Once they reached Tyler's house, they peeled off their outer layers of clothing and threw hung them up in the upstairs bathroom. They pulled off their shoes and socks and laid them out to dry as well. Josh borrowed a pair or Tyler's pants and went to put them on in the bathroom.

"You want a dry pair of sweats or something to put on?" Tyler asked her as he peeled his wet tee shirt off and reached into his closet for a new one. He hadn't even thought twice about taking his shirt off in front of her until he turned back toward her and saw her staring. He quickly pulled his Fall Out Boy shirt on and his face turned red. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she blushed and looked away.

"You want some dry pants?" He pulled a pair of black sweatpants out of a drawer and held them up for her. "I have these."

"Um sure. Thanks." When Josh came back, she went to change out of her wet pants as well.

"Is she gonna be here all day?"

"I don't know…"

"Awesome."

"Can you please be nice to her? I don't ever want a girl to come between us, Josh but this is not just some girl."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah. I am."

"Okay," he sighed. "I will give her a chance… but she better not be anything like that bitch of a best friend of hers…"

"She's not." Tori came back into the room and shut the door behind her.

"Thanks for the dry clothes, Tyler," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, of course. I got socks too if your feet are cold."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Black nail polish?" Josh noticed.

"Yep."

"Nice." He smiled at her for the first time and she smiled back. "You mind if we practice?"

"Are you kidding? I'd love to hear it."

"Cool. Can we run through Ride, Ty?" He nodded and they sat down to begin. Tori sat at the head of his bed and couldn't wait to hear what they'd been working on.

As the guys practiced a couple of their songs, Josh observed the way Tori looked at Tyler. She hardly took her eyes off of him and she smiled as she watched him. Tyler looked at her during pause in the lyrics and they smiled warmly at each other. This was when Josh's opinion of her began to change. Maybe she wasn't like Jenna. It was possible that he'd been wrong about her after all.

The three of them watched a movie together then Tyler's mother gave Tori a ride home that night. Josh was spending the night at his friend's house. They laid awake in his dark bedroom talking around 1am.

"So I guess Tori's not the devil," Josh chuckled.

"Ya think?"

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna tell you something that I'm not sure I should tell you…"

"Uh oh…"

"I told Tori about what Jenna said to you when you asked her out."

"Dude! What the fuck?!"

"No, listen to me! You wanna know what she said to me when I told her that?"

"That I was an idiot to ever say anything?"

"No… she said you're too good for Jenna and you can do so much better."

"Bullshit."

"Josh, she said that… and she meant it."

"Are you fucking with me?"

"No. Not at all… Tori is not like Jenna and those other girls. Her life at home is hell and she is not the spoiled, privileged girl you think she is." Tyler sat up in bed and turned the lamp on. Josh sat up on the blow-up mattress on the floor and faced his friend. "She just wants to be normal… and she can't be."

"Why not?"

"You've heard the rumors at school. That asshole Logan and his friends are relentless… Her parents don't give a shit about her. She's hurting and has nowhere to turn. She doesn't trust anybody or have any real friends… but she trusts me. And I don't wanna do anything to risk losing that trust. Everybody needs at least one person they can trust." Josh nodded in understanding.

"Okay. I will trust your judgement here and like I said earlier, I'll give her a chance."

"Thank you."

**** Monday 10/31 ****

Monday was Halloween but other than having bowls of candy in most of the classrooms, it was just another Monday. The rumor mill was slowly starting to dissipate so the hallways at school weren't so torturous for Tori anymore.

"Hey Tori!" One of the wide receivers from the JV football team approached her as she put her books in her locker at the end of the day.

"Hey Anthony. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you had a date to homecoming on Friday yet. I mean I'm sure you do but…"

"I don't," she smiled.

"Oh," he smiled back. "Would you go with me?"

"Really?" He nodded proudly. "Um yeah."

"You will?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome! I'll make some arrangements and talk to you about it tomorrow?"

"Sure. Thanks Anthony."

"I can't wait! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye."

Tori walked toward her car thinking about her homecoming dance date. He was tall and buff and blonde… a lot of girls would love to be his date. But Tori wasn't like a lot of girls. It didn't matter to her what other people thought of who she dated. She learned a valuable lesson from her short "relationship" with Logan. Who you choose to spend time with and share pieces of your life with should have nothing to do with who you look good with. It has nothing to do with who other people think you should date. There's not some dating hierarchy where you only date people who are in your same "class" or other ranking system.

"Watch it!" Tori looked up after almost being run over by a speeding driver in the parking lot.

"Shit!" She stepped out of the way and the driver rolled by.

"Watch where you're going, whore!" It was Laura and some new boy toy was in her passenger seat. Logan saw her and ran up to her.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

"Go away, Logan." He followed her to her car.

"Can I just talk to you for a second?"

"I don't wanna talk to you."

"Listen, I just wanna tell you I'm sorry. I know I was an ass and my friends have been totally out of line with you."

"You're close… but being an ass is not past-tense for you." They reached her car and she unlocked the door, still refusing to stop and listen.

"I'm trying to apologize! Will you stop and look at me for a minute?!"

"Hey!" Tyler walked up to them. "Everything okay?"

"Who the hell are you?" Logan asked.

"I gotta go, Logan. Tyler, you want a ride?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Logan backed away without an answer and watched them drive away. Once they were out of the parking lot, Tyler spoke.

"Are you okay?" She nodded and the rest of the ride to his house was silent. She pulled into his driveway 15 minutes later and turned the car off. "I hope I didn't make it worse."

"What?"

"Whatever Logan's problem is… I hope I didn't make it worse."

"No! You didn't. I can't imagine you every making anything worse." They looked at each other and the moment became something more. "I just mean that you make things better… not worse."

"Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"I've never gone to a school dance in my life and I never imagined I'd want to…"

"And?"

"Would you go with me Friday?"

"Really?" He nodded and waited anxiously for her answer. "I already told Anthony I'd go with him…"

"Oh, okay… No worries then."

"But I'd much rather go with you."

"You would?" She nodded and smiled. "Are you sure?"

"I am."

"Awesome," he let out a sigh of relief. "I am riding there with Josh cause we got something going on before but will you meet me there? I mean is that okay?"

"Yeah. Totally."

"Great."

"Maybe I should give you my phone number, Tyler… you know just to have." He happily dug his phone out of his backpack and handed it to her. She entered her name and number. "Text me and I'll have yours too."

"I will. Thanks for the ride."

"See you tomorrow." He got out and she watched him walk up the stairs and into the house. "Shit," she whispered to herself. "I have to tell Anthony…"