For a long moment, Mitchie and Shane stared at each other until the customer she'd be serving cleared his throat.

"Ahem, my drink, please, ma'am."

Shane thought it funny that he called Mitchie ma'am when he was probably twice her age…

"Oh! Right, sorry," Mitchie said, scrambling around and grabbing the man's drink. "Here, sorry, sir. That's uh…a dollar ninety-eight."

The man paid and left, giving Shane a long, hard look as he left. Shane heard, briefly, before the door closed behind him

"Darn kid and that pop-star heart breaker…"

Shane groaned inwardly, but then was distracted by Mitchie's arms wrapping around his back in a giant hug, and her voice exclaiming

"Shane! It's wonderful to see you again! How are you? What are you doing here?"

He hugged her back, holding onto her for a long moment, taking in her familiar, floral-like scent and her soft, brown hair.

"Hey, Mitch," he whispered.

She pulled back and studied his face, her wide smile on her young face. "It's awesome to see you," she said.

"It's great to see you, too," Shane said.

"How are you here?" she asked. "I mean, why are you here? How are you?"

"Whoa!" he said, holding up two hands. "One question at time, please, Mitchie." But he said it in a kind, friendly way.

She grinned. "I'll start with 'how are you?'" she said.

"Been better," he admitted. "I'm not sure if you heard about…that drama with Tess Tyler…"

"Oh yeah," Mitchie said, her voice taking on a sympathetic tone, her face likewise. "I heard, practically the minute it hit the air. I'm so sorry. Tess is bad news."

"I realize," he muttered, then brightened. "But let's not talk about that. How are you? Why didn't you answer my emails?" He hadn't meant to sound blunt, but he was dying of curiosity of why she hadn't answered. Obviously, she remembered him…

"Oh," Mitchie looked down at her red Converse. "My…my dad's hardware store went out of business and we had to cancel the internet. I only found out the

day it happened, which is why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry."

"That's okay." His soul soared. She hadn't forgotten him! "How are you?" Shane repeated.

"Oh, I'm—"

"MITCHELLE!"

The teenagers jumped at the loud, bossy voice. A middle-aged, heavy-set man barged out of the backroom.

"Are you on a lunch break?" he demanded.

"No, sir," Mitchie squeaked.

"Then back to work," the man, most likely Mitchie's manager, snapped. He peered at Shane and asked stoutly "And who is this?"

"This is Shane Gray," Mitchie stuttered. "Old friend. Sorry, Mr. Barney, sir, I'll get back to work."

But Mr. Barney wasn't paying attention. "Oh, him," he sneered. "That teenage heart breaker, Shane Gray, here in my shop, bothering my employee. Well, well…" And he turned away, back to his office, muttering to himself.

Mitchie was once again behind the counter and shot a sad look at Shane. "Sorry about him," she said quietly, taking a moist towel and wiping off the already spotless counter. "He's a little…loud, and likes to watch the news often."

Shane shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Everyone is convinced I'm a criminal…or close to it." He eyed Mitchie, then said shortly "Like I'm sure you do."

Mitchie's head snapped up in surprise. "Pardon?"

"Everyone's against me," Shane sighed miserably, slumping against the wall. "Even my own family for goodness sake…And seeing how chummy you and Tess were at the end of camp…a man has to assume."

Mitchie shook her head, tossing the towel away. "No," she said finally, very firmly. "I don't believe that. I know what Tess is capable of. You may be a jerk, but you're a gentleman."

Shane grinned. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Mitchie glanced at the clock. "I get off in fifteen minutes. If you want to wait," she said more shyly. "We could, maybe, hang out for a while, just walk around town and catch up."

Shane smiled. "I've got nothing better to do…why not?"

--

Shane sat at nearby table by the counter, watching Mitchie as she assisted customer after customer at record speeds.

...Yet she still managed to shoot him a smile in between customers.

I missed that smile, he thought at times.

Finally, Mitchie's watch alarm went off and she called to her manager "I'm going Mr. Barney! See you tomorrow!"

Shane stood as Mitchie ran into a back room and emerged a minute later without her apron and a coat on.

They left the place together and walked in silence for a while.

"So..." Shane said after a while. "Where should we go?"

"I don't know," Mitchie frowned then smiled. "Hey! How about we go to my place? You can meet my dad and say hi to my mom."

"Sounds good," Shane said, smiling.

"Mom? Dad?" Mitchie called as she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Hi sweetie! How was work?" Connie Torres' voice drifted from the kitchen, a delicious smell following closely behind it.

"Normal, but you'll never guess who I found..."

"Who?"

Mitchie pulled Shane into the kitchen. "A pop star by the name of Shane Gray!" she announced.

Connie looked up from her dinner-in-progress and her face broke into a smile. "Shane dear!" she exclaimed, coming forward and giving him a hug. "How are you doing?"

Shane smiled. "Fine, Mrs. Torres, thank you."

"Well this is an unexpected surprise," Connie gushed. "Oh and by the way," she added, her voice taking on a serious, lower tone. "We support you one hundred percent behind this Tess thing. We don't believe her one bit."

"Thanks, Mrs. Torres," he said politely.

"Oh, call me Connie," she said offhandedly. She then called up the stairs "Steve! Come down here, Mitchie has a friend over."

Steve Torres came downstairs and smiled at Shane. "The famous Shane Gray," he said warmly, shaking his hand. "Welcome. Mitchie sure has mentioned you enough. Why are you here in New York?"
"Dad!" Mitchie hissed, going scarlet. Shane smiled on the inside.

Mitchie talked about him?

It was a nice thing to know.

"Oh, we have a concert here," Shane said, answering Steve's question. "But it's tomorrow."

"Oh," Steve nodded.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Connie asked.

"Oh, I really don't want to be a bother," Shane said. "It's fine. I'll just go and head back to the hotel..." The thought of his family made him grimace, but he forced it away.

"Nonsense!" Connie said happily, bustling back to the stove. "I make too much food anyway."

"Well..."

"Please Shane?"

Mitchie's whisper was barely heard even by Shane, who was standing right next to her, but heard it he did.

He looked down at her and smiled. "Well...I guess I'll stay...If it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not," Connie assured him.

"I better call my parents, though, and let them know where I am," Shane added after a minute. "Excuse me." He wandered to the living room, Mitchie trailing behind him, and pulled out his phone. Mitchie sat on a couch and watched him while he dialed and waited.

"Hello?"

"Mom?" Shane asked. "Hey, it's me. I ran into an old friend and I'm staying for dinner at her house. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Shane, wait, who--"

"Mitchie Torres."

"Oh..." His mother's voice had a weird tone to it. surprised and slightly suspicious... "Well, that's fine. See you when you get home. not too late, okay?"

"Okay. 'Bye." He hung up. Mitchie smiled at him and, for the first time in a while, Shane felt very, very happy.


Alyssa: GASP! We've had this done for a few days now but after my brother broke the computer and everything...I guess we forgot about it! How pathetic is that?! oh well. Here it is. REVIEW!! Oh and mya is at work and angie is coming up blank so no AN's for them...So sad...REVIEW!..AGAIN!