Tami cornered Kimberley by her locker before first period and excitedly told her what had happened.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kimberley half shouted, and then lowered her voice when people started looking their way. "It's about damn time."

Tami grinned.

"Was he a good kisser?"

Tami looked around and whispered, "Fantastic."

"How long did the kiss last?"

"I was kind of preoccupied, Kimberley. I wasn't exactly counting the seconds. He's taking me to the movies Friday, after barbecue."

"The second run in town?"

Tami nodded.

"Good. It won't be crowded. Everyone's going to Dillon for the new movies now. Sit in the way back, left corner. No one will see you making out."

Tami rolled her eyes. "We're going to watch the movie."

"Like hell you are." Kimberley shut her locker. "Think he'll try anything serious?"

"On the first date? No! Did Jack?"

"Well of course Jack didn't. Jack barely kissed me when he took me home the first time. But we're not talking about some altar boy here."

"We're not talking about some playboy either!" Tami insisted.

"I know. I didn't mean that. But come on, Tami. I mean, he was in a two-year relationship. They must have been having lots of sex. And he hasn't gotten anything for over five months. And he's been interested in you for how long? He's got to be horny as hell at this point."

Tami shifted her backpack nervously on her shoulder. "You really think he'll want something more than kissing? I'm not ready for that."

Kimberley shrugged. "Then just tell him you're not." She picked her backpack up from the floor. "He'll deal."

"I think maybe my dad spooked him enough that he won't try anything serious."

"Your dad?" Kimberley asked. "Really? He's kind of a teddy bear."

"Until he doesn't want to be," Tami said. "In fact, I was kind of afraid Eric wouldn't even make out with me on the first date after talking to my dad."

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Kimberley said as she began walking. "The second he gets you completely alone…."

[*]

Shortly before their lunch period, Eric found Tami by her locker and leaned against the neighbouring one. "Hey," he said.

She held her locker open and looked at him around the door, a little shyly, the memory of their passionate kiss warming her cheeks. "Hey."

"You looking forward to Friday?" he asked.

"I am."

"Sorry about just picking the movie like that without asking you. It's just your mom kind of put me on the spot. If you want to watch something else, that's fine. They're also showing Sixteen Candles. If you know, you prefer a romantic comedy. I checked. It's PG."

Tami shut her locker door. "My mom's crazy about that R thing. I'm 18 now!"

"It's fine. There aren't any good R movies showing anyway," he said. "Sixteen Candles?"

"No. I never saw Ghostbusters. I want to see it. It looks hilarious."

"Okay," he said and smiled. "And we don't have to do barbecue. I know it's not fancy or anything – "

"- There's nothing fancy in Rankin anyway. Barbecue is fine. It'll be great. And we're going dutch. You're not paying for everything."

"Uh…okay," Eric said. "But it is a real date, right?"

Tami put the book she'd been holding in her backpack, which was resting on the floor, and then leaned against her locker. "What does that mean to you? A real date? What are you…you know… expecting exactly?"

"Uh…to take you out."

"And…?"

He looked confused. She wished she hadn't asked. Now maybe she sounded like she wanted to get laid.

"And…then, if you have a good time, which I think you will, because I'm a blast to hang out with, and I'm very charming –"

Tami giggled.

" – then, uh, you'll go out with me again. And again. And…." He wiggled an eyebrow. "Again."

She put a hand on his chest. "You're cute," she said.

"Yeah?" He leaned in and kissed her lightly.

"Well look at what we have here."

When Eric pulled back at the sound of that voice, Tami saw Mo standing right in front of them. She sighed. "Hey, Mo."

Mo pointed at Eric, but he looked at Tami. "Did I not tell you he's been trying to get in your pants since he moved here?"

"Not since he moved here," Tami said, and then flushed because that might imply she thought he was trying to get in her pants now.

Mo looked at Eric and moved his pointer finger in a jabbing motion. "Don't tell me you haven't been calling her behind my back for months, walking her home from that damn coffee shop, flirting with her, telling her I was sleeping with Anita Nisbeth – "

Now Tami was just plain mad. "- That's ridiculous, Mo! I told you that he hasn't been calling me behind your back! He didn't tell me about Anita! I saw you two. I saw you!"

"And he hasn't been walking you home from the coffee shop since September?"

"No, he hasn't been – well, yeah! Okay! Yeah, he walked me home from the - "

"- Aha!" Mo exclaimed. "Traitor," he hissed at Eric.

Eric took a step forward, so that he was in Mo's face. "She's made her choice, Morris. And it's her choice."

"You helped her make it."

"Aren't you with Sue Beth now?" Tami asked. "How's she going to feel about you still being all hung up on me?"

Mo took a step back from Eric. He turned his eyes to Tami. "Well I hope you have a good time with him, Tami. I hope he can satisfy you. But I doubt he can. Because as we all know from State, he's not very good with completion."

Eric's nostrils flared.

"Mo," Tami warned. "Cut it out."

"He's a bit of a fumbler," Mo continued, leveling his eyes straight at Eric now. "Bit of a loser, really. Would have lost us State if not for my daring rescue. Lost his scholarship before he even had it. Stuck in Division II. Loser."

That last loser must have been the straw that broke the quarterback's back, because the next thing Tami knew, Eric's palms were on Mo's shoulders, and then Mo was stumbling back several feet.

"Eric, don't!" Tami commanded.

Eric stopped moving forward.

Mo put up his fists. "You want a piece of this?"

A couple of juniors in the hall started yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and kids in the main hall started running toward the locker bays.

"I do not find fighting sexy," Tami told Eric, "Just so you know." She slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Eric held up his hands. "No fight!" he announced. "There's no fight! There's nothing to see here."

Tami felt relieved, but that was when Mo looked right at Eric and said, "Of course there's no fight. Because we all know Eric Taylor is a chicken shit loser."

[*]

Tami slid on the cafeteria bench across from Jack, who was drawing his sandwich out of a brown sack.

"So is Eric in the principal's office?" he asked.

"Yep. You heard about the fight?" It hadn't lasted long before a teacher broke it up. There were no bloody noses or black eyes. No punches even landed. The fight had gone quickly to the floor, and then there was a lot of grappling and grunting. It looked more like a wrestling match than a brawl.

"No, I saw it. I was at the other end of the hall when it started."

"I really hope this fight doesn't jeopardize his scholarship," Tami said.

"It won't. I know how Principal Manner handles the team. It won't go on any record."

"Must be nice to be a football player sometimes."

"No, he just believes in second chances," Jack claimed. "For everyone."

"I really wish Eric hadn't fought Mo. It's such macho B.S."

"Cut him some slack, Tami. Did you hear Mo calling him a chicken? What was he supposed to do?"

"Walk away," Tami said.

Jack shook his head. "You can't walk away when a guy calls you that, Tami. The rest of the guys will eat you alive. You have to fight."

"Not everyone has to fight," Tami said. "You've never been in a fight. You believe in turning the other cheek, right?"

"Sure, but I've only got two cheeks. And no one's ever provoked me like that. You can't blame Eric for that, Tami. Mo started that. Don't be mad at him for finishing what Mo started."

"I just hope it is finished," Tami said.

"It will be," Jack assured her. "Because while Principal Manner will let this one slide, he's going to make it clear that a second fight won't slide. And Mo doesn't want to risk his scholarship with a suspension." Jack cracked open his Diet Coke with a hiss. The drink had come out two or three years ago, and Tami had tried it, but she couldn't get use to the weird taste. She stuck with the regular variety. "You're not backing out of your date with Eric now, are you?"

"No," she said. "Of course not. So I take it Kimberley told you I liked him?"

"She didn't have to tell me. I draw my own conclusions."

"How long do you think Eric's liked me?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. But remember that last game of the volleyball season?" Tami nodded. "I wanted to go see Kimberley play. I was trying to work up the courage to ask her out. I told Eric that, and he said he'd come to give me moral support. But I saw who he was watching that entire game."

"But you didn't ask Kimberley out at that game."

"No. I chickened out. But I flirted with her a little."

While Jack sipped his Diet Coke, Tami asked, "How are your parents, with you dating a Baptist?"

"Not thrilled," he admitted. "But what are they going to do? I'm 18 now. I'm leaving soon."

"I think for Eric, it can't be soon enough." She was thinking of how much he wanted to escape his father, but now she thought of how far apart they would likely end up. He'd been near Austin, and she'd most likely be near Dallas, three hours of road apart. She frowned.

"You might get into TMU," Jack said, and Tami felt suddenly exposed. How did he know what she was thinking? "Even if you don't," Jack continued, "the schools you applied to are what, three hours from Austin? Kimberley's probably going to UT-El Paso. That's over 11 hours from Oklahoma State." He sighed. "Might as well be another world."

[*]

During their government class, Eric handed a note backward to Tami. It read –

Can we change our date to Saturday? I have to clean the locker room toilets Friday evening as punishment for the fight.

Tami sighed. On the paper she scrawled – Don't you have taxi duty at the bar on Saturdays?

Under that, he wrote back – I can probably get off at 4:30 if I worked Sunday evening.

She scrawled back – Sure then. But that fight was NOT sexy.

Under that he scrawled –Sorry and handed it back. She was reading his one-word reply when the teacher snatched the paper from her hand. Fortunately, Mr. Thomas didn't threaten to read it aloud to the class. He just tossed it in the trash can. Then he said, "Mr. Taylor, please switch desks with Ms. Allen."

"Who?" Eric asked.

Kimberly stood up. "He means me."

"Oh," Eric said, standing up. "I never knew your last name."

"Flattering," Kimberley said as Eric took her seat in the front row and she took Eric's in front of Tami. "Guess I'm a buffer state now."

Mr. Thomas smiled thinly. "Well at least someone's been paying attention to my government lectures."