"Dammit Daniel! Give me back my phone!" Miranda growled. They had all just sat down to lunch when Daniel had decided to swipe her cell phone from her purse.

"It was hanging halfway out of your bag. The way I see it, I saved it from a nasty fall."

Gordo just shook his head and popped the tab on his root beer. Daniel was obviously in one of his playful moods. And when these moods struck, Miranda was his favorite victim. For some odd reason, which was beyond Gordo's comprehension, he just loved to push her buttons.

"Dude," Harold jumped in, "pass it over here."

Daniel slid the phone across the table.

"Daniel!" she smacked his arm.

He only grinned in response. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

"If you weren't a friend, I'd knee you in the balls right now."

Harold groaned, obviously appalled by the simple idea of what was just mentioned and slid the phone back across the table. Daniel was much too energetic for Miranda and easily intercepted the phone.

"Give it back!"

"Eat your lunch."

"Daniel!"

"Eat your lunch and I'll give it back."

Her glare was a disbelieving one.

"I promise."

She seemed to take his word seriously and reluctantly faced her tray of food. "You'd better stick to that promise or I'll follow through on my threat."

Harold shook his head. "Hey man, I think she's serious."

Daniel was unaffected and a grin was still attached to his face.

"Oh I know she is. But this is just too fun."

Miranda groaned in utter frustration and returned to her sandwich.

"Hey guys." Denisse greeted as she timidly approached their table. She appeared hesitant and cast her gaze downwards. Gordo hadn't seen her this unsure of herself since he'd first met her--and that was months ago.

"Hey um...Harold?"

"Yeah?" He replied in his gruff monotone.

"Is uh Blake here? I haven't seen him for a few days now."

"Nah, he's sick. He's had the flu all week."

Her eyes widened a bit and she seemed perturbed. "Is he okay?"

He laughed. "Better than he was Sunday night. Throwing up every hour."

She narrowed her glare and her voice turned to ice which startled everyone. "And that's amusing why?" The entire table came to a halt and all eyes went to Denisse.

Ever-cocky Harold stumbled over his words. "Um, I don't know. I-I guess it was just funny at the time."

Denisse was visibly upset and shook her head. "Well, when you're done laughing at his misery tell me I hope he feels better."

And with that, she turned on her heel and deftly left the rest of them speechless.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lizzie asked Denisse as they climbed into her Honda. Ever since that little car fiasco a couple of months back, Denisse had been relying on others for rides. She quickly came to the conclusion that the luxury cars she had previously cruised around in weren't all they were cracked up to be.

Here response was clipped. "I'm fine." she cleared her throat and fastened her seatbelt.

Lizzie casually tossed her backpack in the backseat. She was about to insert the key into the ignition until she noticed just how stiff Denisse appeared to be.

"Okay you don't have to tell me what it is, but---"

"It was Harold." she cut her off. She then proceeded to tell her what had happened at lunch earlier that day.

Lizzie couldn't say she was totally surprised by the outburst. It was obvious to Lizzie but apparently, not to Denisse. Lizzie wanted to help make her see but she had no idea how to go about it.

"So...is there a reason you snapped at him?"

"I just told you! He was being a jerk...not even giving a crap about his own brother."

Lizzie had never seen her friend so fractious before. Always so shy and diffident. It was quite amusing, but she forced herself to bite back her smile.

"He teases all of us like that all the time. That's just the way he is. What's got me practically baffled is why you're getting worked up over him knocking on Blake."

Lizzie made sure to scrutinize her reaction–right down to the very tone of her voice. Fortunately, she didn't have to look very long because the girl instantly turned scarlet.

"B-b-because he's his brother! He should treat him with far more respect that he does the rest of us."

Now Lizzie was fighting with everything she had to told back that smile. She decided not to push the poor girl anymore and drove her home with no other questions regarding Harold or more namely Blake.

Lizzie was more than ready to crash by the time she finished her Saturday night shift. She had just trudged up the stairs and collapsed onto her bed when her cell phone began to chirp. The tune was a recent reggaetone hit which meant only one person. Miranda.

"Hello?"

"Hey girl, how was work?

"Let's just say I don't intend on moving from my bed for the rest of the weekend."

Miranda tsked. "And waste away a perfectly good weekend? What kind of teenage girl are you?"

"The working kind."

Her infectious laughter filtered through the receiver and Lizzie smiled wearily.

"Listen up girl, there's a party tonight at--"

"Oh, no way Randa. I'm ready to zonk out."

"Oh please Lizzie! It's being thrown by one of Wilson's seniors."

"Why would you want to go to a party for our school's rival school?"

"Curiosity."

"Hmm...what you really mean is to scope out a different school of high school boys. What's the matter, Randa?" she teased. "Are ours guys not good enough?"

"All right, you caught me. So listen are you in or not?"

"Not."

"C'mon! Look I'll make you a deal."

"I'm listening..."

"We'll only be there for an hour, and if you don't like it we'll leave. Then we'll head over to Krispee Kreme's. My treat."

When Miranda wanted something she'd to whatever it took to get it. And right now she was fighting dirty: Offering Lizzie her all-time favorite sweet that everyone knew she could never resist.

"You're evil, Randa."

She laughed anyways. "Is that a yes?"

"Much to my regret, yes."

Miranda squealed with great delight. "OH! And I already called everyone."

"Who's everyone?"

"Here. Let me break it down. Me, Gordo and Denisse are riding with you. Blake and Harold are catching a ride with Daniel. Daniel said he'd follow you there. And don't worry about it, cause I've already got the directions to the house the party is being thrown at."

"Wait. Blake's coming? I thought he was sick."

"Yeah. He was. But after I told him what happened between Denisse and his brother, he seemed to spring back to good health faster than any medicine could help him do."

The girls shared a good laugh.

Lizzie groaned as she slowly rose from her bed to begin looking for an outfit. "You'd better buy me my own box of donuts. I can't believe I'm giving up sleep for a party with complete strangers."

"Hey! That's half the fun."

The blonde shook her head and smiled.

A/N: Wishing everyone an early Cinco De Mayo. One of my favorite holidays. Can't deny mi familia. lol. Look for an update within the week. I can't wait for the next chapter. All I can say is good stuff. And I know I've said this before but I still can't believe people are reading this. It's just very gratifying. Insert cheesy grin. Thanks all. Peace