"Does your mom always do this?" Dylan whispered after Rachel's mom left the room.

"Usually. You should have seen the family album. It's full of photos of the first day of school and all that. Don't your parents do that," Rachel asked.

"Only the first day when I went to Excelsior," Dylan said.

"You look very handsome. Did your mom help you tie your bowtie?" Rachel asked with a smile.

"Nope. My dad did. He says he has more experience tying these darn things more than my mother. The only problem is that they're not very comfortable," Dylan said as Rachel's mom came back into the room with a digital camera.

*Angie Harmon is pictured as Rachel's mom. ( She stars in Rizzoli & Isles)

Rachel's mom Olivia returned with a big smile on her face. She loved taking pictures of special moments. Because she was really into scrap booking. "Now, I know you two want to be on your way, I only want to take a few pictures". she loaded some batteries into the camera.

Few pictures turned out to be about nearly ten or twenty different poses. Rachel's mom was really into taking pictures and sometimes it took Rachel to make her stop taking them so she could hurry out the door. Her mom wanted them to pose in couple poses and so they did, when she wanted to take more, Rachel spoke up "Mom, we got to go. It's nearly 8:30."

Olivia turned red. "I'm sorry. I just get carried away. If you take more at the prom and you will, I want a copy of the pic! Have fun!" Olivia saw them out the door and was surprised that Dylan had a limo waiting. It was black.

Rachel's eyes lit up "You got a limo for the night? Dylan, how much did this cost?" Rachel asked.

"Don't ask. My dad rented the limo when I told him I had decided to go to the dance. You want a coke? The company, when they realized we were kids, put cokes in the mini-bar instead of alcoholic drinks," Dylan said, opening a cherry-vanilla Dr. Pepper for him.

"That sounds good. I'll take a Sprite. So why did you decide to go? You don't even go to Metropolis High," Rachel said as Dylan handed her the drink in a crystal wine glass.

"It was Linda and Ashley. They got me the suit and said I was being a couch potato," Dylan admitted, taking a drink.

"Let me guess, it was Linda who said it," Rachel said with a grin.

"You got it. I was all-prepared to sit home and watch old episodes of "Lost in Space," Dylan said.

"You like science fiction?" Rachel, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. My cousins say I'm weird because I like old episodes of "Star Trek," "Star Wars," and "Lost in Space." The only more modern show I watch is "Stargate SG-1," Dylan said as the limo parked in front of the school. The driver opened the door for both of them and they walked inside.

Walking inside of the prom, Rachel instantly felt old memories of her and Eric attending the prom began to fill her mind, but Rachel pushed the thoughts aside. Eric was her past now, and that was where she he should stay. She would always remember the good times she shared with him before things took a bad turn. She was with someone new now and she had to focus on him, and not on the past. It was time to move on with her new guy and to the future.

Her mother had been right. They had to pose for more pictures that night. The school had it's on Photographer who took pictures of couples and the fee was only $10. Rachel was going to pay with some money she had, but Dylan offered to pay for the picture himself and they wanted two copies, one for her, one for him.

The prom was held at a local fancy Hotel. It was called Marriott & Suites. The prom was held in a big room reserved for Metropolis High. Some students even hung around the lounge area in the lobby of the Hotel mingling with friends. Some danced in the lobby, and some in the room reserved for the students. The room was decorated lovely. Had a wooden dance floor, a Dj, The Dj played a mixture of today's Pop/Rock/R&B mix. Students were currently dancing to Jennifer Lopez's latest song "On the floor". Rachel and the prom committee did great at all the preparations for it. There was party punch and food at one end of the room. The Dj they had hired cost a good bit of their money, but it was less expensive than a band. They soon found their friends, Ashley, Linda, Jon, and their dates in the lobby waiting for them. Linda wore a black spaghetti strapped gown that sparkled, and her hair was in a French twist. Ashley wore her favorite color a light purple gown, with her long blonde hair in waves. Jon looked handsome in a black tux and his date was named Kathy Barnes a young brunette girl he was currently seeing in more than one of his classes. Jason was also with Ashley and appeared to be having a good time.

Rachel noticed that he was no longer wearing his glasses but had gotten a comfortable pair of contacts that Ashley had found him awhile back. He looked strikingly different without them.

"Hi!' Rachel immediately greeted them and pulled Dylan towards them. "The prom turned out to be great didn't it? I didn't think we could pull the work off".

Ashley and Linda nodded. All three of them were on the prom committee and the decorations, the Dj, and theme was all of their ideas. "I was worried we wouldn't have enough cash in our Treasury box". said Linda .

"Well, if we were in a cash bind, Dad would have helped out some". Ashley said. "But we had plenty, so there wasn't much to worry about. Good thing we do fundraisers for the school".

They all nodded. "Well, we should go check out that dance floor and the Dj shouldn't we?" asked Rachel. Then they all went to the dance floor.

Rachel was a good dancer. An hour later they were taking a break and sipping punch and eating the cookies and chicken that one of the restaurants in Metropolis had decided to send to the prom.

Dylan heard his pager go off and judging by Ashley's face she had heard hers as well. "Oh, darn," he heard her exclaim softly.

"What's wrong? You and Ashley don't look too happy," Rachel said, a confused look in her eyes.

"It's nothing. Stay here with Linda and Jon. I'll be right back," Dylan said, leaving the hotel's ballroom. Ashley was right behind him.

"You'd think we could have a night off from being the Green Arrow," Ashley whispered softly.

"Don't I know it," Dylan grumbled as he went into the boy's room to change into the clothes his father had left in there while Ashley went into the girl's room.

Rachel was a bit confused as to why Ashley and Dylan had to suddenly leave their dates and the prom. What could be more important than the dance? Not worrying too much about it, Rachel joined Linda, Jon, and Jason. At least she could still dance with them.

After dancing a few numbers with her friends, Rachel decided she needed to go freshen up in the bathroom. "Excuse me, I have to go use the girl's bathroom. She used it, washed her hands, and reapplied some of her lip-gloss. She nearly jumped when she heard a bathroom stall door open and out walked Regina Halloway. A popular girl who knew Eric and couldn't stand Rachel. "Well, look at who showed up with a new date. It's Rachel". she looked at her smugly. "What happened to Dylan? I hope he didn't suddenly have cold feet".

Meanwhile, Ashley and her brother were dressed in their Green Arrow gear waiting on orders from their mom. "I would much rather be dancing at the prom with Jason than going out and doing this". she grumbled.

Dylan had to agree with her he was having a blast with Rachel. "For once, I agree with you. Let's just get the job done and hopefully there will be time to get back to our dates.". Their orders came from Chloe 15 minutes later "Okay, this just came up on the screen. There's a few robberies on Greenway St, an inmate escaped from prison and the guards are having trouble finding him". then Chloe paused and said "Ashley, Dylan, I'm sooooo sorry for interrupting your fabulous time! This just suddenly came up!"

Ashley spoke up "That's okay, mom. If we hurry, we can still enjoy it". then Ashley hung up her cell, then turned to Dylan "Time to go, brother". Using one of their weapons from their back, Ashley and Dylan's weapon shot out a long string so they could get from building to building, when Ashley first learned this, she had been scared. But now she enjoyed it. Her and Dylan began to swing towards the other building.

Dylan looked through his nightshade goggles that his father had built into the sunglasses he, Dylan, and Ashley wore. The goggles gave off heat signatures and made it possible for Dylan to see in complete darkness.

"Well?" Oliver's voice asked in the headset in his ear.

"Looks like three or four thieves, Dad," Ashley said, adjusting her headset.

"I can also trigger the alarm," Dylan said, putting an arrow to his bow and firing.

When Dylan sent his arrow in his bow firing, it hit the alarm triggering the alarm sound inside and outside. Within minutes, cops showed up on the scene busting the thieves before they could steal more items from the local store. Once that was taken care of, they

were onto the next robbers which attacked a local Grocery Store. Then after that, they were on the run trying to catch an inmate. Ashley was the closest to him so she tackled him down to the ground once she was near him. "Your going back to jail where you belong". they notified the police they had found the inmate by telling them where he could be found. For good measure, Ashley and Dylan used some rope and tied him up really good and duct taped his hands and feet. He was tied up to a light pole. "That should keep him where he is til the cops show up. Now let's get back to the dance". she told Dylan. He nodded and the two made their way back to the Dance..

Rachel looked at Regina and replied "Dylan had things he had to take care of right away. Regina, just leave me alone. I'm not asking for any trouble". she grabbed her things and put them in her purse and tried to exit the bathroom.

Regina's eyes flashed with anger. It was clear the girl had to be on drugs of some kind, or she had been drinking. She grabbed Rachel by the shoulders and said "Your not going anywhere. Your going to tell me exactly how Eric died. And you know what I think? If you hadn't broken things off with him, he might still be alive".

Rachel felt her face start to fall. But she couldn't let Regina get to her so easily she straightened her expression. "That is absurd, Regina. We all know what happened to Eric was an accident. And we were going to break up even if he had lived. Things hadn't been right between me and Eric for sometime now. Look, I'm here to have some fun since I haven't been out of the house awhile. I'm moving on with my life. And if that looks bad for a lot of people at school, so be it. I don't need any drama in my life so please leave me alone". Rachel turned back towards the door, shaking her head. She returned to her friends.

Dylan smoothed back his hair as he nearly ran to the Hotel's ballroom. It was difficult being the Green Arrow. Sometimes he had to act like Zorro when he wasn't the Green Arrow. He had watched the old movies and TV shows, plus the one that came out in '98 and it had given him a few ideas; the one he liked most was acting like a wimp when he wasn't the Green Arrow.

Dylan looked around the room. He could see Linda and Jon, but Rachel was no where. Rachel then came rushing into the room, her face red. "Hey, you okay?" Dylan asked as she looked at him with glassy eyes. She looked as if she was going to cry.

"Can we sit down and talk?" Rachel asked in a small voice.

"Sure," Dylan said.

"Do you think I killed Eric?" Rachel asked, surprising Dylan.

"No. What makes you ask?" Dylan asked at that moment tears came to her eyes and spilled over.

Rachel let it all spill out and she told Dylan about what all Regina said. "I'm trying not to let what she says get to me. But I don't want everyone to think I caused Eric's accident". she sighed letting some air out of her. "But Regina is the type to cause trouble. I'm afraid she's going to start spreading awful rumors about me that aren't true. And the last thing need is more drama. I'm just trying to move on with my life. Is there anything wrong with that?" she looked at Dylan.

Her eyes scanned the ballroom for Regina but saw the girl nowhere. But she wasn't about to let her guard down. The girl had scared her and there was no telling what she might do the next time she got within few feet of her.

She then hugged Dylan "I'm just glad you're here now. What was it you two had to take care of?" she asked.

"Nothing important. Just a reminder to take allergy shots," Dylan said, feeling like a total geek when he said that. No one would believe that he and Ashley took allergy shots.

I sound as bad as Uncle Clark, Dylan thought as they went over to the refreshment table where Linda, Ashley, Jon, and Jason were standing and laughing over silly events at school.

"You two look as if you're having fun," Linda said with a huge grin on her face. She was probably very proud that she had played matchmaker. Dylan felt like rolling his eyes and judging from the look on Rachel's face the feeling was mutual.

"Dylan said that you two take allergy shots," Rachel said, looking at Ashley.

"He did?" Ashley glared at her brother. He knew that Ashley liked lies that sounded better than that. She often said that if someone had to lie it shouldn't make the liar look like a total wimp in the process.

"He said that was why you two had to leave," Rachel said, making Dylan feel as if he wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

Rachel looked at Dylan then back at Ashley. She gave them both a skeptical look. Never before had they ever told her they had been allergic to anything. And since when did they take allergy shots? As far as she knew, Ashley couldn't stand needles. And very rarely got a flu shot.

"I don't know why Dylan said that. We don't take allergy shots", Ashley said still glaring at her brother. What we had to take care of was something personal". she said. And it was very personal and important since it had to do with crimes in the city.

Rachel didn't buy her lie either. Both Ashley and Dylan was both definitely hiding something from her and didn't want her to find it out. Rachel hated secrets and lies. A lot of times that was what ruined relationships. And that was part of what caused her parents to get Divorced.

Was she doomed at relationships just like her mom? Maybe the best thing would be is to not get involved with Dylan right now especially if he couldn't tell her everything. What if it was a bad idea to be friends with either of them if they were both just only going to lie to her? Rachel didn't want to be left in the dark about anything! "Dylan, we need to talk". she said surprising him. "In private". she added when Dylan led her outside on the balcony, she began to talk.

"Look, I don't know what you and Ashley are hiding, but I don't appreciate you two keeping things from me, I feel like it's leaving me in the dark. I don't like being lied to Dylan". she sighed. "That's what tore apart my parents. Lies, secrecy. I don't want any of that between us. If lies and secrets have to be between us, then maybe we shouldn't get involved any further." there, she said it. Rachel felt a tear slip from her cheek and quickly wiped it away. She didn't want him to see her cry. She looked at Dylan waiting for his reaction. "I've always been told that honesty keeps a relationship going. Call me old-fashioned, but it's what I believe". she knew eventually, she would have to have the same talk with Ashley. Rachel hoped she wouldn't lose Dylan and Ashley by this talk. If they were her real friends, they'd understand. If not, she would have to move on somehow without them. Rachel took a deep breath and turned around facing the front.