Garrett heard the laughter, emanating from the kitchen. He was surprised to see Owen, Cristina and his mom, sitting around the kitchen table, having tea and scones.

"Hey, Garrett," Owen said, on seeing his former friend.

"Hey, Owen," Garrett replied. "What are you guys doing?"

"I invited Owen to have some tea and scones with Mom and me," Cristina said. "Scones are delicious. Do you want one?"

"No, I am just going to wait for dinner. Where is Dad with the food, Mom?" Garrett asked Helen. "Why doesn't he just allow them to deliver?"

"Well, you know Dad," she said. She turned to Owen to explain. "Stanley likes to go down to the Chinese place when he orders takeout. Since he is such a good customer, they usually give him extra food, plus they always throw in an extra side dish."

"More food is always good," Owen said.

"Hey, why don't you stay over for dinner?" Helen said. "Stanley will be back soon and we always have tons of extra food. You can help us eat it."

Owen was unsure about it, since he didn't know how Garrett would feel about it. He looked at Garrett.

"Yeah, stay," Garrett said. "It will be less leftovers in the refrigerator if you stay."

Cristina looked at him, happily. "Call your mom and tell her you're having dinner with us."

Owen looked around. He really couldn't refuse, could he? Especially since Garrett seemed to have no problems with him staying over for dinner. "Well, okay," he said. "Thanks. I will give my mom a call." He made a quick phone call to his mother, who was more than a little surprised, given that he had not been to the Yangs' house in years.

"She said that it was fine because she didn't really cook anything, anyway," Owen said.

"Now we just have to wait for my dad to get home. I am pretty sure he stopped at Home Depot after picking up the food at the Chinese restaurant," Garrett said, having a seat. "Gosh, I am so hungry. I think I will have a scone." He picked up one of the strawberry scones and took a bite. "Mom, this is awesome." Helen poured her son a cup of tea.

"So, Owen," Helen said. "What are your plans for college? You're a senior, now and college is important."

"I have had quite a few offers because of football like from out of state but I am thinking of sticking closer to home," he said. "I have applied to Northwestern because I want a really top class education." He failed to mention that one of the reasons that he wanted to stay was that he could be close to Cristina, as she finished high school.

"Northwestern – that is a really good school, Owen," Helen said. "I hope you get in. Garrett has applied to CalTech and MIT and a couple of safety schools but he thinks it is going to be between these two."

"Whoa," Owen said. "You're going to be far away from home, if you choose either one, Garrett."

"Yup," Garrett said. "I am actually leaning towards CalTech for a really stupid reason. I know it is an excellent school and all that. But it is in Pasadena and the weather would be a lot better than Boston, for sure. Getting tired of these Chicago winters and maybe, a little warm sunshine would do me good."

"Nothing wrong with a little sun," Owen said.

"Not for you," Cristina poked him. "With your coloring, you would be burnt to a crisp in the sun."

"Ha, ha," Owen said, sarcastically.

"I think Garrett just wants to be just like one of the guys on The Big Bang Theory," Cristina said. "They are at CalTech."

"Ha, ha," Garrett said, sarcastically.

Both he and Owen smiled at the same time. They had both the same response to something Cristina said. It was just like the old days, when they were good friends. The two former friends, Cristina and Helen chatted for an hour, before they heard the sound of the garage door opening.

"I guess dad is here," Helen said, opening the door, leading to the garage. Stanley pulled in and took the food out of the car.

He came into the kitchen. "Ah, Owen, have you come to join us for dinner?" Stanley asked, as he put down the food on the kitchen table.

"Yes, sir, Mrs. Yang invited me to stay. Is that okay with you?" Owen responded.

"Of course it is. I guess you all have been waiting for me," he said. "I just had a quick stop at the Home Depot for my latest project." Garrett rolled his eyes. He knew his dad had to stop at the Home Depot, since it was near the Chinese restaurant.

"Okay, let's get some plates, honey," Stanley said. "We've got three hungry kids, here."

Helen brought out some plates and everyone took what they wanted from the boxes. "Did you get an extra side order?" Helen asked her husband.

"Naturally," he said. "And I got an extra food in everything I ordered. See it pays to become friends with the folks at the Chinese restaurant. We have more than enough food for everyone."

The Yang family and their guest were hearty eaters as they polished off most of the food. Owen was thoroughly enjoying himself. It was as if he was always part of their lives. He had missed their playful conversation with each other and the way they treated each other. He and his sister Julia were not as close as Garrett and Cristina were. He always attributed that to the seven year age difference between him and Julia.

"To top it off," Stanley announced. "We have lychee ice cream."

"Yum," Cristina said, clapping her hands. Helen brought out the ice cream bowls and for once, it was total silence around the table, as everyone licked their spoons clean. After the ice cream, Cristina asked her dad if they could use his study to run through some lines for the play. Her dad agreed. Owen followed Cristina to her dad's study and they brought out the scripts. Since Paris did not appear in the earlier part of the play, Owen read the lines of the other roles who had dialogue with Juliet. He offered her advice on how she should say certain lines.

After an hour of productive work, he finally looked at his watch. "I have to go home, Cristina. I have homework to do." He didn't want to leave but he knew he had to. She walked him to the door.

"Hey, can you come to the football game on Friday? It is an away game," he asked, hopefully.

"No," she said, as she sadly shook her head. "Dad says I can only go to the home games."

"It's just as well," he said. "I have to travel with the rest of the team on the bus, when we have away games and I wouldn't have my car to bring you home."

"That's okay. I will definitely be there for the next home game," she said, brightly. "See you tomorrow, Owen."

"Yeah, bye, Cristina," he said, as she gave him a hug before she closed the front door.

Cristina sat by herself in her usual corner table in the cafeteria. Madeleine was late in getting there. She was reading a book, when she heard someone pull up a chair and sit at her table.

"Hi, Cristina," Tammy said. Cristina looked up, wondering why the older girl was speaking to her. The only times she had ever spoken to Cristina before was when she was with Owen.

"Hi, Tammy," Cristina responded. She might as well be nice, even though she knew the truth about Owen and Tammy's relationship. She did think it was kind of pathetic that a girl pretended that some guy was her boyfriend for social status in high school.

"So Cristina, I thought I would offer you a piece of advice," Tammy said.

"Okay," Cristina said, putting down her book and wondering what advice could a cheerleader offer her.

"Well, I guess you've only probably started dating, is that right?" Tammy asked. Cristina nodded. She had no reason to lie about that.

Tammy continued, "The worst kind of guys to date in high school is jocks. They are so full of themselves and think that they are the greatest things in the world. They think everyone must cater them since they are the sporting heroes of the school."

Cristina found that statement ironic, since she was pretty sure that Tammy probably only dated jocks. She was even pretending to be a jock's girlfriend. But Cristina said nothing.

"Plus you have to fight off the girls who think that they are going to steal your guy away. Girls who don't know any better that stealing a girl's boyfriend is a no-no in high school," Tammy said, staring at Cristina straight in her face. "That's when the claws come out, Cristina, and that is when high school is not a very nice place."

Cristina wondered what in the world was Tammy talking about. As far as she knew, she wasn't stealing anybody's boyfriend. She was only dating Bobby and she knew that he didn't have a girlfriend.

"What you need, Cristina, is a nice, quiet boy in the same year as you," Tammy said. "He will understand you better, since you would be so close in age and all."

"Um, okay," Cristina said. "Thanks for the advice, I guess."

"Yeah, you are welcome. Just remember what I told you and you are going to do fine in high school," Tammy said.

"What are you doing here, Tammy?" Owen said, as he came up to the table. He had done his usual scan of the room to look for Cristina and was disturbed to see Tammy sitting at Cristina's table. Why was she talking to Cristina? He hoped it was not about him. He had already told Cristina that he was not Tammy's boyfriend. He wondered if she was filling up Cristina's head with some more untruths.

"Nothing, Owen," Tammy said. "Just giving Cristina some advice. I guess I better go." She got up and walked to her friends' table.

Owen sat down. "What did she tell you?"

Cristina looked at him. "It was a very strange conversation. She was telling me that I shouldn't date jocks because they are the worst. They think that they are the greatest things in school." Owen knew that was a hit directly at him. He was the most well-known jock in school. He glared at Tammy, who chose to ignore him.

"And that girls are always trying to steal your boyfriend," Cristina said. Owen knew that Tammy was referring to Cristina, even though in reality, Cristina was doing no such thing. "And that I should date a nice, quiet boy from my year because he would understand me better."

"Cristina, do you trust me?" he asked, his blue eyes staring intently at her chocolate brown eyes.

"Yes, Owen. Completely," she said. He was grateful that she said that.

"Stay away from Tammy Lester," he said. "She is bad news to you."

"Okay," Cristina said. She knew Owen would never steer her in the wrong direction, so she agreed. Madeleine finally made it to the table.

"What took you so long?" Cristina asked Madeleine, who had a huge smile on her face.

"I got my first date. This Saturday," Madeleine said, excitedly.

"Yay for you," Cristina said. "Bobby and I are going out this Saturday, too." Owen's ears perked up. Another date with Bobby?

"So what are you going to do?" Owen asked. He knew this would be her third date with Bobby in as many weeks.

"Oh, we are just going to the movies. That new superhero movie comes out," she said. "I am not too crazy about it but the star is really cute."

"Me, too," Madeleine said. "We're going to the movies, too. Maybe we will see each other, there."

Owen gritted his teeth as he thought about the last time he saw Bobby, putting his arm around Cristina at the movies.

"I want to see that movie, too," he said.

"Really?" Cristina said. "Why don't we all go out in a group? Me, you, Madeleine and we could all bring our dates. It could be fun."

Owen thought that this could work out in his favor. Now, he needed to find a girl to go out with him. He needed someone who was a friend, who would know that they were not really on a date. He knew who he could ask.

"Sure," he said, giving her a broad smile. He knew Bobby was going to be pissed but Owen did not care one bit.

"It's a date, then," Cristina said, laughing. Madeleine nodded.

A/N: Please leave your comments. Thank you for your thoughts.