The Government class was long and hard. When they walked into the classroom, Mrs. Brown handed them the three quizzes of the day, and they got to work. When they had finished the quizzes, Mrs. Brown started the lecture part of the class. It now became difficult for the students to stay awake. The classroom was cold and the students were tired. Nickole had to nudge Ann several times before Mrs. Brown finished her lecture and handed them their syllabuses. Once they were out of Government, they all piled into Nickole's white Toyota and left the campus and headed over to Ann's house. The ride over was full of nothing but stop signs, traffic lights, and awkward silence. Nickole was driving, Don was riding shot-gun, and Ann, to her dismay, was sitting in the back with Eddie. When they got to Ann's house they took some Cokes, that Nickole had bought earlier, out of the trunk, "We might not want to open these for a little while," Don commented; everyone laughed. Then they went up stairs to the game room. The room had a long couch right across from the TV; this was perfect for group movie nights. While Ann was down stairs popping the pop-corn, Nickole started the movie.

"Who wants pop-corn?" Ann asked as she came in the room with two large bowls of Act II pop-corn. Everybody just looked at her. "Right," Ann said shaking her head, "stupid question, I know."

"Eddie, have you ever seen any of these old horror flicks before?" asked Nickole,

"I can't say that I have. Why?"

"Well, let me warn you, they're cheesy."

"That's an understatement," Don said as he grabbed a big handful of pop-corn.

Ann laughed "An understatement is when you say Yao Ming is kinda tall. That was an under-understatement." She corrected Don.

"Okay, okay," Nickole began, "They're extremely cheesy!"

As they watched the movie Nickole noticed that the guys were acting very weird. Like, during the more romantic parts, at least as romantic as horror movies get, Don moved a little closer to her, and so did Eddie. Ann, who was sitting in a brightly colored arm chair, did not see a thing. Feeling a little too crowded Nickole got up and announced, "I'm going to the kitchen to pop more pop-corn. Do you want to come with me, Ann?"

"Um...yeah, sure," Ann replied noticing the queue, "While we're down there does anybody want a refill?"

"I'm good" Don answered.

"I'll take some more." Eddie said holding out his cup. Nickole took it from him and walked with Ann down the stairs to the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot of the boys Ann stopped and turned to Nickole.

"What was that about?" she asked with a little laugh.

"Oh, I was just feeling really crowded."

"Are Don and Eddie not giving you enough room on our 'tiny' couch?" Ann asked in a voice just dripping with sarcasm, because her couch was huge.

"Yeah, something like that," Nickole said as she poured Eddie's coke. Ann reached into the pantry and pulled out a new bag of pop-corn and put it in the microwave. "I don't know, they're just acting very weird today."

"Don, is acting weird today...Eddie is always weird."

"True, but you have to admit that today they are both especially weird." Ann said over the loud popping of the pop-corn.

Ann shook her head smiling. "What?" Nickole asked, "Why are you shaking your head?"

"Nothing, never mind,"

"What?" she asked more persistently

BEEP!

"OH...good, pop-corn's ready."Ann started, "I wonder if Eddie is enjoying the movie."

They went back up stairs to find the boys sitting on opposite ends of the couch. This, unfortunately, left plenty of room for Nickole to sit in between them. Ann smiled, shook her head at the three of them, and sat down.

When the movie was over, Ann looked back at the couch to see what looked like a Nickole-sandwich. "Okay well it's getting late. I'll take you guys home." Nickole said as she stood up and yawned.

"I guess so," Eddie said, "My parents are probably wondering why I'm so late."

"Yeah, I need to go too," Don responded.

"Then I'll drop you off on my way home." Nickole grabbed her keys and, followed by Don and Eddie, started down stairs.

"Oh, Nickole," Ann called after her, "call me when you get home, okay?"

"Okay, will do." Nickole answered, and then Don shut the door.

The three got back into the car. This time Eddie was in the front seat with Nickole. Don was leaning forward so that he could see into the front seat. Once again, Nickole felt crowded. "So, Eddie, how are your parents?" She asked, making small talk.

"They're doing okay. Nothing much has really been going on."

"Yeah, I guess so." Nickole agreed.

"Oh, hey look at that." Don spoke up from the backseat. They were driving by the old Miller house which had been abandoned for over 30 years. The house looked particularly spooky, standing out in the middle of a field in the twilight and was always the perfect target for vandals and made a good subject of a spooky story. "That place looks like its seen better times."

"Oh yeah, that old place," Eddie started in, "I used to go there all the time when I was little."

"I don't like it at all," Nickole stated keeping her eyes on the road, "I wonder if they're ever going to tear it down?"

"I hope not," Eddie replied, "I really like that place."

"Why?" Nickole asked looking over at Eddie, "Why do you care about that run-down house?"

"I don't know; I just like it, that's all."

"Okay, whatever you say," Don said as they turned the corner into Eddie's neighborhood and the Miller house was became hidden by a row of houses.

They pulled up to a one-story house, and let Eddie out. "See you Tuesday!" He said, and then he went inside. Nickole and Don drove on down the street, and then back on the highway heading toward their neighborhood.

There was complete silence until Don finally spoke up. "So, Nickole, what are you doing next Friday night?" Don asked nervously.

"Umm, I don't know," Nickole mumbled looking a little confused, "what are you doing?"

"Nothing, really, I was just hopping that... maybe we could," he pause for a second, "Maybe we could go to dinner of something?"

"Dinner, you mean like a date?" Nickole replied sounding shocked.

"Yeah, like a date." Don was getting a little anxious now.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I guess. Well, yeah! Do you...would you like to go to dinner with me, next Friday night, on a date?"

"That sounds great!"

"Really, so you'll go?"

"Yes, of course I'll go!" Nickole answered to Don's relief.

By this time they were at Don's house. Nickole knew it well. Her house was just around the corner. She and Don's parents had been very close ever since Nickole's family moved in to the neighbor hood 13 years ago. This was one of the reasons why she and Don were such good friends. They had always played together when they were little; they had grown up together and shared many childhood memories. As soon as Nickole got home, she ran up to her room, picked up the phone, and called Ann.

"Hello?"

"Ann, this is Nickole."

"Oh, hey Nickole, how did it go?"

"It went fine, but listen to this...after Don and I dropped Eddie off he asked me out!"

"Eddie asked you out?!?"

"No…Don asked me out!"

"What? Don asked you out?!?"

"Yes, he did, and I said YES!"

"You said YES?!? I clearly have a bad connection. It just sounded like you said that Don asked you out and you said yes."

"He DID...I mean I DID...I mean we DID!!!"

"So wait, I don't need to get a new phone? You really did say that?"

"Yes, I did."

"You must be joking!"

"I'm not. I'm dead serious."

"Wow."

"What does 'wow' mean?"

"I don't know what to say."

"I know!!"

"But I thought Eddie would be the one to ask you out." Ann asked, sounding confused.

"Why would Eddie ask me out?"

"Well, I don't think he came to my house tonight to be with me or Don."

"He just wanted to hang out with us."

"You...He wanted to hang out with you!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because...I heard him talking to one of his friends…he said something about you...and about asking you out."

"Oh, man...Not good,"