Author's Note: I don't really have anything to say except I'm just using this chapter to like tide over until Spinelli comes back to school.

Chapter Eleven

Gus & Mikey's Second Dating Service Dates

"OK, there's less than the usual four of you because your not making as much noise as usual, but its not just Teej because your making more noise than just TJ does," Spinelli said as she heard people walk into her room that Friday night. She was glad for the chance to go back home after Wednesday. She hated the hospital. It was too dead, it wasn't the right place for her, besides she had a feeling if she was going to get her sight back at all it would not be at a hospital, where she would be reminded of her handicap at all times. Sometimes, during the night, while almost dozing off Spinelli started to forget about the fact that she was blind.

"It's just me and Gretch," TJ calmly told her.

"Hey guys," Spinelli greeted, "Where's Gus and Mikey then?"

"There going out on their dates with the two dating service girls they got on Thursday," Gretchen informed her, "The two won't give it up. They think they'll find their great loves through this dating service."

"Yah," Spinelli said.

TJ smiled softly. He knew Spinelli would have a hard time coping with the fact that she was now blind, "So, you ready to go back to school on Wednesday?"

"No," Spinelli answered, "I don't want all the sympathy and people treating me like I'm some sort of fragile thing that'll break if they aren't careful."

"Wait," Gretchen said, trying her best to sound surprised as she shook her head to TJ, "You don't like feeling helpless and others thinking your helpless?"

"Ha ha Gretchen," Spinelli said, "All I'm saying is, if anybody does treat me like that, I won't be able to see to beat them up, which means we're pretty much proving the fact that I'm helpless."

"Well, how about this," TJ said, putting his arm around Spinelli, "If any guy says anything to you, I'll beat him up and Gretchen can beat up the girls because I'm not allowed to hit girls."

"Really?" Spinelli asked.

"Sure," Gretchen answered uneasily, "But I might get beat up in the process seeing as how I do not have a superior fighting knowledge."

"All you have to do is try," Spinelli assured her best friend.

"So, you think these girls are right for us?" Gus asked Mikey as they pulled up to the restaurant. The girls had agreed to a double date so that way if the girls turned out to be as bad as the last two then they could at least talk to each other.

"I think true love can come in many shapes and forms," Mikey informed Gus in one of his poetic ways, "We could be very surprised tonight and still find our great loves."

"I just hope they're not like our other ones," Gus said, wincing as he remembered the party that had led up to the accident, and his and Mikey's dates, which turned out to be complete duds.

"Ashley T., are you sure about this?" Ashley B. asked of her friend, "I mean, we're in a dating service, what happens if we see somebody from our school?"

"Then we tell them we met the guys somewhere else," Ashley T. safely said, "Or we could tell them the truth and say that no one in our school is worth the time of even considering dating."

"You mean because we've already spent time with them all," Ashley B. said, looking at her friend. Ashley T. had been acting kind of weird lately, like she didn't want to be an Ashley. As if the Ashley charm was wearing off for her. But Ashley B. knew she just must be imagining it, how could anyone not want to be an Ashley?

"Yah, that's what I meant," Ashley T. said quietly. She couldn't understand how she had gone from being a scandalous Ashley and loving every minute of it to wanting out of the Ashley's, wanting to be her own person, and most of all wanting to find her true love.

"OH MY GOD! Ashley T. look who's here," Ashley B. said kind of loudly, "Gus and Mikey are standing by the door."

Ashley T. turned around and saw Gus and Mikey, "So, who cares they can be here, its not like we care. OH MY GOD!"

"What?" Ashley B. asked frantically, looking around her, "Is there anyone else from school here?"

"No," Ashley T. said calmly, "But look at Gus's and Mikey's outfits."

As Ashley B. processed what Ashley T. had said it slowly began to dawn on her. Ashley B. had told her date to wear a red shirt with a black tie, and Gus was wearing a red shirt with a black tie. Ashley T. had told her date to wear a black shirt with a red tie, and Mikey was wearing a black shirt with a red tie. Ashley B. looked over at Ashley T., who seemed as if she was getting ready to laugh.

"This is a crisis!" Ashley B., almost in tears, said, "They're gonna tell everybody in school that we had to use a dating service and we're gonna get laughed out of our school."

"Relax!" Ashley T. told her, "Don't you think they might not want their news of joining a dating service public knowledge?"

"No way," Gus breathed as they walked into the restaurant. Mikey quickly looked in Gus's pointed stare's direction and saw Ashley T. and Ashley B.

"Well, its not like they'll care we're here," Mikey tried to reason, then he noticed the thing that Gus had noticed before. Gus's date was supposed to wear a pink dress with flowers, as was Ashley B. and Mikey's date was supposed to wear a plain black dress, as was Ashley T., "NO! My world will come to an end."

"Maybe its not that bad," Gus tried to console him, "I mean, the Ashley's in a dating service? Who would figure that?"

As they slowly walked to the table they realized the Ashley's had already figured them out too, by the sour look on Ashley B.'s face, Mikey bitterly said, "Maybe they just got sick of screwing the same guys over and over again."

"Hello," Ashley B. said coolly, like the ice queen she was as they made it to the table and sat down.

"Hi," Gus greeted cheerfully.

"We're not staying for this date," Ashley B. cut right to the chase, as her and Ashley T. stood up and got their purses, "And if you tell anybody in school about this we'll tell everybody about you guys in the dating service too."

"Yah, and I'm sure after hearing about the two of you we'll be really big news," Gus said sarcastically.

"Look, just don't tell, OK?" Ashley B. said, looking murderously at the two of them.

"We won't," Mikey assured her, "We don't want people to know we were even supposed to be close to compatible with the two of you anyways."

The two Ashley's began to walk off when Ashley T. turned around and said, "I'm really sorry to hear about Spinelli. I hope she's okay."

"No, you're not. We don't care. We don't associate ourselves with people that much below us," Ashley B hissed at her, the two boys still being able to hear her. As they walked out of the restaurant Gus turned to Mikey.

"Well, look like this dating service is really working out for us," Gus said, "Let's go grab a pizza before heading over to Spinelli's."

"OK," Mikey readily agreed, looking after where Ashley T. had stood, uttering that she was sorry about Spinelli, there was something different about that Ashley tonight. She seemed almost un-Ashley like. Almost normal.