Dylan jogged down the school hallway hurrying to his locker. He forgot his copy of The Great Gatsby and they were discussing it in English class today. If he was unprepared for class one more time, he was dead. Mr. West would have his head. He quickly spun his lock around and pulled open the metal locker. There it was, his book sitting right on the top shelf of his locker. Dylan grabbed the book, slammed his locker closed, and took off again. He was in such a rush that he didn't notice another person in the hallway until they nearly collided. "Sorry, are you okay?" he asked.

Macy screeched in shock at the hulking figure who collided into her much smaller one. Her books fell to the ground, papers flying everywhere. She looked up to see who had been the hulking mass of oblivion and it was Dylan Guthrie. Macy rolled her eyes and dropped to the ground to pick up her things, neither expecting an apology or assistance.

"Hello? Are you okay?" he asked. Was she going to respond or just ignore him? Dylan certainly didn't have any questions as to why Macy wasn't as popular as her sister. He looked around the hall to make sure no one else was around to see him, and then he knelt down on the floor beside her and helped her gather the books. "Are you okay?"

Macy drew back in shock, not bothering at all to conceal her utter distaste. "I'm fine, thank you," she responded curtly, but still politely, all the while reinforcing the Golden Rule in her mind.

When he was certain she wasn't looking, Dylan rolled his eyes. Are you always this weird? he thought to himself. Of course you are. "Uh, how's your sister doing?" he asked meekly, remembering back to the party at home when Emily was the unexpecting recipient of one of Dylan's punches.

He gave a damn? Macy looked up in surprise, "she's fine, Dylan. No one seems to believe the whole ran into a door thing though," Macy replied sarcastically, stuffing the rest of her books and papers into her backpack. She felt her hand brush against Dylan's as he helped her and he immediately drew away. She rolled her eyes, I don't wear Abercrombie or enjoy football, wow I guess I'm as vile as the crypt keeper, Macy thought.

He nodded and then looked at the floor. "Good." They stood in silence and Dylan shifted awkwardly on his feet. "Did you think I meant to hit her?"

"No," Macy replied honestly. "I think you're just one big act and I don't think you would intentionally hit a girl no matter how much of an asshole you act like that." She really needed to work on her inability to not be glib. Words just tended to fly out of her mouth before she could catch them.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, what do you know?" he repeated angrily. "I don't pick on Mason for the hell of it. I do it because he wouldn't live a day in someone else's shoes, and maybe he deserves to see what it would be like to not have the whole town fall at his father's feet whenever anything happens. Maybe he doesn't always deserve to get what he wants."

"Don't be such a prick, you don't live Chris's life, just because his dad is rich and influential doesn't mean his life is cake. Your just scared as hell that Chris made varsity on pure talent," Macy snapped. "And you have no idea what it is like in Chris's shoes, just as he has no idea what its like in your shoes, so don't go judging." This sounded like something Corey would say, and Macy's mind wondered to the night at the party when her and Chris had been discussing something right along these lines. She sighed suddenly, realizing how wholly futile this all was. Her and Dylan lived in two entirely different worlds and she doubted either one was willing to see where the other was coming from. "We should get to class," Macy said and she began to turn away.

He felt the anger rising in his cheeks when Macy mentioned football. Maybe she was actually right about some things. Maybe she had a point. "You're wrong about the team," he muttered as he turned the other way to get back to English class.


Scene 2

He was falling asleep. Why did math have to be so boring? Jason yawned widely unable to stop himself. He'd rather be anywhere but here. Where would that be, he wondered tapping his pencil on his notepad. London was the first place that popped into his head, followed shortly after by his bed and a soccer field. Anywhere but here. He yawned again unable to stop it. Fortunately for Jason, the bell rang and ended his misery.

He grabbed his book and practically ran out the door towards his locker. If his timing was the slightest bit off, he would miss Emily near the art room and then she would walk to World History with that guy James she hung out with. Jason hated that guy. He picked up the pace as he neared the art corridor, getting to his locker in record time just as Emily turned the corner. James was just about to flag her down when Jason made his move.

"Emily! Hey, what's up?" He called waving at her.

Emily finished stuffing her sketchpad back into her backpack as the sound of her name from an all too familiar charming British accent bellowed her name. She looked up to see red-haired Jason approaching her, a goofy grin on his face, the boy was too charming for his own good. "Cheerio!" she quipped, then paused, "was that utterly horrible sounding?" she asked with a laugh.

"Better than the last time," he remarked reaching her. He shifted his books to his other side. "Walk you to
History?"

Emily nodded with a smile, she grabbed her books and notes from her locker. "Today is the day Ms. Woods assigns partners for that big project she's been going on about since school started. I had to listen to Macy complain about it all weekend! She's certain she'll get stuck with someone awful like Dylan Guthrie." Emily waved at James who was making his way to world history too, but not joining in on their conversation. "Em, we have an emergency cheerleading meeting after school," Alisha Stuart, a senior, informed Emily as she passed by.

"Emergency cheerleading meeting? What does that involve? Who goes on top of the pyramid?" Jason joked. "I'm sure she'll survive if she gets Dylan. Speaking of, I'm still pissed about his roundhouse on you at that party. Hey, Schafer, what's up," he added greeting another student as they walked.

Emily gave Jason a playful shove, "I'd like to see you do a standing back tuck!" She laughed as Jason came whirling back towards her, pretending that she had shoved him hard. "C'mon, Jase, he didn't mean to hit me. Hey, Veronica, Alisha said we have an emergency meeting after school," Emily hollered out as they entered the classroom. The duo moved towards their corner in the back where Chris, James, Veronica, Derrick, and
Dylan all sat.

"Did he even apologize? He's acting like a creep about Chris getting on Varsity. If he says one more thing about it, I might have to kick his ass. I should anyway for that little bruise there," Jason remarked touching her cheek gently.

"Yes he did, profusely," Emily explained, her hand briefly fluttering to where Jason's was, her hand collided with his, and she quickly moved her hand away. It was difficult to view Jason as just a friend when everyone kept saying, 'Emily, Jason soooo likes you. He's so cute!' If only she could figure out Chris, it could all be so simpler, but Chris did nothing to encourage or discourage her affections towards him. She sighed at that thought, not realizing she had briefly zoned out. Embarrassed, she quickly sat down in her desk across from Chris' and pulled out her notes.

Emily fell silent and averted her eyes from Jason. She had to know, Jason thought. Everyone knew. At least, he thought everyone did. It wasn't as if he made his crush a secret around school. Then again, Chris didn't know about it either. Or at least, Jason didn't think he did. It would be easier if Chris made a decision one way or the other about Emily. Right now, Jason didn't know where Chris' head was. From his behavior at Dylan's party, Jason would have guessed that it was Macy Chris was thinking about and not Emily. But today, Chris didn't seem to care either way.

"Don't be mad at him," Emily finally said in reference to Dylan. "It was all an accident."

"Can I be mad at him for spreading lies about my best friend?" Jason retorted.

Emily sighed, "I think all of you need a good kick in the butt right now because all of you are acting like playground bullies."

Jason frowned. "I'm just being loyal to my friend. I thought you would be too."

"But you're being just like Dylan by pulling the whole, I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass-man card," Emily explained as she puffed herself up and performed her best testosterone overdose impression.

He couldn't help but smile at her impression. "I don't really look like that. I can't. I'm British," he joked. "And you'll notice, I am not telling lies about people and I'm not picking fights."

Emily deflated herself and though she tried to remain stern, a smile crept across her face at the sight of Jason's infectious grin. "Stop smiling, I'm trying to prove a serious point here," she insisted.

Veronica who sat in front of Emily leaned back, "what's this meeting about?"

Emily shrugged, "Alisha said it was an emergency."

Veronica chuckled, "it’s probably something like oh Chrissy Taylor is preg, so we have to find a replacement before competition season begins."

Emily cringed, "you're so hateful, Veronica."

"Who's pregnant?" Chris interrupted dropping into his seat and the conversation.

"Chrissy Taylor," Jason supplied for him. And that ended his private time with Emily for now. Maybe he could catch her later alone after school. He could offer her a ride after her meeting. Yeah that sounded like a good idea.



Scene 3

School came naturally to Emily, which annoyed Macy who had to work a little harder at it, not to mention all she wanted to do was play her music, so paying attention tended to be harder for her when all she could see in her head were music notes, yet she had allowed Emily to con her into taking Honors World History, which Macy was thoroughly enjoying, in fact she was fairing better than Emily in it...and she was smug.

"Oh, bite me," Emily laughed at yet another hundred set down on Macy's desk. "They are pairing us up today. Hannah Bruce said this will be your project partner for the rest of the year and you don't get to pick your partner, Mrs. Woods picks."

Macy's nose crinkled in distaste. "Watch I'll get stuck with the likes of..." Macy trailed off as Dylan entered the room, they briefly made eye contact, "Dylan Guthrie."

Emily snorted, her eyes following Dylan, the only remnants of his accident on her face was that it was still a little shiny and taut, "that'll be amusing."

Dylan flew into class right behind Mrs. Woods and slid into his desk in the back of the class. After a few comments from his other friends on the football team, he waited to hear his name be called.
Chris then entered the classroom and both girls smiled at him. He sat down in front of Emily and she quickly informed of what she had heard.

The trio quickly sobered up when the teacher entered the classroom and insisted on silence. She verified what Emily had heard and there was a few groans from the classroom. Mrs. Woods read down the list of names.

"Chris Mason and Emily McCormick."

"Hey, no fair," Macy groaned. "She's my twin!" She slouched down into her chair, arms across her chest. Her name had not been called out yet and nor had Corey's, Elaine McPherson who wasn't so bad, Travis Jones who picked his nose, or...Dylan's. "Oh please God, don't do that to me, oh please..."

"Macy McCormick and...

"Oh please, what did I do to deserve this...."

"Dylan Guthrie."

Macy's head fell forward into her open world history book and she muffled a groan. She heard some snickers throughout the classroom. Talk about the most unlikely pairing in the classroom. Finally she lifted her head to see Dylan looking equally as horrified. There went her last semester.

At least it wasn’t Chris Mason. But it wasn’t much better. Why did he have to get the weird twin? At least Emily was cool to him. Until he punched her by accident.

"They paired you up with your girlfriend!" One of Dylan’s friends teased. He just rolled his eyes. When Mrs. West was done pairing off the students, she told them to each get together in their pairs and start discussion what they’d like to work on.

Dylan grabbed his backpack and tossed it across the room, to the seat right next to where Macy sat. See? I should be the varsity QB he thought to himself. He sat down next to her and said, "We should probably do this on PowerPoint. Just talking in front of the class sucks."

Macy made no attempt to disguise rolling her eyes at Dylan's toss of his backpack. "You have to talk to the class by PowerPoint, too," Macy replied curtly. Everyone else was paired off and chatting amicably with their partner, but no she was stuck with the jerk-of-the-month.

"What is your problem? We're paired up. You don't like it and I don't like it, but there's nothing we can do about it. Should I even bother to make suggestions if you'll just have some smart remark to counter me with?" Dylan asked.

"What do you mean, I was merely stating a fact," Macy replied coolly. What was Dylan doing in Honors World History, anyway, was he placed in it by accident?

"Miss McCormick, Mr. Guthrie is there a problem?" Mrs. Woods asked.

Both mumbled no. "Okay, then, your topic is the US during the jazz age." "Really?" Macy asked, her interest piqued. "Yes, I thought that would be a great topic for you Macy," Mrs. Woods replied with a smile. Okay, so then why did you pair me up with this bozo? Macy wondered, but she gave Mrs. Woods her best really-I'm-trying-to-smile-here.

Dylan tapped his fingers on the desk, waiting for Mrs. Woods to leave so that he could try to get it into Macy's head that they needed to do well on this. "The jazz age? Like roaring 20s and all of that? That's easy enough."

"Yeah," Macy responded. A great topic and she was stuck with Dylan, this royally ruined her day. "Know anything about it?"

His eyes darted over to her and a sour expression appeared on his face. "I'm not stupid, you know. It was when the US was prosperous, people were living free despite the prohibition. Flappers, jazz music, and the Great Gatsby until the Great Depression in 1929," he said, remembering that the Great Gatsby was the book he grabbed from his locker when they collided earlier.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" Macy replied, and she honestly had not. "I was just curious as to if anything about it piqued your interest in particular." But, she had to admit she was surprised he even knew it was during the 20s.

He shrugged. "I like the fact that the world wasn't what it seemed. It looked like everyone was wealthy and living the good life, but we know what was going to happen in just a few years. I think the lifestyle is something to look into. Sorry if that's too vague," he offered.

Dylan didn't like to admit it, but he loved history. And contrary to popular belief, he actually did care about his grades. He was determined to get this done on his own merit. After all, he didn't have Jamie Mason to make sure he did well,

"I think that's a good idea," Macy replied with genuine sincerity. Okay, so she had just been accusing Dylan of being far too judgmental to Chris and here she had been thinking Dylan was a complete intellectual moron because he played football and in acted like an idiot for the most part.

Dylan nodded. "Okay, so, let's brainstorm a bit, I guess." He pulled his notebook out of his binder and turned to a blank page. He rested his pen on the white paper, but didn't write anything. "Since it's a presentation, maybe we could use some music, art, and movie clips from the time? Just so that it will keep the class's attention more than PowerPoint would? It'll be good."

"Um, yeah," Macy nodded. "I can play a few instruments, too. That's all I care about...the music-" Macy paused abruptly. Okay, loosing focus. "But I think representing the arts of the period and how they were a reflection of the time is good."

"Okay, so maybe if you find some sheet music, you could play something? I play a little guitar, but not well enough to do it in front of the class. My sister's big into art, so she could probably help us out there too. What do you play?" he asked.

"Violin, guitar, cello, piano, and a few others," Macy said, feeling herself flush and she realized Dylan noticed which made her flush even more.

"Impressive," he commented. "I didn't know you were that into music." He looked around the room for a minute, having run out of things to say to Macy. Finally, he spoke again,

"Uh, I guess that's probably all we can do until we get to the library. We're going to have to meet after school for this."

"Music is my life," Macy muttered unsure if Dylan heard or not. The bell clanged and Macy nearly exhaled a loud sigh of relief.

Emily bounced over, "let's sneak off campus with Cat and Darce."

"Just make it public, Em," Macy replied sarcastically, quickly stuffing her books in her bag. "Um, I guess we will talk tomorrow about meeting after school and stuff."

"Yeah, fine, see you at class," he said quickly, and before she could respond again, he'd already run from there and met back up with his friends.



Scene 4

The second bell rang just as Chris dropped his bag on the library table. Macy McCormick looked up at him briefly before dropping her eyes back down to her paper. So far, the only thing anyone had talked about all day had been Dylan's party. Maybe Jason was right. Maybe he should throw a party just to get them to shut up about Dylan Guthrie. Of course, he would give anything to shut Dylan up with a good old fashioned fist in the mouth. Too bad Emily had been caught in the middle of it at the party. He would have loved to finish him off then.

He nudged Macy with his foot as the study hall monitor counted heads. "Hey," he whispered out of the side of his mouth. "Can I borrow your chemistry notes?"
 

Macy nodded. Did Chris ever take notes? In every class that they shared, she caught him staring blankly into space. She fished her green chemistry spiral from her bag and slid it across the table to Chris. They sat in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say. It seemed the only topic was Dylan's party and Macy was sick of all that. She pulled her headphones back on and was studying along to Mozart until the monitor came by and promptly plucked it from her head.
 

"Ms. McCormick, headphones are not allowed."
 

Macy frowned. "It's only Mozart."
 

"Its not allowed, Macy."
 

"Its Mozart!" Macy cried again. "Studies prove it makes you smarter!"
 

"The outcry is not necessary, Ms. McCormick, please hand me your Discman."
 

Macy simply looked at the monitors blank hand and refused to budge. Yeah, like, she was going to give up her Discman. The monitor pursed her lips in annoyance, "fine, keep it in your bag." Macy nodded and she walked off. There was something to be said about being a McCormick.
 

"Not bad," Chris muttered with a half-hearted grin. "At least you didn't call her Satan like Jack Zubruski did last week."
 

Macy smiled, "Having siblings who are generally perceived as hooligans or bad-asses, does have its brighter side, but then there is the first day of classes, when the teacher always asks, 'are you related to Ian, Andrew, Jareth or Darcy?'"
 

"Could be worse, I guess," Chris shrugged. "I could get away with a lot if I wanted to. The adults in this town are totally enamored of my grandmother."
 

Macy shrugged, "it could always be worse...but speaking of being the worst. Why did I get stuck with Dylan and you get Emily? Now, that's just sick!" She heard the monitor shush them from across the room, but both gave it little attention.
 

"I'm just glad I didn't get Dylan." Though he wasn't certain he liked the idea of Macy being paired with him either. "You know that guy has caused me no end of trouble this year and it isn't even October yet. I'm gonna kill him by Christmas."
 

Macy gave Chris a sympathetic smile. "You think he would let it go by now, huh? Its just making him look stupider."
 

"Right!" Chris exclaimed loudly getting a long hiss from the monitor. "And when I think of what he did to Emily..."
 

"Yeah, but, that was completely an accident, Chris!" Macy hissed across the table, though she was still quite loud.
 

"Yeah right. The guy is a jerk, Macy. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like hit a girl."
 

"I bumped into him in the hall today, and he could not stop apologizing for hitting Emily, it was wholly genuine," Macy insisted. "I mean, I think he's a jerk, too, but I don't think he hit her intentionally. Its not like either one of you were behaving like rational human beings that night!"

Chris fell silent. She was definitely right about that. He had acted like a raving lunatic as well. But Dylan just rubbed him the wrong way. The only sane one it seemed was Jason. Well, Jason and Macy. They were both pretty good at calling them as they saw them.
 

"I meant to thank you for talking to me on Friday, by the way," he said suddenly.
 

"Oh, uh, you're welcome," Macy said, surprised by the sudden change in subject. "Thanks, too, though, you...uh...opened my eyes a little. But, I gotta ask you something...and if I'm being too nosy just tell me...but what did you mean by saying that it wasn't a rumor?" When Chris looked at her puzzled, she pressed on, "the thing about your Dad and the spot on varsity?"
 

"It's probably true," Chris sighed. He wasn't at all sure about it, but it made sense. Especially considering how much Jamie wanted him to move on and deal with his parents' divorce. "I mean, he hasn't admitted that to me yet, but I get the feeling it's something he would do to make me happy."
 

Macy's eyes widened in surprise. She leaned forward, "do you really think that?"
 

"My dad...you know we had this great big family get together on Saturday. And I hate those things so I stayed outside. Well Dad comes outside after awhile and starts hassling me about my mood. And how I shouldn't be depressed because he and my mom are getting a divorce. Then he tells me that he doesn't love her anymore and doesn't want to stay married anyway. But he wants me and Jesse and Lily to be happy. It was just...god, just bullshit."
 

At least Chris still had two parents, but Macy knew better than to use that as a reason. "I remember you mentioning the divorce," Macy said quietly. "He probably feels worse than you think...," Macy trailed off, "eh, I'm sorry Chris, that's not very sympathetic of me."
 

Chris waved off her apology. "Don't be sorry. I shouldn't be dropping all my troubles on you all the time. I don't know that Dad bought my spot on the team really."
 

"The only thing I know about football is from McCormick family reunions," Macy explained. "Well, if he did or he didn't, I think it just gives you more incentive to prove everyone wrong right?" She smiled at him.
 

"Right. As always," he added as the monitor tapped him on the shoulder.
 

"Mr. Mason, would you mind lowering your voice? Or better yet, perhaps you and Miss McCormick could have this conversation after school instead of here where you are interrupting other students' study time?"
 

"Oh, sure. Sorry," he added with an apologetic  grin.
 

Macy gave the monitor a smile, but it was more of a sneer. They sat in silence for a brief moment. Macy had a question eating away at her, but she had not developed the nerve to ask it yet, and instead of say nothing at all, which would be the better route, she finally spit it out in one rush. "What's up with you and Emily?"

He heard the question but wished that he hadn't. He didn't have an answer to that. Simply because he had no clue. He and Emily were supposed to be a couple, but he didn't feel that way. And neither of them acted that way. At least, he didn't. To Macy, he said, "What do you mean? Nothing's up."
 

"Okay, then, I will answer it for you, because apparently the two parties involved can't tell. Emily adores you, but your feelings aren't mutual. And I'm not even going to ask if I am right, because I know I am," Macy stated matter-of-fact. She had a big mouth, everyone said so, it rarely did her any good.
 

"And just how do you know you're so right?" Chris asked sharply. "You don't know anything about me and Emily. If you did, you wouldn't have to ask. You're just fishing for information. Who put you up to it? Jason? He's been on me for a week about Emily."
 

Macy rolled her eyes. "Its okay, Chris, I think Emily realizes it for the most part."
 

That surprised him. "She does? Do you think I'm a creep for not liking her? She's really great...but I just don't...well, it isn't there," he admitted in defeat.
 

Macy shrugged uneasily. What could she say to that? She had an obligation to her sister, 'yeah, I think it's pretty cruddy you drug her along for so long,' but on the other hand she had some unknown feelings for Chris, 'well, I'm relieved actually, since I kind of like you myself.' "You're no creep, Chris," Macy finally answered after much thought. It was the only honest thing she could say.
 

"Thanks. I guess I should talk to her huh?"
 

Macy nodded slowly. "Yeah," she replied weakly. She could not decide if what she was doing for her sister was to serve her sister's interests or her own! "You should."
 

"I will," Chris said studying Macy. He didn't have the same feelings for Emily that she had for him. But he did like Macy. Would it be a terrible thing to ask her out after having been with her sister. Of course it would, he heard his grandmother say in his head. 'A young man should never date two sisters.' Oh shut up, he thought. "Macy, I was wondering-"
 

"Mr. Mason, I really do not want to have to tell you again!"
 

Macy jumped a little at the monitor. She snickered a little, though. "I think we're really upsetting her...," Macy trailed off. "What did you want to ask me?"
 

Chris shook his head guiltily. There was no way he could possibly ask her out now. He should talk to Emily first. And wait a little while at any rate before making a move on her sister. Not that he was doing that! "Um...oh, can I borrow your history notes?"
 

Macy held back rolling her eyes again. "Yeah," she said and she fished the spiral from her notebook. This was going to get old real quick.



Scene 5

Chris ducked out of study hall quickly, not wanting to linger for the usual gossip. He had something he had to do and it required getting off campus fast. To do that though, he needed a ride and the only one who had a car today was Jason, who had borrowed his sister's. Chris waited out of sight of the Art room until Jason exited behind Emily who was chatting merrily with Veronica Jency. Falling in beside Jason, he waited a moment before pulling Jason into an alcove of lockers.

"What the hell..." Jason yelped.

"Shut up. I need a ride."

"A ride?" Jason repeated staring at him as if he had grown a second head. "Where to?"

"Look, I have to do something. Can you give me a ride home?"

"What for?" Jason asked suspiciously.

Chris rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Does it matter? I just need a ride home."

"Yeah, it matters. If I'm cutting out with you, I want to know why. And if we'll be caught. The last thing I need is Rebecca exploding because we cut out in her car. I'm already on shaky ground with her as it is."

"Fine. I want to go through my dad's office to see if I can find anything." Jason's eyes widened in understanding. That was the nice thing about Jase. He almost always knew what Chris was thinking. Better still, he seemed to agree with Chris' plan.

"Well, then. We better get moving, hadn't we?" Jason grinned. Chris nodded seriously and led the way towards the Art corridor where they could slip out relatively unnoticed right into the student parking lot. The hall was deserted and they were unchallenged in the parking lot.

"All right, so here we are ditching school to go through your dad's office. I assume we're looking for anything to do with Coach Foster," Jason said glancing at Chris for confirmation.

"Yep. I have to know, Jason."

"You know," Jason started carefully. "Even if he did pay the coach to get you on Varsity, there isn't anything you can do about it. And if he did, Dylan is right. Do you really want that?"

"There is something I can do about it though," Chris retorted. "I can quit football. And as for Dylan, I could care less about that guy. He's jealous of me. Always has been. He's been telling lies about me since I moved here."

"I think you're asking for trouble."

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

Jason shrugged. He rolled to a stop at an intersection while the light was red and turned to Chris. "No, you didn't. But as your friend, I feel obligated to tell you that you are a complete jerk. You have been since your mother left town. I know you're pissed about it, but lots of parents get divorced Chris. Yours won't be the first and they won't be the last. Besides, I'll bet your mom and dad are a thousand times happier now."

"My dad is," Chris mumbled. "You really think I'm a jerk?"

"Me. No. But everyone else does. I know you're a good guy who's just having a crappy year. No one else is willing to cut you the same slack."

"I don't care what everyone else thinks, Jason."

"I know you don't." The light turned green and he cruised through the intersection heading towards Chris' house. "In a way, I kind of envy that. Sometimes, I think I'm too wrapped up in what other people think."

Chris didn't reply right away. He did think Jason cared too much but he knew Jason wanted some assurances that he wasn't a loser. He wasn't a loser as far as Chris was concerned. He was a good guy who cared about other people. Didn't make him a bad guy at all.

"You don't care what other people think really," Chris said as they pulled into his driveway. "You just care about people. There's a difference. You're one of those guys who doesn't want anyone to get pissed. You're a nice guy. Nothing wrong with that."

"Except that nice guys finish last," Jason replied wryly. They climbed out of the car and headed to the house. Chris poked his head inside and called the housekeeper's name. When she didn't respond, he motioned for Jason to follow him into the hallway. "So, now what do we do?" Jason asked.

"Jase, you don't have to come in with me. This is my problem."

"Then it's my problem too," Jason grinned. "Best friend and all that. So, what do we do?"

Thankful for Jason's loyalty, Chris pointed towards his father's office. "He keeps important things locked in his desk. I've seen the key on his keychain but I thought maybe he had a duplicate somewhere in there. And if he doesn't, maybe I'll find something else."

If Jason had any doubts he kept them to himself. Since they were alone in the house, they didn't bother keeping quiet. Jason chatted about the history project, expressing jealousy over Chris' partner and annoyance at the topic his own partner had selected. Sifting through a stack of papers on Jamie's desk, Chris nodded distractedly. He had other things on his mind besides a stupid history project and Emily McCormick. That's right, he heard a voice in his head say, you've been thinking about Macy McCormick and feeling sorry for yourself.

"Oh shut up," he mumbled to himself.

"What did you say?" Jason asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm not finding anything. You?"

Jason held up his empty hands. "Nothing. What now?"

"I'll tell you what now," Jamie said surprising them from the doorway. Jason and Chris both jumped guiltily at his voice. "You can tell me just what in the hell you're doing in my office in the middle of a school day. And this better be good."

On the next Episode of Secret Horizons...

Episode 169