"Where the hell are your pants?" Molly exclaimed through the door that was cracked open only an inch or two, the chain lock still attached. The man outside her apartment looked like he was suffering. It was true, he wore no pants. Instead, he was dressed in a white muscle shirt and a hot pink towel.

"She won't let me have them back. Please Molls, you got to help me."

Molly suddenly understood what was going to happen next, so she slammed the door before it could happen. It was the same story. Harrison Redford always came to her when he needed her help in getting his latest girlfriend back. He would beg her to befriend this latest girlfriend and find out what had gone wrong and how to fix it. She'd then relay this information to Harrison, along with advice on how to go about getting this unlucky girl back. But she was sick of it now. She already had so many so-called friends, that it nearly filled all of the Nevada state and the California Coast. All these also doubled as Harrison's exgirlfriends. No more. Never again. Not after helping him to shatter the last girl's heart and many more before her.

Leaving the door, she walked over to the black leather sofa and sat down, picking up a menu. "Chinese is good."

"Well yeah, but Chinese has it's down sides too." Marty said, looking through the different home delivery food menus. "I mean...there's so many boxes and you never eat them all. You either are faced with leftovers to stick in your already overfilled refrigerator or you have to throw it out and it's a total sin to throw out something so amazing as Chinese food. By the way, what's with Harrison?"

Ignoring the last comment, Molly picked up an Italian menu from the coffee table. "How about here then? You like Italian."

"Lots of carbs and fats..." Marty said, biting her lip in temptation.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Oh please forget about all that crap. Loosen up a bit."

"...I will, if you tell me why Harrison keeps knocking at your door."

She groaned because they could both hear that he was still there, knocking and yelling through the wood. "Molly! Come on, Molls! Please help just one last time! Please? At least let me in for a pair of pants! Or...or a manlier colored towel? Please?"

His voice sounded muffled through the door and not very loud, so Molly kept going. "Maybe I'll get eggplant parm. It's horrible anywhere else, but the Italian restaurants get it perfect...oh, and spaghetti and meatballs...though I'd want to watch Lady and the Tramp if eating spaghetti and meatballs from a real Italian restaurant..."

"Bread sticks...I want cheesy bread sticks." Marty said, licking her lips. "If I'm going to forget all this 'crap' about carbs and all, I'm going all out. And a...medium pizza for us. Unless you're going to invite Harrison in?"

Molly shook her head. "No, medium will work. Why don't you go order in the back room so the restaurant don't think their delivery guy will be threatened by the madman outside the door?"

Marty took the cell phone from her pocket. "Okay, I will. But when I get back, I want to know how you got such a strong stubborn man like Harrison Redford to be groveling at your door and why you're not answering it."

"Molly! Please? You have those forest green towels...that'll work just fine. And I need a phone to call the taxi you can just slide it through the mail slot if you want..."

She groaned, grabbing a throw pillow and making its name literal.

"Hey, was that directed to me?" Harrison yelled.

Marty walked in a few minutes later and checked her watch. "Food should be here by seven. Want to go through your movie collection a while?"

"In a moment." Molly said, cleaning out her refrigerator to ready for more food.

"Is Harrison still out there?"

She shrugged. "I think so. At least from in here you can barely hear his anger."

Marty watched a smirk appear on her friend's face. "So...why is he here?"

"He wants pants, I think."

"Pants? He's standing outside your door for pants?" Marty said, looking as if her friend had gone insane.

"Well, that's the only part I'm willing to acknowledge."

"And the other part that you're not?"

Molly sighed, leaning against the fridge and opening a can of soda. "He wants my help with another one of his girlfriends. He knows I won't do it, but he thinks if he begs long enough, I will because I caved before. He thinks he can walk all over me. I'm showing him he can't."

"So you're not even going to give him pants?"

Molly laughed with a sigh. "He expects me to do too much for him. Let him suffer a bit and learn how to take care of himself."

"Huh...well, he's your friend. I guess he's not going anywhere anyway. I mean, you two have been in so many fights through the long years..."

"Twenty four years," she noted. "Yeah...we got into some horrible disputes through them."

Marty walked out of the kitchen and looked towards the door, where Harrison was still groaning in fizzing anger. "I'm sure there will be many more through the rest of the years."

Molly shook her head. "Just ignore the doggy. He'll get hungry eventually and find his own way back home."

"Yeah...unless he snatches our food before we get it in here." Marty said in worry.

Molly and Marty sat on the black sofa with their feet crossed on the coffee table, watching Lady and the Tramp and eating all the food they ordered, save the cheesy bread sticks that Marty had so craved. Those had been snatched up by Harrison and his bright pink towel before the bags made it in to the apartment.

"Just wondering..." Marty started as a song she thought boring on the movie came on.

"How do you get such an unbreakable man to plead for your help? I mean, just to know for myself when I find a guy like that. How do you get them to beg?"

Molly laughed. "You don't! Red is better when he's being closed and stubborn than when he's outside your door pantless."

Marty got a devilish look in her mismatched color eyes that made Molly put up her hand to stop her. "None of that, thank you."

She giggled, but relented. "If you say so."

Outside the door, Harrison shoved in the last part of his last bread stick. "You know, if you don't help, Amber will leave me. And then the whole breakup ordeal will have to start all over again...isn't it easier to just help me get her back?"

"No!" Molly growled from her spot in the room, then made the movie louder.

The alarm clock blared some kind of eighties music on the radio, the time flashing warningly. Molly groaned, burying her face in her

pillow, wishing for anything but to wake up now.

Yet as she snuck a peak and the angry numbers, she moaned and slowly got up, dragging her weary body in to the shower. After she was awake enough, she shut the water off, toweled off and quickly got dressed. Looking in the mirror, she turned on her hair dryer to full blast, drying her soft auburn curls that cascaded down to the middle of her back. Not having time to brush it out, she ran her hands through it to fluff it enough to look suitable, then rubbed at her bloodshot dark brown eyes.

"Molly! Hurry up, we'll be late! Harrison already left for work!" She heard Marty yell in.

Slipping on a pair of brown suede high heels that matched her mid calf length skirt, she grabbed her coat and messenger bag and ran out the door to car pool with Marty.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly grabbed her bag and walked down the school hallway and swung in to the classroom that was Marty's. "You ready?" She asked when she saw all the kids gone.

"Yup, just a minute and then we can go to lunch."

"Is Harry coming?"

Marty looked up at her in surprise. "What, didn't you hear the girl talk today? Harrison is already out to lunch with a new girlfriend."

Molly's eyes widened. "What? No, I didn't hear that! But...but it's been less than a week since he was whining outside my door about Amber he already has a new girl?"

She shrugged. "You know Harrison. He don't fool around when he don't have a girl in his life. He goes from one to the next as fast as possible. And look at the guy he sure has the goods to pull it off."

Molly groaned, kicking the floor and leaving behind a black mark from the sole of her shoe. "I can't believe him. You see? This is why I don't help him anymore he don't really care about these girls. He don't love them. He just wants his fun. And when it's done being fun...he's done with them and it's on to a new girl. I can't stand the way he treats women!"

Marty shrugged. "You know him better than anyone, so I know you don't need me to go in to a false comforting talk about how it won't last and that he really does care for these girls and all that such."

Molly swallowed her anger and started to walk out of the classroom and towards their car.

_______________________________________________________________________

The next day, as Molly busily set out to grad the tests that were just taken, Harrison came walking in.

"What's Principal Redford doing here?" She heard one of the five students that had stayed behind to wait for their test results, whisper.

"I don't know...anyone here in trouble?" Another one replied.

Molly nodded. She was.

"This isn't a good time, Principal Redford. See, I have to finish grading these tests for the students"

"It can wait a minute." He said instead, taking the red pen from her hand and gathering the testing folder in his arms so she wouldn't be tempted.

"I think we need to talk about that event a few days ago Radcliffe, now that there's not a locked door between us."

Molly blushed, vividly remembering this man, now in a respectable suit looking very suave, standing in hardly anything other than a hot pink towel. If any of the students ever found out, he'd have a hard time getting their respect again. Or stop their bouts of laughter.

"Sure. What do you need? To discuss your wardrobe tastes or your begging techniques?"

He scowled at her. "Not funny. I'm serious."

She crossed her arms. "After seeing you in that towel outside my door for hours...eh, so am I." She whispered, but his eyes flamed in anger, and she knew it was time to stop the jokes. "Alright, fine. What do you really want to talk about? Because I meant what I said the other night. I didn't change my mind. I won't do it."

Harrison put the test folder down on a filing cabinet and took her hands in his. "Please? Molls, you know me. I wouldn't ask you to do something I thought was going to hurt you in any way. I just thought...I needed help!"

"Help? You're dating a new girl already, Red!"

"Because Amber dumped me."

"Not even week ago! Four days!"

A smirk crossed his face. "You know I wouldn't have to bother with any of these silly women if only you'd just finally say yes."

It was a joke that they made when they were having relationship problems, never taken seriously. She laughed and slapped his arm.

"Out of here I got work to do! Now scoot!, Red!"

He cupped her cheek and smiled, then walked out.

Indeed, what he had told her was an old joke. But as she looked around her, she saw that her students, whispering and looking vastly interested, hadn't caught on to that part.

_______________________________________________________________________

Eighties music blasted from the radio, the time flashing angrily once again. Morning had come and Marty was already yelling from the door so they could take off to work. And once again, she had to rush around to get ready and run. Once sitting in the passenger seat, Marty handed her a breakfast bar. "Because I know you couldn't have had time to eat."

Molly flashed her a grateful smile. "We're going to have to go shopping after school I'm near out of food and I'm craving all kinds of ice cream right now..."

Marty laughed. "Then come over to my apartment you know I'm always stocked with your food cravings. And the best part? I'm right down the hall!"

"Oh yes, that indeed helps."

"Ya know...I know for a fact that Harrison has plenty of your food craving goodies and he's right above you..."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Red and I are going through a bit of a...hard time. Today we made it all better on the surface, but we both know nothin has been solved. And until it is solved, that's going to be an uncomfortable barrier between us."

"And meanwhile, you're both going to ignore it and he'll act completely casual and you'll act like you have no idea what could be wrong between you until you had enough and you explode on him. Then it'll be a whole fit, you two will swear never to talk again and one of you will threaten to move out. Every time...you two are getting to be utterly predictable." Marty rattled off.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Just get us to the school and I'll worry what to do with Harry."

_______________________________________________________________________

 

But when the two teachers reached the school, they were in for a big surprise. As in, every student surrounding them were smiling, giggling and whispering. So much so, in fact, that when she called her class to order, they simply didn't hear her.

"Alright!" She shouted over the multiple conversations. "I want to know what's so fascinating for all of you that you can't concentrate on what I'm saying!"

A boy in the first row that she knew as Tommy Benskin smirked. "Maybe because we're too busy concentrating on something Principal Redford said yesterday."

This took her by surprise. "Well...what did Principal Redford say?"

A girl stood up, a slow, mischievous grin appearing on her gloss smeared lips. "Well yesterday, the two of you were conversing in here...and we heard him say...well he said that he wants you to say yes. So fill the blanks in and tell us how did he propose? And when?"

Molly's mouth fell slightly ajar. They had to be kidding! Surely they wouldn't have spread such an innocent joke, that wasn't meant to be overheard by other ears, all around the school! Instead of staying and fumbling through something coherent and allow them to witness her cheeks growing more and more scarlet, she swung open the door to the adjoining classroom next door, where the student were all busy with a test already. "Marty, can you watch my students for me quick? I have some...immediate business to take care of with Harrison Redford."

A chorus of "ooohs" came from behind her and Marty rushed over to the door.

"Students, everyone keep focused on your test. You have fifteen minutes left."

"But...but is Miss Radcliffe going to go accept Principal Redford's proposal?" One of her students asked eagerly.

Marty's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she whipped around to look at Molly. "Do these kids know something I don't?"

Her fellow coworker rolled her eyes and sighed. "Of course not! Just...just watch these guys. Class, start reading chapter three of Persuasion by Jane Austen. Keep going until I return."

And with that, Molly started to run down the hallway until she reached the office. Swinging in, she was quickly stopped by the secretary, Mrs. Swiesser. "Mr. Redford is currently busy in his office right now. He won't see anyone."

"Oh, he'll see me." Molly said with determination, then marched in to the back office that was her friend's.

"Have you heard yet or am I the last to know?" She asked him.

Harrison looked up from his papers and took off the glasses he was always embarrassed to be seen in, though Molly always thought they suited his office look. "That would depend...what are you talking about?"

She held up her left hand. "You may not be able to see it, but everyone else can. I have an imaginary ring on this finger," She pointed to her ring finger, "and apparently you're the one who gave it to me."

An eyebrow quirked up. "Huh, how about that? I get more accomplished when I sleep walk and talk than I thought."

She groaned. "Come on Red, this isn't a joke. None of my students will study because they think you proposed to me yesterday."

His eyes looked in alarm. "Oh..." He said, the wheels in his mind spinning out of control.

"Oh? That's all you have to say?" She asked softly, sinking in to one of his leather plush chairs in the corner of the room.

"I'll fix it, Molls, don't you worry. Just give me to tomorrow and I'll have everything cleared up."

"Thank you. We certainly can't have my students being distracted from their studies because of this."

"Of course not. That...and if I'm engaged, I'll have one hell of a time getting dates from now on." He teased her, his eyes the color of a lake in the early winter, glittering as he ran a hand through his shaggy, thick brown hair, taking his long bangs out of his eyes. "You and Marty go hold down the fort for the rest of the day. I have a lot of business calls to make today, and then I'm all yours to solve the problem."

Molly smiled. "Good. And by the way...for now on, watch what you say in front of the kids...Principal."

He laughed at her mischievous look as she left his little office and made her way back to her own room.

_______________________________________________________________________

Harrison Grier Redford, a teenager himself in a manly body, was more than met the eye. But what met the eye was certainly enough for most women. Harrison laughed each time Molly would roll her dark brown eyes at the idea, wondering what was with the entire female race that had such weaknesses from broad shoulders, a tall build, thick shaggy hair that hung haphazardly to frame his face, and a particular shade of royal blue eyes. But beneath good looks and plenty of muscle laid a complicated soul who's biggest habit was running away or ignoring his problems. Not that he had anything major. He had skipped out on a real college education to join the marines at eighteen and stayed there until he turned twenty two. He considered those years to be some of the best and the most thrilling of his life. He was doing something worthwhile. He was helping people other than himself. It was a change. And it had felt good. But he had come home when his brother had fallen ill, contracting some kind of disease he still couldn't pronounce, nor understand. And after the two years it took for his brother to make it through, Harrison couldn't get himself to find the rapturous adventure that he had once held inside him. Instead, he settled down. Made plans with his lifelong friend Molly to move out of their parents' houses and in to apartment buildings. He took Molly two years after he left, as soon as she was ready. With getting that apartment, he needed a job. The first one that opened to him was his father's. He had taken some college courses in teaching when he was still in high school, as soon as Molly had expressed interest in doing the same field. Somehow, he managed to qualify, thanks to his dear father. Father Redford retired and bought a nice big yellow boat, and Harrison started his life living in the real world on his own.

Now here he was, twenty eight years old and dating every woman in the Nevada state, some from California as well. He knew Molly disapproved of his dating techniques, but he considered them better than hers, seeing that she hadn't had a date since...well, maybe she never did. It wasn't that she couldn't Lord knows even he knew of all the guys over the years that had asked her for dates, but she always refused. The feisty five foot seven woman of his nearly his same age and that he towered over with his six foot four frame, shared more traits from the reddish part of her hair heritage rather than the brunette strands. Molly Radcliffe had a horrid Scottish temper, a loud Italian voice that also allowed her hands to cook the most amazing of meals when she wanted to, and the sassiness of her French side. With curly auburn hair that reached just below her ribcage and eyes of dark chocolate brown, she was a beauty. Not to say she was completely out of the ordinary. Not runway model gorgeous or stop on the street to gawk looking, but it was something special. Unique. Completely hers. If Harrison bothered to stop and think about his best friend, he'd realize she was those things more because of her great confidence in her own self. He was a big, strong marines man that was trained to save a person in multiple situations, but Molly never took advantage. She wanted to save herself. No damsel in distress for her. Though even she had to admit that she needed more adventure in her life. More fun. More danger to toy with. Her life was still so safe and easy going. She needed to shake it up a bit more. Make it as feisty as her attitude was. But her schedule of a teacher and a friend to many never seemed to allow her that release.

One day, he'd have to show her how. If only she'd allow herself to see his side of things. The good side. She'd become looser then.

But for now, she had come to him to make him stop the rumors that he had apparently started. And he needed a damn good, convincing way of making sure her students, and all the others, knew that there was no connection of that sort between him and Molly. Just like there never would be.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Are you ready? After all, you never know what kind of surprises await past that door." Marty said, unsuccessfully trying to hide a grin. Really, she couldn't wait to find out what Harrison was doing to fix the problem that had spread throughout the school. Her mismatched eyes, one of a strange hazel and the other blue, were dancing with excitement. "That boy better not let me down."

Molly just shook her head, opening the glass door, leading the way to their classrooms, holding her breath in silent prayer that Harrison wouldn't make a fool of either of them. She was wasting that breath...

_______________________________________________________________________

It was five minutes before lunch period and Molly was putting up the assignment.

Read chapters five through seven in Persuasion. Write out summary and your viewpoints on these chapters.

Test on Monday start studying now!!

She was still copying this from her assignment book when there was a knock at the door. Before she could even turn around, Harrison came in the room. And on his arm, was someone who made a shiver run down her spine and anger spark in her eyes.

She looked towards the door that conjoined the two classrooms and saw Marty peering in through the window, her jaw gaping.

For on his arm, was the woman with platinum blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. With the height of five eleven without her trademark four inch heels on, it was easy to see that she was once a model, back in the day. She made the stereotypical views on models being snobs come true. She was worse than stuck up she was better than everyone else in this place. Better than anyone...but the man she had her eye on for months, whom she was determined to get. Well, she had gotten him, obviously.

"Principal Harrison, Miss Candice Greybill...to what do I owe this pleasure?" Molly asked, trying to keep her voice even.

Harrison looked around the room, making sure all eyes were on him. They surely were.

"Oh, I'm going to take off. I just wanted to say I couldn't make it to dinner tonight with you and Miss Lewison tonight. Miss Greybill and I are going out. You understand, don't you? It's kind of a last minute thing..."

There weren't any supper plans for tonight. There never were. When you wanted to eat with one of the three, you came over around dinner time and plopped on the sofa until it was time to cook or call in. But despite the fact that he wasn't really breaking any previous dinner dates to her, it still made her blood boil at the thought. She wanted to release her burst of fury, to tell him that this wasn't the way he should have done it. But she was an English teacher, standing in front of her class. It was her duty to remain calm no matter what in front of those children.

So instead of allowing her claws to show, she gave them a curt nod. "Fine with me." She said stiffly, then addressed her room.

"Make sure you copied the assignment. Class dismissed." And with those words, she hurried towards Marty's classroom, of whom she'd already dismissed when she had started gawking, knowing she'd need to hear all about this as soon as possible.

Harrison watched her retreat, stepping aside the door to let the flood of twenty students out of the room. The pretty little blonde on his arm that was the high school's art teacher and scrapbook leader, tugged on his sleeve, reminding him that he should be moving too. But there was something about the way Molly's eyes glistened over for a moment before her fury interfered that held his thoughts captive. What was wrong with her now? He doubted he'd be able to find out. There was just some things Molly never told him. Privacy was her friend. Or at least, until the screams rose too high in her throat to keep down. Yet usually those were masked with lies as well. A mysterious creature, that one was. With a shrug, he walked out of the room, shutting off the lights and closing the door.

_______________________________________________________________________

"You know...for someone as talkative as you, it's never a good sign when you fall completely silent after something that happened like it did at school." Marty rattled off, busying herself with getting drinks for the two of them.

Molly shrugged. "I'm completely fine. Why would you think I wouldn't be?"

Marty groaned. "Because I know you. Lets see, Harrison went and dumped his new girl for this one, just to prove that he's not with you. I know you heard the new talkings of your students that you must be below Harrison's tastes and that's why he don't date you not the other way around where you won't date him. And then, to top it all off, he goes and dates Candice Greybill the woman we both despise." Molly shook her head. "I don't despise her..."

"If not, then it's a nastier word for what you feel towards her. And you should she treats you like dirt. And that woman who tries to walk all over you because she thinks she can, is now dating your best friend and you can't help but blame yourself because hey, you're the one who told him to solve it instead of stepping up and doing it yourself." Molly glanced up at her friend with a look of horror. "Is that what you think?" She asked in a whisper.

"Oh hell no. But I know that's what you're thinking. And I know you're convincing yourself of those fine points. I know that for a fact just as much as I can tell that there's a volcano building up inside of you, bound to explode probably...quite soon."

Molly shook her head. "Nope. Nope, I'm fine. No fuming for me. No explosions. No yelling at Harrison. I'm fine. Just fine."

Marty's eyebrow raised in curiosity. "O...kay. So what's up?"

Molly shrugged a shoulder. "I'm just done with him. Let him do what he wants why should I hound him about everything? I'm laid back. I'm cool. I get it. I have my own life to live it's not fair to either of us to keep trying to help him. So I'm letting him go. I hope he has fun with Candy Grey." She said.

Marty smirked at the name. Candy Grey had been Candice's modeling name. "Sounds good to me." She said, handing her friend a glass of red wine. "A toast?"

Molly grinned. "A toast. To new outlooks and a new way of living."

Their glass flutes clinked together, then the tv was clicked on, starting their laid back style immediately.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Seeing that Marty had forgotten to lock the door behind her, Harrison came walking in. Marty laughed at the coincidence while Molly growled with a roll of her eyes. Standing from the couch, she walked back to her bedroom without a word.

"Uh...what's with her?" Harrison asked Marty, who shook her head in pity.

"The blind will never be able to see what's right in front of them." She noted, then fell back on to the sofa and sprawled out her body, clicking the tv remote to a channel she wanted to watch. Harrison shrugged, pacing back to the bedroom and knocking on the door. "Hey Radcliffe, Joe and I are heading to the Cali boarder to go try out an experiment and I was wondering if you wanted to go." He said through the wood. He was getting used to talking through her doors.

"What kind of experiment are you to nutheads trying out now?" He heard her ask.

"Well, Joe read somewhere that the only thing you call throw out of the window on a Californian highway in a moving car is chicken feathers and water. We called up his brother, who is going through law school now, and he verified the fact, so we're going to see if it works."

Molly rolled her eyes as she played with the lamp switch that sat on her desk. "I've heard that one already. 'Of course it's legal I've read every law book in Dad's library. It's totally legal." She quoted.

Harrison squinted, trying to think back. "...Wasn't that you?"

Molly laughed. "We both said it. Only difference was, when I said it, I was right. When you said it, you were always wrong. Just because you read all the laws doesn't mean they'll bow down and bend for you. But no thanks, Harry. Just let me know when you go so I can get the bail money from your drawer and so I don't make an fancy plans for that night."

Harrison smirked. It was true he had called Molly on occasion to do just that. It wasn't very good for his reputation, true but all work and no fun led to a very boring life, which he was determined to never partake in.

"Not this time, my friend. This time it's legal. But alright then, more water and chicken feathers for me then."

_______________________________________________________________________

"So she wouldn't come, huh?" Josiah Jeffers asked, holding two sacks of chicken feathers with a few jugs of water resting on the tops of his boots.

Harrison shook his head, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter. "She acts fine...but I think she's mad at me. How am I to know though? She always gets difficult."

"Didn't you say that your dating that Candy chick?" When Harrison confirmed this with a nod, he continued. "Isn't that the same Candy Grey that we hear Molls and Marty talk about sometimes? You know, that woman they can't stand?"

Harrison shrugged. "I don't know. I can't keep up with all their chatter. And if she don't want me to date Candice, why don't she just say so? Why did she ask me to fix the problem if she wouldn't like the way I'd handle it? I mean really, would she have liked it better if I went on the intercom and announced to the school that we weren't? I'm sure she would have been oh so delighted!"

"You know how complicated women are. Can't understand a single one of them. You must know that more than anyone."

"Why? Because of my horribly infamous dating habits?"

Josiah looked at his close friend in amusement. "I was going to say because you've had to deal with Molly since a year before you started kindergarten, but hey, that works too."

Harrison slowed his speed until he was at thirty miles per hour. He had chosen a highway that had very little activity to guarantee no one getting hurt while driving behind them. And then, they started to pour out the jugs of water. At the same time, Josiah threw fistfuls of feathers out the window, watching as they hit the road, wet with their water, and stick fast to it under the baking sun.

"Shame we aren't allowed to let glue out the window that might make it in to a comedic situation." Josiah commented.

Harrison shook his head. "No way man the idea here is to get away with throwing things out the window, not to get glue all over my truck in the process. Contrary to popular belief, this is a damn fine truck. And I like this truck of mine."

"It don't even make it up a steep hill anymore. It's chicken enough to wear these feathers."

"Only if you're brave enough to risk the fist in your face."

Josiah stopped after that, knowing fully what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Harrison Redford's anger. Instead, he threw the rest of the water out the window and started pouring out the feather stack. It was almost empty when they saw the familiar glare of red and blue lights, siren blaring in fury, directed at them.

_______________________________________________________________________

If Harrison was one to blush, he would be doing so at this moment, watching in humiliation as Molly counted out the bills and signed the release forms for her two stupid friends that couldn't seem to stay out of trouble. And once she was through and the guard slid the cell door open for the two to walk out, Molly simply turned her back and started walking to her car without a word. Starting up the engine, she waited until they were seated, Harrison in the passenger side and Josiah in the back, and then took off.

At first, Harrison tried to enjoy her silence. He ran his fingers along the window's edge, liking the feeling of the blue material under his fingers. He remembered the day she had dragged him to the car dealer to help her sign off for the car. A three year old Volkswagen Jetta wasn't much, certainly not to his tastes at all, but she was in love with it, that much was obvious. Her whole face was lit bright with her ecstatic excitement. He gave her a bit of grief about it as they drove away in it, but it all stopped with her explanation. "It's the exact same color as your eyes." She had glowed. It made him grin the fact that she could love such a car, just for its unique shade of darkened blue that happened to match his eyes. But now it was years later and she was riding him home in that old blue Jetta, and fuming at him. Most likely she had regretted buying a car of this color and probably thought about changing it to something, anything, other than this blue. But she never did. She hadn't given up on him quite yet.

"I didn't know that the chicken feathers had to be limited and because there were actual chickens on your truck. And that you weren't supposed to dump gallons of water only a little to get you by..." He said weakly, not daring to look over at her.

Molly didn't reply.

"So what, now you have to be farmers to follow the law? That's just not right." Josiah commented.

Molly said nothing, and Harrison glared him a warning glance. Josiah had a tendency to take a bad situation and blow it to all hell.

A cell phone rang then, Harrison realizing it was coming from Molly's pocket. She stopped at a red light so she could cram her hand in to her tight pocket and get out the slick phone. "Yeah?" She asked, not in the mood for generous greetings.

"Oh hey. Yeah, I'm just about to cross the border now. Of Nevada, of course. Don't' you remember Harrison's lovely phone call that was on the other end when we two were talking?" Molly cringed. "I didn't realize I hung up on you. I'm sorry! I guess having to pick up Harrison and Joe got me rattled enough to make me forget. I'll be at the house in about twenty minutes, if the traffic lets up. Uh...yeah, I'll tell them. Bye."

Harrison and Josiah stared at her expectantly, until Molly let out a low groan. "She said the two of you are complete idiots and you owe her fifty bucks for the bet." She finally said. But before either could say a word, she turned on the radio and let it blast.

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Molly tried to keep her calm. She should be used to this by now, but that only made her angrier. She loved Harrison, she did. He was her oldest, dearest and all around best friend. But he had a lot of growing to do, and she wished he'd do it sooner than later. She wished he would shape up and become the man she knew he could be, instead of landing his arse in jail once a month.

Harrison really was a great guy though, despite his immaturity. Just like she was there for them when they ended up behind bars, he was there for her for everything. Anything. He was the only one who knew every one of her deepest secrets. He was the only one she could ever trust with them. And he never told a soul about even one. For really, as childish as he could be some times, he could be trusted. Trusted to stay by her side, on her side. To be the holder of all her secrets. And to support her in everything. He was a great guy, with a steady job and is a hard worker. But he wasn't challenged enough. Which was why he turned in to a daredevil when he met Josiah Jeffers. Because he had an adventurous soul and feet that only wished to be on the move. He had bonds when his heart whined to him to be set free. She knew from their rare past midnight talks when he let it slip, that it hurt him to stay here. To hold such a job that he found, to say the least, boring. To live in an apartment that he wasn't fond of and felt like it's walls were closing in on him, bound to crush him sometime. And she, because it had happened to her already, had to pity him there.

She took a quick glance over at him. He sat there, solemn and quiet, staring at the base of the window as he kept running the tip of his finger over the blue fluff interior. It was obvious in his posture and in his little actions that he was upset and disappointed in himself. If she could see his eyes, she'd read sincerity in them. She also knew that he wasn't upset in himself because of what he had done, but because he had known that he had upset her.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she lowered the volume of the radio until it could be just barely heard. "I thought perhaps we could all have dinner at my place tonight. I'm cooking and Marty is already there. She has a stack of videos from the rental store and is bringing over the movie essentials the coziest blankets, fluffiest pillows and the best energy drinks to keep awake. If the two of you want to come over, you're welcome to."

Harrison looked over at her in confusion. "But...you're supposed to be angry and furious. Where did this come from?"

She shrugged. "I know you. And I know the reason for your actions. And I know that no matter how long I stay angry at you, you'll just do it again so it's basically pointless to waste my anger on you."

He shook his head. "No, I won't do it anymore, Molls. This was it. Last time."

"Don't tell me that, Harry., I might just foolishly believe you and then get my hopes up again. You'll do it again. Don't tell me you won't because you will. That restless spirit of yours rules you and as long as you sit idly by and don't do anything to calm it, you're going to get in to plenty of trouble."

His eyebrow quirked in curiosity of her words as he looked at her, at a loss for words on how to follow that bit up.

Instead, he returned his gaze to out the window and remained silent for the rest of the trip home.

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The next day, Harrison, Molly and Marty all shuffled in to the high school with dark circles under their eyes and barely awake.

As it was apparent, the energy drinks they had consumed at midnight had worked better than they had expected, and it was only about two hours ago when they finally passed out. Unfortunately, it was an hour ago when they had to wake.

"So what would it be saying for my teaching if instead of Abram Jones falling asleep in half of my classes and me scolding him...that I just join him today?" Marty asked.

Harrison smirked. "You realize you're talking to your boss, right?"

"Actually, I was talking to Molly you just happen to be standing here."

"...you realize you're still talking to your boss, Miss Disrespect?" He teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him, then peered in to her bag, praying she had remembered all her books that she'd need today. They were there, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Molly was pulling back curls back in to a low pony tail, not having time to do it before. "No one come to my room for lunch today I'm going to be skipping food and sleeping in."

Marty grinned, her weary eyes brightening a little. "Yes...lunch period. I think I'll do the same."

But it was Harrison's eyes that glowed the most when his mischievous grin appeared upon his pale lips. Flashing this look over to Molly, he started to run to his office.

"I hate that man." Molly said with a grimace. "He can go back there and fall asleep in his sofa and overstuffed leather chairs and not get in trouble for it, thanks to him being a light sleeper and every one liking him. But us? No, we can't. We actually have to do our jobs."

"Look at it this way," Marty said as they turned the corner, nearing their class rooms. "Christmas break is only sixty or seventy something days away."

Molly frowned. "Was that supposed to be comforting? Because it sucked."

This earned a laugh from Marty until she fell against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment.

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Sleep. Oh, the joys of blissful sleep! Molly was enjoying her world of dark and her mind of fog that she had just entered, when there was a sharp knock on the door.

Gasping, she sat straight up, her chair almost unsettling as she wiped the side of her mouth with her shirt sleeve. Blinking a few times against the harsh light of reality, she saw the last person she would want to see at a moment like this Candice Greybill. Taking a breath, Molly decided dealing with it quickly would let her get back to sleep sooner, so she plunged ahead. "Yes Candice?"

"I...I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. But if you're...uh...busy? Then I'll just let it go."

Molly shook her head. "No, no by all means, come on in."

Candice did so, walking up to her desk and planting her hands flat upon it., her face just a foot measurement or so away.

"Well, you know, of course, that Harrison Redford and I are finally going out. Well, I don't know if he really ever talks to you, so I thought I'd stop by and ask if it's okay with you."

Molly's temper soared inside her. Her calmness came from the wisdom of knowing that Candice was only trying to get her goat, and hell if she'd get it.

Though it did anger her to no end to let Candice say that she and Harrison were hardly close.

She shrugged it off. "Harrison and I are only friends. Why would I mind?"

Candice pressed on. "Why, everyone knows that you have been in love with him for years. It's very obvious. It always has been. So logic had me thinking that this might hurt you, seeing that Harrison can be very blind to your feelings when it comes to attractive women."

Molly wished that Marty was here. She had a way of calming the storm of fury in her, even when her resistance was failing. But she had told Marty to not come today, and she could hardly excuse herself from Candice to go scream her frustrations out to Marty. She could do it on her own anyway.

Swallowing the Scottish temper, she plastered the fakest smile upon her lips. "When it comes to me, he's never blind." She lied.

"Oh...so he just ignores your intentions then?"

"On the contrary I ignore his. Didn't you hear the other day? The rumors spread around?"

"Yes, I did. But then he dated me he claimed that the kids just took a simple joke the wrong way."

"He'll claim that he's Zeus's son Hercules if that'll get him a girl. We didn't want the rumors to keep going around it's bad for our reputations." As soon as the words fled from her mouth, she inwardly grimaced. There she went again painting colorful lies to save face. A sneaky, evil voice in the back of her head told her that it was all Harrison's fault for dating the snobbiest, bratty woman he could find within the state. After all, how can he possibly ask her to behave when his own girlfriend was doing this to her? He should know her better than to expect more. Just as she knew better to expect him to stop doing idiotic acts that landed him and Josiah in jail. But looking Candice over again, she realized how attractive this woman was, and worried that Harrison would think of that before thinking of what she had done.

"I agree with you. I suppose dating you here would be bad for his reputation." She said, her words laced with poison of a snake's. With a flash of a bright smile, she spun on her heel and walked out of the classroom, sure to give Harrison an ear full.

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"Why Molls, why?" Harrison said in complaint as he slid in to the blue Jetta.

She bit her lip, looking over her shoulder at Marty, who was suddenly wide awake and looking very interested.

"Why Molls why what?" She asked eagerly.

"I'm assuming you're talking about Candy Grey?" Molly asked.

"Hell yeah I am. Why do you always get my girlfriends upset so they rattle off in my ear for hours? Hours, Radcliffe!"

She shrugged. "Maybe you should offer them more security. I can't help it if their jealous of me for being you best friend and then they want to attack me. You know how it works someone attacks me, I attack them verbally, of course. You can't blame me for what you got today you blame her."

Harrison looked at her, tilting his head in patience. "She thinks I'm chasing you romantically, and the only reason why I'm dating her is because you won't say yes it's as bad as the kids!"

Molly smiled sweetly, patting his cheek. "It's okay Harry, you don't have to pretend anymore. Admit it. Admit that what she said is right and that you're wild about me, but you can't have me and that so deeply upsets you. To the point where you have to go around dating all these other woman to replace the feelings you have for me but none measure up to the greatness that is me. Admit it, Harrison, because I can't help it." She teased, then kissed his cheek and batted her eyelashes.

He groaned, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Just drive."

"You know, you could have just driven home with her why are you in my car and not your girlfriend's car?"

"She might be on to something here..." Marty said, keeping up the joke. "Maybe you should admit it, Harry."

Harrison whipped around, sticking his index finger just inches from her nose. "Only, and I mean only, can Molly call me that. No one else. And yes, that includes you, Marty."

They couldn't resist. In unison, they said, "Can Candy Grey call you Harry?"

He didn't bother to tell them no. Just groaned again and reached for the door handle. "Walking the ten miles is better than this." He said, tugging on the metal.

She grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down. "Alright, no more teasing. Just handle that woman and don't let her come after me. I won't put up with that and you know it."

He nodded. "I know, and you shouldn't have to. We'll solve it. I'll solve it."

Both of them, satisfied with that conclusion, stopped the conversation and started a new one, this time with music added and the road moving beneath them.

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Molly stared in frustration at her stack of bills and her checkbook that was growing less and less. Groaning, she ran her hand through her curly hair. The nagging voice that was always in the back of her head at times like these had returned. Churning her mind and making her think of 'what could have been'. What she could be doing right now if she had taken the path she had wanted.

Ten years ago, at the ripe age of eighteen, she had been accepted to Yale. It had been her dream come true. She could hardly breath for days after that acceptance letter had reached her hands, which was where it stayed for over a week. She wouldn't put it down it went everywhere with her. She even clenched it in her hand when she finally passed out from exhaustion, due to the excitement of planning throughout that day.

Yale. It was hard to get better than that. And it had been all that she had ever worked for. That letter was proof that she could make even her most wildest dreams to come true.

But then, just as she was packing her bags in to her economy car, her world tilted on its axis. Her father had suffered through a devastating heart attack that took away so much even his own voice. As quickly as those bags had been put in her car, they were taken out. She had made some quick, tearful phone calls that sent her rejection to her dream life, then moved back in to her parents' home to help take care of her father. Meanwhile, she went to a community college that granted her a teaching license after she had put her four years in. Four years that were supposed to be the beginning of her training as a lawyer.

But she told herself she was happy. Because she had to be. Because she'd never leave her father at his time of need. And with help from her, he did get better and he did regain his voice.

And thanks to Harrison, she didn't have to go to a bad city school the only ones that she had been getting accepted to. He had gotten her in to a good high school in her desired position. After all, he could sympathize he had a little brother who had gotten sick and prevented things from happening too. Only Harrison had no big dreams. But he did have brains. He had been accepted in to Harvard one up on her. All through school they had placed bets and went against each other to see who could do better on everything tests, pop quizzes, homework. It had been great, but Harrison had won. He applied for Harvard and Yale just like she did but not because he wanted it, but just to put a finale on for their years of competition. He had gotten in to Harvard, and he had left it for the military. Which made Molly frustrated and scared at the time for turning down something that she hadn't achieved and for him possibly dying before coming home. But she had gotten over both and soon beamed in pride for him. He had come back a man not an aimless boy that he had once been. It had made all the difference and she loved him for it. But then his brother had grown ill and everything that been taught to him from the military was dead. He regressed to the reckless, irresponsible boy she knew and threw his golden opportunity away. As someone who had been forced to from personal happenings, she had been angered once again by his actions. Supposedly, she still was angry after seeing the man he was and the man he could have been. Not angry at him, but at cruel life's circumstances. His father had always wanted him to take over the business of running the school Harrison's great great grandfather had run the whole school on his own once had been the principal and the main teacher of three. He had bought the school later on and passed it down and it landed in Harrison's unwanting hands. It was a job that insulted his brains that could have done much more he had said it often and Molly had always agreed. But he stopped thinking that way and ended up right there, where he had spent his whole life running away from.

But it wasn't all bad. At least he had given her a good job. It had also made her leave home for the first time. The school teetered on the edge of Nevada and California, where as they had been living up in Vermont.

It was a home of beautiful memories. Memories of when things were happy and simple and the biggest concern of theirs was where they would meet each other after school.

She had loved his mother. The dearest woman that had ever lived, she was sure. Because her own was a workaholic like Molly's father. And since she had two parents hardly ever there, Harrison's mother had taken over. Molly even had her own room in the Redford home. And she loved the Redford mother as much as her own parents.

But that was Vermont. Harrison's father, separated from their mother, lived in Nevada and worked as the owner and the principal of their school. Molly had followed Harrison there as soon as her father was back in to health and they were pushing her out with force.

Harrison had been wonderful. Besides the job, he had gotten her an apartment that was directly below him. Had a woman he knew from school that taught history to make friends with her and show her around the new city when he couldn't. He had set up her entire life all she needed was to follow it. Originally, their pact was that it would be only temporarily. She'd retake a test or two, fill out a few applications, and she'd send them all to Yale and Harvard and get in to pick up her life again. But she had gotten comfortable in her laid back ways. She had taken a test and gotten a low grade. She had applied only once for Harvard and Yale. And she had gotten negative replies for both. Her spirit, hardly in it anymore, gave up easily. At the time, she had been comfortable with the life Harrison had set up, and ended up making it permanent.

But now, here she was. Staring down at stacks of bills with heavy sighs and too little money in her bank account.

And her life was going nowhere way too quickly. She was twenty eight, at the top of her job. She wasn't going up anymore. Yet she didn't have enough money to get a better place a real home instead of a little apartment. Had no money for a better car that was starting to drag on the road. And she was still hung up on the same guy that she loved since her fifth birthday party, when he gave her a kiss over the candle blown cake.

Harrison Redford. The blindest man to ever walk the earth. He had faults, well, many faults. But his pros vastly outweighed any cons. She loved him and wished to high heaven that she didn't. Putting down her silver pen that she had been using to write out all the checks, she sat up a little straighter. It was time. Time to start changing her life for the better. She didn't know how she'd do it, or even where to start, but she knew she had to make it somehow. Or live with the heavy regret, knowing that she never did make any of her dreams that once made her proud. Shutting of the little desk lamp that she was using, she pushed away her chair and crossed the room, entering her bedroom. Flopping on her bed, she slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking about these new plans.

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The End of the First Chapter of