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We ended up in the food court. Andy was muttering something about the pathetic lack of vegan food choices the mall offered while the rest of us stopped by Panda Express. We all grabbed a table and sat eating and talking.

We were almost done when the door to the parking lot opened and four teenage girls strode in. I checked my watch. /Yep. School's out. /Before long, the girls spotted Pete, Joe, Patrick and Andy and raced over to our table.

"Hi." Breathed one. "I'm Stacy. Can I have your autographs?"She opened her purse and dug around for a piece of paper. I noticed there was no pen so I wordlessly handed the guys one of mine. The guys signed the paper, along with the pieces that the other girls offered. They talked to them for alittle bit and then the girls left.

As soon as they were gone, Pete said, "I'm glad there were only four. I start getting scared when there are 10 or more."

I smiled. "Let's go then.

"Where?" Joe asked.

"Hmm... Party at our house." I motioned to Jess and me. Pete jumped up at the word 'party'.

"Let's go!" He yelled, jumping out of his chair. We all laughed and followed him.





On the way home, we stopped by a grocery store to get coma-inducing amounts of junk food and, yes, beer. I had already made a vow to never drink in Patrick's presence again, though, so I just bought it for everyone else.

We finally arrived at the apartment and ran in the door. Except for Pete who actually ran into the door. After he recovered, Pete immediately went to our stereo system and started rifling through our CD's. He selected 'Santi' by The Academy Is...

With the music pounding under my feet, I went into the kitchen to put all the food onto platters. By the time I came out with food-laden arms, Patrick had forced Jess into singing karaoke. Jess actually has abeautiful voice but the sight of her singing into an oversize microphone and shooting glares at Patrick struck me as funny. I started laughing but managed to stop myself in order to put the food on the coffee table.

Andy and Joe drug out Jess's x-box from under the TV and turned off the karaoke machine. This earned them a "HEY!" from Patrick and arelieved glance from Jess.

They happily started playing some game while Pete and Patrick watched.

I felt someone's eyes on me and looked up to see Jess looking at me with a slightly worried look on her face. "Can I help you?" I joked.

"Well, can I talk to you?" She replied.

"Sure." I got up and followed her to her bedroom. I flopped down on her bed and she sat down beside me. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask you where you are with Patrick."

I groaned. "Can this maybe wait?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask."

"There's not really anything to ask about. He's my friend, I'm his friend. We're friends."

"Ok, ok. Are you sure you don't like him?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Why?"

It was her turn to shrug. "It seems like you do."

Is she serious? "Are you serious?"

Jess nodded.

"Well, you're wrong. So can we go back out there and enjoy hanging out with our friends and forget this ever happened?"

She sighed. "Fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you realize you looooove him."

"I won't." I said as I walked out her door and into the living room.

I forget how well she knows me sometimes.





As soon as I stepped foot in the living room, Patrick (of all people) jumped up and asked me if I'd like to go on a walk. I told myself not to look at Jess but of course, I did. Just as I expected, she was looking at me with her 'told-you-so' face. I stuck my tongue out at her (because I'm so mature) and turned back to Patrick. "Of course." I said with a smile.



We stepped out into the warm night air and I sighed. This was my favorite time to be out.

We started walking towards nowhere in particular and I stuck my hands in my pockets. The conversation was light and easy. He asked me about myself and vice versa. It was nice because we had never really just sat and told each other about ourselves.

"If you needed advice and you could only turn to one person, who would it be?" Patrick asked.

"No brainer." I replied. "Jess- hands down, every time."

"You two are really close, huh?"

"That's an understatement. I wouldn't be half of who I am today if it weren't for her. 9 years is a long time to be someone's best friend. Pretty soon, you just get really good at it."

"Ok." He said thoughtfully. "Do you trust people easily?"

I thought for a minute. "Yes. I think I do. Do you?"

He grinned. "I try not to but I guess it's in my nature."



~Patrick's POV~

while Jenna and Jess were gone at the apartment

I sat on the couch watching Andy and Joe playing video games. Well, my eyes were watching but my mind was doing anything but. Why do I like Jenna? There are tons of reasons. When I see her, something inside tells me that she's just the person I need to turn my life upside down. From the minute I saw her in her office, I knew that I would spend many sleepless nights figuring out how to win her heart. And I was right, although Ihaven't quite figured it out yet. I needed wanted to spend time with her alone.

She stepped out of Jess's bedroom and I saw my chance. "Do you want to go on a walk with me?" I asked hopefully. She turned around for aminute and I saw her stick her tongue out at Jess. She turned back to me and said "of course." Score.

When we stepped out of the house, she sighed and put her hands in her pockets. /Damn. I was going to try to hold one of those. /I shook it off and asked her about her life.



~Normal POV~

We got back to the apartment and the guys decided they wanted to sleep over. I threw sleeping bags and pillows out at them and laid down the house rules. "Go to sleep and don't bother me. If you must bother someone, Jess is the more tolerant one."

"So she won't mind if we wake her up in 3 hours?" Pete asked with an evil angelic smile on his face. I looked at the clock. It read'1:03 am'. I did the math and laughed.

"I said more tolerant. Not saintly."



Once I had managed to get Pete to stop tearing up the apartment, (which was not easy-he had snuck a full throttle at the grocery store) I went to my room and got in bed. I really should never be left alone to think. Ever. Nothing good ever comes of it. I just manage to screw up my mind more.

After my walk with Patrick, I found my cheeks heating up at just the thought of him. This was the fact that I was pondering as I lay there in the dark. I could hear Jess telling me that it seemed like I liked him. Icould also hear myself telling her that she had no idea what she was talking about. I was beginning to think that she was right. I hate it when that happens...although, I should be used to it by now. I thought back to when he kissed me and felt my heart flip. The last thing I thought before I fell asleep was, 'yeah, Jenna. You've got it bad.' Followed by the feeling of surrender. Yep. I do have it bad and there's nothing I can do about it.