"Hold up" Joe says as he stopped me from talking. We were sitting in the back of our English class that we somehow have together, and yet again, he took my seat in the back. "No one knows about roller derby?"

"Shh" I hushed as I glanced around the room. The room was bursting with several other conversations. The teacher, who instead of doing his job, had his feet kicked up on the desk and was fast asleep. No one bothered her as she and Joe talked. "No one knows."

Joe cracked a smile. "How have you not smashed in anyone's face in yet?"

"Pure talent" I suggested. "I was close though one time."

"What happened?" Curiosity spread across his face.

"Well she got in my face, and I went to punch her, but I hit a concrete wall instead."

"Ouch" he cringed. "What happened?

"Two broken fingers as well as a semi crushed spirit" I told him.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side" he chuckled. "Is there anything to do in this town?"

"No" I shook my head. "This is probably one of the most quietest towns in the state. Nothing happens here."

"Out of all the places to move to, we had to move to a dead town" Joe chuckled.

I smirked at the flustered Joe. "Yeah, and the next town over, which is like a forty minute drive, has all the fun stuff. Unless you want to add an extra twenty minutes and head straight to Phoenix?"

"I would rather go to Phoenix" he told me. "Speaking of Phoenix, want to go up there one day?"

I was shocked by the words that just came out of his mouth. Was he asking me out. "Sure, but what are we going to do?"

"Well" he said as he leaned back a rubbed his eyes. "Some of my belongings were lost in the move. Mainly most of my books that I have to have. I figured I'd drive up to a bookstore and buy them again. But as you said, it about an hour drive and I hate driving alone."

"Oh" I said with a disappointed tone and he looked at me strange. I quickly recovered. "When do you want to go?"

He thought for a moment. "How about after school?" He asked.

"After school I have practice" I told him.

"You guys practice?" He chuckled. "I thought you went out there with guns blazing ready to fight?" He mocked.

"It's only once or twice a week" I shrugged.

"What time does it start?" He asked.

"Around 6:30" I say.

"Hmm" he makes that sound as he places his hand on his chin as if he thinks for a moment. "School gets out at 2:30,right? If we leave then we'll make it there around 3:30 if traffics not bad. I'd probably spent half an hour in the store."

"That would leave us with an hour and a half left" I stated. "What you we do then? I also have practice and I don't want to be stranded when you go home."

"I'll wait" he shrugged. "I alway wanted to see a practice."

"You sure?" I asked. "It's going to be like two hours long?"

"Yeah, I mean, if it's alright" he said and his cheeks reddened.

"It's fine. I just have to tell my brother the I won't be coming home after school."

___________________________

After school, I walked next to Joe as we walked to his car. My brother was fine with me not coming home, I just didn't tell him I was going with Joe. If I did, Carl would have Joes heart on a silver platter. Even though Carl didn't like the fact that a ruined him living alone, he was still protective over me.

We walked past my car to a 1969 Mustang that was pitch black. I whistled. "Nice car."

"Thanks" I said as he slipped his key into the door.

"Were you driving this when you picked me up the other day?" I asked as I watched him slip in then reach over and unlocked the door for me.

"No" he said when I got situated. "That was my fathers car, he took mine to impress some girl he worked with."

"Did it work?" I asked I buckled myself in.

"Well, by judging the amount of used condoms I found, I'd say it work" he said with a disgusted tone but that was soon drowned out by the roar of the engine, and let me tell you, it was loud.

"Ew" I said as I crinkled my nose.

"Yeah" he sighed. "But I made him clean it up."

"Well good thing I don't have that problem" I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he weaved around other students and cars an out the parking lot.

"I was kicked out of my house last year" I said as I looked out the window.

"What did you do?" He asked as he turned on to the highway towards Phoenix.

"That's the kicker" I pointed out. "I did nothing. They're just drunks and they couldn't 'handle' me."

"Handle you?" He laughed. "You're like, five foot, couldn't they just shove you in the closet and call it a day?"

"Guess not" I smiled back. "And I'm five foot five for your information. How about you, though?"

"Well" he drags on. "I live with my father and twin brother, but you already know that. My mother, on the hand, is a drug addict stripper that left almost six years ago."

"I'm sorry" I told him and he smiled shyly.

"Don't worry" Joe said. "She couldn't keep her pants on and had several affairs. My father broke off the marriage and she turn to drugs and stripping for cash to pay for the drugs."

It got a little quiet after that. The only sound that could be heard was the tires rolling. I looked around the car and noticed a cd case lying of the floor.

Joe didn't notice me reach down and then begin to flip through. I snorted when I saw something unexpected.

"What's so funny?" Joe asked as he looked at me.

"This is the one cd I wouldn't have guessed at you owning" I said as I held up a Boy George cd.

"What's wrong with Boy George?" He asks with a goofy grin. His smile was at the right angle that caused his lip ring to reflect light from the sun.

"Nothing" I shook my head as I popped the cd in. "Hey, I thought old cars like this has cassette players."

"I restored it" he told me. The way he said it made him seem so proud of his accomplishment. "I spent five hundred dollars on it and used the rest of my money on fixing it up."

"You like fixing cars, don't you?"

"Yep" he popped the P. "I've always thought cars were interesting. I love fixing them up."

"Then do you want to fix up mine?" I asked him as I tried to keep a straight face. "Maybe give it a turbo boost blaster thing."

"I could put one on for show" he suggested but never took his eyes off the road.

"Thanks" I smiled.

The drive was considerably silent the rest of the way. After 30 minutes of completely utter silence, we arrived outside of a Barnes and Nobles.

"All ashore who's going ashore" he called out as if he was some sort of conductor.

"You're a dork" I smiled at him a reached for the door handle. The moment I stepped out of the air conditioned car I was overwhelmed by the heat. "God it's hot."

"It's because I'm out here" Joe said as he slammed his door shut.

I laughed under my breath. "Dork."

The moment we stepped through the doors, we were greeted by a rush of cold air that tried to beat the heat. The store was relatively quiet. It was mainly old people rummaging through the bargain bin.

"Shall we" Joe said as he draped his arm around my shoulders.

Joe led the way towards the classic section and stopped. "What do you need to get."

"I have a list" he said as he took his arm back and he searched both of his pockets before he pulled out a folded piece of yellow paper.

"Let me see?" I asked as I grabbed the paper out of his hands.

"There are only a few books from this section that I need" he said as he bent down and gazed at the shelve before plucking a few off. "And here they are."

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Not even close" he said as he tucked three books under his arm. "This way."

We walked on side by side. As we were walking, Joe grabbed book after book of shelfs like he knew exactly were they were as if he studied it.

Our footsteps fell perfectly in sync as we walked down isle after isle. I never noticed how tall he was before. He must have been at least six foot five.

"And that's it" Joe said as I was reading the back cover of a book that caught my eye. "That book seems interesting."

I shrugged as I slid the book back into place and walked out the isle with Joe following me. "Are you ready to go?"

Joe nodded. "Just got to go and pay."

We approached the counter to pay and a older woman behind the register smiled at us. "How are you two doing today?"

"Fine" Joe smiled.

"You buying books for your girlfriend?" She asked as she scanned the books a slipped them into a bag.

"We're not dating" I told the woman.

"Not yet" Joe added and it made me blush a little and the woman laugh. Joe swiped a credit card and the woman handed him a bag.

"Have a nice night" the woman told them.

"You too" Joe and I said sat the same time.

I opened the door and held it open for Joe who strutted out and did a sassy hair flip. "Thank you, Sir" he said with a high pitched tone.

"Any time, my Lady" I replied with a deep tone that made us both laugh.

"Were do you want to go eat?" He asked as they walked to his car.

"First book buying and then dinner?" I gasped "You really know how to show a girl a night on the town."

He smiled at my comment before carrying on with the conversation. "I'm in the mood for Italian."

"Great" I said. "Do you know anywhere?"

"Nope" he said as we made it to the car. He slid the key into the trunk and tossed the bag of books in. "I figure we'd drive around until we find some place."