Mario was waiting for me at our locker. "Hey," he said with a smile. So different from yesterday. It didn't take long before the smile left, though, when he looked at my face. "What's wrong?"

I sighed as I opened the locker, feeling slightly guilty. "Apparently I'm good at doing makeup for people."

"I thought that would be a good thing, especially because of where you work."

"Normally it would, but that means I have to help out doing things like people's makeup at plays."

He held up a hand and I stopped putting stuff in our locker. "Are you saying you can't go to the play on Friday?" I nodded timidly. "Is this because you'll be doing their makeup for them?"

"Yes. I can't go with you because I'll already be there, just backstage."

He grinned. "That's awesome, Daisy."

I blinked at him. That was unexpected. I must not have heard right. "Come again?"

"That's awesome. You get to see everything that happens backstage, as well as the play itself. You'll be in the second-best spot in the entire place."

"What's the best spot?"

He raised one eyebrow. "With me, of course." We stared at each other for a long moment before we both laughed a little bit. He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked to class, the gesture seeming so natural that I didn't give it a thought – I just relaxed into it. When we got close to our destination, he gave me a squeeze before removing his arm and slipping his hand in his pocket.

I noticed some people staring at us. We just walked in and took our seats. I didn't allow myself to wonder about the gesture. He probably didn't mean anything by it. Right?

---

At lunch, we sat with our usual group. Susan and Don were rehearsing for the school play. They'd gotten the lead roles, who ended up as a couple at the end, so they were reading lines for a romantic scene. I felt distinctly uncomfortable with Mario on one side and George on my other, though I was having trouble placing my finger on exactly why. Of course, Mario looked more interested in them than in me, as did Dan, but George was glancing over at me during the more romantic lines.

Under the table, George grabbed my hand and held it. My heart sped up and I looked up at him through my lashes. It was the one look he told me before he loved. He looked at me and before I knew it, he was leaning in closer. His fingertips brushed the hair from my forehead and slid down the side of my face, bringing goosebumps to the surface of my skin. I shivered happily. He slid his thumb across my cheek and gave me a peck there.

I heard a giggle and looked over to see everyone at our table watching us. George pulled back and I felt myself turn red. PDA had always embarrassed me, and, for some reason, George doing that in front of my friends – especially Mario – made it worse.

When he pulled away, everyone went back to what they were doing. Still, my appetite was gone. I picked at my food until the bell rang. George tapped me on the arm as I got up. I turned to him.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you," he whispered. His eyes were locked on mine. He touched my arm, wrapping his fingers around me.

"It's okay, George," I whispered back. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and pulled away. "We're going to be late for class," I said louder so Mario would hear. He nodded and walked away.

Mario and I walked towards our next class. He nudged me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

He shrugged as he took my books from me. I let him take them, unsure why he was. "It just seemed like you zoned out on us for a minute there."

I sighed and felt another blush come. "I just don't like PDA. I mean, it doesn't bother me when others do it, but not me."

Mario stopped me just outside the classroom. "Doesn't George know?"

I nodded. "He does, but he was just caught up in the moment. I was, too. I forgot everyone else was in the room for a moment."

Mario shifted and handed my books back to me. "I get that," he said quietly, as if there were more to that statement. Before I could ask about it, the bell rang, and we hurried to our seats.

---

Things began looking up at work. After I'd impressed Brittany with my makeup skills, she warmed up to me. Her and Shay would talk to me when I came in. Kenny still seemed really shy and hardly spoke with me at all.

At that point, things seemed to be looking up. Not that things were bad, but they certainly seemed to be better than they had been.

George came in that afternoon to see where I worked. He leaned on the counter to talk to me, and Mr. Scott saw him on the cameras. He came in and told George to either get his hair done or get out because, apparently, I wasn't allowed to have my boyfriend come in and take up my time. It didn't help when I explained that, technically, he wasn't my boyfriend yet.

The good feeling I had despite George getting chased out didn't go away when I got off and Larry took me home. It followed me through the rest of the evening. I got my homework done in record time that night and, in general, was feeling pretty good. I even managed to finish the book I had to do my report on by a reasonable hour.

At school the next morning, I found George and the Lopez brothers waiting for me. Mario seemed to be telling a story and was actually making George laugh. Dan, who obviously knew it, was leaning on a locker, a small smile on his face. When I came up, George grabbed my hand and turned to me. "Hey, gorgeous."

I smiled at him. "Hey, George." I used my free hand to spin my combination. "You smell nice today." He had put on a different cologne, and he smelled amazing.

He grinned. "It's the one you said you liked."

"I can't believe you remembered." I grinned at him as I discreetly took my hand from his. He crossed his arms and leaned on another locker while I put books in mine. "I said that probably, what, a year ago now?"

"Probably." He tucked my hair behind my ear, which immediately fell back where it was. My gaze went past him to the Lopez brothers. Mario had a weird look on his face and Dan was watching us with open curiosity. "What are you doing Friday night? The usual?"

"No, I'm going to the premiere of Pieces at the Dairy Arts Center." George's expression hardened. "I'll be helping the girl from work do the cast's makeup for the show."

His face relaxed. "For a moment there I thought you were going with Lopez," he whispered as he put my hair behind my ear again. It fell right back to where it had been.

"He's going, too, but to watch it. I think Dan's going with him. Either way, he said he'd give me a ride home. Larry's bringing me because I have to be there super early."

George took me by the hand and led me in the direction of my first class before Dan or Mario could speak to us. "I don't like you spending so much time with that guy."

I raised an eyebrow. "We're just friends, George. I wouldn't cheat on you."

He sighed. "I know that, Daze, but there's other people in this world. If they see you hanging around him so much, they could start thinking that there's something going on between you. Then you're going out with me, too, so it wouldn't look good. I don't want people to spread rumors about you."

"Thanks, George, but they're not going to." I stopped and we turned to each other. "If you want me to, I won't hang out with Mario so much."

He let out a breath and smiled at me. "I would."

I nodded. "Okay, then. I'll only spend time with him when I run into him or everyone else is busy." It happened more often than he thought.

George nodded. "Sounds good." He kissed the hand he was holding. "My class is on the other side of the building. I'll see you at lunch." I nodded and watched him walk away.

Barely two moments later, Mario materialized next to me. "What's up?" he asked, making me jump. I glanced at him, not wanting to tell him exactly what George and I had been talking about. But he saw it in my face, I guess. That, or he'd been following close enough to hear us. "He doesn't want us to spend as much time together, does he? Well, I can't blame him. I kind of did muscle my way in, huh?"

I turned to him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I kind of forced my way into your circle and been hanging out with you more than anyone else."

I shook my head adamantly. "No. If I didn't want to hang out with you, we wouldn't have."

He raised one eyebrow. "So you're saying you wanted to spend time with me?"

I gave an exasperated sigh and he chuckled. "You're insufferable."

He gave me a mock bow. "You're not the first to say that, and you won't be the last, I'm sure." He gave me one of his grins that I'd begun to think of as his trademark. "Since we won't be hanging out today, I'd like to hang out with you Friday night after the play. Sound good?"

I feigned thinking hard. He tapped my shoulder playfully with his fist and I laughed. "Sounds good."

---

"'Just a few inches,' she said." I was sweeping around Kenny's station and overheard him muttering to himself. He slammed his scissors back into place. "'A little extra off the ends is fine,' she said. Right. Then why did she get mad, huh?" He turned to me, and I stopped sweeping. "Why would she tell me that and then, when I cut off four inches to give her the style she wanted, she complains to Mr. Scott that I'm terrible at my job?"

I leaned on the broom. "I think she just didn't realize how short it would actually look."

"She's the one that asked for a bob!" He slammed a comb down.

"She may have thought it was longer."

He turned and leaned back on the counter, resting his hands on the edge. "You're probably right. But I hate when some customer impacts my job performance in my boss's eyes over nothing."

It was later that afternoon and the first time Kenny had really talked to me. Now that I saw him closer, I could tell he was younger than I had originally thought. He was closer to my age. He couldn't have been older than about nineteen or twenty. Once I realized that, I noticed Brittany and Shay were around the same age. Shay was a little older, maybe twenty-two, but she looked like the oldest.

"I get that." I sighed as I went back to sweeping. "I'd hate it, too. But sometimes the customers are just mean like that. We can't control their actions. We can only be nice and do our best to please the people, but we can't do anything beyond that." I paused and smirked to myself. "Well, besides duct tape their mouth maybe, but you'd be on your own."

I heard a small snort behind me and turned. Kenny was suppressing laughter. "You've got a point," was all he could manage without letting go. He turned away and finished straightening his tools before Mr. Scott came out to speak to him.

In the meantime, I finished sweeping and went back to the front desk. The girl that turned Kenny in went past. I forced myself not to mention anything to her when she stopped to pay me. Once she was gone, I started to go find Kenny, but he was already in the lobby. "Well?" I asked.

Kenny shrugged and sat in the desk chair near mine that Mr. Scott had left. "Could have been worse. I just stood there and took it like a man."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to always make sure of what the customer wants, and then he told me pretty much what you did." The corner of his mouth jerked, but he didn't smile. "Well, without the tape part."

I smiled to myself and looked down. The bell on the door rang and I looked up again. A girl had come in. She was beautiful and reminded me somewhat of Mario. I quickly checked the appointment book and stood. "Maria Lopez?" She nodded. "Mario's sister, I assume?"

She cocked her head. "You wouldn't be Daisy, would you? He talks about you all the time."

I blushed. "I am. Um, right this way." I began walking towards the nail artist. "Do you remember my brother, Larry?"

She was silent for a minute. "He seems familiar. Why?"

I shrugged. "He just heard you were back and asked me if I'd seen you yet. I guess he figures that my hanging out with Mario means I know his whole family." My words made me cringe internally. I wanted to stuff a rag in my mouth, but my foot had that covered. Why did I put it that way? It kind of put my brother and Mario in a bad light. Larry wanted me to get her to like him, not think he was weird.

Maria smiled at me, but she had an odd expression. "Okay." She sat in the chair. Brittany was coming our way, so I went back to my seat at the front desk.

As quickly as possible.

Kenny was waiting for me. "Know her?"

I shook my head as I plopped down into my seat. "No, I more know her two younger brothers. Especially Mario."

He nodded and crossed his legs. "You're with him a lot."

I took a breath and looked him in the eyes. "I know, but he's not my boyfriend. I already have one."

Kenny held up his hands and gave me an innocent look. "I'm just stating a fact, Daisy. Don't shoot the messenger."

I froze. "Did George put you up to this?"

He gave me a confused look. "Don't know him. Shay wants to know. She wants to know everyone's business. I won't tell her if you don't want me to, though."

I flushed and turned away. Great. I'd really done it. Kenny must think I'm weird. He was probably even thinking about getting up and leaving. I waited, but he didn't go anywhere. "Um, no, you can tell her," I said after a pause. "I don't really care. She could've just asked me herself to begin with."

He shrugged. "She should. I told her to, but she prefers making me do it, I guess."

I waited, fiddling with the calendar page. A few of the numbers were wrong, so I fixed them. I could feel Kenny watching me. I checked the appointment book. No one for him for another half hour. I had a feeling he was probably going to sit there until then.

"You're quiet, aren't you?" he asked.

I turned to him. "Not all the time. Just sometimes." He smiled at me and tipped his head back. "What about you? You seem quiet."

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, smiling. "Sometimes it helps you hear the world better."

I raised one eyebrow. "I thought that was a given."

He shook his head as he looked at me again. "I don't just mean that it forces you to pay attention to all the things going on around you. I mean it also helps you learn how to listen when someone else talks and makes you notice the little things no one else does." He studied my face for a moment. "Like right now I can tell you're curious but also creeped out." He grinned at me, revealing perfect teeth. "Don't worry – I'll stop."

I shook my head slowly. "How did you-"

"How did I know you were creeped out? Practice. Reading people is a hobby of mine. Well, one. I've got many other interests. Like my band."

"You've got a band?" I was more than a little surprised and he laughed in my face.

"Yes, I've got a band. I thought the hair would've given it away." He pointed at his head. His hair was in his face, covering one eye, while the back was kind of short. The nose ring was gone today. "Girls love it like this. Whenever we play to an audience, they tend to scream."

"You play something?"

"I sing."

"Cool. What kind of music do you do?"

He shrugged. "A little bit of everything, really. My favorite to perform, personally, is soul." He held up a hand. "I know, I know, I don't look very 'soulful'. But I assure you, we're not bad. In fact, if you ever want to come to a show, we have one on Friday."

I shook my head. "The play, remember? We're doing hair and makeup for the cast for the whole thing. We'll be there almost all night."

He grinned. "I know. Our show isn't until later. We're performing around ten."

"Where?"

He thought a moment. "We play in a different spot every week. This week, we're playing by the huge amphitheater, in the parking lot. You should totally come."

I fiddled with a pencil on the desk. "I don't know. But maybe."

He grinned. "I'll take that as a yes." He glanced at his watch. "I'm going to setup for my next client." He left, leaving me with the feeling he only wanted to tell me about his band.

I spun in my chair. Maybe Mario would want to go. Maybe we could go together.