A/N: Hello again! Thank you all for the nice reviews; I really appreciate them. So, without further ado, here's #9.

9.

"Thanks for a wonderful evening, Louis."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're welcome."

"I know you probably didn't really want to go with me, but thanks anyway. I saw the girl you were looking at."

Louis acted befuddled, "No, I wanted to be here with . . . wait, what girl?!"

"Oh come on, Louis, I saw you looking at that pretty girl Tawny Dean – all night long. I know you two used to go out. And now she's going out with that guy from the play."

"She's what?!" Louis exclaimed. He couldn't believe it.

"Well, they went to the prom together. They might be going out. But I can tell that you were jealous. I think it's cute," Henrietta grinned.

Louis was a bit frustrated that he was so transparent. "Well, you see, what the deal is, you know, it's very difficult concerning the circumstances, and all that, with the stuff, with everything that's going on, you know what I mean?"

Henrietta just stared at Louis because he was only babbling.

"Sorry about all this tonight. Thanks for going to the prom with me and for putting up with me tonight. Alright, at first I didn't really want to go to the prom with you, but you turned out to be okay, even for Tom's cousin."

She laughed, "Thanks."

Louis pulled her in for a hug at her door and they departed.

Louis drove home in the dark. He felt pretty alone that night. Twitty had called Louis on his cellphone telling him about an after-prom party, but Louis wasn't interested. He drove straight home and went to bed, in his blue disco tux and everything.

The next morning was harsh. It was Sunday and Louis woke up to the smell of breakfast. "Good morning, dear," his mother greeted.

"Mornin'."

"Son, you're still in your tux!" Steve exclaimed.

Louis, still groggy, looked down and felt his clothes with his hands, "Hmm, I think you're right, Dad. It looks like I'm still in my tux."

"But why?" his dad probed.

Louis shifted his eyes looking for an answer, "Umm, I uh, just wanted to get a head-start on um . . ."

"Louis! You didn't drink last night did you?!" his mom wondered.

"No, no. I dropped Henrietta off and came back home. No pranks, no horsing around, nothing. You guys ought to be proud of me."

Steve and Eileen kind of shifted their eyes at each other wondering what was really going on with their youngest son. Then Eileen slid a plate of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, four pancakes, and hash browns in front of him. Louis didn't appear too interested. He set the plate down, untouched, and Louis went back to bed. And he stayed in bed until Monday morning, time for school.