Jason eyed the merchandise carelessly, unsure of what his response was expected to be. Shrugging indifferently, Jason remarked, "I don't know. Isn't that a little . . . pink?"

The saleslady merely forced herself to smile and responded, "Yes, but I believe that the rose blouse would be more appropriate for your stepsister than the full-length camouflage rain coat you were originally interested in purchasing. You did say that she'll be fifteen, correct?"

"Yeah, tomorrow is her birthday."

"Well, how about this . . . ," suggested the middle-aged woman as she removed a striped turtleneck from the rack.

"I said fifteen - not fifty."

As the woman pressed her lips tightly together and attempted to retain her patience, another woman appeared behind Jason and said, "Maybe I can help."

Turning to face Chloe, Jason offered her a displeased glare and snidely commented, "I don't think so, Vampira. You see, it's Kaitlyn's birthday - not Halloween."

Chloe fought against the urge to begin a verbal dispute with Jason in the middle of Ballistix. In her most chipper voice, Chloe said, "Well, how about you just give me a chance? And, if I'm no help, you can return to annoying the store employees."

"Fine," pouted Jason in a rather childish manner. "I might as well agree, because otherwise you'll nag me into an early grave."

"If you don't watch your mouth, I just might put you there anyway," quipped Chloe as she kept the smile on her face.

Following his sworn nemesis across the store, Jason questioned indignantly, "Is that a threat?"

"Push me, and you'll find out."

Resisting the desire to smile, Jason willed himself to appear stern - and to remain angry at Chloe for the comments she had made when they'd last spoken on Wednesday. After all, he had spent all of Thursday stomping around the house trying to convince himself that he didn't care what Chloe Lane thought of him. And, he had done the same thing all morning until he realized that the following day, Saturday, was his stepsister's birthday party.

As Jason's mind wondered aimlessly, Chloe suddenly came to a halt in front of him. The young athlete barely managed to not slam his own body into Chloe. His face only inches from Chloe's, Jason mumbled, "What did you stop for?"

Chloe's lips moved, but no words could be heard. Taking a giant step back from Jason, Chloe finally managed to say, "I, um, I saw a really cute dress."

"Where?" Jason whispered as he found himself once captivated by a pair of spiteful blue eyes.

Unconsciously holding her breath, Chloe reached past Jason to take the dress off the rack. Her heart nearly quit beating when her hand brushed against the warm skin of Jason's arm. Quickly pulling her hand back with the dress, Chloe breathed once more and displayed the simple summer dress.

Holding the hanger with her left hand, Chloe attempted to use her right hand to push away an ornery strand of hair that continuously fell in front of her right eye. However, the more she distractedly pushed the hair away, the more it fell in her face.

With no real thought to the action, Jason reached out and gently tucked the stray strand of hair behind Chloe's ear. Staring into Chloe's eyes, he breathed, "Beautiful."

Lightly wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue, Chloe echoed, "Beautiful?"

Snapping out of his state of mesmerization, Jason tore his eyes away from Chloe and motioned toward the dress she was holding. While silently cursing his own growing attraction for a girl he swore he would always hate, Jason lied, "The dress. It's beautiful. But, it's not what I'm looking for."

"Oh," quietly responded Chloe before carefully returning the dress to rack. She chided herself for feeling disappointed that Jason was referring to the dress as beautiful and not her. Then again, after the careless comments she had made at her house, Chloe doubted if Jason would ever consider her anything more than a cold-hearted enemy. With that thought, Chloe wondered why she really cared what Jason thought of her.

After searching the store, Chloe finally found something that even Jason could not object to buying. The baby blue ensemble was stylish but not extravagant. Modest in length but not too conservative.

Offering his companion a smile, Jason said, "I'll take it."

Watching Jason carry the skirt and matching top to the counter to pay for it, Chloe contemplated apologizing to him for the comments she made after their impromptu picnic. In the very back of her mind, Chloe realized that the argument had been far more her fault than Jason's. She had thoughtlessly made a comment that was somewhat offensive to Jason, and he had merely reacted.

Chloe approached Jason as the cashier handed him his bag. An unidentifiable emotion overtook Chloe as she unhappily noticed the flirtatious smile the young cashier offered Jason. However, the mysterious emotion receded when Jason paid the pretty blonde almost no attention. Instead, he took the bag containing his purchase and turned to Chloe and said, "I suppose I should say thank you."

Allowing Jason to lead her toward the store's door, Chloe countered, "And, I suppose I should say I'm sorry."

Stepping into the warm spring air, Jason gave Chloe a skeptical look and questioned, "Let me get this straight. Chloe Lane, who just happens to hate me more than any other person alive, just apologized to me?"

Chloe impassively said, "Something like that. But, you told me thank you. So, the way I see it, we've both learned a little bit about getting along."

Smiling widely, Jason nodded and agreed, "I suppose we have. So, in honor of our newfound knowledge, what do you say we grab something to drink at the Java Cafe? I'm practically dying of thirst."

"Well, if you're practically dying, how could I possibly refuse?"

"Good point," replied Jason as he led the way to Java Cafe.

Upon reaching the cafe, Jason casually plopped himself down in a chair near the counter and watched with fascination as Chloe slowly perched herself on the seat across from him. He found it quite alluring the way she did everything so gracefully. In retrospect, Jason could see that even Chloe's acts of revenge had been pulled off in a rather graceful manner.

His expression becoming drastically more somber, Jason looked across the table at Chloe and said, "I'm honestly glad to see you that you're doing okay. I was pretty worried when I thought that creep in the parking lot might have seriously hurt you."

For a moment, Chloe was rendered speechless. She knew just how difficult it must have been for Jason to admit that to her. In fact, that was probably almost as hard for Jason as apologizing had been for Chloe. With a weak smile, Chloe replied, "I'm doing fine. But, I'll never forget what you did for me that night."

"Come on, Chloe. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"You saved my life. I would consider that a big deal."

Waving his hand in a dismissing manner, Jason merely said, "Let's just forget about it. What I want to know is, did you get the part?"

Giving a smile, Chloe shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I haven't heard anything from the theater."

A silence engulfed the couple as each racked their brain for something to say. They were saved from their own silence by a voice behind Jason announcing, "Well, look who we have here."

Slowly turning in his seat, Jason shook his head with disbelief. He just couldn't believe his luck. It was as if the gods had chosen him as their own personal scapegoat. His voice uncharacteristically cold, Jason responded, "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Jan repeated. "I want to know what my boyfriend is doing hanging out with Ghoul Girl. Don't tell me there's something doing on between you and this freak."

Before Chloe could insist that there was nothing going on, Jason shocked her by casually placing his hand over hers on the table. He kept his eyes focused on Jan as he commented, "What I do and who I do it with is none of your business Jan. As I recall, you were the one that didn't want to head off to college still dating me."

"So, what? You just ran off to be with the Vampira? Gee, Jase, I thought you at least had some taste."

Clasping his hand even more firmly around Chloe's, Jason rose from his seat and gently pulled Chloe to her feet. With a soft tug, he pulled the beautiful brunette quite close to him. Glaring at his former girlfriend, Jason coldly ordered, "Don't talk about Chloe that way."

Jan's eyes narrowed significantly as she crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Only a loser would defend her. Of course, without me, that's what you are, isn't? Face it, Jase. Without me as your girlfriend, you're nothing but some former jock whose own father would rather stay away on business than attend a high school basketball game."

Having all she could take of Jan and her self-righteous comments, Chloe used her free hand to point at the young woman and retorted, "Why don't you just go away? It's obvious that you were nothing to Jason but a hindrance. He's better off without you."

Her eyes transforming from cruel slits into large saucers filled to the rim with disbelief, Jan declared, "Oh. My. God. There really is something going on between the two of you!"

"Like I already said, what I do and who I do it with doesn't concern you. So, just leave me and Chloe alone and mind your own business for once."

Flabbergasted by Jason's blunt rejection, Jan opted to merely toss him and Chloe her most unkind glare before turning away from the couple and walking in the direction of the parking lot.

"Good riddance," muttered Chloe as she watched Jan walk away. Turning to Jason, Chloe commented, "I thought she was supposed to be in Europe with her parents."

"Actually, Jan and her parents spent the first half of their vacation in Paris. Before she and I broke up, she told me that after Paris, she would be coming back to Salem for a day or two because of some business thing her dad has going on. The good news is that she'll be off to London soon, and we won't have to see her again until we all return to school."

Noticing for the first time just how close she and Jason were standing, Chloe reluctantly pulled her hand away from him and took a small step to her right. Intent on ridding herself of the nervous feeling arising deep inside, Chloe quickly stammered, "Oh, you never . . . um, told me who exactly it was that we were shopping for in Ballistix. You just mentioned that her name was Kaitlyn."

"Oh, Kaitlyn is my stepsister. Tomorrow is her birthday. Anyway, my mom gave me the sizes to shop for and just sorta sent me out to buy her gift. I guess I really do owe you for helping me out."

"Nah, after the way you defended me to Jan, I'm the one who owes you. And, let's not forget about you saving my life on Tuesday night."

Smirking, Jason shrugged and said, "Yeah, I suppose you're right - you do owe me."

A smile slowly appeared as Chloe shook her head. "So, you said your stepsister's birthday is tomorrow. Is she having a party?"

"Oh, yeah. Kaitlyn's mom spoils her crazy and throws this big bash every year. I mean, the kid's only going to be fifteen, and her mother is practically making this thing the social event of the season."

"You wouldn't exaggerate, would you?" Chloe questioned with a smile.

"Me? Never."

Chloe's laugh was cut short when she happened to look past Jason and see a familiar male with a huge smirk on his face. She merely rolled her eyes as she watched him saunter over in his own conceited manner.

Pushing past his baby brother, Devon took Chloe's hand in his and brought it to his lips. After placing a soft kiss on her skin, Devon greeted, "Hello, gorgeous. Miss me?"

While Chloe blushed just slightly and avoided eye contact with the older guy, Jason sent his brother an exasperated glare that was most certainly tainted with hidden displeasure. Like Chloe had earlier, he found an odd feeling burning inside him. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he silently tried to convince himself that it wasn't jealousy.

Acknowledging his brother, Devon said, "So, Jason, after you left the house, Bradley called. I'm willing to bet that he can't wait until tomorrow just so he can mess with you."

"Who's Bradley?"

A light frown controlled Jason's face as he answered Chloe's question, "Bradley is the most egotistical jerk to roam the earth. He even beats out Devon here."

Devon chose to ignore his brother's scarcely hidden insult and added, "Bradley also happens to be our stepbrother."

Attempting to keep Jason's family tree straight, Chloe asked, "So, that means that he's Kaitlyn's brother?"

"Yeah, that's right," grumbled Jason as he became somewhat lost in his own thoughts. Ever since his father and Clare had married, Jason had been forced to endure his arrogant stepbrother's constant insults and rude insinuations.

Giving Jason a pat on the back, Devon said, "Try to think positive. The party can't last forever, so eventually Bradley will have to stop bragging about his petty little girlfriend."

"Maybe, but he's still going to make me miserable at that party. Before I had a girlfriend, he always threw it in my face. Then, when I started dating Jan, she would never really want to go to any family thing, so I was still flying solo. And, Bradley would throw that in my face, too."

While peeking inside Jason's shopping bag that still sat on the table, Devon commented, "Yeah, it's just too bad that there isn't some hot babe that owes you a favor and would go with you to Kaitlyn's little birthday bash."

Jason, still trapped by his own grumpy nature, replied, "Yeah, but I seriously doubt that I'm just going to run into some girl who owes me that much. I mean, going to one of our family things is like a life or death . . ."

Chloe became increasingly nervous as Devon moved his watchful gaze from the shopping bag to her. And, as Jason smiled slyly, Chloe knew that she was definitely in over her head.

Waving her index finger at the two handsome young men, Chloe said, "Whatever you're thinking - no."

"Come on, Chloe. Not ten minutes ago you were going on and on about how you owed me. This would be the perfect way to pay me back. Don't you want to make things even?"

"Not that I'm agreeing to go along with whatever cockamamie scheme you have planned, but what exactly is it that you're asking me to do?"

Interrupting the conversation with a mischievous smile, Devon declared, "He wants you to be his hot mama."

Devon instantly felt a pain in his chest as Jason used the back of his hand to slap his brother. Clearing his throat, Devon stated, "What I meant was that Jason would really appreciate you attending the party with him."

"You said you owed me," Jason quietly reminded.

Against her better judgement, Chloe answered, "Fine, I'll go with you to the party."