Chapter 1

"Mom. Look at Christine. She's got a boy sitting at the table with her. And he's gorgeous." exclaimed Hailey. "This doesn't make any sense unless she's tutoring him or something."

Melissa Leonard was exhausted as she made her way back to the food court in the mall. She had been clothes shopping with two of her three daughters for the last four hours. Hailey, her youngest daughter and a few months shy of 16, was determined to be the best dressed girl in the sophomore class. Melissa had escorted Hailey as she spent the last three hours looking at hundreds of outfits and trying on dozens of them.

"How is it that Hailey is such a slave to fashion, while Christine could care less?" wondered Melissa to herself. "I don't think it took us half an hour to select Christine's entire wardrobe for her senior year. Of course, it was much easier since Christine still insists on those bulky, loose pants, baggy jeans, and oversized tops and sweaters. She just doesn't seem to have any interest in fashion, or boys for that matter."

As Melissa and Hailey rounded the corner by the Radio Shack store, Hailey let out an audible gasp and stopped in her tracks. Melissa turned to look at her daughter, who now stood still as a statue with her mouth open and her eyes showing shock.

Melissa turned to see what had caused such amazement in her youngest child. Christine was sitting at a small table in the food court. She had a medium drink sitting in front of her, along with the novel that she had insisted on bringing. Across from Christine sat, what Melissa had to concede, was an extremely handsome, rugged looking young man. To Melissa's knowledge, Christine had never even been on an actual date. She never seemed to have any real interest in boys. Melissa was reluctant to admit it, but she was almost as shocked as Hailey had professed to be. What was going on?

Hailey had recovered from her initial surprise and started walking toward her sister, with her mother following closely on her heels. Hailey’s curiosity had gotten the better of her and she was determined to learn more about the hunk talking to her sister. She would have been less surprised to have found space aliens in the Victoria's Secret shop across the mall than to see Christine with what appeared to be a real catch. Hailey had to find out more about this mystery friend of her sister's.

Melissa and Hailey approached Christine's table from behind her. Thus, Christine had no clue that her mother and sister were drawing near. For her part, Melissa was unable to stop looking at the boy chatting with her daughter. His shoulders were broad, his smile dazzling, and his brown hair was cut close, almost in a military style. Longer hair was "in" these days, but Melissa had to admit that this young man made a strong case for shorter hair. The most striking feature of the boy seated with Christine, however, was the intensity of his steel-grey eyes. They seemed to pull Melissa in when he turned his attention to her. The young man stood as she and Hailey approached the table.

"You two must be Christine's sisters," smiled the strange boy as he displayed a breath-taking smile. "Christine told me that she had two sisters, but she neglected to mention how beautiful you both are. I'm Mitchell Kays. You must be Hailey, and you're Maddie?"

Hailey simply stared up at the stranger as he shook her hand. Melissa felt herself blushing as she realized that the young man had assumed that she was Christine's older sister. Could he be serious, or was he just trying to butter up the mother of a girl in whom he was interested? Then the young man extended his hand to Melissa, and she firmly shook it.

"Ha. That's the way to make points with my mom," laughed Christine. "When you see my sister, Maddie, you'll never mistake my mom for her again. Mom still looks great, but Maddie is supermodel material."

"Well, I'd have to say that trait runs in the family, Christine. I've never seen prettier girls, or a younger, more attractive mother," smiled Mitchell easily as he shook Melissa's hand. "It was nice meeting you, Hailey. You, too, Mrs. Leonard."

Both Hailey and Melissa stood staring at the broad back of Mitchell Kays as he strode away through the crowded mall. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Hailey found her voice.

"Where the heck did you find that guy, Sis? How'd you meet him? Where'd you meet him? I never knew you had any hunky friends like that." exclaimed Hailey.

"I was sitting here reading Lord of the Flies for English class when he just dropped into the seat across from me. He asked if I was reading it for Ms. Lyons's honors English class at Highland High," laughed Christine. "I have to admit I was slightly nonplussed myself. His eyes just seemed to look right through me. Finally, I overcame my initial surprise and asked him how he knew about Ms. Lyons's reading assignments at Highland. He told me that he was attending Highland this year and was halfway through the book himself."

"So, he started talking to you about a stupid book for English? He wasn't hitting on you or anything?" questioned Hailey. "I told you to let me pick out some new clothes for you, Sis. You lost a great chance to lock this guy in before all the cheerleaders and class sluts get their claws into him."

"He must have talked to me for fifteen or twenty minutes, Hailey. He asked me all sorts of questions about the school, the classes, the other students, and even about my family. That's how he knew who you were. I've no idea why he asked mom if she was Maddie. I told him how beautiful Maddie was, no offense, Mom."

"You were right when you told him that he was making points with your mother by suggesting I was your sister, Christine. That young man was trying to get in good with me to smooth his way with you," reasoned Melissa. "I think you have an admirer, and a darn good looking one at that."

"Mom, you're reading way too much into this," insisted Hailey. "He may have bad eyesight, or he could be into cougars or something. Do you think a guy that looks like he does would go out of his way to chat up a girl dressed in a baggy sweatshirt reading some dumb book? The mall is full of sexy females of the species. He was probably just picking Sis's brains about his new school."

"Thanks for the high opinion of my allure, Hailey," responded Christine with some irritation. "Actually, he asked me if I'd go with him to the dance Saturday night at the VFW hall. It's that benefit being held for Mike Smith after his horrible motorcycle accident. The whole school, probably the whole town, Will be there. You know how popular Mike is around here. His brother, Tim, is a senior and he's on the football team.

"That's this coming Saturday." exclaimed Melissa. "We'd better start looking for a nice dress for you, Christine. He seemed like a nice young man, and he sure isn't hurting in the looks department, either. You'll have a wonderful time."

"Before you get too excited, Mom, I turned him down. Forget the dress, and the dance," added Christine.

"You turned down a date with that hunk, Christine? What on earth were you thinking?" asked a stunned Hailey. "Girls Will kill for a date with that guy. I know I would."

"I guess because I already knew what you pretty much just finished telling me, Hailey. It would be like a fairy tale at first. Then next week, when school started, all the cheerleaders, bombshells, sluts, and half the female teachers would be drooling all over him. Then what would happen to me? He'd never talk to me again and everyone would know that I was a temporary fix until he found some girl more to his liking. Guys like that don't date girls like me. I know that and I'm fine with it, but I'm not going to play the fool for the amusement of everyone in school," concluded Christine.