Ehh, hitting a bump in the road. So many ideas for later on but I want to build up to it much more. Any ideas?

The next morning, a Saturday, I was awakened by barking and shouting. What is going on? I though, propping myself up on an elbow and running my free hand over my face. I looked around Grace's room, and saw her bed empty and her pajamas strewn across the floor. And then I heard Melanie's door slam as she walked out.

"Mel?" She turned and looked at me but kept walking into the bathroom. I got up and followed, standing in the doorway as she franticly brushed her teeth. "What in the world is going on?"

She spit before speaking. "Mom and Dad forgot they have some business lunch to go to so they need to drop us off at this religion thing early. I think Max is supposed to bring you home." Then, before I could respond, she raced by me and down the stairs. By the time I got to the kitchen, the house was silent. The Garriners, with the exception of Max, were gone and Sophie, their dog, was calm again. I looked around me and spotted Max on the sofa, the picture of ease, so different from the rest of his family this morning.

Just as I was about to sit down at the table, Max spoke though his eyes stayed on the television.

"Want to go get slushies before I take you home?" he asked, turning to glance at me. I shrugged and nodded.

"Let's go then," he replied, standing up slowly and reaching for a t-shirt that was lying on the back of the couch. He pulled it on as he walked towards the front door, grabbing the keys off the counter and pulling on his shoes. Opening the door, he turned around to look at me.

"You coming or not?" he asked, and I nodded, quickly walking forward and slipping on my own shoes before following him outside, shutting the door behind me. He was already in his van when I climbed in, nudging a spare drum pad out of the way in order to buckle my seatbelt. When the task was complete I gave him the thumbs up and he backed out of the driveway before turning on a dime and speeding through the neighborhood.

"Okay, Hayley, we can either go to Sonic, the Quik Zip or 7Eleven. Personally, I say Sonic has the best slushies." He stopped talking and looked over at me as we pulled up to a red light.

I raised my eyebrow. "Definitely not," I countered, putting my feet up on the dashboard. "The Quik Zip obviously does. Goodness Max, do you want me to win every argument we have?" I tried to keep a straight face but I could feel my mouth twisting into a smirk.

He turned and met my gaze, his eyes half narrowed but twinkling, his mouth in a sly smile. It took me a minute before I could look away. Jeez, what was wrong with me? Then I noticed the traffic light. I turned back to look at Max and saw he was still looking at me, the same expression on his face.

"It's a green light," I said, pointing out the windshield. He blinked and shook his head. The smile disappeared as we drove away from the intersection, only to get stopped at the next red light.

As we were sitting there, Max's smile returned, this time full throttle and I was immediately wary. Instead of waiting for him to tell me what he was thinking, I asked.

"Why are you smiling like that?" The light turned green and he stepped on the gas, shooting us forward in his old van, giving me whiplash. I shot him a look and he shrugged.

"Because we are going to go to Sonic and the Quik Zip and see. I'm telling you, though, Sonic is the best."

I was shaking my head before he could finish the sentence. He raised an eyebrow but the only thing I said was, "You're going to lose."

He barked a laugh and continued driving, a smirk on his face the rest of the way.

"Alright, alright, I give. Quik Zip has the best slushies, goodness, don't hurt me." I held a hand up in front of myself as a shield while holding my blue raspberry slushie in the other. Hayley laughed. We were sitting on the hood of the van outside the Quik Zip after already stopping by Sonic. The sun was shining brightly and warmly though it was already two in the afternoon. The time had just flown by while I had been with Hayley. We had been out for two hours - partly because it took an hour to get to the nearest Sonic and then we headed back to town for the Quik Zip – though it had only felt like thirty minutes. Forty minutes tops. I had realized, about halfway through this trip, that it was actually fun hanging out with her. Definitely something I could get used to.

"I told you I'd win," She replied smugly, taking a sip of her cherry slushie. Suddenly, she jumped.

"What's wrong?" I asked, dropping my hand. She shook her head and pulled out her phone, which must have vibrated in her pocket. I saw her glance at the caller ID before she quickly flipped it open.

"Hey Will!" She said cheerily, though her face betrayed a different emotion. Was it annoyance? Or maybe nervousness. She turned around to peek at me and caught me looking back at her. I tried to appear as innocent as possible, taking a sip of my slushie.

I could hear a voice on the other end, but it faded away as Hayley hopped off the hood and walked slowly towards the end of the parking lot.

As the roar of traffic increased on the highway that was just a quarter mile away from the Quik Zip, I leaned back against the windshield, letting the hand that was holding my slushie droop lazily against my thigh. I started to close my eyes before remembering what Kevin had told me after school on Friday.

"I got you a date buddy, for tomorrow night, with this hot chick that Stacy knows. She said she's quite a catch so I thought, 'Hey, why not set these two up?"" He had told me as I emptied my books into my locker. I remember the look I gave him. Stacy was his girlfriend and while she was pretty decent, the girls she knew were not.

Now, as I saw Hayley talking animatedly out of the corner of my eye, I felt my stomach churn. I wondered briefly if I could somehow back out of this date without hurting anybody. Just then though, my phone buzzed.

"Talk to me," I said, pressing the earpiece to my head and holding my free hand against my other ear so I could hear properly.

"You better not be thinking of backing out of this," Kevin's voice rang loud and clear through my phone. I shook my head and blinked.

"You know me too well, Kev," I replied, taking a quick sip and allowing the blue raspberry flavor to sit in my mouth for a few seconds. "Are you honestly going to make me go through this? You know how Stacy's friends are." Only I, as a best friend, could say this. I heard him sigh, a give-in sigh.

"Fine Max, I'll call and say you're coming down with something, alright? But really, dude, you need to find somebody else," I could hear the frustration being held back in his voice. I sighed and shook my head, turning to look at Hayley. She was standing still before she was suddenly turning back, walking this way towards me. When she saw me looking, she grinned and waggled her fingers teasingly. I blushed slightly and looked away.

"Earth to Max, come down to planet Earth, buddy," Kevin's voice broke through my thoughts. "What are you doing anyway?" he asked after I mumbled a halfhearted apology.

"Er, well, I was taking Hayley home and we stopped to get some slushies," I spoke casually, hoping he wouldn't make some big deal out of this especially because of the fact that Hayley was only five steps away from me.

"Hayley Bridge?" Kevin asked incredulously and I cringed. "How in the world did that happen?" I was about to tell him but suddenly, Hayley was sitting next to me on the hood.

"Uh, I'll call you later Adams," I said though I knew he wouldn't let it drop.

"You want anything else?" I asked Hayley, shoving my phone back into my pocket. She was leaning back, staring up at the clouds.

"No, actually could you drop me off at the movies? I'm supposed to meet Will there at three," She turned to look at me, biting her lower lip absentmindedly until I nodded.

"So what movie are you seeing?" I asked when we were two minutes away from the theatre. It was the first words spoken since we had left the Quik Zip and it felt awkward for some reason.

"We aren't really sure yet. Do you have any suggestions?" I noticed that she used the plural though I didn't know why I caught that.

"Hmm…" I said, trying to think. Nothing good was really in the theatres this week, but there had to be something. "What about Paulie?" I suggested the newest animated movie. It had looked good enough for being a movie directed at the elementary-aged kids. She shook her head though and I raised an eyebrow.

"We saw that the day it came out," she answered my unspoken question.

"Ah," was all I could say. And then we were in front of the large brick building and Hayley was climbing out.

"Thanks for the ride and the slushie and everything," she said, shutting the door and speaking through the open window. "It was fun," she added before turning and half skipping through the doors where I barely recognized her boyfriend, Will, standing inside. I registered the fact that his face lit up when he saw her as I drove away.