I heard the doorbell ring from my room. I was so nervous! I collapsed on my bed.

"I'll get it!" Jordan yelled as he ran to go get the door. I heard him open it and Freddy ask for me.

"Marta," Jordan yelled from downstairs, "Freddy's here!" I shrieked.

"I think that means she's ready," Jordan said.

"I thought so too," Freddy said.

I took a deep breath, stood up, smoothed my dress and walked down the stairs. For once, I was walking instead of running down and sounding like "a wild stallion galloping". At least, that's what Mom says. Anyway, I kept walking down as carefully as I could so I wouldn't fall down with my heels. Freddy whistled.

"Looking good Blondie," he smirked. I smiled back at him. The truth was I did look good, even Jordan told me when I had asked him to check if my hair was ok. When I got down the stairs, I gave my brother a hug.

"I guess we'd better go," I told him as I started to approach the door.

"Wait," he stopped me, "Mom and Dad will want to see you."

"Mom, Dad," Jordan screamed as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Is that bad?" Freddy asked me. I looked at him.

"What do you think?" I asked as I arched my eyebrows.

"Oh," he said. Just then, my parents came to the entrance.

"Oh my," Mom gasped.

"My little baby," Dad whispered. Jordan was biting his lip to keep from cracking up.

"Freddy, you've grown up so much! You're almost a man now," Mom wiped her eye.

If she starts crying, I thought, I don't know what I'm going to do!

"Don't even talk about getting old, Mrs. D.," Freddy grinned.

"I can't believe you're already going to start high school in less than 3 months," Dad shook his head.

"Me neither," I shook my head.

"Yeah," Freddy agreed, "It seems like just yesterday we were in 5th grade and 'Mr. S.' was subbing for our class."

"Oh yeah," I laughed, "Do you remember when he asked you what you liked to do and you said 'I dunno, burn stuff,'?"

"Hell yeah," Freddy grinned mischievously, "And the time I told him to shut up!"

"Who could forget that?" I asked.

"Oh and when he told off Summer, that was good," he laughed.

"Marta, Freddy," Jordan smiled, "I hate to interrupt your walk down memory lane, but Mom and Dad want to take a picture." I sighed.

"We'll take pictures at the party," I told them, "Can we please bring the camera with us instead of you taking zillions of shots over here?"

"Fine, but I want to take one picture," Dad insisted. He took out the digital camera.

"Fine," I shrugged, "Come on Freddy. Let's get this over with." We smiled, the camera flashed and Dad gave me the camera.

"Have a good time!" they yelled as we left.

"We will," Freddy called back as he winked at me.

"You chariot waits," he grinned as he opened the door to...

"A limo! You rented a limo!" I screeched.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Well, my Mom did. You know my Mom, she likes everything to be very formal and stuff, so yeah. We have a limo."

"Wow," I giggled as I stepped in. Freddy followed. It was huge!

It's even bigger than I thought! I thought.

"Nice dress," he commented.

"Thanks," I smiled. My dress was nice. It's a v-necked, butterfly-sleeved dress with a ruffled hemline. It was hugging my body in all the right places and the gorgeous red dress reached the top of my calves. The sandals I chose were nice too, strappy black Jimmy Choo sandals. I had decided to put my hair up in a bun and held it in place with black chopsticks. I chose red and black chandelier earrings as my only jewelry, except for my gold charm bracelet, which I never take off. The only make-up I wore was clear lip-gloss and a hint of mascara, just to make my eyes stand out a little bit more.

"I like your shirt, your pants too," I smiled at him, "They're the same color as your eyes."

"That's what my Mom said!" he cried.

"It's true though," I smiled. Freddy had his hair spiked up (as always), but he had dressed up (thanks to Mrs. Jones, no duh). He was wearing brown pants with an actual crease line from being ironed (wow, Mrs. Jones really cleaned him up!) and a pale green shirt with the first two buttons undone.

"Hey," Eleni grinned as I sat down next to her.

"Hey Eleni, Marco," I smiled at both Eleni and her date, Marco.

"I forgot you two were in here!" Freddy grinned, "You're too quiet!"

"You look amazing!" I told her, "I love your hair with curls!"

"Look at you," she smiled, "You're gorgeous! It's no mystery why my brother asked you to be his date!"

"Flattery gets you nowhere," I teased.

For the rest of the ride, the four of us just talked about random things, like annoying teachers ahemMiss Potter, Geography and Mr. Hampton, Mathahem.

When we got to school auditorium, which actually didn't look that bad, we immediately met up with the rest of the gang. Summer totally shocked us with her dress. She had told us it would be long, puffy and pink chiffon. Instead, she went for long, fitted and dark purple velvet. Michelle decided on a black, halter dress with an asymmetrical hemline. Alicia chose a cream-colored dress with capped sleeves and a sheer overskirt. Tomika was wearing a silver tube top with a floor-length baby blue skirt and baby blue sheer jacket.

Out of all of us, Katie looked the best. She went for a delicate, old Hollywood look. Her dress was white with spaghetti straps a plunging v-neck. The bodice of the dress was tight, but it flared out a little bit from the waist down and had a rippled hem. She wore a bright red sash around her waist and wore red mules. She wore her hair down and tucked a red flower behind her ear. The only make-up she wore was red lipstick. She looked fabulous!

While Lawrence was talking about his latest piano lesson, Freddy came behind me and whispered, "Blondie," inside my ear. I turned my head to look at him.

"Wanna dance?" he asked, just as the first words from "You're Still the One" from Shania Twain came on.

"Sure," I nodded. We walked over to the dance floor.

"Ok then, how do we do this?" he asked.

"Whatever way feels right, I guess," I shrugged. He nodded as he put his arms around my waist. I rested my head against him and put my arms around his neck. We moved to the music and it felt so nice, feeling his body next to mine.

(When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after
all this time, you're still the one I love.)
Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

"You want to keep dancing?" he asked as the song finished. I shook my head. The song "Naughty Girl" from Beyoncé started. I let go of him and started swaying my hips to the beat. The night went on and Freddy and I danced to most of the numbers. He kept asking if I wanted to stop and I kept saying no. The songs weren't bad, "Let's Get It Started" (Black-Eyed Peas), "Gimme the Light" (Sean Paul), "Scandalous" (Miss Teeq), "Hotel" (Cassidy), "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (Jet) and the list goes on. Yes, we did take pictures though, just like we promised my parents.

Just as the song "Take My Breath Away" started, we heard a male voice over the mike and it said, "This is for all you rockers out there. You know who you are." Then the song, "Punk Rock 101" from Bowling for Soup started.

"Whoo hoo!" Freddy cried, "We're staying on the dance floor for this one!"

"How do you dance to this?" I giggled.

"Like you said," he grinned, "Do whatever feels right." I pulled the chopsticks out of my hair and shook my head. I sang along to the song and just, well, moved to the music. By then, the whole band was dancing.

She works at hot topic
His heart microscopic
She thinks that its love but to him its sex
He listens to emo but fat mike's his hero
His bank account's zero
What comes next?

Same song different chorus
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from punk rock 101
My Dickies your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for punk rock 101

She bought him a skateboard, a rail slide, his knee tore
He traded it for drums at the local pawn shop
She left him for staring at girls and not caring
When she cried because she thought Bon Jovi broke up

Same song second chorus
It's stupid, contagious
To be broke and famous
Can someone please save us from punk rock 101
My Dickies your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new vans
Let's throw up our rock hands for punk rock 101

Don't forget to dely...on the very last word

Seven years later he works as a waiter
She married a trucker and he's never there
The story never changes, just the names and faces
Like Tommy and Gina they're living on a prayer

Did you just say that?
I just said

It's stupid, contagious (same song different chorus)
To be broke and famous (same song different chorus)
Can someone please save us from punk rock 101
My Dickies your sweatbands
My spiked hair, your new Vans
Let's shoplift some sweatbands for punk rock 101

"PUNK ROCK 101!" Zack screamed at the end of the song. We all laughed.

"How much do you want to bet that he's the one responsible for the little ahem malfunction in the music?" Freddy smirked at me.

"He's been doing it pretty often lately, first my parents' dinner party, now this!" I grinned.

"My hair must be a mess," I giggled.

"No," he shook his head, "It looks cool. It's not too messy. You look less sophisticated, but it's cool."

"I'll leave it like this or do I fix it again?" I asked.

"Leave it," he grabbed the chopsticks from my hand, walked to the food table and put them down.

"Can we stop dancing?" I asked, "I'm out of breath."

"Sure," he nodded as he grabbed a glass of punch, "Want some?" I nodded. He gave me another one. I took a sip. When we finished drinking, he asked if I wanted to go outside for a bit. I agreed and we went to one of the balconies on the school grounds. We could still hear the music from the dance though. The song "Summer Sunshine" from the Corrs started at that moment.

Everyone's changing, I stay the same
I'm... a solo cello outside a chor-us
I've got a secret
It's time for me to tell that you've been keeping me warm

Just sweet beginnings and bitter en-dings
In coffee city, we borrowed hea-ven
Don't give it back, I've never felt so wanted
Are you taking me home?

You tell me you have to go...

I looked up at the dark sky scattered with stars.

It's so beautiful! I thought.

"Blondie," Freddy interrupted my thoughts. I turned my head around, my long curls flying and looked at him.


In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know

"Yeah Freddy," I answered.

"I have to tell you something," he said. He had a guilty look on his face.

Now that you've left me, there's no retur-ning
I keep comparing, you're always win-ning
I try to be strong but you'll never be more wanted
Will you make me at home?

Uh-oh, prepare for the worst, Marta! I thought.

"Well, umm, it's just that," he sighed, "Let me start over." He took a deep breath and paused for a minute.

Don't tell me you have to go...

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know
Ya da... ya da... ya da

"Well, it's 'cause," he said, "You know, I've always kind of had a thing for you." My jaw dropped and my eyes almost popped out of my head.

"Are you kidding?" I asked him, "Is this, like, a dare from Zack or Katie or something?"

"Nope, I'm dead serious," he shook his head. I looked straight into his eyes and knew he wasn't lying.


To sweet beginnings and bitter en-dings
In coffee city, we borrowed hea-ven
Don't give it back
Winter is coming and I need to stay warm

"Oh my God, Freddy," I whispered, "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything at all," he whispered back.

The heat...

At that very moment, I felt his lips lock onto mine. I fell into his kiss and forgot everything else around me. I was oblivious to everything except for him and me.

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody knows

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know

Freddy kissed me right until the ending of the song, which was a pretty long kiss. Then he let go of me.

"You know Blondie; we have a song now," he smiled slowly, "That's always going to be 'our' song."

"Yeah," I nodded. He kissed me again. When we broke away from each other, we heard cheers. I whipped my head around. The entire band was watching us!

"Go Spazzy!" Leonard pumped his fist in the air.

"So then," Alicia prompted, "How was it?"

"Yeah Marta," Marco grinned, "We can all tell you've wanted to do that for a while!"

"I want to know how Freddy liked it," Summer put her hands on her hips, "Because he looked like he was enjoying himself!"

I must have turned really red because then Frankie said, "Marta must have liked it because she's turning as red as a tomato!" That only made me blush even more.

"Are your lives so uneventful, you can't get butt out of ours?" Freddy teased as he shook his head.

"Yup," Zack answered.

"I'm going inside Marta," Freddy said as he headed towards the auditorium.

"Right behind you," I followed.

That night, Freddy and Eleni decided to drop Marco off first because they had picked him up first. When it came time to drop me off, Freddy got out of the car with me and took care to close the door and roll up the tinted window (guess who was still in the car, watching as best as she could through the window).

"Did you have fun?" he asked as we started walking up the walkway to my door.

"Yeah," I nodded, "You?"

"Hell yeah," he grinned.

"Well, good night then," I smiled.

"Good night," he replied. There was an awkward pause.

"Hey, this is where I kiss you right?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"Oh," he said as he tilted his head and gave me a quick kiss.

"Bye," I said when he broke away.

"Bye," he turned around and started walking back towards the car, "See you at school and later on during band practice on Monday." There was no school Monday. It had finished that day, but I didn't bother correcting him. I didn't want to spoil the moment.

I rang the doorbell and Dad answered. They asked me all about what happened and I told them everything besides our kisses outside. Jordan and I super close. So, when he asked me about it later on, when it was just the two of us in my room, I told him about everything.

"Well then," he sighed as he sat on my bed, "I guess my little sister is growing up."

"I guess so," I said.

"Yeah, just don't grow up too fast," he told me. I nodded.

"Good night then," he kissed my forehead and gave me a hug.

"Good night," I hugged him back.



Disclaimer: Except for Gwen, I own absolutely nothing in this entire story.

Thank-you's:

Sandy-Pandy: Ok, ok, I up-dated! See!

T dot chick: You and Freddy, not likely, but hey, what's a girl to do if she can't dream? BTW, I'm assuming you're a girl because the word "chick" is in your pen-name. Hey, isn't that song from "The Wizard of Oz" or something?

Wyverna: Wow, how was Italy? Thanks about the title. It was inspired by one of your suggestions!

Stepoff: I love Mario Smash Bros! I always play it at my cousin's house! I've never actually played Grand Auto Theft, but I heard it was pretty good. I don't actually have any game consoles because my Mom says they'll make me hyper, but I use my cousins'.

Random Comments: I wasn't sure if I should end it right here, but then I decided on no because I still have more to write about Marta, Freddy and the gang.

Who has heard the songs "Punk Rock 101" (Bowling For Soup), "Easy Target" (Blink182) and "Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin)?

Ok then, there's one thing left for you to do. Who knows the answer? Everyone's hands fly up. You, over there, in the back. Points to random kid. "Review!" kid screams. Excellent. Now everyone listen to the kid1