Chapter 1

He was late. Abby would skin him alive. He knew it in the pit of his stomach. Sadly, the eldest Gilligan boy had no sufficient excuse that his best friend, Abigail Lincoln would accept.

Hoagie cut across the crazy cat lady's yard and slid under the loose board in her fence which led to Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibs' abode. He adjusted the bronze tinted box-style sunglasses on the top of his head. He'd long since abandoned the bronze goggles, letting them hang on his wall as a reminder of his KND years. Now, he was Head Tech & Gadgetry in the TND. And, he thought frantically, so totally screwed.

Dashing past the home of Count Spankulot, who was teaching his albino bat—Casa Blanca, or just Blanca—how to roll over in midair. How that bat even stayed awake was beyond Hoagie's comprehension. But he wasn't about to stop to assess any reasons.

Running through the gate of the Lincoln household, he tripped and doubled over, eating grass and nearly kissing the boot clad feet of James Pierre. The TND agent smirked down at him from beside Abby. "Hey, look, mon petite. A late guest?"

Hoagie glared up at the blonde baby-faced agent, who's blue-green eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Non, mon ami, this is a party crasher. Didn't you see his entrance, Jake? It was definitely a crash."

Courtesy of Abby's other male friend, The Kid, no doubt. Hoagie picked himself up, suddenly glad he'd come to the annual Lincoln & Friends Barbeque in his experimental Self-Cleaning Clothes. They even got out grass stains.

"Excuse me, thanks to the Kid-" He shot the offender a repressive look. "I need to change."

Abby frowned at him, but it still didn't take the beauty away from her face. There was a lot to be said for a girl who spent her entire life looking cool and seemingly without blemish.

She had milk chocolate skin—the kind you want to touch to see if it's real or make up—and it never sported the usual blemishes of puberty. Not even once! And the one time she'd had a zit—the entire three minute period—it had turned out to be a left over chocolate chip on her cheek from baking with her father. Abby had graced though puberty like it was kindergarten counting.

Her hazel-amber eyes held the wisdom of an advanced-honors-AP student, who was a lock in for valedictorian. And she had full kissable lips—lips he'd once been privy to kissing before the Accident. Afterward, he'd tried to bring up their relationship over breakfast, and had been dealt the greatest blow: she'd called him her best pal, and how she never wanted that to change- ever.

You could probably (yeah right) overlook all that, but then there was her body. Abby stood at five-eight, the perfect height for his six-zero. She had a long thick waterfall of ebony hair she kept in a tight braid. She had a toned, fit hour glass figure which had a lot of ass (the last time he'd said that in front of her, he'd been kicked in his ass with her steel-toed Timberlands).

All in all, the once tomboyish and virtually nonchalant KND member had matured into a vixen who was either unaware of her affect on the opposite sex, or didn't acknowledge that she had the body and looks that wars were started over. And Hoagie was now back at square one, while guys like the Kid and James were way ahead of him.

Picking himself up, he stalked past Abby and into the Lincoln house, cursing his inability to function like the cool guy he portrayed at school.

After losing his baby fat (and the discontinuity of his favorite snack Nurse Crumbly's Apple Flavored Batter Dipped Pork Rinds) he'd decided to try and catch Cree's eye by getting into shape and truly looking like Hank. She hadn't gone for it. So he'd tried to perfect his image to catch her attention. She'd shot him down like a WW-I fighter plane. And so he'd tried to go out with Cree's best friend, Bree. He'd lost interest before the second date. And then he and Abby had been sent on the reconnaissance mission to the GTND abandoned satellite…

He'd had to almost lose her to realize that she meant more to him than even his gadgets. And now, he had to make her realize whatever it was that had made her go to the TND summer dance. Before the Kid took her away…

XXXXXX

Abby watched Hoagie duck inside, and shot Hector a glare. Her Hispanic friend shrugged and grinned. "It's not my fault that he has no balance."

Abby pinched her brow and mentally listed the reasons why she shouldn't fry Hector up for the barbeque. For one, he's too chewy and thick-headed…

Abby scowled at Hector. "Just put a pause on your little feud with Hoagie for Abby's sake. It's a public gathering."

Hector gave her the Boy Scout salute. "Will do; hey, listen? There's a Junior Pilots Club event coming up. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. You know, like a date."

Abby frowned. "You know Abby won't agree to that. You just want to make your ex jealous."

Hector shrugged. "It was worth a shot. You know, your standards are pretty high, considering you dated-"

"Hector!" Kuki appeared beside the flame-haired teen. "There you are. Wally wanted to talk to you. He's been looking all over…"

Abby shook her head. Every time somebody referred to before the bike accident, someone else would swoop in and whisk them away. She tried not to dwell on it.

Abby sighed and turned to Jake. "Now what were you saying about this trip to Province? It sounds like a blast. Sign Abby up!"

Jake laughed, his fourteen year old baby-face filling with sheer light. "You need to be a member of the International Travel Studies Program. You have enough foreign language credits to qualify; you just need a member to vouch for you and your parents' permission."

Abby pondered it. "Dig it, baby. This girl wants to travel, and not on her own budget. Whatever the school's paying for is okay with Abby."

"Great, now you and Hoagie can join." Jake beamed.

"Hoagie?"

"Yeah, he wants to join too. He didn't seem interested until I brought up how interested you were though."

Abby felt her heart flutter, but she shook it off. Cree was the love of Hoagie's life. No use trying to catch his attention; it was like trying to coax a cat into water. "He's probably planning on goofing around and sending Cree some weird pictures… He's harmless. Now, tell Abby who else will be on the trip…"

XXXXXX

AK: Well, so now we are updated on the happenings. It's been a few months. The Accident happened in the summer. And Hector is The Kid's name. Don't ask why I chose it.