Chapter 38: Date Night

           The summer passed by very quickly in our house. I was happy to see that everyone was finally starting to eat together as a family unit, and we were becoming closer, just like when the kids were younger. Sandy recovered pretty well after her abduction, and she reckoned that it probably had something to do with the fact that she was checking out the night sky in her telescope early that morning.

           "What do you guys have planned for today?" I would start the conversation every morning this way. After a while, Buzz and Andy stopped rolling their eyes and started joining in on the talk. We would discuss different plans and suggest different ideas. Andy saw a lot of Leon, although he reported that they held hands and cuddled but had yet to kiss. Buzz sometimes saw Char in group events, but he was a little shy when it came to asking her out on a date.

           When no one had anything planned, we would often go to the park and have fun with the different events. I never tired of the roller skating.

           Ever since our day at the park, Andy had developed an obsession with exercising. He'd wake up at six in the morning to go for a run on the treadmill, grab a shower, and eat. Since he hated getting up in the morning, it was been tough on him, but good since he needed to go to work and didn't have time to fit exercise into most of his days. He started off with twenty minute runs, but they had morphed into hour long runs. Prince and I didn't think it was very healthy. "You're tiring your body out!" I told Andy one day when he arrived home from work absolutely wiped and stressed out. "You get up early to go for runs, you go to work, and you get home late in the afternoon! Andy sweetie, I love you, but I think you need to consider quitting. We don't need the money-we need you." Andy told me he'd think about it and started getting up later to go for his runs, but so far he had yet to quit. He said he wanted to work up to a promotion and then quit once he knew that he could do it. I couldn't argue with his reason-it was his life.

           Sandy ventured outside a lot. She collected bugs from around town to donate to her club which had actually decided to continue doing their work outside of school. Sandy was their favourite and best member. Being young, friendly, bright and pretty didn't hurt. Sandy loved being outside during the summer, and was very dedicated to helping out her club. She found a few bugs which were endangered (the Science department rewarded her handsomely) and turned them in. Unlike most girls, she didn't seem to mind the feeling of bugs crawling on her hands. "As long as I can see them, they're not gross," she told me, "It's when they attack in swarms that they're scary."

           She also took to harvesting from the science facility's public trees and bushes, as well as the local garden center. She claimed that the best plants were out in the wild, though. Near rivers and lakes, far off and out of sight. Once, Buzz went with her to see what it was all about. Apparently he got super bored though.
           "I mean, there wasn't much to it. She just picks the fruit and then gives them to her club. What does she get out of it?" Sandy said that she found it rewarding to give back to her community. Her club also hooked her up with a lot of good business opportunities regarding her paintings. She was getting quite a few free lessons on the odd day when a student or two wasn't at the class and there was an open spot. "And I don't understand why she always wears the same thing. Like the shorts I get, but as for the shirt? We're not even American!" Buzz would say. Again, a lot of the people in Sandy's club were American as well as the people who bought her paintings, so it was her secret way of earning brownie points. Whenever someone asked if she was American, she would simply say that she was not, but she loved their style of living. 

           Andy finally got his driver's license with his father's help. All of the practice went fairly smoothly until one late afternoon where they arrived home absolutely shaken. "What happened?" I asked, scared.

           "Andy was driving along uphill and the wheels started drifting," Prince said.

           "I didn't notice and I lost control," Andy gulped, running a quivering hand through his hair, "I did an accidental U-turn on a hill with double lines. The person going downhill had to swerve out of the way and they nearly hit a tree."

           "It was not a pleasant experience," Prince whispered. Even though Andy didn't try driving again for half a month after that, he had learned and eventually regained confidence again. By his sixteenth birthday, Andy had his G3 and could drive himself to work and all over the place.

           Because Andy no longer needed any kind of supervision while driving or practice, it freed up a lot more of Prince's time. He managed to publish a small series of mystery novels and decided that he was going to focus on mystery novels, as it was a difficult genre to write (well) and it paid very well. Prince spent most of his time tapping away at the computer, but also visited the police station, city hall, science center and whatever court rooms he could. He wanted a proper experience-no glamorous nonsense. Prince wanted to write down facts relating to poisons, psychological motivations, and realistic and relatable happenings. Since he went through so much trauma as a child, he could put his feelings into words. 

           Prince had won the Agatha Award, which he considered to be one of his proudest moments. He said that ever since he was a kid, Agatha Christie had been a kind of idol to him, and when he heard about the Agatha Award it was his goal in life. Prince had also won some awards for his other genres and proudly displayed the framed certificate in our room.

           Buzz kept at the potion making, and though he still hadn't discovered how to make the potion that would turn Jessie real, he had managed to come up with a few cheeky potions. What Buzz had dubbed the 'bladder flow' potion basically just make the bladder contract and filled it up super quickly so that whoever drank the potion would pretty much just lose control of their bladder and would wee themselves. Buzz promised not to trick any of us into drinking it, but that he was saving it for his worst enemy. 

           "Who's your worst enemy, Buzz?" I asked.

           He scratched his head. "No one, yet. But if a boy ever hurts Sandy or Andy, you can bet that peeing themselves is going to the least of his worries."

           Prince and I finally managed to get Sandy a new guitar, and she was absolutely over the moon about it. The three of us went shopping together, and Sandy selected an 80s style guitar which was in her favourite colour-aquamarine. Sandy loved to take out her electric guitar and strum some chords. She picked up tunes very quickly and composed a few songs of her own. She had lessons every Saturday afternoon with a young man a few years older than her. The first time she met him, she wouldn't even talk to him because she was so painfully shy. She soon got over it and was very into the whole music business. She told me that she still preferred painting, however.

           My fairy godmother had also been kind enough to grant our family with a special device. I was tentative to use it at first, but she promised me that it was completely safe. Apparently it was an amazing, magical device which got rid of hunger with every use, emptied the bladder and bowels (using methods alternatively to Buzz's, of course), got rid of sleepiness, worked as a shower, and just made our mindset quite happy. She said that there were no negative effects on whoever the device was used on, and the body would still operate normally. She did say that sometimes the device would reverse the effects, and in that case we were to simply use the device again.

           After testing it on myself and enjoying the sensation, I used it on Sandy, Prince, and Buzz. They all experienced the same things as me and found they had a lot more free time because they didn't need to worry about sleeping, eating, washing, etc.

           When I went up into Andy's room to test it on him, I found him speaking to thin air. Or, Jessie, of course. I pitied him, honestly. We couldn't even see his best friend. Thankfully, though, Andy didn't tell anyone outside of our house about Jessie, knowing that if word got out that Andy talked to someone who didn't exist, it would bring down our reputation and Andy would be submitted to a mental hospital. It seemed shallow to care so much about our reputation, but when it came to politics and royalty, reputation was the only thing that mattered.

           "Buzz, don't eat there!" I said, walking on Buzz eating a bowl of cereal while sitting on the tub. He grinned at me and just shoveled another scoop into his mouth. I rolled my eyes. He could be weird if he wanted. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something. Have you ever dated a girl before?"

           Buzz swallowed. "No. But I've been asked out several times."

           "How many times?"

           Buzz licked his lips. "Let's see... Julia, Liz, Steph, Lois... Around fifteen times, I believe."

           "And have you ever asked a girl out?"

           "Eh... Once. There's this really pretty, super popular girl at our school. She's a year older. Her name is Bella. Anyway, so Char was flirting with this guy at the time, and I was jealous, and I just went out on a whim and asked Bella out," Buzz admitted, "Funnily enough, she said yes, which surprised me. But Char noticed, so I guess I got my point across. I ended up just admitting to Bella why I did it and that while she was very nice and pretty, I wasn't interested in dating her. And, there are reasons why she's super popular-she's quite understanding and bright, too. She told me that she didn't mind and that I'm cute but she doesn't know me well enough. No hard feelings."

           I left Buzz to his breakfast and joined Andy at his. I served myself a plate of pancakes and sat next to him. "Wow, Andy, you really are starting to gain quite a lot of arm muscle!"

           "Thanks," he said, "I guess working out all summer did the trick. I'm hoping Leon will like it..."

           "If he really cares for you then he won't be so shallow that being muscular will make much of a difference," I argued.

           "Mom." Andy put down his fork. "If dad weighed four hundred pounds, would he be nearly as attractive as you find him now?"

           "His personality is what I find attractive," I half lied. Andy just laughed, knowing I was fibbing. 

           "I think that's when I say I'm right," Andy said.

           "Shush."

           School had started up again and the weather was getting a tad chillier. Sandy collected the last of the grubs for her club, but they had encouraged her to help out whenever she could. Part of this was that she was to go to meetings, which required her to bring a treat. And who was to bake the treat? Yeah. Me. I didn't mind, honestly. I tried baking a batch of brownies, cupcakes, and cakes, but her club agreed that my cookies were the best and that I should just stick to that.

           "Bye, guys!" I called, waving to the bus. My kids were the only ones on it, apart from the bus driver, but apparently that was still too embarrassing. Buzz's pink cheeks reddened even more and Andy ducked his head down. Sandy, sitting further back, didn't care. "I'm going back to work again today!" I yelled as the bus pulled away. I had done lots of work during the summer, but the demand for cheer-up sing-a-grams and the like were most requested during the winter, when there was a lot of stress and some people suffered from seasonal affective disorder.

           Over the next month, I received a lot of calls, mainly from friends and other people that I knew. I actually ended up singing two sing-a-grams for Stardust Woods on separate occasions, and I suspected that her sing-a-grams were really just a way to get the two of us to hang out. I didn't mind. Stardust was an okay gal-a little odd, very social, and she sometimes lost her train of thought.

           I also got to deliver sing-a-grams to Wayne Martin and Robbie Platt. I made sure to suck up to lots of proprietors with free sing-a-grams so that they would be more willing to give me a gig later on.

           One time, Wylie Luck called me to give him a romantic sing-a-gram to get him in the mood for Becky. It was fairly awkward, but I got to see Becky. She had aged quite a bit and her beautiful red hair had lost its colour which surprised me considering red pigmentation normally lasted longer. 

           "It's not terrible, but I did have a bug which really wiped me down for a bit. I didn't want to tell you, but I guess I have to now," Becky admitted guiltily.

           "Becky? What are you talking about?"

           "Cindy... I've got..."

           "You've got what?"

           "I've only got five to ten years left. That's what they told me." My world slowed. Five to ten years left? But she had so much more which she needed to experience! She only had one child! There was so much more she wanted to do with her life... "Cinderella. Listen to me. Listen. To. Me. Don't do anything. Don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone knowing. Continue as if you didn't know. Don't throw anything for me, don't plan wild trips. This is how I want to live out the rest of my life. As if I didn't know the end was coming. I mean, everyone's going to die eventually, right? I just die a little sooner."

           I gulped my tears back and we continued to talk until she and Wylie needed to go. I gave her a hug and made her promise to stay close. I noticed Wylie holding her close, protectively, as they walked out. 

           After being turned down numerous times for gigs, I decided to start off a little lower, in the local park. The proprietor asked me to give a sing-a-gram instead of a full blown song, so I did. She liked my enthusiasm and she promised me a spot, giving me the date and an outfit to wear to my gig. It was like the other one I had, except that it was black.

           To celebrate his last few stress free days until summer again, Buzz visited the festival park. He met Talan there, who was a food vendor. Buzz then visited the hot dog station to try his hand at the contest again, but to his dismay it started hailing, completely ruining his plans. "I guess it's fall," Buzz sighed, "I'll probably spend more time inside, then."

           I shrugged. "Have it your way. I just don't want you moping about. Once the sky clears up up a little it'll be a blast. By the way, I'd like it if you would come down to the park when I'm performing, I'd really appreciate it. I'll give you the day when I find out. I think it's a Tuesday, so keep your Tuesdays open."

           "Sure thing," Buzz said absent-minded.

           During the weekends, I occupied myself with cooking. I was tired of cooking the same old thing time after time and wanted to give my husband something to write home about. Not in the literal sense, of course. I finally found a recipe for a mushroom omelette. I enjoyed jotting the ingredients down in my memory. Eggs, cheese, milk, mushrooms, and butter were all essential to the perfect dish. My knees went a little weak as the coaxing scent of the omelette emerged from the meal as I cooked it on the pan. Soon, I had it all set up on a plate and called my family for a bite. I was grateful that I didn't have to make mac and cheese or cold salads anymore.

           After dinner, I made a call that I had been neglecting to do for a long time. "Hello?"

           "Hi. Lashon, it's Cindy."

           "Cindy? Oh, hello Cinderella. I haven't heard from you in a while," Lashon said. He sounded tired and... old. I had communicated with the company through emails and letters with the occasional phone call. A year or so ago, we had altered the system we had so that the company advertised my work with a phone number. Clients would simply phone that number for me and I would go. The company received a small percentage of the pay I received for the advertising. 

           "Yes, I'm sorry about that, just been busy with my kids and home life. Listen, Lashon... I just got a gig, and I know it's small, but I've been thinking about this for a while..."

           "Let me guess, you no longer want to work for our company and you want to go solo, with all the fame and big lights and celebrities? You wouldn't be the first."

           "Lashon, I'm sorry, it's just-"

           "I don't want to sound rude, Cinderella. Just the opposite. Our company's purpose is to support and promote the arts and help with building blocks to achieve greatness. If you want to quit, that's fine. We'll take down your advertising, though, of course."

           "Of course. I feel as if it's for the best," I said.

           "It is. Have fun. Live your dream," Lashon said, and hung up.

           I checked up on my kids upstairs. Sandy was just adding the finishing touches on a cute painting she did of a yellow stick figure surrounded by red paint. "I think we'll hang that when you're done," I told Sandy.

           "I really want to sell this one, though," she said, turning and giving me sad eyes.

           "Fine." On the other side of the third floor, Andy was doing a load of laundry (we had made him promise that since he made his clothing smell so bad exercising, he had to be the one to clean it) and Buzz was clapping giddily. "What've you got, Buzz?"

           "This is really awesome, mom. It turns the user into a ghostly being for a few hours!"

           "What? What do you mean ghostly being?" I didn't like the sounds of messing with death.

           "Well, you become see-through, but not entirely invisible. You weigh a lot less, so you sort of float about. You can enter objects and haunt them or even walk through things!"

           "Don't use it around the house, please, or with anyone. Donate it to the science facility," I sighed. I didn't want Buzz turning the Prime Minister into a ghost.

           "Okay, mom," Buzz said in an innocent tone, but I knew that he would find a way to keep it anyway.

           When I wasn't busy with work, cooking became my new obsession. I used the new cookbook I had to grill, fry, and bake. It got to the point where we only had a few food items left in the fridge even though we had gone grocery shopping the day before. I used the leftover food and managed to mix it into a thick, tasty stew. I laid it out on the counter only to realize that I had fed my family just half an hour earlier. I put it away in the fridge and made a mental note to buy more food later.

           Prince decided to end the cycle when I sat down to watch the cooking channel. He was tapping away at the keyboard, working on his latest book, when he stopped all of a sudden. "Cinderella, love, you have a problem."

           "Whatever are you talking about, dear?" I asked innocently.

           "You know what I'm talking about. Something's wrong. Last time you didn't tell me what was going on, you bought a new car, got tattoos, dyed your hair, and..."

           I didn't want him to finish the sentence. "I know. You're right."

           Prince closed his computer and cuddled up next to me on the couch. "Tell me your troubles, Cindy," he whispered into my ear. He made it difficult to concentrate on the television.

           "I dunno, Prince. I'm getting old and I've only just started my career, really. I have a gig lined up soon. But Becky's old and I don't..." I let a few tears escape as I explained her condition to Prince. He kissed them off of my cheeks. 

           "Cind, she's right. Let her live. And do the same. Even if you die tomorrow, would you regret living this way? Would you rather start over, not have Andy or Buzz or Sandy, not marry me and instead pursue your dreams of being a singer?"

           "Of course not," I scoffed, "But I suppose you're right when you say it that way. I don't regret any of this. I just wish that I had more time in my life. But not just to sing everywhere, that's not as important to me as it once was. I want to see my future grandchildren grow up, Prince."

           "So do I," he said softly, "And you've got many years ahead of you than I do." I felt selfish remembering how much older Prince was than me.

           "Don't look at me like that, I know what you're thinking," Prince said. "Don't pity me."

           "I'm not!" I protested.

           "Of course not. We can't change the past, hon. We can only change the future by making decisions in the present."

           "Deep."

           "My favourite author wrote it in one of his books," Prince said with a chuckle.

           "Then what I'm doing is the best that I can do. Wishing won't do anything. I'll go to my gig and I'll do damn well. I love you," I said suddenly. "I really do appreciate you. I'll never take you for granted again."

           "Excuse me, madam, but I do think that I have the better deal."

           "That's what you think. Maybe I just married you for your money," I teased, poking his stomach.

           "Maybe I just married you for sex," Prince retorted, pulling me in for a kiss.

           "Funny, I remember you refusing me for sex the first night," I chuckled.

           "Hey, that's not fair, I wasn't allowed to unless I got married!"

           "Personally, I think that you married me because you had to marry someone that your father liked."

           "Nah, I'm thinking more along the lines of good looks, smarts, sense of humour, body, kindness, and wit."

           "Stop it. I'll have to reward you for that," I muttered, tugging him closer to me for a kiss.

           I put my hand on his thigh to stop our make-out session. "Prince, just think of the legacy we're leaving behind. Three kids, each with so much potential and brains."

           "That's not really what I'm thinking about right now," Prince said woozily. 

           "Typical male," I chided.

           "I liked the fun part of creating the legacy," Prince insisted. 

           "Me too."

           "Well, then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

           "Prince," I groaned, "We have kids in the house."

           "Who cares, Buzz once found a box of condoms in the bathroom."

           "What?! Why didn't you tell me?"

           "He asked if he could borrow one."

           "What did you say?"

           "No, of course. I said that he shouldn't need them," Prince said, "But I bet the little bugger took them anyway."

           "Get the pack out again because you'll need them soon," I said, giving in.

           "I'll be back in a second," Prince said, jumping up. "Actually, meet you in the bedroom."

           "Sounds like a plan," I chuckled and got up, heading to the bedroom. I could feel how old I was. I really could. And despite how much Prince made me feel alive and young, and how he tried his best to compliment me every which way and make me blush like a schoolgirl, I was aging and I felt as though I wouldn't be able to see any grandchildren of mine grow up.

           "I love you," Prince cooed once we were settled down, cuddling atop the covers. We didn't stay above the covers for long.

**Andy's POV**

           "Stupid frickin' homework," Buzz groaned. I rubbed out a spelling error furiously with the pink eraser on the pencil (I was such a rebel) and Sandy looked over her work with a frown.

           "Damn it Buzz, you have no idea. Try being in my grade," I said, and then cursed as I noticed another spelling mistake.

           "Both of you shut up. I'm taking all gifted classes, am the student president, am in two clubs, sell my artwork, and take guitar lessons. I think I'm under a lot more stress!"

           "I have a job, Sandy! I'm a grade ahead of you! And don't talk as if you're something great, because Buzz and I both have all gifted classes as well! I don't have time for clubs!"

           Buzz looked up. "Whoa there guys, all I said was that the homework was stupid. No need to get riled up. It is stupid, don't you agree?"

           "Yeah," Sandy and I muttered in shame. We had both been tense lately, and Buzz was always the one to save the day with his quick wit and relaxed personality.

           Sandy and I were still close friends, though. "Holy crap, Sandy, that's amazing!" I cried, gazing at her painting. I had just finished working out and needed to talk to her. "Damn. I wish I could paint that well."

           "This really sucks, actually. I was just fiddling with two dimensional paintings. Next I'm going to experiment with different shades of red so that I can start portraits." Sandy grabbed the finished painting and carefully set it down behind her to dry.

           "Awesome. Listen... I need to ask you something."

           "Shoot."

           "So Leon and I are going on a date tonight," I started. Sandy let out a squeal.

           "Ohmygodreally!"

           "Whoa, there, calm down. Anyway, the problem is that mom's gig is tonight... I'm kind of stuck."

           Sandy chuckled. "The answer is right in front of you, Dee. Go see mom's gig on a date with Leon! It's a big enough park that mom won't be able to see what the two of you are up two, but you can still hear her!"

           "Hey, I never thought of that! Thanks. But that's not all. I have one more favour, regarding Buzz."

           "You need to convince Buzz to ask out Charmaine. She's going away on vacation and it's best if he asks now. I can't do it, and it's better if he gets a girl's opinion on how to do it. He can go to the park as well, so I can keep an eye on him."

           "No problem, Dee. Char is a super sweet gal and I'm sure she'll say yes. Buzz and I normally leave the school at the same time anyway, so I'll just meet him there, 'cuz I have to stay afterschool and help with a club," Sandy said.

           "Thanks. I really appreciate this."

           "I love you guys, Dee, it's not a problem, trust me," she said, hugging me.

           Sandy did exactly what I told her to. Apparently, after school, she quickly stopped Buzz from leaving. "Hey Buzz!" Sandy cried, pulling him into a hug.

           "Uh, hi?" He replied, squirming out of the hug.

           "Stay here. Brother Buzz, it has come to my attention by Brother Andy that you have neglected your duties," Sandy said.

           "Neglected my duties?"

           "As a potential boyfriend. You see, most girls prefer that boys make the first move. Which means that if you want to date Char, you'd better hurry up and call her..."

           "Where am I supposed to take her?" Buzz asked nervously, pulling at his collar as he thought of the prospect.

           "The park. You have to go there tonight anyway to see mom, ask her there."

           "What? That's such a late notice..."

           "Better late than never. Just call her up now and say, 'Hey, Char, sorry I missed you at school. But my mom is performing in this concert tonight and I have to go. It might be lame, but I know it'd be a lot less lame with you there. D'you want to go see it tonight?'" Sandy suggested.

           Buzz gave her a scathing look. "I'll say it how I know she'll respond to it, thank you very much. I'll call her, I guess. What if she says no?!"

           "That's the worse that'll happen, Buzz. Then you move on. Honestly, though, I've seen the way you two talk. She's not gonna say no," Sandy comforted him.

           Buzz nervously dialed in Char's number. The two were used to texting, but had never called. Sandy watched in anticipation as Buzz waited for Char to pick up.

           Buzz's face broke out into a smile as their conversation progressed. "That sounds awesome, Char. Alright. I'll meet you there. Can't wait to see you! Bye, Char." He couldn't suppress his glee as he let out a yippee of joy and thanked his sister for suggesting the idea. He sped off to make the bus home.

           I got to the park with Buzz and we watched mom perform while we waited for our dates to arrive. To our surprise, she was pretty good. She started off with a couple of jokes (some were mildly dirty) to pump up the audience. She gave Buzz and I a wink and said, "This one's for a couple of my friends in the audience." Buzz and I couldn't help but chortle a little.

           But as soon as mom started singing, she got really into the music. I could tell that she loved singing as her eyes held a passion in them and she was giving it her all. Whenever she hit a high note she would get carried away and close her eyes, just letting the music sweep over her. Because she was so into her song, so were Buzz and I, and were taken by surprise when we felt taps on our shoulder. Buzz jumped up and ran a little ways off with Char, but Leon said he enjoyed the sound of mom's voice and just wanted to stay there.

           "Leon, I can't believe we've waited so long," I sighed, grabbing Leon's hands with mine.

           "I know. But you've been so busy with work, and I've been so busy with babysitting..."

           "Let's just enjoy this. I know might not seem like the perfect date night but-"

           "I think it's perfect," Leon cut me off, pulling me in a little closer. I could smell his cologne. It was faint, but noticeable enough to make me enjoy his scent. His hair was so soft, his skin so clear...

           My emotions overwhelmed me-I had been waiting long enough. If he wasn't going to do it, I was. I took the plunge and wrapped my arms around Leon, pulling him in for a kiss. Not a peck either, but a full blown french kiss. Leon's body stiffened at the sudden touch but relaxed moments later. He didn't kiss back, but he didn't push me away, either. Frustrated, I released him from the kiss. It suddenly occurred to me that my mom watched me have my first kiss. I peeked over at her, but her eyes were shut tight as she belted out a tune, saving me from embarrassment.  

           Leon's eyes were full of surprise... did he like this kiss? Oh god, was I a bad kisser? I hoped not. I probably kissed him like a slug or something. It occurred to me that it was raining. Aw, how romantic! I had gotten my first kiss in the rain! I always was a sucker for cheesy romantic notions...

           Leon answered my questions when he suddenly enveloped me with a kiss. The kiss turned into a make-out session. Hopefully mom wouldn't see our tongue wrestling, but I knew it was a lot to hope for when I heard the sound of a camera flash as the paparazzi snapped up a juicy picture. Oh well. Leon and I were committed to each other. Or were we?

           "Leon... Can we be official? Boyfriend and boyfriend?" I asked as we broke apart.

           His eyes were all dreamy and he had an irresistible smirk on his face. "Sure thing, Andy. Or should I say, boyfriend?"

           The rest of the night was a success, but we eventually had to go our separate ways as curfew approached and mom gave me warning eyes as she sang.

           Mom decided to drive me home, but she couldn't find Buzz. "I'm sure he's fine," I told her, "I'll just text him to come in."

           I assured her that he was fine once I received a text back from him, but mom was still worried. "If he's not home in an hour then I'm getting your father to look for him," she said. To calm her nerves, she baked a key lime pie. I felt a little guilty for thinking it, but it would be nice if mom got anxious more often!

           "I guess I'll go look for him," dad said angrily as he pulled on his coat and headed out the door. I gulped down the last of my slice of pie and watched through the window. The sound of a siren caught my attention as a cop car pulled up to our house. The policewoman got out of the car and dragged Buzz out by the coat. He had apparently put on ski goggles and a jacket for some reason. The cop noticed dad and pushed Buzz towards him. I couldn't hear what the woman was saying, but dad looked pissed. Mom, who was standing behind me, let out a sigh of relief. She was obviously glad that her son was found and didn't want to do any disciplining.

           "Don't watch, Andy," she tutted, tugging me away from the window.

           Instead of watching, I slowly pushed the window open a hair to listen in on the conversation. I didn't take pleasure in my siblings' punishment, but I was curious to know the crime. The downpour of rain made it a little difficult to hear, so I only managed to catch snippets of their conversation, but it was enough to know that dad was mad.

           "-complete imbecile! What were you thinking? I thought I raised you guys better than this! This is completely ridiculous and unacceptable Buzz-" dad roared loud enough for me to hear. Buzz seemed to be saying a few words in defense as he held his hands out. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU WERE WITH YOUR LITTLE GIRLFRIEND, IT'S ILLEGAL! YOU'RE A PRINCE, BUZZ, A PRINCE!" dad screamed. He calmed down a little and the rest of their conversation was kept to a low, so I closed the window and waited for Buzz to come in.

           I took out my homework and got to work while I waited for Buzz to come in. I heard dad storm in and then Buzz proceeded, taking his coat off carefully and following me into the dining room with his homework in his hand. He sat next to me, looking destroyed. "How deep are you in it this time, Buzzy boy?" I asked cheerfully.

           "Shut it, Andy. Dad says I can't see Char anymore," Buzz muttered.

           "What?!" I sputtered, shocked. Maybe it was weird since I was Buzz's brother, but I shipped Buzz and Char. They were perfect together and though I knew that Buzz didn't want to admit it, they had been in love for a while. "But what did she do?"

           "I'll just tell you the whole story. Including the good parts," Buzz said with a smile, waggling his eyebrows.

           "Char looked super pretty, obviously, so for some reason I couldn't contain myself and-"

           "Oh god, I should've told you ways to hide a boner," I said with regret.

           "What the hell?! Dude, that's not what I was going to say," Buzz said, laughing. "Anyway, so I couldn't contain myself and told her that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on. And she smiled at me and said that I looked cute. Since I already have pink cheeks, I turned bright red."

           "It started to drizzle, but I asked her to watch the stars with me, anyway, 'cuz I was running out of conversation material," Buzz said. "We sat down cross legged and, uh, I don't know how to describe this, but she put her hand down on the ground to lean back and I put my hand on hers..."

           "Aw, Buzz," I cooed at him.

           "Shut it! Anyway, I did it on purpose and it surprised her. She looked over at me. I said, 'Sorry,' but gave her hand a squeeze before putting my hand on the ground. I think she got the message."

           "We sat for half an hour or so, but we got really soaked and noticed the time. Char said that she had a really nice time. 'Are you cold?' I asked her. She said yeah, so I gave her a hug. Don't give me that look, Andy, it felt right at the time! She hugged me back and soon we were just holding each other in an embrace that was way more than friendly."

           "Her eyes-they just read, 'Kiss me.' So I did. And she sure as hell kissed me back. At first I didn't know what I was doing, but then I got the hang of it," Buzz said dreamily. He looked satisfied giving me little detail about the kiss, but I knew that I was holding onto my own private feelings about my kiss with Leon. It was partly that I didn't know how to describe it, and partly that I didn't want to.

           "I said like what the hell, let's get crazy," Buzz continued, "And she asked what I had planned. I felt wild and alive, Dee, I really did. So we hopped in her family's car and she drove us to mom's step-sisters' place."

           "While Char was driving, I nearly crapped my pants 'cuz she went, 'It's the fuzz!' But then the cop car turned the corner and we were home free-or so we thought. I put my jacket on since I was freezing and found that I had my ski goggles in the pocket, so I put them on, too, so that no one would be able to see my face really clearly," Buzz said. I narrowed my eyes at him as I slowly caught on to his plan. "Char had a lighter and I found a paper bag, so we drove around until we found some dog crap. I scooped it up into the bag and then we went back to mom's step-sisters' place."

           "Buzz, what the hell were you thinking? That's not cool," I said, frustrated.

           "Let me finish my story. I wasn't going to do it until I saw Step-Aunt Anastasia putting the moves on Robbie, Step-Aunt Drizella's boyfriend."

           "I truly felt that that justified it, so I put down the bag of dog crap, pulled out the lighter and lit the bag. Char kept watch with an umbrella that she found in the trunk of her car. After I lit the bag, it started to reek of poo and the bag was on fire with blue flames, so I went and hid. I really wanted to see Step-Aunt Anastasia's reaction. Alas-" at this I chortled "-it was not meant to be, and we heard the sirens fill the air. I told Char to go without me so she wouldn't get into any trouble. She thanked me with a kiss and a promise for more, telling me that the night had been a blast, and she drove off."

           "The car pulled up and the lady called me in, telling me that she was rounding up teenagers who were out after curfew. She was pretty nice until she noticed that Step-Aunt Anastasia was screaming after trying to put out the flaming bag with her foot, meaning that dog crap went all over her leg. She had no proof that it was me and helped calm down Step-Aunt Anastasia, but gave me the dirty eye and told dad what she suspected I did," Buzz said. "She drove me home and I had to tell dad what I had done with less detail, obviously, so now I'm grounded and I can't see Char."

           "I still think that's bull. It's not her fault," I said, "You should sneak out and see her. Wait, what does grounding include?"

           "I pretty much can't see friends. That's it. I go to school and come home right after. It's only for a week since it was my first offence and quite frankly, dad can't stand Anastasia," Buzz said reasonably. He seemed okay with getting grounded.

           "How'd your night with Leon go?" Buzz asked.

           "Good. We kissed a bunch and agreed to officially be a couple," I replied.

           "Have people at your school ragged at you for being gay?"

           "Some, but then teachers take care of them. Although the quality of the school isn't great, the teachers are really fantastic. They're great at teaching and taking care of things. Also it really helps that I'm a prince and that Leon and I aren't romantic around each other in public."

           We had to end our conversation as dad walked in and sat across Buzz with a piece of cake. "Do you understand why it was wrong for you to pull that trick, Buzz? No matter who's house it was?"

           "Yes, dad," Buzz said softly.

           "You won't pull a stunt like that again?"

           "No, dad."

           "What?"

           "No, I won't pull a stunt like that again."

           "Good."

           "Dad, can I invite Leon over?" I didn't mean to say it, but it just came out. Buzz shot me a dirty look but continued doing his homework.

           "Sure. Mom and I want to meet him anyway," dad said, shoveling in another scoop of his cake.

           "I'll invite him over next week, then. I know that he works at his dad's grocery place when he's not busy babysitting, so he has a lot to juggle."

           "So whenever it's convenient for him, you're saying?"

           "Well, yeah, I mean I don't really do much around here so it's not a big problem," I replied nervously, finished up my last homework question.

           "Okay, I guess so. Can you take this for me?" Dad handed me his plate and went walked back to his laptop to resume his novel.

           I was about to get up, but Sandy sat down at the table to join us with her homework. "You complete dickhead," she started, and Buzz's face collapsed with shame.

           "Lay off him, Sandy, he's been through enough," I said.

           "No. No. Dee, he could have been written down with a criminal record!"

           "Sandy, putting a bag of dog poo on a relative's front porch is more teenage delinquent than criminal record. Don't be ridiculous," I said dryly.

           "Well why did you do it Buzz! You knew that there would be consequences!" 

           "You want to know why, Sandy? Because I caught Step-Aunt Anastasia putting the moves on her sister's boyfriend and potential fiancé. She was taking advantage of him, Sandy. Here he is, unable to leave Drizella because she's got a condition, and unable to pop the question because he doesn't want to stress her. She's been cranky and he has barely been able to see her. He doesn't know what to do, and all of a sudden here's Anastasia offering 'support' and 'help'. It was disgusting. Who know how they would've gone if I hadn't interrupted their little flirting session with a bag of poo and a doorbell ring?" Buzz fumed, tired of being blamed.

           Sandy scratched her head, scrunching her face up. "But Buzz, you didn't need to put the bag of poo there. You could've just rung the doorbell and said hi or something."

           "Where would be the fun in that?" Buzz grinned, returning to his usual self. 

           Sandy scoffed, "And Buzz, don't forget that mom cheated on dad."

           "Sandy, believe it or not, that's something I am trying to forget," Buzz said.

          

We grew silent, until the only sound was that of Sandy and Buzz's pencils scratching on the paper.