I opened the door, feeling like I was floating. Unfortunately for me, my mother was determined to bring me crashing back to reality.

"Stephanie, who was that boy?" she asked in a stern voice.

"I told you, mom. His name is Carlos. He helped me get my car started."

"How do you know him? Where is he from?" she continued.

"He goes to Trenton High with me. I don't know where he lives." I was getting exasperated with her questioning. I headed towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go wash my face. Good night!"

I started up the steps, and I could hear my parents talking in lowered voices in the living room. I paused so that I could hear what they were saying.

"But, Frank! He's not from the Burg! Who knows what kind of family he comes from. What will the neighbors think?"

"Helen, calm down. He started her car. They're not engaged! For all you know, she'll never even speak to him again!"

My stomach fluttered at that remark. I certainly hoped that I got to speak to Carlos again!

My mom sighed. "You're right. I wonder what happened to that nice Dickie boy she was dating. Did you know that he wants to go to law school? Now that would be a good match for Stephanie! Not that Carlos person. Carlos. Hmmm…. Do you think he's Puerto Rican? Mexican?"

"I don't know, Helen. What difference does it make? Like I said, she'll probably never see him again anyhow."

Their discussion drifted off, and I could hear them turning off lights and locking doors, getting ready for bed.

I ran for the bathroom and quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth before racing back to my room. I pulled on my pajamas and flopped into bed. I laid there for a long time before finally falling to sleep. I had wonderful dreams of Carlos.

R&S R&S R&S R&S

My mother woke me up early Saturday morning. She was banging dresser drawers open and closed and putting away stacks of my laundry.

"Mom!" I moaned. "What are you doing?" I had been doing my own laundry since I was twelve. What on Earth had possessed her to not only wash, dry, and fold all of my laundry but also put it away?

"We need to talk about that boy." She started.

"What boy?" I asked sleepily.

"That boy who drove you home last night." She said, exasperated.

"His name is Carlos." I yawned.

"Alright then. Carlos. We need to talk about Carlos."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, looking at the clock. 7:00! I groaned and lay back down. "What about him?"

"You need to be careful about who you're seen associating with, Stephanie. If you want to end up dating any respectable Burg boy, you can't be seen hanging around with boys like that Carlos."

"What do you mean? Boys like that Carlos?" I asked indignantly.

"He looks like trouble, Stephanie. If you keep hanging around him, you're going to get a reputation."

"Well, he was certainly a lot of trouble last night." I shot back.

My mom looked at me in shock. "Was he inappropriate with you?" she exclaimed.

I huffed out a sigh. "No, mom! I was being sarcastic! If he's such a bad boy, so much trouble, then why would he have helped me last night? He didn't have to jump my car. He certainly didn't have to drive me home to make sure that I got here OK."

My mom narrowed her eyes. "Fine, fine. That was very nice of him. Just make sure you stay away from him, Stephanie. I've already had three phone calls this morning asking who the strange boy was on our front porch last night."

I sighed. "Just because he's not from the Burg doesn't make him inferior, mom!"

My mother huffed and walked out of my room.

I looked at the clock again and sighed. I had to be at work in a little bit. I could have slept longer, but thanks to my mom I was already awake. I might as well get up and get ready. I rolled out of bed and took my shower. I was still half in a daze as I flipped my hair upside down and worked the mousse through my crazy curls. I finished up my makeup and tried to run out the door without getting stopped by my parents.

"Bye, mom! Bye, dad! See you after work!" I called as I made for the door.

"Stephanie! Get in here and eat breakfast!" my mom hollered from the kitchen.

"Mom! I work in a bakery! I'm surrounded by doughnuts, danishes, and 85 other breakfast foods! I'll eat when I get there!"

She sighed but finally agreed to let me out the door without a proper Burg breakfast.

R&S R&S R&S R&S

I filled all of the trays in the display case and restocked boxes and waxed paper up front. Several hours flew by as I waited on a never ending line of people. At least the day went by quickly when we were busy, and the work didn't require me to think too hard. I could grab doughnuts and daydream all at the same time. Several of those stray thoughts were about Carlos. What was I doing? I had just met the guy yesterday! I tried to push him out of my mind, but then I thought about the spark I had felt when he held my hand, and I felt a fluttering in my stomach.

The lines had finally died down, and I was working on restocking the pastry cases when Dickie Orr walked into the bakery. He smiled when he saw me, and I waved back. I walked over and rested my arms on top of the counter. "Hey, Dickie! What can I get you?" I asked.

"Actually, I was looking for you."

I blushed. "Really? What for?"

"Well, I asked you about Homecoming a while ago, and you never gave me an answer. What do you say? Will you go with me? My dad said we could take his BMW." He smiled charmingly at me.

I felt kind of guilty leaving Dickie waiting for so long. If I would have said no right away, he could have asked someone else. If I said no now, he probably wouldn't be able to find anyone to go with and neither would I! Burg girls took formal and semi-formal events seriously. They scouted out dresses, shoes, and dates far in advance. In fact, my mother and I had bought my dress and shoes this summer. Before I even had a date!

I thought of Carlos. Would he be going to Homecoming? He was drop dead gorgeous. Surely he already had a date if he wanted one. But something told me that he wasn't the kind of guy to do school dances.

I looked up at Dickie and nodded. "I'd like that." I smiled. And I meant it. For the most part. Dickie could be a little arrogant, but he was a nice guy. We had dated a few times, and it was always fun.

He gave me a winning smile in return. "Then it's a date. Let me know what color your dress is so I can get a tie and your corsage."

I smiled and nodded, and Dickie strode out of the bakery.

By the time my shift finished up, I was exhausted. I had gotten in late last night, laid awake for hours before falling asleep, and then got up early this morning. I was ready to go home, eat dinner, and collapse on the couch in front of the TV.

Instead, I found Dickie waiting for me at home. He was sitting at the kitchen table talking with my mom while she mashed a small pot of potatoes. I plastered on a fake smile. I liked Dickie. I really did, but I had a feeling that whatever he wanted was going to put a crimp in my plans for a relaxing evening. "Hi, Dickie! What brings you over?"

My mom turned to me, absolutely beaming. "Dickie says that you guys are going to Homecoming together."

I nodded. "Yep."

Dickie smiled. "I thought maybe we could go out for dinner and a movie tonight. You have any plans?"

I shook my head no. "Just let me go upstairs and change?" I asked.

Dickie nodded. "Of course."

I took a second to look over Dickie's outfit. He was wearing jeans and a nice sweater. It looked like we weren't going anywhere too fancy. Maybe Pino's.

I pulled on a pair of leggings and a long, oversized sweatshirt. I fluffed my hair and added another coat of mascara and lip gloss. I misted the air with perfume and stepped through it. Voila! I was ready to go!

I skipped down the steps and grabbed my jacket and purse off the hook by the door. Dickie was waiting for me. We said goodbye to my parents and headed out to the car.

As I had thought, we headed to Pino's. Dinner was nice, although Dickie did most of the talking. I knew all about his plans to attend Rutgers next fall. He was going to major in political science and then apply to law school. He was hoping to end up in politics at some point in the future. He never asked what I wanted to do. I probably should have been insulted, but I decided that it didn't really matter since I didn't really have long range plans like Dickie did. Right now my future plans mostly consisted of finishing homework and getting enough sleep to get up for work in the morning. My long range future plans were to graduate high school this spring. What can I say? I'm not a big planner.

After dinner, Dickie suggested that we go to a movie. I really just wanted to go home. Dickie was an OK guy, but there was just no zing there. Like there was with Carlos. Yikes! Stop it, Stephanie! I ordered myself. You don't know if there's a zing between you and Carlos. You only met him last night. You barely spent an hour together. The guy might be a total creep; you don't know! Besides, my mother would have a coronary if she knew that I was thinking about Carlos while I was on a date with Dickie.

When we got to the movies, Dickie read off the titles of the movies that were playing and looked over in my direction.

"Anything but a horror movie. I'm a big chicken!" I replied.

Dickie smiled and handed me a twenty. "Would you go and get us some popcorn and drinks while I buy the tickets?"

"Sure." I answered, grabbing the cash and heading off to stand in line. I met up with Dickie once I had the snacks and he had the tickets.

"So what did you choose?" I asked, trying to get a look at the tickets.

He grinned and flipped them over. "It'll be a surprise." He teased.

I tried to look at the title over the door we walked through, but Dickie chuckled and covered my eyes. The theater was pretty empty, so we had our pick of seats. Dickie walked all the way to the back of the theater. "Are you sure you don't want to move up a few rows?" I asked. "We'll be able to see better."

Dickie shook his head. "I like to sit all the way in the back."

I shrugged. "OK." I agreed.

We sat down and munched on our popcorn, waiting for the movie to start. Pretty soon the lights dimmed and the previews started. I was getting anxious to see what movie Dickie had picked for us. I was guessing it was probably the comedy that had come out a few weeks ago. I couldn't see Dickie picking the love story or kids' movie that had also started at the same time.

When the title came across the screen, I froze with my hand in the container of popcorn. It was the horror movie. I had specifically asked him not to pick that! I looked over at him, and he didn't seem to be fazed in the least.

"Dickie!" I hissed.

He looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"I asked you not to pick the horror movie! I really don't like them!" In fact, I was starting to feel panicky already.

Dickie just rolled his eyes at me. "It's just a movie, Steph! I didn't really think you meant it!" He grinned at me. "Would you feel safer if I put my arm around you?"

I clenched my jaw and shook my head no. I was seriously debating walking into the lobby and calling my dad to come and get me. I took a few deep breaths. Calm down, Steph. Maybe he really thought you were kidding about the movie. Besides, mom will kill you if you walk out on a date with Dickie.

I handed the popcorn over to him. The chances of me being able to eat anything during this movie weren't good. And that was saying something because I loved to eat. Especially junk food.

About 20 minutes into the movie, I was sitting with my hands covering my eyes. Dickie had evidently decided to play the part of the big, bad, protective date. He had ditched the popcorn and had one arm wrapped around my shoulder while the other held my hand.

He began rubbing circles on my hand and then my leg, where our hands were resting. Pretty soon he began rubbing my leg, moving just an inch or two higher. I looked over at him, but his gaze was firmly locked on the screen. He moved his hand up higher again, and now it was under my oversized sweatshirt. When I turned this time, Dickie caught my lips in a kiss. His lips pressed firmly against mine, and his tongue demanded entrance to my mouth. I gasped, surprised, and he slid his tongue into my mouth.

While I had been focused on his surprise kiss, Dickie had been focused on getting his hand under my bra. I felt him pinch my nipple between two fingers, and I cried out, but his mouth swallowed the sound. I tried to pull my head back from his kiss, but he had his hand tangled firmly in my curls, anchoring us together.

His hand travelled over to explore my other breast, and I put both of my hands on his chest. Pushing firmly, I was finally able to get him to move back. He looked down at me, his face holding a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "What, Steph?" he asked.

I pushed his hand off of my breast. "I am not doing this!" I hissed at him.

He nodded. "You want to go park at the field instead?"

He really was an idiot. "No, Dickie. I didn't mean I wanted to make out somewhere else. I meant I didn't want to do it at all."

The confusion completely left his face, and now his look was one of pure annoyance. "Well, you could have told me that before I wasted my time, Steph. I certainly hope you plan on changing your attitude before Homecoming."

I felt like he had just dumped a glass of ice water on me. Was he really telling me that he viewed any date that ended without sex, or at least heavy petting, as a waste of time? And that if I was his date for Homecoming I'd better be willing to put out? God, what a jerk!

I readjusted my bra and shirt and stood up, grabbing my purse and coat. "I'll find my own ride home." I snapped at him.

"Steph, wait!" he pleaded, but I kept on walking.

He followed me out of the theater and into the lobby, which housed a huge arcade. This was a popular hangout for the guys from school. I scanned the crowd, looking for someone I knew. Someone who could give me a ride home. Eddie and Carl hung out here a lot. Unfortunately, not tonight.

Dickie came up behind me. He grabbed my arm and whirled me around. "Stephanie, stop acting like a child! I'll drive you home. Let's go."

I wrenched my arm free. "I don't want you to drive me home! I don't trust you to drive me home!" I spat out.

Dickie looked over my head and got a funny look on his face seconds before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and looked into the deep brown eyes of Carlos Manoso. "Everything OK, Babe?" he asked calmly.

I blushed. "Um, actually, I need a ride home again."

Before he could answer me, Dickie interrupted in a biting tone. "Everything is just fine. I'm Stephanie's date for tonight, and I'll make sure that she gets home."

I looked at Carlos with wide eyes, and he put his arm around my shoulder. "She doesn't seem to want you to take her. Why don't you run along? I'll make sure that she gets home."

Dickie glared at me. "Stephanie, let's go!"

I shook my head. "Carlos can give me a ride home."

"You've got to be kidding me!" he said contemptuously. "You're going to let this guy drive you home? Even if you do manage to make it there in one piece, your mother will kill you once you get there!" He was right, and I knew it. I just didn't care right then. There was no way in hell that I was going to let Dickie drive me home tonight. Or any night.

"Good night, Dickie!" I turned and Carlos kept his arm around my shoulder, guiding me away from him.

He led us over to a bench in the corner and sat us down.

I gave him a watery smile. "You're two for two, Carlos!" I kidded.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You've rescued me two times in two days. It's like you're Superman!"

He chuckled at that. "I'm a little too dark to be Superman, Babe."

"Batman, then." I retorted. "My Dark Knight!"

He just shook his head. "Want to tell me what happened with your date, Babe?"

I blushed. "Not really."

A strange look crossed his face. "Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No. He just wanted a little more than I was willing to give."

A look of comprehension dawned on his face. He picked up my hands in his, rubbing his thumbs across the backs of them. "But you're OK? He didn't hurt you?"

I smiled. "I'm fine. I walked out of the movie theater hoping to find one of my guy friends out here who would give me a ride home."

He grinned at me. "And instead you found me."

I grinned back. "My very own Batman!"

He laughed and shook his head. "Are you in a hurry to get home, Babe? Or do you want to hang out with us for a while?"

"Us?" I asked, looking around.

He motioned towards the snack bar. "The guys are just getting snacks for the movie."

"What movie?" I asked warily.

"The new action film."

I nodded happily. "OK. But I don't have a ticket. I'll have to go get one."

Carlos just raised an eyebrow at me. "Babe. Just use your stub to get back and hop theaters."

I gasped. "But what if I get caught?"

He grinned. "You won't get caught, Babe. Trust me. I do it all the time. They never check your ticket past the stand."

I bit my lip nervously, and he shook his head. "Give me your stub."

I handed it to him, and he handed me his ticket. "There. Now I'll be the one who would get caught. Feel better?"

I grinned at him. "Thanks, Batman!"

He chuckled and pulled me up. "Anytime, Babe."

We walked over to where his friends were waiting. I noticed several of them nudging each other and grinning. "Guys, this is Stephanie. Stephanie, the guys. Cal, Lester, Tank, and Bobby."

I smiled and gave them all a finger wave.

Lester grinned back and threw his arms around me. "Beautiful! Sit by me, and I'll share my popcorn!" He wagged his eyebrows up and down.

Carlos glared at him. "Go find us some seats. Stephanie and I will be right in as soon as we get our own popcorn."

I tried not to laugh at Lester's mock hurt face. He winked at me and followed the rest of the group back to the theater.

Carlos bought us drinks and a huge tub of popcorn. We walked back to the stand and he flashed my stub. "Just getting some snacks" he said smoothly. The boy at the stand nodded, bored, and ripped my ticket in half, motioning us through.

Carlos grinned at me. "Told ya, Babe!"

I rolled my eyes at him, and his grin got wider. "This way." He motioned with his head.

We walked in the theater and looked around for his group of friends. They were sitting in the middle of the theater. See? Some people knew where the good seats were! His friends had left two open seats right in the middle of their row. Carlos's cousin Lester was on one side of the open space, and Tank was on the other. Tank was big, black, and a little scary looking. It was easy to see where he got his nickname. Well, I assumed it was a nickname. No one would really name their kid Tank, would they?

Carlos motioned for me to slide in first, so I scooted in and sat next to Lester. He grinned at me. "I knew you couldn't resist my popcorn, Beautiful!"

Carlos glared at him then looked at me. "Want to trade seats, Babe?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, I'm fine."

Bobby leaned over from the other side of Lester and punched him on the arm. "Loud mouth here is all talk. He's perfectly harmless." He assured me.

I grinned and nodded. Cal leaned around from the other side of Tank to grin and wave at me. "Your tattoo is looking especially good tonight, Cal!" I teased.

He laughed. "Still want a matching one next month?"

I smiled. "Absolutely!"

Carlos raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Next month?"

"I turn 18 next month. Cal told me why he got his tattoo, and it sounded like a good idea. I thought it might get me out of a couple weeks of mass at least!"

Carlos gave me a wide grin, and I'm pretty sure that my entire body melted. He rubbed his finger across my forehead. "You don't want a tattoo like Cal's, Babe. Your face is perfect just the way it is."

OK, now I was a puddle of goo in his hands! I blushed and looked down, not sure what to say.

Thankfully, the lights dimmed just then, and I was saved from having to come up with a reply. When the movie title flashed across the screen, I thought back to my earlier date with Dickie. Would Carlos have done something that sneaky? Would he buy tickets to a horror movie after I asked him not to? Would he try to hide what movie we were going to see? Would he try to grope me in the middle of the theater? A flash of heat went through my stomach and settled low in my belly. Hmmm…. Would I have minded if Carlos had been the one to rub my leg and work his way up my sweatshirt? I shook my head and refused to let myself explore that idea any further!

Carlos and I shared the giant tub of popcorn that he had bought. Each time my hand brushed his, I felt like doing a little happy dance. Touching him made my hand and neck tingle and my stomach flutter. I reached in for another handful, and so did Carlos. This time, instead of grabbing any popcorn, he trailed his finger across my hand and up to my wrist. I bit my lip and looked over at him. His eyes met mine, and we stared at each other for what felt like a half hour.

I jumped and pulled my hand back when the sound of gunfire exploded from the speakers. Carlos smiled and draped his arm around my neck, gently squeezing my shoulder. I have no idea what happened for the rest of the movie. If someone gave me a pop quiz on it, I would fail. If they asked for my recommendation, I couldn't tell them anything. For all I know, every single main character died and the world was taken over by aliens. The only thing I remember is that Carlos had his arm around me for the entire movie.

The guys starting shifting around in their seats, and I was disappointed to see that the credits were rolling. Carlos squeezed my shoulder one last time, then moved his arm and stood up. He grinned down at me. "Ready to go, Babe?'

I nodded and stood up, too.

"When's your curfew?" he asked, stretching.

"Usually midnight. Why?"

"We were thinking about grabbing a burger and fries somewhere before heading home. Sound good?"

I checked my watch as we walked into the lobby. It was only 10:00. "Well, I ate dinner before the movies, but maybe I could get dessert or something. Actually, a chocolate milkshake sounds really good! Are you sure you don't mind me crashing your evening?"

Cal patted my back. "No way. Besides we all drove together. You're stuck with all of us anyway. Either we all go out to eat or we all drop you off."

My forehead wrinkled at that. "Will you guys have enough room for me?"

Lester wrapped his arm around my neck, teasingly yanking me towards him. "Sure! And if we don't, you can sit on my lap!"

I laughed. "That'd be real safe!"

He grinned at me. "I'll seat belt you in on top of me. You won't be going anywhere, Beautiful!"

Tank and Carlos smacked him on the back of the head at the same time, and Carlos grabbed my hand, pulling me away from Lester. He wrapped an arm around my waist. "You'll fit, Babe." He reassured me. "And if you don't, we'll put loud mouth in the trunk."

Lester stopped walking, hands on his hips and a pissy look on his face. "Well, I never!" he huffed.

I giggled, and he turned and winked at me.

We walked through the arcade, and I noticed Eddie and Carl playing on one of the machines. They saw me just as I saw them, and I watched their eyebrows shoot up and their eyes get wide as they took in Carlos's arm around my waist and the group of guys surrounding me.

They both walked over to us. "Everything OK, Steph?" Eddie asked, eyeing the guys suspiciously.

"Yeah, fine." I answered. "Guys, these are my friends Eddie and Carl. Eddie and Carl, this is Cal, Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Carlos. The guys all sized each other up and nodded at one another.

"You need a ride home?" Carl asked.

"Carlos is giving me a ride, thanks." I answered.

Eddie looked at me strangely. "I thought Shirley said that you and Dickie had a date tonight?" Eddie was dating my cousin, Shirley-the-Whiner.

I blushed. Damn the stupid Burg grapevine! "We did."

"So where is he?" Eddie asked.

"He left."

Eddie quirked a brow at me. "Why?"

I let out a sigh. "He wanted me to say yes, and I kept saying no."

Eddie and Carl glared. "You OK?" Carl asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I walked out of the theater and ran into Carlos. He offered to let me hang out with him and the guys and then give me a ride home."

Eddie sized up Carlos one more time. "You'll make sure she gets home safely?" he asked.

Carlos nodded. "Absolutely."

Eddie reached over and patted my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Steph." I knew that was his way of letting Carlos know that he was going to check in with me in the morning.

I grinned at him. "See you tomorrow, Eddie."

We headed for the parking lot.

R&S R&S R&S R&S

We stood in a clump looking at Bobby's car. He drove an old Celebrity, which had a bench seat in the front and one in the back. The guys were trying to determine how we were all going to fit. The back seat was slightly larger than the front seat, but I still wasn't sure how three of these guys had fit in the back seat to begin with. They were huge. Not fat, just broad shouldered and muscular. Obviously the only way that three people were going to fit in the front seat was if I sat in the middle.

As kids, Valerie, Mary Lou, and I had always argued over who had to sit in the middle. Because of the bump on the floor, we called that seat the hump seat. No one ever wanted to sit there because there was never any leg room. In this case, I was willing to make the sacrifice! Hopefully one of the people sandwiched in on my other side would be Carlos!

The guys were still debating when I volunteered. "I'll sit in the middle up front if you want."

Bobby nodded, and I climbed in with Carlos right behind me. I fastened my seat belt, and he put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me next to him. "We don't want to crowd the driver." He grinned.

Tank, Lester, and Cal crammed themselves into the backseat, and I swear I felt the nose of the car tip up. There was no need for them to put on seatbelts. They weren't going anywhere! As it was, they could barely get the doors to close. As soon as they had gotten them shut, they had locked them to prevent them from springing back open.

Bobby headed for a little dive restaurant on the other side of town. The music was loud, the tables were worn, and the food was cheap. We slid into a huge round booth. It was supposed to seat 8 adults comfortably. Evidently that was the equivalent of 5 of Carlos's group plus me because we fit fine, but there wasn't an inch of extra space.

Some of the other customers eyed us curiously. We probably did make an unusual sight. Our table was made up of Tank, who looked like a huge black linebacker; Lester, who was a muscular Latino; Bobby, who was about 50 pounds and a shade lighter than Tank; Carlos, who was a ripped Latino sex god; Cal, a 6' 5" white boy with a flaming skull tattooed on his forehead; and me, the little white girl from the Burg.

Before the waitress came over to take our order, I dug through my purse. I didn't get paid until next week, and I still had to make my car and insurance payments for the month. Plus my car had only a quarter tank of gas. I found five dollars and some change in my wallet. That decided it. I folded my menu closed and shoved it to the middle of the table.

The waitress looked over at me "And for you, dear?"

"Just a water for me, please."

She nodded and kept taking drink orders. "I'll be back with your drinks and to take your order in just a minute." She shuffled off to the kitchen.

Bobby smiled from across the table. "The chocolate milkshakes here are awesome!"

I wiped an imaginary spot off of the table. "I think I'll pass for tonight. I already ate dinner before the movies, and then I had all that popcorn…."

Carlos looked over at me. "I thought you were going to have a milkshake or dessert while we all had dinner?"

I blushed. "Well, I don't get paid until next week. I've only got a few dollars left, and that'll have to be gas money. My car's almost on E."

Carlos wrapped an arm around my neck and kissed the top of my head. "My treat, Babe." He offered.

I shook my head. "I can't do that! If anything, I should be buying you guys dinner! This is the second night in a row that I've interrupted your evening. Maybe once I get paid." I offered.

Carlos grinned. "When you get paid we'll let you treat to pizza, but tonight is on me. How's that sound?"

I bit my lip. "You're sure?"

"I insist."

I smiled and nodded. "OK."

The guys relaxed then, and I noticed them all smiling at Carlos and me.

R&S R&S R&S R&S

Bobby was right! The chocolate milkshake was to die for! I was glad that I had let Carlos buy one for me, even though I felt a little guilty about it. The waitress brought the checks over, and he grabbed mine before I could even touch it.

"Thanks again," I said, squeezing his arm.

He grinned back. "My pleasure."

Carlos put his hands behind his head and stretched out. "What are your plans for tomorrow, Babe?"

I shrugged. "Just work and homework, why?"

He gave me a killer grin. "Just wanted to know where to turn up to rescue you."

I choked on my last sip of chocolate milkshake and started laughing. I punched Carlos lightly on the arm. "The Tasty Pastry!" I laughed.

He mussed my hair. "I'll be there!" He winked.

We all trooped out to Bobby's car and crammed ourselves in. I was pretty sure that Tank was sitting sideways, with only one cheek on the seat. "Next time we take my van." He grumbled.

I giggled and snuggled into Carlos's chest. He wrapped his arms around me and dropped a kiss on my head. I sighed contentedly.

Bobby drove me home, and a feeling of dread began growing in the pit of my stomach. How was I going to explain Carlos bringing me home tonight? Especially when I had left with Dickie?

Carlos noticed when my shoulders tensed. "Something wrong, Babe?" he whispered in my ear.

I shook my head. "Just not sure how to explain tonight to my parents."

Carlos squeezed my shoulder. "Just tell them what happened, Babe. I'm sure they'll understand."

I sighed. If only it were that easy. I was pretty sure that they wouldn't understand. Well, my dad might, but my mom would most definitely have something to say about the whole situation.

Bobby pulled into my driveway, and Carlos opened the door and climbed out. I could see my mother peering out from behind the drapes as he reached in and helped me out. "Here goes nothing!" I muttered as he walked me up to the porch.

TBC