“As always, Jen, you did not disappoint,” Jacque told her.

“I aim to please, my dear,” Jen replied, completely undaunted.

Jacque looked at her watch and realized it was twenty after. Okay, she told herself, have fun, don’t worry about all the other crap going on. Jacque took one more look in the mirror and caught a glimpse of her neck and shoulders.

“Oh shite, the markings are showing!” Jacque exclaimed.

“We know,” Sally said.

“Why didn’t you remind me?”

“Because they look as cool as Hades, that’s why,” Jen piped in.

“That statement doesn’t even make sense, Jen. Hell is not cool, geez…”

“Oh, my bad. They look as hot as Hades, that’s why,” Jen interrupted.

Jacque continued, “And what should I say to my mom? ‘Hey mom, going on my date, oh don’t worry about these handy dandy marks, ya know how it is with random, mysterious markings and what not, just popping up when you least expect it'.”

“No, we were going to tell her they were the stick-on ones and that Jen insisted you wear them,” Sally said.

“The idea that I be the one to blame was completely involuntary, I will have you know.” Jen frowned.

“Seeing how thick that one is I doubt she will swallow it, but he is gonna be here…” before Jacque could finish the doorbell rang.

“So I don’t have time to change,” she finished.

“Look, you’re going to be great. Just be yourself,” Sally told her in a motherly voice.

“For goodness sakes, if you wind up not liking him, kiss him anyway for us, okay? Throw us a bone, Jac,” Jen told her.

“And if I like him but I’m not ready to kiss him, what then my little nympho?” Jacque asked her.

“If you like that gorgeous piece of meat out there and you don’t kiss him, I will personally take every bra you own and hang them on all the antennas of the cars on your street. Oh, and I'll write your name on them in black magic marker and hang two on hottie's motorcycle! How you like them apples?” Jen told her.

“Where on earth do you come up with these ideas? Is there like a website called vindictive.com, or cruel-mean-ideas.org?” Sally asked her sarcastically.

“Nope, I think of them all by my little self,” Jen answered.

The girls all turned when they heard a soft knock on Jacque’s bedroom door.

“Come in.” They all three said. Jacque looked at the other two as if to say hello, my room, but they just shrugged.

Jacque’s mom came in the room looking at the girls like they were guilty, and in truth they usually were.

“Fane’s here. He brought a helmet. Did you forget to mention you would be riding a motorcycle?” Lilly asked her.

“No, I just assumed that you knew,” Jacque said.

“Well, I did see him on one but I assumed that he would be borrowing one of the Henrys' cars.”

“Well, you know what they say about assuming,” Jen added.

Both Lilly and Jacque turned their heads to look at Jen, who simply shrugged and said, “I’m…”

“Just saying. Yeah, we know,” Sally finished for her.

Jacque decided to just go ahead and let her mom see the marks so she wouldn’t freak out in front of Fane.

“Mom, what do you think about these fake tattoos that Jen put on me?” Jacque asked, turning around so her mom could get a look at her shoulders and neck.

Jacque heard her mother take in a sharp breath. She turned to look at her and saw her mom had her hand over her mouth and there was fear, major fear in her eyes. Once again she knew her mom knew something that she wasn’t sharing.

“Are you ok, Lilly?” Sally asked Jacque’s mom.

It took a minute for Lilly to get her composure back, but as soon as she did her face went blank.

“Of course. I’m fine, it was just a bit of a shock. They look so real,” her mom told them.

Jacque turned to look at her two best friends. “What are ya’lls' plans? Staying here or going home?” she asked them.

“We’re going back to Jen’s to hang out. If you want to come over after your date and Lilly’s ok with it, that’s fine,” Sally answered.

“That’s fine with me, if you want to,” Lilly told Jacque.

Jacque couldn’t decide what she wanted. Part of her wanted to be with her friends, the other part wanted to be alone so she could talk to Fane. She would see how the night went and decide then.

“I’ll call you guys and let you know if I’m coming. I don’t know what time we are going to be home so I wouldn’t want to come over if it was really late and ya’ll were already in bed,” Jacque told them.

Sally and Jen gave her a ‘yeah, what a load of crap super sized with fries’ look. Jacque just tried to look as oblivious as possible under their scrutiny.

Jacque looked at her mom, expecting her to say something about a curfew but she never did, she just turned to go back downstairs. “I’ll be downstairs with Fane telling him embarrassing stories from your childhood, so you might want to expedite your final preparations,” Lilly told her daughter.

Jacque turned back to her friends. “Look, I’m not going to lie. Part of me wants to stay home tonight so I can talk to Fane, but the other part of me wants to be with my girls,” Jacque told them.

“We’re totally cool with you staying home to get to know him more. There is only one stipulation and that is we get everything in living color detail. No condensing, no paraphrasing, no inconclusions, and no summaries. Every single detail!” Jen told her adamantly.

Jacque laughed at her two friends and gave them both hugs. “Thanks, chicas. You two are the best.”

“Ok, I’m ready. I’ll see you guys later,” Jacque told them.

“Have fun!” Sally and Jen said together.

“Oh look, Sal. Our little girl is growing up. Where did the time go? From teaching her to cut her Barbie doll’s hair, to cutting her own hair, and now sending her off with a hot piece of Romanian meat. I’m getting all choked up.” Jen faked tears.

Sally looked at Jen and shook her head. “You done?”

“Yeah, I’m done. Why you always gotta cramp my style, yo?” Jen asked in her best slang voice.

“’Cause that’s how I roll,” Sally answered.