Saturday mornings were always spent cleaning up after my dad. He was a major slob and always bitched when the house was a mess. So my weekends always started out with that fun task. Later that afternoon, Sunshine called.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked me.

"Um nothing why you wanna hang out?" I asked. "Sounds good. What should we do?"

"No clue. You decide I'm too lazy."

Ronnie laughed. "Why don't I pick you up at 7:00 and we'll go from there." I giggled. "Sounds like a plan."

Seven o'clock came and with it Ronnie's bright red Thunderbird drove up to my house.

"Bye Dad I'll be home later!" I yelled on my way out the door. "Hey!" I said as I jumped into Ronnie's car. "So what are we doing?" "Going back to my place. No one's there and we can do the nasty all night." He looked at me earnestly. "Cute, really cute Sunshine. No really what?"

"Movies I guess. Nothing better to do." He shrugged. I sat ponderingly for a moment. My thoughts were interrupted by his voice. "Unless you want to go back to my house. There is no nasty required."

"Sure.as long as you have good food there." I smiled. "Fully stocked fridge."

"Then let's go."

Ronnie lived on the other side of town. Not the Berg.the other part of Cemetery Ridge.up north closer to the school. We got out of the car and headed straight to the kitchen where chips and soda galore awaited us. We grabbed all the stuff we could carry and went to watch tv. We sat on the big leather couch watching the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family and other lame shows like that. All the while we talked about school, friends family-life in general. I loved having Sunshine as much as I loved having Gerry. They were my best friends.

"I'm bored Ashley. Lets do something." Sunshine said as he devoured the last of the chips. "What's there to do?" I asked. "Uhhh the nasty?"

"Haha very funny. No seriously."

Sunshine looked at me. "How adventurous are you feeling?"

I laughed. "I already told you we aren't doing it."

"Hey you told Petey and the guys that you used to play football.let's see what you got." "What I got? Man you and your Titan ass are gonna be begging for mercy when I'm done with you." I grinned. We got up and ran outside.

He picked up a football. "So Miss Cole.you any good at pass receiving?"

"Why don't you stop the chit chat and play Mr. Bass?"

He wound up and threw the ball long. I ran as fast as I could and caught it. "Not bad, huh?" I said as I caught my breath.

"One problem-you have to run it in for the touchdown and the defense is looking pretty strong." Ronnie said in reference to himself. He paused for a split second and started running towards me. I sprinted away from him but he was too fast-he grabbed me around the waist and tackled me to the ground. We lay on the ground laughing for a few seconds before we realized the awkward position we were in. I was lying on my back and Ronnie was on top of me. When we became conscious of how we were lying, the laughter stopped. We were both breathing hard. What was happening? This was my best friend.and he was lying on top of me and I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted him there or not. I wasn't sure enough to push him off though. We just lay there for what seemed like an eternity. Then he leaned down to me.oh god he was going to kiss me.his face was coming closer I could feel his hot breath on my face.

"Ronald Edwin Bass what on earth are you doing?" The sharp voice ended the moment. We looked up. Colonel Bass and Mrs. Bass stood in front of us. "Dad its not what it looks like." Ronnie protested as he hopped up and offered me a hand, which I accepted.

"Well son it looks to me that you and your girlfriend here were making out on our front lawn!" Colonel Bass was fuming.

"No Dad I swear.Ashley isn't my girlfriend."

"Oh god! Ronnie did we raise you to consort with random girls?" His mother gasped. "No Ma.Ash is my friend we were playing football and um I tackled her and we just sort of spaced out." Ronnie said. I nodded in affirmation. I didn't want the Colonel to think that there was anything going on between us.nor did I want him to tell my dad what just happened. The Colonel looked down at us. "Ashley I think its time you be getting home."

Ronnie reached for his car keys. "No, Ronald, I can drive her. I think you two have had enough time together for one night." The Colonel guided me to his car. "Bye Ronnie. Nice meeting you Mrs. Bass." I said as Mrs. Bass turned away from me and led Ronnie into the house. I remember that car ride well. Colonel Bass was so intimidating, I felt about 6 inches tall. "Ashley, are you and Ronald dating?" He asked me at one point.

"No sir, we're just good friends, that's all." "Well, it has been my experience that a boy and a girl cannot be good friends for very long without one feeling an attraction to the other." He eyed me knowingly.

"Well I can assure you Sir that Ronnie and I are just friends and plan to stay just friends for along time."

"Well if you two don't want more than friendship then why didn't you push him off of you when he allegedly tackled you in football?" He looked down at me mischievously. I bit my lip. Why hadn't I pushed Ronnie off.or gotten up.or done something that would suggest otherwise. Did I want Ronnie to kiss me? Moreover, did Ronnie want to kiss me? A simple game of football had just turned into so much more.