At seven o'clock sharp, the night finally began. Showered, teeth brushed, and deodorant slapped on twice over for extra protection, Tony went through his closet trying to find the perfect outfit.

His phone began to ring, and he sighed, cussing as he walked over to the phone only to see that Payton was calling him, and not Marc for the third time in the past ten minutes.

"Hello?"

"Where are you at?" Payton demanded. "You promised you'd come if I taught you how to skate."

"I'm at my house, and I'm coming, so you better keep your word!"

"You're still home? I know you never come, but Marc should know better."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.

"The line's wrapped around the building and if you don't get here early enough, you'll be in line trying to get in for over an hour. Hurry up and get here, and you guys can cut and stand with me and Buffy."

"Alright, I'm leaving to go to Marc's now. I think his brother is driving us, his parents are still pissed about what happened last time he borrowed the car." Tony grabbed a shirt out of the closet and began putting it on.

"Okay, but hurry!" she pleaded. "If you get here too late, we won't be able to let you guys cut up front with us."

Tony moved like his life depended on it. He put on his pants and socks in record time and grabbed a pair of shoes. Without even making sure they matched perfectly, he yanked them on and ran out of his bedroom, making it halfway down the stairs before realizing that he'd forgotten his wallet and phone.

"Shit!" he yelled, turning back around and racing up the stairs before coming right back down.

Marc and Josh were standing on Marc's back deck waiting. Finally, they saw Tony running out of his back door and crossing the street. Marc walked over to his own door, opened it, and yelled, "Tony's here, let's go!"

"Why is it that when I tell you, we need to be there at seven, and I text you at six-fifty we're about to leave, 'Where are you?' you reply, 'About to shower, be at your place soon'? But then I text Payton to call you, and you're at my door in under thirty seconds, and you're wearing the plain jane whites when we both know that wasn't what you were planning on wearing," Marc said, making a point to be over the top with his timing.

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" his older brother asked. "Josh, educate your boy before I have to hurt his feelings."

Josh just stared at Scott with a blank face, unsure what he was getting at. Scott just shook his head. "It's shocking that any of you ever had girlfriends," he said with true disappointment. "You have the blind leading the blind. Now I honestly feel a little bad about egging the hell out of your ex's house."

"Kiss my ass," Josh commented sarcastically, unable to think of a wittier comeback under the pressure.

Scott bowed his head in mock sorrow. "There is no hope for you." He turned to Tony. "Do yourself a favor and don't ever listen to either one of them when it comes to girls, or life in general for that matter. Do that and you might just not die a virgin."

As the huge white van pulled up in front of Skateland, the line had already started wrapping around the side of the building. Marc and Josh got out of the van first. "Hold up!" Scott said to Tony as he hunched over, getting ready to jump out.

Scott had pulled up to the perfect spot, right in front of where Buffy and Payton were. Of course, there were people standing between them and the van. Lingerers, the people who didn't really know anyone in line, but had seen them around, and made small talk in hopes of cutting the line. That barely ever worked, of course, because the rink's owner, Old Man Spike, would send cutters packing. But sometimes cutting did the trick and was worth the risk of being sent the very back right before the doors opened.

Josh and Marc walked up behind the people in between the line and the wall, spotting Buffy and Payton up by the front door, surrounded by lingerers.

"Where's Tony? I thought he said he was coming?" Payton asked, disappointed, though trying her best to hide it.

Tony, meanwhile, was anxiously waiting to get out of the van. "What's up?" he asked Scott.

"Calm your tits, and you might just get to see some before you die," Scott replied sarcastically. "I know you have a thing for that girl you're meeting tonight. Now, if you want to actually use your dick before it falls off, listen carefully." He went on with the most outrageous, ludicrous advice that Tony had ever heard, sounding like the centerpiece of a raunchy teen comedy.

"What? Who said Tony was coming? His parents would never allow it," Josh said in the line, in as serious a tone as he could muster.

Payton began to believe him. "Well, then, looks like you two should get stepping then. I only told Tony he could cut. No Tony, no cut," she replied.

Before either of them could even move a muscle, Buffy popped in. "You heard her, get to stepping."

This would've been Tony's perfect moment to appear, but he was still trapped in the van listening to Scott go on about all the right things to do. "...although none of that matters if you don't close. When the moment comes, take your shot. Don't overthink it, if it feels right, go for it, because if you don't, you'll always look back on that moment wishing you did," the older guy lectured.

"Thanks for the ride... and thanks for the advice," Tony said as he jumped out of the van. The crowd slightly swayed, giving Payton a perfect line of sight to see him appear.

If this were a movie, this would be the part in which everything slows down, with only Tony and Payton in focus. Everything else became a blur in the background, the sounds were nothing more than ambient noises, there for simple effect. This would be one of those moments.

But she wasn't the only person who saw him—Spike saw him, too, as Tony walked up to stand with Payton and the rest.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Spike asked.

"To get back in line," Tony replied.

"Right, to the back of the line. You weren't standing here, and you sure as shit aren't cutting. You better take your ass to the back of the line or take your ass packing."

"But I was here, I dropped my wallet in the back of my friend's brother's car. I had to go get it. I didn't realize it until he already drove off!" Tony proclaimed.

"Well, you better make sure they drive off again, because you're about to be joining them!" Spike yelled.

Scott must have overheard because he put the van in reverse and rolled back. "Spike, you still harassing kids about cutting the line?" he called out from the van window.

Spike walked up to him. "Is that little Scotty who can't skate worth a shit?" He squinted.

"Can't skate? I used to be one of the best skaters this rink has ever seen."

"Yeah, and I'm twenty-four," Spike replied.

"Maybe in dog years!" Scott said laughing, putting his hand out of the window to shake his hand. "How's Millie doing?"

"She's doing good, she says she's liking it out there. So I can't complain—if she's happy, I'm happy for her. Her father said she's coming up soon to visit. He's not in yet, but he'll be by later if you want to stop by."

"Yeah, I'll back later to pick up these knuckleheads. I'll have to stop in and see him," Scott said, nodding over in Marc, Josh, and Tony's direction.

"You know those little shits?" Spike asked.

"Unfortunately, that's my little brother and his asshat friends. I get all the way home only to get called back because one of them dropped their wallet in my van."

Spike stared at Scott, then looked back towards Tony. "You know the rules, Scotty," he said slowly.

"I do, and he technically didn't break any of them. Come on, give the kid a break," Scott pleaded. "I remember once or twice you gave me a break back in the day."

"I only did that because I know Millie liked you, and she would have gotten mad at me if I would have sent your ass packing," Spike said, laughing.

"What do you say, make one more exception for old times' sake? It'd be, like, a nostalgic moment for you." Scott said with a humorously witty tone.

"I'll allow it this one time, but only because I know Millie likes you," Spike said lightheartedly.

"Not because you like me?" Scott replied smirking.

"It's no sercert I like very few people, and unfortunatlely you aren't one of them," Spike said, smiling wryly. He tapped on the van's window ledge. "I'll keep an eye on them for you.... Don't be a stranger! I'll tell Millie you stopped by, I'm sure she'd be a lot more excited to see you then I am."

As Spike turned and walked back towards the door, he pulled keys out of his pocket. Scott gives Tony a thumbs up, and Spike entered the door without saying a word.

"For a minute there, I thought you ditched me," Payton said.

"Unlike some people," Tony replied, "I would never do that."

"Honestly for a minute there, I thought you were going to change your mind. Decided that you didn't want to embrace yourself in front of everyone," Marc interrupted, smirking.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy replied, inserting herself into the conversation.

"He can't skate, and he decided to pick a Friday night to learn. I'm just glad he's going to be your problem," Marc chuckled.

Payton smirked as she looked over at him. "Leave him alone! Tony, you'll be skating in no time. But when you fall, try not to drag me down with you."

Skateland on a Friday night was the place to be—everyone who was anyone went. So the fact that just as the doors were about to open, Josh saw Chasity and Jade pull up in Jade's car with a few other friends shouldn't have come as a surprise. Yet when the punch buggy pulled up, he gasped for air, losing his breath for a minute. Though not because Chasity saw him standing there and refused to look his way, but because Jade noticed him and gazed a little too long in his direction.

Although they weren't the only people who arrived late, none of them would have noticed their arrival if it hadn't been for Josh's reaction—his expression had been what caught the group's attention. Yet no one knew the real reason Josh had been so taken back; even his emotional state took him for a loop. He'd loved Chasity, but the girl who had broken his heart hadn't been the same one who stole it.

"You good, man?" Marc asked, patting him on the shoulder, trying to console him.

Josh stared out into the lot, not necessarily at them or in their direction, but in the general area, trying to process.

"I'm good," he finally said. "Unlike our boy here, I'm ready for what the night brings." He changed the topic, taking the limelight off himself and redirecting it back towards Tony.

"Well, maybe if you guys were real friends, you would have taught him to skate a long time ago," Payton said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I mean, we would have, but before today, Tony always said how much he hated this place and how he would never be caught dead here," Josh replied with sarcasm so advanced, Payton took a moment to decipher his demeanor.

By that time, they had started to let the first wave of people in. Now the rink was in no way shape or form a bad place, or a place where one would think there would be trouble. Then again, there were a bunch of teenagers from all around coming under one roof. Things could happen—it was better to be safe than sorry.

With that in mind, the owner liked to take extra precautions by hiring off-duty police officers and had metal detectors in place so that when anyone came in, they would be searched. The added precautions made the wait in line much more dreadful, adding extra minutes to an already slow process that no one liked in the odd-smelling lobby.

Payton stuck by Tony's side the entire time, keeping her word while being a smartass in the process. She followed him from the cashier window to the skate rental area, even though she had brought her own skates. She walked with him to get his, took his shoes for him, and placed them in her locker with hers.

She skated back over to where she had briefly left Tony sitting on the bench, his eyes following her to and from the lockers. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ditch you... for the first time ever," she laughed.

"Oh, so we're just going to pretend that the first time didn't happen?" Tony replied teasingly. He jumped up—or tried to— then purposely fell and busted his ass, hard. Landing completely flat on his back, his feet went up from under him. It was the whole nine, a noteworthy fail, one which made Payton second-guess Buffy's theory that he already knew how to skate.

Payton gasped, caught off-guard. "Are you okay?!" she yelled.

"Fuck," he muttered. He hadn't planned to make the fall as dramatic—or as painful—as it had ended up being.

Standing far enough away that their voices couldn't be heard, while close enough to see everything, Buffy, Josh, and Marc were putting their skates on as they watched what happened. They all knew Tony's abilities and witnessed his half-cocked idea of pretending not to know how to skate.

"Your boy is ridiculous!" Buffy said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Marc grimaced. "My back hurts just watching that."

"You have to give it to him, at least he goes in all," Josh said in a supportive tone, taking up Tony's defense.

"For what? Making a complete ass of himself?" Buffy replied.

"No, for his devotion."

Payton, meanwhile, braced herself, then put her arm out to help Tony get up. "Come on, I got you. Just don't pull me down with you!"

"Okay, I won't."

But as Payton gave Tony her hand and began to pull him up, she lost her balance herself. But lucky for her, Tony was prepared, and instead of face planting onto the dirty dark blue carpet, she fell in his lap.

"That's it, I'm going over there," Buffy said. "He's going to get them kicked out."

"They're not going to get kicked out!" Marc said.

"Oh, you don't think so?" Buffy pointed towards the referee skating over towards them.

Payton now lay on top of him, with her back on his stomach, his arms pretty much completely around her. As if he had caught her, completely breaking her fall. Their faces were so close, their noses were practically touching.

"Are you two okay?" the referee asked.

Tony and Payton weren't ignoring him but were just immersed in the moment. About a second or so went by and Tony replied, cutting the referee off before he could ask them again. "Yeah, we're fine," he muttered.

"Do you need help getting up?" the ref asked, staring at them, as they casually lay on the ground, almost as if they had no intention of standing.

"No, we're good, thank you," Tony replied with a firm voice.

Buffy, Josh, and Marc were still standing by the sidelines watching them, waiting to see a sneak preview of the night they were in for.

"I'll be right back, I gotta take a leak," Marc said as he saw Tim and his girlfriend Tiffany walk in. Tiffany didn't notice him, but Tim did. Without drawing attention to himself, Mark quickly broke eye contact.

"Wait, what?" Josh asked, confused, for he had no idea what Marc had said. He'd been too busy preoccupied with his own thoughts.

"He said, maybe if you stop drooling over your ex, you might just enjoy life again," Buffy said, adding to the heavy, unconfessed tension between them.

"Oh, is that what he said?" Josh said, mocking her tone. "What do you think? Am I being overly dramatic and just blowing this whole thing out of proportion? I'm sorry I have a soul and actually feel shit."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a promiscuous ice princess without a soul," she replied.

"You broke up with Steve only to give his best friend your V-card later that night. Then flaunted him around that party after, acting like you didn't give a shit who saw. You not only ended their lifelong friendship but got Steve's nose broken in the process," Josh said heartlessly, only stating what the whole school knew.

Buffy was furious. She was half-tempted to smack the hell out of him, but took a deep breath instead, face blood-red.

"You think just because you've managed to only date two girls your entire life, skipping out on the drama and rumor mills, you have everything figured out?" she exclaimed angrily. "It wasn't my fault their friendship ended—they let their penises end their friendship."

Josh stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I knew you weren't the party, but obviously you heard the rumors."

"What are you talking about?" Josh replied.

"I didn't give Devin my virginity, I gave it to Steve," Buffy proclaimed, letting it out as if this incredible burden was finally lifted.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Confused, he stared at her for a moment, gazing at her as she displayed a more emotional side of herself. One where the walls came down, the shutters opened, and her tone was slow and steady. Witless and truthful.

"I snuck into Steve's room a few nights before that party. Ironically using the same path he used to sneak me out. Only instead of surprising him, he surprised me. He was in bed with another girl." Buffy's eyes begin to fill. After taking a moment she made herself get it together, fulfilling the promise she made to herself long ago. No more tears would be shed on that asshole—or any asshole for that matter.

In that moment, no one in the world felt like a bigger asshole than Josh. Buffy knew it, too, and the color completely disappeared from his face. Speechless, he just stood there.

"I told them if anyone found out that me and him slept together, I would tell the whole school how he gave me the clap. Then I pulled my phone out and snapped a photo of the two of them in bed together. Told the girl, if anyone found out me and Steve had sex, her parents would get a copy of the picture. Along with the entire school."

"Then of course he went around telling people he broke up with me because I was a prude, heartbroken and pissed off and a little buzzed, decided the best fuck you, would be, to fuck his best friend and make sure everyone knew it. Not only ruin his reputation, but make him know what it felt like firsthand to be betrayed by someone who says that they care about you."

"I'm sorry" were the only words Josh could form.

"Don't be. Stevie is a dickhead. Always has been. In the end, karma paid him a visit, doubling down on his torcher. Turns out, the clean teen tease wasn't the only girl he was cheating on me with. Apparently, he ended up actually getting the clap and gave it to clean teen Claire. I thankfully didn't catch it."

"Can I ask you something?" Josh said, standoffish, hesitant to even mention it. Not because he feared to cross boundaries, but simply because he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Why do people insist on asking permission to ask a question?" she sighed. "Just ask. If I don't want to answer it, I'll tell you it's none of your fucking business."

"Why did you sleep with Devin? If it went down the way you're saying it did. Why would Steve even care if you hooked up with Devin?"

"Geez, thanks for that," she muttered, not letting it get to her.

"I didn't mean it like that—I..." Josh started to trip over his own words.

"Why do guys cheat on their wives, girlfriends, etcetera? Cheating doesn't mean you don't have feelings for the person you're with. According to Cosmo, one of the main reasons people cheat is because they feel a lack of love and affection and have terrible self-esteem. That's if you believe what you read in the magazines." She gave Josh a once-over.

"So why did you hook up with Devin? Was it because you needed a quick ego boost?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, because my self-esteem really needs a jump start." Sarcasm took over, leaving little room for interpretation. Buffy took a moment, looked at the ground, then back up at Josh. "...I guess... I... I wanted to hurt him. Make him feel like—like he didn't matter. Sleeping with his best friend and making it public seemed like the best way. It worked. A little too well... I'm not proud of how things went down between them, but I don't feel bad about it either. It's not like I forced Devin's hand. All I did was ask if he wanted to go somewhere more private. He could have said no, and none of that would have happened. They would still be friends, and I wouldn't be known as a promiscuous ice princess."

"For what it's worth, neither one of them deserves you."

She cracked a slight smile. Breaking eye contact, she turned her head towards the door where Chasity and Jade were walking in. "For what it's worth, you can do better than her."

Marc had finished up in the bathroom, washing his hands in the outdated, dinky sink that held a peculiar smell, like the entire roller rink did, each different from the last, each an acquired smell, that becomes strangely welcoming.

Just as Marc was about to leave Tim came skating in behind him. Speechless, a million thoughts running through his head, Tim had contemplated what he would say next time he and Marc talked. He'd been unsure when that would be since Marc had signed off almost immediately after their last conversation.

Tim's mouth opened, about to say something when someone else came in. He quickly moved to the urinal, breaking eye contact, acting as if he didn't even know Marc.

Pissed off and hurt, Marc rushed out of the bathroom, almost knocking Tony flat on his ass—who was of course being accompanied by Payton.

Tony quickly regained his balance but pretended to struggle, grabbing the wall in the process all to keep his lie alive. "Shit! The hell, man?!"

"Are you okay?" Payton chuckled, grabbing onto him.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," Tony replied, watching Marc skate off in a hurry towards the food court. A minute or so later, another boy came skating out of the restroom, pausing for a moment to gaze Marc's way.

Not knowing that Tony and Payton were watching, he paid them no mind, and skated off in the opposite direction.

"I know I said I wouldn't leave you, but since you're going to the bathroom, are you going to be okay if I go talk to Marc real quick? I'll meet you right back here," Payton said after observing Marc's behavior. Knowing what she knew, she could only speculate on the situation, but given the circumstances, her speculations seemed spot on.

"You mean you're not coming in with me?" Being a complete ass and knowing it, Tony didn't wait for a response, or even give Payton time to process what he said, for that matter. "Of course, go check on your boy, I think I can manage."

A line had yet to form at the concession stand, which usually by ten became a heavy hangout spot. Marc ordered a soda as Payton glided next to him. "Give me what he's having!" she said, putting her arm on his shoulder.

"Aren't you supposed to be glued to Tony's hip—I mean, teaching him to skate?" Marc's irritation shone through as he failed to hold anything back, his comment coming off more contemptuous than sarcastically witty and comical.

"I know something happened, but don't take shit out on me." Fighting fire with fire, however harsh, was undeniably exactly what Marc needed.

"I know you're just trying to help. But..."

"But you can't help your inner asshole from peeking its head out every once in a while. I get it, believe me." Leaning against the counter, not a truly angry bone in her body, she gazed at Marc in a loving way.

"Why do you always need to insert yourself into my brooding, it's bullshit. Why can't you just let me brood and be miserable in peace?" Sighing, Marc picked up their drinks and made his way towards the very back of the food court, out of sight, out of mind.

"What's going on with you?" Payton asked. "I haven't seen anyone storm off from a bathroom since the Frank and Katie incident."

Marc took a long sip of his soda, prolonging the inevitable. "I like to know who said these are the best years of our lives, so I punch them in the throat." Unable to make eye contact with Payton, Marc stared at his soda. "Tim is here tonight... I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"He's the guy who followed you out of the bathroom?" Payton said as she rubbed her thumb up and down the spiral cup, anxiously trying to find the perfect balance between good friend and overbearing Nosy Nancy.

"Wait, he followed me out?" Marc's eyebrows rose.

Payton picked up on his intense thought process. She quickly tried to backtrack. "Look, I know we never really talked much on where we stand now..."

Marc looked at her confused, uncertain where she was going. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to overstep. Yes, you confided in me, but I can't help but think it's only because I accidentally..." Paytonpaused, gauging his reaction with wide eyes while bringing up the incident.

"I told you because I trust you, because you're one of my best friends... Although honestly, sometimes I kind of regret it. You've been really cool about it and all, but I feel like ever since you found out, things have been weird between us." Marc took a moment to collect his thoughts, choosing the right words. "I'm sorry, I..."

Before he could finish, Payton interrupted him. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Telling me your truth, never apologize about that. I'm sorry if I've been making you feel any sort of way. It's just before it had been clear where we stood. Our friendship, the boundaries, they were clear... Now I'm not sure. I don't want to think we're Jack and Jenn and we're not, then you go home and think to yourself, that bitch, who does she think she is? And it fucks up our friendship—"

Marc can't help but laugh, smiling ear to ear. "You gotta love the irony. Things have been weird because we were so terrified of making things weird, that we changed who we were around each other. When the truth is, nothing's changed. I'm the same person I've all been and so are you."

He paused for a moment. "So nothing changed, or changes. The boundaries are the same. Just now you have a better understanding of why I never hit on you."

"In that case, he's definitely easy on the eyes. So I take it that's not the problem," Payton said, smiling. "So what's the dilemma? Is he out and you feel pressured to do the same?"

"He's got a girlfriend. The one he's not only been with forever, but he's been best friends with since they were like fucking five." Marc sighed heavily. "She crashed our date. She just popped up out of the blue and he left, pretending like we just met in at the arcade or something."

Payton gaped at him, unsure of what to say, how to be there for him. She did what she thought she would want if she were in a similar situation—just become someone there for a friend. She took his hand and covered it with hers.

"I don't know what to do." Marc sighed, leaning his head back over the bench.

"I think it's easy to say what we would do in someone else's situation, but we never know how we would really react until it happens to us. Then when it finally does, and it's our moment to do what we think is the right thing, most of us freeze or fuck it up. Only to wish we could have done it differently."

"You're saying he deserves another chance?" Marc broke eye contact. He stared out into the abyss—which in this case was the roller rink—searching through the crowd, watching as everyone made their way around the track, with hopes of catching a glance of him. Contemplating what he should do, yearning for the universe to deliver the magical answer. He didn't get what he bargained for, but what he did see brought the biggest smile to his face.

Tony, pretending he had no idea what he was doing, was practically crawling along the wall on the carpet part of the rink trying to make his way towards them.

"My romantic life might be a complete shit show, but yours, on the other hand—that's a completely different story," Marc said, directing Payton's attention towards Tony. She smiled ear to ear.

"You do know he's faking it, right?" Marc asked.

"Oh, yeah, Buffy told me, although I didn't quite believe her at first." Grinning, watching him from across the rink struggling hard, it was too tough to believe that anyone could be that bad at skating.

Tony took it beyond the point of no return—a referee skated up next to him and said, "Stop playing whatever game this is, or you're out."

Payton went from gazing over Tony to turning back towards Marc, who was giving her the third degree. "I don't know," she said. "There's something special about him. I can't explain the feeling... the way he's putting himself through all of this. It's kind of charming." Smiling, she sighed and tilted her head back. "Does it make me pathetic for not only enduring this juvenile behavior, but finding it endearing?"

"I wouldn't call it charming, but then again that's probably because I have poor taste in guys."

"All guys are assholes, just not all the time," Payton replied in almost a philosophical manner.

Marc's follow-up, of course, would be anything but simple. "Does 'all guys' include your new BFF, Tony?"

Payton, perplexed in her own thoughts, took a nanosecond of a pause before responding with another smile. "No one's perfect; we're all a little fucked up in one way or another. Life isn't about finding the perfect person. It's about finding the person perfect for you." She grinned. "Someone with whom your connection will withstand the test of time."

A montage of images, memories, came rushing, ransacking her mind all at once. It felt a lot like what one would think of when their life is flashing before their eyes, or so the movies portrayed such an experience. From the first time she sawhim had come the question that lit the fuse: "Would you ever go out with me?" while hanging out in front of the school.

Although their time spent together hadn't been extensive, the emotional connection bonding them wasn't just teenage lust. This Payton was sure of. An evocation of an old Sex and the City episode popped into her head. "Not all love stories are epic novels. Some are short stories and that doesn't make them any less filled with love." She could even hear Sarah Jessica Parker's voice echo in her mind, and this brought a smile to her face.

"And how do you know when you've met the perfect person?" Marc asked.

"You just know. I can't explain it. It's a feeling." She was stuck on the details, wondering how to explain something unexplainable, something not even she had been cognizant of. "Honestly... I have no fucking idea." A chuckle broke free. "I guess we never know. That's until it's years later and we have the powerful tool of retrospect."

After pausing for a moment, watching from across the rink as Tony struggled to make it towards the food court, she noticed him noticing her. She smiled, turning back towards Marc. "It's a lose, lose, I guess. We end up heartbroken and miserable when we're wrong or left wondering what if after each failed relationship, until the big happy ever after."

"Only until the big happy ever after?" Marc said, smirking.

"Well, for the routine, patterned, post-breakup self-loathing—wondering what you could have done to avoid it all. Then after you get everything you ever wanted, it's sporadic. At the beach, driving in the car when an old song comes on the radio."

She stared at Marc for a minute, muted, gathering her thoughts. Her eyes spoke of the pain that her voice couldn't. Blinking, she readjusted her viewpoint from the wall back towards Marc. Finally making eye contact, she went on, "At least that's what my mother always says. Claims its killer dating advice from the Anna Robinson sisterhood... Whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean."

The roller rink was packed with people, like the highway during the peak of rush hour. People crowded the area, almost everyone moving at the same slow pace. Of course, there was a way to skate around people. Among those speed skaters were Tim, and one of his best friends Luke—whom everyone called Lucifer.

Even his parents referred to him as Lucifer, giving into his self-expression of individuality. Black painted fingernails, black hair dye, and of course a wardrobe of nothing but circa 2004 Hot Topic, with a splash of Journey T-shirts.

Pinestone High, like all high schools, consisted of many different cliques, although hardcore gothic hadn't been one of them. Lucifer Starman was one of kind, at least of the current four hundred and fifty students registered for the new school year.

But every invention needs an inventor. Every monster needs a Dr. Frankenstein, Mr. Hyde needs Dr. Jekyll. Lucifer Starman was brought under the wing and molded by the only other person who imparted anything similar to his undertaking. Brandi Witman, a senior at Pinestone High when Luke was a sophomore.

Brandi Witman, the one girl all the guys had a crush on yet none of them would ever dare date for fear of social destruction—that was, until Luke came along. Sophomore year, he went from the preppy kid from suburbs to Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, in only a few short months. Then after the incident, the rumor mill turned made him out to be someone else. Essentially to the under classmen.

Not paying attention to where he was going, more occupied with giving his buddies the finger and gloating after beating them in their unofficial race, Brad skating backward. Unaware and oblivious to the people around him, he bumped into Lucifer and almost tripped. He lost his balance but was able to spin around and use his hand to keep himself from falling.

"Watch where you're going, freak!" he shouted above the music as he noticed it had been Lucifer whom he almost fell over.

"Fuck you!" Lucifer shouted, so loud everyone around them turned their heads. Tim quickly intervened, putting himself between the two of them. Raising his hand, he showed they didn't want any trouble.

"I'm not scared of your punk ass, Luke. Unlike everyone else, I know the real you."

"Brad, just walk away, man. Don't start some shit over nothing," Tim said.

Brad gave him a hard stare, mean-mugging Lucifer, before slowly turning towards Tim and nodding, then skating away.

"You need to chill, man," Tim proclaimed.

"Me? He fucking started it!"

Tim stared at him for a moment. He thought before he spoke, for the first word that comes to his mind had been nothing other than, "Really? You fucked his sister and he started it?"

"You got one more strike and you're banned for life!" he went on. "You let him get under your skin. He's out for the night, you're out for life."

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Pissed off, Lucifer skated away.

Off in the back corner, Chasity and Jade were hanging out with some of the cool kids from all of the local high schools. Half of them weren't wearing skates, something that was against the rules, but in that corner, it was as if the rules didn't exist. It was something so minuscule to the outside world, but within the four walls of Skateland, it was everything.

Chasity wasted no time getting over Josh; she'd already found her next mistake—the John Tucker of East Valley High. Every girl knew that he was a player, yet every girl still threw herself at him. Shawn Metcalfe.

"Are you sure you're ready for that? That's like going from peewee to major league," Jade said lightheartedly.

Without turning her head, not leaving a moment to spare just in case he happened to look her way, Chasity smirked and asked, "The real question is, is he ready for me?"

After a minute or so passed, he finally looked over in her direction. Exchanging a glare for only a few moments, she broke eye contact in an effort to pique his interest, leaving him wanting more, showing interest without coming off too strong. She turned to Jade and smiled, pretending to laugh slightly. Jade couldn't help but giggle, shaking her head in disbelief at Chasity's efforts.

"What's your plan exactly?"

"Pray he's got condoms or hope his pull-out game is on point," Chasity said, grinning ear to ear.

"Well, start praying because here he comes," Jade told her, then she smiled big and put her arms out as he skated up behind Chasity.

Shawn rolled up and gave Jade a hug. "It's been a few weeks, where you been at?"

"I've been around, kind of staying under the radar," she answered.

"You can say that again. I tried to reach out a few times, I was starting to get worried," he said with concern and sincerity in his voice.

"Sorry, I've just been busy, work and everything." She paused for a brief moment, then turned towards Chasity. "Have you met my friend Chasity?"

"I can't say that I have." Smiling, he quickly picked up on Jade's hint.

"Well, I'll let you two get acquainted," Jade said smiling, not missing out on her opportunity to quietly escape. Chasity winked at her, her way of saying thanks for the introduction. Jade just smiled as she skated into the rink, disappearing into the crowd.

"What school do you go to?" Shawn asked.

"East Valley."

"Are you new? Because I know I would have noticed you around." The words left his mouth like soda leaves the fountain. Smooth and refreshing, even though you know it's nothing more than a cheesy pickup line.

Chasity tilted her head down slightly, partly because she was blushing due to his compliment and partly to resist the urge to burst out laughing. As impudent as his pick-up line might have been, she couldn't help but be flattered.

She slowly picked her head back up, turning towards Shawn. "Is that so?" Pausing for a moment, she gave him time to think about it. He didn't respond, so she quickly stepped in, not allowing the moment to go dull. "Because we've been in the same school, going on four years now. I mean, I know you're the captain of the football team, and in your own little world. So I get it if you don't notice those around you."

"Wow... that was unexpectedly harsh. Here I thought you might have liked me," he said, smiling.

"I never said I didn't like you! Who said I wasn't into self-obsessed assholes?" Wide-eyed, she grinned from ear to ear.

"Honestly. I've noticed you quite a few times, but not until tonight did I ever notice you looking at me... I can't expect someone like you to understand. You must have all the guys lining up around the corner to talk to you." He came off sincere, pausing between sentences and sometimes even between words to emphasize the fact it wasn't something he had memorized.

Blushing, she couldn't help but let it go to her head. A part of her knew that it had been nothing more than a line, silencing the voice that advised her otherwise. She played into his hand. "Someone's a little too modest. Everyone knows that you're infamous for talking to multiple girls at once... There is even a rumor that you went down senior week this summer."

"I've gone to senior week every year since freshman year," he said with pride. "I can confirm that oddly, for once, the rumors are true."

"So the rumor about you being with two senior girls at the same time is true to then?" she followed up, quick and relentlessly, putting him on the spot.

Usually he didn't like it when someone challenged him, but this time was different. Maybe it had something to do with the crease in her forehead when Chasity said something with a serious tone, or that she had the ever so slightest dimples when she giggled or smiled wide enough.

"I don't kiss and tell. It's not my style," he proclaimed, slowly skating around her and going backward, motioning for her to come and follow.

"So, tell me. If you don't kiss and tell. Then how do all the rumors and stories spread so fast then?" Seeing how he reacted to her flighty spunk, she continued to apply that same slight pressure.

"I can't control what people say, rumors are nothing more than bored people trying to escape their monotonous lives, by creating a more exciting one. Even if it's only for a moment. Whatever happens between me and someone is our business, no one else's. If they tell people, that's on them, not me. If we did something, my lips would be locked down like a prisoner in Alcatraz."

"What makes you think we would be doing something?" she asked boldly.

Staring deep into her eyes as if he was going to give a grand speech, creating an infinite moment, he finally muttered, "I don't. Just setting the record straight. And while—we're on the subject. The two senior girls, crashed at my hotel because we just left a party, and they were too drunk to drive. My room was a double because my cousin was supposed to come down with me but bailed last minute."

"Then why allow people to think you did? So they think you're cool?"

"I've always been straightforward about that night. Everyone just thinks I'm being modest or some bullshit."

Although on some level she knew what he had been saying of course was nothing more than sweet-talking rubbish, Chasity found herself not only wanting to test his willpower but wanting to experience everything in a grand fashion. What would have been a grander gesticulation than losing it to Shawn Metcalfe?

After what felt like forever, Tony finally made it over to where Payton was sitting at the food court, drinking what was known to some as "Swamp Water" and to others "Graveyard," although to them it was called "Suicide." The drink that consisted of all the fountain sodas mixed, creating something surprisingly delicious.

Tony plopped down at the booth across from her. Payton tried her best not to smile, laugh, or make any facial expression showing how much she had been enjoying this moment. He wasn't quite as amused—slightly disappointed actually.

"You're lucky I really want a Suicide, or else I would have had to call it quits and go home," Tony said, overly dramatic.

Payton laughed as she picked her cup up and handed it to him. "You can have some of mine, but only because I feel bad. But don't worry, I won't leave you... again. I had my eye on you the whole time thought, and you were doing so good." She emphasized the "so" to the point it had been borderline sarcastic.

"Hilarious!" he said with an overly dramatic effect.

"I'm serious! I mean, it took you, like, fifteen minutes to get over here, but you have to crawl before you can walk. I'm sure in a few Fridays, you'll be doing so good you'll be ditching me." She smiled as the words left her mouth.

"I would never ditch you, unlike some people I know."

"I'm sure you'll see some cute girl and she'll want to couple skate with you, then bam! I'm left to my lonesome," Paytonteased.

"You won't be lonesome; you always have Buffy to skate with. I mean, that is, if she doesn't ditch you too." Laughing as he said it, he ensured he came off as playful and innocent.

Payton's jaw dropped, leaving her mouth wide open like a Venus flytrap. She was purely shocked, not even adding dramatic flares to her reaction. "Wow" was all she could get out. "I don't know what's worse, the fact that you're telling me you're going to ditch me, or the fact that you're saying even Buffy can get someone to skate with her."

"Well, in that case, I'll have to polity decline and skate with you."

"Geez, thanks in advance for the pity skate."

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Smiling, he made a harmless gesture with his hands, and she smacked his arm impishly.

Tony laughed. "There's no need for violence." He pointed at her, and she playfully grabbed his finger before he pulled it back. "What did I just say?!" he proclaimed, trying to keep a straight face.

Payton chuckled as she got up. "Come on, let's get back out there so maybe we can take your training wheels off sometime before we graduate."

"I'm not that bad," Tony said defensively. Payton grinned before giving him a look of uncertainty, trying to convey to him how bad he was without actually coming out and saying it.

"Just wait, I'll be skating circles around you in no time," he replied.

"Okay, we'll see about that." She began skating backward about a foot or so ahead, giving him space to get out.

As he slowly moved to get up, she put her hand out to guide him so there wasn't a replay of what happened earlier when he wiped out.

"Take my hand, I got you," she told him in a heartfelt tone.

Even though he didn't need to, he took her hand and allowed her to guide him towards the center of the rink.

"Into You" by Fabolous was playing in the background, and Shawn was still skating backward singing along to the song, bumping back and forth to the beat, smiling while pointing towards Chasity, using the song to indicate to Chasity that he was so into her.

She sped up, closing the already small barrier between them, making it up close and personal. Shawn slowed down slightly, making it easier for her to do so. She grabbed his shirt to get a grip on him, and he placed his hands on her hips, smiling.

Chasity leaned in and kissed him as they skated. People making out wasn't uncommon on the rink, though this was usually something reserved for the "couples only" skates—or, of course, any shadowy corner in the building.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Chasity asked Shawn, smiling, making intense eye contact.

"Leave? The night is just beginning," he replied.

"The night is just starting, but on the other hand, summer is ending. Don't you want to do something other than hang out at Skateland on one of the last Fridays of summer?"

"Alright... what the hell. Where do you want to go?" he asked in a monotone, avoiding eye contact. The sudden tension became so thick so fast it was mind-blowing. As if out of the blue, all of Shawn's confidence evaporated, making him lose his mojo. Chasity noticed, and on some level, it made her feel better, almost. Shawn—the ladies' man of East Valley High—got nervous!

Chasity texted Jade as she and Shawn were walking out the front door almost unnoticed, turning a few heads as they exited. The thought of people talking about them leaving together gave her a twisted sense of glamour. But the one person she didn't notice watching her leaving had been the only person she didn't want to notice them—Josh.

Though they'd broken up, and Chasity had been the one who pulled the trigger to end things between them, it was only because she felt they were in two different places—she still cared for him. He had been the first boy she'd ever exposed herself to, both physically and emotionally.

The first boy she'd ever loved. For a long time, she had truly thought that Josh would be the one. That they would be thatcouple. The ones that met as teenagers and made it through everything that life had to throw at them. Of course, that had been the idealistic vision of a teenager young and in love, thinking what all do—that their first love will be their forever love, trying with all their heart to tune out the adults who say otherwise.

However, when you're told something enough, after a while, you subconsciously start to believe it. Just like most things in life, you are taught what you know. As she was walking towards those doors, she thought she would be more excited, thrilled. She couldn't understand why Josh popped into her head. Everything was going according to plan and yet for some reason, all she could think about was Josh. She hoped he didn't notice them leaving together, and wondered what he would be thinking if he did.

At first, she thought of this as nothing more than an intensified, adult version of butterflies, for she knew nervousness was normal. But subconsciously she wasn't sure if what she felt had just been first-time jitters that only became more intense as she took her last step outside of the door, turning her head ever so slightly, just for a moment. She soaked it all in, giving one last glance around the rink.

"Alright, alright, alright," the DJ said through the loudspeakers. "After that last song, I'm thinking we slow things down a little more. We're going to kick off the first couples-only skate of the night. That means two people only, not singles and not triplets. Couples only! Everyone else, let's clear the floor."

By this time, Josh had already made his way to the food court and ordered a drink and a slice of pizza—not that he was particularly hungry, he just needed to get away. Even though Chasity and he had broken up, seeing her leaving with Shawn left an unsettling sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Chasity and Josh would get into arguments, break up, and make up like nothing happened. She would call him a prude, hang up on him, and not answer his calls for a few days, but they would always patch things up. This time, however, was different; Josh already knew this time would be the last. That things were never going to be the same.

"Is this seat taken?" a voice asked. One Josh had known, but only slightly, and one he couldn't put a face to instantly. Although he should have.

Staring at the pizza sitting on his plate, not looking up, he replied, "Only by the ghost and demons that will forever haunt me."

"Ah. A word of advice from someone who knows. They seem like a curse now, but after a while, they bring a weird sense of comfort," the voice said lightheartedly, with an odd sense of humor. It was like they were trying their best to make Josh smile, which oddly enough worked. Even more so once he saw the face to which the voice belonged.

"Demon got your tongue?" Jade poked fun at him while trying to break the tension.

"Not quite. More like one of them sucker punched me in the gut and took my breath away... Sorry, I got a little winded there..." he muttered, trying to think of something to say. Josh was always a good bullshitter when it came to talking in the locker room with the guys, but he would almost always choke when it mattered most.

"Well, if you ask me, the demons did you a favor. The quiet, timid look works for you," Jade assured him, smiling. She paused for a moment, gaping up at him. He tried his hardest to think of a witty follow-up but couldn't.

She glanced down at his untouched slice of pizza, which he had been staring at zealously as if the slice of pizza was the most popular girl in school and Josh was mentally preparing to ask her to the homecoming dance.

"Did Blake over-nuke the pizza? I swear he can barely do one thing at a time, let alone try to multitask," she said, trying to start a conversation.

"No, I'm not really hungry. I'm not even really sure why I got it," he admitted, pretending to know who Blake was.

Jade could see the pain and hopelessness in his eyes, how hard he tried to keep it together and put on a front. She was unsure what to do. Walk away and give him space, stay and possibly overstep the imaginary line in the sand? All these thoughts ran through her head in a matter of seconds.

Then the DJ's voice came back over the speakers. "Alright, alright, alright, we're going to have one last song for couples before we open the floor back up! So if there's someone you have a crush on, now is the time to make a move before someone else does."

Jade curled her toes in the top part of her too-tight skates, took a deep breath, and held it in, the tension thick in her chest. "Would you want to skate with me?" The question was uncharacteristic of her. Usually, she would just stand up and order, rather than ask the guy to skate. But Josh was different, she believed. In return, this made Jade different around him.

Josh heard the words and while trying to think of a smooth response, the only word he could muster was, "Yeah." He slid nervously out of the booth and moved to skate away, totally forgetting the pizza and his soda trash. He turned and went back for it, but Jade grabbed his hand.

"Don't worry about it, just leave it. Someone will throw it away. Blake shouldn't have overcooked it, cleaning the table is an easy punishment for messing up your food, if you ask me," she said playfully.

"Differences" by Ginuwine played just as Josh and Jade made it to the center rink. "Can you skate backwards?" she asked timidly, downplaying the question, trying not to call out him if he couldn't.

"Somewhat, I'm not the best at it," Josh admitted, smiling a slight smile.

Jade took the lead and began skating back, pulling Josh towards her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He slowly and hesitantly placed his hands around her waist.

"Is that a genuine smile I see?" Jade asked, her eyes lighting up as she grinned from ear to ear. Josh tried to fight it, but the more he tried to stop smiling, the worse it became. Before he knew it, he was giggling.

He looked away for a moment as he tried his best to regain focus and stop smiling, though it didn't help. She said nothing, but Jade slowly moved her head ever so slightly closer to Josh's, embracing the moment.

Across the rink on the other side of the floor, almost completely diagonally from them, Tony and Payton were skating. Both of them still keeping the lie alive, Payton offered to teach him how to skate backwards, by guiding and using her forward force to push him back. But in order to do so, they had to close the gap between them, making them almost sandwiched together.

"You're pretty good at this. I would have never guessed that you never skated before," Payton lightheartedly threw out, giving Tony a chance to confess his secret.

"I never said I haven't skated before. I said I sucked at skating and couldn't. There's a difference!" Tony proclaimed. "Why, what are you trying to say? That you think I'm lying to you about not knowing how to skate?"

She had blatantly pushed the limits of the joke to see how far he could take it before it went too far. "Lying is a strong word, I would say pretending. Like how most guys always let the girl win when playing a game," Payton said. "I don't know... the thought might have crossed my mind that this whole thing was all a sham to hang out with me." Smiling, she looked down, partly because she felt conceited for speaking it, let alone thinking it. Even though it was true.

Tony's face lit up when she said those words. He was surprisingly excited that she had finally figured it out, and he could tell by the tone of her voice and her mannerisms that she kind of was hoping that had been the case.

"I wish I was clever enough to think of that, but that plan wouldn't have worked for two reasons," Tony said as slyly as he possibly could.

Payton's eyes, which were still looking down at the ground, shot up waiting to hear his response. After a second or so went by, her stare only grew in depth. "Are you going to elaborate on these so-called reasons?"

"Honestly. I thought you would have ditched me within minutes of coming, making a plan of that nature completely useless," he said with a smile, not going too hard on her—just enough to show her he actually cared.

"Do you really think I'm that much of a bitch?... I mean, I know I'm a bitch, but come on," she said, trying to force a smile. Her head slightly moved away from his, as if the connection between them grew distanced.

"I was just kidding," he tried to reassure her. Back-stepping had been something Tony didn't do often. He almost always pushed a little too far before realizing it, though he never apologized for it. "I'm sorry. Really. I just get nervous around gorgeous girls and don't know how to act."

Payton let out a light chuckle. She began to blush and looked down at their feet in order to hide her facial expression. That was when she noticed that Tony's skates weren't completely straight, which they needed to be in order for her to push him.

After watching his skates for a minute or so, she realized that he was actually not only skating backwards on his own, but maneuvering his feet to buffer the brute force she was using to try and push him.

Caught up in the moment, she didn't notice how easy the skating had been. Almost like gliding. She said nothing, but just smiled.

Not that far from them was Tiffany, Tim's girlfriend, and her newly single BFF, Maggie, whom she'd been trying to cheer up.

"As much as I appreciate this, wouldn't you rather be skating with someone else? You know, like your boyfriend? I'm pretty sure he would much rather be skating with you than sitting off on the sidelines with Lucifer and his enteral gothicness," Maggie said with flair. She wasn't making fun of Lucifer as much as poking fun at the fact that he embraces the "Prince of Darkness" thing a little too much.

"Do you have a crush on Lucifer or something? You know I could totally make that happen," Tiffany teased, knowing damn well that Maggie's type was a little less social piranha and more culturally acceptable without being a socialite.

"Funny, but no thank you. But I mean, if you are in the match-making mood, you could get Tim to introduce me to his cute new friend," Maggie said, gawking endlessly at Marc from across the rink.

"What new friend?" Tiffany said, confused, unaware that Tim even had a new friend. Puzzled, she scoped the layout trying to find Tim so she could see just whom Tiffany was referring to.

Of course, she thought to herself when she finally spotted them over by the arcade games. She was unsure why Marc looked so familiar, then it dawned on her. "That's some guy Tim met in the arcade the other day. Apparently, he's the Van Damme of Street Fighter," she went on to tell Maggie, saying so in such a way that it clear that she had no idea what that meant, nor did she really give a damn.

She cared very little about the game, but something was off with the whole situation. She observed the two of them and couldn't help a sense of jealousy that came over her. For the first time all day, Tim had been smiling, appearing to enjoy himself. Not miserable, as if he were stuck in Saturday school with Mr. Blumkins. She couldn't help but think she was the problem.

Meanwhile, Shawn and Chasity were pulling up to north East Valley, a spot where all the local teenagers hung out after dusk. There were almost always cars parked along the side of the road facing the river.

Sometimes it would be several cars with a large group of teens looking for a place to hang out and drink a few beers, maybe play a little beer pong and listen to music, hang out. Other times there would be just one or two cars parked along the road facing the river, with teenagers looking for a place to park and make out.

Shawn pulled up to the front of the river. It was a ghost town, not odd considering it was a Friday night and only an hour or so past dusk. He put his Jeep in park, then turned to face Chasity.

Chasity smiled as his eyes met hers. "It's a beautiful night out," Shawn said, trying to make small talk and set the mood. He wasn't lying either; it certainly was. The moon was at half-crest, and the stars were burning brighter than ever.

"You know, they say the other side has the most exquisite view of the river. Turns even the most mundane nights, noteworthy," she said to him, biting down on her lower lip.

"I have heard that, although I never had the desire to hike to the other side," Shawn responded, smirking.

"Hike? Why can't we drive to the other side?"

"I don't know, I don't think there's a way to drive up there."

"I'm pretty sure there is," Chasity said, maintaining eye contact.

"Pretty sure, or really sure?"

"There is only one way to find out," Chasity replied with a grin.

It wasn't long before Shawn's Jeep made it to the other side of the river, coming to a slow stop when it reached the end of the trail leading off into the water.

There had been a semi-long pause as the two of them said nothing, just glared out into the river, watching as the water gently flowed downstream.

Shawn spoke first. "So—"

But before he could get a word out, Chasity quickly leaned in and kissed him, and he began kissing her back. Things heated up rather quickly. Her hand made its way down his upper body towards his torso. His hand hovered around her belly, just under the bottom of her shirt, slowly moving up. She pulled back suddenly.

Shawn tried to speak but nothing came out—not that Chasity had been paying him any mind. He panicked, thinking she pulled away because he was moving too fast, not that he hadn't been moving fast enough.

In the six seconds of shock before he could process the situation, Chasity had already pulled her top off over her head and unlatched her bra. Not taking the time to risk any misinterpretation, Chasity leaned in and picked up where they left off. Grabbing his hands, she began to guide them.

Young and curious, she wanted to test the waters and run all bases. Already safe on second, Chasity made a run on third and planned to take it home before leaving the river's edge. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, it didn't seem as if the night would go as she had thought.

Smiling from ear to ear, Chasity thought to herself, You gotta be fucking kidding me... well, no one's first time is perfect. She remembered what Halie, Jade's cousin who was in college, had told her. "High school boys are clueless when it comes to sex. It's amazing actually. As much after-hours cable as they watch, wishing for once, the lonely housewife wants the pizza boy, only to blank and forget everything when it's their time to shine."

The memory brought a real smile to her face, which incidentally made Shawn smile. "You have the most beautiful smile," he complimented her.

Flattered and caught off guard, she blushed. "Thank you," she replied.

In an effort to regain control of her facial expression, she hid her face in her hands for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Shawn asked, pausing for a moment. Chasity lifted her face from her hands.

"How about we get out of here and go grab a bite to eat," he suggested, since the night wasn't going as planned. "I know this really good mom- and- pop place."

"Maybe after?" Chasity asked with a slight flair of the amorous, trying to save the moment from the sheer disaster it had become.

Shawn gave her a half-smile, feeling like a complete idiot. "I don't have a condom," he finally replied, holding his breath as he let the last word out. He sat there sheepishly, like a deer in the headlights.

You got to be fucking kidding me. What guy doesn't carry a condom with them?! she thought, tempted to ask the question out loud but restraining herself. Instead, she took the conversation in a different direction.

"Today's your lucky day, we don't need one. I'm on the pill," she told him in an upbeat tone, her voice only cracking slightly.

She was absolutely lying through her teeth, and on some level, she knew it to be wrong. Yet for some reason, one that not even she could explain to herself, she effortlessly blurted out the words. Words that she was almost entirely certain would work.

Back at Skateland shortly after the couple's skate had lifted, Maggie and Tiffany tracked down the guys, finding them almost instantly. It wasn't hard, considering they were hanging off to the side where the arcade games stood, playing Street Fighter.

"Does this mean you're not pissed anymore?" Tim asked Marc, not breaking eye contact from the game.

"I'm still pissed you lied to me, but I get it. I think," Marc replied.

Tim took a breath and opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, but they were unable to finish their conversation due to the interruption of an all-too-familiar voice.

"There you are, babe! Hey..." Tiffany hesitated for a moment, as if she was trying to remember Marc's name. Marc noticed and stepped in

"Marc," he said smiling, being polite and pleasant; he even waved at Maggie, who had been standing over a few feet from them.

"Tiffany, we met at the arcade the other day." Being passive, she quickly turned towards Maggie. "This is my friend Maggie." Tiffany introduced them and left the door open for them to mingle while she started a side conversation with Tim.

"So, I take it you go to Pinestone High with Tim and them?" Marc asked.

"Yeah, junior. Well, going into junior year," she said nervously, twirling her hair in between her fingers before tucking it behind her ear. "How about you?"

"East Valley. Senior." Picking up on Maggie's body language, he tried his best to act as interested as possible. All while not being interested at all.

"You're a senior? You don't look that old."

"It's the lack of facial hair, only person I know who can't grow a mustache," he said playfully.

Maggie chuckled. "Yeah, maybe." She squinted her eyes and stared at him for a moment. "I don't know, I think it's your face. So innocent and sweet." Coltish and charming, she smiled, gazing at him.

Even though Tiffany was older, she had known Maggie all her life; her friend had always acted that way around guys, so that didn't surprise her. Tim's reaction to her frivolous acts was what caught her attention, as if he was jealous of Maggie's trifling. But Tiffany said nothing and didn't even allow her emotions to show.

Payton had to use the bathroom, so instead of leaving Tony to fend for himself, she stuck Buffy with him. The moment Payton skated into the bathroom and out of sight, Buffy spun towards Tony, giving him a healthy smack on the chest.

"What the hell are you up to?" she screamed, demanding an answer instead of simply asking a question.

"Ouch, that shit hurt!" Tony said laughing, holding his chest where she'd undoubtedly left a huge red handprint under his shirt.

"Good, I wanted it too. What's your angle here? Why are you lying about not knowing how to skate? Like, who does that?" She took a breath, though her death stare didn't pause. "Do you and Josh wake up and call each other? 'Good morning, Josh!' 'Good morning, Tony. How's your day, Tony?' 'Just splendid, I think Payton likes me, what do you think I should do?' 'That's a good question. Well, geez golly, I don't know, but whatever you do, definitely don't be honest and tell her you think she's hot.' 'Give me a minute, I'm sure we can think of something fucking stupid to do.' " Buffy reenacted how she believed the two of them talked with a very outlandish yet hilarious impression.

Tony couldn't help but laugh. "What did Josh do now to piss you off?"

"Josh has nothing to do with this, this is solely about you and whatever you're doing," Buffy responded, coming off strong and defensive.

"This was actually all my idea, Josh agrees with you. So does Marc, but I don't think you care about his option. I mean it's not like you didn't tell Payton that I know how to skate just fine."

"Of course I did, the minute she told me about you two's conversation. Now, she doesn't believe me—or maybe she does and is just playing into your stupid mind game," she proclaimed. "If you like her, why don't you just ask her out like a normal person? You know, maybe go see a movie or something."

"Who said that I like her like that?" Tony asked, slightly shaken by her bluntness.

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be going through all this trouble to hang out with her. Anyone with eyes can see that, but for whatever reason instead of being straightforward. You're doing whatever the fuck this is," Buffy said, pissed.

"Whatever happened between you and Josh? Ever since that one night at Marc's at the beginning of the summer, you've been at his throat, and anyone with eyes can see that." He gave her a dose of her own sarcastic rancor.

Buffy antagonistically gawked at Tony as he spoke. "I'm only going to say this once and not as a favor to you. Payton, for some reason, actually likes you and I know you like her too. So stop being a jackass and just ask her out before you fuck it."

Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, Tony smirked. "I don't date girls I'm friends with."

She shook her head in despair. "Not asking her out, is going to be the biggest mistake you'll ever make. One day you'll see, and when that day comes, make sure you give me a call."

"Because you'll finally be able to tell me, I told you so?" Tony replied gleefully, making an attempt to ease the tension between them.

"No. Because misery loves company," she said sarcastically, but with a sorrowful look in her eyes. Tony could see the pain in her eyes even though she put up a good front. For just a fraction of a second, her barriers lowered, allowing the truth to seep through.

While standing in silence, waiting, Tony tried to avoid eye contact or any form of communication with Buffy, turning slightly to the right. He held onto the wall just in case Payton came out without him noticing.

Just up the way, Marc and Maggie were playing Street Fighter. Maggie wanted to see what all the fuss was about and why Marc loved the game so much. Tiffany and Tim stood close by but far enough that they couldn't be heard.

"So what do you think about Marc? Do you think he's a nice guy?" Tiffany asked, gawking over at them.

"Yeah, he seems pretty cool," Tim said nonchalantly, almost certain of what Tiffany was going to say next.

"Maggie thinks he's cute. I think we should hook them too up. What do you think? Do you think that Marc would go for Maggie?" Her question had more than one intention—trying to set up Maggie, along with checking out if Tim had a thing for her. Tiffany could sense them as a couple drifting apart and she couldn't help thinking that he had begun developing feelings for Maggie.

Brad and his buddy came skating by, slowing down to almost a complete stop. They look over at Marc and Maggie, then back towards Tim and Tiffany. "Your friend is pathetic, is she really that desperate for attention that she'll try to get with anyone?" Brad asked, aiming his slant towards Tiffany.

"Aw, are you still upset that she rejected you three times, and won't accept your friend request on Myspace?" Tiffany replied.

"That's only because she got mad because she thinks I told people what happened at my party last year." He played it off cool, acting as if it had everything to do with her lack of interest.

"Why exactly would she care if you told people that Lucifer got caught fucking your sister in your parent's bed and that's why they sent her away?" Tim asked.

"Luke never had sex with my sister. She sat with him at lunch and then all of a sudden, he became obsessed with her. That's why she went to live with our aunt and uncle, to get away from him," Brad said angrily.

"Is that the story your mommy and daddy tell you at night before bed?" Tim taunted. "That it has nothing to do with the fact that she had a pregnancy scare and Lucifer had been one who planted the seed?"

"Fuck you!" Brad yelled as he lunged towards Tim.

Coming full force, Tim crouched down, grabbed Brad, and threw him to the ground, barely keeping up on his feet himself. Brad's friend came skating up, hitting Tim with a right hook that knocked him flat on his back.

While the fight was brewing, Buffy was across the rink staring as Josh hit it off with Jade. While Tim took a hit to the jaw, Buffy took a metaphorically one to the chest. Taking her breath away as the memory from two short months prior forcefully replaced in her head. An afternoon, shortly after the incident at Marc's house.

Josh had gotten into a fight and broke up with Chasity for the sixth time that month. By some random change in the way the wind had blown that day, Buffy and he had run into each other out front of the local convenient store.

It was a random Wednesday where nothing particular had been going on; both of them were alone and for those couple of hours just the two of them hung out. Nothing out of the ordinary. They just chilled at the park, walking around the neighborhood.

Then somehow, they ended up in Buffy's basement watching a movie. The Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. One thing led to another, as things always seem to do. Before they knew it, the two of them were standing in the basement bathroom in the pitch dark, only inches apart saying, "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary."

But when Buffy reached to turn the lights on, Josh stumped his foot behind her and reached out towards her in an effort to make her jump as she flicked the switch. All went according to plan. She not only screamed but she did indeed jump—right into his arms, both literally and metaphorically.

They shared a moment before she realized what he did. She flirtatiously smacked him on the arm, claiming it wasn't funny. However, the smile on her face argued differently.

He chuckled, and then without notice or hesitation, Buffy kissed him. In the heat of the moment, things became intense. Although it ended quicker than it escalated.

After, there had been a moment or so of complete silence. Not an awkward, overbearing one where everything becomes weird and uncomfortable, but still thick tension. Teen angst peaking, rising off the charts. Each stared at the other, wondering what they were thinking.

Crossing the line into the unknown with someone within their respected inner circle changed everything—it was invading unstable territory. Before letting too much time pass and allowing the situation to reach a point of no return, Buffy finally spoke the first words.

"Shit. I didn't realize how late it was. I'm supposed to be meeting Payton soon and I still have to shower and get ready."

"Yeah. I should get going, I told Tony we would meet up this afternoon at the courts. I'll see you around."

"Yeah..." she responded hesitantly. "I'll see you around."

After that day, they avoided hanging out alone together even made an effort to avoid each other when their paths would cross. Not that it mattered. Josh and Chasity soon thereafter mended their wounds and reunited. Of course, Buffy had to find out through Marc, which she wasn't surprised about, but that didn't stop it from stinging any less.

Buffy stared blankly towards them, pondering on the "what- ifs." Speaking of, if either one of them noticed her, things would have taken a turn and it would be awkward, to say the least. Thankfully the DJ shouting for security over the intercom multiple times snapped her out of it before anyone noticed.

That was what got Marc's attention, who had been preoccupied with Maggie. Marc cleared the twenty feet gap between them in no time, jumping in just in time to stop Brad's friend from kicking Tim in the face.

Tony and Buffy, still not talking, were straight across from the fight, giving them a pretty good viewpoint. "Is that Marc?!" Buffy bawled.

By the time Buffy noticed it was Marc involved in the fight, another one of Brad's friends had involved themself in the situation. Coming up from behind Marc, he hit him with a cheap shot. Marc and a stocky jock type exchanged punches.

Without hesitation, Tony lunged onto the rink, skating across the middle of the floor, cutting through people.

By that time Brad was back on his feet and skated off. Running up, he grabbed Tim by the shirt and threw him into the wall. With his skates still on, Tim wasn't able to balance himself, taking a hard hit and slamming into the wall just below the DJ booth.

Payton came out of the bathroom to see Tony skating across the crowd of people, most of whom stopped because of the fight. He had managed to gather enough speed to use his momentum to hoist himself over the wall. Landing with more speed than he anticipated, he grabbed onto the shirt of the guy closest to him and used what impetus he had left to throw him in the opposite direction.

Given the force, he not only lost his balance but slid across the carpet. After realizing what happened, the other guy turned and swung at Tony. Tony ducked, sliding his right foot back before turning it slightly right, using the front of his skate to push off and putting force behind his counter strike to the guy's ribs. Knocking the wind of him made it almost effortless to knock him flat on his ass with a weak left hook, just as security made their way through the crowd.

Standing across the rink, Payton watched everything unfold with Buffy right next to her. Tony, preoccupied with the events at hand, not to mention full of adrenaline running through his entire body, couldn't focus on anything other than what was happening right in front of him, making it the first time all night that Payton slipped his mind.

"You know, he must really have a thing for you," Buffy said, trying to sound kind as best she could, although her bitterness seeped through. Not that Payton noticed.

"What are you talking about?" Payton replied. She watched as security dragged Tony, Marc, and the others out of the building, her attention barely on Buffy. It was only after the boys were escorted out the door that she paid better attention to her own surroundings.

"It takes one of his best friends getting into a fight for him to drop the charade. He literally wiped out countless times, enduring painful bruises and cuts, not to mention making a complete ass of himself. All just so he would have an excuse to hang out with you," Buffy rambled on, reflecting her own insecurities. "I mean, if he doesn't have a thing for you, I would love to see what he'd do for someone he likes to give him the time of day."

Payton gave her a puzzled look as she'd suddenly had a change of heart, which was uncommon, to say the least. "I thought you were anti-Tony or whatever... Why the sudden change of heart? Did he say something to you?" Her face got a little too excited.

"No, but he didn't have to... "