Rugrats

"The Junior Year"

Series/Sequel: This is the start of the SHHS 'verse. Lots more to follow!

Summary: If you haven't guessed from the title, this features the crew in the 11th grade (or 12th, or 10th, or first year of college).

Rating: M for mild language and mature themes

Disclaimer: Nick nick nick nick, nick nick nick nick, that's who owns 'em now!

Feedback: Pwease? WickedWonder1979 at hotmail dot com

For: Peri, who cracked the whip on this monster. It's all shiny and pretty 'cause of him, and any mistakes are 'cause I probably didn't heed his advice. Also, for the people that reviewed this when it first went up on (starting in August of '02, oh my god!) and made me want to improve this!

August

(Beep!)

Tommy Pickles heard the soft tones of his alarm. Groaning, he rolled over and hoped that his brother Dil would get up and turn it off. Apparently, Dil was hoping the same thing, because a minute later, the loud sounds of U2 blared through the room. As usual, Tommy was startled and fell out of bed.

Dil opened one sleepy eye to see Tommy struggling on the floor and cursing. Satisfied that Tommy wasn't dead, Dil rolled back over and went back to sleep.

"Boys!" Their mom called up the steps. "Get a move on!"

Finally getting untangled, Tommy tossed the covers back on the bed and stumbled into the shower. After his usual routine of dressing in a blue jersey and jeans and gelling his hair just so, he relinquished the bathroom to Dil while he headed downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal.

Their mother was already in the kitchen. "Morning, Mom," Tommy said, as he sat down and started pouring a bowl of Craklin' Sugar Chruncheez.

"Good morning, Tommy. Wouldn't you like something hot, instead?"

"No, that's okay," he replied quickly. "You know, summer and all."

"Good point," she replied absentmindedly. "Is your brother in the shower?"

"Yeah. Hope he hurries up; we're supposed to meet everyone before school." He shoveled in the cereal as fast as he could eat it.

"Here I am," Dil said, sitting down at the table. His hair was still wet, but he was otherwise ready. He was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and some jean shorts.

"Hurry! Here, have a Pop-Tart." Tommy threw a pack of them into Dil's hand.

"Do I even have time to toast the suckers?" Dil complained.

"Yes, go ahead. I'll grab my backpack." Tommy took the steps two at a time and picked up the beat up bag off of the floor and headed back downstairs. When he came back in the kitchen, his mom was sitting by herself, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Now where did Dil go?"

"Oh, he's standing at your car. Have a good day."

"You, too. Tell Dad I said bye."

Tommy ran out to his car to see Dil climbing off of the hood. "Did you get what you needed?" Dil asked.

"Yeah. Ready to go?" Tommy got into the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, glancing at Dil before starting the car.

"It's just that… I wouldn't have been as popular last year if you wouldn't have been there.""The same way it was for us if it hadn't have been for Angelica and Susan. And thank goodness Angelica decided that she liked us before we entered high school."

"True. But did you ever get the feeling that your popularity was based on a lie?"

"Can't really say I've ever felt that. What brought this on, Dil?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Dil frown and look thoughtful. "I don't know. I guess I've been thinking about it for a while."

Tommy felt a little guilty that he hadn't spent time with his little brother lately. He had spent the summer working full time and hanging with his friends and girlfriend.

"You know, you could have come to me earlier if you were feeling that way," Tommy finally said, punching Dil lightly without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah, I know."

00000

For once, Phil DeVille woke up before his alarm went off. He used that opportunity to make sure that all of his things were together before he had to get up and start the day. After he was satisfied, he climbed back in bed for… ten more minutes of sleep.

A knock sounded on the door. "Phil? Are you up?"

"Hold on!" He slipped on a shirt and opened the door. His twin Lil was standing there, fully dressed in a green blouse and skirt."Are you trying to be late today? We're supposed to meet everyone!"

"I know, I didn't forget. I'll be in and out in ten minutes, 'kay? Oh, good morning."

She smiled. "Good morning, Phil. Now get a move on!"

As promised, he was downstairs and ready in ten minutes. After all, he was a guy. His dad was downstairs, making pancakes.

"Hey, Phil. Sleep well?"

"Yeah. Is Betty already gone?"

"She had a seminar. But she wants you guys to know that she hopes that you have a good time at school today."

"Will do," Lil and Phil said in unison.

"Okay." A horn honked outside. "That must be Tommy. See you, Dad."

"Love you guys."

"We love you too," they chorused as they ran to the door. Outside, Tommy and Dil were sitting in the car, looking impatient.

Phil and Lil got into the car and greeted them as Tommy pulled off.

"How's your morning been so far?" Phil asked Tommy.

In the rear view mirror, Phil watched Tommy's expression change into a grimace. "The usual. I woke up to 'Beautiful Day', but since I'm on my way to school, it can't be all that good."

"At least we'll get caught up on everyone. It seems weird that we haven't seen Chuck and Kim since May." Lil smiled at the thought of their friends.

"Yeah. I wish we could have spent the summer in Paris," Dil, who had been quiet (for him) spoke up.

"No kidding. It doesn't seem fair that we've been overseas and can't even remember it," Tommy groused. "Hey, look! There's everyone."

After Tommy parked, everyone leapt out of the car and started greeting their friends, Chuck and Kim Finster, excitedly.

"You did not write once, Kim!" Lil exclaimed, hugging her best friend.

"Well, you didn't either," Kim said, defending herself.

Meanwhile, the guys were rebonding. "So, what did you do the whole summer?" Chuck asked, turning to Tommy.

"Worked, went out with the gang, worked, went out with Lilly, worked some more."

"Fun," Chuck said sarcastically. "How about you, Phil?"

"'Bout the same as Tommy. I worked because my parents wouldn't buy Lil and I a car unless we both kicked in on the insurance."

"So, you see anyone?"

"Yeah," Phil said nervously, hoping that they'd change the subject. "So, Chuck, did you hear from Susan at all?"

"Yeah, we corresponded all summer. We're getting together tonight before she goes up to school."

"Seems like all of us had a cool summer," Tommy commented. "We have to get together to catch up in detail."

"Sounds good to me." The bell rang. "Shoot! We'll talk later, okay?" Chuck ran ahead of them. As a senior, he wouldn't see the group again until school was out.

"Man, I wish this was my last year in high school," Phil said to no one in particular, as they walked inside the building.

"Telling you. But then we'd be stressing over college apps and what we want to do with our lives and yadda yadda." Kim ran inside the building.

"True. Bye, Dil," Tommy said, as his brother ran down to his homeroom.

00000

By an amazing coincidence, Tommy, Lil, Kim, and Phil were all in the same homeroom, something that hadn't happened in all their years of school. They made it there and grabbed seats together as the bell rang.

The teacher came walking in. "Class, come to attention. My name is Mrs Robingson." After she said that, she took roll, sat down and said, "Carry on."

Kim immediately turned back to their group. "So, tell me- did you do anything fun this summer?"

Tommy snorted. "Like I told Chuck, I worked."

"So did we," Phil and Lil said together. Tommy and Kim chuckled a little as they gave each other what was referred to as their 'twin look'.

"Well, I had fun. It's funny, though. Mom and Dad kept telling us about the first time we were in Paris, but I don't remember anything. And Mom had the nerve to suggest that we go to Reptarland!" Everyone burst out laughing. Kim tried to look indignant, but was soon howling with them.

"So," Lil said after they had calmed down, "Did you and Tim keep in touch over the summer?"

"Yes, we wrote back and forth. We're supposed to double with Chuck and Susan tonight."

"It's funny to think how incestuous our group turned out," Phil commented.

"How do you figure?" Tommy asked.

"Well, you're dating Lil, Chuck's dating Susan Carmichael, Kim's dating Tim…"

"That theory leaves out you. And Angelica. And Dil!" Lil protested.

"We all know Dil's a playa," Phil said.

"That sounds so wrong, coming out of your mouth," Kim laughed. "Are you the mack daddy of SHHS?"

"Yep, that's me, I'm the daddy mack."

They laughed as the bell rang.

"Well, I'm off to AP Science," Tommy said.

"I'm in Trig," Phil groaned.

"I have Advanced Foods next," Kim said happily.

"So do I, " Lil said unhappily. "Cooking is not something I'm good at."

Kim put her arm around Lil. "It'll be okay. We'll be partners. Okay guys, see you at lunch."

00000

The girls walked down the hall, waving at people that they knew."So, tell me, Lil- who is Phil seeing? Not that I'm interested for myself, but it's odd that he hasn't said anything about the person he's dating."

"You know, " she said thoughtfully, "I don't know that he is seeing someone. If he is, he's a better secret keeper than I am. Hold on, I need to stop in the bathroom."Once they were in there, Lil pulled out a brush and made sure that her thick brown hair was still in place. Kim glanced in the mirror to make sure that her two spiky ponytails weren't doing anything unusual. She also pulled down her shirt, which as usual, had a cartoon cat on the front.

"Well, how are things going between you and Tommy?" Kim asked, as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick.

"Good. You know, we celebrated our 6th year anniversary over the summer. It was so cool. We had a candlelight dinner and afterwards he gave a necklace." Lil reached under her shirt and pulled out a locket on a silver chain. "Inside it has our initials and the date we first went out."

"That is so sweet! Now I'm going to go and hit Tim tonight. For our anniversary, he gave me a card that has those animals with the big eyes on them."

Lil laughed. "Well, I guess that he didn't get any that night."

"Or any other," Kim said. "I know that it's weird, that I'm dating a college man and if he gets to third base, it's a good thing. But I know my limits, and he respects that."

"Well, Tommy and I aren't even at the point where we can talk about it, let alone act on it." Lil fell silent, then she said, "Do you think… oh, never mind."

"What?" Kim looked around the bathroom. "Go ahead, no one's in here."

"I was just wondering… do you think that Angelica and Susan have, you know?"

Kim made a face involuntarily. "I would ask Susan, but seeing as how she's been seeing my brother for years now, I'm not sure I would like her answer."

"True. But I was thinking that I wanted to… talk to someone about getting the Pill. Just in case."

"Why don't you go to your mom? I would go to mine," Kim suggested.

Lil snorted. "Go to Betty? She would preach about the double standard and end up with the 'men are our slaves' rant. I wonder how she ever ended up marrying my father in the first place. And no, I can't go to my dad. He would cry or something equally embarrassing."

"Okay, what about…" As Kim was about to say something else, the warning bell rang. "Dang! We've got to get to class." They raced down the hall and made it in the class just as the bell rang.

00000

As the Foods teacher droned on, Lil zoned out. She knew that Kim would pay attention enough for the both of them. She had wanted to tell Kim everything in the bathroom earlier, but the school wasn't exactly known for its ability to keep secrets. Lil thought back to a hot day in July…

00000

"Come in," Tommy told Lil. She smiled at the nervousness on his face, but as she looked in the room, her smile broadened. Tommy's whole kitchen had been redecorated with candles, candles, and more candles. She could smell something really good.

She said the first thing that popped into her head. "Did you cook?"

"Yeah, I did." He grew even more nervous.

"That's so sweet!" Lil kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks. Do you want to eat now?"Tommy pulled out her chair and pulled a casserole out of the oven. "It's spaghetti pie. I got the recipe from the Internet, so don't worry."

"I wasn't." The food was so good, and they talked about everything that night. After dinner, Tommy put on some music and they sat in the living room.

"This is so cool! But where is everyone?" Lil said, looking around.

"Dil's at his friend Joe's, and my parents are at this inventor's workshop. They won't be back until tomorrow."

"And they let you stay at the house by yourself?"

"Actually, Phil told them that I would be staying over your house tonight."

"He helped you plan this? You guys are so great."

"And that's not all," Tommy said in an announcer's voice. He pulled out a long box and handed it to Lil.

She opened it with shaking hands. Inside was a locket that had their initials in it and the date that they started going out. "Oh my God, Tommy!" Lil sat back, speechless. Then she recovered somewhat and added, "It's beautiful. Thank you. Put it on me?"

He slipped it around her neck and fastened it. Wordlessly, she turned to face him. Their lips met softly. They slowly kissed and stretched out on the couch. Lil's eyes were closed, and she felt like she was drowning in a lake of feelings. She wasn't aware of anything for a long while, only marveling that heat, friction, wetness, and pressure could make you feel like that.Slowly, Lil felt Tommy's hands start to move from her sides to her back, and down to the hem of her shirt. Instead of being alarmed or upset, she reached down and unbuttoned her shirt without breaking the kiss. When she felt the soft touch of fingertips on the sides of her stomach and on the bottom of her ribcage, she sighed and tried to unbutton his shirt without disturbing his hands. He unbuttoned it quickly and tossed it on the ground, and turned his attention back to her. He started tracing his way to her shoulders, and she started running her hands lightly down his back.

He slipped her bra straps down her arms, and she arched her back slightly so that he could reach around. He took the unspoken hint and unfastened her bra with a minimum of difficulty. He slipped it off and it joined the shirts on the floor.

"You're… you're so pretty, Lilly," Tommy said hoarsely. She opened her eyes to see him, and his eyes were open as she'd ever saw them. They were a shocky blue, and when he looked into her eyes, she shivered.

He touched her reverently, while still kissing her. Their kisses were almost frantic, and Lil was flying and not thinking about anything other than what was happening at that moment.

Suddenly Tommy sat up, surprising her to the point where she lay there for a minute. "Did… did I do something wrong?" she whispered.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just… I want… oh, hell, I don't have any, you know. Protection."

Lil realized what he was talking about and immediately the blush started rising from her chest and ended up in her cheeks."I always wondered where your blushes started," he said absently. Lil realized that she was sitting naked to the waist and reached for her bra and shirt.

"I… I liked that. What we did," she admitted. After all, she couldn't blush any harder, anyway.

"So did I. But we've got to be careful." He reached for his shirt and stood up. Kissing her quickly, he said, "Let me get my stuff, and then we can go to your house."

"I'll clean up the kitchen," Lil volunteered."You don't have to."

"I know, but I'll feel that I've done something to help this evening. Thanks again." They kissed again before he went upstairs and she went into the kitchen.

Cleanup in the kitchen was easy. Lil made sure all of the candles were blown out before she washed the dishes and put the leftovers away. After everything was finished, she waited in the living room, making sure there was no evidence of what had happened there. She was about to call Tommy to tell him that she was ready when she heard a soft moan come from upstairs. That immediately made the blush came back. Lil almost got the courage to write a note and walk home when Tommy came down the stairs, duffel in hand.

"Sorry I took so long."

"That's okay."He locked up the house and they walked next door in silence. Before she opened the door, Tommy said quietly, "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too, Tommy."

"And I respect you. I won't do anything you don't want to do."

00000

As she thought about that night now, she remembered what Tommy had said. She hadn't felt that Tommy was taking advantage of her, because she had wanted to do the things that they had done that night. She did need to find someone to talk to, though, because if she ended up in that situation again, she didn't want to have to stop because they weren't prepared.

"Earth to Lil! Girl, I've watched you smile three different ways, blush, and frown, all in 15 minutes. What are you thinking about?"

She started slightly. "N… nothing. Did the teacher say anything important?"

"Don't try to be evasive with me. I know you too well."

"Okay. It's just that… you can't tell anyone. At all. Not even Tim. And we can't talk about it here."

"Okay, where?"

"After school. At my house, all right?"

"Deal."

00000

"… and so, Archimedes was really a precursor to modern mathematicians. Any questions?"

No one raised a hand, so the teacher said, "All right, class, you may use this time to study. Quietly, please."

The students began talking quietly. Chuck glanced over the assignment. It was pretty straightforward, so he stuck it in his bag and pulled up a sketch book and turned to a blank sheet of paper. As he doodled, he thought about random things, like how lucky he was that his father had decided to skip him ahead in middle school, from 6th to 8th grade, so that he was graduating early despite his late birthday. About how much fun Paris was, but how was he glad to be back with his friends. And mostly, how he was very excited to his see his girlfriend.

He glanced down to look at the sketch he had drawn. It was a closeup of Susan's face, looking alert, wise, and caring all at once.

"Hey."He looked up to see a guy standing by his desk. "Hi," Chuck said.

"I was wondering, did you have a clue of how to do the homework? I would stoop so low to ask the teacher, but I think my brain would melt from the answer."

Chuck laughed. "Sure, have a seat. My name's Chuck Finster."

"Joe Wellton. Nice to meet you."

"I haven't seen you in my classes before. Are you new here?"

"No. It's just that over the summer, I decided to start getting the hard classes out of the way before my senior year. I'm really a junior."

"So, you must know my sister, Kim. And my friends Phil and Lil DeVille, and Tommy Pickles."

"Yeah, we had classes together. And Tommy's little brother Dylan is like my best friend.""It's a wonder we haven't met before," Chuck mused.

"Different paths, I guess," Joe shrugged.

"True. Well, I actually wasn't planning to do this assignment until I got home from school today. If you want, I can just tell you the basics…"

"That'd be great." Joe sat down at the desk next to Chuck's and pulled out his math book.

As Chuck went over the homework, Joe took brief notes in the margins. "Y'know, I might have a chance of pulling this off. Thanks again."

"No problem. We'll have to study together sometimes."

"I'd like that." The bell rang. "Well, gotta run. Next class is AP English."

"Mine's Economics."

"See you later."

Chuck put everything in his messenger bag and walked down the hall. He passed Lil and Kim, who as usual, were talking a mile a minute. He waved to them and got friendly waves and smiles in return. As he took his seat in Econ, he thought about how things had changed. But change was a good thing, right?

00000

"Hi Dylan!" Meagan smiled at him as he walked into the classroom.

"Hey Meg. How was your summer?" He smiled automatically as he found a seat.

"Long. Boring. How about yours?"

"About the same." He looked up to see two more girls walk in. They immediately took desks surrounding him.

"So, Dylan," Meg began, "What are you doing today after school?"

"My friends are doing this 'let's get together and recap the whole summer' thing. After that, me and my friend Joe are hanging."

"Oh. Because, me and Tara and Lori here, we're having this small party. And we wanted you to come."

"Maybe next time, okay?" He watched as the disappointed look on Tara's pointed face turned happy again. "Great!"

The bell rang, and Dil turned to face the teacher. "Hello, I'm Mrs Tuttle. This is US History. Please get out your books." As they did, Dil noticed Lori gazing at him. Well, it was really more like staring, and Dil was starting to get the expression 'caught in the headlights'. She finally dragged her eyes off him when the teacher started lecturing about why US History was important.

35 minutes later, the teacher concluded her lecture. Right after she finished, the bell rang. Everyone stood up and stretched as Mrs Tuttle called out, "Please read Chapter 1!"

"Man, this is not going to be a fun class," Tara sighed. "I'm going to start carrying a pillow."

"I'm bringing a sleep mask," Meg said.

"I'll wear pajamas," Lori piped up.

"Forget that. I'm just wearing a nightcap." Dil smirked as all three of the girls turned red.

"Dylan! You are so bad," Meg sputtered.

"And you know it. See you later."

Walking down the halls, he spotted his best friend, Joe. He waved to him and Joe came trotting over. "How's your morning so far?" Dil asked.

"Good. I'm in Calc with Chuck Finster."

"That's cool. I just have," Dil dropped his voice, "The Three Females of Doom."

"I still want to know why exactly you call them that." Joe laughed.

"Tell you after school, 'kay?""Sure. My house, right?" Joe touched his arm and walked away.

"Yeah. See you!" Dil shouted over the crowd. He started running towards the gym, where his next class was. He didn't even notice Tommy, who was walking with Phil.

00000

"That is Dil, right? Tallish guy with red hair, also known as my brother?" Tommy watched as Dil sped by him.

"I'm sure he just didn't see you. Wonder where he's going?" Phil craned his head around to see.

"He's a sophomore, so, probably to gym. We'd better step on it if we don't want to be late for class."

"I wouldn't mind being late for this. Why did I let you talk me into taking French, anyway?"

Tommy grinned at him. "Because I'm hella cool."

"If you say so, Pickles."

They walked in and took their seats. Kim walked in, dragging Lil behind her. They snagged seats next to the guys. "Anyone wanna guess why we have so many classes together this year?" Kim asked.

"I'm thinking, new scheduler, doesn't know our illustrative history," Phil smirked. "And I'm not going to be the one to fill her in."

"Hey, Lilly, you all right?" Tommy turned to Lil, who was sitting quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Tired, though. I wish our school was normal and let us start off with a half day instead of jumping right in."

The bell rang and the teacher walked in with what appeared to be a riding crop. "Hello class. I am Ms Pieff!" She smacked the riding crop against her leg, causing the whole class to jump. Tommy pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, 'I would not want to get on her bad side. Kim, are you cheating, just a little, taking this class?' Tommy passed the note to Phil first, so that he could add what he wanted. They always carried on written conversations in class.

As Ms Pieff droned on and on, the small piece of paper was passed back and opened. Tommy noted that Phil had said that he wanted his own riding crop, Lil had just wrote 'ew' under Phil's comment, and Kim had scribbled that she would help all of them, although her French wasn't the best.

"All right, class, pair up to start going over vocabulary."

"I got Kim!" Phil shouted.

"Way to make your friends feel wanted," Tommy mock-pouted.

"And your own twin. The shame!" Lil smiled and turned to Tommy.

"Um, can you pronounce any of this stuff?" he whispered to her.

"No. Let's pull our desks next to Phil and Kim and just repeat after them."

That's what they did for the rest of class. When the teacher wasn't looking, they quietly talked about different things."So, what are your plans for the evening?" Phil asked Tommy.

"Dunno. Figured I'd talk to Chuck and see what time his date thing is. But if you want, we can hang at my house. Are you guys coming?" he asked Lil and Kim.

"Actually, Kim has to help me study. For Foods." Lil blushed when she realized how that sounded. "I meant, we have to find a recipe that we can make in class, and we're going to test run it tonight."

"If it's good, save me some, okay?" Phil requested."If it's good, we'll bring you some over, and then do a rain dance." Lil laughed, then noticed the teacher circling the room with her riding crop. "Um, parley-vous?"

The bell rang, signaling the start of the lunch break. "I'm so hungry! Do you think that I should risk the cafeteria food?" Phil asked, clutching his stomach.

"Let's go to Mickey D's and call it good," Tommy suggested.

"Good idea. I knew this driving thing would be a good thing," Kim said.

"When are you getting your license?" Lil asked her.

"Mom says in about a month. She wants me to get used to the right side of the road."

"Hold on guys. I want to see if Dil wants anything." Tommy went inside the double doors of the gym. Coach Lake saw him and came trotting over. "Pickles, going for track this year?"

"Yes, sir." Track was Tommy's sport, the one thing he didn't need height (or bulk) to do.

"Tryouts are on Wednesday. And tell your friend DeVille that football tryouts are tomorrow."

"I will," he promised, as he caught sight of Dil playing basketball. He waved to Dil and he ran over.

"What brings you here?" Dil panted.

"We were doing a McDonald's run, so do you want anything?"

Dil took a corner of his shirt and used it to wipe his eyes. "Um, sure. Big Mac combo, with Coke. Can I give you the money after you bring the food? Because my wallet's locked up right now."

"That's fine. Hey, me and Phil saw you earlier, running down the hall."

"Yeah, there's these three girls that follow me around, and I usually try to duck them."

"Must be nice," Tommy sighed, not really envious, but curious to what it would be like to have random girls follow you. Since him and Lil had been dating since before they entered high school, he was marked as a taken man through his three years at SHHS.

"Not really." Dil's classmates signaled for him to come back over. "Gotta run, Tommy. Thanks again."

"No prob." Tommy watched as Dil ran back over to his game. He walked out of the gym and rejoined his friends. "Phil, Coach says that football tryouts are tomorrow."

"Cool. You going out this year?"

"For track. You know that I'm at least 20 pounds too light for football."

"You could be the QB," he suggested.

"And get killed. Nope, I'll stick to running."

"I'm going to join the swim team," Kim said. "I need to become more well-rounded."

"No sports for me. I'm doing good being on the yearbook staff." Lil laughed. "This year, we should have our own section."

"What'll we call it?" Kim asked.

"The Super Six?" Tommy suggested.

"That's great, if we were a bunch of girls," Phil groused.

"Hello, girls! Right in front of you!" Lil said, rolling her eyes.

"But I'm not." They argued all the way to the car. Tommy hurriedly unlocked the doors and sat down. "Um, guys? You can get in any day now."

Kim climbed into the back seat. Phil called out, "Shotgun!" and leapt in the passenger seat.

Lil 'accidentally' hit his head as she sat down next to Kim.

00000

As they drove to the McDonald's, Tommy mentally smacked his forehead. "I forgot to find Chuck!"

"Isn't his lunch earlier than ours?" Lil asked.

"Yeah, but it's Chuck. He can eat anytime, anywhere. He must have a hollow leg."

"I know!" Kim exclaimed. "Dad always jokes that he should buy stock in grocery stores."

They pulled into the parking lot. "Okay, we've got to get out," Tommy said. "We always confuse the drive-thru people."

When they walked in, they went to the line with the least amount of people, even though Phil protested that the other line was moving faster.

"If you like the other line better, then why don't you go over there?" Lil asked.

"I don't want to be by myself," he whined.

They laughed as they figured out their orders. When they got up to the front of the line, they could see that they knew the cashier. "Samantha Shane!" Tommy said excitedly. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I know! I ran into Angelica the other day, and she said the same thing. Tell you what," and she lowered her voice, "since today's my last day before I go to college, I'll hook you up. Give me your orders and I'll bring everything to you in five minutes."

"Cool!" Phil said. They placed their orders and found a booth in the corner.

"Weren't you surprised that Sam and Chuck didn't end up together?" Lil said. "I mean, he really had it bad for her."

"Yeah, but according to my parents, he always liked Susan, even when we were babies." Kim craned her head around the brightly lit place.

"That concept is just creepy, somehow," Phil mused. "Especially since Susan baby-sat us for a while."

"Aren't you glad that our parents gave up on the whole baby-sitting concept when Chuck turned thirteen?" Tommy questioned.

"Very. We were almost the last kids in our class to still not be left alone." Lil laughed at the memory. "And now the kids I used to baby-sit are doing the same thing! The cycle continues."

Samantha came to our booth, holding a very full tray of food. Tommy stood up and took the tray, noting the admiring looks that her and Lil shot him. He set the tray in the middle of the table and watched as everyone grabbed their food in a frenzy. Tommy sedately took a sandwich and unwrapped it casually.

"So, where are you going to college?" he asked Samantha.

"Stamford."

"Seriously?" Lil gasped. "Man, I'd love to go to a school like that."

"Well, if I could make it in, so could you."

"Based on the grades I get in the core subjects, probably. But my extracurricular activities and electives..." Lil made a so-so gesture.

"I always say that between the four of us," and Tommy gestured to all of his friends, "We would make one straight-A student."

"I hear you. But I wasn't a straight-A student. I just did really well on my SAT's and I was 'well-rounded'," Samantha said, complete with air quotes.

Tommy nodded and happened to glance at his watch. "Guys! We have got to get back. I'm sorry to run out so fast," he said to Samantha.

"It's okay. I'm actually off work, so I'll head home and finish packing. It was good seeing you guys."

"It was good seeing you too!" Everyone hugged her and they went out to the car."How are we running on time?" Phil asked.

Tommy glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "We have all of seven minutes to get back to school, I have to drop off Dil's food, and make it to class."

"We can't get in that much trouble on the first day," Kim reasoned. "I mean, we can always tell the teachers that we got lost on the way to class."

"I hope so." Tommy drove like a maniac (but a careful one) and made it back on campus two minutes before the bell rang. He ran to the gym where Dil was waiting.

"Here you go, man," Tommy said, trying to catch his breath.

"Thanks again."

"It's okay. See you later."

"Don't you want your money?"

Tommy waved it off. "I'll explain after school." He ran off to his next class, Photography.

00000

As Phil sat in his last class, Woodshop, he listened to the teacher with interest as he described graphically how he lost two fingers to a jigsaw. Phil guessed the lesson was supposed to be, "Be Careful or Accidents Can Happen", but he just was sad that he missed seeing that.

After the bell rang, everyone met at Tommy's car. "Who's heading where?" Phil asked.

"I'm going over your house," Kim answered him.

"I'm not doing anything until my date later," Chuck said.

"Well, I was going over Tommy's. We can all hang." Phil punched Chuck lightly. Very lightly. "Besides, the girls will cook for us."

"Dil, what are you up to?" Tommy asked.

"My friend Joe invited me over. I just came to tell you."

"'Kay, bye, then." Everyone watched as Dil ran away.

"Who would've thought that Dil would turn out to be the tallest of all of us?" Phil asked in wonderment. Although Phil was the biggest, Dil had a good three inches on him, but was a year younger.

"Who knows? And the doctor says that he has the potential to reach 6'3" or more. There is no height in our family, either, except for him." Tommy laughed. "It's hard to explain to people that I'm the older brother when they see us side by side."

"Well, if we're ready, I'll follow you," Chuck told Tommy.Everyone piled into the cars, with Phil riding with Chuck and the girls riding with Tommy.

As Chuck started the car, he asked, "So, have you told them yet?"

"Told them… oh. No."

"Why not?"

"Because… I really don't know how they will react. And… I guess I'm scared. That they would disapprove."

"I think that you're blowing this out of proportion," Chuck warned. "But don't worry; I won't say anything to anyone. Although Susan already knows."

"I figured she would."

They rode in silence the rest of the way to Tommy's house. While Chuck parked, Phil remarked, "It seems weird that Spike's not going to come bounding out of the house to greet us."

"I know. It's been two years, and I still miss him." Chuck looked thoughtful for a minute. Then he reached in the backseat and grabbed his messenger bag. "I have something I want to show you and Tommy. You are going to get out of the car, right?"

00000

"…so he said, 'I always wondered where your blushes started,' so of course, I blushed even harder. Then I cleaned the kitchen while he got his things together." Lil stopped and blushed at the memory.

"So, what happened next?" Kim asked. "And don't tell me nothing, because I can read it all over your face."

"Well, after I cleaned the kitchen, I went to wait in the living room. I was going to tell him that I was done, so I went to the foot of the stairs. But I heard him." Lil's face was an interesting shade of eggplant at this point.

Kim repeated blankly, "You heard him?" Then realization sank in and she said, "Oh. Oh! What did you do?"

"I just stood there like an idiot until he came down the steps. And then we went to my house."

"Did you tell him that… you heard him?"

"No. I can't even say the word, let alone… man." Lil put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Don't shoot me for this question, but… what did it sound like?"

"He moaned. A long moan."

"Man. I would totally tell Tim if I heard him doing that."

"Why?"

"Because… I don't know, he would probably tell me if he heard me."

"What! Kim, don't tell me…"

"I'm practically a grown woman who can't give it up to my boyfriend, who likes to do inappropriate things to me in public places. Without that," she emphasized, "I would tear out my hair."

Lil's face had surpassed eggplant and was now decidedly purple. "You must think I'm such a baby."

"No! You know what you're comfortable with. Tell you what. My mom gave this book a while ago. No, it's not like one of those 'What's happening down there' books. It tells you how to set limits with your partner so that both of you are happy. And there's a section in there on that. I'll bring it to school tomorrow."

"Thank you," Lil said softly.

"No problem. Let's head downstairs and fix something edible."

They started digging through Lil's refrigerator. As they did so, Lil sneaked a glance at Kim. Kim seemed so confident about her relationship, and herself. Then again, she was always an individualist, and everyone loved her for it."Okay," Kim asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

"I wish I had your confidence," Lil replied honestly.

"I'll let you in on a secret. I'm nowhere as confident as I appear on the outside. I'm always second- guessing myself, but I think that's just being human."

"So how do you keep the doubts from taking over?"

"I tell myself practical statements. Like, when I'm worried about Tim straying while he's away at college, I tell myself that if he wanted to leave, he had plenty of opportunities when I was away, and he was the one who called me as soon as I was back in town."

"That makes sense," Lil mused.

"Now, I hate to run out on you, but I have to get ready for tonight. After this comes out of the oven, that is." Kim chuckled. "We just made an egg-sausage bake. We rock!"

"That we do." They laughed as they did a crazy little dance around the kitchen. After they were done celebrating and cleaning, they got the bake out of the oven. It looked edible, so Lil sliced a tiny piece out of it and cautiously stuck a fork in it.

"It smells good," Kim remarked.

"Well, here goes." Lil put a tiny bit into my mouth and chewed experimentally. "It's… really good! We really did it! My dad is going to be so proud!" Lil grinned at Kim as she took a forkful too.

"Let's go tell the guys!" Kim said excitedly.They ran next door and knocked on the back door. Tommy's dad answered. "Hi, girls. Tommy and the boys are upstairs."

The girls ran up the stairs and knocked on the door before entering. Tommy was stretched out on his bed, tossing a tennis ball up and down. Phil and Chuck were on the other bed. "So, you finish your cooking?" Phil asked lazily.

"Yeah, and it tastes good! Please, hold your applause until the end," Lil quipped."I hate to break up your conclave, but we have to get home so that I can get ready," Kim said to Chuck.He looked at his watch and stood up. "Shoot! I'll talk to you later, guys."

As they left, Lil looked at her brother and her boyfriend. "So, you just going to lay here some more?"

"Sounds good to me," Phil replied.

Shrugging, she laid down next to Tommy. He scooted over and they lay side by side for a while. "Hey," she whispered.

"What?" he whispered back.

"If we get rid of Phil, we can have the place to ourselves."

"I heard that!" Phil said. "I can't believe that you'd plot against me."

"Well, Phil, if you go home, you can eat the sausage bake."

"See, knowing that you made it, makes me kinda scared to eat it."

"Smooth, Phil." Lil sat up. "Well, if you won't leave here, we'll go next door."

"Why don't we all go?" Phil got up and bounded to the door.

As soon as she heard him hit the steps, Lil laid back down and said, "See, it works every time. Now, where were we?"

00000

"Have fun!" Kira said to them.

"We will." Chuck walked out to the car with Kim right on his heels. As she fastened her seatbelt, she sighed, "I thought that they would never let us out the door."

"I know. And why do they need pictures every time we go out? You'd think that it was the prom, over and over." He glanced in the rear view mirror. "Could you pass me the tear stuff? It's in the glove box."

She passed him the little bottle and he quickly squirted the solution in his eyes. He blinked, then sighed in relief.

"What, contacts dry up again?" Kim said sympathetically.

"Yeah, and they feel weird when that happens."

"Who knew that my nerd brother would disappear off the face of the earth after he entered high school?" Kim playfully snarked.

"He didn't disappear. He just got a girlfriend that upgraded him." Chuck smiled at her before starting the engine. "Oh, I meant to tell you. I showed Tommy and Phil the picture." Over the summer, Chuck had drawn a series of charcoal portraits of his family and friends. The one he was referring to was of him, Tommy, and Phil, all looking different ways in the distance. Chuck had gotten the playfulness behind Phil's serious expression, and the way Tommy always concentrated on something- with all of his might.

"What did they say?"

"They liked it. Tommy asked me for a copy."

"Gonna give him one?"

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone yet, but I'm giving everyone in the gang one. Including you."

"That's sweet! Man, now I've got to get something meaningful for you, too." They smiled at each other.

The ride to the restaurant didn't take long, and they pulled in right behind Tim. Chuck could see Susan's car already parked. As soon as he cut the engine, Kim jumped out of the car and ran over to Tim. They hugged for a long time. Chuck watched them with a soft smile on his face. I would have paid good money to see my little sister with Timmy McNulty. Who would have thought?

After the two parted, Chuck shook hands with Tim and they walked into the restaurant together.

Susan had already gotten the table, and she stood up and hugged Kim, then Chuck. "I thought you guys would never get here! How are you, Tim?"

"I'm fine."

Susan turned to Chuck. "So, I know we wrote about the subject, but what exactly did you do over the summer?"

"Brushed up on my French. Ate expensive chocolates, some with liqueur in them. Got some sketching done."

"Did you talk to your parents about San Fran?"

"Why should I," Chuck sighed. "They think that I want to be an engineer or something to do with math. How can I tell them that I really want to go to the San Francisco Art Academy?"

"The same way I told my parents that I was not going to medical school. They might be sad, angry, upset, or any combination of the above, but it's your decision."

"And I got your back," Kim said, eyes dancing.

The waiter came and took their orders. After he walked away, Chuck said, "You know, this might be easier if I had stood up to them before. But when they say jump, I usually do."

"It's not any easier. Believe me." Tim's parents had wanted him to go to Yale, but he had gone out and gotten a scholarship to UCLA on his own. Even though he was used to doing things his own way, it was hard to face their disapproval. Kim had told Chuck about that over the summer.

"Well, I've already sent in the application. My thing is this, if I make it into the the school, then I'll tell them. Otherwise, I'll go to Sweet Valley University. So, what did you do this summer? Your letters were kinda vague."

"I worked in a day nursery. It was fun, working with children. It makes me glad that I'm going to into pediatric nursing." Susan smiled. "Children are cute little liars, and I love them for it."

"We weren't like that," Kim protested. "We were such obedient, well-behaved, docile children." She held her serious expression for a second, then burst out laughing. Everyone joined her, which startled the waiter as he dropped off their food. Conversation slowed while they enjoyed their meals. Instead, sounds of contentment and sighs were heard as they dove into their meals. After they were done, they sat back in their chairs with satisfaction.

"We should definitely come here over Thanksgiving break," Tim said. "That's the next time I'll be home."

"Same here," Susan agreed.

There was a moment of silence, then Chuck and Kim blurted out together, "I'm going to miss you."

Tim and Susan looked at their respective partners in astonishment. "How do you do that?" Tim asked.Kim shrugged. "Years of living in the same house, I guess."

They settled the check in the usual way, with Tim and Chuck splitting the check. They walked into the cool night. "I'm so glad that it's a nice night for walking. So why don't we leave the cars here and take a stroll?" Susan suggested.As they walked along the tree-lined street, Susan motioned for Chuck to fall back. He did so, and when Tim and Kim were ahead of them and out of earshot, she touched his arm softly. "Did you talk to Phil?"

"Yeah, but it didn't do any good. He's still worrying about what everyone will think."

Susan sighed. "If we know and are okay with it, then why wouldn't everyone else be different?"

"Look, it's Phil we're talking about. He's always marched to a different drummer."

"That's true. Let's change the subject. When are you going to come and visit me at school?"

"You know the answer to that. This Saturday."

"Will you spend the night?"

"Can I?" he grinned.

"Of course. Your parents won't freak, will they?"

"They will, but I'll point out that I'm almost eighteen, it's a three hour drive, and they won't want me driving back in the middle of the night.""Then it's a date then?"

"Yes."

00000

"Did you get your homework done?"

"Yes," Dil said patiently. "Joe helped me with the math. Want to check it?"

"No, that's all right," his mother said. "You just missed Angelica."

"Oh. How's she doing?"

"Fine. She's excited about going away. She was sad to have missed you."

"I'll give her a call." Dil grabbed a plate and filled it with food.

"Didn't you eat over your friend's house?"

"Yeah, but that was what? Two hours ago?" Dil smiled at his mother as he nuked the food in the microwave.

"All right. Tommy's upstairs. Bed by ten."

"Mo-om," Dil whined. "Do I still need a bedtime?"

"You're still growing. Lipshitz says that teenage boys do most of their growing while they're asleep."

Dil knew better than to argue with his mother about Lipshitz, so he said, "Okay," and turned his attention to the now steaming hot food.

"Well, good night, Dil."

"Night, Mom."

After he shoveled the food down, he went over to the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Uncle Drew. Is Angelica around?"

"Hello, Dil. Hold on, I think she's downstairs."

There was a short pause, then a new voice said, "Hello?"

"Hey Angelica."

"Hey Dil. Did Aunt Didi tell you I stopped by?"

"Hence the phone call," Dil said dryly. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Around nine."

"Oh. I guess I won't be seeing you until…"

"Thanksgiving."

"That long? You're not coming home any weekends?"

"Not if I can help it. I've never been away from home for any long period of time, not even to sleep-away camp. I want to see exactly how homesick I'll get."

"Well, can we come up and see you?"

"Depends on who we is."

"You know, the usual suspects. And maybe some of my friends." Dil hoped that she would not ask any more questions about that subject. "So, do you already know your roommate?"

"I've spoken to her on the phone. Her name is Troian. She sounds goth, but as long as she does what I tell her to, we'll get along fine." They both laughed. "Well, Dil, I have to run. Believe it or not, I have to finish packing!"

"I understand. Talk to you later."

"Bye."Dil hung up the phone and made sure that the kitchen was clean before he headed upstairs. In their room, Tommy was sitting at the desk, wearing headphones while doing his homework. Dil tapped him on the shoulder softly so as not to startle him.

"Oh, hey Dil. Did you just get back?"

"Nah. I ate dinner, then talked to Angelica on the phone."

"You know, in two years, that'll be me and my friends."

"Don't remind me," Dil groaned. "It's bad enough that I'll be alone at school, but I'll be the only kid left of the Pickles/Finster/DeVille clan."

"You'll get through it. Besides, you're the mack daddy of SHHS."

Dil burst out laughing. "Who says that?"

"Phil did. Actually, he says that you're a playa."

Dil fell on his bed, rolling. "I've never heard that phrase pronounced so correctly."

"Are you trying to say that I'm not down?"The sound of the words and the look on Tommy's face was enough to put tears in Dil's eyes. "Never mind, never mind. I think I'm going to bed now."

"Okay. Night, Dil."

"Night, Tommy."