I was more than a little disappointed when it finally came time to go home. I spent most the day with Ace watching him work, and listen to him spout out everything he was accomplishing on the vehicle. He had me turn on the radio sitting at the picnic table I was sitting on to softly play in the background while he worked, and chatted with me.

It sounded like he was speaking another language half the time, but I was more than entertain by watching the strain in biceps and forearms, with every twist or turn of his hands. I was also starting to think his shirts were possibly getting tighter now that I was focused on the lean muscles I was viewing. It was getting to the point where I had to look away a few times to keep the less than pure thoughts from escalating any further than they have already.

I was able to keep my facial expressions under control enough, as to not give anything away to Ace while I kept him company. The last thing I needed was for Ace to realize I was thinking of making out with him on this picnic table. That would only be embarrassing, and possibly ruin whatever friendship him and I were forming these days.

I just wanted to really enjoy this bonding moment with John as much as I could, before I had to be thrust back into reality. Unfortunately, Reality always comes by faster than you want it to, because before I knew it, the sun was getting ready to set. Which meant if I didn't want to be grounded to the confines of my room again, we needed to start heading now.

The drive home was like coming off a high, and I couldn't help but feel absolutely put out at the idea that our little moment was all over.

"Come on Cheer up Princess, I promise we can do this again alright?" Ace said, taking a sip from a new chilled coke bottle. I threw him a soft smile, and turned my body towards him once again to give him my undivided attention.

"I am holding you to that Merrill."

He rolled his eyes, but I could see the smirk on the corner of his lips as he took another drink. I watched the bottle as it tilted to meet his lips and my mind immediately went back to wishing I could give Ace a proper kiss. I wanted to feel his lips against my own, and for him to be as into it as I was going to be.

I watched as the bottle left his lips and then was slowly held out in front of my face. I looked at it confused for a second, before realizing that I was caught staring. Luckily for me he thought it was because I wanted a taste of the coke rather than a taste of him.

I took the bottle gingerly in my hand and lifted it to my own lips for a small drink, loving the fizzy feeling of the carbonation of the soda against my tongue.

"Thank you." I said handing the bottle back to him. He nodded taking the bottle back into his free hand.

"Don't mention it."

The rest of the drive was filled with mostly comfortable silence as we listened to the radio on a low volume, until Patsy Clines "I Fall To Pieces" came on over the radio and I started humming along, and ultimately singing softly. I didn't even realize the company or that I was doing it, I was just comfortable and I loved this sad new hit. I was able to get through the entire song before I was brought back down to reality by Ace's voice.

"You sing well. How come I haven't heard that before?"

I was startled out of my trance, looking at him with wide eyes. He was giving me a raised eyebrow, and I felt the heat return to my cheeks as I comprehended what he just said.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." I apologized looking down at my lap, wringing my hands together nervously.

"Well don't apologize, I said you sounded good, not that it was annoying." Ace said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Thanks."

I didn't know what else to say, I normally didn't sing outside of the confines of my bedroom, or in the choir where everyone else was singing.

"Have you thought of going professional, I bet you could get famous if you wanted to be." Ace said absentmindedly. I blanched at the comment. Me famous? HA!

"No, I don't like singing Infront of people. I'd faint on stage for sure." I said waving off the compliment like it was some pesky fly.

"You just sang Infront of me." Ace argued back. I should have known it wouldn't have been something I could shake off so easily. Ace was a stubborn man when he wanted to be.

"Well I wasn't paying attention, normally I wouldn't but I liked the song, and I was so comfortable…" I trailed off, not sure how he was going to take that last part. It should be a compliment I guess, me being comfortable enough with him to sing, but I didn't want him to think it was weird.

"I'd like to hear you again."

I flushed again at that, looking down into my lap. This time a soft smile spread across my face, and I looked up at him slightly peaking at him threw the strands of my hair. I took the strands and tucked them behind me ear and bit my lower lip slightly as I sat up straight in my seat once again.

"Maybe you will, if you're lucky." I threw that last bit in there with a wink. I felt that joking or teasing really helped make the situation less embarrassing for me. I just had to fake some flirty confidence towards him, and whatever embarrassment I felt was easier to push down and hide away.

"I'm holding you to it Princess." Was his last comment before we were able to go back to the comfortable silence.

Once again time always fly's by much faster when you really don't want it to, as we were now turning on my block. Ace who usually drops me off right at my house, only drove down a few houses before stopping his car in the street. We were a good half a block down from my house, not visible from any of the windows of my home.

"Wouldn't want you getting another bruise because of me." Was all he said. I couldn't help but smile at the kind gesture.

"Thanks Ace." I said slipping out the door, and after shutting it, I leaned on it, and bit my lip in thought.

"I really enjoyed seeing your work today Ace, I can't wait to do that again sometime." I said, giving him a soft smile before I stood up straight again and started walking down the sidewalk towards my home.

I looked behind me a couple times to see that Ace like all the other times he dropped me off stayed put, watching as I walked away, to make sure I arrived at my residence safely. There would be no way to see me enter my house where he was parked right now, so I gave him a wave once I was right up to my front yard to let him know I made it and he could drive off.

I didn't want some middle aged housewife getting all worried just because she saw a "hood" stalling in her neighborhood. That would only give him more trouble for simply dropping me off. His idea was smart; when I walked into the house my mother was there waiting for me and was rather pleased to see I was walking.

"There you are, I was beginning to think you ran off again." Mom said. She sounded chipper but there was an icy tone to her voice, a threat below the simple statement. I am sure she had her suspicions that I still was hanging around "hoodlums", I mean I haven't really been trying to hide my time with Ace, or anyone else.

But, at the same time she had no reason to be suspicious of me, I was almost an adult, of course I am not going straight home from school. I wasn't doing anything wrong either, nothing scandalous at all, just spending some quality time with people I like.

"I was just finishing up some homework after school so I could get help if I needed." I lied easily slipping the light weight jacket I wore for the day.

There wasn't much conversation after that, my mom no longer seemed to care to talk to me unless she was looking for a specific answer. In this case now that she knows I am home, and thinks I was just getting home late from school, she didn't need anything else from me. She'd just stick to herself in the kitchen cooking another grand meal to be ready and set on the table as soon as Tom gets home, and I make myself scarce until that time.

During dinner it's mostly silent. Sometimes Mom will bring up something, but as soon as there was a solution, it would go back to silence on my part. Her and Tom often waited till dinner was over to discuss whatever happened to him today, and I'd retire to my room early to avoid the boring conversation.

Tonight seemed to be one mom wanted conversation.

"Did Will ask you to homecoming?"

I huffed not looking up from my plate, cutting into the pork chop, with a bit more ferocity than necessary.

"You know he did mom. A couple weeks ago." I said, keeping my tone even and unreadable as to not anger her, but still not willing to pretend like I am excited for the dance.

"Well I wasn't sure it's not like you said anything about it, you know most girls are jumping for joy for a handsome young man to ask them to such a school event." She quipped, I looked up at her dully, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"What did you expect mom, you know I don't want to go with Will. Am I supposed to instantly change my mind and start loving the idea of being forced into a relationship?" I asked, nudging the roasted tomatoes around on my plate.

I can practically hear her fuming on the other end of the table, but I didn't care. I was doing what they wanted, why did I have to fake happiness too?

"Darling calm down, she will come around in time." Tom said, not looking up from the newspaper in his left hand, while bringing a bite of food to his lips.

Mom cooled down instantly, giving off a sweet smile to Tom, and leaning side to side in her seat.

"You're right dear." She said sweetly, going back to her meal. I scrunched up my face in disgust at the display; she acted more like an obedient dog, than a wife. It disgusted me more than anything to see my once independent, capable, and sweet mother, acting like this. Enough so that I retired to bed early, with barely anything eaten off my plate.

Homecoming was coming up soon, only a few more weeks away and my stomach was churning horribly. I was sure I'd be physically ill by the time it actually came to going. My mom reminded me of my impending doom more and more frequently as the days passed by as well, not helping with the anxiety one bit.


"Come on it will be alright. We can dance together most of the night anyway." Bev consoled me in Home Ec. a few days leading up to the dance.

"Oh please, you will be too entranced by Richard." I teased her. Eyeball asked her to go with him just a few days ago, and she has barely spoke of nothing else since then. I don't blame her for that though, it's exciting when you get to go with someone you like, and she should be excited. I don't want my distaste for the day to rain down on her parade.

"Richard will understand if you need to escape and be near me, or us." She said, a deep blush forming on her cheeks in embarrassment.

I wanted to roll my eyes at the idea, I knew damn well I wasn't going to ruin their wonderful night for my own comfort, but I didn't want Bev to feel bad for my decision, so I just gave her a smile and thanked her.

"So what colors are you wearing?" I asked changing the subject to something more lighthearted. Bev lit up instantly and went into great detail about the pretty cream colored dress she splurged on for the occasion. She was mid gush when a Holly Wilson, the pretty blonde in my English class came walking by.

"I heard you were going with Eyeball chambers Bevvy. What a perfect way to end up just like your friend Tammy huh." She said quietly enough for the teacher to not catch it, throwing us a snide smile as she went on her way. I shot daggers at her as she walked by wishing more than anything to tell her off, but I knew that would just leave Bev and I in trouble and "sweet" little Holly off the hook.

I disliked her already for blatantly flirting with Ace, and pointedly ignoring my existence in English a few different times now, but this pretty much just confirms how rotten she can be.

"Don't listen to her Bev, She's just jealous of you." I encouraged my friend, seeing her seething in her spot. She turned back to the task at hand and started whisking the mixture in the bowl intensely.

"It's not just that. They don't even know the whole truth, or if they do they are more than happy to ignore it, and still act all high and mighty." She growled, the eggs for our omelets now frothy. I took the bowl away from her gently and started to pour the mixture into our preheated and buttered pan.

"What whole truth?" I asked casually, seeing if I stayed calm, if she would follow suit. It seemed to work, and she gave a big sigh and she further prepped the peppers and onion that would be going inside the omelet.

"You know how there is a rumor going around that the baby isn't Randy's, her boyfriend at the time?"

I nodded, I heard it plenty recently the closer we got to the actual dance, I think they assume that the night she conceived was homecoming or more likely prom night. Beverly leaned in closer to me to keep the conversation just between us.

"That's a lie. It IS Randy's baby, and he knows it too. Tammy was in love with him, she'd never even been with another boy before, she lost her virginity to him and everything." She explained. I gave her a quizzical look. If it was Randy's and he knew there was no chance for it to be anyone else's why are the rumors so wide spread? Why doesn't he say anything?

"Randy's parents can't have him fathering a baby so soon, he has opportunity for college and more you know. So instead his parents pretty much bought Tammy's parents and her out. They pay them to keep quiet, and stay away." She continued.

"No, way." I gasped.

"uh-huh. So now Tammy's name gets ran through the mud, while Randy get's to spread all these rumors about her, and live his life to the fullest." She finished flicking some cheese into the omlettes before I flipped one of the sides.

"That's bullshit!" I said, my whisper being a little louder than intended. I looked around the room to see we still didn't catch anyone's attention, and more importantly the teacher was still oblivious. Relieved I leaned back over the stove with Beverly getting ready to plate our breakfast assignment,

"I know, it's totally unfair, but that's the difference between money, and screwed." Beverly said bitterly.

"It's not just that. If it was the other way around, if men could get pregnant instead, it wouldn't have been like that. It's no fair that only the girls get kicked out of school just because we house the baby. Men get off easy simply cause their efforts end at the beginning of it all." I huffed. It really wasn't fair.

Even if Randy and Tammy stayed together and he was going to father the baby, Tammy would have still been kicked out of school, it was policy after all. Even though they both slept together, and they both created life, the only one that suffers the consequences is the girl in the situation.

That's what happened to my mom when she got pregnant early too. My father was not forced out of school to hide the shame. He dropped out anyway a year later, but my mom who would have preferred finishing up her education, pregnant or a mother be damned. She didn't get that choice, no woman does; it sickens me.

"Yeah, life just isn't fair for the "fairer" sex." Beverly agreed, rolling her eyes at the term. I agreed and ended up stewing over the issue for the rest of the day. I swore if I had anything to do about it, we women will have the right to stay in school if we so choose in the case of accidental pregnancy. We were humans too after all, and just as intelligent and capable as men could be. We should have all the same rights, or at least all be punished the same.

That day I got home still a little upset over the information. I have seen Randy in school before, and almost felt bad for the guy, thinking his girlfriend possibly cheated on him, but now I wanted to punch his nose into his skull. I wanted to punch half this town if I could, to be honest.

I walked into my home with a big sigh, kicking off my shoes and just wanting to go up to my room and ignore the world for a few minutes. My mom had other plans though as she came fluttering into the room with a wide smile. I sighed not wanting to even know what she was all giddy about.

"Oh hun, I'm glad your home I got something to show you!" She chirped, and rushed back through the archway to my right. I waited still by the front door hoping whatever it was it could be quick so I could run up to my room.

"Mom you really didn't have to." I raised my voice.

"Nonsense dear it's necessary, and it's not like you were showing any interest in going out and getting it yourself." She said walking back into view with a gorgeous red dress, the bodice tight, and no sleeves at all, my shoulders and collarbones would be completely bare, and my chest alone would have to keep the dress up. The skirt poofed out nicely, looking bell shaped, and there was a sheer fabric that was a bit glittery on top of the dark red of the dress.

It looked like it would reach my knees, and it was very gorgeous, If it wasn't for the fact that it was going to be wasted on Will, It would have been a perfect dress for the occasion. Way more beautiful than I would have dreamed of for sure.

"Wow mom." I said walking up to the dress and touching the fabric between my fingers. It even felt expensive, I don't even want to know how much she talked Tom into spending on this thing.

"I know, it will look gorgeous on you." She gushed. The idea of homecoming always put an unpleasant feeling in my stomach, but I didn't want that to show through right now. I was unhappy with the company but I wasn't going to be ungrateful about her buying me a wonderful dress. It really did look gorgeous, and she knew I really liked the darker colors.

"Thanks, mom. It's really is gorgeous." I said. My stomach still churning with worry and nerves about the dance. I wish I could go find Ace and spend the day with him again, his presence always calmed my fears. I couldn't even if I wanted to today though, I knew Ace would be with his boys and I didn't want to pull him away from them.

"I knew you'd love it, and Will is going to love it as well."

Ugh, why did she have to mention him right now, couldn't she have just left it were it was, instead she had bring the discomfort to the surface. I frowned at the mention of Will's name.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will." I said solemnly.

"Oh hun, you will have a wonderful time! I don't know why you are fighting this so much. Will has a future, and he's handsome, with a good name. It's not like I'm selling you off to some troll." She said holding the dress out again for her to admire. I really felt like she wished she could be the one going to homecoming in that dress with someone like Will instead of me.

Actually, maybe that is exactly it, maybe she is trying to fix all her mistakes by living vicariously through me. Having me live the life she wishes she had, or what she would have chosen if given the choice. I thought it funny how she worded that last bit though, it's like she was admitting she was selling me off, but since the man was attractive it was okay.

What kind of mediaeval tale did I fall into when we moved to this town? Mom didn't say anything else and opted to take the dress with her hanging it in the closet by the door to keep it pristine until it came time to wear it. She then fluttered over to another part of the house, I am sure back to the kitchen, like normal.

I swear since she married Tom she practically lives in the kitchen now. She is always cooking or cleaning in here, I know she visits other parts of the house, but I rarely ever see here relaxing in the family room like I see Tom all the time.

I chose this time to wisely escape to my room up the stairs blowing a big sigh of relief as I was finally able to hide behind a closed door. I fell into bed exhausted holding a pillow close to my chest, just letting all the thoughts run across my mind like a whirlwind.

I thought about Tammy, and how unfair her situation was right now. Possibly stuck in her house, with angry parents, going through a pregnancy all alone, knowing the baby would never have a father who publicly claims them. I thought about Randy, and how much of an ass he was for easily throwing away the girl he supposedly loved. One he was able to take the virginity of, but not be smart enough to wear a rubber. He was just hiding behind his parents money, not having to take any responsibility of his own.

I thought of poor Beverly, who was not only getting the bad rep for her friend's inconvenient situation, but was also taken advantage of from one of those "gentlemanly types" because us lower class girls were "easy". I thought about the injustice of it all, how we always seem to be paying for someone else's mistakes, or getting the brunt end of the deal just because we weren't born into a wealthier family.

Was life always going to be like this? Judged harshly on our bank accounts instead of the judgement of our characters? I told myself it wouldn't, that once we were adults we have the choice to surround ourselves with nicer people, ones that don't judge on superficial premises.

I couldn't wait to be an adult and just deal with things like bills, and housing. That sounded a lot better than worrying about doing as everyone expects from you, worrying about whether you're going to get the tar beat out of you or not from your parents. Better than having to go to a place filled with jerks who only saw things fabric deep, rather than getting to know you personally.

I started thinking about Beverly, Eyeball, Ace, and some others all together. When we all graduate will we still stay friends? Or would we follow our parents' footsteps and fall in line like the rest of them eventually? I sure hope we wouldn't. In my mind We'd all graduate and be-able to set a new example for OUR future kids. Show them that working hard, and surrounding yourself with people you really care about is all you really need in this world.

We'd never pressure our kids to live a certain way, yet also encourage them to make the right choices in life so they don't end up little jerks. We'd never hit them, like our parents did us, and we'd actually be willing to help them through difficult situations rather than stay blind to them or be passed out drunk on the couch night after night.

My head started to focus on my always drunk old man, and my stepdad, and Ace's and Eyeball's fathers. How they all had one common problem of drinking, and how that led to non-stop fighting and child abuse. I swore to myself I would never drink alcohol years ago, and year and year that promise to myself only grows stronger and stronger. I wasn't going to risk ending up my like dad, or worse ending up like my old step dad. I wasn't going to waste my life like that, and to make for certain that won't happen, I wasn't going to even give myself the chance to become addicted to the bottle.

What use did I have for alcohol anyway? What was the point in drinking your problems away? They never really go away, they are there whether you're drunk or not. You just chose to screw up your mind enough to forget about the issues. That doesn't even begin to fix anything, it's just a guarantee for the situation to worsen if you ask me. Well I refuse to fall into that trap.

I turned in my bed, feeling exhausted from the day. I don't think my mom would mind if I decided to just go to bed early, and I don't think I could honestly muster the energy to be around people for the rest of the day. Probably best to just try to sleep.

I pulled out the edge of the blanket I was lying on to let it lie over me instead, enveloping me in it's warm embrace. Sleep was what I needed right now, that's the only thing that really seemed to work with making all the stress from the day fade away.

I laid on my side under the blankets holding my other pillow close to me, closing my eyes, and pushing my face into the cool fabric of the pillow case. My thoughts started to travel solely on Ace, easing me into a more pleasant mood so I could get some shut eye soon.

I thought about the day he took me out to Wheeler's automotive to show me what he does there, and then to his home to show me the racing car he was working on. I thought about how fun it would be to go with and watch him race, see him win, and possibly reward him with a kiss.

A kiss I often found myself fantasizing about often in my free time, especially since I kissed his cheek as a thank you in his car that day. The scruffiness of his cheek tickling my lips and the area surrounding them. I wondered if kissing his lips would be any better, actually I was so sure it would be better. I imagined his lips being just a little rougher than mine, and feeling his scruff tickle or scratch against my own cheeks, while our lips met.

I imagined how his hands would feel on my hips, or on the sides of my face, or on the back of my head as we went for it. I really wanted to know how it would feel to wrap my arms around his neck to pull him in closer, or to play with the hair on the back of his head near the nape of his neck.

Before I knew it, imagining the kiss turned into dreaming of the kiss, and I was in a blissful sleep for the rest of the night.