It had been over two months since the beginning of the school year, winter lurking just around the corner, and enough time had passed for Janet to say with absolute certainty that "operation friendship" was a success.

If things between her and Jack had been a little awkward at first, now they couldn't have been better. In fact, it seemed as though the more time they spent together, the more comfortable they got, as discovering each other's quirks and flaws allowed them to establish a new level of intimacy that had nothing to do with sexual attraction. Not that that element had dissipated for either of them, mind you, but lately they had become pretty good at handling that side of their relationship. And if every once in a while her heart skipped a beat in his presence, or she happened to get lost in his blue eyes as he talked like it was happening right now, well … she was only human, after all.

"... How about you, Janet?" Jack asked her from the other side of the counter, shaking her from her reverie.

"Uh? ... Uhm, yes." she replied, absent-mindedly.

"I said, do you want ketchup or mustard with the fries?"

"Oh, sorry." she smiled clumsily. "Ketchup, thanks."

"That's what I thought." Jack smiled, before pouring the red condiment on her plate.

He only recently started working as a waiter at the Regal Beagle, a fifties style hangout spot loosely modeled after Arnold's from Happy Days, and since then his friends had been stopping by almost daily to keep him company and take advantage of his employee discount. So, alright, It wasn't exactly the Ritz, but the pay was good and the hours decent, so he wasn't about to complain. After all, every great chef in history must have started somewhere at the bottom.

"So, Jack." Larry, who was sitting on the stool next to Janet, said. "I was thinking tomorrow night we could check the beach party down by the marina. I heard there's gonna be plenty of chicks. College girls."

Janet curled her nose at the use of the word 'chicks' to describe women. "College girls? isn't getting turned down by every girl in our school enough for you, now you wanna expand your market?"

"Laugh all you want, little Janet, but everybody knows college girls are very … thankful, if you know what I mean."

"Ew."

"So, Jack, are you in?"

"He can't." Janet replied for him before he could even speak.

"I can't?" the boy in question echoed.

"No. You promised you'd take me to see Doctor Zhivago at the Nuart tomorrow night, remember? the uncut version?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Lar … but, good luck. You're gonna need it."

"You too." Larry mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." Larry feigned innocence, sipping on his drink.

"So … " Janet shoved the last of her fries in her mouth, before getting off her stool and grabbing her purse. "It was nice catching up with you guys, but I gotta run and meet Terri at the mall."

"Say hi to her for me." Larry told her.

"I will. Bye." Janet shook her head, heading for the door.

Larry waited until she was out of sight to speak again. "So, you and Janet are going out again tomorrow night, uh?"

"Yeah."

"How many times has it been this past month?"

"I don't know, I don't keep count." Jack shrugged, vaguely offended.

"Lucky for you, I do. It's seven times. Seven."

"So?"

"So, this is getting weird, man. Now you're taking her to see a chick movie like you're her boyfriend?"

"It's not a chick movie, it's Doctor Zhivago, it's a classic! And it happens to be her all time favorite movie."

"Jack, no guy should suffer through four hours of kissing and crying, unless he's getting a little reward by the end of the night."

"It might be difficult for you to understand, but I happen to enjoy Janet's company, because we're friends and we actually have other things in common outside of sex."

"Sure." Larry scoffed. "I'm telling you, that Janet has you wrapped around her little finger. You know what your problem is, Jack? you're too damn accommodating."

"I am not!" Jack retorted, when a customer entered the diner and replaced Janet on the seat next to Larry's, interrupting their argument.

"Hey, Lar." the young, pretty redhead said. "You're here too, uh?"

"Yeah, I came here to pay a visit to my good pal Jack. You two know each other, right?"

"I've seen him around school, but I don't think we've been introduced yet. Hi, I'm Linda." the girl extended her hand to Jack, who shook it in turn.

"So, Linda, what can I get you?"

"A bag of chips and a coke, thanks."

"Be right back." Jack said, then he disappeared under the counter as he pretended to descend an imaginary flight of stairs, only to reappear a few seconds later with a bag of chips in his hand and a smile on his face. "Your potatoes, ma'am."

"Thanks." Linda laughed, and Jack went in the back to fill her a glass of coke.

"He's funny." she told Larry, opening the bag and beginning to munch.

"Yeah."

"... And cute. Does he have a girlfriend? "

"Not right now." Larry shook his head.

"Good to know."

"Alright, Linda ... there's your coke." Jack came back with the drink.

"Thanks." the girl replied, taking a big sip from the glass before speaking again. "So, Jack, have you heard about tomorrow night's beach party? It looks like everybody is gonna be there."

"Yeah, Larry just told me."

"I was thinking, we could go together, if you want."

"You mean, like … like a date?" Jack stammered, unable to believe his ears. A girl was actually asking him out?

"Sure. Why not?"

"Oh, well, I would love that, but you see, I'm already going out to the movies with a friend and I kinda promised, so I can't. Sorry."

"That's too bad. Anyway, if you ever wanna give me a call, " Linda leaned across the counter and grabbed Jack's notepad and pencil from his shirt pocket, then began scribbling. "This is my number."

"Alright." a flabbergasted Jack said, taking the paper from her hands.

Linda then finished her drink in one big gulp, and left a dollar bill on the counter. "Keep the change. See you guys around!"

"... Well, it looks like somebody made an impression." Larry commented once they were alone again.

"I can't believe this." Jack frowned, staring at the numbers on the paper.

"Hey, there's no accounting for taste." Larry joked, but Jack didn't laugh. "Seriously, though, you have to go to that party with her."

"I can't. I told you I already have plans with Janet."

"Who cares?" Larry exclaimed. "This is a once in a lifetime occasion! a gorgeous girl likes you and wants to go to a beach party with you, at night …"

"Larry, you've been telling me for the past two months I need to get with Janet, now you want me to go out with Linda?"

"No, what I told you is, you gotta play the long game. I mean, do you see me following Terri around like a lovesick puppy waiting for her to give me an ounce of her attention?"

"Am I supposed to say no?"

"... what I do is, I pick up another girl and have some harmless fun." Larry continued, ignoring his remark.

"I don't think I'm a harmless fun type of guy."

"You should be. Show Janet what she's missing out on, give her something to think about."

"It wouldn't be fair to either girl, Larry. I can't do this." Jack said, curling up the piece of paper in his hands and throwing it in the trash can under the counter. "Subject closed."

"Suit yourself," Larry shrugged. "But you're gonna see, I'm right."

"You know, you guys can still come with us to the beach if you want." Terri told Janet the next evening, as she checked her make-up in her friend's vanity mirror. "I heard it's gonna be the party of the year."

"Every party is the party of the year, according to you." Janet replied, brushing her long hair.

"Terri's right." Cindy said. "How do you know it's gonna be a bust if you don't see it for yourself?"

"Listen, I just really wanna go to this movie. It's the last night, and who knows when they'll play it again in theaters."

"... And you're going with Jack." Terri added.

"So?"

"Nothing, Just, you're very close lately, aren't you?"

"Close friends."

"Does he know?"

Janet rolled her eyes. "Of course he does."

"Cause he has never taken me to the movies, just the two of us. Or offered to carry my books to class."

"I sprained my wrist playing volleyball that day, and you know that!"

"I'm just saying, you guys are walking a very fine line."

"As long as nobody crosses it." Janet replied in no uncertain terms, and in that moment the doorbell rang.

"That's probably your not-date coming to get you." Terri quipped, and Cindy laughed.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Janet said, hitting her with a throw pillow before heading downstairs.

"Hi." Jack greeted Janet at her doorstep, and gave her a quick once over. "... Is that a new dress?"

Janet glanced down at the brown floral print fabric. "Oh, this? I borrowed it from Jenny … she's so tall for her age, we're practically the same size."

"Well, it looks really nice on you."

"Thanks." Janet felt that familiar plunge in her heart and tried to shoo it away. "The girls are gonna come down any second, they're just finishing getting ready. You're sure you don't mind giving them a ride to the beach, do you?"

"Not at all."

"Good ... oh, speaking of them, there they are." Janet said as Terri and Cindy walked down the stairs.

"Hey, Jack." Cindy grabbed her jacket and bag from the coat hanger, and Terri did the same. "Thanks for giving us a ride."

"Yeah." Terri agreed. "I figured you'd be busy with work on a saturday night."

"Yeah, well, I switched turns with someone else."

"Really?" Terri raised an eyebrow. "You switched turns just for Janet? That's so thoughtful of you."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Jack replied, smiling awkwardly.

"Of course." Terri furrowed her brows. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me or Cindy."

"Absolutely." Jack lied. He wouldn't have done that just for anybody, and as much as he loved the girls, he knew that whatever he had with Janet was much more complex and intimate than any friendship he had ever experienced.

"Great." Terri smiled mischievously. "Cause next week my parents are taking the car to visit my grandma in Pasadena, and I need someone to pick me up from dance class on thursday."

"Oh, and while you're on the way, you can pick me up from the dentist." Cindy added.

"Of course …" Jack agreed reluctantly. "No problem."

"You're such a good friend." Terri pinched his cheek as she passed him by to get out the front door, followed by the girls.

Larry was right. About the movie, at least. It had been only forty minutes since the opening credits rolled, and while Janet couldn't take her eyes off the screen, to him it seemed like they had been sitting there for hours. Thankfully, though, he wasn't alone in his misery, as the theater was full of men who had been dragged there by their significant others, yawning and checking their wristwatch at every chance.

The young man in front of them, in particular, seemed to be especially bored, and it soon became apparent what he was thinking had little to do with finding out how Zhivago would make out with Lara, and more with how he would with his own date.

Jack watched his every move, enthralled by his seduction technique. First, he adjusted himself in his seat, then he stretched his arm and effortlessly extended it around his partner's seat, reaching her shoulder. The girl grasped his hand with her own in appreciation, and turned around to peck him on the lips, then leaned her head on him.

Was it really that easy? Jack wondered. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Copying the man, he clumsily moved around in his seat, trying to appear nonchalant, with the only result of getting a puzzled side glance from Janet. A few more seconds passed, then he made his next move, lifting up his arms to stretch and extending his left one towards her.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, watching him bent in an unnatural position.

"Nothing. Nothing." he giggled awkwardly, retiring his arm. "Just stretching. It's a little sore."

"You should put some ben gay on it when you get home." she suggested.

"Yeah." Jack sighed, sinking back in his seat and cashing in yet another loss.

An endless half hour passed, and if it hadn't been for the scene unfolding in front of his very eyes, Jack would have already succumbed to narcolepsy. The lovebirds in the front seat had moved to second base a while ago, and were currently in the midst of a passionate make-out session which had made some heads turn away from the movie, including Janet's.

"Oh, boy." the girl couldn't help but mumble to herself, impressed by the performance the two were putting on.

"... Yeah." Jack agreed, equally stunned.

He didn't have the courage to look at her, but he could sense from her trembling voice that she was thinking the same thing he was. The silly bravado he had exhibited a mere half hour before had vanished, replaced by the all too real fear that only unbridled lust could bring. On one hand, he knew if there was ever a time to make his move with Janet it would have to be now, but on the other, he was frozen in place, worried she would never forgive him for taking advantage of her in a moment of weakness, potentially spoiling their friendship once and for all.

"Oh, darling." the girl breathed heavily in between kisses, running her free hand through the boy's hair, while the other roamed a territory that could not be seen, but easy to guess.

Janet gulped. One thing was reading about that stuff on the steamy romances she borrowed at the local library, but watching it happen a feet away from her was another. Not that she wasn't acquainted with the facts of life, on the contrary. After all she did have a boyfriend the previous year, and it's not like they spent all their time playing chess, but they didn't spend it in heat like those two in the front either.

So, it was only natural that she felt moved, and Jack's presence by her side did nothing to help placate the funny feeling building up in the pit of her stomach. It was as if suddenly, all the emotions she so strongly repressed for the past three months came up to the surface, the two lovebirds operating as the proverbial devils on her shoulder. Kiss him, they whispered. You know you like him. She and Jack could have been in their place if she just allowed herself to admit her true feelings for him and give him a chance. Come on, Janet, do it.

"You know what?" she suddenly turned to face Jack.

"What?" the boy whispered, wide-eyed.

"This movie is not as good as I remembered it. Let's go to the party."

"I couldn't agree more." Jack said, practically jumping out of his seat, as Janet followed him outside the theater.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally made it to the party. The drive there had been relatively silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The radio selection that night had been a series of slow ballads, presumably to set the mood for some lucky couples like the one they left at the movies, and Jack had been quick to switch to a classic rock station, the smooth guitars providing an ideal background noise for their wandering minds.

"Well … I think I'm gonna see if I can find the girls." Janet spoke for the first time in an hour, closing the car door behind her.

"Sure. I'll be over there by the bonfire, if you need me." he pointed towards the blaze in the distance. "... I mean, if you need to talk, or hang out … whatever."

"Alright." Janet replied, before heading towards the shallow portion of the beach, where a large group of teens was dancing.

"What am I doing?!?!" Jack mouthed, running a hand through his hair. This friendship thing was not working out the way he planned, and the worst part of it was, now he would have to admit to Larry that he had been right all along. He did need to put some distance between himself and Janet, at least for a while, if he wanted to respect her wishes.

"Janet?!" Terri yelled, gazing through the crowd as her friend approached. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, what about the movie?" Cindy echoed.

"The movie was a bust." Janet grumbled, crossing her arms.

"I told you it was a snoozefest." Terri shrugged, taking a sip from her paper cup.

Janet shook her head. "It wasn't that."

"Then, what?"

"... It's Jack."

Cindy gasped. "Oh, no, what did he do?"

"Nothing."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No. Yes. Maybe … Oh, I don't know!"

"You need to use more words, Janet, cause I'm getting lost here." Terri urged her.

The girl sighed heavily, before speaking up, almost embarrassed. "You were right, about me, and Jack … this friendship thing, it's not working."

"Cause you like him?" Cindy said.

Janet nodded. "I thought it was just a stupid crush, but I'm not so sure anymore. I can't even be alone in the same room with him without thinking about us … together."

"Well, you know how he feels about you, so what are you moping about?" Terri told her. "Go find him and tell him!"

"Are you crazy? I can't do that!" Janet shrieked.

"Why not?"

"I can't make the first move! It's too embarrassing."

"Well, you're the one who told him you wanted to be friends in the first place … the ball's in your court."

"Ugh." Janet moaned. " ... but, what do I even tell him?"

"Tell him the truth." Cindy said. "That you changed your mind and want to go out on a date with him."

"Right. Be forward." Terri agreed. "And if everything else fails, just plant one on him. He'll get the hint."

"Alright." Janet straightened up, trying to muster up some confidence. "I'm just gonna walk over there, and ask him out. No big deal."

"Right. Attagirl!" Terri patted her on the shoulder, before pushing her into the crowd and praying to the Gods above that this time would be the good one, not only for her friend's sake, but also for her own.

On the other side of the beach, Jack was swaying to the music and sipping on a fruity concoction that he was pretty sure to be made of ninety percent pure alcohol, when a small hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see who it was, and a smile crept across his face when their eyes met.

"Hello, stranger." Linda said, suppressing a smirk.

"Hi."

"I thought you said you weren't coming."

"Oh, well … the movie wasn't that great after all."

"I'm sorry about that. But I'm glad you're here."

"Me too. This party's pretty cool."

"What about me?"

"You're pretty too." Jack blurted out without even realizing. Were they … flirting?

"Thanks." Linda laughed, without any trace of embarrassment. Clearly he wasn't the first one who ever told her that. "What do you say we go talk somewhere a little more quiet? I saw a little spot by the cove with a view that is to die for."

Jack gazed in the distance, unsure what to do. Linda was gorgeous, funny, and extremely alluring in her own way … he'd never met such a straightforward girl before, and that intrigued him. If a part of him still wrestled with his feelings for Janet, the other was curious to know more about her and see where this flirtation might lead.

"... Sure." he finally spoke. "Let's go."

"Alright." Linda didn't waste any time and grabbed his hand, leading him away from the bonfire.

A few feet away, hidden in the shadow, Janet's brown eyes stared at them, slowly pooling with tears.

"Well, did you tell him?" Cindy eagerly asked once her friend came back.

"Did you guys kiss?" Terri joined.

"No." Janet shook her head, visibly upset.

Terri furrowed her brows. "No to which one?"

"Both. It just … it didn't go."

"Why?" Cindy asked.

"It was a stupid idea, that's all." Janet said firmly. "... I just wanna go home and pretend this night never happened, alright?"

The girls could sense something was off, but they didn't press on. There would be plenty of time to talk later on.

"... I'll see if I can get us a ride." Cindy said, and went off to talk to a group of people a few feet away.

"I'm so sorry, Janet." Terri told her friend. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you to do anything before you were ready."

"No, it's not." Janet reassured her. "It's mine, for coming up with that stupid friendship idea."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. You can tell him how you feel another time … it's not like he's gonna run off with another girl or anything." Terri joked, but when Janet didn't laugh, her face fell. "... Oh no, he didn't."

"Did what?" Cindy came back, jiggling a pair of car keys in her hands.

"Jack and some girl." Terri said sourly.

Cindy gasped. "Who?"

"... Linda Sendowski." Janet replied.

"That … floozy!"

"I thought she was your friend." Janet interjected.

"Not anymore!"

"Don't blame her!" Terri told Cindy. "Blame him … stupid boys." she shook her head. "As soon as a girl as much as looks in their direction, they become brain dead."

"... I just thought he was different from other guys." Janet explained.

"There is no such thing, honey." Terri said. "That's a myth created by greeting card companies for Valentine's day. The most you can hope for is someone slightly less worse."

"I wish you could have told me that two months ago." Janet sighed dolefully, and her friends wrapped her on either side in a consolatory group hug.

The next afternoon, Larry practically rushed to the regal beagle. Audibly slamming the door behind himself, (not without getting some dirty looks from the patrons), he took a seat by the counter across from Jack, ready to grill him on his date with Linda the night prior.

"Hey, Jacko!" he grinned ear to ear, barely able to sit still. "So, tell me all about Linda, and don't spare any details."

"Hey, Lar - wait, how do you know that? I haven't seen you since yesterday!"

"News travels fast, my friend." Larry raised an eyebrow. "... So?"

"So," Jack smiled widely. "She took me to this little spot by the cove, and one thing led to another …"

"Yes?" Larry's eyes grew wide as he urged him to continue.

"Let's just say, a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

"There was kissing?"

Jack didn't say anything, but the look on his face was pretty eloquent.

"You lucky guy! So, are you gonna see her again?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I'm supposed to give her a call tonight, and - oh no." Jack stopped in his tracks.

"What?"

"I forgot, I threw away her phone number!" Jack whined.

Larry took out his wallet from his back pocket, and fished a wrinkled slip of paper from it. "I got it out of the trashcan the other day when you weren't looking. I knew it would come in handy eventually."

"Oh, my God, Larry. I could kiss you right about now!"

"Save that for Linda." the boy raised a hand defensively." How about some fries on the house instead?"

"You know what? you earned them." Jack said, and with that he got to the back of the room to get to work, thoughts about the previous night and the cute redhead waiting for him on the other side of the phone filling his mind, at least for the moment.