DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters here that I didn't make up myself. I don't own Lizzie McGuire, but she's not actually born yet at the time of this story, anyway.

"Going out after midnight, and getting into the middle of gang wars? What were you thinking?", asked Sam's father when he arrived at the police station to pick him up.

"I wasn't trying to get into the middle of a gang war," said Sam. "The car got a flat tire in a bad neighborhood, that's all."

"And what were you doing out at that hour, anyway?", asked Sam's father.

"We were at a movie, Dad… the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was a real experience!"

"It sure was," said his father, "but not the sort of 'experience' I think you ought to be having, especially if it puts your life in danger. Which gangs were they, maybe the Crips and the Bloods? I keep hearing about them on the news… they're really dangerous."

"I don't know," said Sam. "You think I know gangs well enough to tell which is which?"

"I'm just not sure I really know you any more. I didn't think you were the kind of kid to do something this stupid. Did Larry's parents actually let him go off like that?"

"No, he kind of lied to his parents too," said Sam.

"So you're becoming friends with a bunch of liars, are you?"

"It's not like that… well, I admit we did, um, bend the truth a little this time, but they're all good people."

"Well, I think you might need to try to find some better people to hang out with… once you're through with the month of grounding you're getting now. Let's go!"

It was light out by then, and the radio stations were finished with their middle-of-the-night talk and community-service shows; they listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 on the way back home. ("Bad Blood," by Neil Sedaka, was #1.)

Eventually, Jo's, Daniella's, Larry's, and Howie's parents also came and picked them up, with their own lectures about their foolishness. Eddie hadn't been taken to the station, since he was over 18 and not subject to the curfew law, but after he finished changing the tire he came over to the station anyway to keep the other kids company. Daniella's mother wasn't very happy about him getting her into trouble like this, and said that she would be talking to his parents even if the police didn't. So it didn't end up as a very good night for any of them.

"Hello?", said Sam, answering the phone.

"Hi, Sam, this is Larry."

"Oh, hi… haven't talked to you since our night out… are you grounded too?"

"Yeah… none of our parents were very pleased with what we did."

"It's been really boring staying home alone… at least my parents let me watch the last two games of the World Series… very exciting series, but tough luck for the Sox… well, there's always next year. But watching it at home, in black-and-white, by myself is less fun. Even my parents didn't watch; they're not into sports."

"Well, neither am I, so I wouldn't have been that much help. But I've got my computer to work on… I think I've come up with some good ideas for programs. Maybe I can be like that Bill Gates guy."

"I'm spending my time working on an article I'm writing for the chess club newsletter," said Sam. "It's titled 'Why Algebraic Notation is Superior'. Here's my opening sentence: 'Just as America refuses to join the rest of the world in converting from our clumsy, archaic units of weight and measure to the rational and internationally supported metric system, many American chess players cling to a clumsy, archaic system of chess notation rather than the more sensible one favored by the rest of the world…'"

"Umm… which notation is 'Pawn to King Four' in?"

"That's the old notation… it's clearly less logical than the new one, where that move is denoted as 'e4'… note how much more concise it is, and that 'e4' is always the same square of the board, while 'King Four' is a different square for the white and the black player."

"I still remember the old notation better," said Larry.

"Yeah, well, you probably remember miles better than kilometers too, which is why everybody needs a lot of re-education to be more logical," said Sam.

"So we all need to be sent to re-education camps, huh?"

"I feel like I'm in one already, with this grounding," said Sam.

"I'd better go… my parents will probably yell at me if I stay on the phone too long while I'm grounded."

"Same with mine… let's try to catch up with one another at school at least. And I hope I can get in a few nice words with Jo… she doesn't seem to be talking much since that whole incident."

"Yeah… you two are good together, so I hope she's not mad at you or something. Anyway, nice talking to you… bye."

"Bye," said Sam.