*October 31, 1993*
*11 a.m.*

"Amy, what are you doing here?" Matt exclaimed happily. She smiled back at him and came in the house, laughing at his wrestling costume. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Were you and Jeff wrestling again?"

He nodded and shut the door behind her. "We pulled out our old characters of Wolverine and High Voltage."

She laughed and pulled out a chair in the kitchen. "How's wrestling school going?"

Matt set a glass of iced tea down in front of her and sat down. "Good. Jeff can't wait to graduate so he can join me. We're out for a few weeks right now, so I decided to stay at home with Jeff."

Amy sipped her tea. "Well, college is treating me alright, I suppose. I haven't gained 15 pounds yet, but I've only been there for a little over a month."

"Yeah, I was going to ask about that. Aren't you supposed to be in college right now?"

"You're not the only one that has some time off. The professors felt like us freshmen needed to 're-evaluate our priorities'. So here I am."

They sat in comfortable silence for awhile before Jeff came bursting in through the kitchen doors, sweaty and tired looking. His face lit up when he saw Amy in the kitchen. "Hey, Amy! I'd hug you, but I'd get you all sweaty."

She grinned. "Practicing those moves?"

"Yep."

"Can you pin your brother yet?" she asked, winking at Matt.

Jeff snorted. "I pin him more than he pins me, and he's in wrestling school!"

All three of them laughed and Jeff joined them at the table. "What grade are you in now? Tenth?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. It's not so great. The classes are a lot harder than they were last year."

"Eleventh and twelfth are easy. Then you can go to wrestling school. And from there, you'll make history," she grinned.

Jeff got up and poured himself a glass of water. "Actually, Dad said I could start wrestling school next semester as long as I didn't let it interfere with my school work. So I'd be in wrestling school and high school."

"That's a lot to swallow. But I have faith in you. Both of you. Just don't forget me when you're famous," Amy said.

"Are you crazy? We'll be best friends forever!" said Jeff, who had returned to the table with a big basket of orange and black wrapped Halloween candy. "Are you coming to the party tonight, Matt?"

Amy's ears perked up. "Party? Where?"

"Every Halloween my ex-girlfriend Pamela has a party and invites the whole city, basically. It doesn't usually get out of control because she's always been pretty young, but yesterday was her eighteenth birthday. I have a feeling this party's going to be a bit on the wild side."

Matt shook his head. "I'd love to go, but I have to stay home and finish the patio furniture. Dad hurt his arm and asked me to have it finished tonight."

"Do you want some help?" Amy asked, picking up a piece of candy.

"Nah, it's busy work. All I have to do is finish painting the chairs and caulking the table legs. By the time I'm done I'll be high on paint fumes, so I'll just go to bed and sleep it off." He rubbed her hand and smiled. "Go to the party and keep an eye on my brother."

+ ~~ +

*8 p.m.*

The music was loud and the people were louder. No one had said anything to her or Jeff all night, except one guy who had asked her if she wanted to go upstairs with him. She had laughed and took a step closer to Jeff, who looked more like twenty instead of sixteen. The guy had shrugged and moved on.

They were in the middle of the dance floor for the first time since they'd been there, moving to the pounding beat of the music. She really wished Matt could have been there, but Jeff was keeping her company. Matt had almost decided to come along when he saw what she was planning on wearing. "No one's going to touch my baby except me," he'd said protectively when she'd appeared at their door wearing a wine colored dress that left little to the imagination.

The music changed and a slow song came on. Jeff held out his arms and she slipped into them, swaying with the beat. "I know I'm the wrong Hardy, but I can slow dance pretty good," Jeff said lightly in her ear.

Amy laughed. "Jeff, I don't care which Hardy you are. You're both my best friends and I'll dance with either one of you any day. But you're right; you are pretty good at this."

They danced in silence for the rest of the song and then headed to the kitchen to grab a drink. Pamela, Jeff's ex, was emptying out a brown shopping bag as the entered.

"Hey, Jeff!" she said, throwing a guarded look at Amy. "Who's this?"

"Pamela, this is Amy. Matt's girlfriend. Amy, this is my friend Pamela."

Her eyes glittered. "Oh! The famous Amy Dumas. I get to meet you at last. My, you're much prettier than I thought you would be. I mean, you *are* dating the less handsome of the brothers," she said, flirtatiously patting Jeff on the arm. He moved away.

Amy smirked. "Well, we are entitled to our own opinions." Pamela gave her an obviously fake laugh before turning her attention back to the shopping bag.

"Do you want a drink? I just bought some Pineapple Orange Juice. I know not too many people want it, but I doubt you two want anything alcoholic."

Jeff took the container from her and grabbed two glasses from the top cabinet. "This is perfect. Thanks." After pouring two glasses of the orangish drink and handing one to Amy, he darted out of the kitchen. She was laughing when they finally stopped at the opposite corner of the room. "What's so funny?"

"That girl. You actually dated her?"

Jeff shrugged defensively. "I was fourteen. She was my first girlfriend. Of course, she was also my *last* girlfriend . . . "

"You're only sixteen. It'll happen," she said reassuringly.

Jeff snorted. "Yeah. Eventually. I guess I'm just too picky. I want what you and Matt have, but it doesn't look like there's another perfect person like you out there anywhere."

She blushed and looked away. "I'm not perfect. I'm just perfect with your brother. We change each other."

"Oh my goodness! Amy Dumas! Come over here!"

Amy looked up from her drink, trying to find the person that had called her. There was a girl a few feet away, waving her over anxiously. "Come on, Jeff. You've got to come with me," she whispered. They set their drinks down on the edge of the fireplace and went over cautiously to the group of girls. "Um . . . hi. Do I know you?"

The blonde girl laughed as if Amy had made a joke. "Oh no, no! I'm sorry. I'm Christina Larrikson. I had the biggest crush on Matt Hardy for about four years. I asked him out about once a week. And he *always* said no. When I asked him why, he said he already had a girlfriend: AMY! That's you!"

*No shit* Amy thought. "Okay..." she said out loud.

"When Pamela told me you were HERE I just couldn't believe it! I just had to meet the girl that has a hunk like Matt's undying devotion," she said in an exaggerated voice.

Amy put on her most fake smile and tossed her hair. "Well here I am!"

Christina laughed and tossed her hair harder. "So why are you here with Jeff? Did you and Matt break up?"

Her voice was so hopeful that Amy genuinely laughed. "Sorry, hon, but no. Matt had to do something for his dad, so I came with Jeff to see what this party was all about. And meet some of their friends," she added as an afterthought.

Christina looked over Amy's shoulder and a huge grin spread across her face. "Steve! Hang on, love, I'll be right there!" She turned back to Amy. "So lovely to meet you, but I have to go. Hope to see you around! And bring that handsome man of yours next time."

As the troupe of blonde beauties passed, Amy rolled her eyes as Jeff laughed. "Well that was . . . superficial."

They went back to their corner and gulped down the rest of their drinks, suddenly very thirsty.

+ ~~ +

*November 1, 1993*
*2 a.m.*

There was a pain in her . . . well everywhere . . . and she felt like she was about to throw up. Her eyes felt glued shut and something about where she was wasn't right. She felt weird, like someone had hit her on the head repeatedly with a blunt object. Her legs were almost as heavy as her eyelids and she was cold.

Finally she wrenched her eyes open, seeing nothing but darkness. She sat up quickly, no idea where she was. As she sat up she felt a rush of cold air hit her bare skin.

. . . Bare? She felt blindly around, until her hand hit a lamp. Fumbling for the switch, she found it and clicked it on. She closed her eyes against the sudden brightness, fighting back a wave of dread. Something was terribly wrong.

She looked down at herself first, a silent cry of shock on her lips. She was naked, in a bed, with a thin white sheet covering her lower body. She grabbed the sheet and pulled it around her, trembling as she turned to look at the body beside her.

Amy closed her eyes and felt tears sting the back of her eyes. It was Jeff.

She scanned the room for her clothes, then hopped out of the bed quickly, gathering up a piece here and a piece there. With unsteady hands, she put her clothes back on and walked to the bed, feeling like she'd just ran a mile. Her muscles hurt and she could barely walk. She turned the covers on her side of the bed back slowly, her worst fear confirmed when she saw the patch of blood staining the white sheets.

"No," she whispered, holding up a hand to her mouth. How did this happen? She didn't remember anything. She went around to the other side of the bed and dropped down to her knees beside Jeff, and shook him gently.

He groaned and opened his eyes slowly, a look of disorientation and confusion on his face. "What . . . ?" he looked down at himself and then at Amy, who had tear-stained cheeks and smudged makeup. "What happened?" He sat up and pulled the sheet around his mid-section, his eyes widening as he looked at the rumpled sheets beside him. "Did we?"

She nodded and collapsed to the floor, burying her head in her arms. Jeff climbed out of the bed and pulled on his clothes, just as weak as she had been seconds ago. He stood over her, running his fingers worriedly through his hair. He wanted to console her, but nothing he could say would sound right.

"What are we going to do, Jeff? What am I going to tell Matt?" she sobbed, her body starting to rock. "How am I going to explain something I don't even remember doing?"

Jeff rubbed his head. "Are you even sure we did it?"

"Dammit, Jeff, I think I'd know if I lost my fucking virginity!"

"I'm sorry, Amy. God knows I'm sorry."

She started crying even harder. "I know, I know. It's not your fault. I'm sorry."

Jeff looked at the clock by the bed and sighed. "C'mon. We have to go home. We'll try to explain in the morning."