Author's Note: Well lookie here, I didn't manage to live up to my updating schedule... big surprise. I'll try to update sooner this time. I'd help to know what you think about my story, though... even though it's in its beginning stages and the plot is rather undeterminable. Where exactly am I going with this...?

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Chapter Two

          A timer went off, announcing that the meatloaf was cooked. Its piercing ring startled Jimmy out of his thoughts. Still staring at his right hand, he absentmindedly opened the oven and pulled out the pan.

          A sharp burning pain ran through his "good hand" and Jimmy realized he hadn't used a hot pad.

          He swore and dropped his meal, scattering the meatloaf all over. He went to the sink and turned the nozzle on. He closed the oven with his foot while he let the cool water run over the burn.

          The phone chose to ring at that moment. He streched over and knocked the phone out of its cradle, and after a few failed attempts –his hand was still shaking a little- he managed to hit the Speakerphone button.

          "Yeah? This is Jimmy," he said loudly. The Caller ID was too far away to see from where he was, so he didn't know who was talking to.

          "Jimmy?" a male voice hesitantly replied.

          He rolled his eyes, instantly knowing who his "mysterious caller" was, "Yeah dude, I said 'this is Jimmy'. You need to be more observant, Spin."

          "No need to get so bitchy," Spinner snapped back. "It's not my fault it's 'that time of the month' for you."

          "Sorry, man. You just sort of caught me at a bad time."

          "Maybe I should call again later..."

          "Naw, I'm cool. So what'd you want?"

          "Hold on."

          Jimmy heard muffled shouts and figured Spinner was probably fighting with his little sister Kendra over something stupid. Again. It could be good half hour before Spinner remembered he was on the phone with him.

          He took this opportunity to grab a dish towel off the counter. He held it under the water for a few seconds until it was moderately soaked through. He wrapped it around his burnt fingers and then turned off the tap.

          Eying the meatloaf that was scattered on the floor, Jimmy dramatically sighed and bent down to clean it up.

          "Still there, Jim?" Spinner breathlessly asked.

          "Yep. So what's up?"

          "You know how Paige and I are in a bit of a rough spot right now over that whole 'Marco/Dylan' thing—"

          "What's this, trouble in paradise?" Jimmy sarcastically cut in. "I probably never would have noticed that you guys were fighting if you hadn't just pointed out that out to me."

          "Ha Ha," Spinner said. "Very funny. Look man, I'm just calling to see if you and Haz' would mind going on a double date with us Saturday night. You know, so I won't have to sit there with Paige and have my head chewed off for being such a 'thoughtless idiot'."

          "That's not what she called you in the cafeteria today. I distinctly remember hearing the word basta—"

          "Yeah, yeah. Whatever," his blond friend said dryly. "The girl has issues."

          "You know, you probably shouldn't have called her a heartless bit—"

          "So are you in or what?"

          "I don't know. I probably don't have anything better to do," Jimmy mused half to himself. "Well, what do you have in mind?"

          "Maybe a movie, I heard that new Barrymore/Sandler flick(1) was supposed to be pretty good."

          "You know I don't like movie theater popcorn."(2)

          "Fine. Dinner and a movie. How about the Dot Grill...?"

          "It's like, a date!" Jimmy brightly said with his best Valley Girl accent.

          "Dude. Shut up!"

          "Sorry," Jimmy apologized as he picked up the last bit of meatloaf. The floor was still greasy from the barbeque sauce, but he'd wipe that up later. A quick spray of 409 and the accident would be erased from both his mind and the floor. He slid over to the counter and leaned up against it,

          "I'll call Hazel and make it official then."

          "Don't bother, she'll go," Spinner replied confidently. "She's a girl—"

          "Hope so."

          "Shut up," Spinner growled. "You know how girls are. If Paige had to go on a date with a 'barbarian', she'd want to take a friend along."

          Jimmy stopped what he was doing, "Wait. Have you even asked Paige yet?"

          "Ahh... no. But I know she'll go."

          He laughed, "It didn't look like she wanted to be in the same room with you in the cafeteria at lunch today. How do you know that she'll agree?"

          "Trust me, man. I have a gift. She'll be there."

          "Whatever. I have to get back to my geometry homework. Talk to you tomorrow?"

          "Yeah, sure—hey wait," he added quickly, trying to catch Jimmy before he hung up.

          "Yeah?"

          "I know this'll probably sound dumb and you'll tell me that I'm stupid—"

          "What is it, Spin?" Jimmy impatiently asked.

          "Don't get mad or anything. I mean, I'm probably the last person who should ask you this—"

          "Out with it."

          "Issomthingthematter?"

          "What?"

          "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Are you OK? You've been acting kind of...odd recently. I mean, not that that's wrong or anything. I know you probably don't want to hear me talking about this, but you've been like this since your dad left for Vancouver two weeks ago...or maybe it was later then that...? Anyway, you have some of us worried...and well... I don't know what to say..." His words trailed off, leaving an awkward silence between the two. (3)

          He blinked. Spinner was right. Jimmy never would have thought he would hear those words come out of his mouth,

          "Am I OK?" he questioned himself softly. He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm Jimmy Brooks. I have to be."

          Then,

          "Yeah Spin," he told his friend, more loudly. "I'm fine. You're right. It's just my dad. I guess I miss him." It was an outright lie, but it was the only excuse he could think of at the moment.

          "Well," Spinner started slowly; Jimmy could tell he was embarrassed. "If you want to talk about it..."

          "Nah. I'm fine. Like I said..."

          "Tomorrow then?"

          "OK, Bye."

          He waited for the audible click of Spinner's phone before getting up off the floor to hit 'end'.

          Jimmy ran his conversation with his best friend over in his head again and again. Was he really, as Spinner had put it, acting really odd? He sighed; he had another problem to deal with now.

          He saw his geometry textbook lying open on the other end of the counter. It was a cruel reminder that he still had a lot of studying to do. He simply glared at it.

          "I'll just copy Craig's review sheet in English and fail the test," he finally grumbled as he shuffled over to it and slammed the book shut. He went back into the living room and plopped down on the sofa.

          The TV was still on mute. After brief consideration, he decided to leave it that way.

          He noticed that his right hand was still trembling a little. He ignored it, as he had been doing for the past month. It would go away, eventually. It always did. What did Marco, and now Spinner, know? He was fine.

          Jimmy shut his eyes. Sleep wasn't something that came easily to him these days; every little noise or tiny light kept him awake. He pulled a pillow over his head and tried to dose off. The pillow's itchy material made him sneeze instead.

          He groaned and sat up. Jimmy clapped his hands together twice, turning off the apartment's lights. Ahh, the joys of Clap-On Clap-Off lighting(4). He did it eight more times; just annoy the old lady who lived in the apartment building directly across the street. She always complained about everything he did... why not add another annoyance to the list?

          When he was lying in complete darkness, save the colorful images that noiselessly flashed across the TV's screen, he stripped down to his boxers. Jimmy pulled a thin blanket that had been lying on the other end of the couch over him and rolled over so his back faced the television.

          He closed his eyes again, and this time, he started to fall asleep. As he was passing over into dreamland, a panicked thought crossed his drowsy mind. Had he turned off the oven? Jimmy's decided that he did, and fell asleep.

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(1) Fifty First Dates. (2) I think Paige originally said this, but I'm not sure. If that is so, I apologize for ripping it off. (3) Rather OOC of him, I know. (4) Don't have this, wish I did... [Insert malicious grin]

Here's where I insert my thanks to the kind reviewers...

PsychoJo: Thanks for the great tip. It did help me on my quest for "rightness".

x Confused Girl x: You know, a lot of people I talk to don't seem to like the J/H pairing. I might just have to change that!

sevhevcracksmeup: thanks! I like to make my first chapters intriguing like that, before I get to the mindless dribble that is the rest of the story. I just hope it wasn't too confusing.

matt: I used to be a fan of J/A too, but then I realized how wrong they were together... no, they won't be together, but like I said before... it's not necessarily going to be J/H.

Now I must go before I give away the plot!!!