The alarm clock jarred the sleeping man out of his sleep. Jon's large hand came out from underneath the covers and slapped the device until it stopped beeping. It was a Monday and he still had a hangover. He wasn't feeling very good. Rolling out of bed, his feet hit the cold hardwood floor with a soft thud. He sat there for a few minutes, contemplating if he wanted to call in or not, until finally figuring his rent was due soon and he needed extra money.

"You goin' to work today, man," his roommate, Scotty, croaked from the couch.

"Yeah, you need anything," Jon asked as he swung the refrigerator open and pulled out a soda.

"Nah," he shook his head as he erupted into a coughing fit. "I think I'm going to call in."

"Looks like you need to." Jon sighed as he pulled on his pants and workshirt.

"I feel fuckin' horrible." Scotty groaned.

"You look like it."

"You don't got a hangover man? You drank way more than me."

"Stamina. It takes a lot of practice." His words caused the blonde-headed man to laugh. "I gotta get going."

"Peace man."

With that, he watched the hungover man fall back into the couch. Jon laughed to himself and headed out the door of the trailer into the hot sticky morning air. The best thing about his life right now was his car- the shiny black 1967 Chevy Impala sitting in the driveway beside Scotty's truck was his baby. He had worked his ass off to get it, even though he had to rebuild the engine and restore the upholstery. It was his and he was beyond proud of it.

—

Delia smiled as she moved around the school hallways. Filled with sad girls hugging, the usual couples making out, and papers laying everywhere, she was happy to have to walk down the crowded hall for the last time today. She always hated the stares she got from the guys when she walked- she felt as if they were trying to see more of her. Delia was a quiet and reserved girl but had many friends.

"I'll see you afterwards," Angela called as she stopped off at her first class of the day.

"See ya, girly!" Delia smiled and gave a soft wave as she watched her friend disappear into the doorway.

—

Jon sighed as he opened the garage's door. There were countless cars that needed to be fixed today and he wasn't in the mood. It was hot and muggy and the shop had a really bad air conditioning unit in it. He pushed himself into work, peeling the grey work shirt off his arms to toss it onto the corner.

The first car to come up was someone under the name Delia Smith. He knew her- well, He knew of her. A lot of guys had huge crushes on her. She was the preacher's daughter so none of them really got to get close enough to her. He shrugged the card off and went to work on the car, already covered in sweat.

Lifting the hood up, he saw the problem immediately. It was a broken valve and if they were lucky, the owners had caught it just in time before it allowed the engine to flood. He got to work, already getting grease all over himself.

Soon the other guys showed up for work, all of them late.

"Sorry man," Cody spoke up. "I had to run and get the other idiots."

"You work at a garage and yet you can't fix your own cars?" Jon rolled his eyes as he wiped his hands on the grease-stained towel.

"What's got you in such a bad mood," Joe spoke up.

"It's ninety-seven goddamned degrees in here and you're really going to ask me what my problem is?"

"I think I just did." Joe shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not in the fucking mood." Jon pointed his finger in Joe's direction.

"I'd say." Joe sighed as he leaned against the car that was up on the risers.

—-

As Delia sat in the last period, the sweat dropped down the back of her neck and she fanned herself with the folder. Her dress, as light as it was, felt like a heater and she pulled her blonde hair up higher off her neck. She turned to see plenty of the males' eyes on her and immediately let her hair down. The bell rang, signaling this was her last time to walk out of high school and she did it with her head held high as her friends surrounded her.

"Am I still dropping you off to pick up your car," Angela, her best friend, asked as she wrapped her arms around Delia's.

"Yeah, if that's okay." Delia shot a smile back at her. "Daddy said it should be fixed today."

"That's no problem." Angela smiled.

The car-ride wasn't very long. Angela parked the car and waited on Delia just in case.

As she walked into the grungy place, the smell of motor oil and sweat hit her nose. She couldn't make out the song playing for all the machinery running, but she could tell it was something her father wouldn't allow her to listen too. The smell wasn't very pleasant but the sight of her car was.

There was a handsome man working on it. He was wearing a fighting black tank top and had grease all up his arms. She tapped the bell, causing him to look up from underneath the hood of the car. She watched as he wiped his hands on a dark-stained towel, his arms flexing out as he moved his hands to get them clean. His eyes seemed to lock on her as he straightened up and approached her. She had seen him before, they went to school together. They were supposed to graduate together but everyone said he had dropped out.

"Can I help you," he asked as he picked up the card book, thumbing through it to see the pickups scheduled for today.

"Yeah uh, my father called up here last night and they said that my car would be fixed today." Delia offered him a pleasant smile as she lightly tapped the countertop.

"What's the name?"

"Delia Smith." She caught his gaze leave the card and rake over her body.

"Oh, so you're Delia." Jon smirked. "We went to school together, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Where have you been?"

"Money's a little bit more important for me right now than getting some sloppy piece of paper." He shrugged. "Got bills to pay, women to buy. Ya know, the usual."

"Women to buy?" She was shocked at his words.

"Strippers." He sighed. "You really are a goody-goody, aren't you?"

She laughed nervously. This man was beautiful standing in front of her - he had a light scruff forming, his blue eyes pierced out behind the dark hair that hung low in his face, his strong arms came out of his wide torso as the fabric of the cotton tank top clung to his body - he was pure sexy topped with a permanent smirk.

"Anyway," he motioned for her to follow him, "The valve to the engine is broken and I don't have the part to fix it. I mean, I could rig it if you need it, like, immediately but the rig wouldn't keep for very long."

"How long will it take to get the part?"

"Maybe a week," he shrugged. "Maybe less. Depends on how fast the mail's going these days. It's that part riiigghhhhtt," he reached underneath the hood, "here. Without the valve, the fuel will flood the engine and then that's going to cause you a lot more drama."

"Well thank heavens you found it in time."

"Definitely," he smirked. "You'd be dishing out a lot more money than what you are now if I hadn't."

"There isn't anything you can do?" She sighed. "I really need my car for tonight. There's this big party and I'm supposed to be a DD."

"Wait, preacher's daughter goes to parties," Jon smirked.

"We aren't all good when we're out the eyes of our parents." She laughed, trying to mask the fact that she was flirting with him.

"Yeah, okay," he sighed. "And I'm not completely covered in grease."

"Take a bath," she smirked. She had caught the other workers' attention as Jon noticed they were basically drooling all over her.

"That'd satisfy too many people. I have to keep my 'scumbag' reputation for a little bit longer." His words made her chuckle. "Anyway, the only thing I can do right now for you pretty little lady is offer a waiver of fifty-dollars."

"That's all?" She sighed. "There isn't another car I could borrow or something?"

"Since we're both going to the same party later, why not just use mine?"

"Because I don't know how to drive an Impala, I barely know how to drive my own car. As you can tell." She immediately caught onto that she let slip that she knew what he drove.

"How do you know what I drive," He smirked at her.

"I…just…" She sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"What's a' matter, sunshine? Cat got your tongue all of a sudden?" He smirked. He had caught onto it quickly. She had a crush on him.

"Anyway," she blushed, "I'll meet you at the party."