By the time I got to the water garden, it was past noon and overcast. I hoped for no rain, as sneaking back into the house was going to be hard enough without leaving a trail of rainwater. The water garden was a circular Grecian style pergola around a sunken fountain. Stairs led down to a central grassy area surrounded by a ring of flowing water. I watched the water bubble up and flow down the strictly 'keep off' part of the stepped ring and wondered if I could get away with wading.

"It is really pretty, isn't it?" Kaiden said in my ear.

I let out a little scream and jumped, then turned around and slapped his arm.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He grinned, completely unrepentant, and then led the way to one of the benches that were placed at intervals underneath the pergola.

"So, hi," I said as he rummaged through his backpack. Why had he even brought the thing? Was this going to be another tutoring session? My mood plummeted. What other reason would he have for asking me out? What did I expect, that he wanted to date me? I slumped a little farther down the bench.

"Ah ha!" He triumphantly pulled a can of Pibb from the jumble of stuff from his backpack and handed it to me.

"How did you know?" I asked clutching the can of my beloved obscure soft drink. "Where did you even find this?"

"A little bird named Gabby might have chirped at me about it," he replied. He took it back from me, wiped the condensation from the can with his navy tee shirt, opened it, and handed it back.

"Of course she did."

But I couldn't stay mad with a can of Pibb in my hand. I couldn't remember the last time I had it. The weird, almost fruity smell of it bubbled up with the escaping carbonation and tickled my nose.

"I've never had this before. If it poisons me, it's going to be your fault, Mator!" he took a cautious sip of his own can. His eyebrows lifted up in surprise. "It's like low rent Dr. Pepper!"

"It is not low rent Dr. Pepper," I objected. "It's quirky Dr. Pepper."

"Meh. A rip-off is a rip-off. But I see why you like it." He leaned back on the bench and brushed his hair from his eyes, gazing out over the fountain as he sipped.

"Thanks," I replied.

I knew I shouldn't drink the Pibb. I'd lost seven pounds so far on the all cabbage soup all the time diet. How many calories are even in a can of soda? I squinted at the label while Kaiden waved at one of his football buddies, who ambled over. He was taller than Kaiden and heavier, with a big shock of pale blonde hair that stuck straight up from his head. He was wearing one of those matching nylon jersey sets from Walmart, the kind with the baggy elastic waist shorts, and a pair of trainers that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. A cloud of Bear Claw Old Spice wafted from his general direction.

"Craig, you know Kelsey?"

"Nope," Craig said after a single, disinterested glance my way. "You playing in the scrimmages next weekend?"

Their conversation washed over me, meaningless, as I sipped the Pibb and enjoyed being outside for a change. There were young families with little kids playing around, and some younger teens on skateboards ignoring the "no skateboarding" signs, plus a few people posing for photos near the prettier columns and bushes. A quick check over the rim of my soda confirmed that there was no one here that I knew. Perfect. Eventually, Craig wandered off, collecting a younger brother version of himself on a skateboard. They walked off in the direction of the actual skatepark.

"Sorry. Some of the guys refuse to believe me when I say I'm not playing this year, especially since I'm still training with the team."

"Sucks to be you, if you want to play and can't," I observed.

"It's no big deal. It's one of those rare times when my mom and I are in agreement. I'm pretty good at football, but not scholarship good. I've got other things that I should be spending my time on. I'd like to get into an Ivy League, and you know those schools want you to be well-rounded, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean." He sacrilegiously chugged the last of his Pibb and burped. "So where are you applying for?"

"I'm not."

"That makes no sense," he said after a long moment. "You're in all AP classes and you've got a super high GPA and decent extracurriculars, especially if you join Toby and Harv's A/V club with me. Or do you mean you're taking a gap year?" His puzzled, gape mouth expression cleared. "Clever! That's supposed to really help with some colleges. The ultimate in well-rounded, especially if you volunteer a lot."

"What? You joined Toby and Harv's A/V club?" I said with an only partially feigned outrage. "Don't you know it's just a front?" I was super-glad for the distraction away from the college subject.

"But a front for what, Kelsey?" Kaiden wiggled his eyebrows as he squashed his empty soda can, then mine between his hands and stowed them back in his backpack. Please tell me it's a front for black sex magic," he said with a goofy grin. "Gabs told me about the Wicca thing." The grin faded. "You're not actually dating Toby or Harv, are you?"

"No! And there's no sex magic either. Just Tobs and Harv's fake A/V club that's going to do nothing. And you joined. Really?"

"Gabs asked, I agreed. She's joining too. They need at least 5 people and a teacher mentor. Ms. Weston agreed to mentor us if we'd all agree to be extras in this semester's production of Man of La Mancha. I guess there's a lot of crowd scenes? She said something about gypsies and prisoners?"

"I have no idea. Anyway, I can't join Theater club. I don't have the $30 fee," I said.

"I already paid your fee. You can work off the other fifteen tutoring me this week." Kaiden's grin was unrepentant.

"So let's get this straight," I said, crossing my arms across my chest and glaring at him best I could. "Thanks to you I'm now signed up for the bogus A/V club and Theater. Why? Because you thought I didn't have enough to do? You barely know me!"

"Kel. Don't be mad. How can I get to know you if we never get to hang out? Gabs explained it all to me. Mrs. Simmons can't object to you doing school stuff, now can she?" He pulled a bag of candy fruit chews from his backpack and waved them at me, tempting.

"Your mom will murder us if we eat those." I had a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth, and so did he.

"Come on. Live a little, Kel." He booped me on the end of the nose with one long, football callused finger. It felt like a kiss.

At 2:54 pm, Kaiden dropped me off at the end of the block. I expected him to drive a Camero or something fancy, but he drove a Jeep that had seen better days. After saying a hasty goodbye, I sprinted down the alley behind the Simmons' house, huffing and puffing. Their van was just pulling into the driveway as I slithered through the basement window and onto my bed. I hastily cracked open "Magick for Teens" and pretended to read. Luckily for me, only Kim came into our room.

"Well, well, what have you been up to?" Kim asked with big grin.

"Nothing!"

"Better rinse that "nothing" soda stain out of your shirt before Ann sees it," Kim commented as she changed out of her church dress and into some faded cutoffs and a ratty tee shirt. "At least you're ready for the garage cleaning."

I looked myself over. My two sizes too big hand me down tee-shirt did indeed have a small soda stain down by the hem, and my jeggings were maybe more actually worn out than distressed, but I didn't think I looked that bad. I hopped up to peer at myself in the cheap mirror that Kim dragged home from the thrift store where she had a part-time job.

"I look like a bag lady!" I said and then burst into tears, thinking about what Kaiden must have thought of me. I didn't even dress up to go out with him. Not that we went out on a date or anything, but still. He fed me soda and fruit chews. Surely that was sort of a date? A friend date?

Kim handed me a wad of tissues. "Yeah. You really need some new clothes. There's an opening at the thrift store. Come put in an application and you can have first pick of the new stock at twenty percent off discount for employees. Ann can't complain about you having a job and being a productive member of society."

I opened my mouth to tell Kim about Kaiden the A/V and theater club thing and then shut it over the words before they could escape. Better to be over-booked and out of the Simmons way than not busy enough and in the direct line of fire for Ann's lectures and Mark's groping hands.

"Exactly. You trust me on this foster kid stuff. I'm the expert here. I know how to work the system." Kim peered at me. "You snuck out, didn't you?"

"Nope."

"You did! Good for you. I won't tell. No profit in it. But come on, we need to get the garage sorted by nightfall or Mark's going to have one of his rage-outs."

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