When I woke up the next morning, I was very confused for a few seconds… at least until I realized that I was lying in the barn, and the person whose foot was in my face Sean Patrick O'Hanahan, the kid with the abusive dad.

I stood up, yawning and stretching. Now the rest of the memories of last night were coming back to me… As well as the realization that Jess was currently asleep in my bed, and my mom had no idea.

I dashed out of the barn and back inside the house, hoping that she hadn't already tried to wake 'me' up. It was unlikely, since it was a Saturday and all, but you never knew.

Luckily, she was just coming into the kitchen, blinking when she saw me already there. "Rob, I thought you were still asleep?"

"Um… yeah." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "Um, about that, I brought some people home last night… Uh…"

She just raised her eyebrows, looking at me, in that way that always makes me tell her what's going on.

"I, uh, kind of went and got… Jess and Sean O'Hanahan last night, from Crane." I blurted this out really fast, as if saying it quickly would change the fact that I'd broken god-knows-how-many laws last night.

Mom stared at me, and I found myself trying to explain, "They were locking them up, and – and Sean's dad was going to come take him away tomorrow, and Jess called last night, so I – and some guys from Chick's – just sort of… Look, I know it was illegal, but it was for a really good reason, and I still don't even know if they know who I am, and – I'm sorry, okay?"

It's really hard to talk coherently in front of my mom's stare.

She stared at me for another few seconds, and I braced myself – she never yells at me, but instead she gets really quiet and controlled, and you can see she's really disappointed in you… like she was last year, when she had to come pick me up from the police station – but then the unexpected happened: she smiled.

"I already knew, honey, I saw it on the news." Oh. Why hadn't I thought of that?

She was still smiling. "It's okay, Rob. I don't approve of how you did it, but I knew you were doing what you thought was right. You had a good reason, honey, so it's entirely different this time." She smiled at me. "Now, where's that young man I saw on the news?"

I blinked, and said, kind of surprised, "The barn."

Mom shook her head at me, and then pointed me in the direction of the stove, and told me to "start cooking, we have guests," while she went out to the barn to take care of Sean.

I was a little shocked at how calm she was about it, but I quickly got over it. That's just my mom; she's incredibly understanding about most things. Like, for instance, she doesn't even care that I get detention all the time. She knows that I'm generally responsible – with the exception of that one time last year – and so she gives me a lot of freedom, and doesn't question most of the stuff I do. It's pretty nice, except sometimes it's really hard for me to do the right thing, when I know she'd most likely never know.

But the thing is, I wouldn't be able to cope with it; the few times I've done something irresponsible or something I know she disapproves of, I always feel so guilty afterwards, because she's just as nice to me as always, that I always confess within a couple of days. The longest I've ever held out is one school week.

In fact, sometimes I think she knows that, and that's why she's so lenient – because it actually keeps me better behaved than if she were strict. But even if that's the case, I don't mind, because it still works, and due to her leniency, we're really close. If I thought she was going to punish me for most things, I wouldn't tell her half of what I do, but as it is, we talk about pretty much everything.

Mom quickly befriended Sean – she's one of those people that just has a way with kids – and soon had him collecting eggs and helping with breakfast. I made bacon, and toast, until Mom made me go sit down, and then we started eating.

Or, I finished eating after I had seconds of everything, and Sean just kept on eating. He was well into his third plateful, with Mom still cooking more food, when Jess came downstairs.

"Hi, Jess," Sean said, excited – his crush was incredibly obvious and big, to the point where he pretty much refused to talk to me, I guess because I kissed Mastriani last night. It was kind of cute.

"Hi," Jess smiled back, and I looked up at her.

I was still a little confused about what to do when it came to Jess – on the one hand, it seemed like I'd passed the Point Of No Return last night, but on the other… well, it was still illegal, and I was still hoping they wouldn't catch me from last night. If they didn't, then it would be pretty lousy to get arrested just for being caught kissing Mastriani, after all that, you know?

And, okay, maybe it was a little more than that. Up until now I wasn't really willing to admit it, but it was pretty obvious by now that I liked her. You wouldn't think that this would be a reason to not date her, but it was. Why? Well, it's a little uncomfortable to admit, but… I've never really liked a girl before. I mean, I've gone out with them, and liked them okay, but I've never really liked anyone, like crush-proportions. And, ever since… well, since my dad, I haven't been really good about relationships. I don't really have any close friends – the closest are Chick, Wendell, and Wylie, and I really don't like including those last two – and as I said before, I've never really liked a girl. And I know my mom and I have an unnaturally close relationship, which might have something to do with it.

And she hadn't even told her parents about me, either. That was something else I was pretty sensitive about, what with the whole 'Grit' issue. I know for a fact I'm not worse than any Townie, but that doesn't mean I like them looking down on me. And even if I'm pretty sure Jess wouldn't be ashamed of me, she probably just wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of telling her parents, which I would not be comfortable with.

But the point is, all of this added up to a simple answer to the 'Should I date Jess' question: NO.

Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly ignore her now. That plan really wouldn't work anymore.

I blinked, returning to reality, right as my mom said, "You must be Jess."

Oh god, don't tell her what I told you about her… Don't tell her what I told you…

Luckily, my mom is a very good person, so she just smiled and said, "Pull up a chair and sit yourself down. How do you like your eggs?"

It was pretty amusing, once I relaxed anyway, watching Jess trying to make polite conversation with my mother, especially with Sean in the mix, inserting comments and giggling, all giddily. I couldn't suppress a smirk when Jess asked what the "white stuff" was. Yeah, we really do eat grits. The shock in her eyes when I said so was also highly amusing, and for the most part, I was enjoying myself – at least until Mastriani asked for a phone, but refused our house one.

"What's up?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," she said, as if I would believe that. I'd known her less than two weeks and I already knew it was never 'nothing' where Jess was concerned. "I just need to make a call. Is there a pay phone around here?"

"There's one down the road, over by the IGA," Mom said, and I knew exactly what was going to happen after that. So I wasn't really surprised when Mastriani asked me for a ride, and I just said, "Yeah, I'll take you."

Of course then, as expected, Sean wanted to come too, and Jess yanked him out of the room to talk to him. After w few minutes, he came back inside and Jess and I left, getting on my bike again and driving away.

I refilled my gas while Mastriani talked on the old pay phone. It was, in itself, pretty uneventful, except for when she screamed "WHAT?" at the top of her lungs; apparently very upset by something she was being told. She talked for a little longer, before hanging up, by which time I'd finished getting gas.

She called me over and told me about the kidnapping story, and rewards for both her and Sean, both of which my mom had failed to mention to me earlier. Oh, and there was an APB out on us. After that, we decided that it might not be the best idea to be seen driving around together. Of course, we had to stop at a different pay phone first, so that Jess could call her parents.

She went on for a while, talking to, well I guess her dad. Something about dolphins. I didn't hear any more after that because I'd seen a cop pulling into the parking lot. I poked her to get her attention, and then kind of… walked my bike away, so it wouldn't seem like I was with her.

We were incredibly lucky. The cops went inside without realizing who we were, and by the time they did, we were already all the way at the turnpike. They followed us, of course, but… as I said before, us Grits know how to drive.

"We've got company," Jess shouted, and I just grinned.

"Not for long."

I went off the road again, down a ravine into a creek bed, accelerating through the shallow water, and kept going until the creek curved away from the road and I could no longer hear the sirens. Then I went a little farther, just in case. What made me finally drive back up the ravine and stop on the road was the engine; it sounded a little odd.

If I didn't actually like working on bikes, I would be incredibly annoyed right now, because the Indian was definitely going to need some. Work, that is.

We both got off, and took off our helmets. Jess was wringing the water from the creek out of her shirt, and I'd bent down to pull all the things stuck in the spokes. "You all right?" I asked, glancing up at her.

"Peachy. Listen," she said, "I'm sorry."

I raised an eyebrow inquisitively, until I remembered she couldn't see my face, because I was bent down, and so I said, "Sorry about what?"

I finished the front and had moved to the back tire, pulling out all I could for the moment, by the time she finished her incredibly long answer. "Getting you involved in all this. I mean, I know you're on probation and all. The last thing you need is to be harboring a couple of fugitives. What if you get caught? They'll probably lock you up and throw away the key. I mean, depending on whatever it is you did to get probation in the first place."

I squinted up at her, the sun in my eyes, and could barely control my laughter, even though most of what she'd said was exactly what I myself had been worrying about. But the last sentence… "Are you through?" I tried not to grin.

"Through what?"

"Through trying to trick me into telling you what I'm on probation for."

She got a highly affronted look on her face, and put her hands on her hips, the picture of indignation. Yeah, right. "I am not trying to trick you into doing anything. I am merely trying to let you know that I am aware of the great personal sacrifice you are making in helping Sean and me, and I appreciate it."

At that I couldn't stop my teasing grin any longer. "You do, huh?"

It was right about then that I realized I was still squatting down, and I straightened, pulling up my shirt to wipe off the muddy drops of water some of the sticks I had been pulling out of the spokes. Then I dropped it, and I was about to say something else, still teasing her – she most definitely was trying to find out what I was on probation for and we both knew it – but I never got the chance.

Why? Well, you see, when I dropped my shirt down from my face, Mastriani just stepped forward and kissed me.

Yes, just like that.

I mean, I was surprised, sure, but I'm not stupid. I started kissing her back, letting my eyes fall closed, and putting my hands on cheeks to hold her head still, and it was like that for a minute, us just standing there kissing each-other.

And I liked it. I liked it a lot.

I liked it so much that if it hadn't been for it being illegal, I don't know what I would have done – but I'm pretty sure her parents would not approve.

But as it was, I remembered that very-important fact after a minute or two, and pulled back, breathing a little hard. Her hands were wrapped around my neck, and I reached back up to untangle them.

"Jesus, Mastriani," I said, hoping she didn't notice the way my voice was shaking, "What are you trying to do?"

"Nothing," she said, in the exact same way she had earlier, when she wanted to use a pay phone. Only this time I was even less likely to buy it, if that was possible. Because this time, well, I'd been a part of the 'nothing' that was going on.

A very enthusiastic part.

"Well, you better cut it out," I scowled, "We've got a lot to do. There's not time for any distractions."

Yeah… distractions.

"I think I like that kind of distraction," She said, the same impish grin on her face, and I had to pick up a helmet and shove it on her head to keep myself from doing something I'd regret. Or, regret more, anyway.

"I'm in enough trouble right now without you adding to it, thanks." Something else occurred to me, and I added, "And don't even think about trying something like that in front of the kid."

She sounded confused from inside the helmet. "What kid? What are you talking about?"

"The kid. O'Hanahan." I couldn't believe she hadn't noticed yet. "What are you, blind, Mastriani? He's got it bad for you."

She tilted the helmet back, confusion and shock written all over her face. She really hadn't known, huh? "Sean? For me?"

She let the helmet fall back down, her voice completely shocked. "Oh, God."

"You got that right," I said, pulling my own helmet on. "He thinks you are one dope girl, Mastriani."

She started babbling somewhat nervously. "He said that? He sure doesn't act like he thinks that. He really said I was dope?"

"Well," I said, sitting down and giving the accelerator a kick. Yeah, it'd be okay. I'd just need to spend an hour or two on the engine later, but the Indian sounded like it would be fine. "I might be allowing my own feelings to cloud the matter a little."

Shit. Why had I said that? I mean, first I let her kiss me… okay, more than just let, now I was basically telling her that I liked her as much as Sean did? What was wrong with me? Let's go over it again, Rob: dating Jess Mastriani – big no-no. Big no-no.

I hoped she might have missed what I said, being too shocked by the news about Sean, but she caught it just fine, if the way she went, "You think I'm dope?" was any indication.

I swallowed hard at her tone, and flicked her helmet. "Get on the bike, Mastriani."

She did so, and we drove back to my house, where I almost immediately excused myself to the bathroom.

I sat down on the edge of tub, and put my head in my hands. God. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to resist a girl like Mastriani when she actually likes you and doesn't care if you know? I mean, if she had also been set against going out with me, then it wouldn't be so bad. But, instead, she was going around kissing me, and…

Five minutes later, I rejoined everyone, trying not to look in any way suspicious. Still, almost immediately, Jess pulled me away.

"I have a plan."

Now, why did those words scare me?

A/N: Again, I'm posting this without reading over it, because I have a class in 10 minutes that I really have to get to. Wow, I've pretty much finished the story. In fact... yeah, the next chapter should be the last one, at least for this book. Heh. I'm actually finishing a real story. I think I'm pretty excited about this...