Jeremy rubbed a clear circle, wiping condensation on the mirror. Soon, his face
was visible through the steam. He had just gotten out of the shower and
was going to shave his face. He had just shaved yesterday, but he was
taking Amanda to Antoine's, the fancy Italian restaurant in El Carro.
Normally on a Thursday night, he would be doing his homework in front of
SportsCenter, but tomorrow there was the big game against Trinity High
School and on Saturday Amanda was going to her sister's baby shower. Plus,
he was working Saturday afternoon. In a way, he wished football season
were over because between practices, games, work, school, and Amanda he
felt like he had no time left just to lounge around. The low buzz of
the razor calmed his busy mind, and he began mentally deciding what to
wear. He decided to wear the same suit he had worn for homecoming because
he knew that Amanda had liked it. Mostly because she had picked it out.
He turned his razor off and ran some gel through his still-damp hair.
Then he stepped out of the bathroom and walked down the hall to his
bedroom. He pulled his suit out from the back of the closet. It still had a
little bit of glitter on it from when he and Amanda had been crowned
homecoming king and queen. Jeremy fingered his suit with a small smile.
That had been an amazing night. Unlike his friends who had dated girl
after girl, Jeremy had always been content to stay with Amanda. No one,
next to maybe his parents, knew him like she did.
His mind wandered back to when he had first met her. It was the summer
when they were ten and they were both taking tennis lessons at the
country club. Amanda had won the girls championship at the end of camp and
he had won the boys. Then they had played each other for the all
country club junior champion. Amanda had creamed him. He had only learned to
play that summer. His pride had been shattered and he had gotten back at her
by dumping Gatorade in her practice bag.
The next summer when they were eleven, they were again the boys and
girls champs. However, this time Jeremy beat her. She had gotten back at
him by shoving tampons into his changing locker. It was still one of the
top five most embarrassing moments of his life.
The next summer when they were twelve, Jeremy noticed how pretty she
had gotten and he had had a humungous crush on her that summer.
Unfortunately, he handled it like most twelve year old boys did, by acting like
a complete annoyance and pest. That summer the instructor decided that
they would play as doubles since they were the two best players at the
club. They had protested bitterly because neither of them had been used
to playing doubles. Jeremy smiled because he realized that his protests
were half-hearted at best. He had secretly been thrilled. Still, he
spent half the summer flipping up her tennis skirt from behind, teasing
her about her crush on the sixteen-year-old assistant, and snapping her
bra straps. She spent most of the summer ignoring him or calling him
pizza face because he didn't have the clearest complexion then.
Then, towards the end of the summer after practice, as they were filing
into the clubhouse to change, Jeremy flipped her skirt up one time to
many. She whirled around and punched him in the face. He had been so
surprised that he stumbled backwards and fell down against the wall. Amanda
had been so embarrassed that she had stooped down to see if he was
okay. Jeremy had stared at her and quickly kissed her. It was both of
theirs first kiss. She had been surprised, but from that moment on they had
started dating. They had been the first of the seventh graders to pair
off into a couple. That was the last summer that Jeremy had gone to
tennis lessons. He slowly devoted his time to basketball and football, but
Amanda still played tennis and was the star player on the Big Mesa
tennis team. He still played with her sometimes and she always beat his
pants off.
Jeremy's mind returned to the present and he quickly put his suit on
and went down to the bathroom to splash on some of the cologne that Amanda
had given him for his birthday last year. As he was rummaging around for
the bottle, he heard his mom say "Hey Jer?"
Jeremy turned around to see his mom standing in the doorway. "Yeah?"
"I was just wondering what time you'd be back tonight."
"Probably around nine or so," he said shrugging. He found the bottle
and quickly pulled it out.
His mom smiled at him. "You look handsome, sweetie."
"Thanks," he said splashing some of the cologne on.
His mom hesitated in the doorway.
"What, Mom?" he asked. His mom usually left Jeremy pretty much alone.
"You know how much I like Amanda, she's a wonderful girl…it's just I
wonder if you two should be so serious with college coming up soon and
everything," she paused.
Jeremy sighed. His parents had dropped hints and suggestions about him
and Amanda ever since they had started dating seriously. They just
didn't understand that he didn't want to date other girls. He liked Amanda
so why should he ruin a good thing?
"Mom, it's okay. You know we've applied to the same colleges so we
won't be apart." They had both applied to the same five schools. They had applied to
a school that they mutually liked then they each picked two schools.
They were applying to UCLA, Ohio State and USC (Amanda's choices) and
University of Arizona and University of San Diego (Jeremy's picks).
"I know," his mom said. "It's just I worry that you two will miss out
on so much. You know you each will meet a lot of different people in
college."
"I know," Jeremy said, slightly exasperated. "It's just that we're
happy together."
"I know, sweetie," his mom said smiling. "I really do like Amanda, it's
just…remember to have a clear mind."
The doorbell rang. Jeremy gave his mom a quick hug and said, "I will."
Then he dashed down the stairs and flung open the front door.
"Wow, you look really nice," he said taking in Amanda. Her long, black
hair and been curled and fell over her shoulders in waves. She was
wearing a short, white dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her tan.
"Incredible," he said softly.
Amanda smiled. "Hey Jer, hey Trish, Emma," she said. Jeremy turned
around and saw Trish and Emma grinning at Amanda shyly.
"I lost a tooth," Tricia said proudly.
"I got a 100 on my science test," Emma bragged.
"That's great," Amanda said smiling. "I'm so proud of you guys."
Jeremy laughed. "See you two midgets later," he said and walked outside
with Amanda. They climbed into her silver Porsche and zoomed off
towards El Carro.

"How's everything," their waiter said, stopping by their table.
"It's wonderful," Amanda said, smiling up.
The waiter nodded and whisked away.
"So, are you ready for the big game tomorrow?" Amanda said.
"Yeah, Trinity shouldn't be that hard to beat. I'm more worried about
the Sweet Valley game in two weeks. They're undefeated, too."
"You'll beat them," she said confidently. "I'm just glad that girl
Kristen graduated last year, maybe this will finally be my year for the
state championship title."
"You have to become the regional champion first," he said grinning.
"I'll get it, especially if you're there."
"You know I always am."
They ate in a comfortable silence for a while. "So," she finally said.
"Have any big plans on Saturday?"
"Yeah, you know Rick Dwyer?"
"One of the running backs?" she asked.
"Yeah. He's one of the El Carro guys and he's having a party for his
friends at Big Mesa and his other friends that got transferred to Sweet
Valley. Trent, Stan, and I are going to go."
"Sounds like fun," she said lightly.
"Yeah, it'll be awesome. I think Rick mentioned that there was going to
be a PlayStation tournament." The waiter returned and handed
Jeremy the bill. "So, are you excited about your sister's shower?"
"Yeah," she said, her eyes lighting up. "My aunt already threw her one
for family and it was fun. But her friend Cassie is throwing her one
for all her co-workers and friends so it should be a lot of fun even
though I'll be the youngest one there."
"She still doesn't know what it's going to be?"
"No, Mitch, her husband, wants it to be a surprise, but I think Heather
wants to know so she can start decorating the nursery room. Mitch wants
to paint it basic yellow or white but I know Heather wants pink for a
girl and red for a boy."
"I can't believe you're going to be an aunt!" Jeremy said shaking his
head.
"I know! I'm so excited."
They pushed their chairs back and walked towards the front. Jeremy
handed the man at the register his credit card and they headed out to the
parking lot. They drove in silence until they reached Crystal Park. That
was one of the coolest things about being so close, Jeremy decided. You
could sit in silence and enjoy being with each other instead of being
uncomfortable. Amanda turned the car off and turned to Jeremy. "Thanks
for dinner. It was really nice." She fiddled with her bracelet. It had
been a gift from her parents for her sixteenth birthday and Jeremy knew
the stones were real emeralds to match her eyes. Amanda was probably
one of the wealthiest girls in their class, and even though she dressed
nice and had sophisticated tastes, she wasn't a snob.
"You're welcome," he took her hand and began rubbing her palm with his
thumbs. "This year has been perfect," he said softly.
"I know," she said smiling. "This has definitely been an awesome senior
year. College is going to even better, though."
"Definitely. It's too bad that freshmen have to live in dorms. It's
getting harder and harder to leave you at night, if you know what I mean."
Jeremy noticed that Amanda had hesitated slightly.
"I'm not pressuring you," he whispered. "But remember it's me."
"I know," she said looking down. "That's what makes it so hard. You've
been my first for everything else…" she trailed off.
Jeremy smiled and leaned over to kiss her. She had been his first for
everything, too. He had never even gone out with another girl. Sure, he
knew that he could have his pick. Back in eighth grade and ninth grade
several girls had come onto him. Marcie Anderson had sent him love
notes for two weeks. Shelia Turner had walked her dog in front of his house
for a month. And most notably, Angela Williams had come over one
Saturday to wash his car. Amanda had flipped out over that one.
They had broken up for two months during their freshman year when Brad
Michaels, the star senior quarterback, had asked her out and she had accepted.
Jeremy had been crushed, but when she came begging for forgiveness he
had taken her back. Other than that, they had been inseparable for the
past five years.
Suddenly, Amanda pulled back. "We really should stop. Plus I have to
finish my homework."
Jeremy pulled back, slightly disappointed. When they reached his house
and leaned over and gave her one, last lingering kiss. "See you
tomorrow."
"You too," she said smiling.
"Love you."
"Love you."

All Elizabeth wanted to do was to curl up in her bed, under all her
warm blankets, even though it was eighty degrees out, and bury her nose in
Jane Eyre. She had spent the whole day pretending to be up, when she
had in fact, never felt so down. She had realized that she had been
moping about Conner for almost a month. She realized her friends must be
getting pretty fed up with her. Plus, with Jessica moping around about
Will, she figured their friends could only take so much Wakefield gloom.
So she had streaked her hair pink. Actually, it was only pale pink, but
that hadn't stopped her parents from hitting the roof. She gave them a
lot of credit though for not saying anything, just turning various
shades of purple. Even though her friends had tried to be enthusiastic, she
knew they were just pretending. Plus, Conner hadn't even noticed. If
she wanted to be honest with herself, that had been a big part of the
reason why she had done it. And not only had Conner not noticed, she had
seen him flirting with some stupid junior after school. Tears formed in
her eyes. Conner had finally moved on and there was no way he was coming
back to her. Tia had been right. Then to top it off she had to work the
evening shift at the House of Java. Luckily, that Thursday night the
café was deserted giving her plenty of time to mope.
Ally popped her head out of the back. "Since it looks like we're going
to have a slow night so we don't need two people working counter," she
said looking between Elizabeth and Nancy. "Nancy, could you sweep out the
place and clean the bathrooms? Then clean the windows and tables?"
Nancy groaned.
""Elizabeth did it last week and Jeremy the week before," Ally pointed
out.
"I'll help you after I clean out the coffee machines," Elizabeth said.
"Thanks," Nancy said gratefully.
Ally returned to her office and Nancy went to the supply cabinet to get
the mop. "Better do the bathrooms first to get it over with," she said
making a face.
"Jeremy did an awesome job two weeks ago so it shouldn't be that bad,"
Elizabeth said sympathetically. Nancy nodded and disappeared. Elizabeth
wished Jeremy were working here tonight. Nancy was nice, but Jeremy
always made her feel happier. Elizabeth sighed and turned to the
cappuccino machine. She lifted up the grate where they placed the cups and
sighed. Obviously the person who had cleaned it last hadn't done such a
great job. There were coffee stains and dried coffee clumps everywhere. She
grabbed an old rag and cleaning stuff and started to scrub. She was so
busy cleaning that when the bells over the door rang, she jumped about
ten feet in the air. An old lady walked slowly up to the counter.
Elizabeth threw the rag aside and wiped her hands quickly on her apron.
"Good evening and welcome to the House of Java, what can I get you?"
she said cheerfully.
"Good evening," the lady said as she stared up at the huge board with
all the choices. The bell over the door rang again and Elizabeth glanced
up to see who had walked in.
She did a double take. He was probably one of the coolest guys she had
ever seen and definitely one of the five hottest. He wasn't exactly her
type, though. He was about six foot and kind of lanky. He was wearing
baggy black jeans and a black Led Zeppelin shirt. He was wearing about three
metal chains around his neck. But what made him stand out was his hair. It was
black and shaggy, kind of like Evan's, but the ends of his hair were dyed
midnight blue. He had 'bad' written all over him. Elizabeth felt a slight shiver go t
hrough her body.
She reluctantly turned back to the old woman. "Have you decided yet?"
"I want just regular coffee, I think."
"Black or flavored?"
The old woman looked confused and wrung her hands in front of her.
The blue haired guy smiled at the woman and for a second Elizabeth was
afraid that he was going to mug her. "Ma'am, you can get plain black
coffee but you can also get Hazelnut, French vanilla, raspberry, almond,
or honey blend."
The woman turned around and smiled. "Thank you, young man." She turned
to Elizabeth. "I'll have French vanilla, please."
Elizabeth smiled and quickly prepared the coffee. The woman gave her a
five and Elizabeth handed her her change. "Have a nice evening," she
told the woman.
The blue haired guy stood in front of her smiling. Elizabeth blushed
even though she knew he probably wasn't smiling at her. "That was really sweet
what you did," she said. "What can I get you?"
"Thanks," the guy said. There was that grin again. "Didn't expect it,
did you?" Elizabeth blushed. Did he know what she had been thinking,
about him mugging that old woman? He laughed. Elizabeth blushed again, he
had a nice laugh. "It's okay, I get it all the time. It must be
something about seventies rock t-shirts, or my hair," he said. "I'm actually a
really nice guy. I'm great with old people and small children. Plus,
you have some crazy hair yourself," he said gesturing to her pink
streaks.
"Thanks," she was glad someone liked her hair. "But I'm not bad at
all. It's just washout, it'll be gone in two or three days. Plus, you're
not scary looking. Now if you had been wearing black eyeliner…" she
said mischievously.
The guy laughed. "It makes my eyes itch, but I do wear this," he said
holding up his hands to show Elizabeth that his nails were painted
black.
"Guys that wear makeup always creeps me out," Elizabeth confessed. "But
on you it looks…cool. Plus, it's just nail polish." Elizabeth quickly
realized that there might be a line but she hadn't heard the bells ring.
Plus it was nice to talk and laugh with a guy. It felt…refreshing.
"I'm Cody," the guy said.
"I'm-" she started to say.
"You're Elizabeth Wakefield," he said grinning. He saw the surprised
look on her face. "Come on, every guys knows who you are, you're one of
the hottest girls in the school."
Elizabeth was sure she resembled a ripe tomato with all the blushing
she had been doing in the last five minutes.
She was surprised to know that he went to Sweet Valley, but she figured
they didn't run in the same crowds.
"I'm one of the El Carro students," he said. "Don't worry, there's no
reason why you should know me, we don't have any classes together or
anything. And don't worry; I'm not some crazed stalker, either."
"I didn't think you were…just crazy," she said jokingly.
"Listen, I've almost forgotten why I'm here," he said shaking his head.
"We sell coffee here," Elizabeth said, giggling. "We take beans and
grind them, and sometimes we add different flavors."
"What a concept," he said laughing. "I'll have an iced moccachino," he
said.
Elizabeth quickly filled his order and he paid. She reluctantly handed
him back his change. She didn't want him to leave; she had been having
such a fun time. Probably the best time she had had in weeks.
He took his changed the fiddled with the loose change awkwardly. "I'm
really nervous and you probably have a boyfriend or several, but there's
this club, The Cosmo, that's having a bunch of local bands playing this
Saturday night and I was wondering if, maybe…you'd…"
"Sure," Elizabeth said quickly. "I'd mean if that's what you were going
to ask. If I'd go with you," Elizabeth said stupidly.
"Great, and I was," he said smiling. Elizabeth smiled back. She
wondered what her parents or Jessica would say if they saw her with Cody. Or
Conner. She wanted to slap herself. She didn't want to go out with Cody
to make Conner jealous. But she couldn't help but wonder what he would
think.