CH3

Mark shot up, flicked on the light, shut off the TV, crumpled up the blanket, threw it in the corner, and straightened his hair ALL in less than 15 seconds…or so it seemed.

"Mark, I'm home!" he heard Vanessa yell as she entered the house.

"Come on" Mark whispered to Juno as he rushed to the kitchen.

"Hi!" Mark greeted in a sweet high pitched tone.

Vanessa looked over and saw Juno behind him. "Juno?"

"Hey Vanessa, I have something really cool to show you, check this out!" Juno grabbed the ultrasound picture from her pocket and handed it to her. Vanessa looked in amazement at it. "That's your baby! Look, it looks like it's waving at you." Vanessa laughed, she was beginning to tear up when Mark spoke.

"Yeah, Juno was nice enough to drive all the way up here to give it to us." he looked at Juno and smiled. He wasn't even sure if Vanessa heard him, she was so wrapped up in the picture.

Juno sighed. "Well dudes, I gotta bounce. Thanks for the- uh, well you didn't really do anything for me, so I'll talk with you guys later huh?" she walked to the door and Mark followed.

"Thanks for this Juno!" Vanessa called out, still staring in amazement at the photo.

Mark watched as Juno slipped on her shoes and grabbed her backpack. "Listen, thanks for uh- you know, keepin' me company and stuff."

Juno grinned. "Anytime. I'll talk with you later dude." She gave him one last smile as she left. Mark watched her drive off before closing the door and sighing. He walked back to the kitchen and looked over at Vanessa who was staring at him.

"How long has she been here?" she questioned him.

"Ohh uh- just like 10 minutes. I told her to sit tight til you got home." Mark tried his very best to make it sound believable, and for the time being, apparently Vanessa bought it, although she had a hint of confusion on her face. Vanessa went upstairs like she normally did when she got home. Mark usually retired to his hang out spot in the basement at this point, but he made a quick visit to the living room where he and Juno had just previously been attending together. He smiled.

Juno arrived back at home. She had no idea what time it had been, all she knew was that she'd been gone a while, a long while.

"Where the hell ya been June-bug?" Bren yelled as she saw Juno walk in.

"Oh I went to see the Lorings, you know to give them the ultrasound picture and stuff." She said snapping her fingers and nodding her head.

"And that took 3 hours?" Bren questioned.

"Well, y- no I went to talk to Paulie afterwards." Juno was lying through her teeth, but Bren didn't seem to notice.

"Ok then." She went back to her needlepoint sewing of her precious dogs.

Juno ran up to her room, plopped on her bed and sighed. There she was again, laying on her bed, sighing and thinking about Mark. She absolutely loved every second that she was there. She didn't even know how to process the amazing-ness of what went down as they watched the movie together, so she flicked off her light and quickly fell asleep.

Throughout the next week, Juno was beginning to dread going to school, now more than ever. Thank god it was almost summer. She had been in the lunch line with Leah listening to her babble on something about 'Keith' a.k.a. yucky bearded teacher, when she found her mind trailing off and thinking about Mark. After lunch she found a phone. She picked up the receiver and took a deep breath as she dialed the number to the Loring's house.

Mark was sitting at home in his office working on a new catchphrase song for an upcoming commercial when he heard the phone ring. "Hello." he answered.

"Hi." was all she could say.

Mark smiled instantly as he heard her voice.

"Hey you, how are ya?" He greeted her sweetly which made her melt.

"Oh I'm great, you know school is a real bitchin' time I'll tell ya, it must suck to be you sittin' at home, drinkin' your sporty drinks, rockin' to music. Yeah I have it good." They both laughed.

"So what's up?"

"Mmm nothin, just was thinkin' about you and thought I'd say hi." she grinned to herself.

"Well that was sweet of you. When are you gonna come visit me? I'm actually starting to miss you." He sighed then smiled to himself.

"Well, you know, I don't wanna intrude on your busy life or anything…" she trailed off.

"What? Noo not at all. Don't think that, I like havin' you around." There was a silence now. But it wasn't awkward…it just seemed to be a moment where if they were speaking face to face they would have been staring in each other's eyes.

"Well I'll surprise you one of these day, how bout that?"

"Alright, sounds good. But make it soon." He giggled.

"I will. Have fun doing what your doing…you're probably surfing porn anyways, huh?" She laughed.

"Oh yeah…it's free too." He laughed. "Nah I'm messing…………there's a monthly fee."

Juno cracked up. Then she looked around and saw the hallways empty. "Oh crap, I missed the bell."

"Juno MacGuff you rebel! I feel so special that you're missing out on your education to talk to me" He laughed again. "Ok you go, I'll hopefully see you around soon."

"Yeah, thanks. Bye." She hung up the phone after she heard Mark's mutual 'bye'. She stood by the phone and sighed deeply taking in the wonderful-ness of the adorable conversation. She quickly snapped out of it and rushed to class.