Young At Heart
Part Two
By Carolina
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Neither the characters of er, nor the 80's references belong to me.

Summary: What if the cast of ER was still in high school... in the 80's?

Author's notes: Wow, I didn't think I was gonna finish this story, but here ya go. This story is not taking place in any specific year of the 80's, but is rather a recopilation of the entire decade. So don't bug me about which events took place when, and which came before which, it was all intentional. This goes out to all the children of the 80's, you know who you are. The first part of this story can be found at: www.neoxer.com

I'm Carolina. Hope you like this.

John drove down the street where his house was, looking around and moving his head up to the tempo of Styx's Mr. Roboto. He couldn't wait to graduate high school and start his own band. That was going be right on.

The gates of his house opened once his car approached the entrance. He couldn't believe his parents actually paid a man to sit there to open and close those gates, instead of getting one of those new control operated doors. His dad was home, great. John parked his car in front of the enormous house and let the keys in so that another one of the servants would park it  somewhere. He reached on the back and grabbedhis backpack, and after letting out a sigh, walked into the house.

"Where have you been?" his father asked sharply.

"Uh, school?" John said with a little attitude.

"School was over two hours ago, you were supposed to be here at 3, it's 5 o'clock," his father said.

"What do you care?" John muttered as he began to ascend his stairs.

"What was that young man?" his father asked, obviously mad.

John knew what was about to come. He could just run up his stairs and shut himself on his room, but he always opted for confronting his father before doing that. "I always come home around this time, you're just never around to notice," he said, without the slightest hint of intimidation.

"Well, today I did, and one of my clients is coming to dinner tonight, so go upstairs, shower and put on your best clothes," his father said.

John shook his head. He knew it. His father only really cared about him whenever he wanted to impress one of his clients with his 'pretend' family. He began to walk up the stairs again.

"And from now on, I want you here at 3 o'clock, if I don't set rules around this house pretty soon you're gonna be walking down the street with those punks, wearing those Michel Jackson gloves and disrupting the streets," he said and walked away.

John waited until his father was gone and stuck his middle finger at him. He hated his family. Not just loathed, hated. They were never here and all they cared about was that stupid business, which John didn't even know what it was about anyway, he couldn't care less. The only person who cared about him was his grandmother. One of these days he was going to run away and go live with her.

He walked down the hall and opened the door to his room, only stood there when he saw his sister inside, holding her pink portable player and dancing to one of those Debbie Gibson songs. "What are you doing here?" he asked her, throwing his back pack on the floor.

His sister stopped the music, and turned around to face him. "Did dad tell you about the dinner?" she asked him.

"Yeah, and I'm not going," he said.

"You have to go, it's downstairs, you nimrod," she said. John's sister was two years older, yet sometimes she behaved like a little girl. She could spend hours just dancing around the house with that stupid portable player, wearing those mid calf spandex pants and a shirt which hung on her left shoulder, always chewing gum. She had permed her hair before going to college, and something had gone terribly wrong, because her soft straight hair was replaced with a mass of dry brown and half curly, half straight hair. That was the reason why he never let Abby get a perm, and always threatened not to speak to her again if she did so.

"I have plans already," John muttered.

"Oh, yeah? What are you doing?" she asked.

John walked over and dropped his body on his water bed. "Don't you have a college you should be going to somewhere?" he asked, annoyed.

His sister dropped her smile and walked over to sit next to him on the bed. "If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to say anything to mom and dad?" she asked.

"Depends on how much you're paying me," John said and began to throw some of his darts on the wall.

She took a deep breath, "I kinda flunked the first semester," she said.

"What?" John said as he turned around, "You're a freshman!" he said in awe.

"I know, I know, but... arg, college is just not for me," she said. "I wanna move to San Francisco and take singing lessons to start my own band, like The Bangles," she said. Starting a band was something they both wanted to do, except different genres.

Carter bit his lip, "When are you going to tell them?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, distant.

"Ok, ok," John said and got comfortable. "I will go to tonight's dinner, if you promise you'll tell them in front of those clients," he said mischievously.

His sister grinned. They loved to make their parents miserable, particularly when there were other people present.

"I'll tell them I got a girl pregnant," John said and began to take his clothes off.

"You did?" his sister said in awe.

"No, but... double the fun," he said and smiled.



"Kerry, can you please just pick a dress," Elizabeth said as she waited in one of the chairs of the mall store. "I need a new jean jacket and there's a sale downstairs."

"I don't like any of these," Kerry protested, looking for some dresses on a rack while a Cindy Lauper song played on the background. Kerry hated these kind of stores, they always had that funky music playing on the background, like shopping was some kind of exciting experience or something.

"Well," Elizabeth walked over and took a random dress from the rack, "How about this one?" she said and showed Kerry a blue dress.

"That's too short," Kerry said and continued to look for more dresses.

"No it's not, it's the perfect length," Elizabeth noticed.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who has to hide a crippled leg," Kerry said.

Elizabeth dropped her head to the side, "Kerry, your leg is fine. So, you have to limp a little, but you actually do have nice legs," she said.

"Nice crippled legs," Kerry muttered.

Elizabeth let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "How about a long dress, then?"

"Like a nun?" Kerry exclaimed. She threw the dress she was holding on a chair and let out a sigh, "That's it, I'm not going to this thing," she said and walked out of the feisty store.

Elizabeth shook her head and walked after her friend, "Kerry!"



"Dave Malucci, where have you been?" Mrs. Malucci asked as his son walked into the house.

"Relax, ma, I was with John," he said and put his books on the table. He had found out that his parents weren't that hard on him when they knew he was with John. Having a rich friend sure had gotten him out of a lot of trouble. If only they knew John was nearly as mischievous as he was.

"Don't talk to your mother like that," his father protested in a heavy Italian accent. "And go outside and get a hair cut, for God's sake, you're not a member of Menudo," he said.

Dave decided to ignore that and grabbed a piece of bread from the counter.

"Don't eat now, you'll spoil your dinner," his mother said, folding some clothes.

"Mom, your dinner spoils dinner," Dave said, referring to the exaggerated amount of food his mother would cook every night.

"That's it, you come here," his father said and began to chase him around the house to give him a good spanking.

Dave dodged him the first time and began to run around the house, until his mother began to yell. "It's on! It's on!" she said and miraculously, his father stopped chasing him and sat in front of the television.

"Come here, Davey, the Challenger is about to go to space," his mother said sweetly.

Dave rolled his eyes, "We landed on the moon years ago, what's so interesting about space anymore," he protested.

"You watch what you say before I go over there andbreak your teeth," his father said.

Dave shook his head and grabbed another piece of bread before beginning to go up the stairs, the last thing he heard was his mother crying about some kind of explosion and a dead teacher.



Abby came out of her kitchen with a bowl full of salad and sat on the table. Looking at the dinner in front of her, she sighed and turned to her father. "Why do we always have to eat macaroni and cheese with chicken?" she protested.

"Because your father never learned how to cook," he replied, taking a big bite of chicken. He looked at his daughter as she played with her food and smiled. It seemed like it was yesterday when Abby was just a baby and he would carry her everywhere they'd go. Now she was almost a woman, a small woman, but a woman at that. As much as he hated seeing her go through adolescence, it still filled his heart to watch her grow in front of his eyes.

As usual, dinner was filled with ways for him to find out how to start a conversation. "So, how was your day?" he asked awkwardly.

"Ok," Abby said and continued to play with her food, and finally took a bite of her chicken.

"The prom is coming soon, are you excited about it?" he asked.

"Not really," Abby said. She actually was excited, but she didn't want her father to know just how much.

"Who are you going with?" he continued to ask.

"John," Abby said casually.

Her father raised his eyebrows, "Really?" he said in awe. He was very apprehensive when his daughter told him for the first time she had a boyfriend, but once he met John, he couldn't help but approve of the relationship. Not only was John very nice and well mannered, but his family was well off, something the Lockhart family never was. Actually, he didn't cared much about that. John's family was incredibly rich, but the boy would spend all his non school time at the Lockhart's. It was like having a son... a son who would make out with your daughter. He knew John hated to be at home, so he would give him a break and sometimes let him sleep over, he knew he didn't have to worry about them sneaking around.

"So, are you guys getting back together?" he asked.

Abby let out a sigh of annoyance, "No, dad, we're just going together," she responded.

He nodded. "Do you need some money for a dress?" he asked her.

"No, Aunt Nancy said she'd make one for me," she said absentmindedly.

"That doesn't bother you? I'd rather you just go out and buy a dress you like instead of having someone sew it up for you. Besides, you know  how adventurous your aunt is, you don't wanna go to this dressed like Princess Leia," he teased.

Abby didn't laugh. "I really don't care that much," she said. She put her fork down and looked at her father with a determined look on her face. "Dad? Since you're not buying me a dress or anything, can I have 10,000 dollars?" she asked.

"What?" her father exclaimed and dropped his fork. "What on earth do you need that much money for?" he asked.

"Never mind," Abby said, annoyed and returned to her food. She grew thoughtful for a moment, while her father recuperated and continued to eat his food. "Can I ask you a question then?" she asked.

"Not more money, I hope," he said.

Abby ignored that, and just looked at her water for a moment before turning to her father again. "Do you remember mom?" she asked.

"Of course," he said and gave her his full attention. Abby didn't talk about her mom much, so every time she did, he made sure all her questions were answered.

"Well, um, did she have," she started and put her hands in front of her, she finally decided to just ask, "Did she have a big chest?" she finished.

Her father just looked at her awkwardly. He knew his daughter always had a complex about being the smallest one in the class, but this was beyond his beliefs. "Well," he began and put his napkin down. He smiled, "Is that what those 10,000 dollars are about?" he asked.

"Yeah," Abby said.

"Honey, I don't think you have to worry about anything, you're the most beautiful girl in your whole class, in the school, rather," he said and stroked her cheek.

Abby looked disappointed, "You have to say that, cause you're my dad," she said.

"Well, then, let's say that I'm just a guy, walking down the street, and then you're walking on the other side, with all of your girlfriends, wearing those leg warmers you like and your long hair down. I promise, you would be the one girl I'd look at twice," he said with the best of intentions.

"Dad, that's just sick," Abby said. She looked at her food and put her napkin down also, "I'm not very hungry," she said and stood up, walked down the stairs and went straight to her room while her father let out a big sigh.



"Mom, I'm home!" Kerry said as she gently put her backpack on the floor.

"Hi sweetie," her mother said and gave her a big hug. "Boy, do I have a surprise for you," she said.

"What is it?" Kerry asked curiously.

"Ok," her mother said and walked to the living room with Kerry, "I know it's not your birthday, or Christmas, but I saw this, and I just couldn't resist." She took a white box form under the couch and put it on Kerry's lap.

"What is it?" Kerry asked.

"Well, open it," her mother said, excited.

Kerry opened the box and removed the white soft paper out of the way to come face to face with a red dress. She gasped, "Mom," she said as she took the dress out and examined it. It was a no sleeved red dress with dark red little sequences, and it fell diagonally just behind the calf. It looked like a disco queen dress, and although the 70's were over, Kerry just fell in love with it.

"Do you like it?" her mother asked.

"I love it," she said and looked at it carefully, thinking about her leg.

"But that's not all," her mother said and gave her another box.

Kerry opened it, excited, but once she saw what was in there her face frowned. She reached inside and took out a pair of very high red heels. "Oh, mom, I can't wear these," she said and gave them to her mom.

"Of course, you can. I think it's about time you start wearing shoes like these and get rid of those hightop Velcro Reebox. You have a week until the prom, and we will work on walking and dancing every day," she said.

"I don't know how to dance," Kerry protested.

"Not now, but by the time I'm through with you, you're gonna be Prom Queen," she said and pulled her daughter up to begin the dancing and high heel walking lessons.



Luka laid on his bed, watching television and day dreaming about those cheerleaders. He went over to reach for a Playboy from under his bed, but a sudden sound made him jump back, and he looked towards the window to see a hand knocking on it. He went over and opened it. "Abby?" he said as he saw his friend there, hanging from the branch of a tree.

Abby had climbed on the side of Luka's house and squeezed through the window with Luka's help.

"What are you doing here?" Luka asked once she was in.

"Nothing, just came for a visit," she said.

Luka sat on his bed, "Abby, we're not kids anymore, you can't keep sneaking into my room like that," he said, remembering the many times Abby would run away from home and end up in his bed, and Luka's mom would find them the next morning cuddled up together. Of course, they were kids back then, and Luka's body was nowhere near as hormonal as it was now. So sleeping with Abby was definitely out of the question.

"I just wanted to say hey, you said you'd call me and you never did," she said and sat on the bed next to him.

"Sorry, I forgot," Luka said, looking at the television.

Abby rolled her eyes and followed his stare, "What's going on?" she said when she realized he was watching Family Ties.

"The Keatons are gonna have a baby," Luka said absentmindedly.

"Oh, no," Abby said as she shook her head. "That's gonna be the end of the show," she added. She kept staring at the television though, wondering why boys couldn't be more like Alex Keaton, so smart and attentive, not to mention mature. She looked around the room. Luka's room was always dark. When they were kids, they would spend hours playing in here, and it was always bright and happy. Now, he barely turned on the lights and the window was always closed shut.

Her favorite part about being here, though, was Luka's mom. She was the sweetest lady, and the closest thing to a mom she had. Luka had a brother, but no sisters, so she figured his mom just liked having her around because she never could have a daughter, but Abby had no objection to that, since she was the light of Mrs. Kovac's eyes.

The show ended and Luka turned off the television. "Is it true that you're going to the prom with John?" he asked.

Abby was brought back from her reverie, "Yeah, why?" she asked.

"No reason, Kerry told me, but I thought it was another one of her gossips," he said.

Abby laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, "Well, no one else had asked me, and I get the feeling he didn't have any other options, so I said yeah," she said.

Luka laid back on the bed next to her, "Well, he could have asked many girls, like Kerry, or Jing Mei, or basically all the girls of the honor roll," he said.

"So, what's your point?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's just interesting that he asked his ex girlfriend," he said looking at her.

Abby just kept staring at the ceiling, "Who cares, it's just the junior prom," she said. "There'll be another one next year."

Luka looked at her and shook his head, Abby could be such a teenager sometimes. Well, they were teenagers, but that didn't mean they had to show it. "Your dad's gonna be worried about you," he muttered.

"You want me to leave?" Abby said as she sprung up from his bed.

Luka sat up and looked to the door, "Shh, Abby, you'll wake my parents up," he said.

"Screw you," Abby said, mad, and climbed out the window.

Luka followed, "Abby, you're gonna kill yourself," he called out to her, but watched as Abby gracefully made her way down the tree and began to run down the street. Luka closed his window and let out a sigh. "Girls."



Peter walked up to the Finch's house and rang the bell. He adjusted his bow tie and looked at the corsage he had on his box once more. His father had insisted on him wearing a traditional tuxedo, and Peter hated it. Where his father got the idea of wearing a tuxedo for a prom, he'll never know.

The porch lights lit up and Cleo's father stood there. "Peter, you look great," he noticed.

"Thanks Mr. Finch, is Cleo ready?" Peter asked, trying to look inside.

"Yeah, just a second, you know how women are," the man with the small afro said.

"Hey Peter," Cleo said as she stepped out, wearing a black dress with black accessories.

"You kids have fun, now," her father said and disappeared into the house.

Peter took the corsage out and gave it to her.

"A white arrangement?" Cleo asked as she saw it.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Peter asked innocently.

"Not only are we going to a white man's idea of a scholar celebration, but we also have to start wearing white flowers so they approve more of us?" Cleo asked incredulously.

"I didn't know you were so politically correct," Peter said as they walked to his father's old car.

"We have to stand up for our race, Peter. When will it end?" she said as she got in the car.

Peter rolled his eyes, this was going to be a long night.



"Oh, Kerry, you look beautiful," her mother said as she saw Kerry walk down the stairs of the house. Her hair was pinned as half a ponytail by a red array and the red dress fell down to her mid calf. She was wearing incredibly high heels, yet was having no problem walking at all. Her glasses were gone and she did look quite beautiful. Her father took advantage of the moment to take a picture.

"Dad!" Kerry protested.

"Oh, Kerry, take that off," her mother said.

Kerry looked at her hand, "Mom, you can't take a friendship bracelet off," Kerry protested.

"I'm sure Elizabeth won't mind, it's just one night," her mother said. Kerry took the bracelet off reluctantly and gave it to her.

"Here ya go, kiddo," her father said and threw her a set of keys.

Kerry looked at the keys in awe and then at her father, "Dad, are you serious?" she asked.

"Just drive carefully," he said.

"Thanks, dad," Kerry said and hugged him. "What time should I be home?" she asked.

"Eh, just have fun," her father said.

"Remember all those moves I taught you," her mother said.

"I will," Kerry said with a big smile on her face. She hadn't wanted to go to the prom, but she had to admit she looked very sexy, maybe this night wasn't going to be so bad after all. She said good bye to her parents, and drove to the school.



Mark stood outside Elizabeth's house, his hands sweating like a pig, and trying to get his collar lose. His father had given him one of those Army suites they use when they have to go to a special ceremonies, and Mark had put a stop on it when he was down to the white gloves. He had taken all the pins and medals out of it on his way here, but he still looked like dork, he thought.

"Mark, don't you look lovely," Mrs. Corday said as she opened the door.

"Thanks, Mrs. Corday. Is Elizabeth ready?" he asked.

"Elizabeth! Your date is here!" he mother called out and turned to Mark. "So, how's your dad?" she asked.

"He's fine-" Mark said but stopped when a squeal came out when he said the word fine. Flabbergasted, he just opened his eyes wide at the realization that his voice was changing at that exact moment.

"Well, tell him I said hello," she said.

"Mom, leave him alone," Elizabeth said as she came out, wearing a short blue dress, her hair down in wild curls. Her eyes were almost covered in a blue shade and she wore a red lipstick.

"You look nice," Mark said, his voice still squeaking.

"Do you have a cold or something?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, no," Mark said, mentally cursing at himself.

"Well, of you go now, I expect her back at 12, Mark," Mrs. Corday said.

"Mom!" Elizabeth protested.

"12:30 then," she said and saw them off.

Elizabeth turned to Mark, "You know, Mark if you want, we can come at 12:30 and we can stay up and watch a movie or something," she said suggestively.

"Ok," Mark said in a loud squeak and walked her to his car.



"Hey, Abby, you look nice," John said as Abby walked out of her house. He wore a blue blazer and a white shirt, no tie, and trying to keep his sleeves to his elbows, ala Miami Vice.

"No, I don't, I look like a goodie two shoes," Abby said as she looked at her white dress.

"Well, I like it," John said as he put her corsage on.

"My aunt is the biggest Greese fan, she said this is an exact replica of the dress Sandy wore for the dance," Abby said as she closed the door.

"Down to the shoes," he noticed. "Does that mean you're gonna rip it off and we'll drive away in our leather jackets?" John joked.

"We'll, see," Abby said. "Bye dad!" she called out.

"You kids have fun now," her dad called out from inside the house.

John opened the door for Abby and let her in. She unlocked his door and looked around his car. "Why are your clothes on the back?" she asked.

"That's an interesting question, Abs. Let's just say that right now, there are two pillows under my covers, pretending to be me," he said as he started the car.

"You snuck out?" Abby said in awe.

John nodded, "I made my dad lose a million dollar client the other night, and I am grounded until the end of the year," he said as he drove, trying to keep his sleeves up.

"Wow," Abby said as she sat back. A million dollars, she could get her breasts AND her nose fixed with that. John put a U2 cassette into his radio and they drove away.

"So who's Luka going with?" John asked.

"I don't care," Abby said. "Probably a triple D cheerleader."

"Nice," John said, not seeing the killer look Abby threw him.

A couple of minutes later, John pulled up in the parking lot of the school and helped Abby out. Abby tried to keep half her hair up with a pin, but it kept falling down, so she took the white pin and threw it on the pavement, letting her hair fall lose. She still didn't know much about make up, so before making a fool out of herself, she just decided to wear a light shade of pink lipstick, some mascara and a little powder.

"You ready?" he asked her as he took her arm.

"You know, we could just go home and watch Alf," she said, but John took it as a joke as he lead her inside.

The prom is to be taken place on the school gym, and Kerry had outdone herself by decorating it with balloons and such. Dave stood by the table, wearing something similar to John, but his attire is green. He checked to see if there was anyone around, and slyly, sliped some alcohol into the punch.

"Hey, Dave," a voice came from behind him.

Dave, fearing that he has been caught, hid the bottle under his jacket and turned around. "Hey, babe," he said in a lighter mood when he realized it was just Jing Mei.

"What are you doing?" she asked, wearing an orange dress, matched with everything down to the orange lipstick.

"Nothing, just checking out the food," he said and looked around, "So where's your QB date?" he asked curiously.

"Eh, I decided to come alone," she said, hiding the fact that she was stood up. "Let's go dance," she said and pulled him to the dance floor, and they both began to 'walk like an Egyptian" like everyone else.

"KERRY!!!" Elizabeth exclaimed when she saw her friend. "You look so beautiful!"

"Thanks," Kerry said bashfully. "Hi Mark."

Mark smiled and said hello. He watched John walking in with Abby and immediately walked over, grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the bathroom.

"Mark!" John protested but he didn't have much time.

Abby was about to protest as well, but she saw Elizabeth and Kerry and walked up to them instead.



"Mark, are you insane?" John protested.

Mark made sure there was no one else in the bathroom and turned to John, "My voice is changing," he squealed.

"What?" John asked, confused.

"My voice, it's changing," he stressed and cleared his throat. "What did you do when yours changed?"

"I don't know, that was years ago," John said, amazed that it had taken Mark so long to hit puberty, they were 17. But Mark looked like he was about to explode. "Here, have a breath mint," he said and reached into his pocket.

"Of all the 365 nights of the year, this had to happen tonight!" he squealed again and popped a breath mint into his mouth.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Goonies," Robert said as he walked in, wearing a light blue tuxedo and a white shirt underneath it, full of patterns, like those nerds in that movie. "So, Mark, enjoying your date with Liz?" he asked as he put his arm around Mark.

"Get a life, Roberts, shouldn't you be in college by now?" John asked.

"I'll get there, there's no hurry," he said. "Hey, by the way, can I dance with Abby tonight?" he asked. Robert was generally a bully, but his simple mind sometimes made him act as though he was younger than the rest of his classmates.

"No," Carter said as he wiped his hands and threw a paper towel on the garbage can. With that, he walked out of the bathroom.

Robert turned to Mark, "How about you, wimp?"

"What about me?" Mark asked, trying not to sound scared in front of Robert. Mark was tall and skinny, but Robert was stumpy and robust. They were the exact opposite of each other.

"Mind if I steal Elizabeth for a couple of dances?" he asked.

"Don't you have a date?" Mark squealed.

"Yes," Robert said defensively, "Her name is Gretel, and she's around here somewhere."

"Well, if Elizabeth says yes... sure why not?" Mark said and walked out of the room, when Robert bolted out pass him and straight to Elizabeth.

Carter approached Dave, who was munching by the food table, "Hey Dave," he muttered.

"You gotta try these sandwiches, they're amazing," Dave said with his mouthful, spitting food all over Carter.

"I think I just did," Carter said as he cleaned his blazer.

"Dave, leave some for the rest," Kerry thundered as she approached them.

"Relax, red," Dave said as he turned around, but dropped his mouth wide open when he saw Kerry, looking beautiful and sexy. John did pretty much the same.

"H-hi Kerry," Dave stammered, looking at the cleavage of her dress.

"You look nice," John managed to say.

"Thanks, now please leave some food for the rest," she said.

"Sorry, Kerry," Dave said, cleaning the mess he had made. "Hey, do you wanna dance?" he asked.

Kerry smiled merrily, remembering her mother's words. "I'd love to," she said and extended Dave's hand so he could take it.

Dave spun Kerry around as a Disco song began, and then they both started to dance up to the music. Kerry had far from a hard time managing the shoes and the dance, and it was Dave who had to keep up with her as she danced in all her disco glory.

"Look, Kerry's dancing!" Elizabeth said as she jumped up and down.

"Come on, Peter, let's show them who's better at dancing," Cleo said as she grabbed Peter's arm, determined to show black people could move better. Soon enough, a dancing rumble began between the two couples.

Abby looked over at John, who was trying to look up Kerry's skirt every time she spun, and just let out a sigh. Giving the dance floor one more look, she pushed the doors to the gym and walked out. The night was a little chilly but inviting. She rubbed her arms with her hands to keep the warmth, and found a table on the side of the gym. Jumping up, she sat there and looked at the sky to see if any stars were out, but the lights of their town made it difficult to see.

"You're gonna catch a cold, you know," Luka said as he appeared out of nowhere and approached her, wearing an all black attire.

Abby looked at him, "What do you care?" she said. She reached into her purse and took out a pack of cigarettes, and lit up the first one, in her hand.

Luka watched her with weary eyes and shook his head, sitting next to her on the table. "I didn't know you smoked," he said.

"I do," Abby said and took the first puff, only began to caught madly.

Luka smiled at her innocence and took the cigarette from her hand, giving it a long puff to teach her how to do it efficiently. Abby gave him a questioning look, wondering what he had wondered just a minute ago. "I don't do it much, but my dad taught me," Luka said as he flicked the cigarette away, and took the pack out of Abby's hand to do the same.

Abby decided not to get into an argument with him, and looked straight ahead. "So where's your triple whopper of a date?" she asked.

Luka looked at her and smiled, "She decided to run away with Jing Mei's date," he said.

"Simple minds think alike," Abby said as she kept looking straight ahead.

Luka nodded. She was right, actually, but he knew that was her way of saying: I told you so. He looked over, "So what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I'm going home," she said.

"So soon?" Luka asked.

Abby just shrugged her shoulders.

Luka stared at her, "Where's John?"

"Inside, trying to score with Kerry Weaver," Abby said absentmindedly and watched Luka's confused face. "She's.. wearing this gorgeous dress and all of a sudden all the boys wanna talk to her," she said bitterly.

Luka took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders, "That I have to see."

"Suit yourself," Abby said, giving him permission to leave her alone. "I'm only here because John couldn't find someone better," she added.

"That's not true," Luka said.

Abby scoffed, "Please," she said.

"Not all guys wanna go out with girls who have great bodies, Abby," Luka said.

"Oh, come on, Luka, I've seen the way you look at those cheerleaders when they jump up and down, and the way you look at my track team mates when they run, and those women on television, and don't think I haven't seen those Playboys under your bed... how come you never look at me like that," she suddenly said, upset.

Luka was taken aback and was a little confused, "W-wha... do you want me to look at you like that?" he asked nervously.

"NO!" Abby said. "I- I don't know..."

"Cause I have," Luka said and watched as she suddenly looked at him.

"What?" Abby asked, a little uncomfortable.

"Remember when we kissed?" Luka asked and watched her nod. "I had a crush on you back then. And then I had a crush on you again when we went to the lake with our parents, and you had that yellow bikini. And then I had a crush on you again when you were dating John, but just briefly," he listed.

Abby smiled, turning red. "I had a crush on you when we were ten," she said.

"I had a crush on you when we were ten," Luka said.

"Really?" Abby asked, "Mine was during Christmas, when your mom made you wear those turtlenecks," she said.

"Oh, mine was during the summer when we went to camp," Luka said.

Abby looked straight ahead, "I had a crush on you when you got that really bad haircut, and your hair was too short. And then I had a crush on you when you were in the soccer team. But I had the biggest crush on you when I was 15, and my dad wanted us to move away, remember?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"And you came over and told him I had told you I'd kill myself if we did? So he decided to stay?" she said and laughed.

Luka chuckled, "Too bad we never had a crush on each other at the same time," he said.

"Yeah, too bad," Abby said, looking straight ahead.

Luka dusted his hands and stood up, "Well, if you wanna go home, that's fine with me, but you have to promise you'll dance with me first," he said and extended his hand.

Abby took his jacket off and gave it to him. "Well, you have to try that punch, Malucci put some alcohol on it," she said.

Luka took her hand, "Really? Do you think anyone will get drunk?" he asked as they walked towards the gym.

Abby shook her head, "I don't think so."



Kerry stood on top of a table, dancing seductively as 'Safety Dance' played on the background, and twirling Dave's blazer in the air as people at the bottom encouraged her.

"Come on! Take it off, take it all off!" Robert shouted.

Carter stood on top of a chair and grabbed Kerry's hand. "Come on, Kerry, I think you've danced enough."

Kerry followed John down, obviously drunk, "Come on John," she pulled him closer. "John, John, can I tell you a secret?" she asked

John held her hand as he walked her towards their table, "Sure, what is it?"

Kerry got closer until her mouth was next to his ear, "I am so drunk," she whispered and began to laugh.

"And you're not a very attractive drunk either," John said as he sat her down on a table.

"You don't look so well, Kerry," Elizabeth said from her chair.

"She's gonna look even worse when she pukes all that alcohol," John said.

"What's wrong with her?" Abby asked as she approached the table and sat down.

"Abby, you're such a good friend, Abby," Kerry slurred.

"Is she drunk?" Luka asked.

"Annoyingly," John said. He sat on the other side next to Abby. "Hey, where were you?"

"Out for fresh air," she said.

"Sorry about tonight, I've been trying to keep this damn party under control," he said.

Abby smiled, "Don't worry about it," she said and squeezed his hand.

"Excuse me, hello?" Principal Stewart said as he stepped in front of the microphone. "It's time to announce the King and Queen of the prom," he said and everyone began to applaud. "Now, this year, we have decided to let the teachers and members of the faculty chose the King and Queen, and they are..." he said and opened an envelope. "For being the only decent dressed of the night, the king of the prom is... Mark Greene!"

Everyone began to clap as Mark jumped from his chair as if he had won the lottery. He ran to the stage and was crowned.

"Now, the queen of the night has stunned us all with her grace and beauty, and I think it's not going to be a surprise when I announce the queen to be... Kerry Weaver.

Everyone began to cheer and applaud, particularly the boys.

"Whoo hoo! Go Kerry, you are the best," Kerry yelled from her chair. "Kerry Weaver rocks!"

"Kerry, that's you," Elizabeth said and sent her off to the stage.

"Oh," Kerry said and walked of. She had a little difficulty finding her balance, but finally made it there and was crowned. "Thank you, thank you, you like me, you really, really like me... thank you, thank you..."

"I think they got it, Kerry," Mark squealed.

"Now let's see them on their first dance, the king and queen of the prom!" the principal said and Mark dragged Kerry into the dance floor as "Take My Breath Away" began, only Kerry insisted on dancing a little more lively.

"Some members of royalty, a drunk and the epitome of puberty," Dave noted.

"Just like the real royalty," Carter joked.

Cleo turned to Peter, "Of course they wouldn't pick us as the king and queen, black people are not worthy of high standards," she said sarcastically.

"You know, Cleo, you really need to shut up with that," Peter said and stood up. "Come on, Elizabeth," he said as he extended his hand.

Elizabeth smiled and took it, and they both began to dance next to Mark and Kerry.

"I believe you owe me a dance," Luka said to Abby and took her to the dance floor.

"So, does that mean you don't have a dance partner anymore?" Robert said as he approached Cleo.

Cleo looked at him with a disgusting look on her face, but then dropped it. "Oh, what the hell," she said and took him to the floor.

Jing Mei approached John, "Don't think I'm gonna give you the opportunity to go home without dancing with me tonight," she said and held her hand out.

"I was just about to go get you," John joked and began to dance with her.

Dave looked at the scene in front of him and sniffed, "They grow up so fast," he moaned and dumped the rest of the alcohol in the punch. Nodding slightly, he began to put the remaining of the food on a plastic bag to take home.



The end