Richie pulled the T-bird up in front of Angie's building with Duncan and Tessa behind him in the Mercedes. They insisted on coming along to take pictures. Richie got out of the car and straightened and smoothed his coat and pants before hitting the buzzer to apartment 1F.

A window to the left of the entrance opened and a little boy stuck his head out. "Yeah?"

Richie smiled at him. "Hey, Andy, lemme in, would ya?"

"Who's that?" Andy pointed out Duncan and Tessa.

"They're with me. Let us in."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"Don't know them."

Richie groaned. "Andy, let us in!"

"Andy, who's there?" a voice asked from inside.

"It's me, Peter! Lemme in!" Richie yelled.

"Who's Peter?" Duncan asked as they were buzzed in.

"Angie's sister's husband. They live down the hall. Guess Amanda's helping Angie get ready. "Thanks, Peter," Richie said as the young man let them into the apartment.

A little elementary school aged boy was giggling in the living room. "You look stupid!" he declared pointing boldly at Richie.

"Just wait until your mom calls me to baby-sit. I'll get my revenge." Andy stopped laughing and hid ran into his room. Richie smiled. "I thought as much."

"Angie's nearly ready," Mrs. Burke announced coming into the tastefully decorated living room. "Richie, look at you…" she gushed. "How lavish! I am truly amazed."

"Hello, son." Richie turned around to see Mr. Burke coming down the hall at him with a hunting knife in his hands.

Duncan immediately took hold of Richie and Tessa's wrists.

"Oh, no," Richie groaned, taking his wrist out of Duncan's grip. "Are you going to do this to me every time?" he asked Mr. Burke.

"Yes, sit."

"Malcom…" Mrs. Burke laughed. "He won't hurt him," she told Duncan and Tessa who were still a bit tense.

Richie flopped down on the couch and Mr. Burke sat in the arm chair next to him.

"Do you know what I'm holding?"

"A knife," Richie groaned in answer.

"What kind of knife?"

"A hunting knife."

"And what do I hunt?"

"Boys," Richie answered.

"He does this every time someone takes one of his daughters out," Peter said. "You should have been there when I asked him for permission to marry Amanda."

"And when do I hunt boys?" Mr. Burked asked.

"When they take out your daughter and hurt her."

"And what do I do?"

"Hunt them down and use the knife where-ever necessary," he droned back.

"And am I going to have to hunt you down?"

"No."

Mr. Burke smiled brightly. "Good boy. You look good by the way."

Richie smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Burke. Am I done now?"

"Unless I need to do the apple speech…"

"No apples required," Richie laughed.

"Do I want to ask?" Duncan inquired, still not sure how comfortable he was having someone, even jokingly, threatening Richie with a hunting knife.

"It's where he puts one apple on top of the other, tells me which one is me, then cuts it in half with the knife," Richie answered just as someone buzzed the apartment from outside.

Minutes later, Cameron and Beth walked into the apartment followed by mothers with cameras. Beth said hi to Richie then went back into the bedroom to see Angie. There was a loud squeal when the door was closed and, presumably, both girls had gotten a good look at the other. Richie took the corsages from Tessa and handed one to Cameron.

"Thanks, man, how much?"

"Twenty when you got it. No rush," Richie told him.

Cameron nodded and smiled tightly at him.

The parents introduced themselves to Duncan and Tessa. Jasmine was Beth's step-mother and Constance was Cameron's foster mother. Nice to meet yous were passed around and Mr. Burke sat Cameron down for the same talk he had given Richie. Constance laughed at the speech, apparently Mr. Burkes' little talks were well known around the neighborhood. The girls came out a moment later to much oohing and awing.

Beth's pale blue dress shone against her dark skin. It had a high cut neck and low cut back and had silver thread pattern subtly shining on the whole gown. Her hair had been braided into millions of tiny strands, each formed into tight ringlets. The sides were pulled back in matching blue barrettes shaped like butterflies. Cameron stepped forward and Richie sucked in a deep breath when he realized he had given Cameron the wrist corsage, which meant he was stuck with trying to pin Angie's to her dress. Cameron put the elastic around Beth's wrist and she fumbled her way through pining a rose to his lapel. Constance and Jasmine snapped pictures of every move and posed the couple at the fire place as Richie and Angie waited nervously for their turn.

Angie's adobe red dress set off her skin tone perfectly. It had a sleeveless bodice and full skirt with matching shawl. There was delicate beadwork and fringe along the bottom of the bodice and shawl. Her hair was all swept up to the top of her head spilling over a tiara in curls that framed her face beautifully. Richie grinned shyly as he tried to place the corsage without touching her inappropriately in front of her father and his hunting knife. She smiled and helped him pin the flower. Then it was her turn to pin his flower to his lapel.

Tessa and Mrs. Burke were busy snapping away and they mumbled compliments to each other. "You look great," he blushed at her as they were pushed into a pose.

"You don't clean up so bad yourself, you know."

"Thanks."

Once Tessa and Mrs. Burke had enough pictures of Richie and Angie together, they pushed all four teens into pose after pose in front of the fireplace, on the couch, in front of the building, in front of the car…

Finally the last shutter had snapped and the four tees piled into the T-bird and headed for Spaghetti Warehouse. They were not the only prom group there. It seemed that every other table occupied by teenagers in their formal attire. They were seated in a properly prominent table.

Their meal was periodically interrupted by fellow classmates and prom goers. The conversation was held to how everyone looked and school gossip. An hour and a half later, the bill was settled, squeezing Richie and Cameron's wallets dry. The four took their dear sweet time leaving so everyone could see their hot ride.

"Let's buzz the plaza!" Cameron all but demanded.

"Yeah, everyone's going to be there!" Beth agreed.

"Can we, Richie?" Angie asked. "I would love to see the look on Melanie's face when she sees us like this."

"She has been bragging all week about how her military boyfriend just got some new car and all that…" Cameron groaned. "And all the girls would talk about was what Melanie had…"

"Are we talking about Melanie Washington?" Richie asked, putting the key in the ignition.

"Uh-oh," Beth giggled. "Didn't Melanie dump you for her military boy?"

"No, she used him as her jealousy bait," Angie corrected. "When what's-his-name dumped her and she wanted him back."

"Let's go," Richie said with a twinkle in his eye, before shifting gears and heading for the plaza.