Belle pulled her hair back in a ponytail, then grabbed her backpack and made her way downstairs where her dad was waiting for her. Usually she got a ride to school from Aurora and Philip or Adam, but this morning her father had insisted he drive her.

Maurice handed her an English muffin as they headed out the door. They didn't say anything to each other for the first few minutes. Belle just ate her breakfast while a news radio station played quietly in the background. Her father finally spoke up when she finished eating.

"Are you still with that Adam boy?" Maurice asked, glancing at Belle.

"Yes, Papa."

Maurice nodded and looked back at the road. "And you like him?"

Belle smiled. "I think I love him, Papa."

Maurice looked at her, surprised, but then recomposed himself. "Well..." He cleared his throat. "Well, then I'd like to invite him over for dinner Sunday night."

"Really?"

"Yes. If he means that much to you, I'd like to get to know him."

Belle leaned over the seat and hugged her dad. "Thank you, Papa!"

Maurice patted her hand, but didn't say anything. When they pulled into the parking lot of the school, Belle kissed his cheek, then got out of the car. Adam was waiting for her by the main entrance and she greeted him with a hug.

"Hey, babe," Adam said.

Belle smiled at him. "Guess what!"

"What?"

"My dad wants to have you over for dinner Sunday night," Belle said, excitedly. "He wants to get to know you."

Adam frowned. "I don't know, Belle. He might not like me."

"He hated you before, Adam. Disliking you would be a step up."

"Belle, I'm serious."

"So am I. It doesn't matter if he doesn't like you; that's not going to change anything between you and me. You have nothing to worry about."

"All right..."

Adam didn't seem to want to continue the conversation about dinner, so Belle changed the subject. "Do you want to go to Philip's party this weekend?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?" Adam asked.

"Maybe a little."

"Let's try this..." Adam pulled Belle close to him and kissed her.

XXX

"Esmeralda, may I speak to you for a moment?" Dr. Doppler asked as Esmeralda gathered up her things.

"Uh, yeah." Esmeralda approached his desk as the rest of the students filed out of the classroom.

"Esmeralda, I hate to tell you this, but as of right now you are failing this class. At this point you will have to ace the final in order to pass," Dr. Doppler said. "If not, you will have to retake this class next year."

"I can't be failing!"

"I'm sorry, Esmeralda."

Esmeralda groaned in frustration as she walked out of the classroom. But, instead of going to her English class, Esmeralda went straight to the guidance counselor's office. She sat down in one of the chairs and waited for Captain Amelia to come out. When she did finally come out of her office, Esmeralda stood up and walked over to her.

"Esmeralda, what are you doing here?" Captain Amelia asked. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I really need to talk to you."

Captain Amelia glanced at her watch. "All right, but keep it short."

Esmeralda went into her office and sat down. "Dr. Doppler just told me that I'm failing his class."

Captain Amelia frowned as she took her seat behind her desk. "Esmeralda, I can't pull strings for you."

"Please, Captain Amelia!" Esmeralda pleaded. "If I have a failing grade I can't be on the dance team and the competition is only eighteen days away!"

Captain Amelia started typing on her computer and Esmeralda eyed her warily. After a few moments, a confused look crossed Captain Amelia's face.

"Esmeralda, it shows here that you're getting A's and B's in all of your other classes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Captain Amelia picked up the phone on her desk and hit the page button. "Dr. Doppler to the guidance counselor's office please."

It didn't take long for Dr. Doppler to stumble into the office, going through a stack of papers.

"Dr. Doppler," Captain Amelia said, getting his attention.

Dr. Doppler looked up. "Yes?"

"Esmeralda, here, is failing your class but is pulling above average grades in all of her other classes."

Dr. Doppler looked down at Esmeralda as if he hadn't known she was sitting there. "Okay..."

"It's obvious that Esmeralda works hard, since she needs passing grades in order to stay on the dance team," Captain Amelia said. "Is there any way for Esmeralda to get her grade up soon so she can compete in the upcoming dance competition?"

Dr. Doppler frowned and thought for a moment. "I suppose I can whip up a test for her to take reviewing everything from this semester."

"Thank you!" Esmeralda cried.

"Be in my classroom today at lunch. If you pass the test, I will raise your grade to a C."

Esmeralda wanted to protest since she didn't think she could be ready for the test by lunch, but she knew Dr. Doppler was being more than fair.

XXX

After school Vanessa drove Meg home and ended up hanging out for a while. Now Meg was sitting on her floor playing her guitar while Vanessa flipped through a magazine on her bed. Meg strummed her guitar a couple times, then started playing the song "Wasted" by L.P. Vanessa stopped reading and looked up.

"Isn't that the theme song for that show, South of Nowhere?" Vanessa asked.

Meg nodded, but kept her eyes on her guitar. "I'm just learning it."

"We used to watch that show together," Vanessa said, rolling onto her back. "Aiden was a hottie."

Meg looked up briefly and smiled at Vanessa. "Yeah."

"Don't mess with my heart, don't mess with my mind; won't let you get us down this time," Vanessa sang when Meg started playing the chorus. "You'll like what you see, and take it from me, you'll learn to see it over time."

"Get wasted on love, get wasted on life, get wasted on anything that's right," Vanessa and Meg sang together. "Get wasted, get wasted, get wasted, get wasted with me!"

Meg stopped playing and laughed.

"We sound good together," Vanessa stated, rolling back over on her stomach.

"We're not bad," Meg said, setting her guitar down.

Vanessa gave Meg a mischievous smile. "We should start a band."

Meg started to laugh, but saw Vanessa was serious. "I don't know about that, Nessa."

Vanessa sat up. "Oh, come on, Meg! What else are we gonna do this summer?"

"Fair enough. But, who would be in it?"

Vanessa ran her hand through her hair. "Well, we have you on guitar and I'd sing. That just leaves drums and bass. Possibly keyboard. We'll hold auditions."

At this point it didn't matter what Meg said. Vanessa was already thinking this through and there was no stopping her now.