“I'm not saying you should accept.” Kelly said and reined in her excitement. “I'm just saying it's a wonderful option and you should consider accepting.”

“You want me to.” Arnold said.

“I would if I were you.” Kelly said before she could stop herself from influencing his decision. “No, don't do what I say. Just because I would accept it without thinking about it, you should take your time and look at what the deal contains before making your decision.”

“Arnold.” Annie said from the other side of the couch. “If you don't accept it, she'll be upset.”

“Annie!” Kelly blushed.

Arnold sat up and looked at his mother, then turned his head and looked at Kelly. “I'll accept it when I go back to the dorm tonight.”

“You don't have to.” Kelly said and tried to deny that she really wanted him to take it. “Even if having access to new products is every gamer's dream...”

“You'd be better off trying to tell him you don't want to take his place.” Annie said with a laugh.

Kelly's blush deepened and she sighed. “I'm sorry. It's just...”

“We know.” Annie said and looked at her son. “Arnold, kiss her to stop her from denying what she wants.”

Arnold put his hand behind Kelly's head and started kissing her. Kelly couldn't resist it when he kissed her like that and her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back enthusiastically. Annie sat there and honestly wondered how long they would go at it with her right there, so she sat back on the couch and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Annie was actually surprised as the make-out session just kept going and going. She covered her mouth to stop her laugh; but, it wasn't enough and she snorted loudly and then laughed. That broke the spell Kelly was under and she broke the kiss. Her face was still a little red from embarrassment.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't stop my laugh.” Annie said and pat Arnold's leg. “You would keep going and going, wouldn't you?”

“Yes.” Arnold said. “Why would I stop?”

Annie looked at Kelly's face and saw the blush. “I think we need a little talk about...” She stopped talking and smiled. “You know what? Go ahead and keep making Kelly happy.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and started kissing her again.

Annie did her best to not laugh this time, and she occasionally looked at the clock and the time as it passed. I wonder what the world record for kissing is? She asked herself and didn't interrupt them this time. Kelly's lips must be getting sore by now. She thought as she checked the time again and stopped her laugh. This is getting a bit ridiculous.

“Whew!” Katheryn exclaimed when she came in the back door. “I hate weeds and love gardening! What a puzzle to solve!”

Kelly gasped into Arnold's mouth and broke the kiss. “M-m-mom.” She whispered.

She saved me the trouble of interrupting them. Annie thought in amusement. “We're in the living room.” She tapped Arnold's feet and pointed to the floor.

“I knew my loud announcement would get someone's attention.” Katheryn said and walked over to the living room to see Arnold sitting between his mother and Kelly. “I see you're behaving yourself with Arnold's mother here.”

“Like I need the supervision.” Kelly said. “In fact...”

“I think we can have a nice late lunch.” Annie said and interrupted her. “How about pizza?”

“If I don't have to cook, I'm all for it.” Katheryn said with a smile. “I'd like to add a sub sandwich for Kenneth to eat later.”

“That's a good idea.” Annie said. “I'll add another for Arnold to take back to college with him.” She said and picked up Arnold's cell phone from the table and called. “Hi, there. I'd like to order...”

*

An ambulance and a police car were at Jake's house earlier that morning and the emergency medical technicians had checked Jake over. They weren't allowed to pronounce him dead until they arrived at the hospital, so they packed up their things and loaded the body onto the stretcher and drove the ambulance away.

Jake's parents and sister were devastated that such a stupid accident could take someone's life. The police took a few pictures and asked a couple of questions. It was just a formality, though. Accidental deaths barely got any investigation time, especially considering the kid's criminal background and excessive drinking habits, so the police left and Jake's family were left emotionally drained and a family member short.

They sat around the back yard all morning, as if they expected Jake to show up and say it was all a practical joke. They didn't notice the pizza delivery truck as it passed by.

*

“This is so good.” Kelly almost moaned as she bit into the pizza. “Why does fast food taste so good?”

“It's so you buy it, of course.” Katheryn said and took a bite of pizza as well. “Mmm.”

Annie made a similar sound when she bit into it, then laughed. “We sound like we're enjoying this a little too much.”

Katheryn and Kelly laughed, too.

“I think it's because we're not used to it.” Katheryn said. “Once a month or so, we'll order out as a treat for ourselves.”

Annie nodded. “Us, too.” She took another bite. “It's just rare enough that it's always just as good the next time.”

Kelly nodded. “If we have it too much, it might lose its mystique.”

“Plus, if we always have great tasting food, it's not so great tasting anymore because you have nothing to compare it to.” Katheryn said with a straight face, then she laughed. “Imagine if that was true?”

“Life would suck if chocolate didn't always taste good!” Kelly said, and the three of them laughed.

Arnold ate like he always did, mechanically, and set his pace to theirs so that he didn't eat too fast or too slow.

“We don't have a lot of time left before Arnold has to catch the bus.” Annie said.

“Over six hours is lots of time.” Katheryn said.

“I think she meant he has to leave and we won't be seeing him again until next week... assuming he doesn't have to work on Sunday, then it'll be the next week.” Kelly said and she reached out to take Arnold's hand. She stopped before she did, because her fingers were greasy from the pizza. Arnold moved his hand that last little bit and took her hand anyway. Kelly smiled and leaned over to give him a quick greasy kiss on the lips.

“I'm trying to eat here.” Katheryn said and Kelly gave her mother a look that said she was next. “No. Don't even think about...”

Kelly darted forward and planted a greasy kiss on her mother's cheek.

“Eww!” Katheryn moved away and tried to wipe at her face with the back of her hand and just spread it around. “Kelly!”

“Sorry, mom. You asked for it.” Kelly said with a grin.

“I did not.” Katheryn said and then sighed. “Okay, maybe I did.”

They finished eating and cleaned up, saved the remaining pieces for later, then they had to figure out what to do for the next six hours. They had already used up a bit of time watching television, they couldn't go out to the park for a walk because of the community service workers, and none of them were interested in going to the movies. Even just going for a drive could potentially put them in violation of the restraining order they had received the day before.

“You're still friends with Heather, aren't you? Why not go over to her place and use the pool?” Katheryn asked.

Kelly opened her mouth to tell her that was a horrible idea, and the reasons why, when Arnold spoke.

“According to our friends, Heather wasn't really our friend. She was only pretending to be nice to get something out of us.” Arnold said. “Kelly helped Heather study and I had sex with her. She didn't need us around after that.”

“Arnold.” Kelly took his hand. “I don't think she was... quite that heartless.”

Arnold shrugged. “She pushed us both aside before we started dating.” He said. “Why else would she do that if she wasn't our friend?”

Kelly didn't have an answer for him, because she did feel ostracized when Heather pushed her aside to date Brad, and look how that turned out. She did wonder where Heather was now, though.

“Oh! Why don't you call your new friends, then?” Annie asked. “You can see what they're up to today.”

“On such short notice?” Kelly asked and took out her cell phone. “I don't think they can get together this quickly.”

“You should have messaged them yesterday.” Katheryn said.

“We were a little busy yesterday.” Kelly said and typed up a message and sent it. Everyone waited for several minutes and then her phone beeped. “Huh. They said they'd love to get together and hang out. They'll be here to pick us up in an hour.”

“There you go.” Katheryn said. “You should have enough time to get ready by then.”

Kelly nodded and she and Arnold split up. She went to her room to get ready and he went to the spare room. They both had showers and changed into appropriate clothing, jeans and baggy t-shirts, then went to the front door to wait. A few minutes later, a horn honked and Arnold opened the door.

“Keep an eye on the time.” Annie said. “Five hours for the bus and Arnold needs to come back here to get his things.”

“We know.” Kelly said and waved to her mother and Annie. “See you later!”

Arnold and Kelly jogged over to the cars that had parked.

“We've got room for you in car number two.” One of the guys said.

“Got it.” Kelly said and they both barely squeezed into the back seat with two people they didn't know. “You guys are crazy!”

Two laughed from the front seat between the driver and another girl. “We only had two cars and all these people, and none of us were asking our parents for a ride!”

Her boyfriend laughed. “No way that was happening.” He said. “It's okay, though. We're taking the back streets and as long as it looks like we're belted in, we'll be fine.”

Arnold slipped the closest seat belt over his shoulder and held it there, and the guy nodded.

“Right on, Arnold.” He said. “Let's go!”

Both cars pulled away to take them to wherever their destination was. Kelly had been too surprised by the offer of hanging out that she hadn't even asked where they were going.

*

Brad and Kevin finished up their work for the day and Kevin took off before the supervisor could offer him a ride.

“He doesn't know, does he?” The woman asked Brad.

“Are you kidding? He'd kill me if he knew I was getting my rocks off by doing the boss.”

“That's a little vulgar.” She said sternly. “Now get in the damn truck and fuck me.”

Brad laughed, because she was an even mix of the demure older woman and a woman that didn't take shit from anyone. At first he had thought he was lowering his standards to be with her; but, after being with her for a while and getting to know her, he knew the truth. She was the one to lower her standards for him and she didn't care what anyone else thought about it. Not even him.

He opened the passenger door for her. The truck was parked on a small service road, just off the main road, and it faced away from traffic. The woman took off her yellow coat and tossed it in the back and climbed inside and across the bench seat, then pulled down her work pants and the thong she wore. She stuck her head out the driver's side window and shook her ass at him.

“Fuck, what a sight.” Brad said and took off his own coat and threw it in the back and climbed into the passenger side behind her, pulled his pants down, then started to give her what she wanted.

Unlike Heather, when Brad started muttering that he was 'fucking the boss', she really liked that he knew his place. Even though he was plowing into her as hard as he could and making her feel really good, she enjoyed that he knew she was still his boss.

They were so busy having fun that they didn't see the two very overloaded cars pass by.

*

“You're gonna love this place.” Two said from the front seat. “We come here all the time.”

“Yeah, not a lot of other places to go locally, you know?” Her boyfriend said and they pulled off the road onto the shoulder, then down another access road and slowed to almost a crawl. “They keep the place clear for the power line workers and it's the perfect place for some tunes and some booze.”

Kelly was nervous when she heard that. “I don't know.” She said. “That sounds shady.”

Two laughed. “It's okay. We don't always drink. Plus, we need to drive home afterwards.”

“Well...”

“We play music and dance, mostly.” Two said. “It really is a great relief after a long week.”

“You said it, baby.” Her boyfriend said and kissed her. “I really miss seeing you every day at school. It just doesn't feel right when I don't see your smile, you know?”

Two blushed and gave Kelly and Arnold an embarrassed look.

“Being a little sappy is okay. Just don't overdo it.” Kelly said. “I might start to fake gag.”

Two's boyfriend laughed. “Oh, come on! That was a great line.” He said and pulled over behind the other car. “Everyone out!”

They all piled out of the two cars and more people than what should be possible appeared in the clearing. Someone produced a little music player and hooked it to the front car and rolled down the windows. Some great music started playing and then both trunks were opened and there were beers, sodas, wine coolers, packs of wieners, bags of marshmallows, and a dozen large bags of different flavor potato chips.

“It's like a party on wheels!” Kelly said loudly and nearly everyone laughed.

“You know it!” One said as she came over to Kelly and gave her a hug. “It's nice to see you again.” She said and then gave Arnold a hug, too. “We're really glad you called. We missed you guys.”

“We've been a little busy.” Kelly said.

“Come over here and tell us all about it.” Two said and tucked a couple cans of soda under one arm and took Kelly's hand with the other. “We'll let the guys set everything up.”

By 'everything', she meant a plastic table for the food and a small propane cooker that was set in the middle of the clearing. It was out of sight of the road, and the guys pulled over several large logs to sit on.

“Thanks.” Two said to the guys and sat, handed Kelly a can of soda, and pat the log. Kelly chuckled and sat, then One and Three sat on either side of them and two other girls sat across from them.

“What's been going on?” One asked.

“Well... a lot of things.” Kelly said and started to tell them everything that was going on. This got the attention of the guys and they started to crowd around to listen... except for one of them. He had slipped away into the increasing darkness as the sun set.

Arnold had seen the truck they passed down the road and had recognized it. He wasn't sure if anyone was going to be there; but, he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to check when it presented itself.