Storiesonline.net
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                             Unending Night
                             by Jay Cantrell

Copyright© 2010 by Jay Cantrell


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Description: Andy Drayton was having a hellish day and it looked to turn worse when he almost ran into a car on the highway. But then Regan Riley -- a girl light-years out of his league -- entered his life.

Codes: mf rom slow
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Shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday

Andy Drayton pulled his 10-year-old Saturn up to the gate and glanced at his passenger.

"You're home," he said as he gently shook the girl awake. "Are you going to be alright?"

Regan Riley rubbed her eyes and looked out the windshield. The sun could just be seen over the house. She was certain her parents were awake. They had probably been awakened by a frantic phone call from Clairborne Benedict Prep. But maybe not yet.

"What time is it?" she asked the driver.

"A quarter til 7," he replied. "Are you ready for this?"

Regan sighed deeply.

"Not so much," she said. "I'm in an absolute ton of shit. Hey, thanks for bringing me all the way out here. That was really nice of you."

"Come on," Andy said with a smile. "Like I was going to leave my pretend girlfriend stuck in the city in the middle of the night. What sort of faux white knight would I be then?"

Regan leaned across the parking brake and kissed Andy lightly on the cheek.

"I had fun last night," she whispered. "It was fucked up beyond belief. But I had fun. Can you believe that shit?"

Andy was formulating his reply when the squad car pulled up behind him at the gate.

"Oh shit," he said.

Regan pulled back from his shoulder and looked out the back window.

"Don't worry," she said. "They're Rent-A-Cops. Leave them to me."

Andy watched in his sideview mirror as the young, uniformed man sauntered up to the car and pecked on the glass. Regan made a "roll it down" motion.

"What the fuck do you want, Prick?" she asked in an imperious tone. "I'm just blowing my boyfriend goodbye before I go in the fucking house. How about some privacy? Or are you one of those sick fucks who gets off on watching?"

"Ms. Riley," the man said as he stepped back. "I didn't realize you were home from school."

"Like we'd tell you, Perv," Regan shot back. "Don't think my father hasn't noticed that you fucks drive past the house twice as often during warm, sunny days when you think I might be at the pool. Now you just run along while I thank my guy for taking such good care of me last night."

The security guard's face was red but he walked back to his car — with much less swagger in his stride — and for a moment, Andy wondered if Regan really did plan to thank him that way. Then he realized the stupidity of his thought.

Regan Riley, only daughter of a billionaire investor, a girl worth millions in her own right, did not perform sex acts on the only son of a single mother who lived in a tiny, two bedroom apartment in one of the poorer neighborhoods in West Hempfield.

"Well, if you ever get stuck in a alone in a strange city with no money and no friends, look me up," Andy said lightly. "You know I'll look out for you."

"You'll be my first call," Regan promised. "Thanks again, Andy. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along."

Andy knew what would have happened. Regan would have sweet-talked some poor bastard out of his cell phone long enough to call her father or mother, who would have had a shit-fit and sent out the National Guard to rescue her.

The thought brought a small smile to Andy's face.

"You get a kick out of thinking of me raped and murdered?" Regan asked.

"Huh?" Andy replied. "No, no. Of course not. I was thinking of how you probably would find a geek with a cell phone, whisper sweet nothings in his ear, get him to let you call your folks — who would proceed to tear the poor bastard's life apart. That's why I'm letting you off right outside the gate and driving away as fast as I can."

Regan shook her head slowly as her eyes widened.

"I don't think it is going to be that easy," she said softly. "Don't worry. I don't think she will be pissed off at you."

Andy jerked his eyes away from Regan's face long enough to see the gate swinging open and a very angry Rita Riley and an equally irate Robert Riley stalking toward his car.

The window was still down from the foray with the security guard so Andy tilted his head back and awaited the inevitable. He didn't wait long.

"What in the hell are you doing here at 7 in the morning with my daughter?" Rita Riley screamed as she leaned through the window of Andy's car.

4 p.m. Friday

"I fucking hate this place," Regan screamed as the door to her room closed.

For the second time in six weeks she had been placed on restriction because of "substandard academic effort." So while all of her friends headed into the city for a few hours of unsupervised fun, Regan was stuck in the dorm room she shared with Ruth DeLancy, a pudgy, pimply girl who bathed only twice per week.

Regan and her friends had plans to go out to dinner and then to a club. No one would say anything so long as they were back in their dorms before breakfast — unless some bitch like Ruth DeLancy narced them out.

Luckily for Regan, Ruth was scared of her own shadow — as well as being terrified of a bar of soap — so she was safe. Her other friends knew the risk and accepted it readily. Then her dorm supervisor came around just before the group was ready to depart to relay the bad news. The hateful old bitch actually seemed happy to tell Regan about the restriction.

So Regan ate her dinner in the cafeteria by herself. It wasn't until she was dumping the tray off that inspiration hit. A truck was backed up to the cafeteria dock, bringing in supplies for the coming week.

Without a second thought, Regan climbed in the trailer and hit behind some boxes. She planned to hitch a ride into the city, catch up with her friends and sneak back into the dorm when they did. The last time she was on restriction, no one had checked on her, even when she skipped breakfast and lunch on Saturday.

It wasn't until she was bumping along that a couple of realizations dawned on her: she didn't have her cell phone in her jeans pocket and she only had $15 with her.

"Fuck!" she swore loudly. She only hoped that one of her friends would spot her some cash for the night. Then another thought hit her: Her fake ID was in her wallet, which was in her purse, which was in her dorm room. She wouldn't be going clubbing unless she could sneak in.

The truck's abrupt stop broke up Regan's thoughts. She almost panicked when she heard the engine shut down. She had ridden into the city many times in the 15 months she was a boarding student at C-B Prep. The truck stopped a full 20 minutes short of her destination.

"Probably another delivery," Regan thought. "I hope these boxes aren't taken out."

But when the door hadn't raised after 10 minutes, Regan realized how screwed she was. She slipped out of her hiding place and slipped forward slowly until she found the door. She tried to raise it to no avail and she frantically searched for the latch. After a minute or so of fumbling, she located the hook and moved it in the only direction it would go.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered under her breath.

Regan found herself in the fenced-in yard of a warehouse. The lot was dark and she didn't see any cars nearby. She silently slipped out of the trailer and made her way along the fence until she found the opening. Then she did the only thing she could do: She started walking down the highway to the city.

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Andy knew he was going to hit a shitload of traffic on the way home but he had little choice. He had stopped at his part-time job for the sole purpose of picking up his paycheck. He didn't count on the fact that three workers had called off that day and his help was needed desperately. Grudgingly he pitched in and helped fill the orders that needed to be filled before hopping in his car and driving south.

His girlfriend was going to be plenty pissed off when he was late picking her up again. He plugged in the hands-free device and gave her a call. Just as he figured, Erin was angry.

"We had plans," she seethed. "Did you not tell them that you couldn't stay to help. Of course not, you just pushed me aside like you always do. Well, here is the deal. If you're not here to pick me up when you said you would be, I'll go to the party with someone else. I don't think I'll have any problem finding someone else to take me."

"I'm still a hour away," Andy told her. "So you might as well start your calls now. This is ridiculous. The only way I can afford to do things with you is to work. If I told them I couldn't work today, I would be looking for a job tomorrow instead of doing whatever the hell you want to do. So fine, but know this. If you go to the party with someone else, you better make sure he's a keeper. Because I'm through with this shit."

"Fine," Erin screamed into the phone. "I'm through with the shit, too. Look me up if you ever get your priorities straight."

She hung up the phone before Andy could reply.

Andy looked down and noticed he was going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. He had just glanced up when he almost slammed into a truck that had stopped in the middle of the highway in front of him.

7 p.m. Friday

Regan saw the same truck that had slowed down a few minutes before pass by headed in the other direction. She wasn't really dressed for walking along a highway. Her jeans were a little tight and her T-shirt was a little short for comfort. At least she had on tennis shoes instead of her boots.

She had been walking for about 10 minutes when she saw the truck the first time. Five minutes later it came back headed North and slowed down again when it passed her. Not for the first time, Regan was having second thoughts about her brilliant plan.

She heard the truck approaching her from behind. She just knew from the engine sounds that it was the same one. She looked around for a place to hide but there was no place.

"Maybe it's a family and they saw I needed help," she thought hopefully.

The sounds of teenage boys yelling and thumping bass music coming from behind told her that her hopes were dashed.

"Hey, pretty lady," a boy said as they pulled alongside her. "You wanna ride?"

There was a lot of nuance in the word "ride."

"No, thank you," Regan replied. "I'm fine."

"I'll say you're fine," another voice added. "You got one fine ass, a set of nice tits and pair of lips that look like they know their way around a cock. Now why don't you go for a little ride with us?"

Regan could see three boys in the cab of the truck. The first one to speak was on the passenger side. The second one was the driver.

"I'd prefer to walk," Regan asserted.

"I'd prefer to ride you," the driver said again. The boy in the middle looked decidedly uncomfortable. "How about we give you a ride to wherever you want to go after you give us a ride to where we want to go?"

"How about no," Regan said angrily. She was getting scared. Here she was, miles away from anywhere with three low-lifes hassling her. She could be killed and no one would find the body for days.

The passenger side door opened and several beer cans fell to the pavement just as Regan heard screeching tires and gravel being flung. A car had pulled to a stop on the berm behind her.

"What in the fuck are you idiots doing?" a deep voice yelled. "You stop in the middle of the fucking road? Are you insane?"

Regan didn't hesitate but a moment.

"Help me," she yelled. "Please, they're bothering me."

The person who stepped to the side of the road to investigate her scream was no older than she was — and no older than the boys in the truck. But he looked bigger and he looked angry.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Regan bolted for his side as soon as he asked.

"There are three of them," she said urgently. "Watch your back."

The man glanced to his side just as the driver was sneaking up on him.

"Wyatt, I'll break your fucking skull," the boy from the car said. "You better get your ass back in the truck and get the fuck out of here. You know how this will end."

"I got back up this time," the driver of the truck slurred.

"Too bad for you," the car driver replied — then punched the other guy right in the mouth. The driver of the green truck fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Come on out, Billy," the man taunted.

"Miss, why don't you get in my car and lock the doors," he said quietly. "If by some luck they get to me, just drive off and get help or call 9-1-1. My phone is in there."

Regan jumped in the car and looked urgently for the phone. She found it — in four pieces on the floorboard. The driver must have stepped on it when was getting out of the car. She spotted a bag in the backseat and recognized it for what it was. It took only a second to pull the baseball bat out of the bag and 20 seconds after she got in the car, she was back out again.

"Here," she said as she tossed the bat to driver. "You might need this."

The passenger saw what Regan delivered and held his hands up.

"Just let me get Wyatt and we'll leave, Andy," the boy named Billy said. "We were just playing with her. We didn't mean no harm."

"No harm!" Regan screamed. "Your buddy said he wanted to see my lips around his puny little dick. You didn't mean any harm? Give me the bat. I'll show you no harm."

The man considered it for a moment then handed the bat back to Regan.

"I'd recommend knees and nuts," he said conversationally. "They're already a bit on the slow side so you might want to stay away from their heads."

Regan laughed in spite of herself.

"Get your moron friend and get the hell out of here," she said. "Before I change my mind and use you for batting practice."

Billy and his friend tossed the driver into the bed of the truck and drove away.

"My name is Andy, miss," the driver told the girl with the bat. "Uh, I almost hate to ask because of the way you're handling that bat, but do you need a lift somewhere?"

"I am so fucked," the girl replied.

8 p.m. Friday

Andy hazarded a glance at the girl in the passenger seat. She hadn't spoken another word after her "fucked" proclamation. She simply got in his car and waited for him.

The first thing Andy saw was his phone — or at least the pieces of it — on the dash.

"Well, crap," he said. "I don't guess you have a phone?"

The girl didn't answer. She simply stared straight ahead.

"If you see a place you want me to stop, just give a yell," Andy offered. The girl didn't look much older than he was — 17. But you couldn't tell with girls. She could be anywhere from 13 to 22. He was pretty sure she didn't go to school with him. She was pretty enough that she would have been instantly noticeable.

As he neared the city, the girl finally spoke.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Eight-thirty," Andy replied. "Are you headed any place in particular or just into the city?"

"I was supposed to meet my friends," she told him. "We were going to Rocco's for dinner then out to a club or something."

"Why were you walking?" Andy asked. "Did your car break down or something?"

"I was walking because I'm an idiot," the girl said angrily. "There. Is that what you wanted to hear? You're my white knight and you rescued me. The rest of my shit is my business."

Andy pursed his lips and nodded.

"Fine," he said. "I was just trying to make conversation. Do you want me to drop you at Rocco's? That's over in Pemberton, right?"

"They're long gone from Rocco's," the girl replied.

"Well, the clubs won't be hopping for another two or three hours, where else might your friends be?" he asked. "Is there somewhere else you want me to take you?"

"I don't know, OK?" she said loudly. Then her face fell. "Oh hell, it's not your fault I'm stupid. I'm sorry. My name is Regan. Thanks for your help back there."

"Glad to do it," he said.

"And thanks for not lecturing me about walking alone on a little-traveled highway," she said with a groan.

"Hey, I figure you got a mom and dad to do that," Andy said with a laugh. "But that is one piece of advice you might listen to a little more carefully."

At the mention of her parents, Regan gave an involuntary shudder.

"So, you want to cruise the Strip looking for your Peeps?" Andy offered.

"Jesus, that was lame," Regan told him. "Do I look like the type to have Peeps?"

"Well, no," Andy said. "But you really don't look like you're dressed for clubbing either."

"My plan had some flaws in it," Regan admitted with a slight laugh.

"You think?" Andy replied. "I mean, you were 25 miles out of town, walking, being accosted by rednecks and now you're in a car with someone who might be a serial killer for all you know. Sounds like a solid plan to me."

Regan laughed again.

"Yeah, well, I took all of 20 seconds to plot this out," she said.

"Thorough," Andy replied. "How about I swing by my house? You can use the phone to call your friends and find out where they are. I'll take you there. I live about 5 minutes from here. Will that work for you?"

"You don't have to do that," Regan insisted. "I'm sure you have plans on a Friday night."

"I got stuck at work and had to cancel," Andy admitted. "I vented a little of my frustration on Wyatt Erving's face. So it worked out."

"How do you know those guys?" Regan wondered.

"We go to the same school," Andy said with a shrug. "We live on one edge the edge of the district, they live on the other. There is only one high school on this side of the suburbs."

"I guess you've busted their heads before," Regan prompted.

"Once about three or four years ago," Andy answered. "Middle school stuff. Funny thing is, when I lived out that way, we were friends. I'd hate to think I just missed turning out that way."

"You used to live in the sticks?" Regan wondered.

"We lived with my grandparents for a few years," Andy said with a blush. "Mom and I, that is. Granddad died about 8 or 9 years ago and Grandma sold the farm and moved to Florida. She didn't even tell my Mom or me. Just came home one day with a bunch of boxes and told us to hit the bricks. Mom found a job in the city and we moved.

"I guess we've moved three or four times since then," Andy added as an afterthought.

Regan took a close look at the driver. He was in high school but he was working. He drove a car that even her family's gardener wouldn't touch. He was dressed in decent clothes but they were obviously not new.

It was a section of life that she had never seen before. Still, he had been nicer to her than any person she had ever met.

9:30 p.m. Friday

"What do you mean, you've changed plans?" Regan said angrily.

She listened to the phone in the apartment that Andy and his mother shared. Andy's mother was still at work but Regan didn't feel threatened.

Andy had actually offered to stay in the car while she used the phone. A female neighbor had given Regan the eye as she walked down the hallway.

"Where's that Erin girl?" she asked Andy.

"Dumped me because I had to work," he replied without emotion. "So you can let everyone know I'm back on the market."

The woman glanced at Regan.

"Looks like an upgrade to me," she opined.

"Anything would be," Andy said. "Although this one appears to be pretty high-maintenance, too. I've known her an hour and I've already fought three guys, broken my phone and driven her all over God's creation."

Regan had no compunction about elbowing her rescuer in the ribs.

"I'm standing here," she said with mock anger.

But her anger toward her friend on the phone was not feigned.

"I'm in the city with a guy who has been nice enough to drive me around," Regan said. "I can't really ask him to take me to some party because you hooked up with some busboys from the restaurant."

Andy was acutely aware that Regan was eyeing him closely as he sat on the couch.

"Fine," Regan said with finality. "Give me the address. I don't have much choice in the matter. If he won't bring me, will you pay for a cab if I have to take one? Jesus, I'll repay you when we get back to school. You know I'm good for it. I just sort of made a break for it and I didn't grab my purse."

Regan listened to her friend.

"You don't even know what bullshit I've been through to get down here," she said harshly. "If it wasn't for the guy I told you about, I'd probably be dead in a ditch. No, I'm not joking. Three guys in a truck insisted I take a ride with them. That's after I rode 20 miles in the back of a produce truck and walked another 4 or 5 miles."

There was another pause while the girl on the other end spoke. Andy was listening closely because Regan had not been overly forthcoming about how she got into her dire circumstances.

"Uggh!" she said finally. "I'll see you there or back at school."

She turned to Andy expectantly.

"I can drop you off at the party," he offered without being asked. "I told you, my entire evening is free."

He offered a rueful smile.

"Thanks," Regan said with a smile. "Write down your address and I'll make sure to send you some gas money. I'm sorry I'm being such a pain. I really didn't think this would be such a problem."

"In the 20 seconds of consideration you put into your plan," Andy joked.

"Exactly," Regan replied. "Do you know where Claymont is?"

"Yep," Andy replied. "You're probably going to the party I planned to go to. Uh, it's a couple's party. Do your friends know that?"

Regan's lips pursed.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Uh, couples," Andy said with a touch of embarrassment. "Boys and girls together. There is a lot of making out and some other stuff. They can get a bit wild. You seem a bit, refined I guess, for that scene."

Regan's face reddened. Her mother and father had done their level best to make sure she had no introduction to boys. She had attended an all-girls private school her entire life. During her breaks, her father was charged with making sure Regan was not subjected to the advances of any male of the species. It was what this trip to the city was all about.

"So you're saying I can't go alone?" Regan wondered.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Andy said quickly. "I'm saying that your friends probably should be made aware of the fact that the guys they're going with might have some ideas similar to the jerks in the pickup truck. You can call them if you want and I'll take you and drop you off if you want."

Regan grabbed the phone again and dialed.

"It's me again," she said. "The guy I was telling you about knows where the party is. He says it's a make out party. I just wanted you to know. I don't have a way for you to get in touch with me so I guess I might see you there."

Regan hung up and turned to Andy who had tried to give her privacy by going into the kitchen.

"Voicemail," she said with a shrug. "So tell me more about these parties."

Andy considered how much to tell her. He didn't want her frightened — and he didn't want to drive her back to wherever she came from. But he also didn't want her to go into a situation where she might come to harm.

"Well, I guess they have sort of evolved from typical parties," Andy said. "When we were younger, it was just dancing and some kissing. Now pretty much all couples at least make out. Some of the ones who have been dating for a while go farther. There is usually skinny dipping in the summer. It's still a little chilly so that's probably out. There is drinking and sometimes weed."

"You've gone to a lot of them?" Regan asked. She wasn't sure why she wanted to know.

"A few," Andy admitted. "Mostly in the last year or so. My girlfriend — ex-girlfriend — was big on them. It's most A-list from the school."

"So you're A-list?" Regan asked with a grin.

"Hardly," Andy replied. "Erin liked to slum. She is the queen. I'm just the pissboy."

"Vivid," Regan told him. "So she'll be there tonight?"

"Probably already there," Andy said. "She likes to get there early and get loaded. I think it made hanging out with me easier to take."

"C'mon, it couldn't be that bad," Regan insisted. "You were together how long?"

"Nine months," Andy replied. "But mostly because I didn't put up a fight about much."

He shook his head.

"I was a doormat for her," he said as he fished for his wallet and produced a picture. "She's pretty. I mean really pretty. She's popular. So I hung on regardless of how she acted."

"How she treated you, you mean," Regan corrected. "That's crappy. I'm sorry, Andy."

Regan wasn't sure why she was sorry. But she was. She felt badly about the way Andy, who had impressed her with his manners and his courtesy — not to mention the straight right hand that felled Wyatt on the highway — had been treated. Then she realized that she had friends who acted the same way. Some of the girls she knew had boyfriends that their fathers approved of but tended to hang out with other guys any chance they got. She was pissed off that someone would treat a nice guy like Andy that way.

"So let's rub her face in it," Regan replied. "She dropped you tonight, right?"

Andy nodded.

"We show up and hang out for awhile," Regan continued. "We show her that you rebound quite nicely. I'm not that ugly and, uh, well, I'm actually very well off."

"You're not the least bit ugly," Andy said. "But I won't take advantage of you that way. Look, I was glad to help you."

"You said that," Regan replied with a smile. "Every time I've thanked you, you've replied you were glad to do it. Most people just say 'You're welcome.'"

"That's why I don't," Andy said with a shrug. "'You're welcome' just seems so trite. It's like it has no meaning any more. Just like asking someone how they are. Do you really care or are you just asking automatically? When I say I'm glad to do it, I mean that. It isn't a catch-all. It doesn't mean, 'It was no problem.' It doesn't mean, 'I wasn't doing anything else at the time.' It means I was glad to do it. And I am extremely glad that you are not in the situation you were."

Regan nodded her head in agreement. She, too, was glad that she was out of danger. But her nod was more than that. She agreed with Andy's assessment. It wasn't something she thought about much before. What he said made sense to her, though.

"I'm glad to have been rescued by you," Regan said. "So, if you let me borrow a sweatshirt, we'll go to the party. Make an appearance and I'll find out where to meet my friends. Then, if you want, we'll go hang out for a while or you can just drop me at the train station. We're taking the train back to school."

"You don't have to do this," Andy said but Regan put her hand over his mouth.

"I am glad to do this," Regan said with smile. "Now, let's go before your ex-girlfriend is too loaded to remember me."

11 p.m. Friday

The party was in full swing when Regan and Andy walked in — and it was everything Andy had said it would be. There were hundreds of people, in varying states of undress, in the yard, in the house, beside the barn. Regan counted 3 kegs of beer in front of the house and countless empty cans in a trash can and strewn in the yard.

Andy parked his car and came around to open the door for Regan — an act that she appreciated immensely.

"I'll never find my friends in this mess," she whispered to Andy. "Jesus, look at all these people."

Andy nodded.

"Do you know the guys they're with?" he asked. "I might know them."

"They work at Russo's," Regan said. "Other than that, not a clue. Do you know anyone who works there?"

"Not off the top of my head," Andy told her. "I mean, I know a couple of girls who work as waitresses but they won't be here. It's way out of my price range, so I've never eaten there."

Regan latched on to Andy's hand as soon as they exited the car. She was surprised at the number of people who stopped Andy to ask who she was as they walked to the house. Andy told the first one that Regan was just a friend who wanted to come to the party.

Regan interrupted the second time Andy tried to speak.

"I'm his girlfriend," she gushed. "I've wanted to go out with him for as long as I've known him and I finally landed him. I can't wait to meet Erin so I can thank her. Andy is the sweetest guy I've ever met."

Andy blushed but the girl Regan spoke to agreed. She leaned in and whispered something to Regan, who burst out laughing.

"The first time I met Andy, he rescued me from three guys," Regan continued. "Three guys were hassling me and I was scared shitless. Then this stud came waltzing up, knocked one on his ass and threatened the other two. He was awesome."

Andy asked what the whispering was about when they walked away. Regan just raised her eyebrows and told him it was a secret.

After 30 minutes of fruitless room-to-room searching, Andy suggested a different idea.

"Do your friends drink?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," she replied.

"Beer or liquor?" he wondered.

"Either but probably liquor tonight since it's here and it's apparently free," Regan said with a laugh.

"I should have asked earlier," Andy said. "But do you want something?"

"Any chance I can get a Mountain Dew?" Regan asked. "I don't drink. Well, it's not a don't thing. I've never really had the chance and this seems like a bad time to start."

Andy laughed.

"What, have you had your share of excitement for one night?" Andy joked. But he wandered off and came back a few minutes later with two unopened bottles of Mountain Dew. They stood by the liquor bottles for a few minutes before anyone noticed them.

Unfortunately, it was Erin and her new guy — a jerk from the basketball team who thought he was a god.

"Well, I can see why you were late," Erin slurred. "That's alright. I've upgraded."

"Me, too," Andy replied without a second's hesitation. "In probably all ways imaginable."

"Screw you," Erin said. She was a mean bitch when she drank liquor. "How long have you been fucking this tramp?"

"You know, I was just about to ask your date the same question," Regan replied. "Look, little girl, you better put your claws away and wander off to play with your pituitary problem. Because you're about halfway to pissing me off."

She took a step toward Erin who took a visible step backward.

"And you do not want to piss me off," Regan continued.

"You better control your bitch, Drayton," Erin's date fumed. "Or you'll have to deal with me."

"Terrifying," Andy deadpanned. "And if you speak about my date in that manner again, you'll find out how little you scare me, Chuck."

"He's already kicked the shit out of three guys for her," a voice said from behind Erin. "And I doubt you'd give him much trouble, Little Brother. After all, I can still whip your ass."

The girl who whispered to Regan earlier stepped through the crowd that had formed as Chuck and Erin tried to look tough. Both Regan and Andy were having trouble keeping the smiles off their faces.

"Hey, Regan, it's good to see you again," the girl said as she pulled Regan into a hug. While she was hugging Regan, she winked at Andy. "You certainly seem to rebounded quickly. Why, Erin was telling us not two hours ago how you were a crying mess when she dumped you. I think she might have exaggerated. It's a shame, I already have a list of girls who were willing to console you. By the way, Erin, Little Bro's tall but he's small where it counts. But knowing how you work, you probably already know it. Hey, Regan, I saw a couple of girls I didn't recognize outside. They might be the others from C-B."

The girl, Elizabeth, took Regan and Andy by the hand and pulled them through the crowd. Elizabeth Pena was the head cheerleader and the student body president and soon-to-be valedictorian. There was no question that she ran the school. Andy could only smirk at the look of anger on Erin's face. He probably shouldn't have but he couldn't help it.

Regan, for her part, wrapped her arm around him tightly and bumped him with her hip with every step.

The girls outside were the others from C-B. At least two of Regan's friends, that is. The other four had gotten separated and hadn't arrived yet. The two that had shown up where drunk to the gills. The new girls were too drunk to relay much information other than the others were coming in different cars.

Regan finally wrested a cell phone from one of the drunken newcomers and found two voicemails and three missed calls from her friends.

She wandered away as she dialed the phone and left Elizabeth and Andy trying to make sense of the ramblings of the two drunk girls and their drunk escorts. A minute later, Regan came back looking at Andy sheepishly.

"Care to take a road trip?" she asked. "Or can I at least borrow your car if you want to stay."

"What's up?" Elizabeth asked.

"The guys put them out," Regan fumed. "I guess they expected payment in advance. These two probably paid with no trouble."

She gestured with her head toward her friends who had latched on to the guys they had arrived with.

"The other four really aren't that type," Regan continued. "So the guys dumped them off downtown near the bus station. They're in a diner off Wayne Street."

"Fuck!" Elizabeth said. "Who was it? I'll have their nuts in vise Monday."

Regan shrugged.

"Friends of these two," Andy offered. He really didn't know the guys the C-B girls arrived with. They might have been from a neighboring school district.

"They work at Russo's," Regan replied.

"I know them," Elizabeth said. "Their dating days are fucking over. By Monday at noon they couldn't bone a sheep if they moved to Scotland."

"What are we going to do about those two?" Andy asked. "I mean, we can't leave them."

"Sure we can," Regan said. "Melanie's dad has an apartment in the city. She and Amber can stay there."

"You can always pick them up here later," Elizabeth said. "I'll look out for them. You take care of the rest of your harem."

Regan winked at Elizabeth.

"I am more woman than he can handle," Regan said. She noticed Erin watching from the doorway so she pulled Andy down and planted a kiss on his lips. Andy was taken by surprise so he didn't even protest when Regan wrapped her arms around his neck. She enjoyed kissing Andy much more than she had expected.

"Let's roll, Stud," she said loudly when she pulled herself away. "If we hurry, we can dump my friends on the train and still have plenty of time before your Mom gets home."

After the kiss, Andy wasn't certain if Regan was serious or not.

Midnight Saturday

Regan pulled her two friends aside to let them know what was happening. She wasn't surprised to learn that neither cared and that both intended to stay with the guys who drove them to the party.

Andy was standing beside a couple of guys who were obviously peppering him with questions — but Regan didn't know if the questions were about her, him or maybe even Erin. She figured a combination of the three.

She had almost arrived at his side when the group around him scattered. It only took a glance to realize why — Erin had sauntered up beside him.

Andy's shoulders slumped noticeably. Whatever method Erin was trying this time seemed to be working.

"She probably told him she was pregnant," Regan thought bitterly. "He better get a DNA test before he believes it's his."

Despite her sheltered upbringing, Regan Riley had seen Erin's type before. Self-serving women crossed all racial, social and economic boundaries. She had seen women from rich families treat their husbands as mere nuisances. She had seen women from middle-class backgrounds screw their way to a better-off husband. She had heard of — but never really seen — women from poor neighborhoods who would move from one guy to the next hoping for the next thrill, score or payday.

Regan's mother fell into the first category. Rita Riley was a brilliant market analyst. There was no disputing that. But Regan's mother had the personality of a Rottweiler. At her best, Rita was hateful. At her worst, she was downright mean. Her father bore the brunt of Rita's caustic tongue and acerbic personality but some of it fell Regan's way, too.

Regan began to dread the fallout when her parents learned of her adventure. She was certain that her life was going to be very rough for the next few months until she headed off to college.

-------

Andy could not figure out what happened. One moment, he was standing with some of his friends who were alternating teasing remarks about his penchant for picking up beautiful girls with pointed questions about what happened with Erin and how he met Regan.

For his part, Andy just did his best to brush them off. Then, suddenly, the guys were gone. Vanished.

Or more aptly, ran like scared rabbits, Andy thought. He thought it might have been Regan's imminent return. The smile that came to his face was involuntary.

The smile disappeared quickly when he found the reason his friends departed — Erin.

But it wasn't the hateful, hurtful Erin from inside. It was a tearful, sad Erin that Andy had never before seen.

"C'mon, baby," Erin said as she sidled up beside Andy. "Let's just go home and forget about tonight. It was a silly fight but it's over now. Let's just forget about it."

Andy lowered his head. Crying women always got to him. He didn't mind screaming and yelling. He could handle silence and anger.

But tears to Andy were like Kryptonite to Superman.

"This has to stop, Erin," Andy said softly.

"It will, Baby," Erin promised. "C'mon, let's go upstairs before we go home. Please, Baby, you know I love you."

Erin grabbed Andy's arm and started dragging him to the house. If he hadn't seen the look that crossed Erin's face when she saw Regan, he might have gone.

But he saw it — a slight smile and a narrowing of the eyes — directed right at Regan. Erin was relaying her victory to her assumed rival.

Andy stopped in his tracks.

"No," he said firmly. "Not this time. I arrived with someone else and I'm leaving with her. Even if I never go out with her again, Erin, we're done. My friends have told me for 8 months that I needed to grow a set. Well, I've grown them and it's over. Go find some other poor bastard to use as your ATM."

He roughly pulled his arm away from Erin's grasp. His former girlfriend was standing a few feet away from him with a look he couldn't recognize. Then it dawned on him that he had rejected the Princess right in front of a bunch of commoners. There would be hell to pay.

"You little bitch," Erin screamed.

Andy turned his head quickly and saw Regan had a triumphant look on her face for just a moment. Just like with Erin, it passed quickly but it was there.

"Sure, I'm a bitch," Regan replied casually. "I know it and now you do, too. But guess what? You're a whore. You fuck guys because they buy you things or take you places. It might not be cash upfront — or maybe it is — but that still makes you a whore."

Regan had been walking toward Erin as she spewed invectives and suddenly Erin lurched toward Regan as quickly as she could move.

"Cat fight," some drunken idiot screamed and seemingly a hundred heads turned in their direction. Andy knew he could corral one of them — but he also knew the other would take that opportunity to unleash a full assault on a helpless victim.

"Knock this shit off!" he yelled loud enough to be heard over the girls' insults. Andy stepped into the path of the oncoming combatants.

Surprisingly, Regan stopped. Not surprisingly, Erin didn't. Andy hooked Erin around the waist and spun her — kicking and flailing — away from Regan.

"Let her go, Honey," Regan said sweetly. "Just let her go. You got to take your anger out on those pricks on the highway. Well I've had a shitty night and kicking her ass will make it all better."

Elizabeth Pena stepped into the fray and put a hand soothingly on Regan's arm.

"I'm sure it would, Regan," she said in a voice that only the four of them closest to could hear. "But would it be worth it? I mean really, she's drunk and she's kind of a pussy even when she's not. She skipped two cheerleading practices last month with cramps."

Erin had gone strangely silent as Andy still held her around the waist. A second later, he learned why. Erin started rubbing her ass against his waist and she had slipped her hand behind her back and was trying to get Andy's zipper down.

"Hey!" he said. "None of that or I will let Regan have you."

"Look at what she's doing, Elizabeth," Regan said and pointed. "She's like a bitch in heat. Ten seconds from getting her ass kicked and she's pawing my boyfriend. Pretty girl, but absolutely no class."

Elizabeth was shaking her head sadly. Andy had stiffened his arms to keep Erin's butt away from his torso.

"Can you take this one so I can leave?" Andy asked — well, anyone. Chuck Pena stepped forward and glared at Andy.

"Now, now, Chuck," Elizabeth chided. "It's not his fault you have lousy taste in girls. Of course, up until tonight, I guess he did, too, so maybe there is hope for you yet. I guess I get to babysit all the drunken losers tonight. Lucky me."

"Hey," Regan said with a laugh. "My drunken losers are on their own. They said they were only staying here for a while then going to another party. You're off the hook with them."

"Will they be OK?" Andy asked.

Regan shrugged.

"I offered and even pleaded with them to come with us," she said. "It's the best I could do. They still said no. So I told them if they didn't mind hanging out with a couple of guys they barely know, I didn't mind them doing it either."

Andy raised his eyebrows at Regan.

"Entirely different," Regan replied to his unanswered question. "Now let's go before someone else decides to claim you."

Regan grabbed Andy's hand and leaned over to kiss Elizabeth on the cheek.

"Look me up next semester," Regan said. "Or I might get your number from Andy. Maybe we can get together over the summer."

Elizabeth smiled sweetly.

"That would be nice," Elizabeth said. "You be good to Andy. He's a nice guy even if he's a little awkward."

Regan gave an unconscious squeeze to Andy's hand.

"He is a nice guy," Regan said. "And I promise to treat him well."

12:30 a.m. Saturday

"You certainly are a polarizing figure," Andy joked when they were headed downtown. "In an hour, you pretty much had everyone either loving you or hating you. Nicely done."

"It was," Regan said. "Of course the smart ones like me. So it's all good."

Andy laughed.

"You and Elizabeth seem like best buddies," Andy offered.

"She's nice, I'm nice," Regan replied in a light voice. "It's natural that two nice people will get along."

She paused for a moment.

"Like we get along so well," she added.

"So, what's this about this summer and next semester?" Andy asked.

Regan reached across the car and put her hand on his arm.

"We're both going to Stanford," Regan said. "That's what the whispering was about when we first got there. That girl has an amazing talent. She remembers faces like you wouldn't believe. Our families went on a tour of the campus together right after Christmas. She remembered me. Can you believe that?"

Andy nodded.

"Elizabeth knows everyone," he said. "She'll remember the lowest freshman's birthday and make sure speak to them and tell them 'Happy Birthday.' She reminds the principal that she needs to buy an anniversary gift for her husband. She is about the nicest, sweetest girl in the world."

"Hey, Number Two at best!" Regan chimed in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Andy replied with a blush.

"Sounds like a case of unrequited love," Regan said. There was a slight tremor in her voice that made her angry.

"No," Andy said a bit too quickly. "OK, maybe. But Elizabeth and Paul Manley have dated for three, no almost four years. He's at Stanford, too. They will be married. They really are great together. But, well, I guess Elizabeth is the only person who really went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I'm not like those people back there."

"Which is good," Regan pointed out. "At least most of the ones I met aren't really people I'd hang out with either."

"Uh, your friends were all fired up to go there, too," Andy pointed out.

"They're not really my friends," Regan replied sadly. "I mean, I guess they are. But not really. It's like you. You have a limited scope of friends that is determined by where you go to school. There might be one or two you genuinely like but mostly you're friends with them because they are there and you would have no friends if you didn't hang out with them."

Andy pondered the convoluted statement for a moment before he nodded.

"So you're saying the girls at your school aren't really the type of friends you would prefer but they still are friends because you spend so much time with them," he said.

"Pretty much," Regan answered. "Look, Andy, I want to tell you something. Tonight, at the party, when I kissed you it was the first time I ever kissed a guy. You're the first guy I've ever really hung out with."

"And that was by necessity," Andy said.

"At first, maybe," Regan admitted. "But not now. I could have asked Elizabeth to bring me down here. I could have borrowed $20 off you for the train back to C-B. But, well, I like hanging out with you. And I liked kissing you."

"It was nice," Andy said. "Thank you. I'm honored to be your first kiss."

"My first kiss with a guy," Regan said with raised eyebrows. "I've gone to an all-girls school since I was little. So you are not the first person I've kissed."

"In my head I picture baby-doll nighties and pillow fights," Andy joked. "Please tell me all about them."

Regan slapped his arm lightly.

"You're a perv," she stated.

"I'm a guy," Andy pointed out. "They are synonymous."

Regan sat silently.

"I don't own a baby-doll nighty," Regan said. "I'm not sure I've ever even seen one. So, sorry to disappoint you."

"Pillow fights?" Andy asked hopefully.

"Not since summer camp when I was 12," Regan replied. "Tough luck for you."

"No kidding," Andy said with a smile. "In 20 seconds you have destroyed more than a dozen fantasies. If this truth ever came to light the porn industry would go bust."

Regan laughed. Andy's sense of humor came to the front at odd times. But it always at a point where humor was needed to offset something too serious.

"So, I learned a lot about you tonight," Regan said. "By the way, I shouldn't tell you this, but if Elizabeth and her boyfriend ever split, I think you'll be one of the first people she calls. I mean, you know, if it's soon."

Regan was shaking her head.

"What are your plans next fall?" she asked.

"College," Andy said with a sigh.

"Where?" Regan wondered.

"San Jose State," he replied.

"I feel like such a ass," Regan said out of the blue. "I'll bet my GPA is not anywhere close to yours. I bet your extracurriculars dwarf mine. You wind up at San Jose State and my mom buys my way into Stanford. Do you know why I was on restriction this weekend?"

Regan didn't wait for an answer.

"Substandard academic effort," she said. "I basically have dicked around the whole semester. Once I knew I was in at Stanford, I haven't done a single thing."

"They can always rescind their acceptance," Andy pointed out.

Regan laughed.

"Not hardly," she replied. "Anyone else's, maybe. Mine, no way. My mom is a huge donor. My acceptance is bought and paid for with a new wing at the athletic facility. I have a GPA slightly above 3 and I'll go to Stanford. You have a GPA over 4 and you go to San Jose State. It's fucking bullshit."

Andy took a moment to grasp Regan's hand in a calming manner.

"I got accepted to Stanford and Berkeley," he said.

"And you're going to San Jose State?" Regan asked incredulously. "Why?"

Andy sighed.

"Money," he admitted. "Look, you said your Mom bought you way into college. And I'm glad she was able to do that. My Mom is working 16 hour days to put away money for me to go to college. She has her whole life. I had a choice to make. I could take the money Mom saved and go to Stanford. Or I could accept a full-scholarship and work study from San Jose State and let Mom use the money for whatever she wanted. Maybe she can get out of that crappy apartment. Maybe she can work just one job and even just work a normal shift at that one job. Maybe she can use that money to live the life she put on hold for the last 18 years so she could raise me."

Regan was surprised at the real emotion in Andy's voice. He loved his mother dearly — and she could see why. Regan could not remember a time when her mother put her ahead of work or traveling or entertainment.

She felt tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She wasn't surprised when Andy noticed.

"It's not that bad," he said. "She's 37 and I think she's happy. But with everything she's done for me, it was the least I could do for her."

"I know and I think it's great," Regan said. "That's not why I'm crying. I was thinking that I would be willing to trade you lives. Money is the lifeblood of my family. We already have more than we could spend if we live to be 800. But my Mom is always on the lookout for more. I can tell by the way you spoke of her that you adore your Mom. I can see from the way she's raised you and the things she's done, that she adores you. I was just a little sad because I'm not sure my Mom even likes me. I'm positive I don't like her much. My Dad either for that matter."

She turned to Andy.

"Do you know who my Mom is?" she asked. She answered when she shook his head.

"Rita Riley," she announced.

"Oh, fuck!" Andy said. "I was worried about your father finding out and showing up at my doorstep. Instead the Queen of Mean will just use her influence to make sure I always work at 7-11. This is just fucking great! At least it's not too late to change my major. Maybe I can study computer science instead of business."

Regan leaned across the console and kissed Andy on the cheek.

"I should study public relations," she said. "My Mom will know only what I let her know. And that I'll spin in a way that she feels beholden to you for rescuing her wayward daughter. Hell, she might offer to pay your way to Stanford. Maybe I should tell her I would rather go to San Jose State. You seem to be a positive influence on me."

Andy rolled his eyes.

"It's 1 in the morning and you're 50 miles from where you're supposed to be," Andy mentioned. "I've taken you to a party where there was alcohol and drugs..."

"Not to mention sexual activity in almost every room of the house," Regan put in.

"That, too," Andy said ruefully. "Now I'm driving you downtown to drop you off at a train station so you can sneak back onto campus. I don't think your parents would be impressed."

Regan giggled.

"Maybe not in that context," she said. "But when they find out what I was planning to do this evening, they will be. Andy, please don't think badly of me. But I planned to be right in the middle of everything I saw tonight. My friends come down here about once a month. They eat at a fancy restaurant and sneak into a night spot with a fake ID. They get loaded and pick up some greasy haired loser to fuck. Then they hop the 5:30 a.m. train back to C-B and sneak in before breakfast. I've never come down here before for that stuff. I've stayed late and watched a midnight movie and I've snuck in late. But tonight I was going to join them. I might not have had sex with the guy but I was going to get felt up and feel a guy up. I was going to get drunk so I might have gone all the way. One of the girls I know blows a guy at the club for coke. So I might have done that too — the coke, not blowing the guy. Or maybe I would have.

"I'm off to college in six months," Regan continued. "I've lived in a fucking bubble my whole life. My parents are so worried that I will do something and ruin the family reputation — or my reputation — that I'm never allowed to do anything. Do you realize that until this year I was not even allowed to leave campus? They wouldn't sign the permission slip for me to leave. Well, they still wouldn't, so I paid a guy $200 to forge my Mom's signature. I paid another guy $500 for a fake ID. Then that stupid bitch put me on watch because I didn't turn in an essay. I told her that it didn't matter if I graduated with honors from C-B or got my GED over the summer. I was still going to Stanford. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun in my life. Hell, I just wanted to have a little bit of life in my life. Looking at it from your car, it was stupid. It was a stupid plan to try to hook up with some clown just to prove I could.

"But if I hadn't run into you, I would have gone through with it. If those assholes in the truck weren't so drunk and scary, I might have offered something to them for a ride into the city. So that was my plan for the night. You ruined it and I thank you.

"I know, you were glad to do it," Regan concluded.

Andy was silent for a moment.

"If that's what you wanted to do, I'm not glad to have done it," he said.

"It's what I planned but I'm glad I didn't," she said. "Right now, if I had, I would be regretting it. I know it. But you know what? I don't regret anything I've done tonight."

"How about walking down a deserted highway by yourself?" Andy asked.

"If you hadn't come along, maybe," Regan admitted. "But you did, so no. I don't regret stowing away in a produce truck. I don't regret walking along the road. I don't regret going back to your apartment and I don't regret going to the party with you. I don't regret standing up to your ex-girlfriend and I don't regret telling you about my life."

"Then I'm glad to have helped," Andy said sincerely. "I truly hope you have few regrets in your life."

"I regret enough from the first 17 years that even if I never have another one, it won't even out," Regan said forcefully.

Andy didn't have much to add so he drove in silence until they reached the diner.

"Come in and at least let me feed you," Regan said. She could see the girls from her school sitting by the window but she wasn't ready to part company with Andy just yet.

"Do you think we can eat on $15?" she asked.

"You don't need to do that," Andy replied. "But do you need some money to ride home? I mean, I have about $40 in my wallet. I didn't get the chance to cash my paycheck because I was rescuing a damsel in distress."

"I'll borrow some money off them," she said with a dismissive motion of hand. "Actually, I'll make them repay some of the money they've borrowed off me in the past. So, come on in. At least that way they'll have a face to put with all the stories I tell them over the next few months."

Andy glanced at the expectant look on Regan's face and pulled to the curb.

"OK, but I'll buy you dinner," he said. "I've had a lot more fun and gotten off much cheaper than if my original plans hadn't fallen through."

Regan tilted her head toward him.

"Dutch," she said.

1 a.m. Saturday

Andy didn't protest when Regan grabbed his hand as they entered the diner. He was surprised at the number of people there at this time of the morning.

The girls at the table were obviously under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. That wasn't a surprise given what Regan had told him. What was a surprise was that there were five girls at the table instead of the four Regan had mentioned.

"It's about fucking time," a blonde girl with large breasts said. She wore a tube dress that barely held them in place. In fact, all of the girls at the table looked as though they were fresh from a hooker convention.

They wore short, tight clothes and their faces were adorned with what looked like a pound of makeup each.

Regan, in comparison, looked fresh and wholesome in her jeans and his sweatshirt. Her reddish-brown hair hung loose and she wasn't wearing any makeup. The smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose added to her youthful look.

The others looked like little girls who were playing dress up in their older sister's closet, Andy decided. He forced the thoughts from his mind as Regan made the introductions.

"This is Amanda, Teresa, Scarlett and Joy," she said as she pointed to four girls who smiled in return. "This is my friend, Andy."

"And this is Harmony Wentworth," she added as she pointed to blonde who had spoken when they arrived. There was no mistaking the tone of Regan's voice.

"It's nice to meet you all," Andy said as he extended his hand. The four girls who appeared to be at least nominal friends with Regan all shook his hand with the minimal dexterity they possessed in their drunken states.

Harmony simply looked at Andy's hand as if he had just pulled it from his nose.

He shrugged and pulled out a chair for Regan and then one for himself.

Unfortunately for Andy, that was the highlight of the trip to the diner. Harmony was apparently the self-appointed queen of C-B. When she wasn't completely excluding Andy from the conversation, she was pointedly putting him down.

None of Regan's friends said anything but that didn't bother Andy. What bothered him was that Regan didn't say anything in his defense either. He realized that Regan had her social standing to consider and his feelings were secondary to those.

But it didn't mean he had to sit there and listen to it.

"Well, it's getting late and I'm sure you need to get back," he said a few minutes into the conversation. "Regan, it was nice to meet you. I hope things work out for you."

He stood and saw Regan looking at her hamburger.

"I hope you all have a safe trip back," he said in parting. "Take care."

He dropped $20 on the table and left the diner without a backward glance. At least he was only 5 minutes from his apartment.

1:30 a.m. Saturday

"What a shitty way to end a shitty evening," Andy thought as he drove the few minutes to where he lived.

It was probably for the best. Andy didn't have much experience with girls. He had one or two girlfriends before Erin picked him out. And make no mistake about it, Erin Cooley picked Andy out. He certainly would never have had the courage to pursue her.

From the time he was mature enough to understand how hard his Mom worked to provide for him, Andy had resolved to do whatever he could to help her out.

He would get up early in the morning so she could have breakfast waiting for her if she was on dayshift or supper waiting if she was on midnights. He took over washing the clothes and doing the dishes. He tried to keep the house clean and started making out the checks for the bills and leaving them for his Mom to sign whenever she had the chance.

He kept the checkbook balanced and on every Sunday he gave her Mom a printout of where they were financially. It was rarely a pretty picture. As soon as he was 13, Andy picked up a paper route. At 16, he worked at a fast food restaurant. When he was 17 he started to work in the shipping department of a warehouse.

His Mom always refused to take any money Andy tried to give to her. She told him it was her place to provide what he needed and the money he made was to buy things he wanted. Then he learned the trick of "For Deposit Only."

He could stop by the bank and deposit his paycheck into his mother's account without her knowledge. Because he was the one who prepared the checkbook, he figured he could hide it there too until it was necessary for her to know about it.

His idea lasted less than a week before his Mom caught on.

"Damned ATMs," he thought with a smile as he drove from the diner. "I should have known that Mom would know exactly how much was in the account."

His mother started removing the money Andy contributed and opened a second account with his name on it, too. For a while she would go to the trouble of going to the bank to transfer the funds from one place to another. Eventually, she told him to stop laundering his money though her account.

"Just put it in yours to start with," she insisted. "I don't have time or energy to drive down to the bank to move it."

"So leave it where it is," Andy argued. "That way we both can use it."

"We both can't use it," his mother insisted. "Only I can. You're not on my account. I probably should have just added your name but I didn't think of it. I am, however, on your account. So that is the one we both can use."

Andy pulled out the ATM card his mother had given him — for emergencies — when he was 13.

"I have access to your account, too," he reminded her. She snatched it from his hands so quickly he didn't even blink.

"Not anymore," she said with a large smile. "So if you want money, it comes from the other account. Ha!"

Andy shook his head but he wasn't defeated.

A couple of times a month he would pay the utility bills from his account or the car insurance or whatever needed to be paid at a time when he had money. That, too, lasted about a month.

He came home from school one day to find all the checks to the shared account shredded on the table along with a note from his mother.

"I told the bank you're too irresponsible to have a checking account," it read. "It's now a savings account with access only from the debit card. Good luck on trying to get around that one. Love ya, Mom."

Andy dutifully scooped the shredded checks into the garbage and wrote a note for his Mom to find when she got home from work at midnight.

"The post office has money orders that work the same as checks," he wrote. "I'm as stubborn as you are. I wonder why? Let's sit this weekend and figure out a way that appeases both of us. Love you, A."

There was another note waiting for Andy the next morning.

"$100 a month, that's my final offer," it read. "You're lucky I love you, you pig-headed little shit!"

Andy shook his head as he walked down the hallway to his apartment. He really did have a great relationship with his mother. He was glad for the way she handled the money situation when Erin came into his life.

Erin was a considerable drain on his finances. The other girls Andy had gone out with were happy with a movie and maybe a low-cost dinner. Not Erin. She wanted to go to parties and to nice restaurants. She insisted that Andy wear better clothes. She had wanted him to get rid of the Saturn his mother had bought for him and to drive something nicer.

Erin threw a fit when Andy went to a barber shop for his haircuts and insisted he should go the woman who cut her hair. Of course the barber shop cost $5. The salon cost $25. Andy didn't notice much difference in the way his hair was cut. But his Mom said it looked better, so maybe it was worth it.

His mind flashed back to Regan's revelation in the car about the relationship she had with her parents. He simply didn't have a frame of reference for it.

His Mom was integral to his life, he thought as he sat heavily on the couch. Her happiness was as important to Andy as his was. His Mom had proven a hundred times over the years that Andy's happiness was more important to her than hers was. He couldn't fathom having a distant relationship with his Mom. He couldn't conceive of a time that he wouldn't want to tell her first about any triumph or tribulation in his life.

He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have parents who shipped you off to boarding school, who treated you as an inconvenience to their lives. Andy was positive that he was inconvenience to his Mom. But he never felt like it. She never once made him think that he was.

He was shaking his head when the phone beside him rang.

1:45 a.m. Saturday

Regan felt guilty the moment Andy walked out of the diner. He had been a true friend to her when she really needed a friend. She felt so comfortable around him. She told him about parts of her life that no one else knew about.

And she sat there mutely and watched that stupid bitch Harmony Wentworth treat him with unveiled contempt. Even after Andy left, Harmony made snide comments. Finally, Regan had enough.

"You really are a cunt, you know that?" she said loudly. All conversation in the diner stopped. "He's been nothing but nice to me. He came down not only to drop me off but to make sure the rest of you were OK. He was even polite to you, you snobby bitch. And what do you do? You make fun of him. You belittle him. I hope the real world rears up and bites you on the ass one day, Harmony. I hope in 10 years, when your tits are store bought and your ass droops and your husband is in jail for embezzling to pay off your plastic surgeon, you think about tonight. You think about Andy and realize that he might be the only person in all of our miserable fucking lives that didn't ask for a single thing from us."

Harmony was drunk enough that Regan's speech didn't faze her. Even the parts that got through weren't possible. Her tits sag? Never. Plastic surgery? Like she would need that again. Her Daddy had paid to get her nose fixed and her ear lobes tucked for her 15th birthday. Besides, the breast implants she had gotten when she was 16 were top of the line. You had to really look hard to see the scars. Besides, even if her husband did turn out to be a loser, there was still her father's money. After all, Internet start-up companies were a gold mine that would never fail.

She put her nose in the air and continued on unabated.

The other four occupants of the table were startled by Regan's outburst. First of all, she was usually as snobby as Harmony. Maybe not as overtly but she certainly had an underlying aura of privilege about her. Secondly, no one spoke to Harmony that way. She was royal bitch and a vindictive one, too. Given the fact that Regan was supposed to be in her dorm, the girls were certain that Harmony would make her pay for the name calling.

But something in the tone of Regan's voice — her conviction, maybe — resonated with the quartet. One by one they glanced at the others at the table. Harmony was oblivious and Regan was fuming. The other four were considering what Regan had said.

"So, he didn't try to fuck you at the party?" Joy asked. "I mean, the guys we started out with wanted a blowjob to buy beer for the party."

"Yeah, they're going to pay for that," Regan said firmly. "Andy's friends are going to make them regret that little move."

Teresa raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Nice work," she said.

"Don't nice work me," Regan said as she turned her venom on the rest of the group. "You know why they expected that? Look at yourselves. Jesus, I'm going to burn all my tramp clothes as soon as I'm back. If I look anywhere near as slutty as Harmony, I'd probably want to kill myself. Oh, and Harmony, I'm all original equipment. And just so you know, my family could buy yours about a thousand times. I might more in my trust fund than your family has in assets. So don't even think of fucking with me or I will bury your slut ass."

Harmony's eyes narrowed. She wasn't an astute student of business or she would have known that Regan was mostly right. Her trust fund was a little short of the Wentworth fortune — and she couldn't access it until she was 21 — but there were few people more feared in the business world (or by the administration at Clairborne Benedict Preparatory School for Girls) that Rita Riley. In fact, if Heywood Wentworth knew his daughter was antagonizing Rita Riley's daughter, he would have shit in his $300 silk drawers.

But Harmony's value was her looks and not her intellect so she wouldn't let it go. She got progressively more biting on the short cab ride to the train station and then positively caustic when she found out Regan needed to borrow money for a ticket.

That's how Harmony Wentworth wound up sitting alone on the train holding an ice pack to her nose. The $10,000 in plastic surgery was all just a memory once Regan Riley knocked her on her ass.

2:30 a.m. Saturday

Andy leaned over to answer the phone. He figured it was his Mom calling to make sure he wasn't in the hospital or in jail.

"Andy," a tearful Regan said when he answered. "I'm at the train station. Can you come get me?"

"Is this a joke?" Andy asked. He was somewhat peeved at the way Regan had sat idly by and listened to her friend belittle him at the diner.

"It's no joke, Andy," Regan said. "Please? If you don't want to, can I at least have your address? I'll take a cab over."

"I'll come down," Andy replied. "Are you OK?"

"My hand hurts but other than that, I'm fine," she said.

"See you in 10 minutes," he said as he hung up.

Shortly thereafter, a worried Andy pulled into the short-term parking area the station. Regan was out of the building and into his car before Andy could even get out to open the door for her.

"Where to, Milady?" Andy said in a faux British accent. Regan's tears were more unnerving to him that Erin's had been.

"Anywhere," she answered glumly. "Can we go back to your apartment?"

It was as good a plan as any, Andy figured.

"If you want," he replied. "Are you sure? I mean, my Mom is working a double shift. She's not home."

"If you were going to attack me I've given you plenty of opportunity," she said. "Besides, do you really want to drive around the city all night. There are some creepy people out at this time of the night."

Andy chuckled and was glad he wasn't lumped into the creepy category.

"I punched that bitch in the mouth," Regan said out of the blue as they pulled from the curve.

"Uh, which bitch is that?" Andy asked. In his mind, there could be any number of people he an Regan had encountered that night who could fit the bill.

"Harmony," Regan said angrily.

She turned in her seat to face Andy.

"I'm sorry," she said as she reached across to stroke his face. "I just sat there in the diner and let her rip on you. It pissed me off but, well, she is such a bitch that no one stands up to her. Her Dad flaunts his money around so she thinks she's the richest girl there. The rest of us, well, most of us, are used to having money. I know that sounds stupid but we are. We have nice things but we don't revel in it because we've always had nice things. Harmony's money is new. Her dad started some Internet company and they've made a fortune. Or at least a fortune to them. To the rest of us, it's not really much. God, I sound just like her."

"Unless he sold the company, it won't last," Andy said. "She'll come down in the world as quickly as she went up. Don't worry about it. And at least you have the grace to be embarrassed a little by your attitude toward money."

He winked at her.

"Especially around a guy with $15 to his name," he joked.

Regan ignored this attempt at humor.

"Why do you think the Internet start-ups are going to go bust?" Regan asked.

"It just seems too good to be true," Andy replied. "Secondly, innovation are constant, especially in that field. Technology is a good short-term buy but it can kill you in the long run. If plan to base your portfolio on tech companies you are going to have problems sooner rather than later."

Regan smiled broadly.

"My Mom said almost the exact same thing," she said. "Wait until I tell her that a 17-year-old high school senior reached the same conclusion she did for probably a million dollars less in research."

"Uh, well, I probably used the research your Mom funded to reach that conclusion," Andy said. "I'm a big fan of stealing other's work and calling it my own."

"One of my teachers says in English class that's called plagiarism," Regan said with a laugh. "In politics it's called research."

Andy returned Regan's smile.

"Do you want me to drive you back to school?" he asked tentatively.

"No, I pretty much fucked that up, too," Regan said. "What I need to do is sit down and figure out a new plan. Harmony is going to run to the headmistress as soon as the train stops. Well, probably not. She'll probably wait until after breakfast. That way no one knows she was out until 3. But I'm pretty well screwed at C-B."

She shook her head sadly.

"I might even be expelled," she said sadly. "I mean, I hate it there. But still, I've only got 3 months left. But she pissed me off so much that I finally lost my temper. It's a shame Erin wasn't around. Because I was ready for more but Harmony didn't seem too interested in getting up."

Andy pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car.

"We'll figure something out," he said. "She's not going to press charges or anything, is she?"

"I doubt it," Regan said. "She would be in trouble, too. She couldn't very well tell the police where and when it happened because she would be out on her ass, too. If she lies about where and when it happened, for instance if she says it happened at 11 o'clock, I have witnesses that put me somewhere else at that time. Nope, I figure she will just tell the headmistress that I clocked her at the train station when she was coming back. Even if she is caught in a lie, she has cronies that would back her up to the school. But I don't think they would be willing to lie to the cops about it. Who knows?"

Regan took Andy's hand again as soon as they left the car and she sat closely beside him on the couch in the living room.

"As much as I hate to say this," Andy said. "I think you're almost going to have to call in the big guns on this one."

"I know it," Regan replied. "But I hate to admit it."

3 a.m. Saturday

Andy watched as Regan's yawns become more frequent. Like him, she had been awake for almost 21 hours. But unlike her, he hadn't walked four or five miles.

"If you would like, you can nap for an hour or two," he offered. "I'll set my alarm and wake you up at 6."

"When is your Mom home?" Regan asked.

"Eight or 8:30," he answered. "It doesn't matter. She won't be upset."

"My parents would freak if they knew I was here," Regan said.

Andy nodded.

"You're going to have to tell them where you spent the night," he said. "I would suggest that the absolute truth might be called for. You can't spin this like Fox News. They'll see through any lie and you'll need their help."

Regan listened closely but her mind was on other things. If her Mom found out she spent the night at a boy's house — especially if she spent the night unsupervised at boy's house — there would be hell to pay. The hell wouldn't land on Regan alone. No, her Mom would spread the hell out to Andy and to Andy's Mom and to the people who hosted the party and to anyone else she might think of. Her mother believed firmly in the Scorched Earth Policy.

Regan decided that she needed to keep Andy's name out of things as much as possible. She had introduced him only as Andy. She had not told any of her friends his last name. Thanks to her friend's insistence that she keep it for a while, Regan now possessed the only cell phone she had dialed from Andy's house.

She knew Andy would want to make sure she got home OK. He wouldn't trust her in a cab or in a bus. He would drive her home and she could think of no way to deter him. A part of her was happy about that. She enjoyed the fact that Andy was there for her. It was odd to think that she had known him for only a few hours. She hoped to see him again — which was another reason she needed to protect him from her parents' wrath.

She reached a decision.

"I want to keep you out of it as much as I can," Regan said. "My Mom sometimes loses perspective. I worry that she'll somehow make this out to be your fault."

Andy worried about that very fact, too.

"I've been thinking about this," he said. "I can't see where I did anything wrong. I can't even see where I've done anything that she might twist around to being my fault."

"You don't know my Mom," Regan asserted. "First of all, nothing — absolutely nothing — is her fault. That is an impossibility. So that means someone else is to blame for everything. I know I'm going to take the bulk of the shitstorm."

She chuckled humorlessly.

"But it will be a very wide shitstorm," Regan continued. "My Dad will get hit with parts of it. The school will get hit with parts of it. Because, after all, it has to be their fault that I wasn't raised well enough to know better. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that my Mom was always somewhere else."

Regan composed herself.

"If there is any anger left after the usual suspects take their ration of crap," she said. "Mom will come for you."

Andy shrugged.

"Let her then," he said. "I might not have mentioned this, but I really dislike bullies. No offense, but that sounds like what your Mom is. Really, what is she going to do to me? I don't have two nickels to rub together, so she can't ruin me financially. Do you think she'll offer to add a couple of dorms to San Jose State if they drop me? So what if they do? I'll go to community college or work at the warehouse. Sure, it would suck if I had to do that. But I would survive it. But what I don't want to see happen is for you to get trapped in a lie and get hung out to dry. If you lie to her — and she finds out — you could wind up expelled anyway. Because it sounds to me like she would rather see you humiliated than to see her reputation suffer. Honestly, I think that is the key. The more low-key this is handled, the less her reputation suffers."

Regan appraised the guy across from her carefully.

"Smart, handsome and clever," she said. "OK, I'll do my best to keep you out of it but I'll throw you under the bus if I need to."

"Well, under the bus might be a bit harsh," Andy said with a grin.

"Let's take a brief nap now that this is decided," Regan said.

Andy made sure his bedroom was presentable and showed Regan in. She latched onto his arm as he turned to leave.

"I snuck out of school to spend the night with a guy," she said with a smile. "I plan to do that right now."

Andy studied Regan's face. There was so much there to read. He could tell she was nervous but he didn't think it was about the prospect of sharing a bed with him. She knew it was only to sleep. No, he thought, Regan was nervous about the prospect he would leave her there alone.

"Let me set the alarm," he said.

"Give me a T-shirt and I'll show you how I sleep every night," Regan replied with a raised eyebrow.

Andy told her to look in the second drawer and she hugged herself to him before heading to his dresser. He heard several drawers opening and closing.

"Boxer briefs," he heard her say. "That answers that question."

Andy kept his back turned so Regan could do whatever it was she planned to do.

"Front or back?" Andy asked.

"Front," she said. "You can turn around whenever you're ready."

Andy's mouth dropped when he looked at Regan. She was standing in front of his dresser wearing one of his tank tops and her panties.

"Do you think this looks better than a baby-doll nightgown?" she asked. The nervousness was back.

Andy gulped and nodded. Erin was a beautiful girl but Regan simply exuded sexiness.

"Absolutely," he said. "You're, wow."

The sleeveless T-shirt was loose on Regan's upper torso but that made it even more alluring. The movement of her arms gave Andy tantalizing glimpses of Regan's breasts. The bottom of the shirt covered almost all of Regan's panties. Almost. The V at the bottom of her shirt was covered by a pair of pink, cotton panties.

The view from the back was just as nice. Regan's shapely bottom was covered but delightfully so by her underwear. It was a sight that Andy knew would stay with him for years.

Regan's face went from nervous to excited when she saw Andy's reaction. She knew she was pretty but for the first time in her life, Regan felt sexy. One glimpse of Erin's body in her tight jeans and fitted T-shirt at the party told Regan that Andy had seen sexy girls before. But at the moment Regan believed that she was as sexy as anyone in the world.

Andy would have agreed if he could read Regan's thoughts — and if he could find a way to formulate speech. Instead he simply stood and stared at the vision in front of him.

"Your turn," Regan said playfully. "You don't sleep in jeans and a sweatshirt do you?"

Regan believed that Andy looked adorable when he blushed.

"Uh, no," he stammered. "Usually not. But I can. I mean, whatever you want."

Regan raised her eyebrows suggestively. Then she smiled easily.

"Whatever you normally wear or whatever you're comfortable in," she said.

Andy nodded and slipped his sweatshirt over his head. Regan looked at his lean torso. Andy wasn't built like a body builder but she could tell the work at the warehouse had given him a nice physique. She fought the urge to touch Andy's chest when he struggled to get the shirt over his head.

He blushed when he unbuttoned his jeans. Regan made no pretense that she wasn't watching his actions carefully. She hoped Andy didn't wear pajamas or sweats to bed. She liked the way he looked in his boxer briefs. She sighed in relief when he pulled the sheet back and slid into the bed.

She didn't hesitate for an instant before she joined him. Andy was lying on his back so Regan put her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest. She couldn't stop herself from caressing his smooth skin and placing a warm kiss on his shoulder.

Andy could feel Regan's small, firm breasts against his side and her moist warmness against his leg. He almost came in his underwear when he felt Regan's hands on his chest and her lips on his shoulder.

Without thinking, he turned his head and kissed her softly on the top of her head. At the same time he wrapped his arm around her waist. Even the feel of the top of her panties was driving Andy crazy. He had never experienced such an overwhelming feeling.

Andy was still looking down at Regan when she raised her head to look at him. Once she started moving, she didn't stop until their lips met again. Just like the first kiss, Andy was caught off-guard by the feelings that raced though him.

Regan was in the same situation. Andy's warm hand on her waist was pulling her closer to him. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own and she draped her top leg over Andy's waist. It took her a second to figure out when the hard object was beneath her thigh. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized it was Andy's erection. He was aroused — because of her.

She wanted to touch it, to feel it. She wanted Andy to caress her breast, her stomach, between her legs. She grabbed his hand and moved it to her butt as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her.

Andy was trying his best to control himself. He didn't want to paw Regan. He wanted desperately to treat her with respect, to protect her from himself. But her own actions were making that increasingly difficult.

He could feel her wetness on his thigh. It was so warm. Regan was using her leg, draped across his waist, to provide stimulation to his midsection. He suddenly realized what else she was doing: she was using his leg to stimulate herself.

Despite his best intentions, Andy's hand found its way across the round firm globes of Regan's ass and into the crevasse at the juncture of her thighs. As soon as his fingers made contact with her panties, Andy could feel the wetness seeping through the cotton.

"Please," Regan whispered.

Andy wasn't sure for a moment if she meant "Please, stop," or "Please, don't stop." Regan's intentions became clear a moment later when she pulled his other hand from her face down to her breast. Andy managed to slip both hands beneath the cotton coverings and soon had Regan moaning into his mouth. He felt her stiffen, then cry out as she reached her peak.

Andy watched as Regan began to relax. Her face was calm and serene. But her eyes were wild when the locked on his. Shortly after Regan threw her body across his and attacked his mouth fiercely.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Oh, God. Thank you. That was amazing. I can't believe how great that felt. Thank you!"

Andy replied in his standard fashion: "I was glad to have helped you."

It had so much more meaning this time.

4:30 a.m. Saturday

Andy knew it would foolish to try to sleep. Besides, with Regan nestled beside him, he doubted if he could. So he watched the girl sleep.

She was beautiful, Andy decided. Far more beautiful than Erin Cooley. Probably more beautiful than anyone he'd ever met. But it wasn't Regan's beauty that drew him to her. It was something more. She had spirit and fire. But she had a vulnerability that she didn't try to hide. At least she hadn't tried to hide it from him.

Andy found himself periodically leaning forward to kiss Regan on the forehead. She must have been dozing lightly because each time he would kiss her, she would try to burrow closer to him.

She was going to Stanford in the fall. That was only an hour away from San Jose State. But with his studies and his job at the school, he would be busy. Not to mention that there were a lot of guys that probably were closer to Regan's league than he was.

"I'm not even in the same sport," Andy thought to himself. Still, he would always be her first kiss. He would always be the first person to have brought her pleasure. She would probably always remember Andy Drayton. He hoped that she would remember him fondly.

For his part, he would always think back on Regan Riley and the night they spent together. At the start of the evening, it seemed like the night would never end. Now that the end was almost here, he wished it would last longer.

Andy wasn't sure how long he lay beside Regan, offering soft kisses and slight caresses to her face. His mind was going a million miles an hour, first in one direction, then in another. He knew he would kick himself if he didn't ask Regan if he could see her again.

But he already knew the answer. Of course he couldn't. Regan would find another rich kid at Stanford and settle down to raise rich children. It was how the rich got richer — they merged their families. As much as Regan said her mother loved money, he was certain that the woman probably already had Regan's future planned out.

He hoped it turned out well for her. She deserved to have a happy future.

6 a.m. Saturday

Andy noticed the alarm clock a minute or so before it was set to go off. He figured he would awaken Regan in a gentler manner than the shrill tones of the clock.

"Regan?" he whispered. "It's almost 6, Sweetie."

It was obvious from the look on her face that Regan had no idea where she was or who she was with. She looked visibly frightened and she quickly pulled away from Andy's embrace. It took her a moment to gather herself and she glanced around the room urgently.

"It's OK, Regan," Andy said soothingly. "It's me, Andy. You're at my house."

Regan nodded slightly then seemed to notice how she was dressed — or almost dressed. She hurriedly pulled down the shirt she was wearing and shook her head again.

"Andy?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Sorry, I guess I was really out of it," she said. "Do you mind if I shower?"

Andy shook his head. Regan's reaction had left a lump in his throat. As she slept, Andy kept running through scenarios where they could date. Now he understand that the night was just Regan fulfilling her plans.

He could see she already regretted it.

Despite their intimacy two hours prior, Andy averted his eyes as Regan got out of bed.

"It's across the hall," Andy managed to say. "Towels are in the closet."

Regan nodded and scurried across the hallway.

-------

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Regan chided herself as the water rolled over her. "Damn it."

The curses and recriminations came furiously to her mind. How could she be so careless, so uncaring?

She was embarrassed by her reaction when she woke. Andy had been so sweet. He had been so charming. He had held her while she slept. She knew that. She had felt him kiss her forehead a time or two as she dozed. His soft kisses sent warmth straight to her heart. And how did she repay him? By acting like she had no idea who he was and by tugging at her clothes like he had tried to accost her.

She wished she could take the preceding 5 minutes back. She wished she could put head back on his shoulder and give her a soft kiss when he would awaken her. But she knew she couldn't.

She had seen the look of hurt on his face. She had seen the smile fade instantly at her antics.

"Damn it," Regan said again as she toweled herself off. "How could I be so stupid?"

Andy was about to knock on the door to let Regan know it was almost time to leave. She had spent longer in the shower than most people he knew did. He heard her last remarks and his hand froze.

He shuffled into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee into travel mugs. God knew he was going to need a caffeine jolt before this morning was through. He suspected Regan would want one, too.

"Is that coffee I smell?" Regan asked as she entered. She decided the only thing to do was apologize and try to play it off.

"I wasn't sure how you liked yours," Andy said. "We don't have cream but there is milk in the fridge and sugar on the counter."

Regan put about half the sugar bowl in her cup before taking a drink.

"Sorry about the way I reacted this morning," she said. "I guess I was sleeping pretty soundly and it startled me."

Andy nodded slightly. He had expected the apology but he had heard her berating herself in the bathroom for spending the night with him.

"No problem," he answered. "I get that way from time to time, too. Are you ready for me to drop you off?"

Regan wasn't the slightest bit ready to leave Andy but she nodded anyway. The pair barely spoke on the drive to Regan's house. Regan was trying to find a way to tell Andy what she was thinking and feeling without sounding like a clichéd romance novel.

Andy was trying to keep his mind on the road and away from those fleeting thoughts of a future with Regan Riley.

7:30 a.m. Saturday

"Bullshit!" Rita Riley said angrily.

Regan had given her parents chapter and verse about the adventures of the previous 16 hours. Andy couldn't help but feel proud of Regan as she owned up to the faulty decisions she had made. He felt a little proud of himself when Regan overplayed his contributions to her safety and well-being.

Rita Riley's face never changed during Regan's admissions. But the girl's father, Robert, seemed embarrassed and guilty. He kept looking at the tabletop and not at his daughter. The one time his eyes met Andy's, the man smiled slightly and mouthed the word "thanks."

Andy only nodded in return. He was a bit thankful when Regan omitted the portion of activity in his bedroom. She summed it up by saying that they went back to the apartment where Andy lived with his mother. They talked and decided she needed her parents' help if things weren't going to spiral completely out of hand.

All in all, Andy thought Regan had made a good accounting of the evening and the events that led up to it. At least he thought that until Rita Riley turned her gaze to him.

"You forced her, didn't you?" Rita stormed. "She wouldn't have done this on her own. We didn't raise her like that."

Andy saw a female version of Napoleon standing in front of him. He could see that Rita got her way by threats and sheer volume. But what angered him the most was the casual way the woman had dismissed her daughter.

"You didn't raise her at all," Andy said in a loud voice. He was still standing and probably stood a foot taller than Rita Riley. He purposefully stepped forward to make her seem even smaller. The look on her face told him she didn't like his actions in the least.

"Look, lady," Andy continued angrily. "I don't know you and you sure as hell don't know me. I was there for a part of what Regan told you. What she said was the truth. As far as to what led up to her sneaking off? I don't know but I suggest you find a mirror. I happen to think Regan was lucky that I found her alongside the road. So if you think for a minute I'm going to stand here and listen to some harpy rant and rave, you can kiss my ass.

"Take care, Regan, and good luck. I'm leaving."

Andy turned toward the door and he heard Regan speak to her father.

"He really doesn't like bullies much," the girl said. "You know, I'm starting to dislike them, too. That's why Harmony Wentworth landed on her ass."

She gestured with her head toward Andy.

"I learned it from him," she said.

Robert Riley's laugh set his wife off again.

"Maybe we should just call the cops and see what they say!" she raged.

"Do it," Andy screamed back. "I have done absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I protected your daughter and kept her safe. How about you? Can you say the same thing?"

He didn't give Rita a chance to answer. Andy was already stalking back across the room toward Regan's mother.

"No you can't," he said loudly. "I'll make sure the police report includes that you packaged your daughter off to some cloistered convent and wouldn't even allow her to leave for the weekends because she was an inconvenience to your lifestyle. I'm sure the cops and the other parents with kids at C-B would love to hear how your daughter was gone for almost 16 hours before you or anyone else even noticed. So call the cops. I'll wait right here for them."

Rita's face had turned three different shades of red as Andy yelled at her.

"I want you out of my house!" she roared.

Andy laughed.

"Lady, I didn't want to be in this overpriced shrine to your ego in the first place," he said dismissively. "You dragged me in here. Remember?"

He turned to look at Regan and his gaze soften.

"Regan, I hope you have a wonderful, happy adulthood," he said. "You deserve it after the childhood these two forced on you."

The angry look had returned to Andy's face when he turned back to the girl's mother.

"I'll show myself out," he said.

Andy was almost to the door when her heard footsteps behind him. He hoped it wasn't Rita Riley coming after him with a butcher knife. But it was Regan.

"Andy, wait," she said as she wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank you — for everything."

She didn't say anything more but she didn't seem to be interested in releasing him from the hug. Andy leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head.

"I meant what I said," he told her. "If you find yourself in a spot where you can't call anyone else, you can always call me."

He squeezed her tightly and pulled back. Robert came into the room and put his arm around his daughter.

Andy was already heading down the walk when Robert turned to Regan.

"I don't know, I sort of like him," the man said with a smile.

"Me, too," Regan answered softly.

-------

Andy drove a few miles toward his house before he found a place to pull over. His palms were wet and his hands shaking. The coffee he drank on the way to the Riley estate was threatening to come back up.

He sat in the strip mall parking lot and put his head back on the seat.

Then he wondered how badly he had screwed up his future.

2 months later

Andy was spending another Friday night at the house. His mother had almost jumped for joy when she learned of his breakup with Erin.

That was the only specific information he had offered her about the night he spent with Regan Riley. His Mom had raised an eyebrow or two when a check for $100 came from an attorney a week later. She had raised another eyebrow when he hadn't deposited it but instead put it in his desk drawer.

Andy thought it cheapened the whole experience of doing something nice for someone else if you received compensation for it.

School was almost out for the year and, so far, San Jose State had not rescinded his scholarship. He worried that his tirade at the Riley household would lead to that. He had no doubt that Rita Riley had the ability — and the vindictive nature — to do just that.

Erin had avoided him for the most part at school. She was heading off to Los Angeles after graduation. She said she was going to try to become an actress. Andy figured she would either land a rich husband or wind up in the porn industry.

Elizabeth Pena had peppered him with questions about Regan the following Monday. Most of the questions he didn't know how to answer.

"You know she's not really my girlfriend, right?" he asked finally.

"Well, I knew she wasn't when she left the party," Elizabeth said with a smile. "At least not officially. But I figured that she would be by the time she went back to school."

Andy simply shook his head.

"We're worlds apart," he told her. "Besides, you know how we met?"

"Not really," Elizabeth said. "I mean, she said she liked you for a while."

Andy smiled.

"I picked her up alongside Rt. 28 at 5 that afternoon," he confided. "I had known her for about four or five hours by the time we saw you."

"Then I'll have to try to set you up with some of the girls here then," Elizabeth told him with a pat on the arm. But Andy shook his head.

"I think I need a break for a while," he said. "Erin did a number on me."

He left out that Regan Riley had also done a number on him.

"If you change your mind... ," Elizabeth told him as she walked away. From that day on, she would sit with Andy at lunch most days — much to her brother's chagrin — and would call him when she was planning an night out with a bunch of her friends.

Andy never accepted the invitation.

His Mom had noticed her son was a bit withdrawn but chalked it up to Erin. Andy was surprised that he didn't miss Erin at all. He missed having sex with her but that was about it. The rest of her personality left a lot to be desired. But despite knowing the little red-haired sprite from C-B for only a few hours, he missed Regan.

"Is the pizza here, Mom?" he asked when she knocked at his bedroom door.

"Not yet," she said through the closed structure. "But you have a phone call."

Andy was running out of excuses to give Elizabeth for begging off on a movie or bowling, especially now that the school year had only a week or two left in it and all his projects were done or nearly completed.

"OK," Andy said wearily. His mind searched for an elusive excuse but none came. Finally he turned to his Mom.

"If I say a nasty word will you ground me?" he asked.

"What?" his mother said in confusion.

"Nothing, just a thought," he said. "Elizabeth Pena has called me the last five or six Fridays to go and do something with her friends. I'm out of excuses not to go."

"So go," his Mom offered.

"I don't really want to," Andy replied. "But I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"Well, she must have taken to have her friends call," she told him. "Because it isn't Elizabeth on the phone. It's some girl named Regan."

Andy's eyes lit up.

"Really?" he asked. "You're not just making fun of me, right?"

"Are you OK?" his Mom asked. She was getting more confused by the minute. "No, I'm not making fun of you. Yes, the girl said her name was Regan. I don't know her, do I?"

"No, you don't," Andy said. "I barely know her myself. But she's nice."

"I hope she's nice enough to wait for you to get to the phone," his Mom said. "She's been there for two or three minutes now."

"Oh," Andy said as he headed down the hall to the living room.

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Regan had summoned all her courage to make the call. She still felt guilty about the way she and her family had treated Andy.

The gas money she sent to the address she had for Andy had never been cashed so she figured she had written the address down wrong. She had promised him gas money and she knew he must have used a bunch of gas trotting her all over the city.

"Typical," she chided herself. "You even screwed that one up."

She hoped he wasn't too pissed off at her but the longer she waited for him to pick up the phone the more nervous she became.

Regan was about to hang up when she heard his voice.

He sounded cheerful and, dare she hope, happy to hear from her.

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"Hey, Regan," he said. "It's good to hear from you. I hope you didn't get in too much trouble."

Regan's spirits rose and for the first time in 8 weeks, she laughed.

"Oh, I got in plenty of trouble," she said. "Eight weeks of lockdown, pretty much. No social privileges, no phone calls, no off-campus visits, only my parents were allowed to visit me on campus. Oh, and I had to pay for Harmony's new nose. That sucked."

"Well, either you've decided to sneak around again or it's over," Andy replied.

"It's over," she said. "Officially as of about 40 minutes ago. It took me that long to get up the nerve to call you."

Uh-oh, Andy thought. Regan called to inform him how far Rita Riley's wrath extended.

"Let me guess, your Mom is planning to have my balls for breakfast," Andy said sadly.

"Huh?" Regan asked. "Oh, no. I mean, she doesn't plan a parade in your honor but Dad and I convinced her that it would be best to let things go. Personally, I was tickled to death when you told her off. Dad was too. I think you said things that we both have wanted to say for the last 15 years. She and Dad have both been out here to visit me each weekend."

"Wow," Andy said. "Is that good or bad?"

Regan laughed.

"A little of both," she admitted. "I think the first couple of weekends were just to make sure I hadn't run off to Vegas. After that, it was a little better. How about you?"

"What about me?" Andy wondered.

"Did you get in trouble?" she asked.

"For what?" Andy replied.

"For having a girl in your room overnight," Regan said with mirth. "Or did you forget about that?"

Andy felt his face redden.

"I didn't forget," he said. "But it really hasn't come up in conversation. Mom is pretty cool about things like that."

"So you said," Regan answered. "But I thought you might have overstated the case."

"Oh, if she had come home and we were naked and greasy on the dining room table she might not be as understanding," Andy said. He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end. "Sorry, Regan, that was pretty low-grade."

"It's OK," she answered with a giggle. "It just brought up a thought."

She firmed her resolve and got to the reason for the call.

"I was wondering if you have plans next Saturday?" she asked.

"Not really," he answered warily. He worried that Elizabeth had enlisted Regan's help in drawing him out into the social scene.

"Well, uh, our end of the year dance is next Saturday," Regan said nervously. "It's at the Renaissance Hotel downtown. Then there is an after-party at the university rec hall. Would you, uh, well, I was hoping you might like to go to it with me."

Andy was silent.

"Sure," he said. "How formal is it?"

"Tux, I'm afraid," she replied. "I'll pay for the tux, though, if you'll go with me."

"What?" Andy asked. "No, I have money for a tux. Besides, I still have a check from your attorney in my desk. I can always use that."

"You do?" Regan wondered. "I thought it got lost in the mail. When you didn't cash it, I thought I gave him the wrong address. You dork. I could have written you letters the last few weeks."

"Oh, sorry," Andy said. "Well, I, uh, crap. I thought it might be the last time I ever heard from you. I didn't want to cash it, I guess. You know, in case it was."

Regan didn't respond for a moment.

"That's sweet," she said. "So, you'll really go to the dance with me?"

"I'd really like that," Andy said firmly. "Do you think you could go to my prom with me the week after? I wasn't really planning to go but if you can, I think I'd like to."

"Is it Friday or Saturday?" Regan asked.

"Saturday, the 15th," Andy replied. "Is that a problem?"

"No, I just wanted you to think my social calendar was fuller than what it really is," she said. "I'll have to talk to my parents but I will give you a conditional yes."

"Oh," Andy said. "Well, I'm sure you're parents are just going to jump for joy. Maybe we should downgrade the prognosis to a possible maybe."

"It is a conditional yes," Regan said with assurance. "The only reason I have to talk to them is because I need their permission to leave campus on the weekends. They rescinded their approval — but they didn't narc me out about the forgery. Dad said it was a very good likeness."

Andy was shaking his head, not realizing that Regan couldn't see him.

"So, anyway, we agreed that since I'll be 18 in a few weeks, it really is silly for them to think they get to choose who I date," Regan continued. "I told them they could offer their opinion but it would be up to me to decide who I want to go out with."

Andy's head shake turned into a nod.

"Are you still there?" Regan asked.

"Yeah," Andy said. "I'm here. I was just listening."

"Sorry, I'm not used to that yet," Regan joked. "I'm not allowed off-campus yet. But we could have a picnic tomorrow if you want to come up. I, well, I'd really like to see you."

"I work until noon tomorrow," Andy said sadly.

"Then you're already halfway here," Regan responded. "Any other excuses."

"Well, I smell pretty ratty after I work in the warehouse," Andy said. "The last time I saw you, I was in the office so you didn't notice. But it could be pretty awful if it's hot in there."

"So you can shower up here," Regan said. "There are guest facilities. Or stop at the truck stop along 28 and shower there."

She stopped talking suddenly.

"If you don't want to come up, it's OK," she said.

"No, I want to," Andy said quickly. "I think it would be great to see you again. But, well, I remember how your friends were. I don't want to embarrass you. If I come rolling in, in my beat up car, smelling like a locker room, I doubt it will create a positive impression."

Regan's voice retained its brightness.

"Do you remember what you told my Mom?" she asked.

"Uh, not all of it," Andy admitted. "I sort of lost my temper a little."

The laughter from the other end of the line was full and rich.

"A little?" Regan said. "OK. Well, you told she could kiss your ass."

"Oh, man," Andy replied. "Please tell me I didn't."

"You did," Regan said. "And it was just about the nicest thing you said to her. I particularly enjoyed the part about the overpriced shrine to her ego. But, we can talk about that tomorrow. Or later tonight. No, what I mean is, I will have no problem telling anyone who has a problem with my guest that they can kiss my ass — or your ass or their own ass. Maybe all three of our asses, how about that. So, are you coming to visit or not?"

"I'll be there," Andy said.

"Good," Regan replied. "I've already filled out your visitors pass. I figured I could convince you. There are some pretty secluded areas here. We can find someplace to sit and talk. I have internet access again so we'll figure out the best way to visit Palo Alto from San Jose. And we'll decide if we want to go to the after-party next week or take another trek through the city."

"Oh, no, you're not talking me into that again," Andy asserted.

There was a slight laugh from the other end.

"If I have my way, you and I will be reliving that night for a long time," Regan answered. "A very long time."


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The End
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Posted:  2010-04-30
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http://storiesonline.net/
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