"Been there." MG smirked at Steve.

"Done that." Added Casey, bringing on a burst of laughter from the group. Behind Steve, Brian something, one of the few sophomores in the group, turned beat red. MG noticed and burst out laughing, which only made poor Brian turn redder. Gina leaned toward him, licking her Twinkie suggestively. Carrie and Casey tried not to laugh at him, but his innocent shock was hysterical. Sophomore Brian's entire Irish head and neck were red now, which had Casey doubled over laughing. Carrie started to choke on her soda. A little dribbled out of her mouth and down the front of her shirt before she could spit it back into the cup.

"Trouble swallowing?" Steve shot Carrie a suggestive look, which only made all the girls laugh harder and louder.

"Is there a problem here, Steve?" Mrs. Dobson was monitoring lunch and stopped at their table.

"No, ma'am." Gina answered, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Uh, yeah." Steve turned around to face the teacher. "MG and Gina stole my Twinkies."

Mrs. Dobson thought she was being played, but went along, "Is this true MG?"

MG looked up from under her lashes, guilt written all over her face. She handed the wet Twinkie back to Steve.

"Ewww, she licked all over it." He complained. "MG, did you lick his Twinkie?" Mrs. Dobson realized how that sounded as soon as she said it. Everyone burst out laughing. Carrie had to hang on to the table to keep from falling off her chair. Mrs. Dobson's cheeks flamed, then she started laughing too. She walked away, shaking her head, trying to suppress it.

Art followed lunch. Carrie would have an A in the class, but Mrs. Winter said her behavior pulled her grade down. She sat between MG and Casey, who were both failing, because MG turned everything Mrs. Winter said into innuendo: brush strokes, baroque period, flying buttresses (her favorite). Most of it wasn't even that funny, but the combination of MG's lewd expressions and post-lunch sillies had all three falling off their chairs and laughing 'til they cried.

It was a beautiful, sunny fall afternoon, so MG put the top down on her car for the drive home from school. She had a convertible Mustang that her mom's current boyfriend bought for her. She had no idea what the man did for a living, something about house loans, but he was the richest guy she had ever known. He rented a mini mansion with a pool for them to live in and the Jag that MG's mom drove. He had been around for almost two and a half years, which was a record for her mom. Carrie and MG both thought he was kinda ugly, but he and his money made Amber happy, and happy parents are always a good thing.

"I won't need a ride home tomorrow." Carrie figured now was as good a time as any to open this can of worms.

"Why?"

She took a breath, readying herself for the questions. "I'm staying late to help with homecoming decorating."

MG turned the radio down. "I thought you said homecoming decorations, but I know that's wrong."

Carrie brushed off the joke and held her ground. "I did."

"What? Why?"

"Cause I like painting stuff, and ... I don't know ... they asked me to."

"Who asked you to?"

"Michelle Wagner"

"Weird, perky, preppy girl, Michelle Wagner?" "Yeah, OK. I know, but it's just a couple of meetings to make decorations. You know I like this shit. Look how many times I've redone my room and yours. This way you can keep your room the way it is for a while."

"My room is pretty amazing right now." MG hesitated, "You are good at that shit. Just don't, you know, turn into one of them."

"Yeah, right," Carrie rolled her eyes. It was funny that MG even thought she would want to hang out with the preppy girls. They were boring, and what the hell would she have in common with them?

From the outside, it probably looked like she had a lot in common with them. Her parents weren't divorced or in jail, she was in class with them part of the day, she had a closet full of preppy clothes that she rarely wore. It was the stuff they couldn't see, the stuff that no one saw, that separated her from them.

Chapter 3.

Ben pressed end and dropped the phone on his bed. He pushed out a deep breath in an attempt to bring down his level of frustration and walked once around his room. He had asked Joelle two weeks ago to go with him today, and she wouldn't give him an answer 'til now, an hour and a half before he was supposed to leave. If he didn't do something to get rid of it, he knew his anger would just fester, and then it could ruin his entire day with his grandparents. Two minutes later he bounded down the stairs from his bedroom in his running shoes and sweats, passing his mom in the kitchen on his way out the back door.

"I thought you were going to Dutzow today." "I am. I just need to get a run in first. I'll be right back," he replied before he closed the door behind him. He hated cutting her off, but he needed to clear his head before he could talk to anyone. Without checking his watch to time himself, he set off toward the park for a fast five miles.

It worked, by the time he rounded the last corner leading into the cove nothing was solved, but he felt calm enough to answer his mom's inevitable questions and enjoy his day. As he slowed to cool down in his driveway, he spotted Carrie, in her pj's, a hoodie and bare feet, walking, no, marching, toward the little cabin. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear him run up behind her.

"Carrie."

She spun around, startled, "Shit you scared me."

"Sorry. What's up?" She pushed her hands into the hoodie pockets and stood on the outer edge of her feet in an attempt to keep warm. "I just. . . needed to get out of the house." She looked him over, noting his sweat-soaked clothes, "you?"

"Same"

"Sissy making you crazy?" There was surprise in her voice because Ben never fought with his mother.

"No." He hesitated, not wanting to tell her what was making him crazy, "something else." They fell into an awkward silence. Carrie continued to shift her feet to change the part touching the cold pavement. Ben noticed, "You should go in, your feet are going to freeze."

Carrie shrugged, "I'm alright. I was gonna go sit in the cabin for a while, avoid her." Ben nodded his head, needing no further explanation. He stretched forward, touching his toes, then popped back up. "I gotta go ... um ..." He pulled one foot up behind him to stretch his quad, then the other. "I'm going to my

grandparent's today."

Carrie nodded, "Cool, have fun."

"Thanks." Ben walked away toward his house. Carrie continued into the backyard toward the little cabin Ben's dad built when they were kids. Before he walked inside he called, "Carrie?"

She stopped walking, "Yeah."