After losing track of time in the mountains watching the stars and dropping Jessica back home I finally parked the Jeep outside of the house at half past midnight. Clay, Hannah and I stepped out of the vehicle and stumbled quietly into the house, the young couple made their way to Hannah's bedroom as I went into mine for the night

Laying down on the bed and picking up the tv remote control off the side table I turned on the television, flicking through the channels I came across an old eighties movie that I loved to watch all the time with my mom; Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I had missed the first twenty minutes of the movie but that didn't matter to me at all, I could easily quote this movie at the drop of a hat. Whenever my mom or I was sad we would watch this together to cheer ourselves up and have a laugh, there was no other movie in the world that could break the fourth wall like they did in this film and make you laugh so hard with its humour and give you life messages along the way that still stuck to me to this day….

As the film neared the end of its conclusion I couldn't help but quote the ending to the movie with Ferris, he layed back into his bed after and looked directly into the camera whilst breaking the fourth wall for the final time

'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it'

The credits to the movie started to roll on screen and I requoted Ferris again out loudly on my own. If I solely focused on my crusade to bring Bryce Walker down and I would miss years of my life to make the most of them and have some fun with the ones I love, If the opportunity presented itself tomorrow with Jessica then I would make a move on her before I missed it…..

The next morning Aunt Liv and Uncle Andy left the house early so they could get to the bank first and pay off this month's rent that was due. I was already up cracking on with some of my assignment work when I needed another cup of coffee to get me through the morning

Pouring myself more coffee into my mug, a sleepy Clay and Hannah came into the kitchen. They looked shattered after last night trip into the mountains and could do with a couple more hours in bed

'What time is it Mason?' Hannah asked

'It's just about to turn twenty past eight'

'Come on Helmet get a move on or we're gonna be late again'

'I don't care if we get a tardy again from Mrs Childs if we're late, we had a late night Hannah'

I wasn't sure if I heard Clay right when he stated he and my little sister were late for school, they both left the Baker household early every morning on a school day; I hate to think what they were getting up to each morning.

'Then skip school and spend the day with me' I suggested hopefully

'You're joking right' Clay proclaimed, unsure if I was yanking his chain

'Do you see me laughing' I questioned, raising a brow

'Come on Mason you can't be serious' Hannah stated

'We skipped middle school most of the time back home in Nevada you and me, let's do it again for old time sakes and have some fun Hannah'

'One last time for old time sakes Mason I can't take anymore time off school in my junior year'

'You guys are really gonna bunk off' Clay stated

'Well I'm still suspended for today anyway and Hannah is taking today off, you should as well Clay. Join your rebellious girlfriend'

'I'll join you both only on one condition, we do something today other than just sit around the house watching netflix all day'

'Deal' I agreed

I tried to think of what exciting things we could do today before realising that Jessica would be missing out on all the fun that could be had, reaching into my pocket to retrieve my phone I saw the time in the corner of the device. Jessica would be on her way to school by now if not already there yet so I quickly opened up my messages

'Skip school today and meet me by Eisenhower Park in fifteen minutes'

A few seconds later I reply reached back to my phone that Jessica was on her way to the park now. Hannah had just got off the phone to the school pretending to being Clay's mom and his alibi was sorted for the day, I had decided to call Liberty High School and pretend to be Hannah's father on the phone, few minutes later I got through to the receptionist of the school

'Yes hello, this is Mr Baker. My daughter Hannah won't be coming into school today, if you could let her teachers know she won't be coming in that would be great'

'I'll make a note of it right now Mr Baker' she replied. 'Mr Bolan is here and he would like to speak to you'

My heart was racing out of my chest and I couldn't guess at all what Mr Bolan would want to talk about. I just needed to keep cool and not raise any suspicion to him with the sound of my voice

'Hi Andy it's Gary' he greeted warmly

'Hi Gary how's it going' I greeted, trying to sound believable as my uncle would

'I'm alright thank you. Is everything alright with Hannah?'

'She's feeling a bit under the weather this morning, Hannah should be back into school for tomorrow'

'Well I'm sorry to hear that Andy. If there's anything I can do you just let me know ok'

'Actually there is something you could do for me Gary'

'You name it buddy'

'Jessica won't be coming into school today either, I feel kinda bad for letting my daughter and her friends spend the night out and then getting themselves ill. Don't phone Jessica's parents and tell them she wasn't at school when she stayed over at mine last night Gary'

'It will be our little secret Andy and we don't have to mention it again'

'Thanks again Gary for doing this I owe you one'

'You can make it up to me by buy me a drink after our around of eighteen holes on sunday'

'Ok tell the wife I said hi'

I ended the phone call to the school and was quite surprised to find out my uncle was an amateur golfer, he didn't stuck me as a keen sports enthusiast and I've never seen a golf bag around the house either.

Clay and Hannah waited patiently to hear what the plan was for the day, they were gobsmacked that Mr Bolan fell for the impersonation of my uncle's voice. We went into our bedrooms to get changed and ready for the day of mischief to be had ahead

Ten minutes later Clay had suggested the idea of taking his Dad's Prius with us for the day, the three of us went to the Jensen household and climbed into his father's Prius. Seating up front of the vehicle with Clay in the driver seat I gave him the directions to Eisenhower Park so we could pick up Jessica

Driving down the road to the park I could see a figure waiting at the side of the curb, I reached over to the driver side of the car and pressed the horn a couple of times to gain the figure's attention. Jessica jumped from the car noise as we screeched to a stop besides her, rolling down the passenger window I smirked while Jessica crossed her arms unimpressed

'What the fuck asshole' she shriked

'Get in the car Jess'

Hannah opened the back door of the Prius and slid along the passengers seats so Jessica could get inside, looking through the driver mirror I watched Jessica look around the car and was surprised to see Clay and Hannah in the vehicle as well

'What are we even doing here Mason' Jessica asked

'Since last night was a lot of fun watching the stars, I thought lets do something again but for the whole day'

'Unlike you Slick the rest of us have to get to school right now and we're already late'

'Mason has already covered that for us Jess' Hannah informed her

'How'

'I phoned up the school pretending to be my uncle and got you three the day off saying you guys were sick from last night'

'Isn't that fraud Mason, lying to the school as your uncle' Jessica stated

'When did you care Jess about playing everything by the book and I'd say it was quite genius of me if Mr Bolan completely fell for it'

'It really worked then did it, you pulled the wool over his eyes' Jessica exclaimed

'We ain't gonna get bothered today from Liberty or our parents, today is for ourselves only'

'Where are we going today Mason?' Clay enquired, starting up the car of the Prius

'I've put the direction into the gps and it should take us into the next town of Stonehawk'

'What the hell is in Stonehawk Mason I thought we would be doing something fun today' Hannah sighed disappointingly

'The question isn't what are we going to do? The question is what aren't we going to do?'

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Jess smiled happily

'How did you guess that off the top of your head'

'The most famous movie line in one of the all time greats in my opinion' she proclaimed. 'Plus it does help I was watching the movie last night once I got into my house, it's one of my favourites'

Now that was another coincidence that Jessica and I shared together, it was like everyday I was learning something new about her and miraculously we would have that in common; I never really did believe in soulmates after past experiences but now I was starting to believe in them

The drive into the town of Stonehawk wasn't long and about twenty five miles west from our hometown of Crestmont. There was a few things happening in this town today to keep us busy so we didn't have to think too hard for activities to do if we got bored

Clay pulled his dad's Prius into a multi storey car park that connected to a large shopping mall, the four of us got out of the vehicle and saw posters on various walls telling the locals of its annual street party of the town's history.

'Anyone fancy going to a party' I suggested

The three of them agreed to attend the street party later as our small group left the car park area and entered the main shopping centre, starting at the bottom of the large complex and working our way up to the food court on the fourth floor…..

After a few hours spent around the various shops in the mall the four of us went to the food court to grab a bite to eat. Hannah and Jessica went through their shopping bags at the purchases they had bought, the dresses Jessica had bought were very flattering on her and it was great to see Hannah falling back in love with her unique style sense with some new black combat boots and denim jackets she had gotten

Clay and I tucked into our double decker cheese burgers whilst the girls talked amongst themselves, dropping the burger out of my hand down on the plate and picking up a few fries and placed them into my mouth

'You sure love your converse shoes don't you Clay' I proclaimed, seeing the two shoeboxes in a bag besides him

'You should see the small collection of them I have back at home' he replied. 'What's with the new white shirts? I thought we had our suits sorted for the winter dance'

'The suit is all fine but Coach Patrick wants me to dress the part for my upcoming fight. I don't plan on wearing the same suit to that night as well'

'I bet you're pretty psyched up for it ain't you' Jessica interjected

'The nerves are kicking in for it but I just want to get the first fight out of the way'

'We're all gonna be there to cheer you on Mason' Hannah beamed happily

'Thanks you guys, it means a lot to me that you're gonna be there that night'

'You'll win for sure Mason' Jessica commented

We talked about what plans Coach Patrick had in mind and how ridiculous some of the proposals were for the whole night. Jessica had some ideas of her own for the night when I would do my walk on into the ring

A security alarm to one of the stores went off alerting everyone near it, turning my gaze to the sound of the alarm I saw a guy in a Joker mask running out of a store. He had a small bag in one hand and a hammer in the other, the robber was hurtling tables and chairs across the floor to upstruck the security guards way to him so he could make a fast exit from the shopping mall, the security guards were having a hard time trying to keep pace with the thief as he jumped over and slid across tables

The thief would be running past us in a matter of no time to get to the car park and sneak out of the shopping mall without being seen, acting without a second thought running through my mind I made the decision to get involved in the matter. As the thief ran past our table I stuck out my foot long enough for the thief to trip over my leg and fall to the floor, the thief grabbed his belongings and tried to escape again quickly

I kicked a chair that slid across the floor to him which knocked him unbalanced and the bag in his hand, sliding another chair over to the thief it landed over his bag of stolen goods, the delays of grabbing his things worked out in the security guards favour as they had caught up to him and pinned down to the ground.

A well dressed elderly man came along to the scene of the commotion as the thief was being escorted away by security guards, one of the security guard handed the distinguished gentleman the bag of stolen goods and showed him our table who helped catch the crook

'Are you the kids that helped to catch that thief?' he asked

'Well it was our friend Mason who did all the hard work in stopping him' Clay interjected, placing a hand on my shoulder

'I'm Mr Goldman I can't thank you enough son for stepping in like you did' he exclaimed, patting the side of my hand as we shook hands. 'You wouldn't want to know how many times I've been hit by that guy in this past year alone'

'Well at least he is off the streets now sir so your store will be safe for a while'

'If there's anything I could ever do for you then you just come by my store and let me know Mason'

'Sure which one is it'

'Goldman's Jewellery' he replied. 'Thanks again kid for stopping that criminal'

Mr Goldman reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a brown leather wallet, he proceeded to take out two hundred dollar notes from the case and put out his hand in front of me with the two notes in his grasp to take

'As a reward Mason for stopping him'

'Oh I couldn't accept Mr Goldman' I stated, gentle pushing his hand back to him as I would have done the same for anyone

'You can and you will Mason, treat yourself to something nice or spend it on your friends and do something fun together'

'If only you're sure about this Mr Goldman'

'I'm sure kid'

He handed me the two hundred dollar bill notes and I thankfully accepted from the kind old man, Mr Goldman walked away with some security guards back to his store. Placing the two notes into my own wallet and back inside my jean pocket I turned around to my friends

'What' I questioned whilst smiling awkwardly

'Nothing' Hannah exclaimed

'I'm guessing the next night out for us is on me then' I proclaimed

'How kind of you good sir to offer' Clay replied in a polite british accent

I just giggled at how ridiculous Clay sounded and went back to finishing off my lunch, we had agreed to spend another hour of two in the shopping mall before making our way to the street party…..

The street party for the town of Stonehawk got underway around two o'clock in the afternoon, many floats of the town's history depicted on them passed by before the street was opened up to the public. Large crowds soon descended to the roads and a dj host started playing his tunes to get everyone into the party spirit

Clay and Hannah certainly got into the party spirit of things and went for a dance together near the dj where most couples had gathered to show off their best moves. With two cups of punch in my hands I found Jess in the large crowd and offered her a drink as we watched people from afar let their hair down on the street party

'You don't fancy having a dance then' Jessica proclaimed

'I don't do dances Jess'

'Yet you still asked me out to the winter formal' she exclaimed, raising a brow

'What I mean is I don't really know how to dance, I've got two left feet' I explained. 'I'd rather just hang back and socialise with friends than dance'

'You can't be that bad of a dancer Slicker. Your boxing moves requires footwork'

'Yeah you would think it would help but then you haven't seen me dance'

'Is it that bad' she smirked

'Oh yes' I nodded my head

'Then show me right now Slick so I can see for myself'

'No in God's way am I doing that, it's embarrassing Jess in front of all these people'

'Just a few moves Slick' Jessica pleaded

'That's the thing Jess I don't have any moves'

'I don't believe you for one second Mason'

'Fine I'm more than happy to embarrass myself to prove a point to you that I can't dance'

Trying to feel the beats of the song that was being played over the loudspeakers, I pushed my arms away from my body and moved them up and down in time to the song; desperately trying to think of any memorable dance moves I've seen on the tv recently .

Nothing came to my mind and I just let natural instinct take over my body, my body sway unnaturally to the upbeat music as I wouldn't even dare to look over at Jessica. I know I was dancing weirdly like I had taken some sort of drug to behave this way, my moves were mostly cringeworthy and it shown on Jessica's face

'Okay that's enough Slick' she pleaded for me to stop, putting her hands on me

'Told you Jess I can't dance'

I could see doubt creep into her mind on how the winter formal night would go, would we be the date that danced awkwardly together or just sat in the bleachers all night long watching everyone else having fun.

Looking into the crowd I watched Clay and Hannah dance together so elegantly and envied how rhythmically they moved together. Clay pulled Hannah back by the arm as she twirled around to him and were caught in each other embrace, Hannah dropped her arms on the top of her boyfriend's shoulder and gently kissed him as the song they were dancing too came to and end

If I was ever gonna be ready for the upcoming dance and show off some better moves to Jessica then I needed a dance teacher, Clay was the only person that I could confidently ask for help in that department…..

After a long day out in Stonehawk and the journey back to Crestmont that evening Jessica reminded me that I had made plans for tonight to have dinner with her family, the whole evening dinner had slipped my mind and I was turning into a nervous wreck at how the whole night might turn out to be

Any little decision for the night and I was overthinking the answer where I became more frustrated than before, it would be very childish of me to call Jessica saying that I was too ill to come tonight. Her dad had seemed fond of me and probably just wanted to know me better like he knew Clay and Hannah

I arrived at the Davis' household on the exact time of seven thirty and pressed the doorbell as I stood on her front porch of the house, Jessica opened the door a couple of seconds later and I was welcomed into the quiet living room whilst we were alone in there

'Whatever my dad says just go along with it Slick' Jessica stated, quickly spinning on the spot

'Ok why'

'I've told him it was just a normal day at school, nothing really interesting happened at all'

'Yeah I can do that Jess'

'And also I've told him that you were my boyfriend'

'What! Why would you saying something like that to your dad Jess'

'I'm busting your balls Mason I haven't told him anything about us'

'Jesus Jess why would you mess with me like that'

'I wanted to see how you would react, I thought it would be funny to have you in a sweaty mess before my dad completely interrogates you to death'

'Thanks for the warning ahead of time or I wouldn't have shown up tonight' I replied sarcastically

Jessica giggled loudly as we both dropped down to the couch and enjoyed each other's humour, not long after Jessica and I were joined by her parents in the living room as dinner was still being prepared. She wasn't joking about her dad interrogating me as soon as he sat down the questions came barrelling out…..

The four of us sat around the dining room table and Mrs Davis took the liberty of feeding her two young boys dinner early so we didn't have to censor our conversations or language around them. The plates of spaghetti had been dished out between the four of us and idle chit chatter started about how our day went

'So I hear Mason from Jessica that you've got a boxing match coming up' Mrs Davis asked

'That is correct, my fight is in a couple of weeks' time. I'd love if you guys could make it that night'

'Sure we'll be there son and I could help you out if you like, few session down the gym and I'll have you punching like Mike Tyson' he demonstrated, throw a few punches in the air

'God you're so embarrassing dad, put your hands down' Jessica groaned

I tried to keep a straight face and not let a small laugh or giggled escape my mouth, Jessica was going red in the face and just wanted to the ground to swallow her up. 'You should come down to the gym with me and Clay some time Mr Davis, I'm sure you would have plenty of advice to give me in the ring after your boxing fights in the service'

'I would love too Mason' he replied happily. 'And how are your guardians? I haven't seen them in a while'

'They're doing ok I guess, I mean they are always at the store and trying to make it work for them but Hannah and I have each other for company at home'

'And Hannah? How is she' Mrs Davis asked

'She's doing a whole lot better now and I'm relieved that she has some happiness in her life again. It's all thanks to Clay and Jessica that she has a great friendship circle around her'

'Well it's good to hear that Hannah is doing well. She is practically like another daughter to us here and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her'

'It's nice that she's with a good boy who treats her right' Mrs Davis proclaimed to no one in particular. 'What about you guys, when are you going to start dating each other'

I nearly choked on my spaghetti and grabbed my glass of water to clear my airway passage, the rest of the Davis' were concerned and Jessica was quick to refill my glass again. Take a few extra breaths I calmed sipped on my water

'Are you ok Mason?' she soothed, gently patting my back. 'Jesus mom I told you before that me and Mason are just friends'

'But you guys would make such a cute couple'

'Can we stop talking about us please'

'Sure honey' Mr Davis agreed

'So Mason what are your intentions with my daughter'

'Jesus dad what have we just said'

The conversation moved on and we were discussing the annual upcoming school dance, I had told them I would be Jessica's date for the dance and they wanted me to come over for some picture opportunities. The rest of the night moved into the living room and we happily spent the next few hours just talking amongst ourself and getting to know each other better…..

I stepped out of the Davis household and onto the front porch as Jessica closed the door behind the two of us so we could have a moment peace alone

'I am so sorry about my parents Slick if they asked too many questions tonight'

'It's ok Jess, it was quite nice getting to know them and I think I'd made a good impression on them'

'Well they seem to like you and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came by for another family meal some time soon'

'I look forward to another dinner date with your family' I replied. 'Maybe you could come over sometime and have dinner with mine, you're always welcomed there'

'I would like that a lot Slick'

An awkward silence fell between the two of us and now would be a perfect moment to kiss her. I stepped forward but hesitation creeped into my mind that her parents might be watching, I hugged Jessica tightly and felt her wrapped her arm around me tightly

Slightly pulling our heads away from each other's chest and staring into one another eyes, I took my chance and slowly leant my head in and connected our lips, softly kissing Jessica's lips and pulling away breathless seconds later

'I'll see you tomorrow Jess'

'Bye Mason'

Pulling away from Jessica and walking down her porch I turned around and waved her goodbye, she lingered on her porch before I was out of sight before going inside her house

I reached my home in ten minutes and entered the house to see my aunt and uncle cuddled up on the couch together, they were watching the daily news across our area of the state as I walked into the living room

'How was your night babe' Aunt Liv asked

'It was ok Aunt Liv, her parents seem nice enough. I'm gonna head to my room now'

'And how are you feeling? Well enough to go back to school tomorrow' Uncle Andy enquired

'I can't wait to get back and see what I've missed'

'That's good to hear'

Uncle Andy knocked the tv remote off the armchair of the sofa and landed on the floor, he bent over and picked up the remote before turning the sound volume up on the control

'In other news, the Goldman pouncer was finally caught today to some quick thinking from this young man' the news report exclaimed

I pivoted on my heels as soon as the news report shifted from the show to the shopping mall cctv footage of the capture with the four of us in clear view, treading lightly down the corridor I knew I was in for it now as our cover to Uncle Andy was blown for the day

'Mason' they both screamed in unison