I had to be imagining it. I just had to be imagining what I had just seen. Kylie Anderson going into Lilia Woods' house as if they were old-time friends? I just had to be wrong. Either that or something was going on here. I hate to admit it, but I know Kylie a little too well.

And let's just say that Lilia's a little…I don't what to say clueless, because she's not. She's innocent, you know? Too innocent. She's easily fooled and tricked. She can be a little naïve sometimes.

I just knew that Kylie was up to something. It wasn't the first time she played Ms. Nice-Girl with someone, only to humiliate them later in an unforgivable way. Believe me, when Kylie's nice to you like that, it's not a matter of if she'll do something horribly embarrassing. It's a matter of when.

I stepped inside the Palace and was greeted by Greeny. He came running down the hallway. "Hi, Spiny!" He jumped into my arms and I carried him.

"Hey, buddy! How were you today? Did you behave?"

"Yes, Spiny. Did you bring me anything?"

I put him down and searched my coat pockets. "Oh, let me see here now, um…ah! Here we are. I brought you a…dollar coin."

He grabbed it, staring at it for a while. "Yay!" Then he went running up to his room. I couldn't help but smile. I LOVE it when he says yay. Makes me feel like a father, you know. I'd give my life for my whole family. I love them so much!

Anyways, I put my shoes away in the closet near the door and said, "I'm home!"

Kathy came out of one of the elevators. She was wearing an apron and had cookie dough stains on it. "Hey, handsome." She came over and hugged me. "How did it go?"

"Oh, pretty good, considering. Where's Patty and Robert?"

"Patty's helping Greeny make cookies. Robert is doing his homework."

"Okay. Listen, I have to do some things up in my study room real quick then I'll rest for a while. Call me when dinner's ready?"

"Sure."

I was about to go up, but I said, "Say, did you see Kylie hanging out with Lilia?"

She was quiet for a while, then she said, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, right now when I was coming down the street, I saw the two of them going in her house. That's a little weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah," she said. "As a matter of fact…no, forget it."

Forget it? "How can I forget it when you haven't said anything? What is it?"

She sighed. "Well…today, especially at lunch…well, Lilia was very quiet, then Kylie came over, and Lilia basically told us to move to another table and she had a very amiable chat with Kylie. Laughing and giggling and all that."

"Basically told you to move? I don't get it."

"Well, she didn't come right out and say 'Hey, move!' She kind of hinted it, you know?"

That was weird. "Why do you suppose Kylie's been treating her so nice?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. Only that she's scheming something."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, that's what I think. And it's very easy with Lilia because she's easily fooled and deceived you know?"

She put her hands on her hips. "You calling her dumb?"

"Huh? No, I mean…well, she can be such a little girl sometimes. She's just so innocent."

"Inexperienced, you mean?"

"Maybe. I don't know. But, who knows. Maybe it is really happening."

She scoffed. "Kylie being nice to Lilia? That's like Hitler attending a synagogue."

"Kathy!"

"Well, it's just very hard to believe, that's all."

I shrugged. "Well, I'll try not to think about that too much for now. If I do, I'll be worried all night and won't get any sleep. I'll be up in my room, okay?"

She nodded and smiled. "Okay. We'll call you when dinner's ready."

"Thanks, sis. You're the best."

She smiled and went back to the kitchen. I walked up the stairs up to my room and started working on some paperwork and laws. But all through the evening, I kept asking myself the same question: Why did Kylie treat Lilia so nice?

Well, the question should've been for what reason. What evil little thoughts were going through the tiny mind of hers? I guess I was thinking too hard about that, because I couldn't come up with a single idea or explanation.

When Larry came later in the day, I told him all about it. I asked his opinion of it. "Why do you think she's being so nice to Lilia? I mean, I'm almost sure it's for some malignant purpose, but I can't come up with anything to explain that."

"I think she's planning to do something to horribly embarrass her and/or you."

That made me jump. "Me? Why me?"

He exhaled. "Well, 'cause you've never paid any attention to her in the 1600 years she's been living here. And I guess she thought that it was time to take drastic action, you know what I mean?"

"Maybe. But that only answers the why. My question is what the meaning behind all this. I want to be able to know what's going to happen."

"Hmm. I can use my Time-Travel power to go into the future and see what's going to happen, then come back and tell you."

Hmm. That was very tempting. Time traveling to me is as normal as traveling on the bus or train for you or other people outside Amarkia. But, keep this a secret, okay? Nobody can know. Especially certain countries and anti-Amarkian groups. Even most Amarkians don't know that time travel is now possible.

Anyways, I gave that some thought. But then I thought about something my father had said when he was alive. "Son, don't always do what's in reach for your benefit, even if it's for a good cause. You have to suffer sometimes in order to learn important lessons and see who it is who truly cares about you and vice versa."

Of course, I didn't fully understand what he'd meant until much later. And, it does make sense. For example, just because someone has a magnificent singing voice—I'm not showing off here—he's not going to be singing every minute of the day.

So, just because I have the ability to see what's coming up the road, shall we say, doesn't mean I should always use that ability. Believe me, I was very tempted to do, but, I don't know, my conscience told me to wait and see for myself.

Well…I trust my conscience a lot more than I do my heart.

"No, thanks Larry. I mean, I'm really tempted to find out, and I really appreciate your concern, but something tells me I have to find out by myself."

"Suit yourself." Then he set his briefcase aside. "I'm going to keep working on some things. Tell the girls I won't be down for dinner."

"All right."

I quickly showered and changed, and then Kathy called me down for dinner. I caught the smell of food several feet from outside the dining room. (Maybe I've mentioned this before, but our dining room is on the second floor.)

I walked into the dining room and there was Greeny with one of his friends playing with some cards. "Hey, guys," I said.

They both looked at me and said, "Hi."

"Where are the girls?" I asked.

"Making dinner," said Greeny with a not-to-excited voice.

"Uh-oh. Dinner's going to include veggies, huh?"

He made a disgusted face. "Yeah. Peas and carrots and broccoli. Blech!"

I patted him on the back. "Oh, come on. It's not that bad. Besides, all those things are good for you. You want to grow up to be strong and healthy and handsome like your brother, right?"

"I don't want to look like Robert."

Ah, uh…that's not what I had in mind, but…

"No, I mean…never mind. Go wash your hands and tell Robert that dinner's almost ready. I'll be in the kitchen."

I was about to turn to go in the kitchen, when Greeny said, "Hey, Spiny, can I borrow some money?"

I leaned down towards him. "How much do you need?"

"One million seventy thousand dollars."

Huh? I started laughing. I mean, it's not that I don't have that kind of money. I do, and probably a lot more. But, I mean, what would a six-year-old, even a prince, do with that money?

"You need how much?"

"I lost to my friend Jerry playing Go Fish."

Oh. That explained it. "Well…Jerry, would you settle for some chewing gum," I said, reaching into my pocket.

"Spearmint?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said, handing him a piece.

"And here's some for you, Greeny."

"Thanks, Spiny," he said.

"But he lost!" Jerry yelled.

"It doesn't matter if you win or lose. It matters how you play the game." Afterwards, I walked into the kitchen, and caught the scent of food cooking. Boy, did that make my stomach start growling.

"Hey," I said.

Both girls were preparing the meal. "Hi," said Patty. I went over and kissed both on the cheek. "Hey, you have to do something about that brother of mine. I cannot keep up his gambling debts!"

They both laughed. "Oh, you mean the little Go Fish came out there?"

I nodded. "Yep. What you making?"

"Steak with veggies."

"Uh-oh. You burned the food from last night, huh?"

"Of course not! We just thought of having steak today, that's all," said Patty.

"Man, I wish you would've called me. You know how I love steak. And I really enjoy cooking, too, you know."

"We should know. After all, you're the one who taught us," said Kathy.

I grabbed an apple, washed it, and started eating it. I was so hungry that if I waited until dinner was ready, I wouldn't have the strength to chew. Even if I had to wait five minutes. As I was eating, Patty said, "So how's Lilia?"

I looked at her. Then at Kathy. "You told her?"

"No, I didn't tell her," she said.

"Tell me what?" said Patty.

"Oh, well. When I was driving home this afternoon, just before entering our driveway, guess who I saw walking with Lilia into her house?"

"Jeremy Adams."

"Huh? What? No!" Oh, Jeremy Adams is this guy from school. He's a hotshot, a show-off, a playboy, and thinks he's king of everything.

Now don't call me jealous. I'm not jealous of him, because he doesn't have anything that I would want to have. I mean, I'm not too bad as far as cuteness and good looks go. And I'm not saying he's ugly but…well, I just don't like him.

Like I said, he's a playboy, and all girls, even "popular" and flirty girls like Kylie deserve to be treated better.

"Oh, please! How could Lilia possibly like that Jeremy Adams?"

Kathy shrugged. "He is super cute, tall, handsome, has pretty eyes…"

"And is a show-off, good-for-nothing, double-crossing, heart-breaking, manipulating, selfish, and megalomaniac."

Kathy stared at me with a blank expression. "A megalo-WHAT? You just made that up just now, didn't you, Spiny Kyverná?"

"I did not! Megalomaniac is someone who is obsessed with his or her own power or achievements. Like Kim Jong Un."

"Oh, Spiny! Don't compare anyone with the cruelest dictator of the modern world," Patty said.

"All right. But Jeremy Adams is a perfect idiot!"

Kathy crossed her arms and said, "Spiny, you're jealous!"

My mouth dropped open and I laughed sarcastically. "Boy, are you way off! I am NOT jealous of anyone. What does he have that I don't have!"

"He's taller than you."

"So what? He can't sing."

"And he's on every sport team."

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Ugh! Why are girls SO superficial?" I leaned my head against the wall. Kathy put her arm on my shoulder, and said, "Oh, come on, Spiny, we're just kidding. You know that appearances don't matter. We're just teasing you!"

Well, that was a relief. At least. "Well, thanks a lot, Dr. Spock."

She just laughed and Patty said, "Okay, dinner's ready. Come on, go sit down." Kathy and I washed our hands at the sink then walked out to the dining room and sat down. Robert was just coming in and sat down beside Greeny.

A little while later, Patty came in and served everyone their plate.

"Where's Larry?" said Robert.

"Oh, he said he wasn't going to be here for dinner. He said he needed to work on some things," I said.

"Well, at least we'll have a nice and quiet family dinner," said Kathy. I could tell she was definitely happy about Larry's absence. Why couldn't she just let her grudge go and forgive Larry? That was one of the great questions of the universe. And probably was never going to be answered.

Once everything was served, we started eating. "So how was it today?" I asked everyone.

"Spiny, I have about $5,000 in from my allowance," said Robert.

Let me make something clear. Five thousand dollars for us is like twenty or forty for the US and Western Europe. So, it's basically nothing. Still it's a lot. "Oh, is there something you want to buy?"

"Yeah. A leather jacket."

"A leather jacket? You want to buy a leather jacket?"

"Yeah, a dark red leather jacket. What do you think?"

Kathy said, "I think it'll go perfect with your dark blonde hair."

I shrugged. "Well. Do you think it's a good investment? Will you use it often? Will you take care of it and keep it clean?"

"Yes, yes, and, uh…maybe? No, just kidding. Yes, too."

"All right. You can buy it."

Then Kathy said, "Oh, and I told some foreign representatives about how you might consider donating some money towards finding a cure for blood cancer in children. They need your answer by tomorrow night."

"Oh, sure. I'll check with Larry to see how much I have in my budget and I'll tell you in the morning."

"All right."

Then Greeny said, "Spiny?"

"Yes?"

"Where did I come from?"

Everything and everyone froze instantly. I dropped my fork. "Um…what did you say, Greeny?"

"I said where did I come from?"

"Um, well, that's kind…uh, did you hear that Kathy?"

"Um, yes I did."

"Well, where did I come from, Spiny?" Greeny asked again.

"Well, that's uh, kind of a long story and I don't think we have time now."

"When will we have time?"

I tried playing dumb you know. I mean, it's not that I don't know the answer, but…at the dinner table? While eating steak?

"I don't know," I said. "When will we have time, girls?"

"Well, Spiny, I think we have time now. After all, Greeny doesn't have to go to bed until eight thirty."

Out of nowhere, and all of the sudden, guess who appeared? Mr. Houdini himself. Yep, Larry. "You see, son. When a man has strong feelings for a woman, they feel mutually attracted to each other. After they get married…"

"LARRY!"

"What?"

"Get back upstairs!"

"Yeah, but…"

"Get. Back. Upstairs. Now!"

"Eesh! Just trying to be helpful." As he walked away, you know what the idiot did? He grabbed my steak! And he gobbled it all in one gulp. "Hey, that's mine!"

"Was yours. Past tense. See you." And he went back upstairs.

I shook my head in frustration. That guy had no hope of ever being normal. I was starting to think that maybe so many bad things happened to me because I'm normal. Maybe I'm the only normal person and every else is wacko.

Well, enough of that. After dinner, I went back up to my room to do some homework.

I was in the middle of doing some homework for health class, when someone knocked at my door. "Who is it?"

"I know!" said Larry. "It's someone outside the room knocking the door."

"Very funny. Smart-aleck."

"Thank you for calling me smart. Though I already knew that."

I ignored him and opened the door. "Kathy? What is it?"

"Um…" she held up her cell phone. "You, ah, have a call."

"Who is it?"

She handed it to me. "Just answer, please. If I tell you who it is, you won't accept it."

I shrugged. "Well…"

I took the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Hi, cupcake!"

GASP! I looked at Kathy with shocked. She nodded as if to say, Yeah, I know. But before I could do or say anything, she left. "Um…h-hello?" I said.

"How are you, sweetie?" Oh, no. Not with the endearments again. If she kept calling me honey and sweetie and cupcake and cutie-pie, I was going to lose my dinner and my lunch from the past two weeks.

Believe me, I am not exaggerating.

"How can I help you?"

"Oh, you know how."

I was bothered by the suggestiveness in her voice. "What do you want?" I said, now getting more annoyed.

"Oh, I was wondering if you cared to join my for dinner with my family tomorrow night?"

My heart froze. But this time, it was because I was in terror. "Um…I, I, I,"

"Good! I'll meet you tomorrow after school. Kisses! Mwah!"

"Yeah, but I…hello? Hello? Hello!"

I turned to Larry. He was watching me. "Did you hear that?"

He nodded. "Boy, are you in a jam. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Ha! Wait a minute! I had already made arrangements with Lilia for tomorrow. We were going to do an experiment tomorrow afternoon. Kylie doesn't bother me as much as when I'm with Lilia."

Larry raised his eyebrow. "You think that'll work?"

"It has to, if not, I'll…I don't know what. But I'll most likely do something dramatic that I'll regret later on."

I went to sleep and tried to get all that off my mind. Next morning, I went to school with the girls. It was all a pretty normal day. But after school…whoa!

I was walking down the main hallway on the way out. I was with Lilia, and we were discussing our experiment. And out from the shadows popped out, Ms. Jezebel. Yep, Kylie Anderson. Oh no!

"Hiya, cupcake! Ready for our dinner arrangements?"

This is where I should have slapped my hand against my forehead. Instead I said to myself, "Ay yay yay!"

Lilia had a…well; it's extremely hard to describe the look on her face. It was a mixture of confusion, shock, sadness, anger, and betrayal.

I started panicking and my heart leaped up to my throat. "I…I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Come on, Spiny. Don't you remember? Yesterday night I called you and asked you to come to my house for dinner. It was going to be just the two of us. I even suggested that we go in the pool so you could see my new swimsuit."

I heard myself gasping. WHAT?! THAT. WAS. NOT. TRUE. AT. ALL!

I looked at Lilia and…almost died. I wanted to earth to swallow me into a pit of magma and burn my memory along with it. She just the most horrible look on her face. She walked away and ran out the doors.

"Wait! Lilia! Wait! That's not true! None of it is!" She didn't stop. I started running after her, but Kylie grabbed my arm. She had sharp nails by the way. And it hurt.

"Come on, honey. We've gotten rid of her. Let's go have some fun."

That did it. It was the last straw. "Let go of me! I HATE you, Kylie Anderson! I've always hated you! Leave me alone!" By now, I was yelling so hard that my throat has hurting and everyone was looking at me.

Without regards to Kylie's reaction, I ran out the door. I went to the bike rack. Lilia's wasn't there. I got in TIV and drove back the way to her house. I went to her house but didn't see her. I jumped out and ran to her door. I rang the doorbell several times. Finally, her mom came out. "Why…Spiny. What are you doing here?"

"Mrs. Woods. Is Lilia home yet?"

"No, as a matter of fact. She hasn't come yet. Why?"

"I need to tell her something. Do you know where she could be?"

"Maybe she's at the park. She goes there often to think." The park! Why didn't I think of that?

"Thank you!" I turned around ran back to TIV and drove to the park. When I got there, I didn't see anyone, just one or two people cleaning. I got off and started going around everywhere, shouting Lilia's name. I didn't see her anywhere.

I must've been there for half an hour, without any success. I was tired from running and yelling. Out of breath, and my legs hurting, I got under the slide and tried to catch my breath. As I was sitting there, I heard whimpering. Whimpering? I hadn't seen any dogs while looking.

Wait…that was no dog whimpering…that sounded like…human whimpering? Like a person crying? Could it be…I looked up through the walk-way that lead to the slide. "Lilia!"

She looked down at me and jumped off and started walking away. I stood up and went after her. "Wait, Lilia! I can explain. Please listen to me!"

She didn't answer or even look at me. She kept walking away. I cached up to her and grabbed her arm. She tried to free herself, but I held her firm. "Now, just listen to me!"

"Let me go, Spiny. It's all over between us."

"No, you're going to listen. Number one, I had already made arrangements to be with you. Number two, Kylie did call me, but she never mentioned anything about swimming. Number three, I never said yes to her. Number four, I didn't say no because she hung up on me before I could. Number five, I've always hated her just as much as you do. And number six, you are being very unfair to me because you know that I only like you."

"You…you really like me?" she said in a voice so quiet, that even the breeze wouldn't have let me hear her.

I nodded. "Yes."

We stared into each other's eyes and silence grew heavy around us. I drew closer to her. I raised my hand to her eyebrow, where it hovered for a second, and ran a finger down the side of her face, along her delicate jawline, and gently brushed her neck with my fingertips.

I felt her pulse accelerate and her lips parted gently. She stared at me with those solemn light brown eyes. I was sure that she could hear my heart pounding. Her eyes fluttered shut before I closed mine and…as stupid phone rang.

It was hers. She reached into her phone and answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi, Mom. No, I'm fine. In the park. Yes, I'm with him. Okay. I'll be there in a little while. Bye. I love you too."

She put her phone away and looked at me. "My mom wants me home."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll walk you home."

She smiled. "Thanks."

We stood up and I took her hand in mine, and off we went. I completely forgot that I left TIV in the parking lot, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that I had cleared my name and was walking home hand in hand with the girl I loved.

I didn't get my first kiss. Again. Would we ever be able to share that magic moment?