Music bumped from the small gym, spotlights shined on the school's sign that sat on the front lawn. Kids loitered in the gym, streamers hanging from the ceiling, balloons held tightly in mesh nets having above them. A shiny disco ball twirled around, reflecting off of the floor, the streets were quiet as Brian and his friends padded down the sidewalk towards the school.

"Wait wait" Jason said holding them up.

"J come on we're already late" Chris said to him.

"There she is gentlemen" Jason said resting his hands on their shoulders as they stared at the building "Our home for the next four years" he said to them.

"Didn't know you were so sentimental J" Brian said to him.

"Shut up, come on, high school, this is the big leagues, no more lame Jr. high dances that are over by nine" Jason said to them.

"Speaking of which..." Chris said to him.

"Come on we're already late for our own graduation dance" Brian said as they walked away.

~*~

Emily swayed along to the music, holding a cup of punch in her hand, a large banner scrolled across the gym wall "Congratulations Bridgewater Junior High Class of '89" it read. The doors opened and they entered the gym, she looked at them disappointed as they came towards her.

"Where have you been?" she asked them.

"Not our fault, Jason wanted to stop and stare at the high school and deliver some right of passage speech" Brian said filling a cup with punch.

"Again?" Emily asked him "Oh here we go" Emily said as Lisa passed across the gym with her friends by her side "Incoming" Emily said walking away from him.

"Here you are" Lisa said cheerfully, stopping in front of him.

"Hey Lisa" he said smiling at her.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to get here" she said "I wanted to give you this in person" she said handing him an envelope.

"Thanks, what is it?"

"My graduation party is this weekend."

"Oh wow, thanks" he said looking at it.

"So? Will you be there?"

"Uh..." he said as he spotted Emily behind them, shaking her head no vigorously "Sure" he said as Emily hung her head in defeat.

"Wonderful, well we have to work the room, come find me later, I'd love a dance" she said.

"Sure" he said to her.

"Girls" Lisa said as they walked away, he breathed a sigh of relief before refilling his cup.

"Wow Lisa Jones, nice" Jason said coming to his side.

"Yeah..." he said taking a drink.

"She is every guy's dream girl...what she want with you?" Jason asked, Brain looked at him irritated.

"Ha ha" Brian said "She just invited me to her graduation party that's all."

"Oh cool, can you bring a guest?"

"Jason!" Emily said, startling him "Why didn't you tell her off?" she asked him.

"Em...".

"It is mind blowing how incredibly dense she is" Emily said.

"Who needs to be smart when you're that gorgeous" Jason said as Emily glared at him "Of course I mean you" Jason said to her as she looked at him annoyed
"I'm not helping myself here am I?"

"Not in the slightest" Brian said to him.

"Look you have complained countless times at how you don't like her and find her incredibly pushy and annoying, why don't you just tell her that?" Emily asked.

"Well come on Em I don't want to be rude" Brian said to her.

"Since when is honesty rude?" Emily asked.

"Em now I know you've had this long standing feud with Lisa since...ever" he said.

"Yeah what's your problem?" Jason asked as Emily turned to glare at him once again.

"My problem? You even have to ask?"

"Oh not the third grade skating party incident again" Brian murmured.

"She spilled that soda on the floor on purpose you know she did" Emily said to him. "I fell into a puddle and hit my head and she found it just so hysterically funny" Emily said to them. "I didn't like her before then anyways and I like her even less now."

"Why because she's pretty and popular?" Jason asked, Emily looked at him.

"You really think I'm that superficial?" she asked as they glanced at each other, Brian shot Jason a warning look.

"No...course not" Jason said to her.

"Besides I thought going after a guy who was crushing on your supposed best friend was against some rule?"

"Can we please not bring Heather up right now?" Brian asked.

"Think about it, Heather was her leader what makes you think she's any different?"

"It's not the mafia Em" Jason said to her.

"Yeah it's worst, trust me, I'm a girl, I know these things, we're brutal" she said to him.

~*~

Vicki sat in the passenger seat of the car as she and her mom drove to their new home, Lizzie looked over at her as she stared sadly out the window.

"So...nothing like a mother daughter road trip huh?" Lizzie asked, Vicki glared at her "Still mad at me huh?" Lizzie asked as Vicki pulled her sunglasses down and put her headphones on "I'll take that as a yes" she said.

~*~

The basketball swished through the net.

"That was my point" Brian said to Jason as the ball bounced on the driveway.

"Time?" Jason asked.

"Please" Brian said as they sat on the pavement "Man it's hot today" he said taking a drink of water.

"Hey hey share the wealth" Jason said taking a bottle from him "What do you say we put this on hold, go down to the pool" Jason said to him, he laughed.

"Nice try" Brian said taking the ball.

"Dude I'm serious if I have to stay out here any longer I'll pass out" Jason said to him.

"Yeah sure and it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm winning" Brian said.

"So you give any thought about Lisa's party tomorrow night?" Jason asked taking a drink of water.

"Yeah uh I'm not going to go" Brian sighed.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"J, I'm just not interested that's all" Brian said.

"Not interested? What is wrong with you? You know how many guys in our class would die to be in your shoes?" Jason said to him.

"God J she's just a girl" Brian said grabbing the bottle from him .

"No, she is THEgirl."

"Tell you what J, if you like her so much, why don't you date her?"

"Love to except she thinks I'm a pervert".

"...And?" Brian asked.

"What? Oh! Em" Jason said "Do not tell her about this."

"I'll play you for it" he said to Jason as they saw the moving truck come down the street and come to a stop at a house.

"New neighbors?" he asked.

"How long do you think they'll last?" Jason asked.

"Who knows, come on lets finish this game and then head down to the pool."

"Sounds like a plan" Jason said as they stood up.

"Here we are" Lizzie said as they drove into the neighborhood, Vicki pulled her sunglasses up as she parked in the driveway.

"This is it?" Vicki asked looking out of the window.

"Yes it is, welcome to our new home" Lizzie said getting out "Wow you're ahead of us" Lizzie said to the truck driver as Vicki got out of the car, she pulled the "For Sale" sign out of the ground.

She stepped up onto the porch and looked in the front window Brian dropped the ball, Jason picked it up and threw it through the hoop as he stared at Vicki.

"My point" Jason said to him making a basket.

"Uh huh" Brian said as he watched Vicki open the door and step into the house.

"What are you staring at?" Jason asked him, looking in the same direction.

"Did you see her?" Brian asked him.

"See who?" Jason asked looking around.

"The new girl" Brian said to him, pointing to the front porch of the house.

"I don't see anyone" Jason said "Come on" he said shoving the ball into Brian's chest.

"Yeah right" he said as they began to play again. Vicki looked around the house.

"Well?" Lizzie asked hopefully, Vicki shrugged.

"It's alright I guess" she said.

"Well that's a start" Lizzie said.

"I'm still mad" Vicki said to her.

"Of course" Lizzie said to her "How about I make it up to you?" Lizzie asked.

"We're going back home?" Vicki asked hopefully.

"Nice try, you get the biggest bedroom" Lizzie said to her.

"Oooh" Vicki said to her "Yeah that makes us even" Vicki said rolling her eyes.

"Come on" Lizzie said dragging her upstairs "Welcome to your new room" Lizzie said opening the door, the room was bare, the walls plain colored. Two slender french doors led outside to a small balcony, a tree hung over it, leaves falling on to the ground.

"Wow" Vicki said going in "This is beautiful" she said looking around "I can really have this one?" Vicki asked curiously.

"All yours" Lizzie said to her.

"Okay...I'm sorry for the way I've been acting...I'll try to lighten up a little" Vicki said to her, Lizzie smiled.

"And I'm sorry for not discussing this with you beforehand, I know I threw you for a loop and you had every right to be upset."

"Yes I did."

"But it's just you and me now okay? We have to stick together."

"Okay" Vicki said as Lizzie hugged her.

"It's us against the world kid" Lizzie said to her. "Come on lets start unloading" she said as they went downstairs.

Music played loudly from the moving truck as they took stuff into the house. Brian and Jason were still playing basketball in his driveway.

"How much longer?" Jason asked as sweat poured from his forehead.

"What's the matter J? Heat getting to you?" Brian asked happily.

"I hate you" Jason said "Look I'm giving you the win alright? Can we please go swimming now?" Jason asked.

"You're just going to give up?" Brian asked bouncing the ball off of the ground.

"You would've beaten me anyways."

"Yeah I know" Brian said.

"Good, I'm going to change I'll meet you back here in a minute" Vicki came back outside and walked to the truck.

"Hey wait, there she is" he said to Jason "That's the girl I saw" he said.

"Wow...she's cute" Jason said to him.

"Honey some of those might be heavy, just be careful."

Lizzie called outside to Vicki as she pulled a box from the truck.

"I think I can manage mom" Vicki said picking the box up.

She began to carry it up to the porch when her shoe caught on the sidewalk and with one swift motion she went down. Brian quickly ran from Jason's side and through the front yards.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked kneeling down to her level.

"Yeah I'm okay" Vicki said to him "Oh my god ow" she said trying to move her foot. "Okay maybe I'm not that okay" she said to him he grabbed her hands and carefully pulled her up, she fell against him.

"Hi" he said as he looked down at her.

"Hi" she said as her face turned red.

"I uh...I'm Brian" he said to her.

"I'm Vicki" she said to him.

"Vicki, pretty name" he said to her.

"Yeah? I always thought it made me sound like some snotty rich girl or some evil old lady" she said as they laughed.

"Come on I'll help you inside" he said to her.

"Oh thanks I'm sure I'm okay though...ow ow!" she said before screaming in pain "Or not" she said.

"Come on" he said smiling as he helped into the house.

"Oh my god" Lizzie said running into the room "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I think its just a sprain" Vicki said to her "Mom" she said her eyes darting towards him.

"Oh, hello" Lizzie said to him.

"Hi" Brian said to her.

"Hi, I'm Lizzie, Vicki's mom and you are?".

"Oh I'm Brian, I live up the street, I just thought she might need some help" he said.

"Oh well thank you" Lizzie said to him.

"No problem, I'll see you around" he said to Vicki as he left.

"Yeah, okay" Vicki said smiling at him.

"Bye and thank you" Lizzie said to him.

"Oh my god" Vicki whined "I am such an idiot!" she said throwing her head back and covering her face with his her hands in embarrassment.

"He's cute" Lizzie said to her.

"Yeah I noticed" Vicki said irritated.

"Should I start planning the wedding?" Lizzie asked before laughing.

"Not funny" Vicki said glaring at her.

"I'll get you some ice" Lizzie said to her as she went into the kitchen.

"What was that?" Jason asked with a smile on his face.

"What?" Brian asked him.

"You...riding in on your white horse" Jason said to him.

"Shut up" Brian said.

"Seriously...someone's in love" Jason said.

"No I'm not, come on are we going swimming or what?" Brian asked going into his house.

"So...what's her name?" Jason asked following him.

"Does it matter?" Brian asked as they went upstairs to his bedroom .

"Come on lover boy, what's her name?" Jason asked as Brian dug through his dresser drawers and pulled out his swim trunks.

"Vicki...McAdams" he said to Jason. .

"Oooh" Jason said teasing him as he went into the bathroom and closed the door in Jason's face.

~*~

Music played as the water splashed, people lounging around the pool, they sat under an umbrella at a wooden picnic table.

"Check it out" Jason said to Chris as they watched Lisa and her friends lying back on towels by the pool, sunbathing.

"Oh baby" Chris said "Did it get hotter out here?" he asked as they saw Lisa stand up and climb down the pool ladder.

"Oh yeah that's it get nice and wet..." Jason said as they watched her dive into the water.

"Here we are gentlemen" Brian said setting four cans of soda down on the table as his friend Omar set a plate of fries down next to it.

"Alright, Texas hold 'em" Chris said opening a pack of cards.

"So I heard you got invited to Lisa's party tomorrow night" Omar said to Brian as Chris dealt out the cards.

"You going?" Chris asked.

"I don't think so" Brian said picking his cards up.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Why not?" Chris and Omar asked him.

"Why is everyone so upset that I'm not going to this party?" Brian asked.

"I think he'd rather stay home and check out the new girl anyway" Jason said as Brian flicked a card at him.

"What's this?" Omar asked.

"There's a new girl?" Chris asked.

"You guys know our boy here's a real prince charming?" Jason asked.

"Oh really" Omar said intrigued.

"So...tell us about new girl."

"She has an actual name you know" Brian said to them.

"Which is?" Chris asked.

"Vicki...Vicki McAdams" he said.

"Vicki? sounds like a rich girl name" Chris said, Brian laughed.

"Yeah, she said the same thing" he said as they all looked at him.

"So...she pretty?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, she's beautiful" Brian said to him laying cards down on the table, they looked at each other trying not to laugh.

"What color eyes does she have?" Omar asked.

"I don't know like brownish type color, you know at one glance they're brown but they got like a goldish..." Brian said as he looked at their faces "What?" he asked.

"You're so in love" Jason said laughing.

"No I'm not...so I noticed the color of her eyes big deal...anyone would they're so amazing" he said as they laughed at him.

"Someone has a crush on the new girl" Chris said.

"I do not" Brian said blushing.

"So uh how exactly did this turn of events happen?" Omar asked.

"Look, she fell, I ran over to see if she needed help, I helped her into the house and I left, not a big deal".

"Hi boys" they heard, they looked up to see Lisa standing there, still wet from the pool. Jason dropped his cards "I was wondering when you were going to come in, the water is amazing" she said sitting next to him and wringing her hair out.

"I think I need to go in right about now" Jason said quickly getting up from the table.

"Me too" Chris said following him.

"Will one of you be a dear and get me a diet soda?" she asked looking at Omar, he looked around.

"Oh please let me do it" he said annoyed as he got up from the table.

"So, what are you playing?"

"Uh Texas hold 'em" Brian said to her as he pulled all the cards into a pile "Which I guess is now solitaire" he said shuffling them.

"So, tomorrow night is my party."

"Yeah look about the party..."

"I really really hope you'll be there" she said smiling at him.

"Would it be alright if I brought a guest or two?" he asked.

"...sure" she said reluctantly "Bring whoever you like" she said to him "So hot out here, I'm getting back into the water, you coming."

"Yeah I'll be in in a minute" he said.

"Where'd she go?" Omar asked setting a soda can on the table.

"Back in the water" Brian said to him.

"Great, I stood in that line for nothing, want to play blackjack?" Omar asked.

"I told Lisa I'd get in the pool" Brian said to him.

"Hey listen" Omar said to him as he stood up and pulled his shirt off.

"Yeah?"

"All joking aside, if you really like this girl...Vicki...go for it, maybe it'll turn out the way you want it to" Omar said to him.

"Thanks" Brian said as he dove into the pool.

~*~

The next night there were kids crammed into Lisa's basement as music made the house thump. Brian, Emily and Jason walked down the basement steps.

"Wow" Jason said as they reached the bottom.

"Cannot believe I let you drag me here" Emily moaned "You didn't have to do this for him" Emily said.

"I know, I'm doing it so he'll finally get off my back" Brian said to her.

"I'll take it either way" Jason said.

"Oh hey!" Lisa called from across the room as she approached them "You came!...and you brought...guests" she said looking at Emily and Jason.

"Trust me, we're not staying long" Emily said to her.

"Good" Lisa said to her.

"Lisa...you're looking..." Jason said to her "Wow" he said looking her up and down.

"Back off you little creep" Lisa said to him.

"Okay" he said to her before giggling.

"I need a drink" Emily said groaning as they made their way to the refreshment table "So...Jason told me about your new friend."

"Course he did, why did I think he wouldn't?" Brian asked as he handed Emily a soda.

"Well?" Emily asked.

"Well what?" Brian asked.

"Do you like her?" she asked.

"I don't know Em, I just met the girl twenty four hours ago" Brian said to her.

"I think you do" Emily said in a sing song voice.

"Really? How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Trust me, I know these things, besides I saw you go to her house this morning" Emily said to him.

"She hurt her ankle really badly I wanted to see how she was" he said to her.

"See?" Emily asked.

"What are you doing over here with...her" Lisa said coming to his side and linking her arm with his "Come on, work the room with me" she said to him as she pulled him away.

"Good luck" Emily said to him.

Lisa hung on to Brian all night, her arm linked with his pulling him along to greet her guests. He then sat on a couch with her and her friends.

"God kill me now" he said to himself as he listened to them talk.

"Oh would you be a dear and get me some punch?" Lisa asked handing him a cup.

"Oh me too" Erica said handing him her cup as well.

"I had diet" Megan said handing him a cup.

"No problem" he said as he went to the table.

"Great party huh?" Jason asked.

"No" Brian said filling up Lisa's cup, she waved to him, he waved back. "It's like she asked me here to be her personal assistant, do me a favor deliver these to the girls on the couch" he said handing Jason the drinks.

"Where you going?" Jason asked.

"As far away from here as possible" Brian said to Jason.

"Ladies" he said to them.

"What do you want perv?" Lisa asked as she and her friends looked at him in disdain.

"Brought you ladies some refreshments" he said handing them their drinks.

"No thanks" she said "..where is Brian?" she asked looking around.

"Oh uh he took off".

"What?" she asked before growling.

"Punch?" he asked, she took the cup and threw the drink at him before stalking off.

~*~

Brian walked up the street when he noticed a light shining down the driveway of Vicki's house Vicki sat on a large swing that sat in their new backyard she lied her head back so she was staring up at the night sky.

"Okay here you go sweetie" Lizzie said coming outside with a bag of ice.

"Ow" she gasped, grimacing in pain as her mom set her foot on a small stool.

"Ooh still hurts huh?" Lizzie asked.

"I told you mom it's a sign that we shouldn't have come here" Vicki said to her, Lizzie looked at her.

"If it still hurts tomorrow we'll find a doctor to take a look" Lizzie said to her "We don't want it to swell up" Lizzie said going back into the house.

"Hi" Brian said startling her.

"Oh, hi" she said to him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you...You remember me right? "he asked.

"No, that's okay, course I remember you, not every day a strange boy comes to a girl's rescue" she said as they laughed. "Come on in" she said as he opened the gate and came into the yard.

"Oh wow that looks really bad" he said.

"Feels even worst" she said to him.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah just a sprain" she said to him "Sit down" she said as he sat on the swing next to her.

"I don't know if you know this but uh...I came by earlier...to see if you were okay."

"Yeah my mom told me, that was really sweet, you didn't have to do that" she said to him.

"I wanted to" he said shrugging.

"So...what brings you by?"

"Oh I was at this party, girl in my class was having her graduation party tonight" he said.

"Oh" Vicki said to him, she looked at her watch "Must've been a pretty boring party" she said.

"Yeah it uh...wasn't the best I can tell you that much" he said as they smiled at each other "What about you?" he asked.

"Was a nice night I'd thought I'd come out and commiserate under the stars" she said, he laughed.

"I guess you're not thrilled about being the newest resident of our little town here huh?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asked "Moving wasn't exactly my idea of fun...and now this sprained ankle just adds insult to injury...no pun intended" she said as he laughed.

"Where you coming from?" he asked.

"Seattle."

"Wow...long way from home" he said.

"Tell me about it."

"Does it really rain there all the time?" he asked.

She laughed "No, believe it or not the sun does come out there" she said as he smiled at her.

"So...just you and your mom?"

"Yeah, my parents were divorced when I was eight."

"Oh, I'm sorry" he said to her "No brothers or sisters?" he asked.

"No...I wish I did though."

"Oh yeah? Want mine?" he asked, she laughed.

"You have a brother or a sister?" she asked.

"An older brother, he's kind of a pain but if you want him to you're welcome to him" he said to her, she laughed.

"I'll get back to you on that."

"Okay, well you know this place isn't that bad I mean we got...a movie theater...the mall...okay yeah this place is pretty bad" he said, she laughed.

"Wow, sounds exciting" she said to him.

"Uh there's a diner down on 4th street where everyone hangs out."

"I'll have to check all that out...well once I'm walking on two feet again" she said to him.

"And I can introduce you to some people" he said to her.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah let's see there's uh...Jason, one of my best friends he's...he's an acquired taste" she laughed.
"Emily, she's Jason's girlfriend, she's interesting, uh...Chris and Omar, Jacqui, Ariel..."

"Sounds like you know some colorful characters" Vicki said to him.

"Oh they're colorful trust me" he said as she laughed. "And uh...there's me" he said to her, they smiled at each other.

"You know we didn't really get to talk or anything yesterday what with me being a klutz and all" she said to him, he laughed.

"yeah uh...well...Brian Littrell" he said sticking his hand out.

"Vicki McAdams" she said shaking it as they smiled at each other.

"Each night I ask the stars up above, Why must I be a teenager in love" played on the jukebox, Dion and his Belmonts crooning out the classic hit, kids filed in and out, people squished themselves inside the booths and took up the counter seats.

"Order up!" a man from the kitchen yelled as he hit a small bell with his spatula.

The bells above the door jingled as Brian, Chris and Omar made their way inside, squeezing past a group of kids hanging out by the jukebox.

"I knew we should've gotten here earlier" Brian said to them.

"Man this place is packed" Chris said looking around at everyone.

"It's summer what'd you expect?" Omar asked him.

"Let's just hang out here until a table opens up" Brian said as they leaned against the counter.

"Can I help someone?" a familiar voice said, Brian turned around to see Vicki behind the counter.

"Vicki?" he asked.

"Oh hey" she said smiling at him.

"Hey, what are you doing back there?" he asked.

"I work here now."

"You work here...is that legal?"

"As far as we're concerned it is" he laughed.

"Ahem" Chris said clearing his throat loudly as he and Omar looked at Brian.

"Oh! right sorry, Vicki, this is Chris and Omar, guys this is Vicki."

"Hey" she said to them.

"Wow so you're the girl we've been hearing so much about" Chris said to her, Brian kicked him and turned to glare at him "Ow what?" Chris asked.

"What can I get you guys?" she asked.

"Just a plate of fries and three chocolate shakes" Brian said to her.

"Coming up" she said going into the kitchen.

"Very nice" Chris said to him as the seats near the counter became vacant, they sat in the stools.

"Man you weren't kidding, she is gorgeous" Omar said.

"Want to say that a little louder O?" Brian asked annoyed.

Vicki came back from the kitchen and pulled three glasses from the window and sat them on the counter.

"So, you like working here?"

"Yeah, it's alright" Vicki said sliding the glasses over to them "This is my first night shift, I didn't think it'd be so busy."

"It's always like this in the summer" he said to her, she pulled three straws from the container and slid them towards them, he accidentally put his hand over hers.

"Hot fries!" someone yelled, ringing the bell once more.

"Oh" she said turning towards the window and picking up the plate "Enjoy" she said to him.

"Thanks" he said as she went into the kitchen.

Chris coughed "drooling" he said before coughing once more, a new song started on the jukebox.

"Hey, hey hey baby! I want to know if you'll be my girl".

"Hey uh Romeo?" Omar asked "Table in the back just opened up" he said.

"Huh?" Brian asked "Oh right" he said as they got up and went to the back.

The bells jingled once again as Emily and Jason came into the diner.

"Em!" Vicki said coming out from the kitchen.

"Oh hey!" Emily said sitting at the counter.

"Thank god you're here" Vicki said to her as Jason retreated to the back table.

"Men" he said sitting next to Brian.

"Finally" Chris said as Jason sat down.

"You're lucky the movie doesn't start for half an hour yet" Omar said to him.

"Hey don't blame me, Em wouldn't leave until her hair was just perfect" he said rolling his eyes.

"She's so pretty, Lord she's fine, I'm gonna make her mine all mine" the jukebox played as Brian looked back at Vicki who stood behind the counter talking to Emily.

"Hey lover boy" Jason said patting Brian's shoulder.

"Don't start J" he said taking a bite out of a french fry.

"You guys meet Vicki?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I can see why he's so crazy about her."

"I am not crazy about her" Brian said.

"She moved here three weeks ago and you haven't stopped talking about her since" Jason said to him.

"That's not true" they all scoffed at him and groaned "Really?" he asked.

"You're in deep" Chris said.

"So? how's your first night shift going?" Emily asked her.

"It has been crazy in here all night, my feet are killing me" she said putting napkins into a holder. The door opened and Lisa came in, followed by Megan and Erica as always.

"Ugh I hate to spoil your fun but your night just got a hell of a lot worst" Emily said to her.

"Wow way to be the bearer of bad news Em" Vicki said to her.

"Well Emily" Lisa said as Emily looked at her disdainfully "So glad you're here" Lisa said to her.

"Really? Isn't it amazing how two people can feel so differently about the same thing?" Emily asked "And what can I do for you?" Emily asked.

"I just came to give you some friendly advice, back off."

"If I knew what you were talking about...which I don't...what makes you think I'd even listen to you?" Emily said to her.

"I know you were behind him skipping out on my party early and why he's been avoiding me ever since."

"Oh right, that's my fault...it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he can't stand you."

"Just stay out of my way and don't mess with me or I can make your life a living hell" Lisa said to her "Your choice"."Oh and who do we have here? I don't think I've seen you around here before" Lisa said to Vicki.

"Lucky for her" Emily said.

"I just moved here a couple weeks ago" Vicki said to her.

"Ah, Emily, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Lisa asked.

"Why bother? All she has to do is go into the men's room, your name's all over the walls in there" Emily said to her. "Fine, Vicki, this is Lisa, Lisa, Vicki McAdams" Emily said.

"Hi" Vicki said to her.

"Yeah hi" Lisa said to her "Three diet sodas with lemon please" Lisa said to her "Think you can handle that one?" Lisa asked in a condescending tone, Emily looked at her angrily.

"Somehow I think I'll manage" Vicki said to her, Emily smiled.

"Cute...Emily you want to tell your new friend what happens when you cross me?" Lisa said snarling at them both before walking way.

"God" Vicki said laughing.

"Just ignore her, Lisa was born bitter" Emily said to her.

"Dare I ask what happens when you cross her?" Vicki asked.

"Well if you're a guy you end up with some sort of rash" Emily said loudly in her direction, Lisa turned to glare at her. Vicki tried to hide her laughter.

"Three diet sodas with lemon, order up" Vicki said setting the soda glasses on the counter.

"Can't you bring it to us? Isn't that kind of your job?" Lisa asked.

"You're two feet from the counter" Emily said to her.

"Really must be hard to get good help these days" Lisa said as she and her friends grabbed her drinks. Vicki looked at Emily shocked, Emily sat up and was prepared to lunge at her when Vicki grabbed her arm.

"Wait a minute...Lisa? did she have a graduation party a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah how'd you know" she looked back at Brian who turned around once she met his gaze "Someone told me about her"Vicki said wiping off the counter.

"Really" Emily said looking towards him, she smiled at Vicki.

"What?" Vicki asked.

"Nothing" Emily said, Brian got up from the booth and started walking towards the counter.

"Lisa, incoming" Megan said to her.

"Oh god, how do I look?" she asked looking at her reflection in the jukebox.

Brian stopped at the counter and leaned against it "Hey" he said to Vicki.

"Hi" she said to him.

"Emily" he said to her.

"Well hello to you too" Emily said to him.

"Did you need something?" Vicki asked him.

"Yeah I just wanted to ask you..." he said looking at Emily and then back at Vicki "For the tab" he said.

"Oh, sorry" she said looking at her order pad and ripping the sheet off.

"Smooth" Emily said to him, he glared at her.

"Hey" Lisa said cheerfully approaching him.

"Oh hey Lisa" he said going through his money.

"Do you mind?" she asked Emily "Private conversation" she said as Emily rolled her eyes and got up from the counter "So look about my party..." Lisa said to him.

"Yeah, sorry for bailing early I had to get home" he said to her.

"Oh, well that's no problem, but uh I think you owe me a dance" she said to him.

"Do I?" he asked.

"You promised" she said innocently.

Vicki came out from behind the counter with a pile of straws in her hand. Lisa stuck her foot out in front of her, Vicki tripped , he quickly held out his arms and caught her, the straws fell to the floor.

"Hi" she said laughing.

"Hi" he said smiling at her "You okay?" he asked as she stood up.

"Yeah...guess I tripped" she said looking at Lisa.

"You didn't hurt yourself this time did you?" he asked.

"No, I'm okay" she said laughing.

"Here let me help you" he said as they bent down to pick up the straws that were lying on the floor.

"Thanks" she said to him.

"Hey uh we're all going to the movies, you want to join us? "he asked.

"That would be great but I told my mom I'd be right home after work."

"Oh okay, mind if I walked you?" he asked.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah thanks I'd like that" she said smiling at him as they stood up.

"Wait" Lisa said to him "You don't want to stay and hang with us?" she asked innocently.

"Maybe some other time okay?" he asked.

"Everything alright?" Marla asked.

"Oh yeah I just dropped some straws that's all" Vicki said to her.

"Well congratulations kiddo you survived your first night" she said to Vicki.

"Barely" she said as she took her apron off.

"Well I got some good news for you, you get the afternoon shift tomorrow."

"Thank you" she said in relief.

"Ready?" Brian asked.

"Yeah let's go" she said to him as they left the diner.

"What just happened here?" Lisa asked her friends,
Emily watched from the back and laughed at her.

~*~

"So..." Brian said as they walked up the street.

"So..." Vicki said.

"Your feet must be killing you" he said to her.

"Ugh that's an understatement" she groaned.

"So your first month here, how's it been?" he asked.

"It's been alright" she said "So quiet here at night" Vicki said as they walked up the street to her house.

"Yeah...it is, well you know when Jason's parents are home" he said.

"Yeah" she said, they stepped up on to her porch "Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem."

"You didn't have to you know, I know you were going to the movies."

"It's okay I wanted to, I can miss a couple previews" he said.

"Oh and thanks for helping me with the straws" he smiled.

"No problem" he said laughing.

"Okay, well night" she said opening the door to her house "I'll see you tomorrow?" she said to him as she opened the door."

"Oh uh, yeah see you tomorrow" she smiled before going into the house and shutting the door.

~*~

He trudged himself to the movie theater where he saw them all standing in line at the ticket booth.

"Hey casanova" Jason said to him.

"Hey I have a question for you" Emily said to him.

"Must you?" he asked annoyed.

"How does Vicki know about Lisa's party? Isn't that when she moved here?" Emily asked.

"Yes" he said to her.

"Oh my god" Emily said in delight.

"What?

"That's where you went that night, you didn't go home."

"Yes I did...after I was done talking to Vicki for a few hours" he said reluctantly, Emily squealed. "Okay, thank you" he said.

"So what happened tonight?" Jason asked.

"Nothing" he said.

"I thought you were going to ask her."

"Ask her what?" Emily asked intrigued.

"Well if you must know I was going to ask Vicki to the bonfire."

"Oh my god what happened? Did you ask her? Did she say yes?" Emily asked him.

"No" he said.

"No what? No she didn't say yes or no you didn't ask her?" Emily asked.

"I didn't ask her."

"Well what's the problem?" Emily asked him.

"I can't seem to get up the nerve to ask her, what if she says no?"

"You're way too negative" Emily said to him "She won't say no" she said.

"Em I'm begging you do not make a case for me."

"I'm not!"

"You better not, the only thing worst than rejection is pity."

"It is?" Jason asked.

~*~

The next afternoon Emily sat in Vicki's room as she hung posters up.

"Your room is really coming along, I love the color you picked" Emily said to her.

"Thanks" Vicki said to her "So tell me more about this Lisa chick...is she as bad as she sounds?" Vicki asked.

"Pfft...she is so desperate it's not even funny, she's had this psycho obsessive stalker crush on Brian since pre-school."

"He's obviously aware of this."

"It would be hard not to be, it is so pathetic".

"Obviously you're not a fan."

"Are you kidding me? Look Lisa Jones is the girl every guy our age dreams about okay? She can have any guy she wants at her beckoned call but instead she wants the one that doesn't want her."

"Ah the unattainable dream" Vicki said.

"Exactly, but if you ask me that's why she wants him because she's off by one" Vicki laughed. "Besides he's totally crazy about someone else" Emily said smiling as she went back to looking at a magazine.

"Who?" Vicki asked.

"I think you know her" Emily said winking. There was a knock at the door.

"Hi girls" Lizzie said poking her head in "Honey, there's someone downstairs for you" she said to Vicki.

"Who is it?"

"Prince charming" Lizzie said.

"God I told you to stop calling him that!" Vicki said embarrassed as she left the room, Brian sat on her couch.

"Hey" she said coming down the steps.

"Oh hey" he said getting up.

"What's up?"

"Uh...well...I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"You kinda just did" she said as they laughed.

"No it's uh...every year they have like this big beach party/bonfire thing down at the lake for the fourth of July."

"Oh, that sounds fun."

"Yeah it is and I was thinking maybe if you didn't have plans you'd like to go...with me" he said.

"Like a date?" Vicki asked.

"If you want to call it that sure" he said as she laughed.

"Yeah sure, I'd love to" she said to him.

"I'm sorry did you just say yes?"

"Are you deaf, I heard her from here" Emily said from upstairs.

"Alright, uh I'll guess I'll pick you up about noon?"

"Sure."

"Okay, it's a date then" he said.

"It is" she said as he went to the door.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay great" Vicki said as he left.

She went back up to her room "I think he just asked me out" she said to Emily.

"I'm not saying a word" Emily said to her "Well...are you excited?" Emily asked.

"Yeah course I am."

Brian excitedly ran down the steps to Jason's basement"I did it" he said smiling.

"Already? Damn that was fast" Jason said to him as he lied on the futon."

"No, not that, I asked her out."

"She say yes?" Chris asked.

"She said yes."

"Alright!" Chris said to him.

"Yeah...so what do I do now? Brian asked, they all looked at each other in silence.

"Let's just focus on the positive you got a date!" Jason said.

~*~

Fourth of July lived up to it's reputation of being one of the hottest days of the year, temperatures rose to a boiling point. Brian stepped up on to Vicki's front porch and rang the doorbell.

"Hey" she said opening the door.

"Hey" he said "You look great."

"Oh thanks" she said smiling at him and closing the door behind her "Ready?" she asked.

"Let's go" he said Lizzie watched closely from the living room window.

~*~

Music blared from a small beach house, the shore was filled with people on beach blankets, the lake was crowded. A beach ball sailed through the air as people played volleyball on the sand.

"Vicki" Emily said to her.

"Hey Em" Vicki said as they hugged.

"So? How's the date so far?"

"Has it technically started yet?" she asked.

"Course!"

"Oh well it's going great" she said happily.

"Hey, want a drink?" Brian asked her.

"Yeah sure, thanks" she said as he smiled at her and walked away to the drink table.

"Oh I'm so happy for you" Emily said.

"Hey" Lisa said approaching Brian.

"Oh hey" he said glancing at her.

"So...glad you're here, want to go for a swim?" she asked "I just got this new suit and I've been dying to try it out...what do you think?" she asked.

"Nice" he said leaving her side and going back to Vicki, handing her a drink.

"Want to go down to the lake?" he asked.

"Yeah sure, you coming?" she asked Emily.

"I'll meet you guys down there" she said as he took Vicki's hand and led her from the beach house.

"Emily" Lisa said to her as she and her friends approached her.

"Nice suit, trying out for a spot as a Motley Crue video whore?" Emily asked.

"cute" Lisa said to her "But I'm not really in the mood for trading insults right now."

"Aw darn" Emily said snapping her fingers.

"Your new friend...what is she doing here with Brian?"

"I believe they're...oh what do you call it...oh yeah a date, they're on a date, taste that" Emily said walking away from her.

~*~

Vicki squeezed a bottle of suntan lotion and began to rub it on her arms.

"Need some help?" Brian asked.

"Oh yeah could you get my back? if you don't mind" she asked.

"Course not" he said taking the lotion from her. He began to rub the lotion over Vicki's shoulders and her back.

"Thanks" Vicki said.

"Mind doing me?" he asked "I mean would you mind putting some on my back as well" he said flustered.

"Sure" Vicki said laughing as she squeezed some lotion on to her hand and rubbed it all over his back.

"Well, looks like someone has a thing for the new girl" Erica said as they watched them run into the water.

"They do not have a thing Erica!" Lisa yelled at her."Now make yourself useful and get me a drink" Lisa said to her.

"You're so jealous."

"I am not jealous Erica...I just hate her" Lisa said.

~*~

The sun began to get lower as it faded to an orange glow. The air grew cooler and the bonfire started, everyone hung out in the boat house where music played and drinks flowed.

"So..." Jason said as he and Brian sat by the fire.

"What?" he asked.

"You make your move yet?" Jason asked.

"I thought I did that when I asked her out" Brian said to him.

"No, I mean did you kiss her?"

"Not yet"

"What are you waiting for?"

"Hey I'm trying to take my time with this, is that alright with you?"

"No!"

"She was all over me in the water, does that count?" Brian asked.

"Did your lips actually touch?"

"No."

"Then it doesn't count."

"Okay J, here's the thing, I'm doing this for me, not for you alright?"

"Fine, FYI, perfect make out moment, during the fireworks."

"Thanks for the note, I'll be right back".

~*~

"So...how would you rate this date?" Emily asked Vicki as they stood in the beach house with drinks in their hand.

"How high do I get to go?"

"That good huh?"

"Em, today was perfect."

"Know what?" Emily asked eating a chip.

"What?" Vicki asked.

"I think you should kiss him."

"Emily!" Vicki said.

"Ugh great" Emily groaned.

"What?" Vicki asked as she turned around.

"You" Lisa said to her "New girl."

"Me?" Vicki asked.

"She has a name" Emily said to Lisa.

"Yeah Valerie" Lisa said.

"Vicki" Vicki said to her.

"Whatever, don't care" Lisa said "Look the guy you came here with? He's taken, he's mine so if you know what's good for you, back off, your friend there can tell you what happens to people who try to mess with me".

"Something about a rash?" Vicki asked as Emily laughed "Look Linda..." Vicki said to her.

"Lisa."

"Whatever, don't care" Vicki said miming her exact words. "Not that it's any of your business but we're just friends, besides in the conversations I've had with him he's never mentioned you" Vicki said to her.

"Look...just stay out of my way and you won't have a problem, got it?"

"I promise to do my best" Vicki said to Lisa said before walking away.

"I love you" Emily said to her "No one has ever said anything like that to her before."

"Wow, you weren't kidding" Vicki said to Emily.

"See? Crazy and delusional" Emily said to her.

"Hey everyone! The fireworks are starting!" someone announced to the crowd, everyone made their way outside.

"Hey there you are, I've been looking for you" Brian said as he met up with Vicki.

"Right here" she said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "So I just had a very interesting conversation with your friend Lisa."

"Oh no" he said "What happened?"

"She told me and I quote 'the guy you came here with is taken and he's mine so if you know what's good for you, back off'."

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Oh yeah you should've been there" Vicki said to him.

"I am so sorry about that" he said.

"It's okay, Em filled me in on her uh...what do you call it...crush? On you?" she asked.

"Something like that" he said to her.

"Know what's funny?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she asked,

"I used to have the biggest crush on her best friend Heather."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to Heather?" Vicki asked.

"She moved away last summer and before she left I told her I liked her and she basically laughed in my face."

"Aww...I'm so sorry" Vicki said to him "Why would she do that?" Vicki asked.

"She was one of the 'popular' girls and I...wasn't...aren't" he said to her.

"Well if any girl is that superficial, I think she's not good enough for you" Vicki said.

"Thanks" he said, the fireworks shot up into the sky.�

"Wow, that is so pretty" Vicki said as they stood together, he pulled her close and they smiled at each other and they continued to watch the fireworks.

~*~

Vicki giggled as he carried her home on his back.

"And here we are" he said her down "You're heavy" he said to her.

"I am not!" she said laughing.

"So, you have fun?"

"Aside from being threatened by a human Barbie doll, yeah, thanks for taking me."

"Yeah no problem, we should do this again...you know if you want to."

"Yeah I'd like that."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Alright well goodnight."

"Night and thanks for the ride home, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye" she said going into her house and shutting the door.

A chill rose into the air as October settled in, the feeling of magic and mystery filled the air as Halloween excitement began to approach. Vicki hung dangling spiders over the bar at the diner as Marla taped up paper decorations of jack-o-lanterns and black cats in the windows. The bells jingled as the door opened.

"Hey" Brian said coming in.

"Oh hey" Vicki said climbing down from a ladder "Can I get you something?" she asked as he sat at the bar.

"Oh a soda I guess, actually I came here to ask you something" he said as she filled a glass with soda for him. "Em and J are dragging me to a pumpkin patch on Friday, want to come keep me company?" he asked.

"Oh yeah that sounds fun" Vicki said to him "One condition though" she said leaning on the counter.

"Oh here we go" he said as they laughed.

"No come on, if I pick one out will you help me carve it?" she asked sweetly.

"I'd be honored" he said as they laughed.

"Then sure, I'll go."

"Great" he said putting money onto the counter, she counted it and looked at him.

"A soda's only a buck fifty" she said.

"I know" he said before leaving.

"Well..." Marla said coming out from the kitchen "You two have gotten awfully cozy" she said.

"He's my friend" Vicki said shrugging, Marla laughed. "He is" Vicki said to her.

"Okay" Marla said to her "But just off the record, I think you two look really cute together" Marla said as Vicki untied her apron.

"You sound like my mother" Vicki said pulling her coat on and grabbing her backpack.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Marla asked.

"As always" Vicki said.

"Night Juliet" Marla said, as Vicki looked back at her and shook her head.

~*~

That Friday, Emily and Vicki walked through the rows of plump pumpkins.

"Oh look at this one" Emily cooed picking up a small pumpkin "So cute" she said.

"I think I saw Jason eyeing a huge one back there."

"Well that's Jason, always compensating for something" Emily said as they laughed.

"Hey" Brian said appearing with two Styrofoam cups "Got you some hot chocolate" he said handing her one.

"Oh thanks" she said taking it.

"So cold out tonight" Emily said.

"Its freezing" Vicki said.

"You cold?" Brian asked, Vicki nodded and he slipped his coat off and put it around her.

"Thanks" Vicki said to him, he smiled at her.

"Oh my god, that was so adorable" Emily said "Didn't know you were so chivalrous" she said walking away from them.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Vicki asked.

"I'm wearing three sweaters, losing a layer won't hurt me" he said.

"Thanks for waiting guys" Jason said as he pulled a wagon behind him.

"Jason look how cute" Emily said showing him the small pumpkin.

"Em, I cannot carve my masterpiece on that" Jason said to her.

"Your masterpiece?" Brian asked.

"Yes, I'm doing the house from Nightmare on Elm Street" Jason said proudly.

"I didn't know you were so artistic" Vicki said to him.

"He's not" Emily said dropping the pumpkin into the wagon.

"I saw this pumpkin up here that's perfect" Jason said.

"So?" Brian asked.

"I need help getting it in the wagon" Jason said, Brian sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Course you do" Brian said "I'll be back" he said to Vicki.

"Okay" she said as he and Jason walked in the opposite direction.

"So...what is going on with you two?" Emily asked.

"Em."

"Oh come on, I've seen the way he looks at you, has he kissed you yet?".

"There's been a couple of attempts."

"Oh?"

"Yeah but then something happens, someone comes into the room or there's some other distraction."

We got to get him to kiss you somehow."

"God Em, I'm not the little mermaid its not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is."

"What are you going to do? Round up a bunch of animals and sea creatures and have them sing?" Vicki asked as they laughed.

"If I could do that, I so would" Emily said laughing "So what are you doing after this? Want to come over and watch a movie or something?" Emily asked.

"Can't, I actually made him promise me he'd help me carve the pumpkin I picked."

"That is so adorable" Emily said "Maybe tonight will be the night" Emily said "Remember you turn back into a mermaid if he doesn't kiss you" Emily said as they laughed.

~*~

Vicki quickly opened the front door as Brian carried the pumpkin into the kitchen.

"This thing weighs a ton" he said setting it on the kitchen table.

"Its the perfect jack-o-lantern size" Vicki said to him.

"There we go" he said putting on the table, he rolled his sleeves up.

"Here you go" she said handing him a carving knife.

"Whoa, going all Michael Myers on me here" he said, she laughed."

"I wouldn't kill you, you're too cute" she said putting an apron on.

"Well,thank you" he said plunging the knife into the pumpkin. He cut the top off and pulled it off by the stem "Look at all that" he said about the goo that was attached.

"Gross" Vicki said as she rolled her sleeves up.

"Okay, go ahead" he said to her.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Stick your hands in and scoop the goo out."

"Now why would I want to take that away from you, please" she said.

"Oh no ladies first."

"Now you pick the time to be a gentleman."

"Hey!" he said sticking his hand inside the pumpkin and wiping his finger on her nose, her mouth dropped.

"Oh you did not want to do that to the girl with the knife in her hands" she said to him.

She put dishwashing gloves on and reached into the pumpkin.

"Blech" she said taking all the innards out and setting them on a piece of newspaper.

"Yeah get in there" he said looking into the pumpkin, she smeared some of the pumpkin on his cheek and smiled at him, he looked at her shocked "Oh that's it" he said grabbing the pumpkin innards and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"No!" she squealed while he held her, they laughed "No stop it!" she squealed while laughing.

"You little..." he said as he put the pumpkin innards back on the paper.

"You are so mean" she said handing him a towel.

"You started it."

"I did not, you did!" she said as she wiped the bridge of her nose off.

Vicki then put a small candle inside and lit it.

"Well?" she asked as it glowed in the living room window.

"Perfect" he said, the clock chimed "Wow" he said "I should probably go" he said grabbing his coat.

"Thanks for inviting me" she said to him.

"Course" he said, they looked at each other and he slowly leaned into her when the lights flicked on.

"Oh hello" Lizzie said coming in the front door.

"Night" he said shaking her hand.

"Night" she said as he left "Thanks mom" Vicki said to her.

"Did I interrupt something?" Lizzie asked "Sorry honey" she said "Wow look at that" she said spotting the jack-o-lantern in the front window.

"We made it."

"You two carved a pumpkin together? Oh that is so cute" Lizzie said.

"Night mom" Vicki said in annoyance as she stomped up the stairs.

~*~

The next afternoon Vicki lied on Emily's bed.

"So he was about to kiss you when your mom walked in?" Emily asked.

"Yeah and then he shook my hand" Vicki said to her, Emily laughed.

"Such a goofball" Emily said.


Brian lied on the futon in Jason's basement.

"So? What happened at Vicki's last night?" Jason asked him.

"She rubbed pumpkin guts on my face" Brian said sullenly.

"Weird but I like it" Jason said.

"God I'm so stupid!" Brian moaned.

"It's very simple to kiss a girl all you do is lean in and go for it" Jason said to him.

"Yeah I'm aware, her mom walked in."

"Ooh, now I see your problem."

"What do I do now?"

"You stop whining, you're getting on my nerves."

"Oh I'm sorry" Brian said sarcastically.


"You look sad" Emily said.

"Well I guess I just got my hopes up is all" Emily made a sad face and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry."

"Its okay."

"I have an idea, lets go downtown and pick out our costumes for the Halloween dance."

"I don't know I don't think I'm going" Vicki said.

"What? Of course you are" Emily said to her.

"He hasn't officially asked me" Vicki said to her.

"Then I'll be your date, come on it'll be fun, besides its Halloween" Emily said.

"Okay, why not" Vicki said.

"Great" Emily said as they left her room.

They walked through the rows of costumes, Emily slung some over her arm as Vicki continued to flip through the racks.

"Find anything?" Emily asked.

"Not yet" Vicki said to her "What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost five" Emily said to her.

"I have to be at work in ten minutes, I'll see you later" Vicki said rushing out of the shop.

Brian sat at the counter waiting for her, he heard the bells jingle as she rushed in.

"Hey" she said.

"Hey" he said to her "Your mom told me you were working today" he said.

"What's up?" she asked tying her apron around her waist.

"Uh you know the Halloween dance at school next weekend?" he asked.

"I've heard of some dance, yes" she said as they laughed.

"Uh so I was wondering will you be my date for the Halloween dance on Saturday?" he asked, she smiled
"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, just the way you asked, it was cute."

"Oh, thanks" he said "So?" he asked.

"I'd love to" she said.

"Great" he said smiling at her.

~*~

"I have the best news ever" Vicki said lying on her bed as she talked to Emily on the phone.

"Dish" Emily said to her.

"Guess who asked me to the Halloween dance today?" she asked.

"Keanu Reeves?" Emily asked.

"I wish, no, when I got to work Brian was sitting at the counter waiting for me and he asked me."

"See? Now you most definitely need a costume" Emily said to her "And I think I found you the perfect one."

"Oh yeah?" Vicki asked.

"Yep, I got it for you, its here in my room" Emily said.

"Em, you didn't have to do that."

"Vicki it was the one."

"You don't even know if it'll fit."

"Its your size exactly."

"I'll be right over" Vicki said hanging up the phone and getting off of her bed.

"Ready?" Emily asked handing her the garment bag, Vicki took it from her and hung it from the closet door, she unzipped it and pulled the bag off. It was a long white Renaissance type gown with wide bell sleeves and gold lace bordering the edges.

"Wow" Vicki said as she looked at it "Its beautiful, but what's it supposed to be?" she asked Emily, she smirked.

"Juliet".

"Course" Vicki said to her as she laughed "You would" Vicki said taking it from the door.

"I'm sorry but as soon as I saw it I thought you would look so amazing in it".

"One problem how do we get Brian to dress as Romeo?" Vicki asked.

"Consider it taken care of, I can be pretty persuasive."

"Are you kidding me?!" Brian asked as he looked in the mirror wearing a feathered cap.

"Oh come on, its just a costume."

"I'm not wearing tights!" he said annoyed.

"Come on do it for Vicki."

"What does she have to do with this? She's not making me dress up like an idiot."

"She's Juliet" he stopped and looked at her.

"Juliet?"

"Yeah, now stop whining about tights and just wear the costume!" she said before stomping out of his room.

"Em..." he said going after her "I will wear the costume but one word out of Jason's mouth..."

"I will handle Jason okay?"

"Fine, alright I guess you can call me Romeo" Emily squealed in excitement and hugged him "Alright" he said.

"I promise you will not regret this" she said.

"I better not" he said as she went down the steps.

~*~

On Saturday night, Vicki and Emily got ready for the dance at Vicki's house, Emily sat at the vanity, trying to get her make up just right.

"Well?" Vicki asked coming out from the bathroom.

"Oh honey" Lizzie said to her "You look so beautiful."

"See? I told you it was perfect" Emily said to her.

"I got to admit I really like this" Vicki said when the doorbell rang.

"Oh wow Romeo and Batman, right on time" Emily said as she stood up from the vanity, Jason tried hard to keep his giggles to himself, Brian looked at him angrily.

"Jason I swear to god..." Brian said.

"Sorry, sorry" Jason said trying not to burst into laughter.

"Shut up" Brian said when the door opened.

"Well look at you guys" Lizzie said letting them into the house.

"Mrs McAdams" Jason said to her.

"Girls! They're all ready" she said.

Emily came down first "There's my cat woman" Jason said grabbing her closely.

"Hey" Vicki said coming down the steps, Brian turned to look at her.

"Wow" he said approaching the stairs. He took his hat off and held her hand before kissing it. "You look really beautiful" he said.

"Thanks" she said before coming down the steps.

"Okay kids, picture" Lizzie said to them.

"Mom" Vicki groaned.

"Oh come on just one" Lizzie said to her "Smile" she said as the flash went off "Okay kids have a great time tonight" she said as they left.

~*~

Music pounded off the gym walls as kids gathered around, a disco ball twirling around in the air.

"Here's your punch Lisa" Erica said handing her a cup.

"Finally" Lisa said angrily taking it from her.

"Didn't I tell you to keep your eyes out for Brian?" she asked Megan.

"Sorry" Megan said hanging her head in shame.

"Oh my god there he is" Lisa said "And look who he brought" she said as she saw Vicki.

Her eyes then locked on their hands which were held tightly together, she scowled and went over to him.

"Hey" she said grabbing onto Brian's arm as he walked in.

"Oh hey" he said to her.

"Great costume...what are you supposed to be?" she asked.

"Oh uh Romeo" he said, she looked at him confused "Romeo and Juliet?" he asked as she continued to look confused "Shakespeare?" he asked again.

"Oh...well it suits you" she said.

"Thanks, you look great too as Madonna...again" he said.

"Thanks, want to dance?" she asked.

"Maybe some other time I'm actually here with someone, see you later" he said taking two cups and walking away from her, she watched as he went over to Vicki.

She groaned and fished a shiny silver flask from her clutch purse and poured it into the cup of punch, Megan and Erica rolled their eyes at her and slowly moved away from her.

"Lisa, drowning your sorrows I see" Emily said filling a cup with punch.

"So Brian and your new little friend have certainly become chummy" she said in disdain.

"Chummy?" Emily asked "Lisa don't you think its time you gave up that delusional fantasy of yours? Let it go" she said walking away.

Lisa squealed again in anger.

"Lisa, what are you doing?" Erica asked as she filled cup with punch to the brim.

"Come on girls" she said as they walked across the gym.

"Lisa..." Erica said.

"What's going on? What is she doing?" Megan asked.

"She has officially lost it" Erica said as they reluctantly followed behind her.

She crossed the gym, careful not to spill any of the punch from the cup once she got close enough she attempted to throw it all over Vicki's perfectly white gown. Instead she got doused in sticky red liquid, she squealed.

"Oh I am so sorry" Jason said to her "Here let me..." he said trying to dab her down with napkins.

"Don't touch me!" she growled before storming out of the gym.

"Oh my god" Emily said.

"What just happened here?" Vicki asked.

"Karma really must be a bitch" Emily said laughing.

When I'm With You by Sherriff began to fill the gym as the lights went down and the disco ball reflected off of the floor.

"Care to dance?" Brian asked holding his hand out.

"Sure" she said taking it, he lead her to the dance floor.

"Have I mentioned you look really pretty tonight?" he asked as they danced.

"Yeah, couple of times actually" she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. He looked over at Emily and Jason who ushered him to kiss her, he waved them off and they kept dancing.

The dance soon ended and they wound up back in Vicki's living room.

~*~

"Mom? I'm home" she called out as they came into the house "She must be asleep or something" she said.

"You have fun tonight?"

"Yeah, seeing Lisa become a low rent Carrie was actually pretty amusing" she said, they laughed.

"Well I guess I should go."

"Okay, night."

"Night" he said before leaving.

He stood on the porch, Vicki took the veil from her head and set it on the banister, he thought a second before going back in.

"Vicki" he said "I forgot something" he said to her.

"What'd you forget?" she asked confused.

"I uh...I forgot this" he said pulling her close to him and kissing her softly.

"Wow" she said as they parted.

"Yeah that was..."

"Great" Vicki said to him.

"Thanks for not slapping me" he said, she laughed.

They looked at each other before reconnecting and kissing sweetly as Lizzie looked on from the top of the stairs.

Snow fell softly outside as Lizzie hung brightly colored balls on the dark prickly leaves of the Christmas tree. Vicki looped hooks through the ornaments and handed them to Lizzie to hang on the tree.

"Okay, how are we looking so far?" Lizzie asked.

"Great mom" Vicki said to her.

"Feels so weird decorating a tree without your grandmother yelling at me" Lizzie said to her.

"And grandpa passing out from drinking a pitcher of eggnog" Vicki said.

"Oh that reminds me I better pick some up before they get here tomorrow" Lizzie said.

"Great" Vicki grumbled as she continued hooking the ornaments.

~*~

Brian looked in the window case of the jewelry store.

"That one" he said pointing to a heart shaped charm with a V engraved on it.

"We can wrap it for you if you want" the sales lady said to him.

"Uh...sure why not" he said.

"Okay" she said ripping the Christmas paper from the roll and wrapping up the box.

~*~

The doorbell at Vicki's house rang.

"Daddy!" Vicki said happily, seeing James on the doorstep.

"Hello princess" he said hugging her tightly.

"Come on in" Lizzie said.

"Thanks" he said "Really coming down out there, I'm glad we were able to land" he said taking his scarf and coat off.

"So? What do you think?" Lizzie asked.

"Very nice, I'm surprised actually, I'd thought it be a little smaller."

"Well, I grew up in a big house, feels more homey" Lizzie said to him.

"Where's Cindy?" Vicki asked.

"Oh she flew out to New York early, she had an emergency with her parents."

"I hope everything's okay" Lizzie said.

"I'm sure everything's fine, besides now I have a few more days to spend time with my favorite girl" he said wrapping his arms around Vicki "Your parents here?" he asked.

"Tomorrow, if the weather holds out" Lizzie said.

"So..." James said "Where is he? I brought my shotgun" he said to Vicki.

"Daddy" she said to him "I'm actually going to meet him now, I'll bring him by later."

"Great."

"Bye daddy, bye mom, be back later" she said grabbing her coat. The door closed as she left.

"I brought my shotgun?" Lizzie asked him.

"You brought it up" James said to her "So...what about you? Any romantic prospects?" he asked, she laughed.

"Sure you want to know?" Lizzie asked.

"I'm married remember?" he asked.

"A few but if anything does get serious enough then I'll tell Vicki, don't want her getting her hopes up" she said as they put the ornaments on the tree.

~*~

Brian held the gift in his hands as heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey" she said coming down to the basement.

"Oh hey" he said smiling "You're all snowy" he said brushing the snow from her coat.

"I know it is really coming down out there" she said taking her coat off.

"Hi" he said to her.

"Hi" she said as they kissed.

"Cookies!" Jackie chimed as she came down the steps with a tray and two cups of hot chocolate "You must be freezing!" she said rubbing Vicki's cheeks.

"Thanks mom" he said to her.

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Littrell" Vicki said as she handed her a mug.

"Okay I'll leave you two alone" Jackie said as she went back upstairs.

"Sorry about her" he said setting his mug on the table.

"Oh I like your mom, she's sweet" Vicki said taking a drink of cocoa.

"Well here, Merry Christmas" he said handing her the gift.

"Aww thank you" she said giving him a kiss, Vicki tore the paper off of the small box and took the lid off "Wow" she said looking at the charm lying in the box.

"You like it?" he asked.

"I love it, thank you" she said giving him a kiss.

"You're welcome."

"This is so sweet" she said looking at it.

"That for me?" he asked nodding towards the gift lying on her coat.

"Oh wow, don't open that" she said picking it up.

"What? Why not?"

"Oh come on, after this? It makes my gift look so lame" she said to him.

"Trust me, you gave it to me I'll love it" he said reaching for it, she put it behind her back "Give it to me" he said laughing.

"No" she said as they laughed.

"Come on."

"No its too embarrassing!" she said to him as she continued to hold it away before pulling him into a kiss, trying to distract him. He was able to get the gift from her.

"Ha!" he said taking the box back from her and opening it. "Oh hey" he said picking up the frame from inside the box "Wow, this is really great, thanks."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I needed one of these actually" he said looking at the picture of the two of them.

"You are way too nice" she said to him.

"No really, this is going right on my nightstand, thanks" he said giving her a kiss."

"You're welcome" she said hugging him tightly "Now I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Bad news on Christmas?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh...my dad just came to town today."

"Oh" he said.

"Yeah and when we were home for Thanksgiving, I told him about you and...he wants to meet you" she said nervously. "Now if you don't want to I completely understand this is totally out of right field and..."

"Vicki" he said "I'd love to meet your dad" he said to her.

"Really?"

"Sure, uh? When do you think? Day after Christmas?" he asked.

"Actually...how about now?" she asked.

"Now?" he asked her.

"I'm so sorry, if the day after Christmas is good for you then its good for me" she said to him.

"Uh no, now's good, lets go" he said standing up.

"You don't have to do this" she said to him.

"No its okay" he said.

"I'm serious you don't..." he sat back down and kissed her.

"I want to" he said holding her hand "Come on" he said as they went upstairs.

"Oh leaving so soon?" Jackie asked.

"Uh we're just going to Vicki's house, I'm going to meet her dad" he said putting his coat on.

"Oh your dad is in town?" she asked.

"Yeah uh he's going to New York to meet my step mom in a few days, so he stopped on his way."

"Oh well that's nice, Vicki sweetie if I don't see you before then, I want you and your mom to have a great Christmas" Jackie said to her.

"Thank you, you too" Vicki said as she hugged her.

"I'll be back later" he said.

"Bye" Vicki said as they left.

~*~

"Well?" Lizzie asked James as he took a bite out of a gingerbread man.

"Delicious, who made 'em?"

"Our daughter."

"Really" he said intrigued as they saw him and Vicki step on to the front porch "That him?" James asked.

"That's him, now be on your best behavior" Lizzie said to him.

"Hi" Vicki said as they came into the house.

"Hi."

"Hey Mrs. McAdams" Brian said to her.

"Well...daddy this is Brian, Brian this is my dad, James McAdams."

"Nice to meet you sir" he said shaking James' hand.

"Well nice to meet you too son, good handshake you got there."

"Thanks" he said.

"Well who wants a drink?" Lizzie asked.

"Oh mom, look" Vicki said showing her the charm.

"Oh that is beautiful, that was so sweet of you."

"I know how much she loves that bracelet" he said to her.

"Have a seat" James said as he sat in a chair, Brian sat on the couch across from him.

"So uh...Vicki says you're a lawyer, that's got to be interesting" he said.

"Mmhmm" James said "So...tell me, how did you meet my daughter?" James asked.

"Oh uh, well we met when they were moving in, she uh was trying to carry a box into...here...and she tripped and fell". "I was playing basketball in my driveway and I ran to see if she needed help, she hurt her ankle pretty badly so I helped her in" he said to James.

"Wow...so you play basketball" James asked.

"Uh yeah" he said.

"He can sing too" Vicki said sitting on the couch next to him.

"Really."

"No..." he said "Well kind of yeah..."

"He's amazing" Vicki said, James looked at her "At singing" she said to him. He noticed Vicki take his hand and their fingers lace together.

"So...what exactly are your intentions with my only daughter?" he asked.

"Oh my god" Vicki sighed as she sat back on the couch and put her hand to her forehead.

"No its okay...look Mr. McAdams...sir, I like Vicki a lot, I really care about her and she means a lot to me" Brian said smiling at Vicki, they laced their fingers once again.

"Alright that's enough interrogation, you're not a prosecutor" Lizzie said to him.

"I'm just trying to get to know my daughter's...friend" he said smiling.

"Daddy, come on" Vicki said to him.

"Alright, well I got to get to my hotel, call Cindy see how everything in New York is coming, I'll see you all tomorrow" he said "Well it was nice meeting you, son".

"Nice meeting you too" Brian said shaking his hand again.

"Bye cupcake" he said hugging Vicki "Lizzie" he said.

Once the door closed Brian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man" he said "You weren't kidding about the lawyer thing" he said to Vicki.

"Sorry, you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll be alright" he said leaning in close to her, she turned to look at Lizzie.

"Oh, right, sorry, well I will be upstairs, I have some more wrapping to do.

"Thanks mom" Vicki said as Lizzie went up the steps, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close as they kissed, softly and sweetly as the fire roared next to them.

"So? My dad didn't totally scare you?" she asked as he put his coat on.

"I think all dads are scary, especially if their daughters are as beautiful as you" he said.

"How do you always know just what to say?" she asked, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Wow, look at that" he said opening the door, snow fell lightly on the ground.

"A white Christmas" Vicki said looking outside.

"Merry Christmas" he said to her.

"Merry Christmas" she said before they kissed goodnight he then ventured off into the winter wonderland.

~*~

Vicki brushed her hair as she sat at her vanity, the charm sitting in its box next to her. She picked it up and smiled, she then got off the bench and got into her bed and stared at it. Lizzie stood in her doorway and smiled.

"What?" Vicki asked.

"Its just nice that's all" she said.

"I know, I can't believe he bought me this" she said "Guys never notice such small things like that."

"I meant, its nice seeing you so happy."

"I am happy" Vicki said to her. tears sprang up in Lizzie's eyes "Mom!" Vicki said laughing "If anyone should be crying it should be me" she said taking the box back.

"I'm just so happy for you, this is your first boyfriend" Lizzie said to her.

"Technically he's not my boyfriend" Vicki said putting the box on her desk.

"Yet" Lizzie said to her.

"You keep saying that" Vicki said to her.

"Honey, I remember what its like to be a teenager, first loves are powerful."

"I'll say" Vicki said.

"Well we should get some sleep, want to be nice and refreshed when we pick your grandparents up from the airport" she said rolling her eyes.

"Night mom."

"Night sweetheart" Lizzie said shutting her door.

~*~

"Here we are" Lizzie said opening the door to the house and letting her parents in.

"Oh goodness" Mary said taking her gloves off "Lizzie this is beautiful" she said looking around.

"Thanks mom" her dad dragged the luggage in and set it down.

"What do you think Dan?" Mary asked him.

"Oh I like it, very nice" he said.

"Grandma, grandpa" Vicki said rushing down the steps.

"Oh hello dear" Mary said hugging her tightly.

"Hello sweet pea" Dan said lifting her off of her feet.

"How was your trip?" she asked.

"Oh smooth as can be, considering the weather" Mary said as Lizzie helped her with her coat.

"Where am I taking these?" Dan asked.

"Oh dad, don't worry about those, I can get them" Lizzie said.

"Nonsense, I'm perfectly fine."

"Don't hurt yourself dear" Mary said to him.

"Guest room daddy, third door on the left, right next to Vicki's" Lizzie said to him as he went up the stairs.

"Oh grandma I want to show you my room."

"Well of course dear, but first thing's first, when uh...do I get to meet your special friend?" she asked.

"Soon grandma, he needs a few day to recover from meeting daddy yesterday" Vicki said to her.

"Oh, Jimmy's in town? What happened to the young chippie?" Mary asked.

"Mother" Lizzie said to her.

"Grandma" Vicki said laughing.

"Cindy had an emergency and had to go to New York early, so James is staying on a few days while she deals with it" Lizzie said to her "Did you show grandma what your friend got your for Christmas?" Lizzie asked as she passed by.

"Mom" Vicki said to her "Its nothing he just got me a charm for my bracelet" she said.

"Well isn't that sweet, let me see" Mary said as Vicki held up her wrist and showed it to her "Very pretty" Mary said looking at it.

"Okay we're all set, where's the eggnog?" Dan asked.

~*~

Christmas day came and went and soon everyone was ready to ring in the new year and start a new decade.

"Here we are, fresh shrimp" Mary said bringing a plate into the living room and setting in the coffee table.

"Got the champagne on ice" Lizzie said as she brought another plate of food into the living room.

"Where's Vicki?" Mary asked.

"Oh she's upstairs getting ready, she's going to a party at one of her friend's house."

"Oh, that's nice is uh...you know who, taking her?" Mary asked.

"He should be here soon" Lizzie said.

"Should I go get my gun?" Dan asked as he sat in a chair with the remote.

"Daddy, you're almost as bad as Jimmy" Lizzie said to him.

The doorbell rang "There he is" Lizzie said as she opened the door "Well hello there" she said to him
said.

"Hi Mrs. McAdams, Happy New Year" he said.

"Happy New Year, well come on in" she said as he stepped in. "she should be down in a minute" Lizzie said to him.

"Hello there" Mary said.

"Oh I want you to meet Vicki's grandparents, this is my mom Mary and my dad Dan, mom dad this is Vicki's friend, Brian."

"Oh hi, nice to meet you" he said shaking their hands.

"Well its a pleasure to meet you" Mary said to him.

"Vicki!" she called up the steps.

"Coming" she said before appearing at the top of the steps in a maroon strapless velvet dress.

"Wow" he said as she came down.

"Hey."

"You look amazing" he said looking at her.

"Thanks" she said.

"Oh Vicki, you look beautiful" Mary said to her.

"Thanks grandma" Vicki said to her.

"You have something that goes over that right?" Dan asked, Mary nudged him.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Oh yeah" he said grabbing her coat.

"Ah not so fast, I want a picture" Lizzie said to them.

"Oh me too" Mary said grabbing her camera.

"Oh god" Vicki groaned.

"Oh its one picture" Lizzie said.

"Its okay" he said to her.

"Smile" she said as the flashes went off "Have a good time, I want you home right after midnight" Lizzie said to her.

"Bye" Vicki said to them.

"Nice meeting you guys" he said as they left.

"Such a sweet boy" Mary said.

"Isn't he? Don't they make the cutest couple?" Lizzie asked.

"Dan?"

"Mm" Dan responded.

"The sandwiches are ready" Lizzie said as they went into the kitchen.

~*~

They got to Jason's house and stepped inside people filed in and out of Jason's house as the countdown to midnight played on the TV.

"Vicki!" Emily yelled.

"Hey!" she said hugging her.

"God you look beautiful" Emily said.

"Thanks so do you" she said.

"Want a drink?" he asked.

"Yeah thanks" she said to him as he went into the kitchen.

"Why did we have to come to this party?" Erica asked.

"Yeah what about the party my sister invited us to? It was at the frat house on her campus, college guys Lisa, what are we doing wasting our time here?"

"Will the two of you shut up?!" Lisa asked annoyed "Keep your eye out" she said looking around "Oh there he is" she said reaching for her purse and taking something out.

"So? Did he pass the dad test?" Emily asked Vicki, she laughed.

"I think so, my dad scared him a bit though" Vicki said to her.

"Typical" Emily said to her "Is your dad still in town?"

"No he flew out last night, he said he'd call me tomorrow."

"Okay so...he's met your dad, he's met your grandparents and you two have been attached at the lips for months now, I think you've reached girlfriend territory" Emily said to her.

"Hey J" he said as he went into the kitchen.

"Oh hey you're finally here" Jason said passing out cups "For you?" he asked filling one.

"Two, I need one for Vicki" he said.

"Where is she?"

"Talking to Em."

"So, how'd it go with her dad?" Jason asked him.

"Don't ask, I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life" he said to him "I just met her grandparents too."

"Wow the whole family huh?" Jason asked.

"Tonight's the night J, I'm going to ask her."

"Ask her what exactly?" Jason asked nervously.

"I'm going to ask Vicki to be my girlfriend."

"Really? Finally? When you should've asked her after you guys kissed on Halloween?"

"I'll take that as support, thanks J" he said as Jason handed him his drinks.

"Hey!" Lisa said as he walked towards the living room.

"Oh hey Lisa" he said.

"Hi, Happy New Year!" she said.

"Happy New Year."

"Oh well would you look at that" she said as they looked up "Mistletoe" Lisa said.

"Actually that looks like parsley" he said looking at it as he carefully made his way past her.

"Whoa hey Lisa" Jason said to her "Under the mistletoe huh?" he asked.

"Kiss me and die you little parasite" she said to him angrily before walking away.

As the clock ticked down and midnight grew near, he was growing restless, wanting to ask her the one thing he had on his mind for months.

"Okay everyone its time for the final countdown!" Jason's dad said coming into the kitchen.

"Here you go" Vicki said putting a hat on Brian's head.

"Thanks, hey uh I got to talk to you about something, think we can go outside for a minute?"

"Yeah sure" she said as he led her outside to the deck, Lisa watched them go outside. She then got up and followed them.

"Where is she going?" Erica asked as she went into the kitchen. She stood at the sliding glass doors and watched.

"Okay wow it is really cold out here" she said rubbing her bare arms.

"Oh sorry" he said "Here you go" he said wrapping his jacket around her.

"Thanks" she said putting it on "What'd you need to talk about out here?" she asked wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm, he rubbed her arms for her.

"I just wanted to be alone with you" he said "And I wanted to ask you something" he said. "Come here" he said laughing and pulling her close to keep her warm.

"This is nice" she said as they kissed.

"You, loser boy" Lisa said to Jason.

"You rang?" he asked her.

"What is going on with those two?" she asked as they stood watching from the doors.

"Oh I guess he wanted to do it in private" Jason said.

"Do what?" Lisa asked.

"He's going to ask Vicki to be his girlfriend" Jason said, Lisa scoffed and continued to watch.

"So what'd you want to ask me?" Vicki asked him as he kept her close to him.

"Well..." he said looking at her "I've liked you a lot since the day you moved in, you're fun to be around, you're sweet, you're smart, you're beautiful, you're an amazing person" he said to her. "I want to be with you, I want...will you be my girlfriend?" he asked a smile slowly crossed her face.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really" he said smiling.

"Yes, of course" she said to him.

"Yes? You're saying yes?"

"Yes!" she said laughing.

"Yes!" he said happily, she laughed and they kissed.

"I guess she accepted" Jason said, Lisa clenched her fists together and squealed before leaving. "Hey lovebirds!" Jason said to them "Come on, countdown's starting!" they hurried inside and joined everyone in the living room.

"11!...10!...9!...8!...7!...6!...5!...4!...3!...2!...1!...HAPPY NEW YEAR" everyone yelled.

~*~

His arm was wrapped around Vicki's shoulders as her fingers laced with his while he walked her home.

"This is the best new year's I think I've ever had" he said.

"Me too" she said as they stood in the middle of the street when fireworks began to explode in the air. "Oh look at that" Vicki said as they looked up to the sky and watched the colors fade into the sky. "Hey" Vicki said "Happy New Year" she said to him.

"Happy New Year" he said before they kissed, standing in the street and fireworks booming over head.

Winter was still in full force when February rolled around, the chilly winter air, snow and ice covering the ground. Love was in the air as Valentine's day fast approached, the school prepping for it's annual Valentine's Day sock-hop. Vicki stood on a ladder as she hung decorations above the counter.

"Very nice" Marla said as she carried a box and set it on the counter.

"What's that?" Vicki asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Well someone from the school asked me if I had any records they could use for your little sock hop, so I'm loaning them these."

"Oh great" Vicki said to her.

"Mind bringing them back when they're done?" she asked Vicki.

"Not at all."

"Oh just put that up a little higher" Marla said as she walked into the kitchen Vicki reached up and stood on her tippy toes as she raised a decoration higher. The ladder wobbled as she reached higher, the door opened and Brian came in, Vicki stumbled from the ladder and he raced over to her, she landed safely in his arms.

"Oh my god" she said laughing "Wow, good catch" she said to him as he set her down.

"And someone once told me beautiful girls just don't fall out of the sky" he said setting her on the floor.

"Hi" she said.

"Hey" he said to her as they kissed.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Yep, just let me get my stuff, Marla I'm heading out!" Vicki yelled into the kitchen.

"Okay sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow, don't forget the records!" Marla said to her.

"I got them" he said picking up the box.

~*~

"Ice patch, ice patch coming up" Brian said as they walked home together, she laughed.

"I can see it, thanks" she said to him.

"Oh there's another one" he said picking her up in his arms and carrying her over the patch of ice she laughed.

"Thank you" she said as he set her back down "So much ice" she said as they continued to walk.

"Yeah, got to love winter" he said "I love snow" he said as they stopped "You know I used to make the greatest snow balls when I was younger".

Just like that a snow ball hit him right in the face, he looked over at Vicki who was laughing at him.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist" she said as she laughed harder, he formed a snowball and threw it at her, she squealed.

"Hey!" she said laughing before throwing another snow ball at him, he grabbed her and pulled her close, they kissed.

~*~

The backdoor opened, they came in, he set the box of records on the kitchen counter.

"Your mom home?" he asked.

"Mm I don't know, mom?!" Vicki yelled only to be met with silence "Guess not" she said.

"Good" he said pulling her close and kissing her deeply.

"Want some hot chocolate?" she asked as they pulled apart.

"Love some, hey uh would you mind explaining to me this new stuff we got in math?"

"Course" she said filling the tea kettle. She then went to her backpack and unzipped it finding a pink paper heart inside, she smiled and turned to face him "What's this?" she asked.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" he said to her She unfolded it and found two tickets to the sock hop taped inside "Be my date?" it said underneath "Well?" he asked coming towards her.

"I'll think about it" she said before laughing "Of course I will" she said wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. They looked into each other's eyes once they pulled apart.

"Vicki" he said holding her closely.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I...I uh..." the tea kettle began screaming as Vicki raced to switch it to another burner.

"I'm sorry what were you saying?"

"Well I uh..." he stammered.

"Hi kids" Lizzie said coming into the kitchen.

"I have to go home" he said.

"Oh okay" Vicki said as he got his things.

"I'll call you later" he said kissing her as he left "That was weird" Vicki said to her mom.

"I got news for you honey, he's a teenage boy...they're all weird" Lizzie said to her.

"No he's been acting like that for a couple days now" she said leaning against the counter.

"Anything wrong?" Lizzie asked opening the freezer.

"No everything's great, look" she said handing her the paper heart.

"Oh that is so sweet" Lizzie gushed "You two are so cute" Lizzie said squishing Vicki's face.

"Thanks mom" Vicki said rubbing her cheek.

~*~

Later that night he sat on the couch in Jason's basement, staring into space. Jason sat next to him and looked at him confused before waving his hand in front of his face.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" he asked "Anyone at all?" he asked again.

"Can I ask you something?" Brian finally said breaking the silence.

"About?" Jason asked.

"Have you told Em you loved her yet?" Brian asked.

"Oh here we go" Jason said putting his hands on his face.

"Can you just answer the question?"

"No, why would I do something stupid like that for?"

"So...you don't love Em?" Brian asked.

"Well yeah course I do...I think...I don't know...why do you do this to me?" he asked.

"I want to tell Vicki I love her" he said, Jason looked at him before grabbing one the couch pillows and began to hit him with it.

"Ow! Stop it!" he yelled at him "What was that for?" he asked annoyed.

"You are so stupid!"

"Okay J, you either give me advice that actually helps or you say nothing."

"Don't do it!"

"Why not? I do love her!"

"You don't even know what love means, you're a kid!"

"Oh I'm sorry Jason I wasn't aware that you could feel what I feel" he said.

"Listen to me, Vicki's not even been living here a year yet, you guys have only been going out for a couple months, how do you know you're in love?" Jason asked him.

"You just know J okay? Its a gut feeling."

"Yeah you love with your heart not your gut" Jason said to him.

"I know! Trust me I know in my heart...why do I talk to you about this stuff?" Brian asked.

"I'm starting to wonder the same thing, you never listen to me anyways."

"Yeah trust me that's a good thing."

~*~

Vicki sat at the dining room table, twirling her dinner around with her fork.

"Here we go" Lizzie said coming into the room with a basket.

"Fresh bread" she said putting a piece on Vicki's place "Vicki?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh bread" she said.

"You okay?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah just thinking about school" Vicki said eating.

"You kids have some unusual pet names for each other" Lizzie said as Vicki looked at her, she laughed.

"Mom?" Vicki asked.

"Yes?" Lizzie asked.

"Never mind" she said.

"No no, what is it?" Lizzie asked.

"I don't want to upset you" Vicki said to her.

"Why would you upset me?" Lizzie asked.

"I wanted to ask about you and Tommy..." Vicki said as Lizzie looked up at her. "See? this is what I wanted to avoid, I'm sorry for asking, just forget I said anything" Vicki said nervously getting up from the table.

"No...it's okay, really" Lizzie said to her "Me and Tommy, what about us?" Lizzie asked.

"You always said he was your first love" Vicki said.

"Yes, he was."

"Mom it's okay you don't have to talk about this."

"Honey, I'm fine, besides this isn't about me, this is about you" Lizzie said to her.

"Well what made you so sure you were in love with Tommy?" Lizzie's face lit up.

"Oh my god" she said "You're in love."

"No I'm not" Vicki said to her.

"Yes you are!" Lizzie said happily.

"Well that's just it, how can I be sure?" Vicki asked.

"Are you lightheaded?" Lizzie asked.

"Kind of" Vicki said to her.

"Is your heart pounding?" Lizzie asked.

"Oh yeah" Vicki said to her.

"What about your stomach?" Lizzie asked.

"Butterflies" she said.

"Do you miss him right now?"

"So much."

"You think about him constantly?"

"Night and day."

"There you go" Lizzie said to her.

~*~

"Hey" Emily said coming down into the basement.

"Thank you, a sensible person, can you talk some sense into him please?" Jason asked.

"what's wrong?" Emily asked.

"I'm in love with Vicki."

"Well duh" Emily said to him "You have been since you met her" Emily said to him "What's the problem?" she asked.

"He wants to tell her" Jason said to her.

Emily squealed "Oh my god!" she said happily "You want to tell her you love her?" she asked.

"I want to...getting the words out is a bit of a challenge though" he said.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Emily asked.

"I could freak her out, what if she doesn't say it back?" he asked.

"Remember how nervous you were to ask her to the beach party?" Emily asked.

"Yes."

"Well you did it didn't you?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he said.

"Totally different situations" Jason said "That was just a date, this is a heartfelt declaration of feeling, if she doesn't say it back he'll look like an idiot" Jason said, he turned to glare at him.

"You really are a big help" he said, Jason smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Okay, now I cannot reveal anything that was said to me in confidence but I can assure you, Vicki feels the same way about you that you do about her."

"She does?" he asked.

"Of course, you're all she talks about, the way you make her feel, everything."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, you two are so perfect for each other, don't give up now" Emily said to him.

"Oh god..." Jason groaned in disgust.

"You know it wouldn't hurt you to say it once in a while" she said to him angrily.

"See?" he said to Jason.

"So? Are you going to tell her?" Emily asked.

"Yeah...yeah I will" he said.

"Oh this is so exciting!" Emily said happily.

"Yeah for them, what are you so happy for?" Jason asked.

"That's what friends do J, they support each other and are happy for each other" Emily said to him.

"Well can you stop please? It's making me nauseous" Jason said to her.

~*~

Valentine's day fell on everyone in a flash, every couple in school was feeling cupid's magic.

"Morning Romeo" Jason said to Brian.

"Hey what's up?" he asked, he then heard Lisa call to him as she and her friends walked towards him.

"Happy Valentine's Day" she said to him.

"Happy Valentine's Day" he said.

"So I'm still waiting for an invitation to the dance tonight" Lisa said to him.

"You?" he asked.

"I know its crazy."

"What are you talking about? Ten guys asked you this morning" Megan said to her as Lisa drove her heel into Megan's toes.

"So? Would you do me the honor?" Lisa asked.

"I'd like to help you out but I have a girlfriend" Jason said to her.

"Not you, you little germ" Lisa said to him.

"I have a girlfriend too, I'm going with Vicki" Brian said.

"Oh...you're still with her?"

"Yeah..." he said.

"Fine, but I'll be there just in case you should want to dance, bye" she said as they walked away.

"I hate you" Jason said to him "See how badly she wants you?"

"Yeah its becoming a tad obvious, just hope she doesn't go all fatal attraction on me or Vicki".

"Speaking of which, you uh...profess your love yet?" Jason asked.

"Tonight, at the dance."

"Ah, good timing, well hey...good luck...I'm really happy for you" he said.

"Did Emily tell you to say all that?" he asked.

"...maybe" Jason said to him.

~*~

"There we are" Lizzie said helping Vicki into a vintage fifties dress "What do you think?" Lizzie asked.

"It's a little tight" Vicki said "I can hardly breathe" she said.

"I told you, the girdle makes the dress look better" Lizzie said as she fixed Vicki's hair.

"I can feel my ribs slowly being crushed" Vicki said to her.

"Oh here you go" Lizzie said handing her a pair of white gloves.

"Gloves?" Vicki asked.

"Take it from a person who was there, these were big" Lizzie said to her, Vicki slipped the gloves on.

"Well?" Vicki asked turning around.

"Looking peachy keen jelly bean" Lizzie said to her.

"That's a good thing right?" Vicki asked her.

The doorbell rang "That's him" Vicki said rushing out of her room and down the steps, her dress billowing out as she ran down the stairs, she opened the door.

"Hi" she said as he stood on the front porch.

"Hey" Brian said, his hair was slicked back.

"You look great, nice hair" she said to him.

"You, you look beautiful" he said to her.

"Thanks."

"Okay here we go" Lizzie said helping Vicki with her coat.

"Ready?"

"Lets go" she said as she took his hand "Bye mom."

"Bye, have fun" Lizzie said shutting the door.

~*~

They got to the gym and looked around.

"Wow" Vicki said.

"Yeah they did a good job" he said taking her coat from her "I'll hang these up" he said.

"Okay, want a drink?"

"Sure" he said as they parted.

"Well well well" Lisa said coming up behind Vicki as she pulled two bottles of soda from a cooler. Vicki turned around to face her "Look who's here."

"Do you need something?" Vicki asked annoyed "Nice outfit, bad Sandy from Grease right? Or are satin stretch pants just a part of your regular wardrobe?" Vicki asked her.

"Ooh good one, looks like little miss perfect has a mouth on her."

"If you'll excuse me I have to get back to my boyfriend" Vicki said.

"Oh that's right he's your 'boyfriend' now" Lisa said making air quotes with her fingers. "Well your damsel in distress act may have worked with him but its sure as hell not working with me."

"Got it, good to know" Vicki said before trying to leave once more.

"Look you little snake, I want him and I will get him because I always get what I want" Lisa sneered.

"Not this time" Vicki said smiling and finally walking away.

They spent the night dancing and having fun with their friends but he still hadn't told Vicki the thing he had been trying to all week. He stood by the refreshment table with a bottle of soda in his hand.

"Well? Did you tell her?" Jason asked.

"No" Brian said annoyed.

"You were hyped up about it this morning" Jason said to him.

"Every time I try there's an interruption or I chicken out" Brian said.

"Well you better say it soon, the dance is almost over" Jason said to him.

"No, no I am not giving up that easily" Brian said to Jason.

"Put your money where your mouth is casanova" Jason said to him, he walked across the gym to where Vicki was standing with Emily.

"Okay love birds, this is the last dance" the DJ said.

"oh hey, I was looking for you" she said as they kissed. Earth Angel began to play in the gym, echoing off the walls. "Oh I love this song" Vicki said.

"Want to dance?" he asked.

"Sure" she said as they went to the dance floor, they cuddled up together as they began to sway softly to the song.

"Well?" Jason asked as the song ended and everyone began to leave the gym.

"Couldn't do it" he said.

"Sorry dude" Jason said to him.

"Oh my god tell me everything" Emily said to him.

"Didn't happen" Jason said to her.

"What? I thought you had a plan?" Emily asked.

"I did but it was too nerve wracking I couldn't do it" he said to her.

"So what are you going to do?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, look I'm going to walk Vicki home, I'll see you guys later" he said getting his coat.

"Ready?" Vicki asked carrying a large box in her arms.

"Oh hey I'll get that" he said taking it from her.

"Thanks, mind stopping at the diner with me? I just want to drop these off for Marla."

"Yeah sure" he said as they left the gym.

~*~

Snow was softly falling from the sky, the sky had turned a pinkish orange color, it blanketed the town, making everything a pristine white.

"Marla?" Vicki asked as she shook the snow off her.

"Well look at you two, makes me feel like I'm back in high school" she said to them.

"College" her husband coughed.

"Shut up Bob!" Marla yelled at him.

"Brought your records back" Brian said setting the box on the counter.

"You must be freezing, come on sit down I'll make you some hot chocolate" she said to them.

They took their coats off, hanging them on the rack by the door. Vicki sat in a booth watching snow falling quietly to the ground from the window, she rubbed her arms.

“Here we are” Brian said setting two steaming mugs on the table top.

“Oh great” she said taking the mug, he slid into the booth next to her.

“You cold?” he asked.

“Yeah I think I left my sweater in the gym” she said.

“Oh here” he said taking his sweater off “Take my…really lame letter sweater” he said laughing.

“Aw I think you look cute in this” she said as she put it over her shoulders.

“Thanks, it’s actually my dad’s” he said “You have a good time tonight?” he asked.

“Course I did, I was with you” she said smiling, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Hey, are you alright? you've been acting kind of weird these past couple days, is there something wrong?" she asked.

“Oh yeah…well…” he said.

“Well…?” she asked.

“It’s just…I’ve been trying to tell you something and…I don’t really know how” he said.

“Well just say it, you know you can tell me anything” she said.

“Yeah, I know but…this is important, I want it be just right” he said smiling at her. He took her hand, linking their fingers together “I love you Vicki” he said to her.

She smiled at him “Wow…really?” she asked.

“Course” he said “Look I know this is sudden so you don’t have to say it back or anything…” he said.

“No, no…I love you too” she said, they smiled at each other before kissing deeply.

Marla stood behind them, quietly watching, smiling happily, she reached into her smock and pulled out a quarter. She slipped it into the jukebox and pressed a button letting the music fill air.

All I wanna do is make love to you
Say you will
You want me too
All I wanna do is make love to you
I've got lovin' arms to hold on to

May 1990

An early summer breeze blew through the classroom window, a teacher went on and on, Vicki was lost in thought looked across the room where Brian sat bored in his desk, tapping his pen against his notebook. He looked up to see Vicki staring at him, he smiled warmly at her, she smiled back at him, he waved slightly at her as the teacher had their back turned. She returned the wave and turned her attention back on her notebook. She became lost in thought as she remembered the night before.

A low steady sensual beat filled Brian's basement, the lights were turned down low. They were locked in a hot and heavy make out session, she pulled at the buttons on his shirt and pulled it off of him, he slowly leaned Vicki backwards, lying her down on the futon, pressing himself into her. He ran his hands up her sides, gently squeezing her breast, she pulled him down further on to her, pressing himself into her even more.

The bell then rang, snapping everyone back to reality, everyone rushed from the classroom.

"Vicki?" Brian said getting her attention as he approached her desk.

"Huh?" she asked, the memory came to a halt and she came out of her daydream "Oh" she asked looking around.

"You okay?" he asked as she gathered her books.

"Guess I'm a little distracted today" she said he took her hand as they left the classroom.

"So what's got you spacing out?" he asked as they walked through the hall, coming to a stop at her locker.

"I keep thinking about last night" Vicki said opening her locker.

"Mm really" he said smiling and pulling her close to him. He pushed her hair behind her ears, pulling her face towards him when the bell rang once again "I got to go, I'll see you at lunch?" he asked.

"Yep" she said.

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye" he said kissing her cheek as they parted and he left her side, she watched him walk away.

~*~

Vicki tapped her pen against her notebook, sitting in the school library, Emily finally came in, writing her name down on a clipboard.

"Hey" she said setting her bag down at the table Vicki sat at "I know, I'm late, but I had this major make up emergency" Emily said.

"Mm" Vicki said, still staring into the distance.

"Vicki" Emily said getting her attention.

"What?" she asked.

"What is with you today?" Emily asked.

"Em, can I talk to you? about something personal?"

"Of course" Emily said to her.

"Come here" Vicki said as they walked to the back of the library behind the rows of books.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Okay uh...have you and Jason..." Vicki said to her.

"Have me and Jason...?" Emily asked.

"Have you and Jason ever...?" she said as they exchanged looks.

"What?" Emily asked "Oh...oh! oooooh" Emily said as she finally began to understand Vicki's question "I get it" Emily said.

"What?" Vicki asked.

"You're asking about sex" Emily said smiling widely.

"Shh!" Vicki said.

"Sorry, did you guys?"

"No...not yet."

"Well to answer your first question, yes, we have."

"And?" Vicki asked.

"You know they tell you your first time is going to be all fireworks and explosions and romantic."

"It's not?" Vicki asked.

"Well...it was alright" Emily said.

"That's it?"

"Come on this is Jason we're talking about here" Emily said as they laughed."Well I mean at first it was a bit awkward but then...it was okay after that."

"Well has it gotten any better?" Vicki asked.

"Eh, it's a little bit better I guess" Emily said to her "Look everyone thinks their first time is going to be something special, but if you ask me the second and third times are way better, at least that's how it was for me...so what brought all this on?" Emily asked.

"Last night..."

"Whoa, what happened last night?"

"Nothing...although..." Vicki said to her.

"Although what?" Emily asked.

"We were having this incredible, amazing, intense make out session" Vicki said to her.

"Ooh" Emily said "Well...are you ready?" she asked.

Vicki shrugged "I don't know, I'm so confused" she said.

"Well it's okay to be confused you don't have to do it right away, when you're ready you'll know."

"That's just it, how do I know if I'm ready or not?"

"You'll know in your heart when you are" Emily said to her.

"Kinda nervous about it" Vicki said.

"It's okay to be nervous" Emily said.

"I have so many questions."

"Such as?" Emily asked.

"Does it hurt?" Vicki asked her.

"A little at first but that's normal" Emily said to her "Have you talked to Bri at all about any of this?"

"No" Vicki said to her.

"Why not?" Emily asked.

"I don't know…it would be so awkward” Vicki said.

“Doing it is fine but talking about it is awkward?” Emily asked.

Vicki lightly slapped her arm “No you know what I mean I just…I don’t want him to think that I’m…” she said.

“…A tease?” Emily asked.

“…Yeah” Vicki said.

“Vicki come on, you know how much he loves you” Emily said “Plus I’ve known him for…forever, he’s not that type of guy, believe me” Emily said.

"He's still a guy" Vicki said to her.

"So?" Emily asked "Too bad, and if he can't get that you're not ready...he can just go do it to himself" Emily said.

"Eww" Vicki said.

"I caught Jason doing that one time."

"What?!" Vicki asked as they laughed "Oh my god, and?"

"You don't want to know" Emily said.

"Plus...I feel really weird about the thought that he'll see me naked."

"Why? You are gorgeous, plus I’m not the only one who thinks so, your boyfriend on many occasion has mentioned how beautiful and sexy he thinks you are” Emily said to her.

“Really? He thinks I’m sexy?” Vicki asked, Emily nodded

"So maybe next time you guys are locked in one of your hot and heavy make out sessions...you can maybe take that next leap."

"Hey what happened to these bases I kept hearing so much about in middle school?" Vicki asked. "Shouldn't I cover those first before sliding into home plate?" she asked as they laughed.

"So old school" Emily said.

"Thanks Em."

"Course, anytime" Emily said as they hugged.

~*~

That afternoon, books lied strewn all over the kitchen table, notebooks sat open.

"Alright, you move this over here" she said as she sat on Brian's lap. She leaned over the notebook "Mmhmm" Brian said, too distracted by her cleavage to concentrate.

She looked to see him staring at her chest "Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked.

"What?" he asked. She laughed and got up "I'm sorry okay, they're just there" he said to her.

"Hey, I have a question" she said going to the refrigerator "Last night...where was that headed exactly?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked she sat down and handed him a can of soda.

"It was pretty hot..."

"Yeah it was" he said.

"But if your brother hadn't come down...what would've happened?" she asked.

"Oh uh...I don't know...did you want something to happen?" he asked popping the can of soda open.

"Did you?" she asked.

"Come here" he said pulling her closer, she sat on his lap "I promise you, I'm not going to make you do anything you're not ready for or anything you're uncomfortable with, and when you think you are ready, just tell me, I'll be here" he said.

"But um...I think I am ready."

"Really?"

"I don't know, one part of me is, one part of me isn't."

"But you're not a hundred percent?" he asked.

"No" she said.

"That's okay, like I said, I'm not going anywhere" he said as they smiled at each other.

"I love you" she said.

"I love you too" he said as they kissed.

~*~

"Wait a minute..." Jason said to him "She openly admitted to thinking about you guys doing it and you come out with that?" he asked in disbelief.

"She's not ready yet J."

"Okay I totally do not get it when girls say that, what do you need to be ready for? Oh and also what needs to be special about it? They want candles and music and rose petals...I don't get it" Jason said to him.

"J...I am not going to force her into doing something she doesn't want to do."

"Do you want to?"

"Well yeah but..."

"But nothing! This is about you too you know!" Jason said to him.

"I don't want her to be scared" Brian said to him.

"What's to be scared about?! It's just sex! You're in you're out case closed" Jason said to him.

"You're a creep you know that?" Brian said to him.

"Never said I wasn't."

"I really need to start talking to other people about these things" Brian said.

"Please do" Jason said to him "Well just incase..." Jason said pulling his wallet out "Take these" he said handing Brian little square packages.

"You just carry these around with you everywhere?" Brian asked shocked.

"Always got to be prepared" he said "Oh yeah, you know how to do it right?"

"What?"

"Let me give you a few tips..."

"No! No...really that's okay...thank you though...I think" Brian said.

~*~

"So, did you talk to him?" Emily asked as they stood in front of the mirrors in the girls' bathroom at school.

"Yeah, he was actually pretty cool about it, he said he'd wait until I was ready" Vicki said to her.

"Wow, he really is perfect" Emily said putting on a layer of lip gloss.

"Well well" a voice said as Lisa stepped out of one the stalls, Emily and Vicki groaned "What's this I hear? Little princess Vicki wants to lose her virginity" she asked tauntingly.

"Unlike you she still has something to lose" Emily said to her.

"Lisa why is it that at every pivotal moment in my relationship you have been there to somehow make it worst?" Vicki asked.

"Pivotal? Try using a word she knows" Emily said to her.

"Aww, what's wrong? someone scared?" Lisa asked.

"Okay, Lisa, here's the thing, it's probably a foreign concept to you but Vicki isn't willing to give herself away to anyone who looks at her like you" Emily said to her.

"Em" Vicki said to her.

"Give it up already would you? Move on to the one of many suitors you have following you around like a puppy dog" Emily said to her.

"Just so you know sex isn't as big as everyone makes it out to be, it's actually pretty boring."

"Only if you do it all the time" Emily said to her.

"In her own annoying way, Emily's right, I do have some experience in this area" Lisa said to her. "It's not that bad, you just got to remember to relax and stay in the moment" Lisa said, Vicki stared at her in disbelief.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were actually trying to be nice" Vicki said to her.

"Look, if he is obsessed with you as I think he is, he won't do anything to hurt you, if you feel even a second of discomfort, he'll probably stop and spend all night cuddling with you."

"Is this some kind of false sense of security thing? I confide in you and it's all over school by sixth period?" Vicki asked.

"The girl asks a good question" Emily said.

"Trust me, that was my original intent, but no...unfortunately I'm being sincere."

"Wow...well...thank you."

"I guess...but just this once."

"That's totally fine with me" Vicki said to her.

"This conversation never happened" Lisa said.

"What conversation?" Vicki asked.

"You are such a geek" Lisa said leaving the girl's room.

"Wow...Lisa Jones...being nice...isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?" Emily asked, Vicki laughed. "Hey, isn't your mom going out of town this weekend?" Emily asked.

"Yeah so?"

"So? There you go, it's the perfect opportunity" Emily said to her.

"Can't say I hadn't thought about it" Vicki said to her.

"Here take these" Emily said digging into her bag, handing Vicki a small box.

"Emily!" Vicki said looking around "You just carry these things around with you?" she asked.

"Well yeah, you have to be prepared."

"At school?" Vicki asked.

"Especially at school, you really think people are just making out under the bleachers during lunch?" Emily asked.

"Seriously?" Vicki asked.

"Oh yeah, big time, it's like a brothel down there" Emily said to her.

~*~

Lizzie knocked on Vicki's bedroom door "Hey mom" she said.

"Hi, I just wanted to give you all my information, the flight number, where I'll be staying, stuff like that" Lizzie said handing Vicki a sheet of paper. "Now you're sure you'll be okay here by yourself this weekend?"

"Yes mom, I'll be fine" Vicki said to her.

"And if you want to have Emily over to stay with you one night, that's fine just as long as it's okay with her mom."

"Okay, thanks" Vicki said to her, her fingers reaching into her mouth, she began to bite her nails.

"You okay?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked.

"You're biting your nails" Lizzie said.

"So?" Vicki asked.

"So, you only bite your nails when there's something wrong" Lizzie said.

"No, I'm okay, just something personal that's all" Vicki said.

"Too personal to tell your mother?" Lizzie asked.

"Kind of" Vicki said to her.

"Vicki...I always said you could talk to me about anything" Lizzie said to her.

Vicki sighed "Okay, but before I tell you anything, promise me you won't freak out."

"That depends on what you're about to tell me" Lizzie said.

"Okay uh...how old were you when you...were first...with a boy?" Vicki asked.

"With a boy?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah you know...sexually" Vicki said bashfully.

"You didn't..."

"No...not yet."

"Yet?" Lizzie asked.

"Mom" Vicki said.

"Right, sorry" Lizzie said "Well...I guess I was about your age...fifteen, sixteen" Lizzie said.

"How did you know you were ready?" Vicki asked, Lizzie smiled warmly.

"Well, Tommy was my first love" Lizzie said "We knew that we loved each other and our attraction was...wow" Lizzie said "I just knew, he was my heart, I couldn't imagine being with anyone else but him" Lizzie said.

"Were you nervous?" Vicki asked.

"No...Tommy was so gentle and caring, he made me feel safe and secure and loved."

"You were lucky."

"He's not pressuring you is he?" Lizzie asked.

"No, of course not, he's not like that...we did talk about it and he said that when I was ready he would be waiting" she said.

"Well that's sweet" Lizzie said "Remember honey, sex is only good when your heart is in it, if you're not in love it's not worth it, and if your hormones are playing tricks on you, just remember love is the only thing that makes sex worth having" Lizzie said.

"Thanks mom" Vicki said to her.

"I knew this day would come...I was just hoping I'd be dead when it did" Lizzie said, Vicki laughed "Oh and please, please be safe" Lizzie said to her.

"No, I know, thanks mom" Vicki said as they hugged.

"Maybe I shouldn't leave you alone here this weekend" Lizzie said to her.

"Mom, please, it's only 3 days" Vicki said to her.

"A lot can happen in three days" Lizzie said to her.

"Mom...nothing is going to happen...trust me" Vicki said.

"I do trust you...it's the boy however I do not" Lizzie said.

"Go pack" Vicki said as they laughed.

~*~

A soft glow set a romantic mood to Vicki's room, candles adorned every surface, Brian lied on her bed, the candles flickering around him.

The bathroom door opened and Vicki stepped out "Well?" she asked standing there in a black satin nightgown.

"Wow" he said sitting up. He held his hand out, she took it and he pulled her towards him Vicki lied on her bed, he leaned over her, their lips barely touching, heavy breath lingering between them. "You sure about this?" he asked, she nodded.

"I'm sure" she said as they kissed deeply.

Vicki opened her eyes, startled by her alarm blaring, she groaned and reached over to her nightstand, slapping the clock and making it stop.

~*~

Vicki’s pen tapped furiously against her notebook as she sat in the library, a pensive look on her face as her head rested in her palm. Emily reached over and put her hand on the pen “Vic” she said.

“Huh? What?” Vicki asked.

“Are you okay?” Emily asked.

“Ugh! I don’t know!” she said covering her face with her hands.

“Oh…the sex stuff again?” Emily asked.

"I had this dream last night and I thought it was a sign or something..." Vicki asked.

"Whoa, dream?" Emily asked "What dream?"

Vicki sighed "It was nothing..."

"No no come on, what was it?" Emily said to her.

"There were candles everywhere..." Vicki said.

"Very nice, what else?"

"I had on this black nightgown, he lies me down on the bed, he asks me if I'm ready..."

"Wow" Emily said "Then what happened?" she asked.

"I woke up" Vicki said.

"Ugh, I hate when that happens" Emily groaned "So? What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know!" Vicki whined "Em...I need help, I am shaking, I'm scared, I'm nervous and I feel like I'm going to be sick" Vicki said.

"Sounds like my first time" Emily said to her.

"My head is telling me that this is wrong, that I am not ready for this and I'm too young". "My heart is telling me to go for it because I love him so much and that's all that matters."

"Okay...go with that" Emily said.

"Em."

"Vicki I can't tell you what to do, I'm sorry but this decision has to come from you" Emily said.

~*~


"Hey beautiful" he said approaching her locker.

“Hey” she said.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah…didn’t get a lot of sleep last night” she said "speaking of which Where were you last night, I was waiting for the tapping at my window" she said.

He groaned "My parents..." he said.

"Think you might be able to sneak out tonight?" she asked playing with his shirt buttons.

"Ooh what's happening tonight?" he asked.

"Well my mom's going out of town for the weekend..." she said.

"Really" he said.

"Yeah, so?" she asked.

"I'll be there" he said.

"Okay, I'll see you at lunch" she said as they kissed.

"Hey Romeo" Jason said to him "You and Vicki doing anything tonight? Em and I were thinking of catching a movie or something."

"Actually Vicki just asked me to come over tonight...seems her mom's out of town."

"Really" Jason said interested "Think tonight you'll finally seal the deal...if you get what I'm saying?" Jason asked.

"I always get what you're saying" Brian said "I already told you, until Vicki says it's okay, nothing's going to happen" he said.

"Wait a minute, her mom's going out of town, she just asked you to come over what do you think's going to happen?" Jason asked.

"Well...to tell you the truth? I think tonight's the night" he said to Jason.

"Really?" Jason asked.

"I guess we'll see what happens" he said as the bell rang.

Vicki made her way into a classroom and took her seat next to Emily “I asked him to come over tonight” she said.

"Is your mom gone?" Emily asked.

"Yeah she left this morning" Vicki said.

"Ooh okay...well?" Emily asked as Vicki bit her lip nervously before shrugging.

~*~

The doorbell at Vicki's house rang, she opened the door and saw Brian leaning against the door frame "Hey" she said.

"Hi" he said coming in, she shut the door behind him “Stopped by the video store” he said holding a stack of video tapes “wasn’t sure what you felt like doing” he said.

“I think we can find something” she said pulling him close and kissing him deeply.

Their mouths became locked together in a frenzy as they shared heated kisses, he ran his fingers through her long dark hair.she lied down on the couch, he leaned over her, she pulled him down on top of her she ran her hands across his chest, grabbing at him.

"You okay?" he asked, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Yeah I'm fine" she said they began to kiss once more. his hands roamed her body, squeezing her gently, an overwhelming sense of fear and panic began to creep up into her. "Wait, wait" she said "Stop" she said sitting up and pushing him off of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned, she looked at him sadly.

"I can't...I can't do this, I'm sorry" she said running upstairs.

She sat at the edge of her bed, a tissue balled up in her hand, she wiped tears from her face. He stood outside of her room before going inside and taking a seat next to her, he pulled her close to him and held her, softly planting a kiss on her head.

"Don't cry okay? Everything's fine" he said.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"You don't need to be sorry" he said.

"If you want to leave I totally understand" she said.

"No I'll stick around for a while...you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'll be alright, I was so sure I was ready" she said sniffling, wiping the tears from her face.

"But you're not" he said.

"Not yet" she said shaking her head "God this is so frustrating" she said.

"It's okay" he said.

"How can you possibly be okay with this?" she asked.

"Because I love you" he said "I don't want you to be scared, I would never want to do anything to hurt you

"Em was right you are perfect" she said.

"I wouldn't say that...but you know if you want to who am I to object?" he said as she laughed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I think I'm alright now" she said "Thank you for being so sweet and so understanding about all this" she said.

He pulled her into him and kissed her softly "Well...I've waited this long it won't kill me to wait some more...at least I think so" he said.

She swatted him playfully and they laughed, he pulled her close to him and they kissed "Besides, you're worth the wait" he said.

She looked up into his eyes "I love you" she said.

"I love you too" he said softly, pushing her hair behind her ears as they kissed once more. "You feel like going for a walk?" he asked.

~*~

The next afternoon Vicki set two plates down in front of an elderly couple before returning to the counter.

Brian came in, snaking his arms around her waist "Hello" he said into her ear.

"Ooh careful, my boyfriend could come in here any minute" she said.

"Well he is a very lucky guy" he said "And incredibly good looking" he said as she turned around.

"Hi" she said sweetly.

"Hi" he said as they kissed.

"How's your day going?" he asked.

"Slow right now" she said "What's up?" she asked.

"Just wanted to come see you, see how you were after last night."

"Yeah can we just...pretend that never happened?" she asked laughing.

"Deal" he said "Plus I wanted to come and let you know that I was hanging with the guys tonight" he said.

"Oh okay."

"But if you need me I will happily tell them I can't make it" he said.

"No, go, have fun."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes, course."

"Okay, I'll call you later tonight" he said.

"Okay" she said as they kissed.

"I love you" he said.

"love you too" she said as he left.

~*~

Music came from Chris' basement.

"So...tell me what happened last night, don't leave anything out" Jason said to Brian.

Brian looked over at him "We went for a walk" he said.

"You mean after?" Jason asked.

Brian smiled "Nothing happened J" he said "And even if it did you really think I would tell you?" he asked.

"Yes!" Jason said "What happened? I thought you had it all planned out?" he asked.

"Well Vicki decided it wasn't the right time so...nothing happened, sorry to disappoint you" Brian said.

"Okay everyone pizza's here" Chris said carrying two cardboard boxes down the the steps and setting them on an old coffee table.

~*~

Vicki laughed as she and Emily entered Vicki’s house with shopping bags in their hands.

“It’s getting really black out there” Vicki said.

“I know, I hope the rain holds out until I can get home” Emily said. “so you’re really not going to tell me what happened last night?” Emily asked.

“I’d rather forget about last night if that’s okay” Vicki said.

“That bad huh?” Emily asked "Ugh I got to go, it's family dinner night at my grandparents'" Emily said.

"Ooh sounds fun" Vicki said to her.

"Yes I'm bubbling with excitement, I'll call you later tonight" Emily said.

"Okay, bye" Vicki said as she opened the door.

"Bye" they said as Emily left, Vicki shut the door behind her.

Vicki heard a low rumble above her, she looked out the window and saw ominous black clouds filling the sky.

~*~

The lights began to flicker as they passed around pizza slices, they looked around in confusion.

"Looks like there's a storm a comin' " Chris said as he looked out of the basement window, licking the grease from his fingers.

"Hey can I use your phone quick?" Brian asked standing up from the futon.

"Yeah sure" Chris said "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Vicki has this thing about thunderstorms, her mom's out of town, she's going to freak, I just want to make sure she's alright" he said as the phone rang.

Vicki sat on her couch with a book resting next to her "Hello?" she asked.

"Vicki, it's me" he said.

"Hello?" she asked as static filled her ear.

"Vicki, can you hear me?" he asked as the line went dead. "Phone lines are down" he said hanging up.

“Why don’t you uh head on over there? Protect her?” Jason asked winking.

“That’s actually not a bad idea” he said running up the stairs “You can thank me tomorrow!” Jason called out after him.

~*~

Vicki pushed the buttons on the phone and put it to her ear, still getting nothing, suddenly the lights went out. Rain began to pour down heavily, the thunder crackling overhead. Vicki sat on her couch, jumping when she heard the thunder crumbling above her, by the time Brian got to her front porch he was drenched, sopping wet from the rain.

"Vicki!" he said pounding on the door "It's me! open up!" he yelled, still banging on the front door.

She jumped up and pulled the chain lock open and threw the door open "Oh my god" she said hugging him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I heard the thunder and knew you were here by yourself, I just wanted to make sure you were okay" he said “Where’s Emily? I thought you guys were going to the mall?” he asked.

“Just got back” she said “Emily had to go to some dinner with her grandparents” she said “You are soaking wet” she said giggling.

“Yeah, so I see” he said.

"So how long do these blackouts usually last?" she asked him as she lit candles and set them around her living room.

"As long as the storm holds out" he said as he turned a lantern on.

"This happens alot?" Vicki asked.

"Only when there's a storm" he said “So I have a question, if your parents are divorced…why does your mom still have your dad’s clothes?” he asked.

“He left them behind when he moved out I guess she never had the heart to give them back to him…I think she misses him sometimes” she said.

A loud clap of thunder roared above them, Vicki gasped as it startled her "You okay?" he asked.

"I just...I really hate thunderstorms that's all...I especially hate thunderstorms when the power goes out" she said nervously.

"Yeah I know you told me" he said to her.

"I did? When?" she asked.

"When we met and we spent all night talking on the swing in your backyard" She looked at him astonished
"What?" he asked.

"I just...I can't believe you remembered, that was almost a year ago" she said.

"I remember everything you tell me" he said brushing the hair away from her eyes, they smiled at each other.
"Don't worry you might like this one" he said lighting up another lantern.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" she asked.

"Because you got me this time" he said as she smiled at him, her face blushing.

"So uh...we got a bunch of old board games and stuff in the attic."

"Got CandyLand?" he asked.

"Course but I don't think you want to play against me though" she said.

"Oh really? You're on" he said.

~*~

Little plastic people sat on the board as they played the game.

"Don't mess with the master" Vicki said to her moving her little person to King Candy's castle.

"What is this now? Ten games in a row?" he asked.

"I told you, this is my game" she said to him.

Soon the Candy Land board game was tucked away and they sat on the floor by the coffee table setting wooden tiles on to a board. He looked at it pensively before
finally laying his tiles down spelling out 'I love you'.

"Okay you win" she said as he laughed "I love you too" she said as they moved in closer together and kissed softly and sweetly.

"So...what's next?" he asked "Got any cards?"

"Right here" she said holding up a deck of cards.

"Blackjack?" he asked.

"How about some poker?" she asked.

"Poker?" he asked.

"Yeah my mom's been teaching me how to play, I think I'm getting pretty good at it" she said shuffling the deck.

"Your mom plays poker?" he asked.

“You kidding? She’s a master, wins every time, it’s incredible” Vicki said to him.

“Okay well that’s not really fair, I don’t know how to play” he said.

“I know” she said smiling at him.

He eyed her carefully as they played poker, looking at his cards carefully.

"Sure you want to do that?" Vicki asked smiling.

"Trying to psych me out huh?" he asked "Read 'em and weep" he said throwing his cards on the table.

"You got nothing" she said laughing.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yes" she said, still laughing.

"Alright what do you got?" he asked.

"Straight" she said showing him her cards.

"That's not fair" he said shuffling the deck She jumped and squealed when she heard a loud clap of thunder "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said, he leaned back against the couch.

He pulled her into him, wrapping his arm around her "Mm this is nice" he said.

"It is, I think you may be right" Vicki said "You do make thunderstorms more tolerable" she said.

"That's what I'm here for" he said.

She lied her head on his shoulder, there was another loud crash of thunder, lighting lit up the whole night sky. She ran her hands across his chest, feeling something in his shirt pocket "What's this?" she asked pulling at the button and opening the pocket. She pulled a card out and looked at him in shock.

"I have no idea how that got there" he said, she tackled him to the floor and they laughed.

"I don't know what's worst, that you cheated or that you cheated and you still lost" she said laughing.

A loud clap of thunder roared from above “you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she said pushing her hair back, a piece of it falling in her face.

He smiled lovingly at her, sweeping her hair behind her ear “You’re so beautiful” he said, she smiled at him they stared at each other in silence, just gazing into each other's eyes. She moved closer to him, softly brushing her lips against his, he pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you Vicki" he said brushing his nose against hers.

"I love you too" she said.

Their lips brushed together once more, they kissed softly the rain became heavier, pouring down hard, the thunder kept rolling in, lightning crackling along with it. Their kissing became passionate and intense, she leaned backwards, lying flat on the floor as he hovered over her, she pulled him down on top of her, pressing his body tightly to hers. She grabbed at his tee shirt, pulling it up, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him, their heavy breathing filling the air between them.

"You sure about this?" he asked.

“I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life” she said “You are the one that I want to be with” she said “Come on" she said holding her hand out for him, they stood up from the floor and went upstairs, the door to her room opened as she pulled him inside. The thunder and lightning continued to crash and rumble outside, the rain still pouring down, candles adorned every surface of her bedroom, they flickered in the darkness.

She sat at the foot of her bed, she crawled backwards, looking up at him as she lied down, letting her head hit the pillows. He crawled over her, she pulled him down on top of her, his body pressing tightly against hers. Their noses brushed together, he took her mouth into a kiss, covering it with his own. His hands began to roam her body, squeezing her gently. He sat up, reaching behind his head to grab the collar of his shirt, pulling it over his head. she reached up to run her hands over his bare shoulders he reached up to grab her hand and link their fingers together, kissing her hand. His fingertips lightly grazed her arms. She sat up, grabbing the hem of her shirt, he helped her pull it over her head.

Their lips reconnected, their mouths becoming fused together in deep and intense kisses. The straps of her bra fell down her shoulders, his lips drifted down to her neck to her shoulder. Her breath quickened, she closed her eyes as he kissed and sucked on her neck. She ran her hands down his sides, coming to his jeans, she reached for the button and unzipped them. He kicked them off letting them fall to the floor. She pulled at the button of her shorts, he gently slipped them down her legs.

His hands glided across her back, feeling for the clasp on her bra, she pulled the straps down further, she held it against her chest before pulling it off, letting it fall to the floor. She slid her hands down to his waist, hooking her fingers into the band of his boxers, pulling them down his hips, freeing him, she then used her feet to sweep them down his legs, joining the pile of clothes on the floor. She drank in the sight of him, her eyes roaming his body, becoming darker with lust. He ran his hands down her sides, squeezing her gently, pulling at the lacy fabric of her panties and slipped them off of her.

His eyes travelled up and down taking her in "You are so incredibly gorgeous, you know that?" he asked as his lips crashed on top hers, taking her mouth into a long wanting kiss. She reached behind her and pulled the covers of her bed down, they slipped between the sheets, pulling the covers over them.

He ran his hands down her thighs, pressing his fingers into her soft skin, he slipped his hand between her legs, parting them. She pulled him into a kiss he let his forehead fall against hers. He could feel her trembling beneath him.

"You okay?" he asked

"Yeah...just go slow okay?" she said.

"I'm going to be as gentle as I can" he said breathlessly.

He slipped between them gently entering her, as he thrusted Vicki felt as if she was being torn in two, tears began to form in her eyes. She bit her lip and dug her nails into his shoulders, they slowly rocked back and forth, the pain began to recede quickly and was replaced with something more euphoric. She sighed softly, gasping every time he entered her, he cupped her breasts in his hands, squeezing them gently. His lips fell from her neck to her chest, planting soft kisses on her breasts. She ran her fingers through his hair, whimpering softly, he groaned as he continued to thrust into her each time harder and quicker.

His head fell against hers, their heavy breathing filling the space between them, he groaned, taking a gulp and fell against her in exhaustion. Rain drops dripped off of the leaves outside, a haze covering the moon. Drops of condensation fell down the pane of glass in the French doors that lead to the balcony. They lied closely together, wrapped up in the sheets. The tears in her eyes spilled down her face as she lied there next to him.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she said

“What’s with the…oh god, did I hurt you?” he asked nervously.

“No, no, I’m fine I promise” she said smiling.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Mmhmm” she said nodding.

He swept a piece of her hair away from her face "I love you" he said.

"I love you too" she said as they kissed full of passion and intensity.

They went back downstairs when the lights flickered back on.

"Well look at that" Vicki said as they stopped at the front door.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed.

"We can...we can do this again, right?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, definitely" she said.

"Really...huh...when exactly?" he asked.

"Well...my mom won't be home until late tomorrow night, that work for you?" she asked.

"Oh that works, I will most definitely be here" he said as they kissed once again.

"Goodnight" she said to him.

"Night, sweet dreams" he said.

"Thanks to you I will" she said as she shut the door behind her.

June 1990

A cool summer breeze blew through Vicki’s backyard, string lights hung across the roof of the porch, the porch light adding a dull glow to the dark night. A radio sat playing music, Brian and Vicki were caught up in a sensual make out session on the outside swing. They kissed softly and sweetly, their lips melting into each other, Vicki’s legs were resting on his lap. He ran his hands up and down her smooth legs, pressing his fingers lightly into her thigh.

“Should we take this inside?” he asked as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck before he began to suck and kiss her neck softly.

She groaned “I wish we could, but my mom’s going to be home in a couple minutes” she said as she closed her eyes “You are really not helping by doing that” she said giggling.

“I can’t help it” he said “I can’t seem to get enough of you” he said as they kissed once again.

“Mm I know the feeling” she said “But you know what? We have all summer” she said kissing him.

“Mm I do like the sound of that” he said pulling her into a deep kiss.“You know I think this is going be the best summer ever” he said.

She laughed “Yeah it’s going to be so different from last year” she said. “I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I’ve been here.”

“So tell me the truth when you found you that you were moving here, how did you feel?” he asked sitting back on the swing, pushing his feet on the ground to swing them.

“Are you kidding? I was sad you know I was leaving my home and my friends and then after that passed I was mostly angry, especially at my mom”. “She kept telling me everything was going to work out just fine, she told me to think of this move as an adventure, at that time I was so mad at her I couldn't care less about what she said" Vicki said "Turns out she was right.”

“Wasn't what you were expecting huh?” he asked.

“No, but I wouldn't change it for the world” she said wrapping her arms around his neck, they kissed.

“You know the first moment I saw you, you were checking out the house I guess to see it was up to your standards or something" he said, she laughed. "You were so beautiful" he said "And then I saw you trip and fall."

"Oh that's great" she said.

"I helped you up and you fell on me" he said.

"I did not fall on you!" she said laughing.

"The sun was reflecting in your eyes and they just sparkled "First time I ever held you in my arms...and it felt right, you stole my heart” he said “And for some god unknown reason you agreed to be my girlfriend” he said, she laughed.

“You're such a charmer” she said as they kissed.

“You know I’m pretty hungry, want to head down to the diner and grab a burger or something?” he asked.

“That sounds great I’m starving” she said.

~*~

As they entered the diner, the lights came up, all their friends jumping up as they screamed surprise.

“Oh my god” Vicki said “What is this?” she asked.

“It’s for you!” Emily said.

“Wha…my birthday was like almost 2 months ago” Vicki said.

“We know it’s your anniversary party” Jason said.

“You moved here almost a year ago remember?” Emily asked.

“Yeah I just…I can’t believe you guys did this” Vicki said.

“Don’t thanks us” Jason said pointing behind her.

“You did this?” Vicki asked Brian.

“Well I had some help” he said “Happy anniversary” he said kissing her forehead.

“Alright! Let’s get this party started!” Jason yelled

“Yeah!” everyone said in agreement as music began to play.

She turned to face him, smiling at him as she moved closer, he pulled her into him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you for making my first year here unforgettable" she said.

“Best year I've ever had” he said as they kissed “And you know your mom was right, this is an adventure…and it’s only beginning” he said as they kissed once more.

Hey baby
You gotta remember
I'm forever your girl
Baby forever...and ever and ever
You know I am