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.

"Trick or treat!"

Sam answered the door, and was surprised to find Daniella there, wearing a witch hat.

"Aren't you a little old for this?", said Sam.

"I'm actually taking my niece and nephew around to show them what Halloween is all about," said Daniella, pointing to two little ghosts, actually kids wearing sheets, next to her. "They're visiting from Mexico, and I wanted them to see the American version of the holiday… down there, tomorrow is the 'Day of the Dead', and it's all about ancestor worship… a lot more serious and somber. It's a lot more fun up here. Also, my parents were willing to make a temporary exception to my grounding to let me out with the kids, and I was going crazy cooped up in the house!"

"Glad to see you," said Sam, holding out a tray of candy to the kids. "What did your parents do to you after our little outing?"

"Well, I'm grounded for at least a couple more weeks, and they also think that Eddie is a bad influence and I shouldn't see him any more even after the grounding ends. But I'm not going to listen to them… I love him too much. I'll keep seeing him even if I have to run away to do it."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Sam. "I mean, will you be able to afford college on your own? Even if he loves you, Eddie will have some trouble paying your tuition along with his own. Hopefully, your parents will see what a good guy he is, and not just judge him based on one silly incident, that we all went along with equally."

"I hope so too," said Daniella, "but they think that because he's over 18 he should have shown more maturity and responsibility. But I'm almost 18 myself, so I think I should take equal responsibility for everything that happened."

"I'm not going to try to blame it on anybody else, either, even though I'm younger," said Sam. "I chose to do everything I did; I wasn't pushed into it."

"How is Jo? Are you still seeing her?", asked Daniella.

"Well, it depends on how you define 'seeing'," said Sam. "Her locker is next to mine, so of course I see her regularly, but she isn't talking much. I think she blames me for the whole thing… I would have thought she'd accept that 'individual responsibility' thing like you and I."

"Some people don't think straight while they're in a bad mood," said Daniella, "and getting into something like this is enough to make somebody in a bad mood for a long time. But she'll get over it eventually."

"I sure hope so… I find I really miss being friends with her."

"Anyway, it was very nice talking with you again. And one more thing… can you please tell me which house has that nutty old lady you were talking about, who we should avoid?"

Back in school, Sam ran into Larry during a free period. "Hi, again," said Sam. "We really haven't talked much since that night."

"Well, one reason is that I'm spending most of my lunch periods keypunching the programs for my computer course. It's in Fortran, with punch cards… a more advanced language than I've got on my computer at home."

"Howie and I miss you at lunch," said Sam. "And we don't get to meet any other time because we're all still grounded. Thank goodness my grounding ends in another week; how about yours?"

"Same with me. But you gave me a good idea; I'm spending my time writing, like you told me you were doing for the chess club newsletter. Only I decided to write fan fiction instead."

"Fan fiction? What's that?", asked Sam.

"It's where you write new stories featuring characters that already exist, like from TV shows and stuff. There are several 'fanzines' that publish that sort of thing… a fanzine is like a newsletter that's written by fans. Many of them are about Star Trek, for instance."

"Stories with other people's characters? Isn't that a copyright violation?", asked Sam.

"You'd have to ask a lawyer. But do you really think the studios are going to sue a few teenagers? What money would they get from us? This fan fiction is done for fun and literary exploration, not for profit."

"Sounds interesting… so do you, like, write new episodes of the TV show?"

"Some of the stories are similar to what new episodes might have been like if the show hadn't been cancelled. But I find it more interesting to be more wide-ranging and explore further reaches of the fictional universe. For instance, what will happen after all of the Enterprise crew retires? Who will be the next generation of the Star Fleet? Or, in the opposite direction… who was the previous generation… the people who brought Earth in contact with the other intelligent races of the galaxy, and built the Federation for Captain Kirk to represent? You won't see stories like that from the 'official' sources, who don't think there's any profit to it… the masses just aren't into that sort of thing, and the studios don't care about a few nerds. So it's up to fan fiction authors to tell the story of how things got to where they were on the TV series."

"Kind of neat," said Sam. "I'll want to read whatever you write."

"And you want to know one neat thing about fan fiction?", said Larry. "Lots of girls are into it. All the rest of the 'nerd' stuff is practically all boys, but the fanfic community is crawling with chicks. So maybe I'll finally meet somebody!"

"Hmm… I thought you didn't want to meet girls?", said Sam.

"There's a time for everything," said Larry. "I didn't want to meet the sorts of girls that are around me in school, but maybe in the fanzine communities there are some that are more my type."

"Well, good luck," said Sam. "But I wouldn't call them 'chicks' if I were you… some of them get offended at that."

"Oh, now you're a feminist sympathizer, huh? So, what's the proper term these days? I don't suppose 'broads' is the right thing to say, either?"

" 'Women' should always work," said Sam.

"And, speaking of chicks… er, women… how are you and Jo doing?"

"We're really not speaking much," said Sam.

"That's too bad… you're great for each other," said Larry.

"Everybody seems to think so," said Sam. "Apparently except for Jo, however."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 1975, when this story is taking place, was very different from the current day. Here are a few notes:

Things that weren't around yet:

Cell Phones

Digital Cameras

The World Wide Web

MP3 players

Rap music

The Department of Homeland Security

Things that were still around:

Rotary dial telephones

8-track tape players

Leaded gasoline

Disco music

Celebrities who Weren't Born Yet:

Britney Spears

Lindsay Lohan

Kelly Clarkson

50 Cent

Ricky Ullman

Celebrities who Weren't Dead Yet:

Elvis Presley

John Lennon

Groucho Marx

George Burns

Bob Hope