'Revenge…on who? It's not J's fault she loves Alan…and I don't blame him for this either…' Ronnie thought to himself. But before he could debate the concept further, the dismissal bell sounded.

            'Well, I guess I'm about to find out,' he decided. Upon formal dismissal from history class, he proceeded to pack his things and head to the art room. Chris was waiting there for him.

            "Are you ready to get even?" he questioned.

            "Before I agree, what am I getting myself into?" Sunshine responded.

            "You are going to show Julianna McConnell that just because she's not into you that it doesn't mean that other girls aren't," he remarked with a devilish grin.

            "How are you going to manage that one?"

            "Leave that to me…so, are you game?"

            "Uh, I guess so. Do you really think this will work? You don't know J like I do. By the way, if she hears you referring to her as 'Julianna', she will hurt you without giving it a second thought, so I'd lay off the full name thing," Ronnie cautioned.

            "What full name thing?" J asked. She and Alan had arrived at the art room without their classmates' knowledge and now stood facing them.

            "Hey guys. It doesn't matter, J, because if we wait around for the explanation, we'll miss the start of the meeting," Alan interjected. Stage crew was very important to him and he was not about to miss the meeting. He and J had decided to do stage crew so they could spend more time together.

            "Well, I can explain it later because that's where we're going too," said Chris.

            This idea was completely foreign to Ronnie. There had been no indication that they were going to stay. Art was definitely not his calling. He shot Chris a questioning glare, but he simply smiled at him. The group walked into the room and grabbed the last open table. A girl also arrived late and sat with them.

            "Hello. My name is Mr. Sims. I'm in charge of the scenery for the play. The groups you are sitting in now are the groups you will be working in…" the portly middle aged teacher said. He was their faculty advisor.

            Sunshine gazed at his table. There was Chris, who was scribbling notes as the teacher gave instructions. Next to him there was an empty seat. Alan was to the right of the empty spot. His arm was resting comfortably around J's waist. The sight of this tore Ronnie's heart in two. It even made his arm ache with emptiness. He quickly diverted his stare to Alan's left, towards J. Her fierce red hair was down today and he longed to run his fingers through it. Next to J was Stacey, a raven-haired girl he knew purely by association. However, he also knew that she and J had been enemies since freshman year when Stacey had cheated on Gerry while they were going together. Chris, incidentally, was one of Stacey's close friends.

            'Coincidence?' he wondered. 'Maybe…but knowing Chris, it's not likely. Oh well, it's not like I can change it now. At least I have a good group. If I'm gonna be stuck here I might as well make the best of it.'

***

            One hour and three rough-drafts later, the group was about to start painting their first backdrop.

            "Stacey, can you please grab me the green paint? It's on the shelf by the window. Oh, and bring those brushes with you on the way back," Sunshine pointed to a glass full of paintbrushes and smiled.

            "For you gorgeous, anything," she replied as she ran a finger down his arm. Stacey was up and halfway across the room in a matter of seconds.

            "Ugh! How obvious can she be!? Doesn't she have ANY morals?!" J hissed in Alan's general direction. She was fuming. For the past hour, all Stacey had done was flirt shamelessly with Ronnie. J couldn't stand seeing Stacey being all over him like that.

            "Huh? Who are we mad at now? Why don't we like her?" Alan responded, completely naïve to the situation.

            "Hello Alan!! You have eyes, right?" Alan nodded. "Then how did you miss that? She couldn't have been closer to him if she was in his lap! Something's up--" J's comments were cut short as Stacey arrived.

            She gave the brushes to Alan, the tube of paint to Chris, and a dirty look to J. As J was about to return the gesture, Alan shot her a look that clearly said, 'Be the better person.' J scowled, knowing he had a point.

"To save time, maybe we should split into two teams. Three people can paint and two can draw the next backdrop. J, Stacey, and Sunshine…why don't you guys work on painting? That way Alan and I can keep drawing," Chris suggested.

"Awesome! What a great idea, Chris!" Stacey responded quickly. Her voice was full of enthusiasm.

"Sure, whatever," Sunshine replied with a shrug.

"Yeah…great idea." The sarcasm was notable in J's voice.

The group moved the drawing into the hall, along with paint and brushes. Sunshine laid newspaper down on the ground and the girls put the backsplash on top of it. Ronnie walked to the far side of the paper and was closely followed by Stacey. J moved instinctively to the opposite side, placing as much distance between herself and Stacey as possible. The trio began to paint and an hour later, the picture was finished.

"You know, Ronnie, we worked really well together. Maybe we should get together more often," Stacey flirted. J had the sinking suspicion she had more than studying in mind.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Sunshine said, completely unmindful of her underlying intentions.

"Well, how about tonight then? It's not a school night so we could go to a movie and maybe get some pizza afterwards. You know what? We could double date with J and Alan," she suggested.

"What about J and Alan?" Alan interjected. He and Christopher had come out into the hall halfway into Stacey's date proposal.

"Come with Sunshine and me to a movie and dinner."

"That'd be great. We'll meet you for pizza at 6 by the theater." Alan smiled.

The group moved the backdrop into the art room, cleaned up their supplies, and said their good-byes. They then went their separate ways with Alan and J heading to Alan's car and Ronnie and Chris walking Stacey to the bus dock.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?! Alan, you know I don't like her! Why did you say we'd go with them tonight?" J ranted once inside the car.

"Easy, Jules. This way, you can keep an eye on her. Plus, if we refused the offer, it would be like letting her win. It'll be okay…you'll see," Alan soothed, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I hope you're right, Alan, I hope you're right…" J said, her voice a whisper.