Author's notes: I suck at video games and know nothing about them. Please forgive me if my description of Mario Kart is way off. I haven't played it in years.

Monday

"Oh, ouch, Pickles, that looked like it hurt!"

Tommy tried to look sour, to no avail. "Yeah, yeah, good one but it was just luck."

"Luck?!" yelped Lil incredulously. "Nuh-uh, that's what he call scrait up skillz, skillz with a z." She formed a gang signal with her fingers and pouted her lips in a comically futile attempt at looking gangster.

Tommy laughed so hard he snorted. Lil giggled and he felt his face go hot. He turned his attention back to the game. Hitting buttons and twisting knobs furiously, he concentrated on maneuvering his go-kart through the labyrinth. Lil laughed again and he noticed for the first time how melodious a sound it was, so different from his own laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You'll never find meeeee." she sang gleefully.

"I'll never give up, until I hunt you down and pop all your balloons and then bomb you until your kart explodes into a million pieces—"

"That's not even possible!"

"Oh, I'll make it happen. I—"

"Tom, you're out of food, man."

Chuck stood in the doorway of the kitchen, his arms filled with a bag of Doritos, a box of snack cakes, and a half finished two-liter Mountain Dew. Tommy raised his eyebrows.

"Gee, I wonder why."

Chuck plopped down on the couch next to Tommy. "Did your parents leave you some money? Maybe we should go shopping."

"We? Are we like a couple now? Are you planning on moving in? Because I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment."

"Whatever, man."

"They left enough money for me and Dil to survive for a week. They definitely didn't leave enough to feed you. They're not millionaires."

"I'm just saying—"

"Hey!" Tommy's control vibrated against his hand. "What's going on here?"

"I just popped another of your balloons." Lil said with a grin. "Last life, sucka!"

"That's not fair—"

ding dong.

Tommy paused the game. He shoved Lil playfully, trying to ignore the prickly sensation that crept from his fingertips to his shoulder. "You don't cheat while I'm gone."

ding dong.

Her eyes widened indignantly. "I don't cheat! I'm just really awesome."

"Well, yeah…but—"

ding dong.

"Dammit. Who's so impatient?" Tommy opened the door. "Angelica?" Chuck glanced at the open door in surprise. There stood a curvy female silhouette against the setting sun. She let herself in without being invited and, as she stepped into the living room, he saw that, although her golden-blond hair had grown well past her shoulders, it was indeed Angelica Pickles. She brought a cigarette up to her bubblegum pink lips. She exhaled and grinned. "Holy shit, you guys look different. She wrapped her arm around Tommy's neck and pulled him close. "You're all grown up!" She tried to give him a violent noogie, the lit cigarette dangerously close to his head. He wrestled out of her grasp, cursing under his breath.

Lil nodded in brief acknowledgement. "Angelica."

Chuck just stared. It was weird seeing her. It had been…well, only a year, but it seemed like so much time had passed. Maybe because they hadn't really spoken in at least two years. But there was something very…different…about her. Besides the smoking, which was new and not exactly appealing.

"You can't smoke in here," said Tommy. "My mom will freak if she smells it on her furniture."

Angelica glanced back at her cousin and took another drag off the cigarette before sidling into the kitchen. Tommy sat back down between Chuck and Lil. He grabbed his control "Ok, you're going down." Lil grinned, ready for the challenge. "You wish." They continued their battle and Angelica returned, sans cigarette. As the couch was full, she perched herself on the arm, mere inches from Chuck, a fact he couldn't help noticing.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, crossing her legs and leaning back elegantly.

Lil snorted. Only Angelica treated every day like a fashion shoot.

"Mario Kart." grunted Tommy as he searched for the ever-elusive Lil.

"Fascinating." muttered Angelica.

"Angelica, did I sense a bit of scalding sarcasm there?"

"Oh, no, Lil. Course not."

"Ah! There is goes again. If we bore you so much, then, please do tell, why did you decide to grace us with your presence?"

Angelica shrugged. "Nothing to do in this town."

At that moment, Dil came down the stairs, wearing a silver colander on his head. He paid no attention to the stares he received but kept on walking to the kitchen. A moment later he emerged, carrying a wire whisk, a rubber spatula, some aluminum foil and a bottle of grape juice. "Hey, guys." he said casually.

"Hey…"

He made his way back upstairs and Angelica craned her neck, staring at his retreating form until he disappeared. She leaned over so far, that she toppled over and had to break her fall with Chuck's shoulder. But she neither apologized for nor even acknowledged this. Typical Angelica. She pushed herself back onto the arm of the couch, using his shoulder, and none too gently at that.

"Tommy…"

"Don't ask, Angelica. That's my new policy…. Whenever I see Dill…I just don't ask."

Lil giggled, bringing Tommy's attention back to the game.

"I'm gonna get you, Peach!" he threatened.

"Not likely, Mario!"

"Whatcha been up to, Finster?"

Chuck jumped a little as he realized Angelica was talking to him. She was talking to him in almost a whisper, in a voice that made even the word 'whatcha' sound seductive. He ran a hand through his hair to try to stall while he thought of something interesting to say. It didn't work. "I—um…nothing. I just…nothing."

She raised her eyebrows. "Nothing at all, huh?"

"Well…I got into college, that's something."

Angelica rolled her eyes. "Like you wouldn't get in. You're a flippin' genius, Finster…well, I mean, obviously, not where it counts. I mean, you have no style or personality. But you're book smart, and that's gotta count for something."

Chuck was speechless. He didn't know which part of this statement to criticize first.

"So where are you going?"

"State."

"That's where I go." she said.

"Yeah, I know…I'm sure we won't see each other, it's such a big campus."

"Hmm…so when do you graduate?"

"This Saturday."

"Yeah, we're throwing him the best party." chimed in Tommy.

"We're not having a party," protested Chuck.

"Oh, a party!" Angelica grinned devilishly and the other three met eyes at the all too familiar sight. "Yay! Something to do around here."

"I'm sure you'd be disappointed after all your college parties," Chuck started, "And—hey, wait! We're not having a party!"

"Oh, you should have one!" insisted Angelica. "My friends threw me one for graduation…well, they planned to throw me a party but then they got kinda drunk and forgot to invite me, and, well…"

"Some friends." muttered Chuck.

A tiny sigh escaped her lips and Chuck noticed what was different about her. She looked sad. She smiled brightly, as though she knew what he was thinking. "Well, I'm inviting myself to your party."

Chuck just ignored the talk about the party and kept on munching his Doritos. However, it was difficult, as he was painfully aware of Angelica's presence. What was his deal? He hadn't acted this way in a long time. There's no way those feelings were coming back, not after all the stuff that she put him through. She had always had some weird, almost spooky power over him. She was either verbally abusing him (ok, sometimes physically, too) or ignoring him or somehow generally making him feel like shit. Yet, for some reason, in spite of it all, those feelings always came back. But not this time…definitely not. For a long time, she'd had him hypnotized. He thought that maybe, just maybe, there was more to her than what she let other people see. But, one day, he finally grew up and realized that if she wanted to spend her time with the sorry group of people she called her friends, she wasn't the girl for him.

He remembered the day that it happened. He was in tenth grade. He was sitting in the cafeteria, picking at something that the school had the audacity to call food. Tommy and Phil were talking animatedly about something, but their voices were just a buzzing in his ears. He remembered that day so well, from the buzzing to the squeezing in the pit of his stomach. All because Angelica sat with them for maybe two minutes. She sat right beside him. It was the closest he'd been to her in a while. Without hesitation, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Hey, Finster." And, for one of the few times in his life, he felt brave. "Hey, Angelica."

She leaned over him and picked up his fork. Prodding at his lunch, she asked, "What's that?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Angelica glanced at her usual table, where Ashlee was waving at her. She looked back at Chuck. "So, what are you doing this weekend?"

He stared at her. "What…am I…doing?"

"Uh, yeah. What…are you…doing?" she mimicked.

"Nothing, I guess."

"I think I'm going to this party that Kirstie's having her parents are out of town but I might not go I want to see that new Owen Wilson movie but I don't have anyone to go with because all my friends are going to the party." She said all this in one quick sentence. She let out a breath and looked back at Ashlee, who was now waving furiously, with an odd look on her face.

"I….like Owen Wilson." said Chuck finally.

"Hopefully not in the same way that I like him," she said, laughing too loudly at her own joke. He did not like how nervous she seemed, it was so uncharacteristic of her.

"Well…so yeah…I'm free, I guess."

But Angelica had apparently lost her nerve. "Actually, I think I will go to Kirstie's party." She got up and walked away. As she approached her group's table, Ashlee said something and, as Angelica's lovely features contorted, he could tell that it was one of her typical snide remarks. Angelica just laughed, glancing briefly in his direction. He looked down at his tray. He knew what was happening. They were teasing her about him and she was telling them that she was only asking to borrow his notes, or for help on homework. And judging by the way that she laughed, she had made it perfectly clear that that was her only interest in Chuck Finster. She sat down, still laughing. Well. She had made her choice.

Now, two years later, she sat next to him on Tommy's couch. She made him feel nervous and anxious. Well, more nervous and anxious than he usually felt, anyway.

"I like your glasses."

He looked at her incredulously.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"Just trying to count how many times you've called me Four Eyes. And now you're complimenting my glasses."

"Oh, that was elementary school. All kids go through a teasing phase."

"No, it was elementary school, middle school and high school. And probably even pre-school."

"Ok, ok, you've made your point, Four Eyes. I'm just saying…they're much better than the old ones." She touched the black frames gently. "You look like the guy from Weezer."

"Yeah, well that's the idea."

He felt himself softening toward her. He was caught off guard by her niceness. He jumped up, suddenly aware that this could lead to no good. "I gotta go."

Tommy was still hitting the buttons on his control furiously. Chuck nudged his shoulder. "I'm goin', man. I promised Mom and Dad I'd be home for dinner."

"What—oh, ok."

And he left without looking back.

Lil shrieked with laughter. "Oh too bad, Pickles, you're dead!"

"How do you know I'm not letting you win?"

"Yeah, right!"

Angelica jumped up, angry for a reason she couldn't even explain to herself.

"Oh, why don't you two just go ahead and make out and get it over with!" She let out an exasperated noise and stomped out, not being too gentle with the door.