The night was soon over.

"Let me drive Caitie! It's my car" Andrea rambled inebriated.

Caitie managed to seat Andrea in the back and secured her seatbelt. After a semi-long drive, Caitie quietly pulled up in Andrea's driveway. She escorted Andrea to her front door and tucked a set of keys in her pocket.

"Next time, I'll take my car," she muttered out loud to herself.

Caitie closed Andrea's front door and started walking home. After fifteen minutes of walking in her quiet neighborhood, she reached her house. Caitie looked down at her watch and realized it was nearly 6 a.m. She quietly opened the back door and walked up the stairs. Her actions were more out of courtesy than fear. Her mother trusted her . . . which may seem unusually freaky to most people.

Caitie's mother gave birth to her when she was only 19. Typical for an early teenage marriage, Caitie's dad left while she was still young. Caitie and her mother developed a really close bond. Her mother treats her as if she was already an adult, which Caitie basically was. She had her own freedom, and most of the time, her mother wasn't even home. She kept busy with her job as an art buyer.

***

Eight a.m. on a Saturday morning, Val, Tyler, Hank and Brooke were at the station, sitting around waiting for Alex. For once they had finished they paper work, and it was Jamie's turn to do the inventory. Jamie walked into the door, dragging his feet with papers in his hand.

"Done!!! All done. The inventory . . . done! Done! Done!!!" Jamie announced triumphantly. "Now, I shall continue with the rest of my day, sleeping, eating and having pointless fun."

Jamie's over dramatization made Val and Tyler laugh.

"Hey, Hank and I are going to shoot some hoops in an hour, why don't you hang out here until then" Tyler asked.

Jamie gave Tyler's offer some thought. It seems like the squad was trying to make him feel more included, more . . . part of the group.

"You're on" Jamie replied.

On that note, he took off his leather jacket and hung it up in his locker. He flipped through the pages of an old magazine and began to waste away a perfectly good Saturday. Little did anyone know the article on "Pro Golf Tips" was not at all fascinating. He was more concerned with what Caitie was up too. He really wanted to call her . . . to hear her voice, but he knew better than to wake her up so early in the morning.

Sudden yelling quickly filled the room. "Forget it Brooke! I won't help you with the supplies. I helped you last week!" Hank protested.

"I'm sure . . . Alex wouldn't want to know about . . . you know . . . the ambulance you cleaned sooooo well!" Brooke replied in an innocent yet threatening tone.

Tyler looked smug. "It is pretty clean isn't it? I do a good job."

Defeated, Hank followed Brooke into the supply closet.



Val, Tyler and Jamie were left in the common room of the station. Some were reading productively, while others were just staring blankly at words.

Val looked up from her book with an excited expression on her face. "Did either of you read 'A Doll's House'? It's a wonderful play!" Val exclaimed in her cheerful voice.

Jamie looked up from his magazine. "Yea. . . Caitie made me read it. . . she said that there are important feminist themes within that play that I should pay attention too. . . it wasn't that bad."

Val suppressed a giggle. Although she knew he was an avid reader, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'He read the book for Caitie.'

"Hey Val, do you know what Caitie was doing last night?" Jamie asked curiously.

"Actually, I don't know. I haven't heard from her either." Val offered Jamie an encouraging smile. "You know. . . sometimes. . . she just wants to spend some time by herself. . . she likes retreating into her shell."

Jamie nodded and accepted her answer. After all, Val did know Caitie a lot longer than he did.

"Hey guys. guess what! I'm going to visit my cousin Dave next week, during our one-week break!" Tyler said enthusiastically.

"Wow! That's great. Is that the one in college?" Val inquired.

Tyler nodded, smiling.

"Where does he go?" Jamie asked, trying to feign interest.

"It's not too far actually, a half an hour away. He goes to Spring Harbor University. I can't wait. He's the coolest."

*************************************************************************** ***

Caitie woke up from sleeping away the day. She had to go back to that club. She just had too! The red digital numbers on her alarm clock indicated that it was 3:24 p. m. She reached for her cordless phone and dialed Andrea's number.

After a couple of rings. . .

"Hello?" Andrea answered into the phone.

"Hey dancing babe," Caitie teased in her morning voice.

"Hey. You sound fine. How come I have this killer hangover?"

Caitie whispered to accommodate Andrea's apparent pain. "I have a secret to avoiding hangovers . . . "

"Well? What the hell is it?" Andrea demanded.

"I don't drink." Caitie giggled.

"Yeah whatever. Listen, thanks for driving yesterday."

"No problem. Were your parents home last night?" Caitie knew Andrea's parents weren't as lenient as her own.

"Actually, they were home. Their business trip got postponed. They were pretty mad when I got back. being drunk probably didn't help either. They grounded me for a month. but I talked them into reducing it to two weeks."

"Future lawyer in training Miss Andrea Blaine" Caitie commended.

"Yea. Listen, I got to go. Talk to you later Cait."

Caitie hung up the phone. She really wanted to go back to Oasis, and have some fun. Plus, their mango pineapple madness drinks were the best!



After two hours of playing basketball, and eating three slices of pizza, Jamie left the station. "Freedom" he said to no one in particular as he got on his motorcycle. He wasn't on duty until tomorrow. Jamie headed over to Caitie's house. He rang the doorbell and moments later Caitie appeared in her pajamas.

"Whoa, that's my sleeping beauty."

"Shut up!" Caitie playfully punched him in the arm. "What's up? Want to come in?"

"Sure."

Caitie and Jamie plopped down on her leather couch.

"So, want to go get some pizza tonight?" Jamie asked.

Caitie looked away and hesitated. 'Oasis . . .' she thought silently.

"Not tonight. How about some other time?"

Jamie quickly covered up his hurt expression. "Sure. I think I'm on duty tonight anyhow."

'So I lied.' Jamie thought to himself.



It was about 10 pm and Caitie was on her way to Oasis. She didn't really like driving alone at night but she knew it was worth it. Caitie secretly hoped that Brett would be there. As she approached the club, she recognized the bouncer on duty. Apprehensively, Caitie started to wait on line. The bouncer recognized her as well and motioned her to come in.

'No cover charge . . . no waiting, no id. This ROCKS!' she thought to herself.

As she entered, Caitie headed towards the familiar group of guys sitting on the couches in the back. She walked over in their direction when some guy named Dave asked where Andrea was. Caitie informed him that she was 'unavailable' for the next couple of weeks. She traced a hint of disappointment on his face.

Taking a seat on the couch she thought to herself, 'Another night of mature adult conversation. I could get use to this.'











A/N: Rewriting is harder than I thought. I'm tempted to leave my story in its original form, but there are way too many mistakes . . . Anyway, hoped you enjoyed! Please read and review. Comments are much appreciated!

If those sneaky little (or big) mistakes still remain in the story, please let me know! I'm going to try to find some nice beta readers for my future works! If interested, please Email me.