Stephanie was laying on her bed writing in her diary, but she hadn't actually written anything for a while. It was Friday afternoon, but she couldn't stop thinking about Monday. She was lost in thought, playing back through her mind what had happened then at lunch. She couldn't stop thinking about all the things Derek had said. He had seemed so different lately. It was like he didn't even care about Virgil anymore. Or anyone else, for that matter. Except maybe Jocelyn. He had been so full of himself and acting so, well, popular.

She sighed and held her head in her hands. Suddenly she started thinking about Virgil and wanting to see him. She quickly shut her diary and ran downstairs.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it ok if I go over to Virgil's house?"

"Sure sweetheart. Just don't stay for too long."

"Thanks, mom!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Virgil was out in his backyard. He was supposed to be finishing mowing the lawn, but he had stopped a few minutes ago to take a break. He absentmindedly picked up three rocks off the ground and started juggling them.

"Hey."

Dropping the rocks he whirled around. Stephanie was standing there, smiling at him.

"Oh, hi Steph! What're you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my friend?" she asked with a smile.

Virgil laughed. "Good point."

"But I guess I did sort of come here for a reason," Stephanie said as she sat down on a bench in Virgil's backyard. "A while back you asked if I'd like to hang out with you and Zeke and Charlie on a Friday night. Are you still offering?"

"Well definitely!" Virgil exclaimed, sitting down on a chair across from Stephanie. "Do you mean tonight?"

"I don't have anything else to do."

"Don't you have something you could do with Derek?" Virgil said, his voice getting softer. Stephanie thought he sounded kind of sad.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess he's probably doing something, but I want to hang out with you guys."

"Even though we're the biggest dorks at school?" Virgil asked with a smile.

Stephanie smiled a little bit. "You're my friend, Virgil. You always will be, no matter what other people call you. Charlie's cool too, and I'd like to get to know Zeke more."

"Have you met him? Zeke, I mean."

"Yeah, I introduced myself on Monday, right before..." Her voice faded.

Virgil looked at her and nodded. "By the way, Stephanie, I wanted to thank you for standing up. You didn't have to, but I'm really glad you did. I don't know how many people would have if you hadn't. And I know it couldn't have been easy. So, thanks."

Stephanie nodded. "You're right, it wasn't easy, and things have been kinda weird since then, but I'm glad I did."

The two friends were quiet for a minute, until the silence was broken by the sound of a motorcycle pulling up in front of Virgil's house.

"Virgil? You here, man?"

"I'm in the back," Virgil yelled in reply. A few seconds later Zeke turned the corner and walked into Virgil's backyard. He pulled off his helmet and shook out his dark hair. Then he looked over and saw Stephanie.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know..." he began, looking from Stephanie to Virgil. "Uh, I can go."

"Dude, it's fine," Virgil said kindly. "What were you coming over for?"

Zeke glanced behind him, towards the front of Virgil's house. "Uh, I got a new bike today. I wanted to show everyone I know, but um, you're the only person I could think of. I would show Charlie, but I'm kinda in a hurry and he'd probably want to show me some new invention or something. But I can go, I'll just show you tonight."

"Zeke, there is no way that you're leaving without showing me!" Virgil answered with a smile.

"But Virg, you have company," Zeke said softly, sounding embarrassed as he glanced at Stephanie.

"You mean Steph?" Virgil looked back at her and smiled. "It doesn't matter. Plus, she's going to be hanging out with us tonight, too. So you might as well show us now."

Zeke's eyes suddenly got wide. "She's coming tonight, too?" he asked softly, almost in a whisper.

"Yeah. Zeke, what's wrong?"

"We're having it at my place tonight," Zeke said simply. Virgil's eyes got almost as wide as Zeke's.

"We can change it to my house tonight if you want," Virgil said quickly. Stephanie was just watching the guys with a confused look on her face.

Zeke shook his head. "It's fine, dude. We can still have it at my place."

"Are you sure, man? We don't have to."

"Virg, it's ok. She's your friend, and uh-" He lowered his voice even further. "If this is gonna become a regular thing she should know, dude."

"Are you sure this is ok, Zeke?"

"Don't worry about it, man. It's fine. Anyways I'm gonna go. I have to run an errand for Mrs. Carpenter. I'll show you my bike tonight."

Stephanie stood up and walked toward the two guys. "Zeke, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't want to see your motorcycle too."

"You sure?" Zeke asked, looking at Stephanie like he didn't really believe her.

"C'mon, just show us!" Virgil answered. Zeke smiled a little and started walking around to the front of Virgil's house. Virgil grabbed Stephanie's arm and pulled her closer to him.

"You've never liked motorcycles," he whispered, looking to make sure Zeke hadn't heard.

"Just because I said that to him doesn't mean I like them," she whispered back with a smile. Virgil smiled back and they followed Zeke out front.