January had come and gone, and February was here - bringing with it the second semester of school. But I could hardly focus on school given what happened between Christmas and now: Dallas and I were officially together. His ring now rested on my left hand and had been there for a few weeks now.

And it wasn't just my love life that was changing. Nicole and Two-Bit had finally realized they were better off as friends, something Bridgette noticed and was very happy to hear (though she still had yet to confess her feelings to Nicole). Also, we somehow learned that Leanne and Mickey had become a couple. That last bit wasn't surprising, as the two of them had seemed to like each other for awhile. But we'd never cared about it before, and still didn't care that much now, even if Leanne was more civil toward us. She had a long way to go before we could consider her a friend.

The last month also proved one of my theories correct. I mentioned before that I figured Dallas might grow to hate Vanessa and the other kids that did still screw with us, and he proved me right by getting into a fight with Mickey more than once. Most of the time it seemed like Mickey was the one to start it, but not always.

Alex and the rest of the band, by the way, were doing fantastically! Jessie and I absolutely adored their music even if it wasn't the genre Jessie listened to a lot of the time, and neither of us could wait for the festival to finally get here so we could see how they did in front of a bigger audience. They posted notices about the festival on YouTube, Twitter and their own website, so I had a strong feeling we'd see many of their online fans there, for sure.

What was even better was that Two-Bit convinced all the guys to go there, too, and check them out. Apparently it didn't take much effort, though; they were genuinely curious to see what kind of music Shadowmist played.

"Hey, Lana," Nicole approached me during lunch hour one Tuesday afternoon, "Want to hang out after school?"

I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't often she asked to hang out with me, specifically. "Yeah, sure," I replied, "Where did you want to meet?"

"How about the park?" she suggested.

"Sounds perfect," I agreed, "So right after school, then?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. See you then."

The time to meet up with her arrived in the blink of an eye. She was already sitting on the park bench underneath the tree when I got there, looking as though she had something on her mind. She wasn't her usual bubbly self. "Hey," I called as I approached her, "You okay? You look like you need to talk."

"I'm fine," she replied, "Just thinking about...some stuff."

"Is it about Two-Bit?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. Well, sort of...it's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping you could give me some advice."

"Of course," I replied, taking a seat next to her on the bench, "Fire away."

"Here's the thing," she began with a sigh, "You probably already worked out that I only went out with him to make someone else jealous. Am I right?"

"Yeah, I figured."

"The thing is, it wasn't any of the guys I was interested in."

"Is it Bridgette?" I guessed. I remembered my conversation with Bridgette a couple months back.

Nicole's eyebrows shot up. "How'd you guess?"

"I'm pretty perceptive. Anyway, here's the bit of advice I have to offer: Ask her out. Trust me, you won't regret it."

"But what if she--"

"--rejects you? I don't think she will. But if she does, then at least you gave it a shot, right?" I put a hand on her shoulder, "Go for it. It is so worth the risk."

Nicole smiled, looking as though a huge weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. "Thanks, Lana. You're a good friend."

"I try," I smiled back, "Anyway, I think you two would make a really good couple."

She blushed at those words. "So how are things with Dallas now that you guys are together?"

"Pretty good," I said, "though I'm honestly still surprised he's even interested in me at all. Just didn't seem like I was his type, you know?"

If it were Jessie or Alex sitting with me, they'd have reminded me of Cherry Valance at once. But Nicole was under the spell Alex cast on everyone, which would prevent her from even thinking to reference the book. She didn't know he was from there, after all.

Instead she replied with, "Seems to me like you are his type, Lana."

Now it was my turn to blush. "Thanks."

"The ring looks really good on you, by the way," she noted.

Again, I thanked her. "So other than the Bridgette stuff, how are you?"

"I'm alright. Mostly worried about this essay I have to get done for English by next week. It's really been kicking my ass."

"That sucks," I replied, "Writer's block?"

"Yup. Hopefully I can get around it soon, or I'm screwed. The teacher I have doesn't like us asking for deadline extensions."

"What's the topic?" I asked curiously.

Nicole reached into her bag and pulled out a sheet of paper that looked to have the assignment instructions written upon it. She handed it to me. "It has to do with this book we've been studying."

From what I read, the task seemed incredibly boring and I told her so as I handed the paper back to her. "Good luck with it, though," I added.

"Thanks. I'll need it," she responded, tucking it away.

Honestly, getting to hang out with Nicole was really nice. Even better was when we were joined by both Johnny and Ponyboy, who were in some of the same classes as Nicole this semester. Dallas joined us, too, and we all spent the next hour or so just talking and joking with each other, finding that Nicole and Dallas got along with each other rather well.

Afternoons like this one would forever have a place among my memories.