Mike picked up the phone to call Jenny. He still had to get directions to her place for their dinner that evening. His fingers spun around the rotary dial at lightning pace. He couldn't wait to hear her voice. Finally, the ringing stopped and a voice began to talk to him.

"Jennifer O'Connor residence," the voice said, but it didn't sound like Jenny.

"Jenny, is that you?" Mike asked.

"No, this is her cousin Diane. I'll go get her," she placed a hand over the receiver and called out to Jenny.

"Hello?" Jenny said.

"Jenny, this is Mike."

"Oh, hi Mike. How you doing?"

"Well, I was calling to get directions to your apartment tonight, but I didn't know you were having company."

"Yeah, that's my cousin, Diane. I completely forgot she was coming in today. I don't want to cancel our dinner, though. Maybe... I can give you directions to my place, then we'll pack up the dinner and take it as a picnic."

"Oh, I like that idea, but I don't want your cousin to feel left out. I know, do you think she'd like to make a new friend?"

"Oh, I'm sure she would! You see, she is going to be living with me. She is enrolled in classes at UCLA. She's trying to get into the Veterinary School...but she's got a bunch of prerequisites to take."

"Hey! My friend Peter loves animals! Maybe they'll have something in common. Why don't I check and see if he is free this evening and I can call you back?"

"Ok, sounds great!" Jenny was very excited for her shy cousin to meet someone.

"Talk to you later."

"Back at ya!" Jenny said, hanging up the phone.

Mike walked out of the kitchen and found Peter sitting in the middle of the spiral staircase with guitar in hand. It sounded like he was composing a song.

Love is understanding. Don't you know that this is true?

Love is understanding. It's in everything we do.

In this generation, in this loving time.

In this generation, we will make the world shine.

"Hey man, that sounds pretty groovy!" Mike said, impressed with Peter's song.

"Yeah well, that's all I got so far, but thanks," Peter replied with a dimpled grin.

"Hey um, Pete old buddy," Mike began as he fidgeted with his wool cap, "you know how I have that date with that chick tonight? Jenny?"

"Yeah, I remember. I hope you have a great time," Peter said, coming down the stairs and carefully placing his guitar back into the guitar case.

"Well, there have been a slight change of plans. You see, Jenny's cousin has shown up on her doorstep. She feels obligated to her, but yet she is really looking forward to our date. So I was wondering... well, would you want to come along and hang out with Jenny's cousin? It sounds like she's a real nice girl." Mike asked, now twisting the cap in his hands.

Hang out with a girl? It made Peter nervous just thinking about it. He seemed to stutter and stammer and become a clumsy oaf when he was around girls. Yet, on the other hand, had he not just been thinking about how nice it would be if he met someone. Besides that, Mike was a good friend. He didn't want to let him down.

"Gosh Mike... I don't know... you know how I am around girls," Peter said in self defeat.

"You did just fine with that Valerie girl. Remember her?" Mike asked, bringing up the beautiful debutante Peter had fallen for once.

"I think she was just trying to be nice, Mike. She liked me more as a friend, and I think asking me out to her party was her way of breaking up with Ronnie. She really didn't like him very much," Peter replied.

"Yeah, that could be, but I'm not wanting to marry you off or anything. I just thought it would be nice if Jenny's cousin could make a new friend. She's new in town, and I assume she doesn't know anyone except for Jenny. Davy already has a date tonight. Micky's in the volleyball tournament down at the beach. You were going to be all by yourself anyway, so why not?" Mike reasoned.

"Ok, I'll go. Just don't let me say anything stupid," Peter said.

"You won't. I know you won't. Hey, if you share that song with her, she might even be impressed." Mike said, grinning at his friend. Peter grinned back.

So, it was all set. Mike would call Jenny back and tell her the date was on. He couldn't wait. It had felt quite odd to him today to not have stopped by the diner. He had gotten used to it, and to be completely honest, he missed Jenny and her inviting smile. He picked up the phone and dialed again.

"Hello?" The voice came from the other end.

"Is this Jenny?" Mike asked.

"Yes, is this Mike?" She asked, although she already knew who it was. Not too many people she knew sounded like Mike.

"Sure is. I just wanted to let you know that my friend Peter is coming along with me. Do you really think your cousin will want to talk to him?" Mike asked.

"Well, she is kind of shy. We might have to get her involved in a topic of some sort. Once you get her going, she's lots of fun. What about your friend Peter, isn't he the shy one you told me about?"

"Yeah, he's shy, but he's a very nice guy. He'll at least be cordial to your cousin," Mike assured her.

"Ok then, if you have a pen and paper, I'll give you my address and directions, " Jenny said. Mike got a paper and pencil ready, jotting down the directions exactly as Jenny gave them.

"I think I got it. Thank you Jenny. I'll look forward to seeing you tonight," Mike said.

"You too. I'll talk to you later. Bye," she said.

"Bye," Mike said, hanging up the phone.