot for Nic.

He was coolly leaning against his black jeep, with sunglasses balanced on his nose.

She jogged over, and pecked his cheek with a laugh. “You smell good.” She observed.

“That’s because I just got out of the shower. If you had have smelled me like ten minutes ago, you would have passed out on the spot.” He grinned, moving his arms around her.

She laughed, “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

He opened the passenger side door for her. “We had to run ten laps of the track, then do fifty push ups and crunches.”

“Wow. I’m glad I dropped gym.” She climbed into his car.

He jogged around to the driver’s side and got in. “How was your exam?”

“Easy, I think I aced it. We did the performance part of it a week ago, the part today was just the written.”

“What exam did you have?”

“Drama.”

“Cool. You’re a talented actress, so you’ll ace it.” Nic shrugged.

“How do you know?” She laughed, “What have you ever seen me in?”

“You played the lead when the school did ‘Beauty and the Beast’.” Nic mused. “Last year, it was the end of school play.”

Emily laughed. “Oh my god, you saw that?” She demanded.

He smirked. “Tamera dragged me to it. I didn’t want to go at first, but then I really enjoyed it.”

Emily blushed. “Aww… thanks.”

He laughed, pulling into the mall parking lot.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tamera walked into her bedroom after her exam. She dropped her knapsack onto her bed, and changed her clothes. She flopped onto
her bed picking up her favorite book.

The phone beside her bed rang, and She picked it up. “Hello?”

“Tams?” She recognized the voice immediately as one of her cousins.

“Yeah, Cass?”

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Alright, do you want to go see a movie, with me? There’s a chick flick I want to see, but no one will see it with me…”

“Sure, I’d love to go.” Tamera said lightly.

“I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

“Alright, See you then.”

Tamera hung up the phone, and grabbed her purse, loading it full of lip-gloss and some money. She pulled a brush through her long blonde hair and applied a little bit of eye make up, before she heard her mom yelling from downstairs.

She flew down the stairs and out the door, jumping into the front seat next to Cassidy.

“Hey, girl.” Cassidy said, checking her reflection in the rear view mirror. “You ready?”

“Totally.”

Cassidy cranked up the car stereo, and sped off down the street toward the movie theatre. She parked close to the entrance, and they walked into the theatre. They bought their tickets and sodas and sat down at a table to wait until their theatre re-opened.

“Tams, look, see the guy behind the counter?” Cassidy asked suddenly.

“Yeah,” Tamera looked over Cassidy’s shoulder. “The one wearing the geeky looking glasses?” She laughed.

Cassidy smiled. “NO! The really cute one with the spiky hair.”

“Yeah, I see him.”

“I’ve got the biggest crush on him.” Cassidy sighed.

“Really? Isn’t he kind of… you know, a bad ass?” Tamera asked doubtfully.

“Maybe so… but look at him, he’s gorgeous!”

Tamera laughed. “Well, go talk to him.”

“No way! He’s already going to take me to the formal, but I’m terrifed to even speak to him. I mean, what if I’m not his type?” Cassidy asked. “I don’t want to ruin it!”

“Then if you talk to him, what do you have to loose?”

“How about dignity?” Cassidy insisted.

Tamera raised an eyebrow. “Oh come on.”

“I’ll see him at formal.”

$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$^$

Alex woke late the next morning. He rolled over on the sofa and noticed that Amy wasn’t lying next to him where she’d fallen asleep on his chest. He got up, and followed the scent of pancakes into the kitchen.

Amy was standing over the stove flipping pancakes.

“Smells great.” He mused.

She jumped, and turning. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You were tired.”

“Alright.”

She touched his eyebrow. “Does your eye hurt?”

“Not as bad.” He pulled her hand down.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do I get a kiss?”

“Maybe,” He leaned forward.

She kissed him back for a little while, until the kiss deepened, and he pressed her back against the inside corner of the counter.

“Amy?!” Her mother called from the entry hall, “What’s burning?”

Amy quickly pulled away and flipped the pancakes off the frying pan with a red face.

Alex blushed, and busied himself pouring orange juice.

“Are you hungry, mom?” Amy asked. “I’m making lots.”

“No thanks, sweetie, I think I’m just going to get to bed… I’ve got to be in court at two this afternoon, and I don’t want to be there and fall asleep in the judge’s lap.”

“Ok, mom. Sleep well.”

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Candice was lying on her bed boredly flipping through a magazine. After her exam, her father had picked her and Cassidy up. It was more than embarrassing sitting in the front seat at the front of the school with her father listening to an old Beatles tape in front of everyone waiting for a ride. To make matters worse, three female teachers had come out and asked for autographs, including her art teacher.

Sometimes, being Isaac Hanson’s daughter really sucked. Especially when he grounded her. It wasn’t often, but he stuck with it.

She sighed, and looked at her phone, that lay unplugged on her desk.

The door opened, and her mom came in, closing the door behind her.

“How are you holding up?”

“This sucks.”

“I know. I’m taking your dad with me grocery shopping right now, just to get him out of the house.”

“Really? Exciting.” Candice rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. I came up here, telling your dad that I was going to the bathroom, and sneaking in here, and you’re gonna
roll your damn eyes at me?”

Candice sighed, “Sorry mom, what was so important you HAD to come up here for?”

“I’m making a trip to the grocery store and dragging your father along, as well as sticking my neck out there for you so YOU can plug in that damn phone and call Kyle because he’s been calling here non stop, and driving me mad!”

Candice laughed. “Thanks mom, you rock.”

Christy smiled. “I’m still working on your dad, so don’t thank me yet. With any luck, I can get you ungrounded so he’ll stop bloody CALLING!! By the way, I talked to Kyle for a bit this morning…”

“Really?” Candice sat up on the bed crossing her legs, “What all did he say?”

“He told me that he was on the football team…”

“I didn’t know that… What else?”

“I asked him if he was serious about you…”

“Mom!!”

“I know, I know… well, he said he was.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… then he asked if you were.”

“Oh my god, what did you tell him?”

“I said that I didn’t know. Because I didn’t know…” Christy shrugged helplessly.

Candice sighed.

“Are you serious about him?” Christy pressed.

Candice thought for a moment, “I don’t know.”

“Well, anyways, go and call him,” Christy turned and left the room.

Candice immediately picked up her phone and plugged it back in.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Cassidy and Tamera had just finished playing a round of table hockey at the theatre, and sat down at a table.

Tamera took a sip of her dr. pepper and laughed. “Will you stop looking at that guy?”

“I’m not!”

“You are too!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Just go over there!”

“And say what?”

“You could… buy yourself some gum or something, and then talk to him…”

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “It won’t work.”

“I bet it will.”

“How much?”

“Hmmm,” Tamera thought, “A bag of skittles.”

“You’re on.”

Cassidy stood up and walked over to the counter, and thankfully there wasn’t a line up people.

“Yeah?” Joey nodded coolly, wiping his hands on a cloth.

“Can I get a bag of skittles, please?”

“Sure.” He reached under the counter, and plopped a bag down in front of Cassidy.

She handed him the largest bill she had and waited for the change.

“Aren’t you Cassidy? Cassidy Hanson?”

“Yep.”

“And your dad is…”

“Yeah,” Cass rolled her eyes.

“That must be cool, having a father who’s a rock god.”

Cassidy laughed. “Not when there are like fifty year old women camping out on out front lawn.”

He smirked, “I talked to your sister the other day.”

“Really?” Cassidy froze.

“Yeah, She said you have the biggest crush on me,”

Cassidy froze. “You are SHITTING me.”

“Hey,” He chuckled. “It couldn’t be that bad, right? I mean, I am taking you to formal… so…”

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Emily was walking around her bedroom, putting away books, and anything else that was out of place. It was nearly twelve, but she couldn’t sleep. Formal was in two days, and she was too excited. She was going with the best guy alive. In one day, she could show all her friends how much she liked Nic.

She looked at herself in the mirror; her facial mud was just starting to set.

She walked back into her room, and sat down on the window seat feeling the cool night air coming in through the open window, and
breaking her bare arms into goose bumps.

She closed her eyes to enjoy the night air, and heard a gentle rap at the window.

She slowly opened her eyes to see Nic peering at her from the tree outside her window.

“Nic!” She jumped up, and closed her bedroom door. “What are you doing here?”

“I was bored, I wanted to see you… what have you got on your face?”

“Oh crap, hold on a minute,” She walked into her adjoined bathroom, and ran some warm water. She scrubbed the mud mask off her face, but couldn’t remove the blush of embarrassment.

Minutes later, she walked back into her bedroom, and found Nic stretched across her bed, playing with a bear.

“Cute Jammies.” He smiled at her.

Emily blushed, and crossed her arms; “I wasn’t expecting a visitor at this time of night.”

“Yeah, well, you look beautiful… without that green crap on your face.” He reached for her hand, and pulled her down next to him.
He put his arm around her and held her close.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Candice closed her locker on Friday morning, after her exam. She turned and bumped hard into a body. She blinked, and let Kyle pick up her fallen binder. “You scared the crap out of me, Ky.”

“Sorry,” He laughed. “Well?”

“Well what?” Candice took back her book.

“How was your exam?” He put his arms around her loosely, and walked backwards through the long empty halls. “Think you passed?”

She sighed. “I hope.”

He kissed her forehead, “You did fine.”

“You’d better be right.”

He smiled. “Well, its Friday, what do you want to do tonight?”

“Hmm… I don’t know what’s on?”

He thought for a moment, “There’s that whole end of school dance thing… we could crash that.”

Candice made a face. “A SCHOOL DANCE? You’re kidding right? Those always blow!”

He hooked his fingers in her belt loop and pulled her hips against his. “What would you rather do?”

“Well… my friend Kellee is having a party… we could go there.”

“Kellee Smith? Isn’t she kinda…. Well… kind of a….”

“Whore?”

“Well…”

“Yeah, maybe she is, but she throws wicked ass parties. Her parents are almost never home, and it’s on the outskirts of town, so no
one will hear anything…”

“Aren’t they always full of sex starved guys, and sluts?”

Candice shrugged.

“And booze and drugs?”

“Sometimes.”

He sighed and thought for a few seconds. “Well, we can compromise. We can go to the formal for an hour or two and then hit the
party for a while.”

She threw her arms around his neck, “Sounds great.”

“Alright, what about clothes?”

“My mom will have something I could wear to formal, and I can always change afterwards.”

He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)~(*)
Emily was walking through the school when her friend bumped into her.

“Hey girl,” Samantha greeted.

“Hey,” Emily smiled. “What are you gonna do this afternoon?”

“Hit the mall. Some of the girls are getting their hair done, and nails and stuff. I ran out of lipstick this morning, so I’ve got to pick
some up, before I go crazy.”

Emily laughed.

“So, Em, you’ve got to tell me, who is your date?”

“You’ll have to wait until tonight to see who he is.”

“Oh come on! I won’t tell anyone!”

“No, sorry, girl, I love you, but you’ll have to wait until tonight.”

“Oh come on… is he cute?”

Emily smiled, “Totally.”

“Does he go to this school?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? Do I know him?”

“Maybe…”

“Oh come on!”

Emily laughed, “I got to go. I’m getting my hair done for tonight.”

“Alright. Fine, but I want to be the first to know!”

“You will be, I promise.” Emily walked past Samantha, and out to Nic’s waiting car.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Alex was sitting in his car at the front entrance, where he’d promised to meet Amy. He turned down the radio when the song he liked ended. He tapped the steering wheel anxiously.

The passenger side door opened, and Amy jumped in shutting the door behind her.

“Hey Ames.” He greeted her.

“Hey, you.” She leaned across and kissed him. “Your eye looks much better today!”

“It feels better now that it sees you… okay so that was corny, but you look great today.” He laughed.

Amy laughed. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, Ames. So? Where to now?”

“Anywhere you want to go.”

“Hmmm… hungry? I know a great pizza place down town…”

“Sounds great.” She flipped down the mirror, and re applied her lipstick.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes while he drove, “What do you want to do tonight?”

“Tonight… hmmm… do you just want to get together and watch movies?”

“Sounds cool. Want to come to my place? It should be empty because everyone is going to formal.”

Amy nodded. “Sounds great.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go out? Maybe see a movie or something?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know… what’s playing?”

He thought for a moment. “I don’t know… probably nothing.”

She smiled. “Yeah, Besides, I’d rather stay home with you.”

“Really? Do you have something planned?”

She laughed, “Yeah, without burnt pancakes.”

He laughed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

“Candice!!!” Cassidy screamed as soon as she got in the house. She slammed the door behind her, and stormed up the stairs, ignoring her mother who’d came out of the kitchen with a laundry basket on her hip.

“What’s going on?” asked her father who had Ashley sitting on his shoulders.

Cassidy stormed up the stairs and shoved open Candice’s bedroom door.

Candice shoved her headphones off her ears and put her magazine aside. “What the hell do you want?”

“How dare you! I trusted you!”

“What the fuck-“

“Girls? What’s going on?” Their mother appeared in the door way “What’s all the screaming?”

“SHE,” Cassidy pointed at Candice, “Told Joey that I had a huge crush on him, and that’s why he’s taking me to formal! I’m humiliated!”

“Yeah, because you WANTED me to.” Candice rolled her eyes.

“I can get dates on my own, I don’t need some slut setting them up for me!” Cassidy yelled.

“Oh yeah? Well, you weren’t doing too well on your own were you? And I’m not a slut; I’m involved with someone I’m serious about… I think.”

“Yeah, right. Who’s the new flavor of the week? You know you’ll only screw him, and then be gone.”

“Fuck you! At least I’m not too shy to even-“

“Bitch!” Cassidy turned and stormed down the hall and into her room, slamming the door closed behind her.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Nic checked his watch for the billionth time. He was ready; he’d showered, his hair was gelled, his suit was on, his teeth were brushed, he’d even loaded on cologne. He’d never done this much prep work for a date, ever… well, in all consolation; this wasn’t just a normal date. He was taking out Emily, the girl of his dreams… He made a face. It was still weird calling her that.

He laughed, and picked up a picture of him and Emily when they were two years old, naked and playing together in the bathtub.
He put the picture in his pocket and vowed to show it to her later. Right now, he had to pick her up, and the worse part, was to make a good impression on her parents.

He walked downstairs, making sure not to attract the attention of his mother, who’d made a fuss over him, asking who his date was.
He climbed into his car, and backed out of the driveway, carefully turning into Emily’s.

Nic left his car running, and stood nervously at the front door of the Benson home. He drew in a deep breath, and knocked.

The door flung open, and Emily came out, shutting the door behind her.

“Hey, are you ready-“

Emily pulled Nic towards his car, and he caught the hint quickly and got in the drivers side and started the car.

“Emy, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing, just drive.” She checked her hair in the vanity mirror.

“Can’t I meet your parents?”

“Maybe some other time, when they’re not screaming at each other.” She muttered. “Besides, you’ve met my parents like a million times.” Emily laughed softly.

“Oh,” Nic said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to have some fun tonight, ok?”

He nodded, and looked at her unreadable expression.

“You do look great tonight.”

She cracked a smile. “Thank you. And you look hot tonight too. I’m gonna have to fight off all of my girlfriends.”

Nic laughed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cassidy was standing in a circle with her friends, Brittany tapped her shoulder and Cassidy turned.

“Whose that guy sucking face with your sister?” Brittany shouted to be heard.

Cassidy looked over to where Candice was grinding with a guy she didn’t recognize.

“Who knows?” Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Her new flavor of the week?”

“Too bad,” Beth shrugged, “He’s cute.”

“It kind of seems like they like each other. Normally, she would have taken him to the bathroom or someplace by now.”

Cassidy shrugged. “Gross.”

“Oh my god, Cassidy, look!” Brittany pointed.

Cassidy veered around to see Joey walking through the front doors. Cass panicked. “Oh my god!”

“Just play it cool, girl, come on, let’s all go to the bath room.” Beth suggested.

“No,” Cassidy said, “I think he’s coming over here… how’s my hair?”

“You look fine!” Beth said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh no,” Brittany said, “looks like he’s side tracked with some of his buddies.”

“Dammit,” Cassidy breathed.

“Oh, nope, he’s coming this way.” Beth narrorated.

“Hey, Cassidy?” Cassidy turned to see Joey standing over her.

“Hi,” She said.

“Can I talk to you?”

“Sure…”

Cassidy followed him to the middle of the dance floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex moved closer to Amy on the sofa in his basement rec room.

“I’m so glad we didn’t go to formal.” She massaged his bare knee.

Alex smiled; glad he was wearing shorts “Yeah, it’s more private.”

“Just us-“

A loud bang came from upstairs above them.

“And my parents.” Alex rolled his eyes.

Amy laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“What movie are we watching first?” She asked after a few moments of silence.

“It’s a surprise.” He got up grabbed a movie off the top of the DVD player.

“I hate surprises,” She laughed.

“I know, but you’ll like this one.” He popped the disk into the player, and picked up the remote. “I’ll give you three guesses as to
which movie this is…”

“Hmm… Give me a hint. Is it scary? What genre is it?”

“Chick flick.”

She laughed, “Ok, so that’s a genre now?”

“Guess what it is!”

Amy took several guesses, not getting any of them right. At last, she sighed.  “I give up! Just tell me!”

He grinned, plopping down next to her. He pressed the play button on the remote, starting Amy’s favorite movie.

<<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>

After introducing Nic to all of her friends, Emily was dragged off to dance a slow song. She laughed, “Nic, you’re an excellent dancer.”

He smiled resting his forehead against hers. “I’m the worst dancer to ever walk the planet.”

“You’re not that bad. It could be worse.”

“How?”

“Well… your hands aren’t all over my ass, and you haven’t spent the whole night looking down my dress.”

He immediately dropped his hands. “Sorry.”

Emily laughed, “It doesn’t bother me when YOU do it.” She pulled his arms around her, resting her head on his shoulder.

When the song ended, he gently hugged her close, and then reluctantly let her go.

Emily smiled, “Well? How about you introduce me to your friends.”

“Now?? I-I don’t know…”

“Why not? Are you ashamed of me?” She teased lightly.

“What? No! Of course not!”

“Why not?”

“Well… my friends aren’t like yours…”

“Good, I hope they’re less superficial.”

“No, Emy… my friends…. They’re… odd.”

“Odd? Do you think they’ll disapprove of me?”

“Not at all… I like you, that’s all that matters.”

“Aww…” She blushed.

“Just excuse them if they’re a little weird. And Jay, he’s a little obsessed with one of your friends. So you’ll probably be a little
weirded out.”

Emily smiled, “Maybe I can set them up…”

Nic shrugged. “He’s pretty creepy. He likes Tamera’s friend Morgan.”

Emily shuddered.

Nic laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candice was sitting in the front seat of Kyle’s car. She flipped down the vanity mirror, and let her hair down. “Do you mind if I change in your car?” She asked.

Kyle glanced at her, “Sure… do you want me to pull over somewhere?”

“Nope, don’t worry about it.”

She reached into the back seat, and rummaged through her backpack. She pulled out a button down shirt, and a pair of jeans.

“You’re just going to change right here? Going eighty miles an hour on a highway?”

“Yeah,” She grinned smugly, “Don’t peek.”

Kyle shook his head, and tried to focus on the road, fighting off the temptation in the corner of his eye that Candice was wiggling out of her dress.

“Umm… so where is this place?” He asked, looking out at the dark road ahead of the car.

“Not for a while yet,” She pulled on her jeans, and bent to fasten her shoes.

“Can you, uhh… put a shirt on or something?”

Candice looked at him, eyebrows raised. “Why? Are you afraid you might like what you see?”

“No, I just don’t think… that we’ve known each other long enough…”

Candice laughed. “Oh come on! It’s not like you don’t think about it, right?” She started buttoning up her shirt, leaving a few undone at the top and bottom.

“I think that this is neither the time nor the place to-“

Candice laughed, “You’re kidding!”

“Well, no-“

“And I suppose you believe in abstinence as well?”

“Well, no… but I do believe that you should wait until you find someone you care about…”

Candice laughed. “So you’re a virgin?”

“So what? I mean, does that matter?” He asked nervously.

“Nothing,” Candice tied up the ends of her shirt to show off her tanned midriff.

Kyle stole another glance at her. “Are we getting closer to your friend’s place?”

“It’s just up here. There’ll be tons of cars.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cassidy had been talking and dancing with Joey for quite some time now. It seemed like ages, but it’d only been an hour. He pulled her close to dance a slow song, wrapping an arm around her hips.

“You know.” He whispered in her ear. “I was kind of surprised to hear you liked me.”
Cassidy groaned internally, but kept quiet.

“Want to know why?”

“Umm… ok…”

“Because I kind of like you too.”

Cassidy blushed.

“I’d like to take you out sometime, would you mind?”

“Not at all.” She said.

“Ok,” He smiled, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight?”

“Sure… do you know where I live?”

He laughed, “I’ll ask my mom.”

Cassidy raised her eyebrows.

“Hanson fan.” He answered.

“OH!” she laughed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Alex wrapped his arms around Amy, and pulled her close, lifting her legs over his lap.

She giggled as he nuzzled her neck.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing.”

He stood up just as the movie was ending.

Alex clicked on the rewind button, as Amy stood up, and stretched.

He put his arms around her, and planted a kiss on her lips.

She smiled, putting her arms around his neck, “You know, I should get going…”

“So soon?”

“It’s after midnight.”

“Oh… Well, I guess I’d better drive you home, huh?”

“No… I can call my mom to come pick me up… or I can take a cab…”

“You’re not taking a cab,” He led her out through the garage, and getting into the car.

He steered down the street, watching her out of the corner of his eye. “Ames? You ok?”

She smiled, “Yeah, of course.”

“Ok, You look a little tired.”

“Yeah, It’s been a long day.”

“Oh.” He turned into her driveway, and put the car into park. “Looks like your mom isn’t home…”

“Oh well, she’ll be in soon.” Amy climbed out of the car.

Alex jumped out of the car and followed her up onto the front stoop.

She pulled her keys out of her pocket and smiled at him. “I had fun tonight.”

“Same here.”

She sighed and leaned back against the front door. He cupped her chin with his hand, and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, ok,” She smiled. “Don’t forget.”

“I never forget,” he planted a kiss on her lips, and jogged to his car.

¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤¥¤

Tamera was sitting at her computer boredly. Nothing was going on at home, her parents and Ana had gone across the street to the
Benson’s house, Daniel and Ryan had gone to bed, and Nic was still out.

She decided to go online and see if anyone was chatting.

None of her friends were on, so she went into a chat room and sat there waiting for someone interesting to come online.

#J_man#: Hey ~~Tams~~ you’ve been kinda quiet.

~~Tams~~: Yeah, it’s crazy, but sometimes I like just seeing what everyone else is saying.

#J_man#: That’s not crazy. I do it too.

~~Tams~~: Thanks, lol.

#J_man#: so where are you from?

~~Tams~~: Tulsa, ok. Know where that is?

#J_man#: Yeah, I live there, lol.

~~Tams~~: Really? Do you go to Tulsa High?”

#J_man#: No, Bridgetown.

~~Tams~~: Cool

#J_Man#: Not really, it’s mostly just a bunch of rich snobs.

~~Tams~~: I heard it was mandatory to be an asshole to get in there.

#J_man#: Lol, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

~~Tams~~: No offense.

#J_man#: Tell me about you.

~~Tams~~: What do you want to know?

#J_man#: How old are you?

~~Tams~~: 17 y/o

#J_man#: Same here. We should get together and go see a movie or something.

~~Tams~~: Umm… sure, I’ll forward you my email, but I have to go, I think my parents just came home.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kyle was wandering through the smoky living room, weaving his way through bodies and the occasional couple that were getting down in the middle of the floor. The room smelled of alcohol, smoke, and a little more than just cigarette smoke. A pair of speakers was beside the TV, with a heavy rap song coming out with the volume cranked open.

Kyle checked his watch for the billionth time in an hour. Candice was still nowhere to be seen. He made his way to the kitchen, as Candice was coming out.

“Hey Ky,” She greeted him with a kiss. She tasted strongly of alcohol and tobacco.

“Candice, it’s late, I think we should head out.”

“What time is it?” She leaned against the wall wobbly.

“It’s 2 am.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Come on, I’d better take you home.” He took her hand.

“I don’t want to go home.” She smiled. “Why don’t we just go upstairs?”

“And do what?” He paused, when the answer hit him. “No, we’re not going upstairs, come on.”

He pulled her through the crowd of people, and out the front door. He was practically dragging her through the front lawn, when she
stopped abruptly.

“Ky?” She asked.

He turned to face her. Even though it was dark, he could see her pale face. “Are you ok?”

“No… I don’t think I can go home. My dad will kill me if he knows I’ve been drinking.”

He hesitated. She was right. “Well,” He said, “I’ll think of something on the way home, ok?”

She nodded, and let him lift her into the front seat.

He walked around to the driver’s side, and unlocked his door. By the time he’d started up the car, Candice had passed out.

¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

The next morning, Emily woke to the sound of her parents arguing downstairs.

She dressed, and walked down the stairs slowly.

“You never do anything anymore, it’s all work to you, isn’t it? You don’t give a rats ass about this family!” Jenna was saying.

“You know damn well, that if I don’t work, no money comes into this house!” Luke rolled his eyes. “So grow up.”

“I can’t believe you! Dammit, I suggest a vacation and you fly off the handle! I never see you anymore, and neither does Emily! When was the last time we even saw each other at the same time?”

“I keep bloody well telling you, that the summer is a very busy time for my company! I can’t leave in the middle of the busy season and you know it!”

“Ever since you took over that piece of shit corporation, it’s been nothing but work with you! You come home and you lock yourself in that fucking den! My aunt is nice enough to lend us her cottage-“

“Yeah, and it’s in Canada! Do you realize how much it’s going to cost? Airfare, car rentals, food, recreation, and not to mention that, do you really think Emily is going to want to go up to the middle of nowhere without her friends and be eaten alive by blood sucking insects?”

“How do you know that? You never even see her anymore! You could at least use up your holidays, because you haven’t even taken Christmas off this year!”

“I told you, I couldn’t do it! Not right now! Grow up and stop being a spoiled brat!”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!” Luke turned and walked out of the house, slamming the front door behind him.

Jenna stormed into the kitchen and began banging things around.

Emily sighed. They’d been fighting a lot lately.

She jumped down the rest of the stairs and pulled on her shoes. “I’m going to Nic’s!”

*******************************************************************

Cassidy walked down the spiral stairs that lead into the kitchen. It was 10:30, and she felt fully rested. Her mother was sitting at the table drinking coffee and doing a crossword in the day’s paper.

“Morning mom.”

“Morning honey. How was the dance last night?”

“Great.” Cassidy sliced a bagel in half and put it in the toaster.

“How did that whole thing go with the boy you liked?”

“Joey? It went great. We danced together most of the night… and best of all, he told me that he liked me too.”

“That’s great! Are you going to see him again?”

Cassidy pulled a tub of peanut butter out of the cupboard. “Yeah, he said he’d call me today about going to see a movie tonight.”

”That sounds like fun. Do you want me to help you with hair and make up?”

“Sure. And can I borrow something to wear?”

“Yeah.”

Cassidy sat down next to her mother, and looked over her shoulder, “Number eleven down; house. It’s an adobe.”

“Thank you, honey.”

“Where’s dad? Is he sleeping in again?” Cassidy took a bite out of her toasted bagel.

“No, he had a meeting to go to with your uncles. A big record exec thing.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Not really, it sounded kind of boring.”

“Oh, Joey’s mom is a Hanson fan.”

“Really? She’s not one of those stalkers, right? Because I’m sick of them stapling signs to my poor trees out front.”

Cassidy laughed, “I hope not.”

“Good… do you know, fifty-seven across? Shakespeare play; much ado about… blank.”

“Nothing.” Cassidy answered. “The answer is nothing.”

“Thanks honey.” Christy smiled.

“No prob.”

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Tamera walked down the stairs after a long shower. Her mother was standing at the window looking out at the pool deck.

“Mom? What’s going on?”

“Look, Nic and Emily are out there. Aren’t they so cute together?”

Tamera looked out through the sliding doors, Nic was reclined in a lounge chair, and Emily was sitting in between his knees leaning back against his torso.

Tamera rolled her eyes. “Why is Nic wearing his baseball uniform?”

“Because he has a game in ten minutes. I don’t have the heart to go out there and tell him.”

“Gross, mom.”

Becky sighed, and turned away from the counter. “How was your night?”

“Fine.”

“What did you do?”

“Went online, talked to some people.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Yeah… It kind of was.” Tamera smiled.

“I guess Nic had a good time at the dance. He came home with a big smile on his face.” Becky suggested.

Tamera shrugged. “Want me to go tell Nic about his game?”

“Please.”

“Ok.”

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Candice woke slowly, to find herself in a strange house, and in a strange bed. She glanced around the room. The place was a mess, and from the posters of lame bands on the walls, she could tell it was a guy’s bedroom.
She groaned. What the hell had she done?

There was a distinct throbbing in her head, and a gross tasted in her mouth. She was definitely hung over.

She got out of bed, and looked down at the long t-shirt she was wearing. She found her clothes from the night before folded carefully on the desk.

She quickly threw them on, and walked down the stairs. She met Kyle at the bottom.

“Morning Candice, how’d you sleep?” He hugged her.

“I have the worst hangover ever.” She rubbed her head.

“You did have a lot to drink, last night.”

She sat down at the kitchen table. “Oh crap, does my mom know I’m here?”

“I called her, and explained everything last night.” Kyle smiled. “It’s probably a good thing that she likes me.”

Candice breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Are you hungry or anything?”

“Nah, I’ll be good… did we? You know… do anything, last night?”

“Nah, you passed out in the car.” Kyle insisted.

She laughed. “Sorry. I think I drank way too much.”

“No problem.” Kyle shrugged.

She looked at her watch, “I should get going.”

“Okay, if you think that’s best…” Kyle answered.

She stood, and walked home slowly.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Emily was standing behind the back stop at Nic’s baseball game. He was just going up to bat as she leaned against the chainlink fence. Emily wanted a better look.

The first pitch was a ball, and the second, Nic hit the ball way out into center feild. Emily cheered loudly, jumping up and down and clapping.

He ran hard around the bases, and was nearly tagged on third, but it was an over throw, and he sprinted down to home plate, dropping down and slidding under the catchers glove. The ump called safe and everyone cheered.

When the dust cleared, his leg was bent at an odd angle, and it was obviouskly broken.

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