I pulled away from Joel quickly. I stared at him with wide eyes for a second.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I stood up and ran away. My eyes were filling with hot, salty tears. Before I knew it, the tears were streaming down my face by the dozen. I ran faster.

What have I done? Am I crazy? What was I thinking? What do I do? The thoughts pounded in my brain. I have to tell someone! How could I have just done that? I'm so stupid!

I stopped running and sank down under a tree, sobbing. My shoulders were shaking, I felt like my temperature was 150oC, my face was tear-streaked and my eyes were puffy and red. I knew I looked horrible.

Calm down, Marta. I thought. Stop crying, it'll be easier to concentrate.

I took deep breaths and wiped my tears away. I kept breathing heavily until I was sure that I had everything under control.

Ok then, just go talk to someone about it. I thought. But who? Freddy? Never! I never want to tell him. Katie? Maybe, but she might tell my Mom or something. Dewey? No, it would be awkward. Then who?

I sat down, desperately trying to think of someone. Then, it hit me.

I checked my watch. He might be busy, but then again, he might not. I searched furiously for my cell phone inside my carrier bag. I grabbed it and dialed his number, praying he'd pick up.

One ring, two rings, three rings, "Hello," he answered.

"Hi, Jordan, it's Marta," I answered. I heard a muffled voice in the background, definitely not my brother's.

"Just a sec Marta," Jordan said.

I could tell he was trying to cover the phone when he said, "Shut up Alex. It's my sister."

I heard Alex say, "You mean you're hot sister? Can I say hi?"

I heard Jordan answer, "Shut up you stupid pervert! She's my sister!"

"Yeah Marta, what's up?" Jordan returned his attention to me.

I took a deep breath, "I just did something totally stupid and I feel horrible." I immediately burst into tears.

"What?" he yelled, "Tell me you're still a virgin!"

Alex, in the background said, "She's not a virgin? That's hot."

My brother tried to cover the phone again, "I'm trying to talk to my sister. Either shut up or get out. Something happened to her and she better not have had sex!"

"Of course I'm a virgin," I cried.

"Thank God," Jordan sighed with relief and covered the phone, yet again, "She's still a virgin."

Alex answered, "Damn it."

"Yeah Marta, what happened then?" Jordan asked, "Wait a second, did you get married?"

Alex said, "She's married! Fuck."

"No, I'm not married," I answered.

"Good, so you're not married. What is it then?" my brother asked. I heard Alex groan. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I thought something bad happened. Why are you laughing?" Jordan asked.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Get on with the story then. Alex is getting impatient," Jordan sighed. He obviously realized that I had heard everything he had tried to cover up.

"Well, in Montreal, we met this guy, Joel. He's really nice and sweet...and cute. We're friends and we've been hanging out since we got here. He came to our concert, he's shown us around and he's been really nice to us..." I trailed off.

"Especially you," my brother asked, "Am I right?"

"Yeah," I answered, "The worst part is I just made out with him."

"You did what?" Jordan cried.

"Ah ha! I told you she wasn't a virgin!" shouted Alex triumphantly.

"Out!" my brother yelled and then focused on me again, "Marta, why did you do that? You're a smart girl. You know the difference between right and wrong!"

"I know," I sobbed, "But it happened, really fast and now I feel so, incredibly horrible."

"You're my little sister and I feel bad telling you this, but you should feel that way! I mean, a few weeks ago, you were on Cloud 9 squealing 'I'm dating Freddy, I'm dating Freddy!' and now you're making out with a guy you just met! Marta, I won't tell you how stupid that alone is, but you're doing it behind your boyfriend's back. You have two choices," Jordan told me.

"Yes," I said, "Go on."

"You can break it off with Freddy and tell him what happened," he said, "Or you can tell Freddy what happened, apologize to him and hope he doesn't dump you. Both ways though, Freddy finds out and you have to apologize to both him and Joel."

I sighed, "That's what I was afraid of."

"Apologizing or telling Freddy?" Jordan asked.

"Telling Freddy," I answered, "I mean I hate keeping things from him, but this... This is the one thing that I don't ever want him to know."

Jordan protested, "But if you ever want him to trust you, this is the one thing you have to tell him. Marta, you know that if Freddy finds out from someone else, he might never talk to you again."

"Ok, fine, I'll tell him. Bye then," I said.

"Bye," Jordan answered.

"Oh, one thing Jordan," I said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Thanks," I smiled, "I knew I could count on you."

"Bye Marta," Jordan hung up.

You heard Jordan, go tell Freddy...now, before you lose your nerve. I thought.

I looked around and saw Freddy talking to Zack and Marco. I ran up to them.

"Marta, where were you?" Freddy asked when he saw me, "I was looking for you."

"Umm, Freddy, I, I, I have to talk to you," I stammered.

"Sure," he said and turned to Zack and Marco, "Guys, this is your cue to leave." They both walked away, sulking.

"What's up Marta?" Freddy asked.

"Well, it's because while you were gone before, I started talking to Joel," I paused to smooth my skirt. I noticed that Freddy's eyes widened and he stood up straighter as soon as I mentioned Joel.

"Aren't you always talking to him?" Freddy asked in a more aggressive tone than I'm used to hearing from him. I ignored his comment and continued talking.

"Anyway, things got pretty weird while we were talking. I don't know how it happened," I took a deep breath. I wanted to continue, even though I knew I was turning red and that I was starting to twirl my hair, something I do when I'm super nervous.

"Well, we kind of started making out. Freddy, I'm so sorry. I don't even know how it happened. I just feel so horrible. Please don't be angry," I pleaded.

He crossed his arms and his eyes flashed an angry glare, "Don't worry, I'm not angry. I'm only 'kind of' angry." He turned around and walked away. I followed him.

"I feel so horrible, I don't even know how it happened," I told him. He didn't answer.

"Freddy, it didn't mean anything! It was just a spur of the moment thing," I pleaded. He still didn't answer.

"Come on, talk to me, please," I begged him. He still wouldn't answer me.

"Freddy, you have no idea how sorry I am. When will you believe me?" I asked him, I knew I was crying, hard.

He turned to face me and said, "When you mean it." He then walked away, which left me sinking on the floor, sitting in a little ball and crying even though nobody could hear me. A few seconds later, I stood up and walked to the van. I went in, sat on one of the seats and cried. I cried until I had no more tears left to cry with.

Marta, you didn't just lose Freddy, your boyfriend. You lost, Freddy, the one who was supposed to move in with you and be your other brother. You lost Freddy, the one who was always there when you needed him. You lost Freddy, one of your best friends. Marta, what have you done? I thought to myself. At that thought, I sobbed, even though I didn't have any tears left.

A HALF HOUR LATER:

By that time, I had dried away all my tears, redone my hair and make-up and I was pretty sure I looked alright. I sat silently waiting for the band to come back. Lucky for me, I didn't have to wait very much longer. About 10 minutes later, the door opened and in came Katie, followed by Summer and then the rest of the gang, ending with Michelle.

"How long have you been here?" Katie asked as she sat down next to me.

I shrugged and pushed a strand of my hair away from my face, "I dunno, a while."

The rest of the girls had settled down around us. They looked at each other with a look I knew very well. It said, "Uh-oh, that's a bad sign." I knew it so well because I was the one that first came up with it.

"Marta, it's not like you to miss out on an entire outing," Tomika said.

"Yeah," Michelle nodded, "Something must have happened. Please tell us."

"Nothing happened," I stood up and walked to another seat and sat down there. Unfortunately, the girls are quite persistent and followed me.

"Please Marta," Summer begged, "We know something is wrong and we're worried."

"It's nothing," I shook my head.

"If it's a guy," Alicia made a fist, "I'm gonna punch his sorry little ass all the way to Moscow!" I smiled weakly at her comment.

"If it's my brother, you better tell me," Eleni said, "I'm going to kill him if it is!" My smile disappeared completely and was replaced by a frown.

"Uh oh," Katie said, "It's Freddy isn't it?" I shook my head, but I knew they could tell I was lying.

"No, it's not," I shook my head again, hoping it would seem truer this time, "It's my fault. I did something totally stupid and now I'm paying for it. Nobody deserves any blame except me."

"Ok," Summer sighed, "I don't think she wants to talk about it right now. Marta, we'll leave you alone, but we wish you'd tell us what happened. We're your friends and we worry about you."

"Maybe later," I nodded.

The ride back to the hotel was uneventful. When we got back, everyone was leaving the van except Dewey and Joel. Dewey offered to drive him home. When everyone except those two was gone, I walked up to Joel.

"Umm, can I talk to you a minute," I asked him, "It's about earlier."

He nodded, "Yeah." We sat down on a bench.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Joel apologized before I could even say anything, "I mean, I know Freddy is angry with you now and that he won't talk to you. I feel like it's my fault. I don't even know why I did anything before."

"It isn't just your fault," I shook my head, "I should have stopped it before it got as far as it did. Don't feel bad. Half of the blame is mine."

He nodded and smiled weakly.

"Besides that," I continued, "I shouldn't have let you on like I did. I did some stuff that gave you some bad signals, if you know what I mean. I should never have done that. I hate girls who do that and now I've become one."

"Don't say that," Joel protested, "It's not true. You didn't mean to. I know the girls you're talking about and you're totally different from them. They do it all the time, they don't feel sorry and they realize that they're doing it. You're nothing like that."

"Maybe you're right," I sighed.

"Ok, I have to go now," Joel said as he glanced at Dewey for a second.

"Bye then," I said as I stood up and hopped out of the van.

I have to make things right with Freddy before we leave Montreal to go back home. How do I do that though? He's so angry and I only have one day left! I thought. I better start coming up with a plan...fast!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. Some rich guy at Paramount does, ok. You got it out of me! Are you happy now? Not only did you burst my happy little bubble, but you also made me cry!

Thank-you's:

Xobadrhymer03: Yeah, he did. Here's a little secret though, I haven't decided yet, but he could play a much bigger role in this story than he already has. Don't tell anyone though! LOL.

Super Monkey289: That is so cool! What's the song called? What's your favorite Bowling for Soup song? What exactly is a propel?

Sandy-Pandy: Cool. I live in Montreal. It's great and all, until November. That's when it starts getting freezing cold! I hate our winters! I want to move to Australia where it's warm all year long! LOL.

Wyverna: What's your favorite Bowling for Soup song? By the way, I'm still mourning the loss of Grace. I don't know if I told you, but I know a real Grace who is something like your story Grace, except more hyper. She's cool. I like her. We're friends...sort of.

Tawa: Yes, I am happy...but you have to download "Punk Rock Princess" from Something Corporate. No, I didn't break them up because I wanted him, well, maybe, just a little bit, ok, a lot, fine. I did! LOL.

HyperActiveSpaceMonkey: Wow, calm down, oh hyperactive one! He didn't even have a subway for lunch? Funny. :P

Luv Jon 4evr: Cool. I like a Jonathan. I have since I was in second grade and I'm currently in 8th. It's a long time to like a guy, very long.

Random Comments:

Ok, I learnt yesterday morning what the anarchy symbol is. Up until then, I thought it was the Avril Lavigne symbol. It's because I see it in a lot of her videos, so I thought that's what it was. I felt very stupid when I found out it was really the anarchy symbol.

Can somebody please tell me what they dressed up as for Halloween...besides Tawa? I have a fascination with asking that question. Please, please, please tell me!

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