Thank you so much for the nice comments:)))

For a few seconds, not only young Lily Rhodes stood still, but also the world around her. But before the attractive young singer could reach the girl of his dreams she panicked – and ran away. Elly and a dumbfounded Rufus – he was more used to girls chasing him than to girls running away from him – called after her, but Lily didn't listen., she ran for her life, away from the auditorium. What the hell was she thinking? She had lied to her mother, the whole school was laughing about her and she had made a complete fool of herself in front of this great singer and young man.
Fortunately, Lily quickly found a free cab (which was truly rare in New York) and got home, crying her eyes out. If she was lucky, her mother would still be with her friends and Lily could only hope and pray that she would never find out about the little excursion her rebellious daughter had taken.

Back in her room, still drenched in tears, Lily tried to collect her thoughts. Too much had hapened this evening, but one thing bothered her more than the fact that she had betrayed her mother and the spitefullness of her fellow students. She couldn't get Rufus out of her head, let alone her heart and she hated herself for it. Inspite of all her problems, a smile crossed her youthful face as she thought of his warm, really sincere dark eyes. Never forgetting his affectionate, sexy voice which could break any heart. Lily had to admit to herself that for the first time she had found out what it meant to have butterflies in her stomach. She had never felt like that about snooty Bart Brass or young William, who was her mother's second choice and whom she like slightly more.

Rufus, however, had managed to break the shell. He sparked this amazing feeling of warmth and love. Lily smiled benignly about her own thoughts, she had started to sound like those terrible, tacky romance novels Elly was reading all the time. Lily lay down on her big, soft bed and hugged her lace pillow. She stroke it tenderly and lovingly called it Rufus. Which almost made her laugh out loud. Maybe she was slightly crazy, but was there anything better than being cazy in love? But the next moment, Lily chided herself. How could she use this meaningful term 'love' on a young man she had only met today? And she didn't really know him, they needed more time together. Lily admitted to herself that she had missed out on a great opportunity. It was doubtful that Rufus wanted to talk to her again and maybe it was better this way. He would hardly be good enough in the eyes of CeCe Rhodes...

The next day, Lily tried really hard to play 'Mommies little angel' and succeeded. CeCe had given her a doubtful look at the breakfast table when Lily announced that she wanted to go to the ball with Bart Brass, but a little later, her smug mother was content again.
She considered her daughter to be much too timid and too dependent to have her own way. No, Lily was easy to influence, and it wouldn't be long before the girl would marry into high society. It was that simple – at least for CeCe. Lily, however, still had a mind of her own but didn't want to be grounded again. Even Lily Rhodes could act innocent, so she could get what she wanted!

Next day in school was hard. There was hardly a student who didn't make fun of her and her bra. On top of that, Elly was sulking just because Lily had left the concert. Tough Elly just couldn't understand why Lily hadn't had the guts to stay. It had been really boring without Lily, especially as Rufus had refused to play any encores. Elly also had become jealous again; her friend had managed to get the attention of the most attractive boy in school. Even if the other guys made fun of Lily – it was merely peer pressure. Elly had seen some of them glancing longingly in Lily's direction. She looked like plain Jane again this morning, but after last night, everybody knew the beauty behind the chaste exterior. Elly knew that Lily needed her friendship, but she couldn't swallow her pride.Lily had beaten her in the contest for popularity and Elly couldn't get over it. At least not today...

Lily could barely hold back the tears of disappointment and cursed her locker when she wanted to get her history text books and it wouldn't open. She was startled when a foot kicked her locker. It did open, but Lily was mad at the intrusion. She turned around angrily and wanted to shout at the stranger but when she looked into the dark teddy bear eyes of Rufus Humphrey, her anger vanished instantly.

"Sorry if I scared you, but you have to show those things who the boss is."

"And that's you, lord of the lockers?" Lily answered sharply, which was appealing to Rufus. He laughed; the most beautiful laugh Lily had ever seen on a young man. It was natural and not snooty like from some privat school guy.

"At least my little kick made you exchange some words with me, Lily Rhodes. I hated seeing you leave last night. Didn't you like the music? Or do I look that scary to you?"

"No, no!" Lily was quick to answer, almost to quick for her taste. She liked the fact that a popular guy was willing to talk to a wallflower. Or was he after her money? Lily had to be careful, but on the other hand she didn't want to end up a cynical, bitter grand dame like her mom. And she enjoyed the jealous looks the other girls shot at her.

"Your concert was great. But I didn't have anything to do with my...the...ah...textile incident.
I'm not that immature."

Rufus gave her a lovely smile which almost made her heart melt again. Both could not stop staring at each other, they were fascinated with one another.

"I never believed that, Lily. But you shouldn't wear your hair in a bun. A fairy like you shouldn't hide her beauty."

Lily was perplexed and automaticly tossed her blond hair when cheeky Rufus boldly opened her bun. Rufus wanted to kiss her – and why not? He gently pulled her towards him and placed a kiss on her soft, sensuous lips. It was a shy but very tender kiss. More like a peck.
Nevertheless, from one moment to the other, Lily landed on cloud number nine and wanted to stay forever. What an amazing feeling, just for one second, his soft lips on hers. It set free some type of energy she hadn't known before, she herself was taken by surprise when she asked him out. It was quite unusual for a girl, let alone a high society girl.

"Thanks Rufus! Do you want to come out and eat at 'Dinners' with me tonight?"

Lily almost bit her tongue when she saw the look of surprise on Rufus' face. She was walking on thin ice. And she had just invited him to a restaurant which was frequented by her mom's girl friends. Much to her surprise, Rufus nodded. What a great girl, he amired her more and more.

"Usually, I prefer the 'Golden M', but why not try something new? I have only one condition: I'll pay! I don't know how, but..."

Lily smiled, she also started to admire him. Other guys would have run away – some would have accepted but would not have suggested to pay. Rufus seemed to be a real man, in spite of his youth. Lily liked that even more than his looks. She was all smiles and Rufus felt like sinking into her cute dimples.

"I know the manager, you can work there if you have to."

"I have to. You know all men want to impress women!"

Lily laughed, her white teeth brightend up the day of the up-and-coming rock star. Rufus was horrified when he thought about the upper class, but he didn't want to insult Lily. He just hoped he wouldn't make a complete ass out of himself at the dinner table.
However, his feelings for Lily were bigger than his fear, and Rufus decided to be up for the challenge. Even if he had to use Karate to open the lobster or used the fish knife for his steak, an heavenly evening with this blond angel was worth it.

Again, Rufus sank into Lily's blue eyes, she sank into his dark eyes and in this moment, there was only the two of them and their young budding love.