All of your reviews and messages are so sweet! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying reading about teenage Carlos and Steph as much as I'm enjoying writing about them! *sigh* Young love! ;)

Chapter 8- Tuesday, October 3, 1995

Steph's POV

I woke up Tuesday morning to a fluttery feeling in my stomach. When I got to school, I would see Carlos! A big goofy grin spread across my face.

I jumped out of bed and rushed through my shower, hair, makeup, and clothes. I bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. I tried to just grab a piece of toast and run out the door, but my mother wasn't having it this morning.

She pointed a spatula at me. "Stephanie Michelle, sit down! You have plenty of time to eat at the table."

I sighed and sat down at the table with my father. He lowered the newspaper and winked at me when my mom turned back to the stove. Minutes later, she slid omelets onto plates and poured us each a cup of juice. While we ate, she went about making my dad's lunch and tidying up the kitchen.

"Do you work tonight, Stephanie?" she asked conversationally.

"Yes. Until 9:00 again, why?"

My mom was wiping off the counter and didn't make eye contact as she answered. "Just checking. I thought maybe I would make dinner some time this week and invite Dickie to join us. Or maybe that nice Carl Costanza from church."

I sucked in a breath and was just about to tell her exactly what I thought of that idea, but my father beat me to it.

He slammed his hand down on the table, making the plates and glasses jump and said in a very low voice, "Dickie is not welcome here."

"But Frank…" my mom started.

"Absolutely not. After what he pulled at the movie theater, he's lucky that he's still alive!" my dad growled.

"Frank!" my mom gasped.

His lips were set in a thin line and he pointed at my mother with his fork. "That boy is not welcome in my home. If I find him in this house, I will toss him out on his ass. Are we clear, Helen?"

My eyes were wide as I looked back and forth between my parents. I knew my dad could be a little overprotective at times, but this was still surprising. The last time I'd seen him this mad over a boy was when I was in 5th grade. Eddie had walked me home from a school dance. He gave me my first kiss that night. My dad was not pleased. As soon as I'd taken a step back, he had turned the garden hose on Eddie.

My mother looked a little pale. "Fine. No Dickie. I'll just see if Carl is available instead." She turned to me. "What nights are you off of work this week?"

"Wednesday, but mom please don't invite Carl over." I pleaded.

"Why not? He seems like a very nice boy, and you two have been friendly for a while now. Is he seeing anyone?"

"Not that I know of, mom, but I am!"

My mother ignored my last comment and kept talking. "I wonder if he has a date for Homecoming?" she mused.

I stood up and carried my plate to the sink. "It doesn't matter if he does or not because I do! I'm going with Carlos, remember?"

She waved her hand in the air. "Yes, yes, that was very nice of him to offer to take you if you couldn't find another date. But I don't really think he expected you to quit looking for someone to go with."

I clenched my hands into fists and tried to keep my voice under control. "Yes, mom, I'm pretty sure that he does expect me to quit looking!"

My dad frowned at her. "Helen, quit meddling."

"I'm not meddling! I'm just trying to help Stephanie find a date, that's all!"

"I have one!" I reminded her.

She frowned and went back to packing my dad's lunch. "Well, keep Wednesday night open, and I'll call Carl's mother this afternoon."

I shook my head. I gave my dad a kiss on the cheek and walked out the kitchen door. "Have a good day, Pumpkin!" he called after me.

I drove to school on autopilot. I was going to have to talk to Carl sometime today. It wasn't that I didn't like him. I just didn't like him in that way. Carl and I had been friends for about as long as Eddie and I had been friends, which was practically forever. But that didn't mean I wanted to date him! Geesh! I felt like I was in Kindergarten again. My mommy was going to call his mommy to see if he could come over and play Wednesday night. Gah!

I pulled into the parking lot and saw Carlos standing with a group of guys around Lester's car. I recognized most of them, but a few were new faces.

I walked over, and I watched Carlos's face light up in a brilliant smile when he saw me. I felt a matching smile spread across my face as I reached his side.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my back to his front, holding me tight. He dropped a kiss on my head, and I blushed a bright red while the guys watched our interaction. We traded greetings all around, and I met Hal and Hector, two more friends of Carlos's

We were headed towards the building, Carlos's arm draped casually around my shoulders, when Mary Lou and Connie rushed up to us. Their eyes were sparkling with mischief, and Connie couldn't stop hopping up and down.

"What're you two up to?" I asked her, curious. "What's going on?"

She smirked at Mary Lou. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Mary Lou started giggling. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the back of the school.

"Where are you going?" I protested. "Our first class is the other way."

"You're going to hear about it as soon as you walk in the door. You might as well see it now." She answered, still yanking on my arm.

I looked back at Carlos, my eyebrows knitted together, and found a similar look of confusion on his face. He walked with me, his hand gently squeezing my shoulder. The rest of the guys followed behind.

We rounded the side of the school, and soon we were headed towards the football field.

"Mary Lou, what are we doing? Where are we going?"

She called out in a sing-songy voice. "You'll see."

We walked around the track and under the first set of bleachers. I let out a gasp. There in huge red letters, someone had spray painted a poem.

It was all about Joyce and how she liked it rough, tough, and once was never enough. I blinked and burst out laughing.

If I had to pick someone to have a lewd poem written about them, Joyce would have been my top pick. Well, maybe my second. My cousin Vinnie was rumored to have done a little more than just play his trombone at band camp last summer. That thought made me shiver.

I turned to look at Connie and Mary Lou. "OK, this is hysterical, and you know how much I hate Joyce, but why did you drag me over here to see this?"

Mary Lou grinned. "Guess who wrote it?"

I spread my hands out, palms up. It was Joyce for crying out loud! Did the secretary have a list of every male student here at Trenton High? That would be the short list of possible candidates.

Connie started doing a happy dance. "Joe Morelli."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "What?"

Mary Lou nodded. "Apparently after Carlos helped you, uh, turn him down Sunday night, he was pretty upset. He ended up hooking up with Joyce."

I just stared at the both of them, my mouth hanging open.

Connie continued. "If not for Carlos, it might be you here on the wall of shame!"

I was so positively giddy with relief that I wasn't the subject of Joe's poem that I turned around and threw my arms around Carlos's neck. I stood up on my tiptoes and pulled his lips down to mine, kissing him enthusiastically. When I pulled back a fraction of an inch, his eyes were still closed. He opened them and blinked, a slightly dazed look on his face.

"Thanks, Batman!" I whispered.

He shook his head and gave me a huge grin. "Anytime, Babe!" He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

I looked back over at Mary Lou. "Does Marco know it was Joe?" I asked.

Mary Lou nodded. "He and Mooch did it last night. They were both drunk and falling all over themselves. A cruiser pulled in, just patrolling the property and caught them right after they finished."

"Is it too much to hope that Joe was expelled?" I asked, grinning.

Connie looked a little nervous. "Well, since Mooch graduated last year, Marco couldn't do anything to him. They fined him for destruction of school property. But Morelli…" she trailed off.

When Connie didn't continue, Mary Lou started. "Marco wanted to suspend him, but Coach Zeke had a fit. He said that would make Joe ineligible to play for at least this week's game and maybe for Homecoming. He talked Marco into lessening the punishment."

I waited. "So what did he get?" I asked, having a feeling I already knew.

"Saturday detention." Mary Lou answered. "To be served this Saturday."

I dropped my head onto Carlos's shoulder. Crappity crap crap crap! Now Carlos and I would have to spend all day Saturday with Lizard Tongue Morelli. If everyone was still alive and not bleeding at the end of detention, it would be a miracle!

The warning bell sounded then, and I jumped in Carlos's arms. We headed back towards the school at a brisk pace. I couldn't afford to be late and get another detention today. My mother would probably disown me!

I rolled my eyes as I thought about Valerie, my perfect older sister. She had never gotten detention for being tardy! She had never served a Saturday detention. Oh no! Not Saint Valerie. She had sailed through school, graduating with honors. Now she was in California, taking care of a little efficiency apartment while her fiancé finished his degree. The perfect girl. The perfect guy. The perfect apartment. The perfect life. I sighed. No wonder my mother wanted to invite Carl over for dinner Wednesday night!

C&S C&S C&S C&S C&S

Carlos had a different lunch period than I did, but Lester found me and guided me over to his table. Connie and Mary Lou joined us, and I got to introduce Cal and Connie. They smiled shyly at each other and sat across the table from one another, making small talk. By the end of lunch they had agreed to meet for pizza at Pino's Thursday night. It looked like Cal was going to have a date to Homecoming after all!

Lester, meanwhile, spent the entire lunch cracking jokes and telling me stories about Carlos and his family. He also somehow stole my car keys out of my purse. Don't ask me how he managed that one. My purse was on the table in plain view the entire lunch period, and I never once noticed Lester's hand even close to it. But somehow he managed to steal my keys, move my car to an entirely different part of the parking lot, and then return the keys to my purse before the end of the day.

How did I make this charming discovery? Well, the end of the school day had gone pretty much like the day before. I met Carlos at his locker, minus a scene today, thank goodness. We were walking hand in hand out to the parking lot, talking about our work schedules for the night. I dug my keys out of my purse and walked towards the spot where I had parked my car this morning. And found no car. I started to panic. Obviously someone had stolen my car. It was parked here this morning, and now it was gone. I thought I was going to hyperventilate. Or maybe burst into tears. I was debating whether I should ask Carlos to drive me to work or go back in the building and use the payphone to call my mom when Lester came strolling by.

"Hey, Beautiful!" he called cheerfully. "Missing something?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "My car! Someone stole my car!"

Carlos was massaging my shoulders and trying to reassure me that everything would be OK when Lester's face split into a wide grin. "It's not stolen; it's just relocated."

I looked at him like he had two heads. "OK, toMAYto, toMAHto. My freakin' car is still gone, stolen, relocated, what the fuck ever!"

He started laughing so hard that he was bent over at the waist, his hands resting on his knees. He was shaking and gasping for air.

Carlos glared at him. "Lester, what the fuck, man? Stephanie's car is missing. Do you think you could quit being an ass and acting like you're happy about it?"

Lester was trying to talk, but he was still shaking with laughter. "It hasn't been stolen! It's just been moved. I moved it this afternoon."

What?

Carlos arched an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean you moved it?"

Lester grinned. "You know I was always the champion at hide and seek when we were little. I just wanted to up the stakes a little. See if you could find it."

Carlos slapped him on the back of the head. "Not cool, man!"

Lester grinned. "You're just pissed cuz I'm a way better hider. Have fun finding Stephanie's car!" He dodged another smack from Carlos and trotted off to his Mustang, waving as he pulled out of the parking lot.

It took a few minutes, but we finally found my car. It was parked on the complete opposite side of the parking lot, hidden between two pickup trucks. I shook my head as I climbed into my car. I was definitely going to have to pay Lester back for this!

I fastened my seat belt, and Carlos leaned in to give me a quick kiss. "See you at 6:30?" he asked.

I grinned. "Of course!"

"Want me to bring something for dinner?"

"If you want. Or we could just have doughnuts and leftover birthday cake for dinner." I licked my lips. That sounded good to me.

Carlos shook his head. "Babe." I took that to mean that he would be bringing dinner. At least for him.

He closed my door and waved as I headed off to work.

C&S C&S C&S C&S C&S

Carlos did bring dinner for us. When he called his mom from work to say that he was eating dinner with me again, she brought a big bowl of homemade soup and a basket of rolls to his uncle's dealership. She insisted that he shouldn't be eating fast food every night. It wasn't healthy, and it was too expensive. I grinned. His mom sounded sweet.

The soup was delicious, and Carlos and I sat at "our" tall table and talked while we ate it. He told me that his mother wanted me to come over the next night for dinner. If I could manage it, he was supposed to take me to his house right after school so that we all had time to visit.

I agreed and then realized that my mom was possibly making dinner plans with Carl for tomorrow night. I sighed. I'd have to talk with her when I got home tonight.

Carlos looked up when I sighed. "Problem, Babe?" he asked.

I shook my head. "My mom thinks that you agreed to take me to Homecoming in case I couldn't find another date, but that you expected me to still keep looking for another date."

Carlos stiffened a little and looked over at me. "And are you looking for another date?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No! I want to go with you! But my mom is auditioning candidates anyhow. I think she was going to invite Carl to dinner tomorrow night since it was my only night off. I just need to talk with her tonight."

Carlos took both of my hands in his and looked at me very seriously. "Yeah, you do. Because I don't share, Stephanie." He leaned over and captured my lips in a sweet kiss..

He pulled back and I cleared my throat. "Well, I don't share either."

He gave me a small grin. "You're the only girl I plan on spending time with."

I blushed and starting cleaning up the mess we had left from dinner. I washed out his mother's bowl and then Carlos and I started what had become our nightly cleaning routine. For the third night in a row, he mopped and emptied trash while I boxed up leftover cookies, doughnuts, and other assorted pastries. Then I locked the front door and counted down the cash register. We made our bank run, and then Carlos followed me home.

He walked me up to the front door and pulled me close to him. He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me good night. "Don't forget about dinner tomorrow." He whispered.

I nodded and reached up to give him one more kiss. "I won't."

He smiled and walked back to his car. He waved as he pulled out of the driveway and headed for home.

I sighed and pushed open the front door, calling out "I'm home!"

My dad was in the living room, watching TV from his usual perch. He waved at me as I walked through to the kitchen. Sure enough, I found my mom sifting through recipe cards.

She looked up when I walked in. "Oh, good! You're home! I called Carl's mom, and he's coming over for dinner tomorrow. I was just trying to find my recipe for lemon meringue pie. His mother said that was his favorite dessert."

I took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I can't do dinner tomorrow night, mom."

She wrinkled her brow. "Why not? I thought you were off. Did they ask you to work tomorrow night?"

I shook my head. "No, Carlos's mother invited me to eat dinner at their house tomorrow. I'm going to drop my car off here after school, and Carlos is going to take me to his house to visit and eat. Then he'll bring me back home."

My mother's lips became a thin line. "I don't think that's a good idea, Stephanie."

I held up my hand. "It's only fair, mom. He ate dinner here with us on Sunday. Now I have to go over there. Isn't that how it works? If you accept an invitation to a meal, then you are supposed to extend an invitation?"

My mom nodded reluctantly.

"Well, Carlos accepted my invitation Sunday night. Now he has invited me for tomorrow night. I can't cancel now. I'll look rude."

My mother clearly did not appreciate having her Burg etiquette thrown back in her face as my excuse for spending time with Carlos, but it really left her no choice but to agree. She blew out a deep breath. "Fine! When is the next night you have off?"

I thought about it. "Well, Friday, but that's the football game. And Saturday after detention, but Carlos might want to go to a movie or something. We haven't really talked about it. Probably not until next week."

My mother looked slightly frustrated. "But next week will be too late!"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Too late for what?"

"Too late for you to find a date for Homecoming!"

I bit the inside of my cheek and clenched my hands into fists so that I wouldn't scream while I was speaking. "For the last time, mother, I have a date to Homecoming. I am going with Carlos. He is not a fill-in. He is not a back up plan. He is my date. I am not planning on replacing him with someone else, so quit trying!"

I walked into the living room to watch TV with my dad. I could hear my mother banging pots and pans around the kitchen, slamming drawers and cupboard doors open and closed. My dad turned the volume up on the TV and looked over at me with his eyebrows raised, silently asking what was going on.

"She's still trying to find me a date for Homecoming. I just told her that I was going with Carlos. Period. End of story. Quit trying to replace him."

My dad grinned at me. "Good. I like that Carlos."

I grinned back. "Yeah, I like that Carlos, too."

Then we settled in to watch TV in comfortable quiet. Well, except for an occasional shriek or bang from the kitchen.

TBC

So we've got the Princess- Steph, the Bad Boy- Carlos, and the athlete- Joe. We still need the Basketcase and the Brain! ;)

The next chapter is Wednesday! Dinner with the Manosos!