Mary didn't think Friday would ever come, but it finally did. She and Michael had talked on the phone every night, and Mary found herself liking him a lot. He was funny, smart, compassionate, sweet, and caring.
Let Ella have Jeremy, she thought as she got ready for her date on Friday night, I'm going out with Michael!
Ella was also getting ready for her big date. She was unaware that Mary was going out with Michael, she thought that Mary still liked Jeremy.
Finally, both girls were ready, they passed each other in the hall, and Ella did a double take.
" Why are you so dressed up?" Ella asked viciously," Are you trying to look good for when Jeremy comes to pick me up for my date?"
Before Mary can reply, the doorbell rings. Ann answers the door, and there is Michael, standing there with a bunch of freshly picked daisies.
"What are you doing here, Michael?" Ella asks, confused, " did you come here to finally apologize?"
"I'm not here for you, I'm taking Mary out." Michael says with a mean grin on his face.
" Wha-" Ella is cut off, Jeremy walks up to the front door.
" What are you doing here, Mary?" Jeremy asks, confused.
"I live here. Didn't Ella tell you that we were step sisters?" Mary asks, but from the look on Jeremy's face, it is clear that Ella didn't tell him anything.
There is an awkward silence. Ella is glaring at Mary, Michael is glaring at Ella, and Jeremy still looks bewildered.
Mary breaks the silence.
"Come on Michael, if we're late, they're going to cancel our reservation." Mary said tensely, taking Michael's hand and calling out,
" Bye Mom, I'll be back by 11."
Ella and Jeremy head towards Jeremy's car, a black convertible . But Ella is still glaring at the headlights of Michael's retreating headlights.

At the restaurant,

Mary takes Michael's hand.
"I'm so full, I could explode!" Mary jokes, " That was really good Michael, this was a good choice."
" I'm glad you liked it." Michael says, happy," I think you'll like what I planned next."
"Oooooh, what is it, Michael?" Mary says excitedly.
" It's a surprise." Michael says teasingly.
Mary pulls Michael close and whispers in his ear,
" Pretty, pretty, please will you tell me?"
He just shakes his head and gets into the car. Mary slides in next to him, mentally trying to guess where they're going.

Later that night,

Michael walks Mary up to the front door of her house.
" I had a really good time tonight." Mary says softly, reaching up and touching Michael's cheek with her cold hand.
The evening had been really fun, Mary thought.
Michael's surprise had turned out to be a moonlit stroll along the deserted beach. They had walked hand in hand, their feet sinking in the sand.
" I'm glad you had a good time, will you go out with me again" Michael said so faintly Mary had to strain her ears to hear him.
Mary smiled and replied with,
" Do you even have to ask?" Of course I will. How about next Friday?"

A couple months later,

Mary sits down casually next to Michael, hiding one hand behind her back.
" If you can guess what behind my back, you can have one." Mary said teasingly. She and Michael had been dating for two months, and she loved every single minute that they spent together. She and Jeremy had become good friends, but sometimes at work, Mary would catch him staring at her with a peculiar expression on his face. As soon as she caught him, he would turn away quickly. Jeremy was still dating Ella, but whenever you saw them together out on a date, Jeremy didn't look very happy. He usually had a strange, dazed look on his face, like he was thinking about something, or someone, else.
Back to Mary and Michael, Michael is trying to guess what Mary has behind her back. Finally he gives up and Mary hands him a dance ticket.
" The Sadie Hawkins dance is on Friday, would you accompany me there, Michael?" Mary says grandly.
Michael reaches over and hugs Mary.
" I would be honored to go, Mary." Michael says just as grandly. He and Mary both start laughing at how formal they were being.
Meanwhile,
Ella is at Starbucks, leaning on the counter, as Jeremy the counter. She is talking a mile a minute, but Jeremy isn't really listening.
Ella waves her hand in front of Jeremy's face.
" Hello?! Have you heard one word that I've said?" Ella asks annoyed.
" No, I've just got a lot of stuff on my mind right now, what were you saying?" Jeremy says distractedly.
" I was saying, what are you planning to wear at the dance on Friday? Because my dress is silver, and if your tux doesn't match, we'll look totally stupid!" Ella said, still mad at Jeremy for not paying full attention to her.
" Huh?! What dance?" Jeremy says, still a little out of it.
" The dance on Friday! It's all I've been talking about for weeks, do you care about me or my feelings at all?!" Ella shouted, irate.
" Oh, that dance." Jeremy said, finally realizing that Ella is super angry at him, " I was kidding Ella, why did you get so mad?"
Ella realizes that she got mad at him for nothing and pastes a sugary sweet smile on her face.
" Oh, Jeremy, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were kidding, you seemed really serious". Ella purred, " You are such a good kidder!"
Jeremy does his best to look peeved, and Ella leans over and puts her hand over Jeremy's, so he is forced to stop his cleaning.
" Jeremy, look at me." Ella said, " Jeremy, you're not mad at me, are you?"
Jeremy sighs and says,
" No, I'm not mad, but I've got a lot of work to do. Can I call you later?"
Ella, relieved that Jeremy's not mad, gives him a hug.
" Of course, I understand!" Ella gives him a big smile as she says this.
She turns on her heel and calls over her shoulder as she walks out the door,
"Bye Jer!"
" Bye Ell!" Jeremy says in his fake happy sounding voice.
Phew, she's finally gone. How am I gonna break it to her that I can't stand her? Jeremy thought as he put the rag in the bucket, I wonder when Mary is going to be here?
The door opens, and Mary comes rushing through.
" Sorry I'm late, I was talking to Michael and I lost track of time." Mary said breathlessly.
Jeremy smiles sadly. If only I had asked Mary out before Michael did, he thought to himself, I might be the one with Mary and Ella would have somebody else wrapped around her pinkie.
To Mary he said,
"It's okay, I've been managing, we're not very busy, as you can see."
Mary quickly looked around the room and laughed.
" I noticed that. I might have to talk to Miss P about this. I think you're scaring away the customers." Mary said with a teasing smile.
" The only scary thing here is your face." Jeremy growled. He looked totally serious for a second, then he smiled widely.
Then, without warning, Mary picks up a rag and throws it at Jeremy.
" Who's scary now?" she shrieked, letting loose a bunch of giggles.
Jeremy stands there, then suddenly flings the rag back at Mary. It hits her squarely in the face.
She rushes to hit him with the rag, but unexpectedly trips and slips on the water on the floor. Jeremy lunges and catches her, and all of a sudden, Mary is aware of how close he is. But she doesn't make a move to get up. Jeremy leans down and their lips meet in a kiss. They are so busy kissing, that they don't notice the door open and there is Michael, standing there with a bunch of daisies in his hand. He drops the daisies, calmly walks over to Jeremy, and punches him in the face.
He looks at Mary, and then he walks out of the shop.
Mary gets up, and runs after him.
" Michael, wait!" Mary calls out, trying to keep up with Michael's fast pace," I can explain!"
Michael whips around and glares at Mary.
" Oh, I'm waiting to hear this. What, did you slip and fall and Jeremy just happened to catch you and he gave you CPR to make sure you were okay?!" Michael says sarcastically.
" Yes! That's part of what happened. I slipped on some water and Jeremy stopped me from falling and hitting my head." Mary said, hoping that Michael will believe her.
But, of course, he doesn't.
"I saw you kissing him!!." Michael shouts angrily, but there was also a note of sadness in his voice.
" I really cared for you." Michael said, with, tears(?) in his eyes.
" Can you just leave me alone??" Michael said, abruptly, and he started walking to his car with short, quick paces.
" No, Michael, I really care for you too!" Mary called out to him, not walking to catch up with him but on the ground, crying.
" I hope you and Jeremy have a happy life together." Michael called out as he drove off.
" Michael, you have to believe me! I don't like Jeremy, I like you!" Mary cried out desperately, as she sobs uncontrollably.

But it is too late, Michael is gone.