The next morning, at breakfast, Link stood up and tapped his spoon delicately against his class. "May I have everyone's attention, please?"

Everyone immediately gave it to him.

"Thanks," he said, giving everyone a heartbreaking smile. "I would like to announce the new plan for tonight." He cleared his throat. "Tracy and I will be leading the singers, and Brenda and John will be leading the dancers."

Most of the people cheered, but a few just sat sullenly, wishing they'd gotten the newly-opened positions of head dancers. That's what they worked for so hard on the show, and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had come… and gone… to someone who hadn't been on the show, even, for months. It seemed as though Amber's friendship with Brenda, just barely restored, had slightly soured.

"Thank you, Link," Brenda gushed, looking as though she had just received an award. "I'm so excited! This is the best thing that's ever happened…"

She trailed off, and everyone just decided to ignore her and keep talking.

"Just practice, and we'll do fine," Link said, patting her shoulder in a congratulatory way and giving her a wink.

Brenda nodded slowly, and was soon spaced out, thinking.

Amber, on the other, hand, sat in fury at her end of the table. Not even Joey could console her. "That spot was mine," she kept muttering, over and over and over again. "And she… she…"

"Don't fret, baby," Joey wheedled. "Disappointment is just a part of life."

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Seaweed, stony-faced, looked at his sister. He had known that she had deserved the spot as head dancer, and she had used to want it, too. Now she just seemed so… distracted. Out of it. Unfocused. He looked at her hard, but she wasn't paying attention. He shook her shoulder.

"What?" Inez snapped, glaring at him.

Seaweed frowned. "Don't you be disrespecting me, girl," he snarled. "I wanna know what's goin' on with you."

"What's it to you?" she asked, defensive.

He sighed. "Fine, I won't try to help you with your boyfriend… or whatever he is."

Inez glared at him again, but only to stop herself from blushing.

"You know that whoever it is ain't gonna give you no respect," Seaweed told her, harshly. He wasn't trying to be mean to his sister, but he knew the truth was what it was going to take to get her to snap out of it. "All the guys here are older. You think they gonna give a whit 'bout you?"

"He would," Inez retorted. "I know he would."

"What's with you being all in love? Ain't you a little young?" Seaweed asked.

"Ain't you a little young to be datin' a girl? You guys are practically married," Inez snorted. She loved Penny, in actuality, but for the sake of winning the argument, she decided to use her as a weapon against Seaweed.

"I'm more'n three years older than you," Seaweed replied. "What do you know?"

"I know that it's perfectly natural to be sweet on someone. It's a part of life. I'm growing up, Seaweed Stubbs, whether you like it or not."

Pushing his chair back from the table, Seaweed shook his head.

"Don't I know it. Don't I know it."

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Tracy looked at Link lovingly, and Edna watched them from out of the corner of her eye. She loved Link, but she loved her daughter more, and she surely did not like the fact that they had been alone together for a whole night in the car. Alone, she repeated.

Of course, she trusted her daughter. She would even go so far as trusting Link. But sometimes Tracy was a little impulsive. Okay, more than a little.

Still, Edna was a worrier, and she had a tendency to over exaggerate on things. Every day and every night, she worried about things, and often couldn't get to sleep without getting up a few times to make sure everything in the house was in its place, and that everything was all right. She woke at various times of the night just to make sure her daughter was safe.

Edna had been through many things in her life, and since she only had one child, she was apt to worry about her. After all, worry was a part of life, and it was a part of her.