Unfortunately, Ford and Hephzie didn't get another chance to talk (or kiss). Stan was always around and there was no way to get rid of him without coming off as assholes, so the twins went back to school and waited for the day that Hephzie could be checked out from the hospital.

They continued to visit her every day after school. Their visits brightened up Hephzie's attitude. She was always careful not to complain or look too depressed, but the truth was that she was miserable at the hospital. She was uncomfortable, she couldn't get up and walk, the food sucked, she couldn't sleep for more than three hours at a time, and she was lonely. The only thing that made her smile was when Grandpa or Ford and Stan or Eleanor came to visit her, but on Tuesday Eleanor's father was checked out of the hospital so the little girl couldn't listen to Hephzie play her harmonica.

On Thursday, Hephzie was abnormally depressed. She was tired of being injured, tired of being stuck in a dumb hospital-bed, and she was tired of not sleeping well. She was tired of being tired. She didn't even have the motivation to play her harmonica. Hephzie looked down at the tiny golden instrument in her hands and watched as the sun sparkled on it. She remembered the day she had gotten it; It had been a shared Holiday present from her best friends when they were thirteen. Stan and Ford had saved up their money and worked together to get Hephzie her very own instrument. While she knew how to play the piano and the viola, Helen was Grandpa's viola; the little harmonica was Hephzie's very own instrument, and her best friends had worked hard to give it to her.

Thinking of Stan and Ford, Hephzie had a little bit of motivation to play the blues to let out some of her woes. She put the harmonica to her lips and played the tune of There's Darkness (When She's Not Here). The notes were long and low, soulfully swimming through the air as Hephzie played her heart out. Her grandfather had always said that his little Half-Pint was blessed with the gift of song. That was a shared passion Grandpa and Hephzie possessed; their music lifted their spirits and it was a part of them that could never be shaken. They were musicians and always would be.

Dr. Scott was walking down the hallway when he heard the harmonica. He smiled at hearing the blues and opened the cracked door to find Ms. Cece playing with her eyes closed, so focused and immersed into her music it was no wonder that she was oblivious to her visitor. When she felt someone's presence, she opened her eyes to find the good doctor walking in, closing the door behind him. Hephzie lowered her instrument and smiled. Dr. Scott had been so patient and kind her entire stay; she had to admit that she would miss him when it was time to leave.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Cece. How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty good, actually." Hephzie answered truthfully (physically, anyway). "What I wouldn't give to get outta bed, though."

Dr. Scott nodded. It was normal for patients to feel restless or frustrated when they could only get out of bed to go to the bathroom. "Well, let's check and see how everything looks, and then we'll discuss your mobility."

Hephzie nodded and let the doctor do his job. He checked her blood pressure and heart rate, had her flex both legs and arms, and he checked her organs. It was weird to have a male doctor check her body so thoroughly, but he was a doctor and a professional, so Hephzie focused on her breathing and waited for the check-up to be over.

"Well, everything seems to be healing normally." Dr. Scott concluded. "We'll set you up with a nice wheelchair and discharge you this afternoon."

Hephzie was excited to hear that she was ready to go home, but one word made her groan in frustration. "A wheelchair?!"

Dr. Scott raised an eyebrow and allowed his mustache to curl slightly upward, amused by her frustration. "I take it the idea of sitting doesn't fancy you."

"I was kinda hopin' ya'd give me a crutch or somethang." Hephzie admitted.

"Well," Dr. Scott said slowly and held his chin in thought. "Your other leg is fine, and normally we would give a crutch or two, but you've also broken your left arm and several ribs, so it may be best to be wheelchair-bound for awhile."

"But I live on top of a piano store." Hephzie reasoned. "I couldn't even get home on a wheelchair. N' it's possible to use a crutch, right?"

"It's possible."

"Than can I try, please? Just give me a shot."

Dr. Scott studied his patient carefully. She seemed like the kind of girl to push herself too far, but if letting her try under supervised watch would settle her mobility situation safely, then the doctor was willing to give it a try. "Very well. I'll have a nurse safely take out your IV and we'll assign you a crutch."

"Thanks." Hephzie breathed in relief.

Dr. Scott called in a nurse from the hall and while the doctor got a crutch, the nurse removed the IV from Hephzie's right arm and helped her change out of the hospital robe and into her clothes. She already felt better wearing her blue jeans and favorite red blouse. The bell-bottom jeans fitted just fine over her casted leg and the blouse was loose and easy to slip on. Dr. Scott came in after a knock on the door and had a crutch in hand. Hephzie sat at the edge of the bed with a huge grin on her face and rubbed her hands together excitedly.

"Let's do this."

Dr. Scott showed her how to hook the crutch under her right arm in a way that would support her right leg so she would stay off of it. From not walking for a week, Hephzie's legs were weak and unstable, but she was stubborn and took slow, small steps. The nurse was close by in case she needed to be caught and the doctor was at a safe distance so he could watch her. With her left arm angled so it hardly moved and her right guiding the stick forward, Hephzie slowly stepped forward, leading with her left, unbroken leg and using the stick to move the rest of her body forward. She was slow, and every part of her had to work to move, but Hephzie was walking weakly across the small room.

"Impressive." Dr. Scott observed. "Let the crutch do all the work for you, and don't apply pressure to your leg."

Hephzie nodded, taking his advice to heart, and she walked herself to the door, turned slowly, and walked back to the bed. She was slightly out of breath and had to sit and rest, her underarm aching and her left leg already sore from carrying all of her weight, plus the weight of two casts.

"The more you walk the easier it'll get." Dr. Scott said calmly as Hephzie rubbed her underarm and smiled. "I'll call your grandfather and have him come discharge you. And I'll go ahead and schedule an appointment in a month to check on your progress."

"Thank you very much." Hephzie said earnestly.

"Any questions?"

Hephzie thought about it and nodded. She had wondered this for a very long time, always being fascinated with the medical field and helping people. While thinking about her sacrifice, her recovery, and her feelings about Ford, she had also wondered…

"How do I become a doctor?"

Grandpa was unsurprised when he heard a knock on his front door and smiled to himself at recognizing who's knock it was. He opened the door and stepped aside, letting the twins inside to head for Hephzie's bedroom. Her door was open and she was lying on her bed, her legs out in front of her. She looked comfortable back on her bed and in her blouse and jeans. She looked up from her book and grinned.

"Hey guys!"

Stan and Ford walked in; Ford took her desk chair and sat in it while Stan lopped down at the foot of the bed.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us you were coming home today?!" Stan barked with a wicked grin, punching Hephzie's shoulder lightly.

"Cuz I didn't know I was until today, ya knucklehead!" Hephzie laughed as she sat the book down. "Sweet Lord, it feels so good to be back home!"

"It's so good to have you back, Hephzie." Ford confided. He glanced over at the crutch leaning against the wall by her bed and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel great!" Hephzie said victoriously. "I'm off the IV n' back home, I'm able to walk again, n' I'm all signed up to volunteer at the hospital next year!"

The twins stared at her. "You are?" They said in unison.

Hephzie blushed at realizing that she never shared her goals with her best friends. "Well… yeah. I've been thinkin' 'bout it for a few years, n' I've decided that I'm gonna be a doctor."

"Really?" Ford asked excitedly.

"Yeah! It won't be easy, but if I start now I can get ahead of the game."

"So, what's your plan?"

"Well, once I'm all fixed up in January I'm gonna volunteer at the hospital to get some hands-on experience. I'm thinkin' of focusin' on newborns n' infants, n' there's a volunteer position where I simply sit n' rock babies while they're in the nursery. N' if I keep savin' up n' workin' at The Juke Joint, I can get into a decent college n' work my way to a good medical school."

"That sounds great!" Ford said, happy for Hephzie as she seemed to have a great plan for the future. "Where do you want to go to college?"

Hephzie shrugged. "That's the only part I haven't figured out yet."

"I can help you do some research if you want."

"That'd be great!"

Stan was quiet most of the conversation, allowing the two to discuss Hephzie's college options. College was irrelevant for Stan, who at this point would be lucky to graduate high-school. College was for some people, but not for the Mystery Twins, who would soon be sailing around the world, hunting for treasure and solving mysteries and making discoveries and history. A sickening feeling was developing slowly in Stan's gut at coming to the conclusion that, one way or another, the twins would have to say goodbye to Hephzie at the end of their senior year. It'd suck, but at least Stan would have his brother along with him through thick and thin. And hey! They could always write letters or call or visit Hephzie if they wanted to. Stan liked the idea of sitting in the cabin of the Stan O' War, writing a mini biography to Hephzie and a few weeks later receiving one back, telling of her days at college and how happy she was for her best friends.

After a few minutes of rambling about college and Hephzie's options, Stan excused himself to use the john. Once he was gone, Ford blushed and said quickly in a whisper,

"So, listen… I…" But words failed him.

Hephzie was patient. Ford had told her to listen and she was ready to, but seeing how he couldn't express his thoughts properly, she sighed and spoke first.

"Look, Ford, I'll be honest with ya, k'?" Ford nodded to show that he wouldn't judge Hephzie for anything she was about to say. "I've… I like ya in that way. I've liked ya in that way for a long time, actually." She added, blushing furiously and looking down at her casted left arm to give her something to look at that wasn't Ford.

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really. But I didn't think ya liked me n' I didn't want to screw anythang up." Hephzie said quickly in a hushed tone.

"I understand." Ford said with a nod, a smile growing on his lips at seeing that they were on the same page. "I… I think I have for awhile, too. I just… I didn't know what to do about it."

Hephzie looked up at him and took in a deep breath. "So, what do ya wanna do about it now?"

Ford hesitated. Hephzie was being completely honest with him, so it was only fair to return that same amount of trust. The six-fingered teenager swallowed and answered Hephzie's question. "I want to ask you out on a date."

Hephzie stared at her love interest. She expected Ford to answer the question with a question by asking her what she wanted in order to avoid answering the question altogether. She blinked away her surprise and asked quietly, "What else do ya want?"

Ford relaxed at seeing her cool, collected smile, and he returned the look with his own. "Well, I'd love it if you said 'yes'. I want to take you out to dinner, something other than tacos for burgers. And I want it to just be the two of us. And… I'd also like to keep it between the two of us." He added in a pleading tone.

Hephzie thought about it. Not on her answer about the date, but as to why Ford would want to keep it a secret. There was a lot of uncertainty of how Stan would feel about his best friend and his brother dating. Hephzie would like to think that he would be happy about it, but a voice in the back of her head told her that Stan would be furious, hurt and/or feel left out. And what if things didn't work out? In Hephzie's mind, there was a possibility that Ford was only attracted to her because she saved his life, and she begged for that not to be the case, but the chance was still there. Not to mention that with all the confusion about their feelings and their relationship, the last thing the two teenagers needed was the outside world's opinion, be it Stan's or their families' or the public's.

"Yes." Hephzie said and nodded. "I'll go out with ya."

Ford blinked like a confused owl. He was just about to properly ask Hephzie if she would go out on a date with him, but she had already answered him. His mind seemed unable to wrap around the fact that someone - not just anyone, but the woman he loved - wanted to go out with him. He made a face-splitting grin that made Hephzie chuckle and he asked, "You will?"

"I've been waitin' for ya to ask me for months!" Hephzie said behind a palm that was quieting her chuckles. "Of course I'll go out with ya!"

Ford looked ready to give the air a good ole left hook, or cheer out in glory, or even take a leaf out of Stan's book and do a boastful dance, but all he did was grin. At that moment, Stan walked back in and sat down at the foot of Hephzie's bed, catching the smiles on his best friends' faces and how Hephzie had a hard time containing giggles.

"What?"

Hephzie thought up a quick lie. "I was telling a stupid joke the intern told me one night."

"I wanna hear it!" Stan said, rubbing his hands together menacingly; he never turned down the opportunity to hear a joke, no matter how terrible and cringy it was.

"Okay, okay… so apparently the intern's parents got a divorce. Now, his mom still misses his dad… but her aim is getting better!"

Stan broke into a huge fit of laughter and ended up pounding on the wall with the side of his fist. Ford rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile as he brother laughed, and soon Hephzie laughed, too, Stan's cackling proving to be contagious.

Stan wiped a tear from under his eye and croaked, "It's funny cuz marriage is terrible!" His statement made him laugh even harder and soon Hephzie was holding her aching ribs as they had been tested too much from laughing, but it was totally worth it.

January 10th, 1972

The holidays were an interesting time for Hephzie, Stan and Ford, mostly because they ended up celebrating three holidays, so the term "Happy Holidays" truly was appropriate for the trio. At first, it was hard to blend traditions together, but throughout their childhood they found a way.

The Pines family was Jewish, so they celebrated Hanukkah. Most of it was spent solely on family, but on the last last night of Hanukkah the Pines hosted a big party and would invite friends and family alike, including the Cece family. Hephzie grew up hearing Ma tell the story of Hanukkah, eating potato latkes, and playing dreidel just as much as Stan, Ford and Shermie. This year, the party was just as much fun, but now they had Daisy and little Franklin, whom Hephzie took upon to watch so Ma could play host, since the teenager with dreadlocks couldn't dance the way she wished with her leg still casted from the truck. The holiday was just as fun as always as Stan tried to cheat at dreidel and Ford told a million facts about the Syrians and the Hebrews that made Shermie cringe and Hephzie roll her eyes.

The Cece family was not only Christian, but African-American, too. The Pines family would join the Cece family for Christmas dinner, since it made the depressing three-person meal grow into a huge feast. There would be both turkey and ham (Ma was the only one who followed the no-pig rule; the Pines men found it too delicious to miss out on) and many other wonderful foods, just like on Hanukkah. After the meal, music would be provided as Grandpa would play his voila, Helen, and Hephzie would play her harmonica while the wood-burning stove warmed the room and made the guests cozy with hot chocolate. And, of course, along with New Years, the Cece family also celebrated Kwanzaa and would invite the Pines family to the big Karamu feast held on the sixth day, along with other friends from their church and around the neighborhood.

However, one tradition that the twins always missed out on was the church-service in the morning. As children, their father never allowed them to go, but ever since the Cece family settled in New Jersey and started to attend church, both Grandma Cece and Hephzie would sing in the choir and Grandpa would sometimes play piano. On Christmas morning, after gifts were exchanged, they would go down to the church and the choir would perform a special Christmas worship full of joyful music. Now, almost fully-grown adults, the twins were able to put their foot down and accept the offer to go; they had never heard Hephzie sing at church. Even if her broken leg stopped her from dancing, it didn't stop her from leading the choir in Joy To The World and sing her heart out. Her best friends (and secret boyfriend) were floored by her performance and vowed to return next Christmas to hear her sing like that again.

The holidays were usually a chaotic, fun, busy, joyful, anxious fiasco that would have Hephzie, Stan and Ford begging for school to start again (maybe more of Hephzie and Ford than Stan; it'd take a little more than the holidays to make Stan want to go back to school). This year, however, Hephzie was especially excited for the New Year for two reasons: the day after New Years she got her cast taken off and was fully cured, and she started her new volunteer-job next weekend. Her excitement was apparent when she was grinning ear-to-ear in the car ride to school, having the whole backseat to herself while the twins took up the driver's and passenger's seats.

"I swear, you become more and more like Poindexter every day." Stan teased when he saw her huge grin from the rear-view mirror.

"I've got a lot to smile 'bout, Knucklehead." Hephzie said optimistically. "Think 'bout it, just one more semester n' we'll be free!"

"More like Ford and me will be free!" Stan laughed. "You're going back to school after the summer!"

Ford muttered under his breath, "Ford and I," but this was undetected as Hephzie retaliated,

"Yeah, but I made the choice; it feels a lot better knowin' I'm goin' cuz I want to, not cuz I'm forced to."

Stan shrugged as he stopped at a red light, agreeing that it was a lot easier to do something when it was your idea.

"Anyways, this semester's gonna be great!" Hephzie went on. "I've already taken all of my hard clases, so all of mine this semester are easy. I even have a free period to get homework done!"

"Really?" Ford asked as he pulled out his own schedule and saw that he also had a free period. "Let me see your schedule." Hephzie pulled her house of her purse and Ford compared the two. "That's great! We have the same lunch period and free period!"

"Ya got the same free period, Stan?" Hephzie asked.

Stabn barked a laugh as the light turned green. "Nah, gotta retake Trig."

"Well, it'll be easier this time since ya know what to expect." Hephzie said as he gave Stan's shoulder a quick pat. "N' we still got lunch together, right?"

"All the seniors have the same lunch period." Ford pointed out as he handed Hephzie her schedule, making a mental note that they had most of the same classes, except Ford was taking Honors Language Arts instead of regular L.A. like Hephzie and she had signed up for an extra music class.

"Gotcha." Hephzie replied as she folded up her schedule and slipped it back into her small, brown purse, which her grandfather had gotten her for Christmas.

Most of the school seemed to be thinking along the same lines as the trio. Either a teen was gossiping about their hopes for the semester or walking like a zombie, completely miserable that their sleeping-schedule had been thrown off again. As Hephzie, Stan and Ford walked to their first class (American History), they passed a group of girls loudly squealing about prom. Hephzibah gagged and pointed to the inside of her mouth, making Stan laugh and Ford roll his eyes with a small smile on his lips.

"But seriously," Hephzie chuckled. "Do y'all even wanna go?" She asked the twins.

Stan shrugged. "I might go if the punch is spiked." He laughed.

Ford shrugged and made a mental note to talk to Hephzie in private about the dance. Going into senior year, Stanford didn't even want to go, but now that he had a girlfriend it sounded like a good idea. Still, it would be hard to pull off a date to the prom if one is in a secret relationship. And there was a good chance that Hephzie wouldn't even want to go, but Stane asked her in return,

"How 'bout it, sis? You wanna go to prom?"

Hephzie shrugged with a smile, her eyes on Ford. "I've never been one to miss out on a party."

Stan, oblivious to whom Hephzie was looking at, said proudly, "You've got some of the best moves in the whole school! Ya gotta go!"

"You're not half-bad yourself."

"It's all in the hips." Stan then sat his backpack down by a rocker and did his famous boastful dance that required a lot of lip-wiggling and tapping feet.

Hephzie actually had to put a hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter down and Ford joined in, his brother smiling at getting his friends to laugh. They walked into their first class right in the nick of time, but within fifteen minutes of class, Stan had fallen asleep and Hephzie and Ford were too submerged into their notes to notice or care.

The rest of the day went by normally, apart from getting used to their new schedules, and Hephzibah and Stanford finally had a moment alone during their free period. They could do anywhere they'd like during their eighty minutes of free-time, as long as they were back for their last class of the day, so the two hid in the high-school's library, at a desk towards the back where no one would find them. They knew they had to make this hour and twenty minutes last, because Hephzibah had work after school today and there was no way Stanley could get into enough trouble on the first day to get him detention, so it looked like it was now or never for the secret couple.

They sat with their American History homework in front of them, getting a short essay-question done as they whispered to each other.

"So… prom."

"Mm, hm."

"D-Do you want to go?"

Hephzibah gave him a grin as sly as a fox. "Are ya askin' me out to prom?"

Stanford swallowed. He wanted to ask her in a more romantic way than upfront in a quiet library. He was thinking over dinner with maybe flowers. "I'm asking if I asked you, would you say 'yes'?"

Hephzibah nodded, understanding, and looked back down at her paper, flicking through her textbook to find a section that would help her word out her answer correctly. "I would say 'yes'."

Stanford sighed in relief. "Okay… okay, I will ask you, then."

Hephzibah's smile wouldn't go away. His nervousness was cute to watch. He had that same nervousness whenever they held hands or kissed, and Hephzibah not only thought it was cute how Stanford's voice would quiver or how he would smile at being reassured, but it showed just how much he liked her. The best dating advice her grandmother had ever given Hephzibah was to never date a man who was overly confident, because if someone really likes you they should be a little nervous.

Hephzibah tried to focus on the Confederate States and exactly why they decided to split from the United States for her homework, but her mind wouldn't let her. She looked back up at Stanford to find him holding his chin as he reread his paragraph, checking for grammar errors or misspelled words. Hephzibah rested her head in her right hand, her palm squishing her right cheek. Stanford caught her staring and turned pink. He tried to ignore her, but it was very hard to do so. After rereading his work, he leaned back in his chair and smiled at his girlfriend.

"What?" Stanford breathed quietly so the librarian wouldn't shush them.

"Nothin'." Hephzibah sighed and stood up. She gracefully slipped onto his lap, her legs dangling by his right side, and she wrapped his arms around his neck, a popular position for them both during their few dates.

Thanks to the holidays, their time together had been miniscule ever since Hephzibah came home from the hospital. Either Stanley was with them or they didn't have any time together at all. Once school was out there was no way to lie and say they needed to get homework done at the library, and the family gatherings made it impossible for the trio to even get some time away just as friends. Stanford and Hephzibah were both grateful that having a normal schedule would give them the time they needed for their secretive dates.

There were a lot of reasons for keeping their relationship under the radar. For one, it saved them the trouble of having to get the approval of each other's guardians. While Grandma was too ill-minded to understand that her granddaughter was dating someone, Grandpa was a bit overprotective and may or may not approve of his granddaughter dating at all. Stanford was confident that, while his mother may be supportive of their relationship, his father was certainly not approve of whom Stanford has chosen to date. Another reason was that they were unsure how Stanley would take the news; Hephzibah was quick to say that he would be thrilled, but Stanford wasn't so sure. A third reason - that somewhat tied in with the last two reasons - was that the couple was still trying to figure how their own feelings that they didn't really need or want anyone else's opinions to sway them in their decisions. It was no secret that dating someone of a different race wasn't exactly socially acceptable yet; it was becoming more and more common, but was still considered unusual. Ten years ago couples were arrested for marrying someone of another race; the teenagers may not have to fear that, but it was still taboo, and Hephzibah and Stanford weren't ready to try to tackle the world yet.

Hephzibah ran a hand through Stanford's fluffy brown hair. Before, she would ruffle his messy hair, making it worse, as a way to tease him or play with him. Now she did it as a way to admire his uncontrollable hair, the soft, petting gestur causing the polydactyl teenager to close his eyes in comfort. He let go of his pencil and wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her locked within his grasp.

None of them said a word; nothing needed to be said. Some of their best times together had been when they sat in silence, enjoying each other's company in a way they never had before. It didn't matter how different they were or how complicated things have become. What mattered was that they were on the same page, together, and happy. Their relationship was so young, so much still needed to be sorted out and explored.

Hephzibah dropped her hand from Stanford's hair so she could gently hug him around his shoulders and neck, free to kiss the top of his head. Stanford grew hot in his cheeks and neck, but he had enough confidence to kiss her on the base of her neck, the closest and most appropriate place he could reach at the moment. Hephzibah lowered her head to kiss his lips, and Stanford raised his head to kiss her back. Quickly their necks ached and they both had to pull away to chuckle at their failed experiment, their voices low so they wouldn't be caught. Stanford checked his watch.

"Eh. We still have ten minutes."

"Good."

Stanford had to decide quickly which he would rather do: hug or kiss? He decided ultimately on the later and he could tell by the way Hephzibah got off of him that she wanted to kiss rather than sit on his lap and hold him, which was more than fine by him. Hephzibah moved the work on the table aside so she could sit directly in front of Stanford, her hands on the edges of the table, her legs dangling, and her body leaned forward slightly. Perhaps Hephzibah and Stanford had already developed a strong connection, or perhaps it was because they had grown up together, but whatever the reason, Stanford found he could read Hephzibah's expression like an open book.

Stanford scooted his chair forward silently to be as close to Hephzibah as possible. Still not quite eye level with her, he decided to ditch sitting down and he scooted the chair back, free to stand. He placed his hands gently over hers, close enough to smell her sweet perfume and the cocoa butter in her dreadlocks. Stanford returned the slyful grin his girlfriend gave him and kissed her. She kissed back blissfully. She found Stanford had become quite the impressive kisser since their first simple one; none of them felt ready to straight-up making out, involving all functions of the mouth, but the lips satisfied their desires to show each other affection, and Hephzibah discovered something erupting from her chest as Stanford pleasurably kissed her.

Slowly, never breaking their kiss, Stanford removed his hands from on top of Hephzibah's hands and hugged her around the waist. Once again, Hephzibah hugged him around his shoulders and neck. Stanford found his hands stroking up and down her slender back before he could stop it. He paid attention for a sign to stop, but Hephzibah returned the action by grabbing onto the collar of his gold-colored polo and running one hand up his neck and the back of his head, her fingers entangled in his hair.

Slowly and hesitantly, not really wanting to, Hephzibah pulled back from their kiss and breathed, "Ford… what time is it?"

Catching his breath, Stanford checked his silver watch. "We still have five minutes."

"To get to class?" Hephzibah asked, her voice hitched quietly at knowing it would take more than five minutes to get to her last class of the day.

"No, until we have to pack up to leave." Stanford muttered and showed Hephzie the time, a cunning smile on his face, proud of his own cleverness. "Class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes."

"Oh." Hephzibah breathed.

With a smile, she kissed Stanford to reward him for his planning ahead. He kissed her back, enjoying the taste of mint on her breath, the softness of her lips, the sturdiness of her hands, and the passion that was behind her actions.