"Want to hang out today?" Mario asked when we met up at our locker the next morning.

I glanced sideways at him. "Good morning to you, too." I unzipped my backpack and began taking my homework out. It had been late by the time I had finished it, so I was tired.

He sighed and began doing the same. "Morning. You didn't answer me, though."

"We can," I answered, nodding. "I'm job hunting today, though."

"That's fine. I can help you out."

I glanced at him, eyebrow raised. "You?" It made sense. After all, he did have that wad of money. He had to have had some sort of job.

He glanced at me. "Of course. I'm pretty well-known, you know."

"Really?"

He turned to me. "You don't know?" He seemed really skeptical.

"Know what?"

After a moment he shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I mentioned it." With one last look at me, we began making our way to class. "So," he said a minute later. "Where do you think you'd like to work?"

I shrugged. "Honestly? The art gallery."

"Really?"

I nodded. "That, or a desk job. Like a receptionist, you know?"

He nodded. "I know a place or two you could try."

"Okay. We can head out after the final bell if you'd like."

Mario opened the classroom door for me. "Sounds like a plan." He smiled at me as I walked past.

Now, I didn't think anything about this little gesture because he held the door for a lot of people. I mean, come on. It was just a door. But I probably should have at least noticed how he looked at me. After all, if one person noticed, then a lot of people probably did. What made me think was that day at lunch, when Mario and I were heading to a table and Susan waved wildly at us. We headed over to her table and when we sat, she grinned at us.

"Daisy! Who's your boyfriend? I don't remember seeing him around," she said enthusiastically.

Mario and I looked at each other and he shrugged before beginning to eat. I looked back at Susan. "This is Mario Lopez."

"Oh! Like that actor and TV host!" Susan exclaimed. This is how everything was with her: said loud or with more enthusiasm than your average child. Sometimes it wore me out just listening her.

Mario smiled at her and nodded. "Yep."

When she opened her mouth to say something else, I spotted George and Dan coming over. "Susan, I don't have a boyfriend. Mario and I aren't dating."

She looked surprised. "Really? I see him walking to class with you and holding doors open for you. That usually means you're dating."

"I'm really not." George sat next to Mario and Dan sat across the table. "In fact, George and I will be dating this fall. Dad said not until I'm seventeen, so." I shrugged and George and I shared a smile. "In fact, we have it all planned out."

George nodded as he swallowed. "Yep. I'm skipping the 'dinner and a movie' thing. Instead, I'm taking her to the theater. There's some new up-and-coming director from the college showcasing his stuff. The play doesn't open for another couple of months, so I figured I could take her on opening night."

Susan sighed dramatically. "Sounds amazing. You're awesome."

"Ahem," said her boyfriend. He raised an eyebrow at her.

She blushed. "Sorry, Don." She kissed his cheek. "You're better than him." He smiled at her and he turned back to his food. She watched him for a moment before turning to me. "We still on for tonight?"

"Absolutely." I grinned at her.

"What's tonight?" Dan asked.

"Girls' night," I told him. When he gave me a confused look, I explained. "Susan and I hang out every Friday and Saturday. We sleepover at one of our places Friday night and watch movies or something."

Susan nodded. "My favorite thing to binge watch is the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice." She gave another dramatic sigh. "Mr. Darcy is sooo handsome." She rested her chin on her hand and stared into space, ignoring the glance Don gave her.

Mario snorted, but otherwise had stayed out of the conversation. I glanced at him. "What?" He shook his head, chewing. "Oh, come on."

Grimacing, he said, "Darcy is not handsome. And that style of clothing is so complicated to get on and off."

Don tilted his head. "I don't find it all that hard."

George and I looked at each other in surprise. Dan was eyeing his brother. Mario reddened a little, but it was hard to tell. "How would you know that?" George asked. I chewed slowly, wanting to hear what he'd say.

Mario, definitely red now, simply shrugged. "I played a minor role in a community theater version of it last year."

I nodded, looking into George's eyes. He frowned a little at me. "That sounds cool. Have you done a lot of community theater?" I asked.

Mario swallowed. "No, not really." He stuffed a large bite of food into his mouth and chewed silently. I got the point and stopped prying, though Don didn't seem to get it. He began asking Mario more questions about the play he'd been in, then regaled us with tales from the last local production he'd been in. Never had lunch seemed to go by so slowly.

---

After classes that day, I followed Mario to his car. "Where are we going first?" I asked him.

He grinned at me." A friend of my dad's owns a salon and he's in bad need of a receptionist. It's over by Starbucks. His name is Mr. Scott."

"Okay." Silence consumed the inside of the car and I felt a need to break it. "Are you going to join any of the clubs at school?"

He was quiet for a few moments. "Probably not. Dan's joining Drama, though."

I nodded. "He has the look that's right for the theater."

"What about me?"

I looked over at him. "Yeah, kind of. You've definitely got the 'quiet and mysterious' vibe."

He looked over, amused. "Mysterious? How am I mysterious?"

"Well," I began with a smile. "You're new and no one really knows you yet. That definitely makes you mysterious."

He glanced at me. "If anyone wanted to know anything about me, all they need to do is ask." He gave me a longer look and I felt myself blush.

Okay, then, Mr. Honest. "Why do you seem to know so many people here?"

He frowned and squirmed a little. "Pass."

"But you just said you'd answer whatever I asked!"

"No, what I said was that if you ever wanted to know something about me, all you had to do was ask. That's not a valid question."

I crossed my arms and seethed to myself for a few minutes. "It is valid," I said as he slowed.

"We're here," he responded. Since he clearly wanted me to let him off the hook, I sighed and let it go.

For now.

When we entered the salon, the first thing that hit me was chemicals. Someone had recently gotten a perm or a coloring. I almost coughed, but fought it when I saw an older man sitting at the front desk, a phone pressed to his ear. He glanced up, saw Mario, and grinned.

"Okay, it's all set for you," he told the person on the other end in a gruff voice. "Next Tuesday at one." He listened a moment, told them they were welcome, and hung up the phone. "Now, what can I do for you, young Mr. Lopez?"

Mario returned the grin. "I found a receptionist for you." He gestured to me.

The man studied me. "Oh, yeah? Tell me: what are your qualifications for this job?"

"Um." I froze and looked at Mario. He gestured for me to go on. I swallowed. "Uh, I can type fast?"

He sighed and looked back at Mario. "Maybe you can tell me?"

Mario gave one nod. "Of course. She works very well with others, and she's organized. I can tell she's a quick learner and is really good with people."

"Would you be able to pick up techniques and do things like nails and makeup eventually?" he asked.

I nodded. "Absolutely." I held up my hand. The manicure I'd given myself was still holding up.

He leaned back in the chair. "I would need one of my stylists to tell me whether that's good or not, but I'll take your word for it." He was quiet for a long moment. "Tell you what," he said finally. "Leave me your name and number, and I'll give it some thought. I'll get back to you tomorrow. You're still in school or are you graduated?"

"Junior year."

He nodded. "Thought so." He was quiet for another long moment. "Again, I need to think about it. It's really my wife's salon. She started this place, got it off the ground and all that. Ultimately, she decides." He sat a pen and a sheet of printer paper on the counter. I wrote my name, number, and address. "I'll call you in the morning." The phone rang. He sighed. "Have a good day." He picked up the phone, giving us the hint to leave.

Mario turned and began whistling a tune as he walked out. I quickly followed him. Once we were in the car, I turned to him, smiling. "Thank you."

He stopped whistling and glanced at me. "That's not a yes, Daze. He may still decide not to hire you. I think we should make a few more stops before calling it a day and going home."

I frowned and sat back. "Are you sure? That sounded a lot like a yes to me."

"I'm sure," he responded with a sigh. "Trust me, I've dealt with this stuff fora long while. Jimmy and Maria had some after-school jobs, and I had one, myself." I felt myself deflate a little. He glanced over and touched my arm briefly before pulling away. "I'm sorry."

I sighed. "No, it's okay. You're right." I slid down in my seat and waited quietly for him to get where he was going.

All three of the next jobs he took me to see about were pretty much the same. We went in, he talked to them, I stood there, said a couple of words, and we left. The ride to each was the same: Mario saying I shouldn't get my hopes up yet, that they could all say no, and then him glancing over at me and saying he's sorry while he barely touches my arm for the briefest of moments.

We left the last one and before he could say anything, I cut him off. "I know, I know: they might say no."

He smiled at me. "Actually, I wanted to know if you wanted to go do something fun now. We're not all that far from Pekoe and an art gallery."

I grinned. "Sure!" I could already taste that perfect cup of coffee and see the pictures by local and famous artists. I sighed. That one little sound seemed to light Mario's face up. I don't think I'd seen him happier in the time I'd known him. Which made me happy.

Two hours later, we were leaving the art gallery and heading back to my place. I was really relaxed on the outside, but on the inside, I was itching to get out a pencil and start sketching. Mario glanced over at me, grinning. I don't think he stopped the entire two hours we'd been out. "You enjoyed yourself?"

I smiled at him. "Absolutely. Thank you for taking me today."

"You're very welcome." He was quiet for a couple of moments. "Do you want to grab some food? Like a burger or something, maybe? I'm hungry."

I shook my head. "You can get something, but I have to get home. Larry made dinner."

"Oh, okay. I'll take you straight there, then." He turned down another street. Silence remained for one or two moments. "You and Susan hang out tonight, right?" I nodded, suddenly remembering she was likely already at my house. "What about tomorrow afternoon?"

"Um," I said, trying to get over the urgency to get home that was consuming me." She goes home for dinner, so she leaves around four. Why?"

He nodded. "Want to come over and hang out then? You can meet my sisters."

"Uh, okay, I guess. I mean, I don't know what anyone else has planned for me, or anything. Um, Larry may want to come, too. Is that okay?"

He thought a moment. "I don't see why it wouldn't be, so, sure, he can come."

"Good." I nodded, smiling to myself. We were quiet for a little bit. "I'll be glad when I have a job."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, glancing over. "Why's that?"

I shrugged. "It gives me freedom. I'll be able to get a license and have money for me." I left off the most compelling reason for me: My own money means I can save it for future events, events that likely would involve George. I wasn't comfortable talking to Mario about that stuff, but then I didn't know him all that well. It made sense.

He nodded. "That it does." He sighed and I wanted to question him, but I refrained. All day he'd been evading my questions despite claiming he would answer them, and I didn't think coffee and art would change it. The only remedy was, in my opinion, knowing me better. That's how George was: He didn't trust easy and was quick to lose his trust in you. Before he'd tell you anything, he had to observe you for a little while. It took me almost a year to get him to just talk to me. Over the following year, I got him used to Susan and then her boyfriend. I could tell he'd come a long way, though. He would socialize with strangers, even if he didn't trust them.

Personally, I need the person to earn my trust, but I don't need that long to trust someone. For me, if I don't risk it, I'll never know. I mean, I obviously wouldn't tell them the big things or put my life in their hands, but still.

Mario pulled up in my driveway after a rather long stretch of silence. "Well," he said as he shifted to park. "Looks like we're here."

I looked at my house. "Yep."

We still just sat there. I watched him fidget from the corner of my eye. Right as I was about to ask him what was wrong, he switched off the car. "Is it okay if I hang out with you guys?" He looked up at me through his lashes, his eyes practically glowing in the dim interior of the car. In that moment, I wanted to say yes to him. He was impossibly cute.

Still, this was Girls' Night and we'd have Larry getting involved with it. But then again, maybe Mario would keep Larry busy. "You mean Larry?"

"I mean all of you." He was still looking at me the same way.

I hesitated. "You can come in for a little bit, but tonight is for me and Susan."

He smiled at me and it touched his eyes. I felt a blush coming on. When you had his attention, he was adorable. "Thanks."