The closer Friday got, the more nervous I became. Dad and Larry watched me closely at home, but I tried not to let anything show. The funny thing is, I was more scared than happy about it. I actually lost my appetite on Friday. I skipped breakfast, and poked at my lunch while George kept his arm around me and squeezed me randomly. I leaned on him and tried to ignore the looks Dan was giving me. The four of us were alone today because Susan and Don were at an extra rehearsal for the upcoming musical in November. I think they said it was Romeo and Juliet this year.

I don't get how they can turn that classic into a musical and call it art. I never have. That's part of why I stopped performing and left drama at the start of high school.

Mario stared at his tray, ignoring me like he had all day. I couldn't blame him. After all, I was going on a date tonight. George worked until five, and I had the day off. Mrs. Scott was filling in for me. That way, I'd have plenty of time to get ready and start on my homework.

After school, Mario said his first words of the day to me: "Need a ride?"

"Not really. Larry has to go straight home, and I was going to ride with him." I shrugged. "But thanks anyway." I forced a smile.

He closed the locker and put his hands in his pockets. "So, um, you're going out with George tonight. Hope you guys have fun."

"Yeah." We walked towards the exit in silence. "I'll call you when I get home," I said, pausing at the door.

He walked through and held it open for me. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Daisy."

"Why not? We usually hang out on Friday night."

He sighed and resumed walking. "Do what you want, Daze." He jogged to his car.

I crossed my arms as Larry pulled to the curb. When I got in, he was watching Mario. "What's up with him?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's go home. I need to shower and start my homework." Larry glanced at me, and it told me he didn't quite believe my nonchalant act. I was trying to believe it. I wanted to believe it. More than that, I wished it to be true.

That whole afternoon I was on edge. My mind kept giving me little scenarios about what George may do and how I should react, or imagining how I would feel if that happened. I couldn't get a break from it all afternoon. By the time six rolled around and he was supposed to be picking me up, I was pacing, just trying to work off some of the nervous energy.

Dad finally wandered into my room. "Honey, please stop that. It sounds like you're trying to wear out the floor downstairs." I sat on my bed and he left.

While I sat there in silence, I let myself think about things I'd been avoiding. What was Jimmy talking about when he said Mario had sycophants? Mario had obviously been hiding something. I knew it from that first day. Being with him had made me put it out of my head. In part because that was easier but mostly because being with him made me forget. I tended to forget about everything and everyone. It was like nothing and no one existed besides us.

No, I wasn't quite in love with him, but I liked him more than any other guy I'd ever met.

George was like my good friend, the guy I'd probably call if my car broke down two states over, or if I had a fight with Larry, I'd go to him to vent.

"Daisy!" Dad called up the stairs. "George is here!"

My realization dissipated, but the truth stuck with me. I wasn't in love with George. My lower lip trembled as I stood to look in the mirror. What we had wasn't there anymore. The flame or desire had gone out.

I took a deep breath and focused on my reflection. My hair was in waves, I had on my favorite dress, and I had put on a pair of low heels that matched. I looked okay, but my smile was missing. The girl looking back at me didn't look happy. She looked more like she was losing her best friend.

Which, honestly, was my biggest fear for tonight. There was no telling how things would turn out. What if I lost one of the guys that meant the world to me?

I took another deep breath and left my room. When I got downstairs, George was sitting in the living room. He'd put on a dress shirt and slacks but left off the tie. He looked nice. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him all dressed up. Probably never. When he looked over, his eyes started at my feet and worked their way slowly up to my flushed face. By the time he locked eyes with me, he was grinning and his eyes were practically glowing. He'd looked at me like that before, but this time, well, this time was different. It was like I was his this time.

I shivered in spite of myself. There was a small part of me that was satisfied by seeing that possessive look in his eyes. I knew, in that moment, I would have a harder time telling him goodbye than I ever thought.

"Ready?" he asked. In so many ways, no, I wasn't. But for right now, this night, I nodded. He got up, spoke to my dad, then Larry, and took my hand in his. Larry was eyeing me. He knew. I let George lead me to the door. We went out and he opened the door of his pickup for me, closing it when I was in. Once he got in, he looked at me as he started the truck. "You look weird."

I smiled. "You do, too. I don't think I've ever seen you dressed up."

"Probably not." He grinned over at me. "The show starts at seven, and from what Mario told me, we should probably head straight there. We could eat after. I mean, he says this show should only be about an hour. I don't know how he knows that, but he does."

"He probably knows whoever the director is."

"Does he?"

I nodded. "He's always been fascinated by playacting. I wouldn't put it past him to know not only the director but the entire cast, as well."

George glanced at me, his smile dimmer. "Can we not talk about him tonight? I mean, I know he's a good friend, but we're on a date."

I sighed. "That's fair." I felt a dull ache, but I tried to push it out of my mind. We were quiet the whole way there.

Eventually we made it to the theater and our seats. We still didn't speak, but as the show started, he took my hand and kissed it randomly throughout the show. He smiled over at me every so often, probably to see how I was enjoying the play. It was really good, and I hardly looked away. That was how I noticed one of the background actors seemed awfully familiar.

Dan turned around and I was certain that's who it was. So that was how he was spending his free time. They were walking across the stage, and then another actor came out. He looked really similar, and I leaned forward, crushing George's hand on the armrest.

Mario had a small part, a minor role. He was selling something at the open market the main character was walking through with her young son. "George," I whispered.

"What," he responded through gritted teeth.

"Is that who I think it is?"

He pulled his hand out from under mine and rubbed it. His eyes quickly scanned the stage. "Mario? I think so."

I grinned and sat back. Small world. I took George's hand, gently, and lightly ran my fingers over the place I'd hurt him. I looked up at him through my lashes and he smiled. He tucked my hair behind my ear and ran the backs of his fingers down my face. I blushed and looked at the stage. Mario was looking at us as the curtain lowered. I would have sworn that we locked gazes.

There was the sound of things behind the curtain being moved and ropes hauling backdrops. The curtain moved again, and a different scene revealed itself. I told myself that he couldn't see us very well, may not have even realized it was us. I told myself that I was projecting the hurt in his eyes because that's how I felt. It took a couple minutes, but the thought allowed me to lose myself in the play again.

---

The play eventually ended. George led me to the aisle and turned to me. "Want to see if they'll let us backstage?"

"Sure." Since he'd never been there before, I led him around and through the doors to the backstage area. No one gave us a second glance until we got close to the actors. Some guy working with security stopped me. "I was just going to tell my boss something."

"Your boss," the guy said skeptically.

"Yes, my boss. Mrs. Scott. She's back there in my place. I needed to speak with her."

He sighed. "Fine." He waved us past and I nearly drug George with me.

I got to the backstage area. Before I could really look around, I heard someone shout my name and I looked over just in time to see Dan come running up to me. I dropped George's hand as Dan hugged me enthusiastically. He slung his arm around my shoulder. "Hey, George." He stuck out a hand.

George eyed Dan's arm as he shook his hand. "Hey, Dan."

"You saw me out there?" Dan asked me happily.

"I did! You looked like you were having fun."

"Oh, I was. It was the most fun I've had since me and Mario quit this stuff six months ago."

I tilted my head. "You two used to do playacting?"

Dan nodded. "I missed it. Anyway, let me take you guys to him. He'd love to see you." Dan turned to the other side of the stage and led us through the obstacles quickly. After working backstage for so long I knew my way around already, but George ended up lagging. Mario was almost through changing by the time we found him. He had on a pair of jeans and was putting on a dress shirt. "Mario!"

He looked up and smiled. "Hey." His eyes slid to something behind me and he stiffened.

"Hey," George said, coming up behind me. "Didn't know you were going to be performing tonight."

Mario shrugged and began buttoning the shirt. "It was kind of last minute. I mean, two weeks."

Dan squeezed my shoulders and dropped his arm. "I need to get changed. See you later!" He grinned at us and walked away.

"Dan loves acting, doesn't he?" I said casually.

Mario nodded, now buttoning the cuffs of the shirt. "Yes, he does." He glanced at me, curious.

George put an arm around me, his hand settling on my waist. "He said you two used to play act."

"We did," Mario said, fiddling with his sleeves. He swallowed. "Um, what did you two think of the show?"

"I loved it," I told him.

George shrugged. "Meh. This isn't really my scene. I mean, it was cool, but I can't really get into all of that." He gestured at the stage.

Mario nodded. "Jimmy, either." He glanced in the direction Dan walked off in before looking at us. "I can understand. He was always supportive, though. Just like I supported his surfing stuff even though I never cared for it."

I remembered how Jimmy and Maria had said he was afraid of water. A smile threatened, but I fought it. "And Amanda's basketball."

"Right, that too." He glanced behind us. "Excuse me." He stepped around us and walked away.

George watched him leave, face unreadable. "Let's go, then. I'm starved."

"Okay." I led him to the backdoor that opened to the parking lot.

We went from there to a nice diner that recently opened. The whole way, I kept mentally replaying the scene, feeling the awkwardness of it. Why did George even want to go backstage? I landed on the fact he wanted to show us off by the time we got to the restaurant.

I waited until after we were seated and had ordered to ask about it. I stared across the table at him. "You didn't like the play?"

He sighed. "That stuff just isn't my thing. You know this."

I did. He preferred stuff like sports and racing and hiking and biking. Pretty much anything athletic or action-packed. How he can lump racing into that, I have no clue, but he does. "Yeah." I fiddled with my water glass. "Can I ask you a question about a hypothetical situation?"

"Like what you would do first when we get to L.A.?"

"Kind of."

"Shoot." He sat back and sipped his water.

I put my hands on my lap and laced my fingers. "Well, what would you do if, at some point, we grew apart and we broke up?"

He sat his glass down, looking hard at me. "Are you planning on breaking up with me?"

"Not tonight. Please just answer the question."

He sighed. "I don't know." He held up his hands in a. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I just want the truth. I want to know what George would do. It doesn't matter what I want you to do."

He ran a hand through his hair. "This isn't the kind of discussion I wanted to have on our first date. It's kind of depressing, don't you think?"

Maybe so, but I had to know. I needed to find out where we both stood. "I still want to know the answer."

He groaned. "Fine. You want to know? If we were still in high school, I'd be upset but I would go out with someone else within a month. Like the girl I sit behind in English. Lexie."

That didn't bother me. I took a sip of water. It didn't bother me, which made me realize that, maybe, I was right in choosing Mario. In fact, I was relieved he was drawn to Lexie. "So you wouldn't be that upset."

He paused. "I guess." He shrugged and looked at me, something sad in his eyes. "I'd still be there for you, you know."

"I know. It's one of the things I love most about you." I smiled at him and touched his hand resting on the table. Relief was flowing through me. I wouldn't be losing my friend.

He returned my smile, but it didn't touch his eyes. "What about you?" He shook his head and answered before I could. "You'd turn right around and go out with Mario, probably."

I looked down at the table. "Not right away," I mumbled.

He pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. "I knew it."

I flushed, my system flooding with adrenaline. "Knew what?"

He shook his head and sighed. "Stop playing dumb. You like Mario. I knew it."

I played with a lock of my hair. Was I that obvious? "You're right."

"You never told me."

"I couldn't." I chewed the ends of my hair.

He moved so he sat next to me. He pulled the hair from my mouth and pulled me close. "We've been waiting for tonight for so long. I kept expecting this, to be honest."

I pulled back enough to look at him. "You knew I'd fall for someone else? Boy, you didn't trust me a lot, did you?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't that. I couldn't be there as much as I would have liked, and my trip with Mom to Seattle over the summer didn't help much. We were apart more than we were together. Even the day I told you I liked you I didn't think we'd last, but I wanted to give it a shot." He snorted. "I just thought we'd last a bit longer than one date."

I smiled a little, relieved. "I'm not sorry for liking Mario, but I am sorry for hurting you."

He shook his head. "As long as we can still be friends, don't worry about it." He ran a finger down my jaw and kissed my cheek. "You've always been my best friend, and I don't see that changing, no matter where life takes us. Though that probably won't be L.A."

I shook my head. "I don't think it will."

He nodded. "That's fine. I was beginning to rethink that, anyway. It's a great place to visit, but I doubt we could have made it there."

I laughed into his shoulder, feeling so much happier than when I woke up that morning. "I thought the same." I turned my head so that I was resting it on his shoulder.

Our interactions felt different now that we had agreed to be friends. We'd been missing that spark for a long time, and now I knew it had been fading even for him, too. I felt better. Our food came and we ate in comfortable silence. When George was debating the need for dessert, I told him, "We can skip it. I have something I want to do."

"Mario?" I nodded. He gave me another squeeze. "Okay." He got up and we went to his truck. When we pulled out on the road, he said, "I'll drop you off at your place."

"Okay." I looked at him. "I'm still sorry, George."

"Hey, like I said, as long as we stay friends, don't worry about it."

"Best friends." He smiled as I took his hand.

---

Twenty minutes later, I was pulling into the Lopez's driveway. I saw the black Toyota and hoped he'd gotten home. Before I could get out, my phone rang. I fumbled to find it in the dark, catching it right before the call went to voicemail. "Hello?"

"Are you seriously here?" Jimmy asked.

"Are you, like, watching from the window?"

"I happened to be at my desk, which is facing the driveway, when your headlights lit my homework."

"Mario there?"

"He is. What are your intentions, madam?"

"George and I agreed things might be better if we ended them."

Silence. "I'll send him down. Wait on the porch." He hung up.

I got out and walked to the front door. My heart sped up, this time I was nervous in a good way. The door opened, revealing Mario. He didn't look happy to see me. "What do you want?" was all he said.

"To talk. Would you mind stepping out?" He frowned but did as I asked, closing the door behind himself. "Um, I'm not even sure where to start." I looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing shoes.

"The beginning is always a good place." He leaned on the door and crossed his arms.

"Right." I separated a lock of hair and chewed on the end again.

Mario sighed and stepped closer. He lowered my hand, pulling the hair with it. Sparks seemed to erupt from his touch. "What's wrong?" He looked worried.

"Nothing's wrong." I grinned at him, still feeling a tingly where our skin was touching. "I think I'm finally getting something right."

"What are you talking about?"

I took his hand that was wrapped around my wrist, and he raised one eyebrow. "Us."

He jerked back as if I'd slapped him. "Us?"

I nodded, suddenly unsure. "George and I decided we're better off as friends."

He stared at me a long time. I began to worry I did the wrong thing. "You're not with him," he finally said. I shook my head. He swallowed and pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back and buried my face in his shoulder.

This moment felt so right. This is the moment I would later go back to, the one moment I felt like I was slotting my life into place, like I was holding the one I'd love forever. My eyes slid closed, and I basked in the feeling. Was this what everyone felt or was this because he was now my Mario?

He pulled back and I saw love in his eyes. "You didn't have to, Daisy."

"I know. I wanted to." I touched the side of his face and he leaned into my touch. "I like you a lot. I've felt that way for a long time now. I should've done something sooner."

He smiled and pulled me closer again, holding me tighter. "I forgive you." He kissed my hair. "I really like you, too." My heart pounded as I buried my face even more in his chest, trying to hide the stupid grin on my face.

I let him hold me a few moments before I pulled away. "I need to get home."

"Oh, right." He reluctantly released me. "Good night, then, Daisy."

I smiled at him and began heading back to my car. As I drove away, I watched Mario in my mirror. He was still standing on his porch when I turned off his street.

---

"I'm just surprised you guys didn't get together sooner," Susan said when I told her the next day. We were in some clothes store in the mall, and George was on a bench outside. "You two seem perfect."

I grinned. "I wouldn't say perfect, but he feels right."

She grinned at me. "You two will get married, I just know it."

"Hold up, now. It's too early for that."

She giggled. "You gotta let me be your bridesmaid."

"That's a given." I giggled.

Ten more minutes and we were walking out. George hopped up. "Finally. Thought I'd lost you two."

I punched his arm lightly. "We're not like that."

"Besides," Susan said in her most reasonable voice, "we happen to like looking good."

George rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He gave me a sideways glance. "Want to play in the arcade? We can play that racing game again."

I grinned. "Sure."

"I'm so gonna beat you this time," he said as we began walking that way. "You're going down."

"Not me, friend," I replied, laughing. We broke into an almost run, laughing as we sprinted the last twenty or so feet. He got to the counter first. I ran up, not even panting. "I let you win."

He grinned at me. "Yeah, right. Just feed the machine." It was one thing we agreed on: the last one to the counter paid for all the games. As we sat and fed the machine, everything felt right. Just knowing I was about to play my favorite game with one of my best friends while another one watched, and Mario was coming to dinner at my house that night made everything feel like it was slotting into place.

George grinned as the game started, and I couldn't help but return it as I got ready to beat him again.