Chapter 5:

Laura woke up for school the next morning buzzing, humming as she got ready for school and dressing extra carefully, she wanted to look pretty. She'd liked boys before but had never felt so strongly as she did about Ace. She had laid awake last night remembering the way he had touched her, still feeling him on her skin.

Her mother noticed her good mood but whatever she suspected as the cause she kept to herself.

"Will you be home tonight?" Laura asked. She tried to sound casual but the truth was she longed for her mother's company. Caroline Stratford had been widowed after receiving a telegram her husband had been killed in action during the closing stages of the second world war. She'd taken her nurses training and had applied for a job at the local hospital where she tried to pick up as many shifts as she could to earn enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

"I'm afraid not sweetheart," she said simply.

Laura knew well enough not to be upset by this. She wasn't a child any more but she did wish that when she came home that her mother would be there to greet her, not exhausted and napping in her room or still at work. "That's okay, I'll make us dinner," she said trying to sound as upbeat as possible."

"Thank you honey," Caroline replied looking at her daughter fondly. "You're an angel."

She paused before saying, "Have a good day at school," and planting a quick kiss on Laura's forehead before she walked out the door.

At lunch time Connie Palermo wasted no time in getting all the information she could out of Laura which left her red in the face and Connie squealing loud enough for the whole school to hear.

"Oh wow, so did he ask you out," Connie asked excitedly.

"Sort of," Laura replied nervously. She wasn't really sure about what they were going to do after school.

"You know what this means though." Connie waved her hands as she bounced up and down.

"What's that?" Laura asked.

"We can double," Connie squealed before hugging her friend.

Laura just smiled. She really hoped she wasn't making a big deal out of Ace wanting to see her. Maybe he didn't mean to date, but she liked him. She hoped he felt the same way. Feeling nervous she began unconsciously wringing her hands, she wanted to see him again and she hoped he wanted to see her.

Meanwhile across the cafeteria Peter Mongoose was paying particularly close attention to Laura. He'd been noticing her more and more lately, and had started thinking about the best way to ask her out. She seemed shy and he was sure she'd reject him if he asked her flat out. He needed to be more subtle.

"If you keep staring your eyes are gonna fall out," Denny teased.

"Shut up man," Peter swiped playfully at his head before turning back to stare at the object of his desire. "She's so beautiful," he said lowly.

Denny did have to agree with that.

"Didn't you see who she left with yesterday though, I wouldn't want to go messing with her if she's Ace Merrill's new girl," Denny warned him.

"Oh please," Peter rolled his eyes, "like any decent, self-respecting girl could be interested in a piece of trash like Ace Merrill." Peter snorted, "He was probably just hassling her in the car park or something."

"Whatever," Denny replied unconvinced. The two of them had looked pretty cozy from what he had seen and it definitely wasn't a good idea to go looking for trouble from Ace Merrill.

Laura paced the footpath as she waited for Ace to pick her up, trying not to think about the possibility that he wasn't going to show. He was just running a little late, no need to worry she kept thinking to herself as she twirled her hair around her finger nervously. She couldn't ignore the fact that the students milling around the school had dwindled down to nothing though or the uneasy feeling she had in her stomach.

All of a sudden she heard a voice behind her that made her jump ten feet in the air.

"Oh sorry didn't mean to startle you."

She met the eyes of Peter Mongoose.

"It's ok," she insisted, trying to calm down.

God he must think she was a total space head, first running into him now being startled by a simple hello.

"You coming to the game on Friday?" he asked casually. "I'm playing you know."

Oh right, the baseball game. It had been a major topic of discussion during the day with everyone talking about the importance of showing school spirit. Laura however had thought of nothing but this afternoon all day. It had been torturous just making it through the day. "Uh, sure thing," Laura replied. She didn't usually attend school sporting events but maybe she'd give it a go. Connie was always telling her she should mix more.

"Great, I'll be looking for you," he smiled widely. He looked her up and down and smiled again, "Listen do you need a lift or anything, my car is just..."

"Oh no it's ok," Laura replied quickly. She spotted Ace driving around the corner. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or about a thousand times more nervous. She barely heard that Peter was still talking to her.

"Ok," he was saying, "I'll see you around Laura."

"Bye," she called out cheerfully, not turning around to see the look of disappointment he was now sporting.