We made it to the front door just in time. And not a second too soon. Too late. Whatever. The point is we got there on time.

Kathy, Patty, Robert, and Greeny walked in the front door, while I was, um, vacuuming the carpet. And Larry was…drinking lemonade on the chair.

"Spiny?!" Kathy said when she saw me.

I turned off the vacuum and looked up at her. "Hey, Kath."

She walked over to me, carrying her books in one hand. Why is it that some girls prefer to carry their school stuff in their hand and not in backpacks? I mean, I never knew a guy who didn't use a backpack. Except Larry. He's too lazy to carry them anywhere. You know what he does? He ties them to his tail and drags his books around with it.

Anyways, my sister said, "I thought you'd be home much later."

"Oh, well, I was, kind of tired, and decided to take the rest of the day off. I figured the country could run itself for another several hours without my help."

"Or mine!" said Larry.

Well, I said hi to the rest of them and asked them how their day had been. Kathy had wanted to go with her boyfriend Richard to the dance but couldn't for the simple reason that our school dance was for 8th grade and Richard was in the 10th.

"So, instead, I'm going with William."

"The captain of the boys' basketball team?" I asked. Well, I oughta say the captain of the basketball team. There's no girls' team. Don't know why. Don't ask me. Ask the school district. Anyways, he's the captain of the…moving on.

He's considered the 2nd-best looking guy at school. I don't think I need to say who is in 1st place. Heh heh. I love having that honor, but I don't abuse it, mind you. Anyways, that's William.

"Did you get a date?" Patty asked me. Were you man enough to ask Lilia out? That's what she was trying to say. But she's too polite for that.

"I asked Lilia and she said yes." I said it with pride. Dignity.

Kathy looked at me playfully and elbowed me. "Hey-hey-hey! I better get a sister-in-law dress. When's the wedding?"

One the one hand I didn't exactly appreciate her little joke. On the other hand, I didn't dismiss that possibility completely. I mean, really.

But I just played along. "I'll let you know when."

Well, Robert and Greeny went up to their room to do their homework, while Kathy, Patty, Larry, and I went down the hall to eat our afternoon after-school-but-before-homework-and-dinner meal.

"So did you get a date, Patty?" I asked.

Now, Patty's not as high on the social mark as Kathy. Or me, even. If we had a list of the top 200 most popular kids at our school, I'd be at, uh, Number One. I'm not bragging. Really, I'm not. I'm being honest. Ask anybody from the School Yearbook Committee.

Anyways, Kathy would probably at Number Six. Larry's at Number, um, 72. Dimetroodon is at 168. Rudy's at 35. And Patty's at 41.

I never understood why. I mean, Patty's a really nice girl. Oh sure, even though we're cousins, we don't always get along. Matter of fact, we don't agree on stuff about 38% of the time. But she's a likeable person. She's smart, capable, well-educated, and enthusiastic. And she's not bad looking. She was a way of tilting her head when asking questions that make some guys faint. I know it. I've seen it. And she's very formal.

On the other hand, she's not so social. At parties and dances all she does is serve fruit punch. Or talk with us. And she doesn't know how to dance anything that isn't waltz or native African dances.

So you can see her dilemma. Anyways, I asked her, "Did you get a date?"

She seemed uncomfortable. Struck me as odd. At that, Larry said, "I got a date, too!"

HUH?! WHAT. DID. HE. JUST SAY?! I looked at him and complete, total, absolute, and utter disbelief. "Excuese me?"

He beamed. Then Kathy said, "You? YOU got a date? Who would be the crazy one?"

"Yeah, who was the brave one who accepted your invitation?" I said, ready to make fun of the alleged girl.

Then I found out why Patty had seemed so uneasy. She raised her hand.

"You did?" I said.

"Well, it's just that Larry was so insistent."

"Yep," said Larry. "I was very in-sis-tent."

That's when I found out how it had all happened. Larry had asked Patty during the lunch break. Patty said what any girl would: "Uh, no." Larry pleaded. Patty said no again. Then, Larry went into his Scratched Disc Mode. That's when he repeats a phrase or word over and over and over and just keeps saying it. Like a scratched disc.

So, Patty went to her usual class. Guess who was in her desk, still saying , "Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please…" etc.

Then, she went to PE class. And there he was, underneath the stands. Still saying the same phrase.

You know what the goofball even did? He followed her into the girl's room. That's right. He went into the girl's locker room! He had "disguised" himself as a garbage can. He even wore a garbage lid as a hat. And finally, Patty said, "All right. I'll go. Now will you please let me change?"

After promising not to embarrass her, Patty left to change, and Larry was on his way out. He didn't, uh, make it out. Kylie got him, and she had the whole cheerleading team with them. Let's just say he was backed into a corner. Let's just say the cheerleading team suddenly became an army militia and they started beating Larry up so bad, it hurt his mind.

Well, that's what he said. Although I considered that part funny.

"So, who's gonna serve the fruit punch?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Who do you think?"

"Dimetroodon," Kathy said.

I expected that. He doesn't even like dancing. He can't even dance, so there.

Anyways, we got that cleared up.

A few hours later, it was, 7:57. Late evening. I was in my room, doing…I don't know. Don't remember. I was…oh, yes. I was practicing on my electric keyboard and on my guitar. I play those two instruments. I'm no Beethoven but I think I play decent.

Well enough to get an A+ at the music recital at the end of the semester. Anyways, I was playing on the guitar, going through some tunes, when my laptop went ding. You see, I had my IM account open and I'd been chatting with some friends.

I went over to check and guess who it was? If you guessed Dimetroodon, you're wrong. If you guessed Justin Bieber, you're wronger. I hate him.

If you guessed Lilia Woods, you're correct. As I would say, correctomundo! Lilia had sent me an IM. To me.

"You busy, Spiny?" That was her IM message.

I started typing back. "No. Just relaxing. And you?"

"Just had dinner. You?"

"Not yet. It'll be ready in a little while, I think."

"What you doing?"

"Practicing guitar."

"Oh, really! That's so nice. I didn't know you played instruments."

"Do you?"

"No. Wish I could."

Then, a light bulb switched in my head. "I could teach you. If you wanted."

"Oh, no! That'd be too much trouble."

"Of course not! What do you say?"

"Okay. How about Friday afternoon? At my house?"

"Sure. See you then."

"Bye. Sweet dreams."

Then, she logged out.

I sighed. I didn't know what to think. What are you supposed to feel or think?

Well, anyways, I turned off my computer and went to the kitchen to get chocolate milk and cookies. Decided to get my mind off the crushing responsibilities of being a head of family at the age of 14, of being a student, and of being a King.

It can wear you out after a while. You really need to be ready for all kinds of events and programs.

Let me tell you, being King of Amarkia is no walk in the park. You've got meetings and schedules and papers and conferences and security work and army training and taxes and…

Anyways, I went to get milk and cookies and went to eat in the dining room. All the other lights were turned out and I was the only one not doing homework, so I had some time to myself.

I often just think to myself and you know, sort of meditate on things. Sort of to, you know, reflex on stuff. My family, my job, my responsibilities, my friends, things like that. And of course, I think of my parents. I often remember the great times I passed with them. Sure, I get sad and cry, but I also feel happy that I had the chance to learn so much from my father. I'll never be as good as he was, but…well, a guy tries.

I was in deep thought when Greeny came in, his pajamas on. "Hi, Spiny."

"Hey, buddy!" I said.

I rubbed him on the head. "Ready for bed, huh? You brush your teeth?"

"Yep."

"Good, good."

"Spiny?"

"Yeah?"

"My friend Freddy says that if you let a penny get struck by lightning that means you'll get run over by a train. Is that true?" Whoa! Kids have such imagination, right?

I laughed at that, "Uh, no, Greeny. I don't think so." I gave him a goodnight kiss on the head. "Now, go on to sleep. You've got school tomorrow."

"How come you and Kathy and Patty get to stay up late?" That was actually a good question. Why did we? Hadn't quite thought of that.

"I don't know," I answered. I shrugged. "Don't worry, when you become a teenager, we'll let you sleep a little late, okay?"

"Okay." Little kids are usually satisfied with simple answers. That's good. Because when they ask the question, it becomes a great challenge. Let's change the subject. He said goodnight and ran off to his room.

After a while, I went up to say goodnight to everyone and went to my bed. As I lay there, I begin to think…about everything. Starting 8th grade, the dance, raising my family, ruling my country…my near-kiss with Lilia.

Sure a lot to think of. But of course, a lot to dream about, also.