When Amy arrived back home, she filled Ashley in on her new job and then headed over to Madison's house to tell her, texting her and Lauren on her way over. Lauren came running over just as Amy reached Madison's kitchen door. They walked in and accidentally startled Madison's step-mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Cooperstein," Amy greeted the woman and then she and Lauren quickly headed upstairs to Madison's room. The woman still wasn't used to the girls and their brothers just showing up and walking in unannounced but since they'd been doing it long before Simon and Madison's mom died and their dad had remarried, she just went with it. Madison was sprawled on her bed with her biology book and notes and quickly shoved them to one side so her friends could sit down.

"What's up?" Madison asked once everyone was settled on the bed.

"I got a job!" Amy said excitedly.

"Oooo, doing what?" Madison asked eagerly.

"It's nothing glamorous. I'll just be answering phones and filing paperwork at that nursery the local church runs."

"Awwwww," Madison cooed, "but you'll still get to see all the babies and little kids! It sounds perfect!" Amy and Lauren laughed at Madison's enthusiasm.

"Yeah. I start next Monday but I've gotta go to an orientation this Saturday."

"So are you going to the dance with us on Friday?" Lauren asked.

"What dance?" Amy asked, bending her right leg so she could rest her right arm on it.

"You know. That dance advertised on that gigantic banner in the main hallway," Madison reminded her. Amy remembered seeing the banner but wasn't really big on dances, especially if her brother planned on going and he usually did.

"I don't know you guys. Dances are never that much fun with the boys around. The only reason we were able to have any fun at them last year was because they weren't at school with us anymore," Amy reminded them. Lauren rolled her eyes.

"They'll just have to learn that we're not little girls anymore and we're allowed to have some fun at a dance once in a while. Maybe even dance with a boy or two." The girls broke out in a small fit of laughter; they usually just ended up hanging out with each other and dancing in a group since their brothers glared at all the boys who dared approach them. Amy recovered first.

"I'll think about it." Madison nodded eagerly.

"If you do go maybe I can get my mom to drop us off so we don't have to show up with the boys," Lauren offered. Everyone agreed and then Amy and Lauren left to allow Madison to finish her homework. Amy went home and continued browsing online for information about all the things babies needed and how much childcare at local daycare centers cost.

Back at Grant High, the boys were finishing up football practice and Ricky was finishing up marching band practice. Ricky was grateful their paths hadn't crossed again for the rest of the day with the exception of him seeing the three of them outside during lunch; he didn't stop to say 'hi'. As Ricky climbed into his car and drove home, his mind was still focused on whether or not to sign a certain piece of paper. He simply didn't know what he wanted to do but he only had two more days to figure it out. Dinner at Ricky's was a subdued affair. Margaret noticed her son was lost in thought and wondered if he'd made up his mind yet.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she said gently to Ricky, causing him to look up from his plate. He took a deep breath.

"I don't know if I'm gonna sign or not yet," he admitted.

"Are you gonna try and find a way to speak to Amy alone before you make up your mind?" Ricky shrugged.

"I don't know if that's even possible at this point, considering how much she and her family hate me," he said darkly. Margaret gave him a sympathetic smile and reached over to squeeze his arm.

"Honey, I don't think her parents hate you per se; they're just upset. And as for Amy, she didn't seem angry, just hurt and upset. I'm sure if you give it a couple of days everyone will have calmed down a little." Ricky gave his mom a smile to thank her for trying to cheer him up but the look in his eyes clearly told her that he didn't believe her. The little family continued to eat in silence. The Juergens household was a tad livelier that night at dinner. Robbie was in a good mood, having taken steps to ensure Ricky signed that form, and he was back to teasing his sisters, tonight attempting to steal asparagus from Amy's plate and playing footsie with Ashley under the table. While Anne was happy to see her children in better spirits tonight, she didn't approve of shenanigans at the dinner table.

"Knock it off Robbie," she scolded. Robbie smiled and stopped his teasing, for the moment. Anne turned to face Amy. "So are you still excited about the job or has some of the excitement worn off?" Amy smiled.

"I'm still excited. I can't wait for Saturday!"

"If the Lancers win the game on Friday then it'll be a good weekend all around," George added. Robbie nodded.

"We watched some tapes of the other team's last couple of games for part of practice today and I really think it'll be an easy win," Robbie agreed.

"If you boys do win it'll make the dance that much more enjoyable," Anne stated calmly. George raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Dance?" Anne nodded.

"There's a dance after the game at the church's youth center. Lauren's mom called and said she'd be happy to drive the girls if they wanted to go." George looked slightly alarmed, as he always did at the thought of his girls going to dances. He swiveled to face Robbie and the two males shared a look of understanding and had a silent but quick conversation.

"There's no need, mom," Robbie assured her. "Since the dance is after the game we can drive the girls over; save her the time and gas since we'll already be out and about." George nodded in agreement and Amy turned pleading eyes towards her mother. Anne understood the look and hid a smile as she waved away his suggestion.

"It won't be a problem. That way the girls don't have to wait around for you boys to shower and change after the game; they'll just meet you there and you can drive them home." Amy relaxed and Anne gave her a wink. Anne was well aware how protective Robbie was of his little sisters and knew that Amy would appreciate some time to enjoy herself before Robbie and the boys started hovering. Robbie and George frowned but decided this wasn't a battle worth fighting, especially since Robbie would be at the dance and could keep an eye on Amy.

The next morning at school, a trio of friends was standing near some lockers talking. One of the boys sighed. The female of the group looked at him and shook her head.

"Ben, you've really gotta stop doing that. People will start to think you're depressed or something."

"Maybe I am?" he replied, earning himself a smack to the back of the head from her. The other boy chuckled.

"Honestly, Ben, it's not that big a tragedy. It's only the first month of the school year," he told his friend with a smile.

"Almost the end of the first month of the school year," Ben clarified. He turned to the girl.

"Come on, Alice, you gotta help me out here!" Ben pleaded. "There's gotta be some girl in this school who'd sleep with me. Can't you think of one? Anyone?" Alice shook her head and gave her friend a pitying look.

"I'll keep my eyes and ears open," she conceded, suddenly poking him in the chest with her index finger, "but I'm not making any promises." Ben nodded eagerly, content that she was willing to help him find a girl he could lose his virginity to. Alice shook her head in dismay, kissed the other boy and then headed down the hallway.

"When you do it, promise you'll tell me all about it?" Ben looked at his friend with surprise.

"Oh come on, Henry. You and Alice have been dating for like forever. The way I figure it, you two will do it before me."

"She keeps saying it's not the right time, but we'll get to it one day I just know it." The two friends headed to class, ending their discussion for the moment. Just before third period the three friends met at Ben and Henry's lockers, which happened to be right next to each other, and Alice gave Ben her 'findings.'

"Okay, here's what I've got so far. So there's a girl named Francis in my P.E. class. She's sweet, has a surprisingly funny sense of humor, is universally cute, and she's kinda shy. Then there's this girl named Amy Juergens. She's nice, shy, smart and plays the French horn in the band. There's Tabitha Reynolds, also smart and a little shy, but a lot of guys think she's really pretty, although that may just be because she's kinda stacked. Anyway, so far these three all sound too smart and shy to be all that popular so they're probably desperate enough to sleep with you."

"Ouch," Henry said. Alice glared at him.

"He's determined to do this and he's gotta start somewhere," Alice defended.

"I agree," Ben said eagerly. "Can you point these girls out to me?" At that moment Alice looked around and spotted Amy standing at her locker talking to Madison and Lauren. She pointed to her.

"That's Amy, the one facing this way talking to those other two girls." Ben shut his locker and was about to walk over to her when the warning bell sounded. Amy's next class was down a different hallway from Ben's so he didn't have a chance to speak with her just then. He planned to speak to her at lunch but that plan was thwarted by Robbie. He met Amy at her locker before lunch and said she needed to eat lunch with him that afternoon. Amy knew that was code for 'I need to talk to you big brother to little sister', or in other words 'I need to lecture you about something.' Amy rolled he eyes but followed her brother outside to a table. She rolled her eyes again when she saw the rest of their little six pack heading their way and then glared at Robbie, who didn't look bothered but her annoyance one bit. The girls made eye contact and collectively rolled their eyes; they knew what this was about.

"I'll keep it short and simple," Robbie said once everyone was seated. "We may be in high school now but the dance rules still apply and we've added two new ones." The girls groaned in unison. When the girls had started middle school and decided they wanted to go to dances, the boys had come up with a list of dance rules to make sure no guys tried to make a move on any of them. There weren't a lot of rules but they did take about seventy percent of the fun out of dances. The rules were as follows:

1. The girls weren't allowed to leave the dance area except to go to the bathroom and if they did, all three of them had to go together (strength in numbers)

2. They weren't allowed to let a guy touch them anywhere except their waist and that was only allowed during a slow song

3. They weren't allowed to do any kind of dirty dancing

If the girls violated any of the rules, they were forced to stay near their brother or one of the boys at all times, to make sure they stayed out of trouble and behaved like ladies of course.

"The two new rules are as follows," Simon said. "You girls aren't allowed to drink anything but punch, and only if you pour it into a cup yourself, and you aren't allowed to leave your drink unattended at any time. If you forget and do, you have to pour yourself another drink."

"We clear?" Terrance asked, looking at each girl in turn. They nodded grumpily and then the siblings started to eat their lunches in silence, the girls irritated with their brothers and the boys satisfied their little sisters would be safe at the dance. Ben meanwhile had struck out with Francis, Alice having pointed her out to him during their English class. He had approached her after class and asked her to the dance but she informed him, politely, that she wasn't allowed to date until she was sixteen. Not being able to find Amy during lunch, Ben set his sights on Tabitha, who he found sitting with a couple of girlfriends at a table in the shade.

Ricky was doing his level best to stay off Robbie's radar. He spotted him during lunch today, again, but this time he saw that Amy was sitting with him. He also noticed that the other two boys who'd cornered him the other day each had a girl sitting next to them that were obviously their sisters. Judging by their body language, the six teens were friends, but judging by the irritated expression on the girls' faces, they at least weren't too happy about something. So he hadn't literally meant our little sister, just that the other two thought of Amy like a little sister, not that it amounts to a hill of beans if they're related to her or not. Ricky knew that you didn't have to be related by blood to someone to view them as family in every sense of the word, his foster parents being a prime example, but he still decided it was best not to cross them. And yet, part of him really wanted to talk to Amy alone.

He took a seat in the shade and was able to simply watch her unnoticed. The irritation had left her face and she was chatting with the two girls at the table. He was once again struck by how attractive she was and when she laughed at something the boy with red hair said, he was suddenly overcome with guilt. He could tell her laugh was genuine and her smile reached her eyes. How could I hurt someone that nice? The slight breeze ruffled her hair and she tucked a few errant strands behind her right ear. What would our kid look like? Me or her? Ricky pondered the question for a moment. I hope he looks like Amy. His breath hitched for a moment. He? Why'd I assume it'd be a boy? Suddenly his mind began racing with questions. If it's a boy can I be a better dad to him then my father was? If Amy finds out about my birth parents will she let me anywhere near the kid? Should I be allowed near the kid or would it just be best for him if I stayed away like Amy wants me to? Could she forgive me if we just spent time together raising him? Would she believe me if I told her how sorry I was for hurting her? How one earth am I gonna get her alone to ask her!? Suddenly the answer came to Ricky and he knew what he had to do. He rose from his spot and walked straight towards Amy's table. She was the first to spot him and gasped. Robbie looked at Amy and then turned in the direction her startled eyes were facing, as did the eyes of everyone else at the table. Ricky stopped in his tracks for a moment when five pairs of eyes turned towards him and instantly turned to stone upon seeing him. Okay so they all know and they all hate me but I've gotta do this. Ricky summoned up his courage and walked up to Robbie.

"May I speak to you for a moment, in private?" Ricky asked. Robbie arched an eyebrow but stood anyway. Ricky walked a little ways away towards the nearby covered walkway and then turned to face Robbie. "I need you to give me until Friday night."

"And why should I?" Robbie asked.

"Your parents made it clear they don't want me talking to Amy while we're at school and I know if I tried to she'd tell them but I need to talk to her before I can figure out if I should sign or not." Robbie opened his mouth to speak but Ricky quickly continued before he could. "If you can convince her to come to the dance after the game and let me talk to her alone for a little bit then I can make up my mind 'cuz frankly I've got a lot of questions that only Amy can answer. I'll make sure and bring the form with me to the dance." Robbie closed his mouth and considered Ricky's proposal. While on the one hand he needed to sign it for Amy's peace of mind but on the other, Robbie was hoping for a reason to be able to pummel Ricky and not signing the form would give him that opportunity. Either way Amy would get some justice for what Ricky had done to her.

"Deal," he said finally. "You have until the end of the dance to make your decision." He turned and walked back to the table and five eager faces.

"What was that about?" Amy asked hesitantly, but curiously. Robbie shrugged.

"He said he's got some questions he wants to ask you but mom and dad said he's not allowed near you at school." Amy tensed slightly.

"What kinds of questions?" Robbie just shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. "He didn't say." When he didn't continue Madison pressed for more information.

"So?"

"So he wants to talk to Amy at the dance for a few minutes since he can't talk to her at school." He caught Simon and Terrance's eyes and the boys had a silent conversation. Terrance smiled like it was Christmas but quickly wiped the smile from his face as he realized what getting his wish to pummel Ricky would mean for Amy. Amy noticed the silent exchange and Terrance's momentary smile.

"What are you boys up to?" Terrance pasted an innocent expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" Amy wasn't fooled and neither was his sister.

"Bull," Lauren said, shoving her brother slightly. "Just don't get in trouble," she told him with an exasperated sigh. The girls had learned long ago that there was only so much whining and begging they could do to stop their brothers when they had their minds made up to punish someone who'd hurt them.