Probably the penultimate chapter and I'm hoping I can get the last one out soon.

Enjoy:)


Phoebe couldn't believe it. She was going to the school's soccer game tonight. Getting ready to be picked up by none other than Arnold Perlstein. Her stomach jumped excitedly as she remembered and she ran her comb through her auburn hair as she hummed quietly to herself.

Now this wasn't exactly unusual. Arnold picked her up for lots of things, along with Carlos, Tim, and Ralphie. For pizza, movies, concerts... But this time it felt different.

Phoebe always hated getting her hopes up for something, only to have them crash down when they weren't fulfilled. But most of the time she just couldn't help herself. It was the way Arnold had told her he could pick her up and drive her to the game that made her so excited. Well no, he hadn't offered to take her to the game, he'd asked if she could. Asked her as if he were asking her on a date.

The scene had already whirred through her mind over a dozen times since yesterday. It had happened on the shore of Ralphie's pool. Her and Arnold had been sitting on the edge of the cement by the pool, dipping their feet in the water. They had both still been in their bathing suits, Phoebe in her yellow bikini, and Arnold in his orange swimming trunks. Phoebe had been, as usual whenever Arnold was topless, trying to avoid staring at him, as well as Wanda and Ralphie who were all over each other in the pool. She had started feeling a bit cold and had her towel wrapped around her shoulders, but she did not move from Arnold's side and kept her feet in the pool.

It had started getting dark, and Ralphie had lit an oil tiki lamp next to the two of them. Phoebe remembered how beautiful the whole scene had looked. The fireflies that would occasionally fly past her face, reflecting in the gently rippling waters of the pool. She had been looking into the flames of the lamp, feeling the heat of it warm her up slightly. One minute feeling completely relaxed and happy and the next, she had felt something on her shoulder.

She had jumped and turned to face Arnold, who had dropped his hand after he saw he had gotten her attention.

"Are you going to the game tomorrow?" he asked quietly, first his blue eyes were looking right into her green ones, and then she saw them flicker over to the pool, where Tim had just dived and disturbed the water around their feet.

"Yes," she'd said nodding. "Yes, I was thinking about it. And I didn't have anything else planned so - "

"Do you think - do you think it'd be okay.. If I picked you up for it?" he'd asked very quickly, and Phoebe could have sworn she'd heard a bit of nervousness in his voice. It had gone a bit scratchy. "And - and, the guys were thinking of going out for pizza afterwards and - do you, do you think you'd like to come with me?"

Phoebe had felt her eyes grow wide at this point, but she forced herself to stay calm. "Yes! Yes, I'd love to go Arnold."

And then he had smiled and looked immediately less nervous and said, "Great! I'll see you at six then tomorrow."

Phoebe stole a glance at her alarm clock sitting on her bedside table. It was currently five to six. She smiled and felt her heart thump faster than usual, wondering if she had enough time to maybe put on a little make up as well. Arnold was always very punctual.

xxx

"Do you think we're being stupid?"

Ralphie frowned at Wanda as if she was being crazy at just suggesting the thought. The two of them were walking down the sidewalk towards the school for the game, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, her arm stretched around his waist.

"Wanda, I don't think anything I've ever done is stupid."

Wanda snorted. "Alright, weatherman. But seriously, I'm starting to think Keesha's right about this whole sex thing - "

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait - " Ralphie paused and even stopped walking. "You - you're not going to listen to her are you. Because I think - " he gave a little humorless laugh. "I think, you know, I know we've had the scare and everything, but as long as we - "

"Just for a week," said Wanda, rubbing his hand firmly with her own. "I'm not... I'm not really feeling up to it right now anyway.. So I'm uninviting you to my house tonight."

"What?!" Ralphie choked. "You can't univite me! Wanda... Your parents aren't even home - " Ralphie was practically begging now and Wanda pulled away from him and the arm held around her shoulders.

"Just for a week Ralphie!" Wanda said. "I don't want Keesha to think she's right. You're acting like I'm breaking up with you or something! I'm pretty sure Keesha thinks that this relationship is nothing but sex and you're making me think she is right!"

"I - " Ralphie was speechless. "Wanda... Come on.."

"So you're not denying it!" Wanda's voice was starting to rise. "See?! Everyone thinks I'm not capable of having a relationship that's actually not about sex! And, well I guess I'm not! Because the one guy I actually think I care about more than that, the one guy I've stuck around with because I think that maybe there's something deeper there, freaks out because I propose a 'no sex week'!" Wanda threw her hands up in the air in disgust. "God, Ralphie!" And she turned from him angrily and started storming off in the direction of the school, towards the game.

Ralphie stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what had just happened. His throat had suddenly gone very dry, and he watched her rush off furiously, her long black hair bouncing off her back as she left him.

"Wanda.." he tried to shout it out, but his throat was too tight. "Wanda.." she had already turned the first corner and had disappeared behind someone's hedge. Ralphie wanted to run after her, wanted to tell her that it was not true, that he did think there was something more to their relationship, not just sex, but he found his legs had turned into jelly. And simply stood there in the cool air, his eyes not leaving the spot where Wanda had disappeared.

xxx

Dorothy Ann shifted nervously in her seat. Her, Phoebe, Arnold, Keesha, and Tim were sitting on the topmost bench of the bleachers. She had been sitting there for the past fifteen minutes, feeling sicker and sicker and the minutes ticked by to the start of the game. None of her other friends seemed to be bothered by anything. Keesha and Tim, both of whom had already purchased popcorn from a stand set up below by the yearbook team, were goofing around good-naturedly, throwing their popcorn into each other's mouths and apologizing to anyone they hit if they missed.

Their laughs and shouts, and the occasional piece of popped, buttered popcorn bouncing on her head didn't bother her nearly as much as Phoebe and Arnold, who were sitting on the opposite side of her.

She had been wondering if Phoebe's crush would ever come to anything for years, had helped her try to get Arnold to noticed her that way whenever Phoebe asked, and of course Dorothy Ann was surprised pleasantly when she had seen the two of them arrive on the field holding hands. But they were also reminding her of what Jill was planning to do tonight if the game went well, and probably even if the game didn't go well.

Numbly, she heard Phoebe giggle next to her and listened to Arnold saying, "You've got a piece of popcorn in your hair Phoebe.." and saw him reach out and pick it out in the corner of her eye.

"Oh, sorry DA!" she heard Tim say for the fourteenth that night as she felt another piece of popcorn land on her head. It bounced off onto her lap. She brushed it off.

"Hey, anyone know where Wanda and Ralphie are?" Keesha asked.

"Ralphie's playing in the game, isn't he," said Tim, reaching into his half empty bucket for more popcorn.

Dorothy Ann saw Arnold shake his head. "No, the coach kicked him off for this game because of how badly he played in Bridgeton."

"You can't really blame him can you," Keesha said. "Oh well, at least we can cheer Carlos on," and she turned to DA. "Did you manage to run into him yesterday?"

Dorothy Ann shook her head without looking at Keesha, wishing more than anything that she would just turn around again go back to throwing popcorn at tim.

Keesha frowned. "Are you alright DA?" Dorothy nodded her head quickly.

"Fine," she tried to assure, but as she spoke, her eyes wandered onto the green field, lit up by the lights from around the bleachers and rested upon the scantily clad girls on the side opposite. They were jumping and dancing around too fast for Dorothy Ann to make any of them out as Jill Green, but she didn't want to look at them any longer than she had to anyway. She turned back to Keesha and assured her again that everything was fine and that she just wanted to leave and get a hot dog from a stand below.

She could tell Keesha wanted to protest when she stood up, but didn't say anything. Dorothy Ann hurried down the of the bleachers before she could and fought her way through the crowds so that she could get to the school. She had already seen a few of the soccer players make their way out of the changing room and run onto the field encouraging the loud screams from Walkerville High's stands, and the boos of the opposing team from a nearby school somewhere from Seattle. Dorothy Ann hadn't seen Carlos exit the change room from the outside door and could only assume that he was still in there.

What exactly she was planning to do when she saw him she did not know. But she at least wanted to see him one last time before the game started. It had been three days since they'd last spoken, and it was killing her inside. It was crazy how short it took for her to already miss the sound of his voice.

Dorothy Ann pushed the heavy doors of the school open and hurried inside. The temperature from the cool night air outside, to inside the stuffy hallway was more or less the same, but Dorothy Ann removed her sweather anyway, feeling uncomfortably hot, and stuffed it into her bag. Dorothy Ann hurried along down the hallway, her footsteps echoing in the din, and she turned a left and moved down the stairs towards the boys locker room. Wondering whether or not he had already made his way onto the field when she had averted her eyes.

Before she knew it, Dorothy Ann had reached the door of the boy's changeroom. She stood in front of it for a few minutes, thinking that maybe she should just forget it and walk back to the bleachers. But something was stopping her. It wouldn't be that hard to just go in and wish him good luck... Or even wish him good luck and kiss him on the cheek? It seemed rather easy, thinking about it now in face...

Dorothy Ann took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The room was very dark; there was only a single white light hanging from the cracked and dirty ceiling. And Dorothy Ann's eyes blinked hard as they adjusted from the previously brightly lit hallway she had just vacated.

As she had been silently hoping, the room was empty save for one person hunched in the corner. Dorothy Ann felt slightly shocked at her one bit of good luck this past week. Though she could not see the figures face, there was no mistaking that dark, shaggy hair and the number '17' on the back of the soccer jersey.

She cleared her throat. "Carlos?"

The figure flinched slightly at the sound breaking the previous silence; actually Dorothy Ann was a little surprised herself that he hadn't heard her enter in the first place; it wasn't as though she had been particularly careful about being quiet. She saw Carlos now turn around sharply to see who had addressed him.

He looked slightly surprised to see her standing there by the doorway. Actually, make that very surprised; she had definitely managed to catch him off guard. A good sign?

"DA! What are you doing here! This is the boys locker room!"

Rolling her eyes at the fact he had said something so ridiculous and trite when her mind was whirring with such virosity that she actually felt dizzy at what she was thinking of doing next. The reason she had come here. Dorothy Ann took a few steps away from the doorway and towards Carlos, wondering if she could use his surprise to her advantage.

But his initial surprise didn't last very long, and Carlos quickly managed to regain his composure and apathetic look. He turned away from her, back to the shoelaces he had been tying..

"I know perfectly well this is the boys locker room," she said, fiddling nervously with the strap of her bookbag. "I wanted to talk to you."

Carlos suddenly turned back towards her, shoes tied, this time looking very disgruntled. "Wanted to talk to me, huh?" And his tone of voice sounded just as bothered as he now looked.

Dorothy Ann, taken aback and feeling quite bewildered, asked, "Carlos, what - "

"Don't you have another chemistry tutorial with Gus tonight? Why are you even at the game?! Did you to lovebirds have a row or something?" he demanded.

Dorothy Ann blinked, feeling nothing short of being utterly dumbfounded. "W - what?! Carlos, what are you talking about - "

"Yeah like you don't know," Carlos turned away from her and bent back down to his shoelaces, despite the fact they were already tied.

Dorothy Ann had opened her mouth to retort, but could not think of a single thing to say. She simply stood there staring at the back of his head while her thoughts furiously tried to make sense of what exactly he was saying.

And then a horrible thought suddenly entered DA's mind. A thought that made her sick just thinking about it. But no.. he couldn't have... She frowned and turned back to Carlos, who was straightening up again, and sat down on one of the benches.

"Did you see us yesterday?!" she demanded, rage suddenly bubbling up faster than she could control it.

"Hey! I just went over there to see you!" Carlos shouted back. "I didn't know I was going to be interrupting some of your precious time with Gus - !"

"What?!" Dorothy Ann jumped right back up from the bench. "Carlos you know perfectly well that we were just - "

" - Studying for the contest," Carlos snorted. "Yeah, right. That's not what it looked like to me - "

"Were you spying on me?!" Dorothy Ann demanded. She was livid and could actually feel herself shaking.

"No! DA I'd never - I was just going to see you! I didn't know Gus would be there trying to - "

"Trying to what?!" Dorothy Ann demanded acidly. And though she knew it had just been an accident, knew he hadn't meant to accidently caught Gus trying to kiss her, but she couldn't help but feel the anger and frustration that had been building up all week finally coming out. "What does it matter to you anyway, what I do with Gus in my spare time - "

"It's just when you promise me beforehand that'd you'd come to the game on Friday, that'd you'd actually show up, instead of frenching Gus - "

"We had to finish the lab Carlos!" Dorothy Ann shouted. "I wanted to leave early and go to the game. I wanted to, really! And so what you saw Gus trying to kiss me! It's not like he did and - "

"Yeah," Carlos spat. "So he didn't kiss you then. Doesn't mean that the two of you haven't - "

"Don't say it Carlos!" Dorothy Ann said venomously. "What about Jill, huh?! It's not okay for me to spend time working on a science contest with Gus, but it's okay for you to go out - go out partying with Jill Green in Bridgeton and - and - " she felt her voice catch in her throat and all of a sudden grow tight.

"Jill?" The tone of Carlos' voice immediately changed. He looked very confused for a moment, a look not normally found on his face. "Jill Green?"

"Yeah, her," Dorothy Ann regained some of her composure. "Don't tell me she hasn't tried anything on you and - "

"Nothing's ever happened between me and Jill..." Carlos said, his voice very quiet now. He was frowning slightly at Dorothy Ann and when she didn't reply he added. "Why would it matter to you anyway?"

"I - " DA stopped. She had to be very careful with what to say next. "I - well what about me and Gus?! It's none of your business what I do with him and - "

"Did you ever kiss him?" Carlos asked sharply, standing up from the bench very suddenly.

"No!" Dorothy Ann wanted to make sure she could make it as clear as possible, but Carlos still looked skeptical. "And even if I did, it's none of your business - "

"Ramone!"

They both jumped as the door of the locker room burst open. Dorothy Ann almost gasped when she saw the livid looking face Coach Racket poke his head through the locker room door. Looking so fierce at the moment that he could have given Carlos and Dorothy Ann a run for their money.

"Ramone!" he shouted again. "What are you doing in here this late?!!" Red faced, his moustache flaring, his angry expression did not hide the nerves in the man's voice. "Get out there, the game's about to start!" And he left as quickly as he had arrived, with only a quick nod at Carlos that told him to hurry up, and an accusing glare at DA.

"See you later, DA," Carlos said without looking at her, and he walked quickly down the little aisle of benches away from her and Dorothy Ann felt the anger that had been engulfing her only seconds previously, dissolve in an instant as she watched him leave.

He turned towards the door that lead to the soccer field. The field where Jill was currently screaming and hooting with every other idiot from the cheer squad. The field where, if the game was successful, the celebrations involving beer and loud, obnoxious music would be required to take place. The field where she'd kiss him if they did. Kiss him and take him away from DA forever.

DA was only numbly aware of the tears starting to form at the edges of her eyes, and she swallowed again, trying to rid of the bile that came up the back of her throat.

"Wait!" she called after him, just as his hand reached the door, and she hurried over to him. "I just wanted to - " the words caught in her throat, but what she really wanted to do couldn't be expressed with any words. She tried to calm her nerves and just do it. But she couldn't. He didn't look as angry as before, but she couldn't now when this new tension had formed between them.

"Good luck," she said quickly, looking away from him and down at her shoes. "I just wanted to come and say good luck."

"Ramone!"

She couldn't look up from her shoes to see Carlos. Could only hear him exiting the locker room, towards the field and Jill. She had failed. She had been so determined, she had told herself over and over to just do it, and when the opportunity arose, she didn't.

Dorothy Ann flopped down on one of the benches miserably and buried her face in her hands. For the next few minutes, the soft sound of her sobs echoed loudly in the room.


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