n i n e t e e n ;

Louise walked into the empty street, soon leaving the busy carnival with bustling people and flashing lights behind. The sun had long set in the small town and she walked in the night illuminated by street lamps. But even they didn't provide much light in the thickness of the trees that covered the long street. 

She was back in front of the thrift shop when she got a phone call. Louise got her phone out of her pocket to check her caller ID. It was her friend Aimee who was calling her after several hours that she had been missing.

The seventeen year old heaved a sigh as she contemplated whether or not to answer her phone, knowing that a scolding awaited her. She finally hit answer after a moment and brought the phone to her ear. Just as she suspected, she heard the worried voice of one of the two Arriola Hendricks twins. "Louise, oh my god. Where are you? Annie and I haven't seen you all day and we're worried!"

"Relax Aimee." Louise replied in the most nonchalant way possible.

"Where are you?" Aimee repeated her question again.

"I broke out of school." She confessed, knowing that her friends would probably find out anyway when she wouldn't return to the dorms to sleep. "I need you to do me a huge favor and tell anyone who asks for me that I'm really sick."

Her voice now in a guarded whisper, Aimee asked her with interest, "How did you get out?"

Louise grinned at the thought of giving her friends the details. Doing bad deeds was no fun if no one knew you did them, but telling the right people was important. She knew that if she said anything to Annie and Aimee about it, they would never betray her by telling anyone that she snuck out. She parted her lips to speak, but stopped abruptly when she collided with something that sent her phone tumbling to the ground.

She quickly got down on her knees to pick up her phone, simultaneously barking rudely at the person she ran into. "Watch where you're going, moron!" 

The person got on his hands and knees to help her, muttering a stream of apologies. "I'm very sorry, I was just closing up the pharmacy and I didn't see you there. Did I hurt you?" The voice of a young man spoke to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders to make sure she was okay. She looked up to meet with a set of dark brown eyes and the handsome chiseled face of a teenage boy with ginger colored hair. She had been immediately taken by surprise at how handsome he was and Louise for the first time in her life was at a loss for words.

Louise gulped, picking up her phone and seeing that her phone call to Aimee was still going. She quickly hit end and looked back up towards the boy who was kneeling in front of her.

"I'm fine." She told him, getting back on her feet and straightening out the fabric of her dress.

He continued to explain, gesturing down the street towards the carnival as he got back on his feet as well. "I was just trying to close up quickly so I could go meet up with my friends at the carnival. My dad said I could go after work hours. We don't get a lot of fun or new things in this little town." Getting a good look at her, he asked, "You're new around here, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" She wondered.

"Like I said, we don't get a lot of fun or new things here." He repeated with a smile. Sticking his hand out to her politely, he introduced himself. "I'm Dieter Park. My family owns this pharmacy."

"Louise Belcher." She said nervously, shaking his hand.

"Were you on your way to the carnival?" He asked her another question as they pulled away. He bit down on his lip with some hesitance as he made her an offer. "Maybe we can go there together."

Louise never had any boys interested in her, other than Annie and Aimee's older brother Paul, and she wasn't used to the attention of a boy. His offer made a blush tint her cheeks for the first time. Louise could only nod her head silently, and they both turned to make their way back towards the carnival. 

On the way back, they ran into Logan, who sighed in relief when he saw Louise. "What did you think you were doing, leaving by yourself?" It took him a second to notice she wasn't alone, and his expression immediately turned hostile. "And who is this?"

Dieter looked from Louise to Logan, confused. "I'm sorry. Did you two come here together?"

At the same time that Logan replied yes, Louise replied no.

"I mean--yes." Louise said, and quickly explained. "We're just friends."

"Well you and your friend can hang out with me and my friends if you want." Dieter said with a friendly smile, oblivious to the glares Logan was shooting him.

-

Louise agreed quicker than she and Logan expected. 

Dieter led the two into the carnival, where he texted his friends that he had arrived. They hurried to meet them and soon they were greeted by two boys and three girls. Dieter had introduced them as his friends from school and had even given their names, but Louise had been too distracted staring at him to even pay them any attention.

His friends were as attractive as he was, the perfect American teenagers, only they weren't anything like the perfect teenagers she knew from St. Mary's Academy. They were the complete opposite of Danielle. They were nice and polite.

For the rest of the night, Logan and Louise stayed with Dieter and his friends. Logan spent it quiet and sulking the entire time and feeling awkward at the fact that he was the oldest of the group, while Louise tried to hide the fact that she was trying to get close to her new friend. 

The carnival ended for the day at midnight, and the people piled out into the main street. Logan and Louise followed the group of teenagers outside, where they stopped and let people passed them. Little by little, the other friends in the group left one by one until only Dieter was left alone with them. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Louise, I was wondering if...I can have your phone number? Maybe we can go out to the movies some time." He got his cellphone out of his pocket and unlocked it, handing it to her to input her number.

Louise grabbed his phone out of his hand while Logan watched, and typed in her number.

As she handed his phone back, Logan grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from Dieter. The teenager waved goodbye at her as she was taken away.

Logan only stopped when he reached his car.

"What's wrong with you?" She complained, yanking her arm out of his hold.

"Nothing. Just get in the car." He demanded, getting his keys out of his pocket. He unlocked the doors and Louise got into the car, slamming the door behind herself. 

On the ride home, things were silent and awkward between them. It was different than they had been when they were on their way to the carnival. The one thing that managed to distract her was an incoming text message from an unknown number. When she opened it, Louise couldn't help but letting a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

xxx-xxx-xxxx: hey, its dieter from the carnival :)

louise: oh, hey! it was nice to meet you ^.^

Her first response seemed awkward, but she didn't know how to reply to his message. She went back before hitting send, and typed out a new message.

louise: oh hey! it was nice to mee|

louise: oh hey! it was nice t|

 louise: oh hey|

louise: hey :)
sent.
read 12:07am.

dieter: u get home okay? 

louise: yeah
sent.
read 12:10am.

louise: logan's giving me a ride home :)
sent.
read 12:11am.

dieter: cool :)

dieter: wanna...grab a bite at the diner tomorrow??

louise: i'd love to ^.^|

louise: i'd love|

louise: yeah, sure :)
sent.
read 12:13am.

-

They arrived at Logan's house within twenty minutes and Louise followed him into the house. He tiredly and silently walked into the living room, plopping down and laying down on the couch. Louise stood in the middle of the living room dumbfounded.

"Where am I going to sleep?" She asked with a sigh.

Now she was beginning to feel tired after a long day. Her eye lids were drooping tiredly and she ignored the cellphone vibrating in her hand. 

Logan closed his eyes and replied to her with disinterest. "You can sleep in my room for the weekend and I'll sleep here. I don't want you complaining that I'm rude if I make you sleep on the couch." 

"Thanks, I guess." She gave a shrug of her shoulders and walked down the hallway. 

She entered the room and went to the bed, sitting down on it and checking her text messages before getting under the covers. It was another text from Dieter, letting her know the time and place where they would meet up for their date. He had offered to pick her up from her house, but she didn't want to tell him she was staying with Logan, so she assured him she would meet him wherever the diner was located.

With nothing to change into before falling asleep, she got under the covers and fell asleep.

She woke up the next morning to the sound of a woman yelling excitedly in Spanish. Her words had been loud enough to wake her and Louise groggily climbed out of bed. 

She tiptoed out of the room and down the hallway, recognizing the voice and thinking that she was in trouble for being at Logan's house. She peeked into the kitchen to see a stack of pancaked made on a plate on the counter, along with eggs, bacon, and hash brown. 

Logan was at the stove with an apron around his waist and his blonde hair messy as though he had just gotten out of bed. Valentina, who had been shouting and happy to see him, threw her arms around her boyfriend from behind. 

"Aw mi vida," My love, she cooed in Spanish, "You made breakfast for me!"

He turned off the stove and turned around in her arms. He laughed nervously, not daring to correct her or even mention that Louise was at his house. 

His girlfriend had gotten jealous seeing them talking at school. He knew she would go berserk if he saw her, or even knew Louise was there. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Louise peeking at them from the hallway. But his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when Valentina said to him, "We can have breakfast together right after I take my things to our bedroom. I'm going to spend the weekend with here with you."

She pulled away from him and tried to walk away, down the hallway. But he grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him.

"Wait!" He said to her, wrapping his arms around her slender frame. 

Taking her by surprise, he slammed his lips onto hers and gestured for Louise to go hide somewhere. Louise passed the two making out and quietly left through the front door. She raked her hands through her long dark hair and walked down the street until she was far enough that she didn't know her way back any more.

She looked up at the street signs and heaved a sigh. "What am I going to do now?"

She stood at the corner of a street for several minutes until a car stopped beside her. The passenger side window rolled down and someone leaned over. 

It was Dieter.

"Hey there." He greeted with a smile.

"Hi." Louise waved awkwardly at him.

"What are you doing out so early?" He asked her.

"Just going for a walk." She lied. Raking a hand through her hair more vehemently, she turned the question around on him. "Where are you headed?"

"Headed into town for work." Dieter replied. "Need a ride?"

Louise looked one way and then the other. Logan was nowhere to be found, she didn't know how to return to his house, and even if she knew, she couldn't go back there as long as Valentina was around. Considering her options, it didn't take her long to make her decision.

She nodded her head and got in the car, thinking how she would spend the weekend now that she had nowhere to stay.

-

another update for you guys since i went so long without updating before. and now there's a new character introduced into the story, and he is a perfect american boy from a small town. how will logan feel about this new guy coming in and swooping louise off her feet? stay tuned for that.

dieter park is played by the actor kj apa ^.^

anyway, thank you all for reading and i hope you enjoy the chapter. also, thank you for the encouraging comments that some of you posted for me. it meant a lot. 

have a wonderful week!

-clary xx