El Camino Real

Bellwood, CA

November 17, 2000

10:18 PM

"Targets have separated. The witch is with the other female child in a vehicle piloted by an older male. The father of the second female." The alien speaking pressed a control and a section of the wall lit up with video of an aerial view of a minivan traveling down a well lit four lane highway.

"The Abomination is in a separate vehicle with another male and seems to be en route to his home, based on visual and audio surveillance." A press of another control, and a second image of a light blue classic Mustang appeared next to the first. The minivan turned from the left lane off El Camino Real onto a dark, residential road.

The control operator swiveled to face the operation supervisor. "If we act now we can destroy the vehicle with the witch and the one carrying the helf't and be off planet before any defensive action can be done! Attack drones are positioned for both targets."

The supervisor considered the suggestion for a few moments before answering. "No. Your suggestion has merit, and shows initiative. But it is against our instructions. Continue your surveillance."

"But commander! This is our chance! We can't expect a better opportunity!"

"SUBORN! What did I just order?! Attacking the Abomination and witch without a well ordered plan is not within the rules of engagement for our mission. You will follow your orders, as I will follow mine."

The operator turned back to the control board, dejected. "Acknowledged."

"Suborn. High Command has more in mind than just eliminating those two. They want a demonstration to the Earthers and the rest of the galaxy of the consequences of murdering our warlord beyond simply killing two younglings. Don't be discouraged - the helf't and the sorceress will be dealt with severely. Our mission is part of that bigger plan."

"As you say, commander." The operator looked at his video monitor, the picture showing a young girl with red hair in a blue dress walking from the van to a door in the house. As the door opened, the sudden bright light spilling from it, along with a poorly aligned floodlight turning on, caused a brief surge of light that saturated the low-light camera. The over-driven sensor made the display bloom white, obscuring the image of the girl entering the house and the minivan backing out of the driveway.

The supervisor leaned forward with a frown. "Could anything have detected a reflection from that off the drone?"

Another operator next to the first swiveled to face the superior. "Potentially, commander, but unlikely. Our surveillance drone is very small, remember, close in size to a flying insect the earthers call a moth. It has the standard low reflectivity coating, only the lens would be susceptible to any secondary flashing. Any reflection would be very weak. We know of no earther technology that can detect such a low signal."

The video picture was back, with a restored view of the minivan as the first operator recovered the track, following at a short distance. The bright red tail lights of the vehicle were the only significant lights in the picture; the dim white pinpricks in the sky were easily ignored, as was the short disappearance and reappearance of clumps of those pinlights.

Mission Control Center

Fort Hopper

Half an hour south east of Bellwood, CA

10:26 PM

"Zeta X-Ray One, Whiskey Tango. Looking for a sitrep."

"Copy Whiskey. Subject One is en route to home in that bitchen Pony Car his buddy drives, ETA one five minutes. Subject Two just got dropped off at home and is in the building, the Old Man and his Dash One are five minutes from quarters."

Max winced at hearing the word 'subjects', like he always did when it referred to his grandkids. He knew why it was good surveillance practice - it maintained a professional focus, if nothing else - but it was far too impersonal. He drew the line at an attempt at designating them 'targets' of Plumber surveillance not too long ago; the new operator that tried it quickly found out the old Colonel still had a flair for a public dressing down that rivaled Merlin's.

After several seconds he was back on the air. "Come on, Zeta, you can do better than that. We're on a protected link, give me more than just the who and where. Any indication of anomalies associated with the subjects?" Max had given his nephew a private addition to this evening's pre-mission brief, advising Joel to watch for any light phenomena coming from the red stone hanging around Gwen's neck, something that needed to be communicated discreetly. He wasn't convinced he saw the charm do a light show - his old eyes may have played a trick on him - so best not to get that old bastard spun up until he was sure. It may be a dedicated channel, but that didn't mean it was necessarily private. Avalon could key in at any time; best to keep that in mind for any conversation.

"Well, both subjects were definitely glowing at each other all night for one reason or another, as you might expect. Nothing out of the ordinary, though, at least for those two. Otherwise, no, no unusual or unexplainable effects, although subjects weren't always visible the whole time."

Max chuckled. "I can just imagine…" he mumbled to himself. "Copy, Zeta. Advise me when Subject One gets home or if anything unusual happens."

A third, aggravated voice blared out of the speaker. "For christ's sake, we aren't chaperones! I don't care about them giving each other moon eyes! Why was either one allowed to be out of sight for even a second, Zeta?! You're protecting the two most capable weapons on the planet! Don't make the mistake of treating them like snot-nosed childr-"

"Avalon, Zeta One, break break" the object of Merlin's ire cut in. "We just detected an unexplained flash of light over Subject Two's house, very faint but our starlight sensor picked it up. Stand by…"

"Isolate the location of that flash and get me a visual. What was it?" Zeta One barked sharply at his watch crew, all professional now and poised for potential hostilities.

"Focused sensor scan of that area in progress, hang on…. " came a response from the CAP operator as she directed her combat air patrol vehicle for a closer look. "Multi-spectral sensor is tracking a two by one centimeter metallic cylinder flying about 3 meters above and 4 meters behind the Old Man's van. Over-watch drone is maneuvering to intercept and capture it… Ten meters to target… still tracking, no signs of evasion… six meters… two… "

"Commander, the drone has detected air turbulence directly behind it, same altitude…" the Suborn said, just before the video picture went black. "I don't understand, commander, the drone's signal is gone…"

"Recall all other drones or give the self destruct command if they can't be recovered immediately. Return to the ship and tell the Captain to leave orbit as soon as we arrive. NOW, Suborn!" the alien operation supervisor barked. "The helf't's guardians have captured our surveillance drone. Get us out of here before the damn Plumbers get us, too."

"Target captured, Whiskey." Zeta One reported. "Still doing broad area search for any other unaccounted-for objects. We detected two small flashes within 20 meters, multi-spectral shows consistent with micro explosive charges."

"The bastards are getting bolder, Whiskey. Handle the situation on the ground. Avalon has everything above ten meters AGL. … Don't lose our advantages."

"Roger that Avalon. Whiskey Tango out." Max said crisply. "Advantages!" he muttered in distaste. "As if I needed you to tell me that, you miserable son of a bitch!" he mumbled to himself.

- X -

Ben stopped as they came out of the backstage hallway into the auditorium, quietly humming the last line from Iris and reliving the last two minutes he spent with his Dweeb before she and Michelle left for home. He knew he was grinning like a moron and he didn't care. His lips still tingled from what hers had been doing to him.

"Night dancing already, Runt? Usually have to be asleep for that."

"Night dancing?" Ben's smile faded into a confused frown.

"Yeah, you know - replaying killer memories in your dreams. Happens to me whenever I get back from a good surfing trip. Which one was it?" Paul's mouth curled into a grin and he snapped his fingers. "I know. It was that waltz, right?"

It was the same music, anyway. Ben felt the goofy grin come back. "Um, yeah. That was a great song."

"And a great dance! Once it got past that tricky part that alternated the 3/4 and 2/4 time signatures. Where did you learn how to do that?" Paul put his hands on Ben's shoulders and nudged him towards the exit. "Come on, I gotta get you home."

Ben ducked his head as they walked across the auditorium. "Gwen. We went to a wedding on the first summer trip and she taught me."

Paul laughed. "Why is that not a surprise!"

It was a great story, so Ben retold it as they walked towards the parking lot. Except for the part when half the guests reverted to their natural Sludgepuppy form and he and the Dweeb got to do some hero butt kicking.

"So, Squirt, besides that song, how did you and the girls like the show? What did your Dweeb think of your Cyrano impression?" Paul asked as they approached the building exit on the way to their ride home.

Ben usually at least flinched when someone besides him called Gwen that. At least he got the whole term right - his Dweeb. Not that it happened all that often since not too many people knew that nickname, but hearing Paul say it was OK. After everything that happened, he thought his friend had a good sense of what it meant, even though Ben never even tried to explain it to him.

"Yeah, it was great! I never thought playing in a band would be that much fun!" he replied through a grin. "Gwen and Michelle really liked it, too! She said the other guys were good, but you were awesome!" The grin turned into a smile. "Especially the last song! The way you played the solo was really cool! That was a great ending to your set!"

"I figured you both liked that one, particularly with your unconventional way to dance to it!" Paul flicked shining eyes at him as they got to the Mustang and got in. They hadn't danced to that song as much as cuddled to it, but he thought they weren't noticed. "Of course I saw that, Shorty! The shadow you guys were in wasn't enough to shield you, not from the stage. … That is a fun song, we just added it to the play list last week."

"Um, yeah… The Dweeb thought that song was special. The way you sang your parts…" Ben ducked his head as a shudder went across his shoulders as he said "We both did, really. Michelle too." The November night air was colder now than when they first arrived and they both pulled their jackets closed, but he couldn't blame that as the cause of his reactions. He picked his head up - what made him get self-conscious like that! He was just giving Paul a simple compliment, like they'd both done before.

"You were really screaming on the other songs, too! That Runaway song was killer, I want to learn that one! And the other one you sang little bits of, It's All Been Done? That too!"

Paul chuckled. "Yeah, I could see you guys liked that one, too!" He said over the exhaust's rumble as he eased the Mustang out of the school parking lot.

"What's that mean?"

"Come on, dude! You two didn't dance to that as much as have a make out session! In full view, too!" Paul got a bemused, thoughtful expression. "I'm kinda wondering how I can get Shiela to do that to me."

"You saw that too?!"

"Everybody on the dance floor saw that, Shorty! You kidding?! You saw the view from the stage, there weren't many places to hide. … Just assume I saw you guys every time you were out there." He chuckled softly and smirked. "It was quite the show."

"She was just teaching me some dance moves. That's how we do new stuff for karate." Ben grumbled.

"Well, that's one way to look at it. You were spazzing out before she did." Light from the passing street lamps flashed over Paul's face, showing that the dirty so and so was enjoying this way too much!

Paul decided to have mercy on him. "You were wailing on your axe pretty good, too, especially Detroit Rock City! You killed that!" he said through a broad smile. "I'm sure Gwen got what she wanted from that request!"

"I knew she asked for that!" No big surprise there, but it was still awesome to play their song for her and see her have so much fun dancing to it. The way her dress swirled around her thighs, creeping up enough so he'd notice … His face was starting to ache from smiling so much, but it was so worth it! "Yeah, we both aced that song! Even Doug!" Ben had to give credit where it's due - the bass player was a jerk, but he could play.

"So we're back to my question - what about Always? She say anything about that?"

"Yeah!" Ben said gazing out the window as a smile took over his face, remembering their backstage time before his algebra teacher caught them. "Yeah, she said she can't wait for me to play it for her again."

He turned back to his friend. "Do you think she knows what that song is about?"

Paul looked at him pensively, considering how to answer that loaded question. "Steve said it was a love song. … Look, Doofus, you know your Dweeb way better than I ever will. I think you already know the answer to that. You knew when you hatched your plot to play it for her. … But yeah, I think she does."

Ben stared out into the night. "I hope so." he murmured, not really focused on the drive home at all. A bump from a manhole cover snapped him back. "Gwen said more, but that's …" he said, a little sheepishly.

"About you, right? And that's as much as you should say, yeah?" Paul looked over at him with a grin. "She's really good with words, but from what I could see she was saying way more without any. And that's just what I saw. I'm sure I missed a lot more, huh? … Good on you for keeping it off the dance floor and between you!" He focused on the road again. "Mostly, anyway!"

Ben couldn't stop his face from burning. His friend wasn't wrong, he had taken as much advantage as he could of the opportunities to let his girlfriend know how he felt about her. Gwen was no slouch about kissing him either, even when they were almost caught in the middle of a really good one by his teacher. That had been close - it turned out to be easier to say they weren't concerned any more about being seen than actually acting that way. He was glad it was too dark for his flush to show, then and now.

"And don't be embarrassed! That's what you do on dates, right?"

Ben jerked his head to the left at that; Paul couldn't have seen his face actually glow, could he? "Yeah, I guess. Like you said, we're still trying to figure out the rules and not be gross about it…" Or get carried away like they had once or twice lately, and give bystanders a show they shouldn't see.

Paul chuckled. "Don't worry about that, Squirt! You two did good."

A few blocks went by with only the low sound of a cassette tape playing over the sweet drone of the exhaust glass packs from the back. There was a lingering question in his mind, one his Dweeb shared with him about that song. Ben twisted in his seat to face towards the driver's side.

"Hey, Paul?"

"Yeah, Mouse?"

"Why did you write that song? About me and my Dweeb?"

"A little presumptuous, don't you think? What makes you think it was about you two?" Paul teased with a tight smile.

Ben snorted. "Yeah right. You heard Michelle. Who else fits the song?"

"She's pretty perceptive, isn't she? … You got me - I did write it for you. Not about you. There's a difference."

"OK. So why?"

Paul sighed. "Like I said, that time in January was hard to watch. Summer was even worse. But when you guys got back together, I just… I guess… "

The blond searched for words. "I guess because I wanted you two to know it's ok that you're special to each other. You forgot that for a while." Paul turned his head towards the right seat and caught his eyes, then looked back to the road. "If you ever need another reminder, maybe that song will help."

Ben nodded and considered that for a moment. That would explain a few things…

"Is that why you got me to ask her to come?"

Paul turned and gave him a tight smile before looking back at the road. "Pretty sharp yourself, Squirt! … Sortof. Dances always were a chance for me to have fun with the girls I dated. I thought you two would like it. But you, Clueless Wonder - you needed a little push."

The light from passing street lamps through the windshield lit up his grin for a few seconds. "I wasn't really sure my song would be ready by tonight, but the guys in the band heard it a few weeks ago and helped me finish it. When they saw you guys they agreed to do it."

He chuckled softly. "Doug said it was precious!"

"I'm sure" Ben snorted sarcastically. "What's he got against me, anyway?" he asked irritably.

"It's not you, he's kind of a prick to everyone, but the other guys put up with it. Hard to find decent bass players, I guess." he mused.

They drove in silence into a red light, then Paul broke the quiet again.

"There's another reason I put you up to this." he said slowly, staring straight ahead. "Truth be told I thought it would be fun to play some more music with you, too. Since school started up I kinda missed our jam sessions."

The light turned green, but there wasn't much traffic so he turned to look at Ben again. "I see Gwen often enough, but I miss your scrawny butt and half-assed attempts at karate, too, you know?"

He looked ahead again. "Pretty lame, huh?" he said a little sheepishly.

Ben stared ahead, not knowing what to say to that. He'd had the time of his life tonight being with his amazing girlfriend. He'd thought dancing with her would be fun, all the way back to the only time they sortof did in the Rustbucket, before he got embarrassed by Grandpa's appearance. He daydreamed about it more than once, especially after she danced to his music the first time. He couldn't have guessed it would be this much fun or feel this good, though! Even sharing the time with Army Girl had been pretty cool - he was catching on to why his Dweeb was best friends with her.

Hearing his friend say he missed the times they played music together and worked out in the dojo, though…

Ben snorted softly. "Hunh. About as lame as watching your music teacher get in some awesome rock god licks." he said through a broad grin.

Paul let out a short laugh, then grinned at the road ahead of them as he turned onto Ben's street. "Sounds like we both need a reality check, Runt. We need to get back to normal by tomorrow morning!"

Madison Middle School

Bellwood, CA

November 20, 2000

7:48 AM

Ben slowed down as he got close to the school entrance so Jamie could catch up from the opposite direction. "Hey Jamie! How's it going?" he called out as his gaming buddy got closer. "Didn't see you at the dance Friday night. You missed out, the band was pretty good."

"Pssht! Why would I go to that? Not like I was going to actually dance, you know?"

Ben let out a short laugh. He wouldn't expect the somewhat socially inept boy to dance with a girl, that's for sure. Then again, up until Friday night he was pretty sure most of his class would have said the same about him. "That's on you, dude. You might like it if you tried it." He fell in step as both boys went up the walkway to the main entrance. "Besides, you could have just gone to listen. The drummer was pretty good all by himself."

"Yeah?" That got the other boy's attention, now that he was getting decent at playing drums in the school music program. "So did you dance with anyone?"

Ben smiled and opened the door in front of him. "Yes I did, matter of fact. Among other things. It was fun!" He laughed again at his friend's surprised expression. He'd be reliving the night with his girlfriend for a long time, for a lot more than just dancing! "You really should go to the next one."

They split up to go to their first period classrooms. "Yeah, sure." Jamie said. "You can try to talk me into it at lunch."

"OK. Meet you at the cafeteria." Ben grinned as he started up the stairs.

The weirdness started as soon as he hit the second floor. He was used to walking mostly unnoticed down the halls, even after the championship match. He figured he'd get a bit more attention because of Friday night, but he wasn't ready for this. It seemed every five feet there was one or more of his classmates giving him a close look, not just the bored glances he was used to.

The non-cliquey girls that had always at least looked at him and said hi kept doing that, but now they had timid smiles and giggled when they passed by him, especially the seventh graders. Other girls, the popular ones that never paid him attention before suddenly were, a few acting like they were friends, all smiles and brightly calling out "Hi Ben!", even if he didn't return the greeting. Half the time all he could manage was a tentative half-wave, not sure they were really talking to him.

Most of the guys just looked at him funny and also said hey, but a few of the jocks gave him the head nod thing and grinned, like they were part of some special club. He was used to his teammates doing that, but seeing other guys that barely acknowledged his existence last week doing it today bordered on bizarre.

Almost everyone made some comment about his guitar playing - "You were really shredding, man!" "Didn't know you could play, dude, you were really good!" "The songs you played were amazing, Ben! You should do it at the spring talent show!" "Nice voice, Ben! Are you going to keep playing with that band?"

And so it went between classes all morning. Even a couple teachers who had chaperoned complimented his previously unknown musical talent. Not Mr Rodriguez, though, not that he expected anything positive from that jerk; Ben still half expected to be pulled aside for at least a detention for staying too long in the backstage area, if not a written note for a parent-teacher meeting that his Mom and Dad had to sign. Turned out, though, his initial reaction to how his algebra teacher handled Gwen's, um, appreciation of his musical talents was the right one after all; the man made a point of congratulating the few kids who tried to do the extra credit problems on last Thursday's homework, including pointing out that hisanswer was also the only correct one. And a genuine reference that being good at music often meant being good at math, along with a cryptic "Of course, having the right motivation also helps" and a quick grin at him. Maybe his Dweeb was right, maybe his teacher wasn't just a jerk. Still really weird, though.

No one said anything about his Dweeb or Michelle, but several of the guys and girls gave him a creepy knowing grin as they passed by him in the hall. A couple of the girls even blatantly licked their lips as they approached him before walking by with a totally unexpected greeting and a smile that sent a shiver across his shoulders that was nothinglike what he felt from his Dweeb. They were more like the feeling he imagined the fish at the lake felt just before getting snatched from the water. What the hell was that about?!

A few, Cash included, glowered at him for no reason, but gave him a good sized bubble as he walked from class to class.

No one said anything about the girls except Jorge, that is, who stopped as he came on Ben waiting in front of the cafeteria doors right before lunch.

"Yo Diez! What's the haps, man? Killer dance, huh?! And you weren't too bad with your guitar, either - who knew?" his teammate called out for everyone in the hall to hear.

"Horhay! Como sta frijole?"

"Mismo viejo. Y tu- wait. What?! What did you just say?!"

Ben let out a short laugh. "Como sta frijole - how have you bean?" he grinned as he quirked his eyebrows.

"What?! … Oh, that just sucks, dude! You're gonna hurt for that!" The taller boy trapped Ben in a headlock and knuckle-rubbed the top of his head. Hard.

Ben was laughing as he put the training Sensei gave at the dojo on how to break a headlock to good use, easy enough so he didn't hurt Jorge. That didn't stop him from putting the guy up against the wall with an arm twisted behind his back, though, who was laughing out "All right, I give, I give!"

"So how's Michelle? Did she say anything over the weekend?" he asked a little too eagerly after being let go, absently rubbing at his wrist. Ben knew what he was angling for, but the guy was gonna have to work for it. Not that there was much to tell, not without checking with Army Girl first. He knew that much.

"Um, no. She didn't say anything to me, I didn't see her Saturday or yesterday."

"Uh huh. And what about the other girl? I never did hear her name. What's her story?" Jorge quirked his eyebrows at Ben with a smirk. "I'm sure you saw her!"

Ben started rubbing the back of his neck, looking down the hall over Jorge's shoulder. He did; he and Gwen had their typical afternoon study sessions, and they really did go over his science test material. And enough extracurricular stuff to keep them both happy for a day or two. He wasn't going to say anything about that, either. Or give up her name, even to his teammate. Keeping his schoolmates in the dark was still the best way to deal with his current notoriety, it'd blow over soon enough. Still, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jamie coming their way.

"There's no story, she's a friend who wanted to hear the band."

"Yeah, right! Just a friend …" the Latino boy said slowly before turning to look at the sound of approaching shoes echoing in the hall. "My left nut…" he mumbled, loud enough for Ben to hear, though.

Jamie was fifteen feet away but approaching quickly, his sneakers slapping the floor and sounding almost like he was running as he got closer, eyes as big as an owl's behind his glasses. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Jamie, dude, what's the hurry? You look like you did that time those eighth graders were about to give you an ultimate wedgie last year!" Ben said with a smirk. His friend had run past him then, not far from this spot, as the two bullies skidded to a stop four feet from Ben. Everyone in school back then had heard how he saved Cash from a serious butt kicking, and those chuckleheads figured out they didn't want to find out exactly how he did it. They just glared at Jamie, then withered from the one he shot back at them from a ready stance, and that was that. Sensei would have been proud.

"You know this guy, JC?" Jorge asked, not unkindly. He and Jamie just didn't run in the same crowd.

"Yeah. This is Jamie. Jamie, this is Jorge, from the soccer team." Ben turned back to Jorge. "I've known Jamie since, like, third grade, when we started playing Sumo card games and stuff. Between that and video games he gets his butt kicked on a regular basis."

Jamie recovered enough to return Ben's fire. "Up yours, Tennyson! We all know you only win by cheating!" he said with his own smirk.

"You mean cheat codes. I'm just better at them than you are!" Ben laughed.

Jorge looked back and forth between the two, amused by the exchange before checking a wall clock. "Whatever. I've gotta get to class." He started walking, calling over his shoulder "You're not off the hook, JC, you're gonna spill about your mystery girl!"

"Keep dreaming, dude!" Ben called back.

Jamie looked at him quizzically "JC?"

"Huh? Oh that. It's short for Jean-Claude." Jamie just changed his expression to a blank stare.

"Oh c'mon Jamie! You know! Jean-Claude? As in Van Dam? As in karate, Bloodsport?"

Jamie snorted. "Seriously?" Then he remembered why he was in such a hurry to find his friend as the shocked look came back.

"Dude! What the hell did you do at the dance?!" the slightly pudgy boy asked in a harsh, conspiratorial voice.

Ben blinked his eyes in surprise at the change in topic. "Huh? Why?! What did you hear?"

"That you were part of the band, at least for a few songs. Twice! And that you're really good! Especially the instrumentals you did by yourself and with some high school guy. Everyone's talking about it! How come you never told me?!"

He shrugged. "Not a lot to tell. The guitar player is a friend of mine and arranged for me to play a couple songs. I told you I did more than dance. And it was a lot of fun!" He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face.

"Oh bullshit! Since when do you not crow about something like that! It's not like that's ever happened here before!" Jamie snorted. He wasn't wrong, really, but strutting about it right now just didn't seem like a great idea. Jamie wasn't done with his rumint report, anyway.

"Doesn't matter right now. What everyone's really talking about is that you showed up with girls! Two of them! Both really pretty! And you only danced with them! And no one knows who they are or how you know them!" The words came out in a rush before he took a breath.

"And that one of them, the red head in a blue dress, was all over you during a couple songs and you didn't seem to mind." he added in a hushed tone. "A few seventh graders even said you kissed her! On the lips and everything!"

He took another breath and almost whispered "They said you were deep throating each other!"

Ben jerked his head around to see if anyone else heard that; thank god no one was close enough! He felt his cheeks start to burn as he turned back and glared.

"Jesus, Jamie, watch what you say!" Ben hissed. "That doesn't mean what you think it does! And we didn't do anything like that! We weren't even French kissing!" Not that he didn't want to, or that they were getting awfully close to it… But not in public like that! They both had some sense!

"I mean… We didn't…" his voice trailed away as he realized he all but admitted to it. Shit! Why did he have to be such a bad liar?! Except about heroing and the Watch and magic and aliens. Maybe because they hadn't done any of that, ever since… He shook that off, he really didn't have time for that panic attack. One crisis at a time.

Jamie was looking at him intently, plainly waiting for some kind of explanation. Ben sucked in a deep breath and let it out. "Listen, dude, they're friends. That's all anyone around here needs to know. And what I do with he-, er, either one is between us. OK?"

Jamie nodded, eyes wide again behind his glasses at Ben's indirect admission to the story. "So can you not spread rumors?" Ben asked, not quite pleading.

"All right." He could see his buddy wasn't entirely buying it. "But you know everyone's just gonna keep wondering about your mystery girlfriend."

Yeah, Ben knew. He heard the whispers and saw the surprised and sometimes outraged looks when he traded texts with the Dweeb, the ones that couldn't believe he even knew a girl who'd reply to him any time during school, let alone that would be his girlfriend. But none of them ever came up with a better explanation.

Ben sighed, partly in exasperation. Mostly because he wanted to admit to it, to shout it so the whole school would know how happy he was with his awesome Dweeb! But the best he could do right now was say it in his music. As if if any of his clueless classmates would get it. She did, though, and that was all that mattered.

"Yeah, I know. That's not my problem. … Come on, I'm hungry. Let's see if there's something decent for lunch today."

- X -

He got five feet down the hall after leaving the cafeteria before he heard the cheery girl's voice he knew from his next class. "Hi Ben! Wait up!"

Ben stopped and faced the barely taller than him, auburn-haired girl that went with the voice. One of the top-tier eighth grade clique. Her voice wasn't familiar because of her class participation though, and it sure wasn't because she talked to him on any basis, regular or otherwise. It was because she was one of the frequent gossipers in that group, and she had the kind of voice that carried over background noise. Kind of annoying, really.

"Hey Ashley." He fell in walking along with her to class, though - they didn't have that much spare time to stop and chit chat and still be on time.

"I just wanted to tell you, like, I thought your performance at the dance was amazing! I guess you've been hearing that all morning, huh? But it's true!" She smiled broadly at him. "Have you been playing a long time?"

"Oh, uh, thanks. Yeah. I started playing a couple years ago." This was the typical conversation he'd been having since he got to school, only this time the other person wasn't. A popular girl talking to him was so not ordinary. He didn't volunteer any more info - she started this conversation, she could keep it going for another hundred feet. Or not, didn't matter to him.

It seemed she wanted to talk, though, since she took a couple hurried steps and angled in front of him so they ended up in an alcove between banks of lockers. She stopped and faced him, cutting off his path back into the hall. "You've probably heard this, too - who were those two cute girls you were hanging out with? No one remembers seeing them before."

"Um, j-" he started before clamping his mouth shut. He almost said just friends! Like that was the way he thought of his Dweeb and her bestest buddy! They were both so muchmore than 'just friends', even if for very different reasons. Somehow, though, he knew he shouldn't use the word 'girlfriend' with the girl blocking his way. Who knew what she was playing at? He decided to stay with the most basic truth, without discounting either girl with just. Something they learned from Grandpa; the best story is a half-truth - no need to add unnecessary details, easy to remember 'cause it's TRUE - and leave it at that.

"They're friends from outside school. They wanted to see the band - we all know the lead guitar player." That wasn't really a lie, Michelle and Paul had met before.

"I don't know, the way you two acted it seemed like more. Some of the slow dances you two did seemed pretty intense. 'Specially that waltz…" the girl drawled out. She waited for him to reply, but he just made a noncommittal noise. Another Grandpa technique.

"Uh huh. … You know, if you wanted you could have a new friend inside school."

"What do you mean?"

Ashley made a hmmpf noise. "Like you don't know." she said sarcastically to herself. Then she looked at his eyes and got a questioning look, as if she just had a surprising thought. "Or maybe you really don't."

"Listen, mister garage band rock god and soccer championship MVP" she said firmly, "between those things and you deciding to not be the class clown any more, right now almost every girl in this school is interested in you!"

This conversation kept getting weirder. "Like you?"

"Why, Ben Tennyson, are you flirting with me?" the girl teased with a giggle.

He scrunched up his eyebrows and rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "No!"

"Mmmm… Too bad. Just as well, though, I'm happy in my situation. But there are other girls…"

"Like?"

"Well, Heather, for one. She asked me to check with you since she isn't in any of your classes."

"Heather Anderson?!" Ben gave her his outraged, questioning look - something he hadn't had to use in a long time, he realized. The queen bee of queen bees? Not likely!

"Ye-es. You know, she's not as outgoing as everyone thinks. She's very shy until she gets to know someone."

"I'm sure." he muttered. "Well, you can tell Heather and whoever else that I'm good with my situation too. I'm not looking to change anything."

Ashley looked him over with pursed lips, from his eyes down to his shoes and back. "You know, I believe you. … Come on, let's get going. Don't want to be late to class." She led the way back down the hall.

"If you've ever thought about expanding the friends you hang out with, though, now's the time. There's at least two more dances and the Spring Fling coming up. And some girls are more fun than others. Know what I mean?" she said. "Don't wait too long, though. Who knows what might change next semester?"

They walked almost the remaining distance without talking, until the girl sped up over the last five feet to their classroom, beating him to the door. She opened it and got through first, holding it for him. As he stepped in, she headed for her seat and looked over her shoulder at him with a plastic smile and said in her overly cheery voice "Think about what I said, Ben!"

As he sat down, Ben saw several other girls flash a scowl at Ashley before refocusing on him with looks he couldn't figure out.

Weird.

/