A.N. This chapter actually was inspired by a story I found about two secondary characters falling in love. It was written by BeeKay84 and made me think that the secondary character pairing could work. However I wanted to do a different version of it, since I'm no copycat (I'm a dog person anyway *chuckle*). Obviously, there will also be different results.

SUNDAY

Tino had gotten to the beach first, and got everyone's usual: Chug-A-Freezes, Carver's corn dog, Lor's nachos, Tish's pressed-asparagus patti-burger, and his eggroll taco. Lor then showed up.

"Got the usual again huh?" Lor chuckled.

"Yeah, well, good friends know what their friends are gonna order, great friends go ahead and get it for them." Tino chuckled back.

Lor then froze with shock, and dropped her mouth open.

"What?" Tino asked, confused.

Lor didn't say anything, she just pointed past Tino. Tino turned and saw what had shocked Lor: Thompson and Tasha were hanging out as a couple! Seriously, they were holding hands and smiling at each other. The biggest blow came when Thompson and Tasha kissed. Tears formed in Lor's and Tino's eyes and they ran off. They ended up running past Tish and Carver, who both turned around and stared after them.

"Huh, what was that about?" Carver asked, confused.

Tish turned around and put a hand to her mouth.

"The answer is right in front of us." Tish said.

Carver turned around and saw Thompson and Tasha together. He got what had happened.

"Aw man, what a harsh blow." He winced.

According to tabloids, the shoe model he had a crush on started dating this guy so Carver knew how Lor and Tino must be feeling. Carver got over his-crush-dating-someone-else-pain quickly because he knew that the shoe model didn't even know of his existence and he figured that once they do meet she would dump her current boyfriend to be with him. False hope yes, but it did prevent the pain from continuing at the moment. His friends however knew that there was a slim chance at Carver and the shoe model meeting, and an even slimmer chance at them becoming a couple, so they hoped that Carver would fine someone more accessible before he would realize that.

"We'd better check on them." Tish said, starting to leave.

"Wait a minute." Carver went to get the junk food Tino left behind; fortunately none of it fell onto the ground. "Can't let these go to waste, especially since Tino obviously bought them."

"Right, maybe a little junk food will be comforting for them." Tish nodded.

They both left.

Meanwhile, Tino and Lor ran inside their respective houses, not even bothering to shut the doors behind them. Well, at least not the front doors. Luckily for Lor, her brothers were busy out playing sports so she didn't have to worry about them bugging her. Her grandma saw her run inside though.

Lor fell onto the bed, crying. There was a knock on the door.

"Lor?" A familiar voice said.

Lor stopped crying enough to be able to speak.

"You can come in grandma."

"What happened?" Lor's grandma asked, concerned.

"I-It's Thompson. He has a girlfriend." Lor sobbed.

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Lor's grandma said sympathetically; she then sighed. "That's why crushes are called that: you get crushed in the end."

"So then why do we get them?" Lor frowned.

"Because our bodies are getting used to falling in love, and they still have a lot to learn." Lor's grandma explained before chuckling: "Remember, it wasn't too long ago that you and your friends were at the 'boys or girls are yucky stage'. Excluding friends you made previously of course."

Lor couldn't help but chuckle too. Her grandma was right, a little over a couple years ago or so she and her friends did think that members of the opposite gender were gross and couldn't imagine themselves falling in love.

"So, who is Thompson dating?" Lor's grandma asked.

"Tasha, Tino's crush." Lor sighed. "Actually he was there when I found out, so he got hurt around the same time I did."

"Oh. Well maybe you should go recover with him. You know the old saying: misery loves company." Lor's grandma suggested. "That and it would be hard to continue recovering once your brothers get home..."

"Good point." Lor nodded. "Okay, I'll call if I end up staying at Tino's for dinner...which won't be too likely considering his mom's cooking. Of course if his step-dad is cooking that'll be a different story."

Meanwhile, Tish and Carver went to Tino's. Since he bought the junk food they wanted to deliver his meal first. They told Tino's mom what had happened, though they really didn't need to since she had already guessed. She did have that ability to read minds after all, at least her son's mind. So far it hasn't evolved to include her new husband and daughter, but they had a feeling it wouldn't take long.

"Tino's upstairs?" Carver guessed knowingly.

"Yes, I don't think he's in the mood for visitors." Mrs. Atravesado said. "I'll let him know that you two sent him your sympathies."

Tish and Carver nodded and left. With both Tino and Lor heartbroken they decided to just spend the day together. They did and ended up enjoying each other's company. Mrs. Atravesado put Tino's meal in the fridge and then went upstairs to his room.

"Tino?" She knocked on the door. "Honey I know you're hurt about Tasha but it helps if you talk about it."

"Fine." Tino managed to stop crying.

Mrs. Atravesado walked in.

"I'm sorry Tasha is now dating Thompson." She said sympathetically, sitting down on Tino's bed.

"Aw great, you can read my mind that well?" Tino frowned, still upset.

"Actually Tish and Carver told me, they stopped by to drop off your eggroll taco and Chug-A-Freeze and offer their sympathies."

"Oh right, forgot about that taco..." Tino muttered; he then sighed. "I don't get it, Tasha and I both like Captain Dreadnaught so why did she pick Thompson over me?"

"Well, two people don't need to have a lot in common in order to be together." Mrs. Atravesado said. "I mean look how different you and your friends are."

"Yeah but that's friendship-together, not dating-together."

"Doesn't matter, I mean you've of course heard the saying 'opposites attract' right?"

"Oh great, you mean to tell me that's actually true?" Tino scowled.

"A lot of the time yes, though there have been exceptions."

"Why couldn't Tasha and I have been one of the exceptions?"

"Well why do half of all marriages end in divorce? Or why do people date a whole bunch of other people before finally settling down with someone?" Mrs. Atravesado smiled.

"Because sometimes people make the wrong choices?" Tino shrugged.

Mrs. Atravesado continued smiling.

"You mean Tasha was a wrong choice?" Tino looked shocked.

"Well she is a wonderful girl and everything, but tell me: why did you pick her in the first place?"

"Well, she's cool looking, pretty, ended up liking Captain Dreadnaught..." Tino thought over.

"What about her personality?" Mrs. Atravesado smirked.

"Well...truthfully I didn't know her personality that well at first, though she did turn out to be a nice person..." Tino got it. "Oh, you mean I picked her for the wrong choices, not that she was a wrong choice."

"Exactly. You have to look deeper than the surface when choosing who you're going to spend the rest of your life with. And the fact remains: your feelings for her were nothing more than a crush. And everyone knows crushes don't end happily unless those feelings become real instead of based on physical deatails."

"Ah."

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Mrs. Atravesado stood up and left the room.

There was a short silence. Mrs. Atravesado didn't come back upstairs but Lor showed up.

"Hi Tino."

"Hi, figured misery still loves company huh?" Tino said with a mild sarcasm.

"Yeah, actually it was my grandma's idea." Lor shrugged. "Plus if I can't be alone then the next best thing is to hang out with the one who got as hurt as I did."

"Good point. Say, where's mom?"

"She left to do some shopping. Where's your dad and sister?"

"Father-daughter outing." Tino explained. "We switch every weekend. Next weekend it's father-son and mother-daughter."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause.

"So now what?" Tino asked.

"I dunno...TV?"

"Better than concentrating on our pain."

They went downstairs and turned on the TV. They then exchanged the advice they had gotten earlier.

"So I guess we picked the right people for the wrong reasons." Lor sighed.

"Yeah, I hope next time we don't pick the wrong people for the wrong reasons or...is it possible to pick the wrong people for the right reasons?" Tino scratched his head.

"Beats the heck out of me." Lor scrunched up so that her chin was resting on her knees. "I just hope that next time I can pick the right person for the right reasons, but how will I even know?"

"Mom might know the answer to that. And I'm with you, I do not want to experience another heartbreak. Ever."

They fell silent and continued watching TV. They switched between sports and Captain Dreadnaught, which were the only two good things on that did not have romance in it. After a short time Mrs. Atravesado came home.

"I bought ice cream for anyone who's been crushed. Double-chocolate." Mrs. Atravesado smiled as she walked into the kitchen.

"Sounds good to me." Lor said.

"Me too." Tino nodded.

They left for the kitchen and got a big bowl of ice cream each. They then sat back down and continued watching TV. Lor surprised herself by realizing that Captain Dreadnaught actually was entertaining once you got past the repeated lines.

"So, Mrs. Atravesado, how can I fall in love next time without getting hurt?" Lor asked as Mrs. Atravesado walked into the room.

"Well, you're kinda young to know how to really prevent it. The fact is a lot of people date different people over the years, especially during high school."

"Yeah but I want to avoid all that. The pain is too much." Lor admitted. "I just want to find the one I can be happy with for the rest of my life."

"And you haven't even started high school yet..." Mrs. Atravesado was surprised.

"I'm with Lor." Tino agreed. "I know we're still really young but there has to be a better way."

"Well, the next time you develop feelings for someone go over the reasons." Mrs. Atravesado advised. "If the reasons aren't good enough forget about it and look for someone else."

"I guess that works." Lor shrugged.

"Too bad life isn't like fairytales where you find your true love almost instantly after defeating a monster or at least a person who acts like a monster." Tino muttered sarcastically; Lor chuckled in agreement.

After that, Tino and Lor started to feel better. At least better enough to find Carver and Tish - after they finished their ice cream - and play a few rounds of pool with them.

During the following week Tino and Lor had recovered enough to act normally during school. After school they moped a little, still longing to find 'the one', and even vocalized it to Tish and Carver a few times. Carver, upon learning about picking people for either right or wrong reasons, thought about his crush on the shoe model. He realized that he didn't even know her very well, and so decided to look for someone else until they could meet. Fortunately, he had learned to be less shallow during the past year so it shouldn't be too hard for him.