It was the first day of school after the break. There were moans and groans from each of the children in the Brady household as they dragged through the kitchen. School started again. Mike is recovering well, and is becoming quite the expert with crutches. He was sitting at the table drinking coffee as fourteen feet staggered in to get their lunches that Alice had prepared and ready on the counter. And walked back out the way they came in, telling their goodbyes to Mike and Alice.

"Ah, do you hear that Alice?" Mike asked.

"Hear what Mr. Brady?" Alice asked.

"Exactly. Nothing. No kids, no noise," Mike said taking a sip of his coffee.

Carol strode into the kitchen. "Good morning all!" she said cheerfully.

"Good morning honey!" Mike said. Carol walked over and gave him a quick peck.

"How's the leg today?" Carol asked.

"Annoying," Mike replied, "as usual. But I think it's slowly getting better."

"Have you ever found out about that other guy, Mr. Brady? The guy you got into the accident with." Alice asked.

"Yes actually Carol and I went to visit him Christmas Eve," Mike stated, "The poor guy had to spend the holidays in the hospital."

"How is he doing?"

"Better, thankfully," Mike said in relief, "he was in fair condition the last time I saw him."

"That's good," Alice said nodding her head, "but, it is his fault you know Mr. Brady. If you drink under the influence you pay the price."

"I hope he learned his lesson," Mike said, "he might not be so lucky next time. He might hurt someone else more than he hurt me. But he apologized, and he's paying for the damage."

"Well does he really have a choice?" Carol said with a chuckle.

At Fillmore Jr. High, Alex looked around the school for Ryan Williams. At lunch she found him sitting alone at a table and Alex thought it would be a good idea to join him.

"Hey there!" Alex called.

Ryan looked up with confusion. "Alex?" he asked.

Jan and Peter watched from a distance. "She's going to do something really stupid, isn't she?" Jan asked.

Peter shrugged. "It is Alex," he replied.

Jan watched as Alex took a seat next to him. "Oh no, she is!"

"She's usually really cool, but sometimes she can be worse than the parents who walk their kids to class in their pajamas." said Peter. "But honestly, I don't think that's one of those times."

"What would you do if she talked to the girl you like?"

"She does."

"But, Rachel is her friend. I mean, a random girl than she never even talked to."

"She has."

"And it doesn't bother you?"

"Well, it always could be embarrassing because you never know what she's going to do. But she is just trying to help, after all."

"Could I join you, Ryan?" Alex asked, even though she was already sitting next to him.

"Uh, sure," Ryan replied, still confused. "But I thought you hated me."

"Awh, come on. Hate's such a strong word," said Alex taking out a sandwich from her bag. "Besides, I always thought of us as friends."

"You did?" Ryan asked.

"Sure!" Alex lied. "So, I'm gonna ask you something just between us buds, okay?"

"Uh, okay."

"What do you think about Jan Brady?"

After a long talk with Ryan Alex went back over to the table where Jan and Peter sat.

Alex looked around. "Where's Rachel today?" she asked.

"She's not feeling well today," Peter replied.

Alex took a seat next to Peter. "Sure, first day back to school, and she's not feeling well. You know, I kinda feel sick too." Alex teased rubbing her stomach as if she were to feel sick.

"She has the flu," said Peter, "how did it go with Ryan?"

"Jan definitely wasn't the main topic in that conversation," Alex said sarcastically.

"What did he say about me?" Jan asked, "We all know you would just go talk to Ryan for kicks."

"I might," Alex disagreed, "it's fun to watch how slow his mind reflects arithmetic problems." Alex and Peter both laughed.

Jan gave the two a look. "Alex, please would you just tell me what he said?"

"Okay fine," Alex said still chuckling, "I asked what he thought about you and he said you seemed really nice and smart."

"And?"

"And I asked him if he might have liked you by the way he talked."

"And?"

"And he shrugged. Which is my indication that means yes from those who are from the ding-a-ling culture."

"Alex be serious! What should I do?"

"Okay fine. I, in all seriousness, think you should just go for it Jan. Ask him out for some pizza, or ice cream because we all know that he won't ask you."

"Okay fine, I will right now." Jan stood up and walked towards the table Ryan was sitting at.

"Speak slowly!" Peter called out. Jan turning around shooting a look at the two cousins trying to hide their extreme urge to laugh.

She sat down across from Ryan, who was finished with his lunch and now silently reading a comic book, looked up as Jan sat down.

"Oh, hi Jan," Ryan said as he looked back down at the comic book, avoiding any possible eye contact.

"Ryan, I was wondering if maybe you would like to get pizza sometime."

"Um, well, gee Jan, I uh,"

"It's okay if you don't want to, I just thought that we could maybe hang out sometime is all."

"No, I want to, I really do want to. I just never been asked on a date before, it caught me off guard."

"Okay then, Friday night okay?"

"I have guitar lessons on Friday nights,"

"You play?"

"A little, um, how about Saturday night?"

"Saturday sounds great."

Jan walked back over to where Peter and Alex sat, the two were talking about baseball.

"How did it go Jan?" Alex asked.

"He said he'd like to go get pizza with me on Saturday," Jan replied sitting down at the table.

"That's great!" said Peter, "we should double sometime, if you and Ryan get to become, you know, closer."

A few days went by, it was Saturday. Jan was getting ready for her first date with Ryan. Alex, and Mike were sitting on the sofa.

"So how much longer do you think you'll have that cast on?" Alex asked.

"Not sure, hopefully not too much longer." Mike replied.

There was a sudden knock on the door. "Don't worry Uncle Mike, I'll get it." Alex said popping up off the sofa.

She opened the door to reveal Ryan. "Oh, Alex," Ryan said with surprise, "I'm sorry I thought this was Jan Brady's house."

"No, this is Jan's house," Alex said, "we live in the same house."

If Ryan were to stay awake in classes more he would know that Alex was Peter and Jan's cousin from New York. But he missed that part, no surprise there.

"So, why don't you come in?" Alex asked trying to be polite, "Jan should be ready in a few."

Ryan agreed and stepped inside the house. Mike limped over with his crutches to shake his hand.

"Hi Ryan, I'm Jan Brady's father" Mike said balancing on one leg so he can have a free hand to shake.

"Hi Mr. Brady," Ryan greeted back, shaking Mike's hand.

"Well, as Alex said, Jan should be down in a few so why don't you take a seat?" Mike said gesturing to the sofa.

"Thanks, but I'll stand here, if you don't mind." Ryan replied.

A few moments Jan descended from the stairs, smiling over at Ryan. Jan was fallowed by Marcia.

"Sorry it took song long," said Marcia, "It took beauty queen here an hour to pick out an hour just to go eat a slice of pizza."

Jan rolled her eyes. "This bundle of delight is my sister, Marcia."

"Hi," Ryan greeted, "I'm Ryan Williams." Jan noticed for the first time a boy she liked wasn't interested in her older sister.

"Well, I don't think we have time to introduce you to the rest of the gang Ryan so you guys go on out and have fun." said Mike, making his way back over to the sofa.

"Okay thanks, Dad," Jan said with a smile as she and Ryan walked on outside where Ryan's mom was parked at the curb waiting.

Jan returned home a couple of hours later. Alex was sitting with Greg on the sofa having a heated debate on who would win in the next baseball game, the Mets or the Giants. They hadn't realized she came home until they heard the front door shut behind her.

"Hey Jan," Greg greeted.

"How was your date with Ryan?" Alex asked.

Jan shrugged and walked over to the sofa to sit between the two cousins. "It was alright,"

"Just alright?" asked Greg.

"Yeah, he didn't like to talk that much. And when he did it was about comics or cars," Jan replied, "It figures the first boy I like that's not interested in Marcia is a real dud."

"Now what do you mean by that?" Alex asked.

"Well all the boys that I like that I bring home or go on dates with are interested in Marcia. The one that isn't interested in Marcia is not even my type."

"Well Jan, maybe if you just give it a little more time," said Greg, "first dates can be really nerve-racking for a guy. Go on another date with him, maybe it'll be different."

Jan nodded at Greg's advice and looked over at Alex to see if she had anything to say. Alex, who seemed to not be paying attention noticed Jan and said, "oh, I wouldn't know anything about dates. Greg probably knows best."

Jan nodded. "Okay, I'll go on another date with him again sometime."