"Hey, what took you so long?" Drew joked when he saw Jennifer locking her door.

"I didn't use that much time! But anyway, my friend called. I hope you don't mind that she's going to meet us there. It would be a good idea if she comes with us, since she gets out more than I do."

"Sure, I don't mind. But are we going to ride in my car?"

"Oh...I don't know. Maybe. It all depends on how Melody gets there. It would be better if she drove, and she's got a Lexus. But then what are we going to do with your car?"

"Huh. Well I'll just drive it back here."

"Okay, if you don't mind. Or we can just leave her car in the parking lot. *giggle* Don't tell her I said that."

"Why not?"

"Her Lexus is her baby! If she found out that I suggested leaving it in a parking lot, she'll kill me!"

Drew laughed and started his car. "Did you bring any CDs?"

"Yup. Of course I did." Jennifer replied.

"Great! What do you have?"

"Both my Gundam Wing soundtracks, a CD with different anime theme songs, and two of my Kyuuketsuki Miyu CDs."

"Kyuuketsuki Miyu?"

"Ya. Miyu. You've never heard of it? It's been around since 1989! It's a great anime. It's also number one on my list. Sorry but Gundam Wing comes second, because Miyu was the first 'real' anime I watched. Actually, I saw Totoro first, but it's not like your typical anime. And Sailor Moon doesn't really count, although I was quite obsessive about it for a few years. I donno, I guess I just grew out of it. But I still watch it on tv once in awhile. And I have four tapes."

Drew snickered. "Usagi and her odangos. Well actually it would be a pretty cool anime if it wasn't so repetitive. Tell me about this Miyu show."

"Well, literally translated it means Vampire Miyu. But, the company that produced the OAV translated it as Vampire Princess Miyu. I don't prefer it that way; it sounds too much like an anime for little girls. Anyway, it's about this girl named Miyu, who's thirteen. She's from a family of Vampires, and they're the Guardians of the Shinmas, God-Demons. Miyu doesn't want to be a Vampire though. Oh and she also has this 'Western' Shinma, named Larva, who's her friend, servant, etc.."

"Heeey, sounds tight! Especially the Shinma. Maybe you could show me sometime?"

"Sure! I'd love to. You're not the first I've tried to get hooked on Miyu. Just ask Melody. She'll tell you how crazy I am about anime."

"That's ok. I'm a big fan myself. Especially of Gundam Wing. You like Duo, right? Any particular reason?"

"Um...well I gotta admit this. Heero's the one that made me watch it once in awhile. But then later on, after surfing the web a lot, I guess I kinda started liking Duo more. That's when my 'gotta have Gundam Wing everyday' obsession started. I donno what exactly it is about him that I find attractive..besides his looks. He's funny, hyperactive, cool...I find myself sometimes being envious of him, even thought I know what happened when he was a kid. And I know how he feels, so to be able to hide it all under that mask, wow. I don't see how he does it every day. And Deathscythe is just plain cool, enough said. The Zero is too, but I think it's too colorful. And I don't like Nataku and Heavyarm's colors, and Quatre's is...cute. Don't ask. So, Deathscythe's my fave. Besides, the green eyes just look better on black. When I saw the DS Hell the first time, I was just like ohmigosh. It looks exactly like something from Hell, you know? The wings and stuff. I'm sorry, am I talking too much? A piece of warning, once you get me started on anime, I cannot shut up."

Drew laughed. "That's ok. You know, it's kinda cute."

Jennifer blushed a light shade of scarlet for the second time that morning. "So, what are your reasons?"

"I like the nickname for Duo, Shinigami. And black is just a cool color. The scythe rules too. I can't believe it can be used under water. You'd think it'd go out or something, but it doesn't."

"Ya..oh take a right turn here. There it is, and Mel's already here."

Drew parked in the space next to Melody's car, and they got out. The little cafe wasn't really crowded, as it was only eleven in the morning.

"Jenn! Over here." Melody exclaimed.

"Hey Mel! Drew, this is Melody Chao. Melody, this is Drew Maxwell. He's my new neighbor, and Melody here is one of my closest friends. You'll meet all my weird friends when school starts in three weeks. Ugh." Jennifer emphasized Drew's last name.

Melody's eyes widened at the guy's name. "Hi, nice to meet you! And don't listen to Jenn here, we're not ALL weird. Well, you'll find this to be a pretty boring city. But that's ok, because we know all the fun places, so we'll take you there."

*chuckle* "Great! I can't wait to go somewhere. So far all I've seen are convenience stores and the little mall by our apartment."

"That place IS small. Listen, do you like to dance? Melody knows some really great clubs. But can you get us in?"

"I love to party! And can I get you in? That's too simple! Of course I can. I've got a fake I.D. card, and you two just dress up a little and poof, we're through."

"Oh wow really? Tight. Ok well we'll go to the Galleria today then. Afterwards we'll come back, change, and go clubbing. One thing, don't tell Jennifer's mom we went clubbing. She'll have our heads for it. Just say we got caught in a traffic jam coming back from the Galleria, and then we had a late dinner and went to the movies."

Jennifer sweat-dropped at this. "Me-el! You don't need to tell him that! Sheesh..some things are best left UNsaid. And do we have to go to the Galleria today? I think a certain person's working there today."

***Drew***

I wonder why Jennifer got really quiet after saying that. There was a sparkle in her eye too. Was it tears? Melody looked like she felt really bad about mentioning the Galleria.

"Hey Jenn...I'm sorry. But he turned out to be a bastard, right? So forget about him."

Jennifer gave a little sigh. I looked at the two girls, a tad confused. Was the subject an ex? Melody turned toward me and started speaking in a low voice.

"Don't repeat this, okay? Despite this being a small town, not everyone knows about what happened between Jennifer and Vincent. They started dating in seventh, but then a girl named Bethany transferred to our school during the middle of eigth. Well, for some reason all the guys were extremely attracted. So even though Jenn and Vince have known each other for six years, he just dumped her like that." She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. Then she muttered, "Oh shit. I didn't know Bethany works here. If she sees Jennifer then..."

I felt notably concerned for Jennifer, and suggested we leave. Too late though. Bethany was already at our table.

"Hello, Melody, Jennifer." A small smirk was directed at Jennifer. "And who's the cutie? Hi, Im Bethany Stevens."

I grimaced on the inside. This girl is such a fake! But I replied anyway. "Hey, Bethy. I'm Drew."

She gritted her teeth for just a second, but we all saw it. "Drew..what a nice name. Please call me Bethany. Now, may I take your orders?"

Melody spoke up. "Bethy, could you please give us a few minutes?"

This time, Bethany openly glared at the three of us. Then she turned and stalked away. I glanced at her retreating back, and stuck my tongue out. A giggle came from Jennifer, which was good. I didn't want to see her sad. She seemed like a nice and sincere person.

***Jennifer***

"Well, Bethany seemed a bit miffed. I think this was the first time a guy hasn't fallen for her. And I guess it's over between her and Vince, which is really too bad." *sarcastic laugh*

Melody snorted. "It serves her right. She is such a...well, not a biotch because she's beyond that. There really isn't a word for someone like her."

Drew must be a decent person, to not fall for her. "Hey Drew. Um..thanks for annoying her like that. She deserved it."

He grinned at me. "No problem, the pleasure was all mine. You can tell she's not sincere with that phony smile. Jeez, doesn't that girl have anything better to do than flirt?"

A different waiter came then and took our orders. An hour later, we were done eating and faced the dilemma of who's car to take. We decided on Melody's, since she would be driving. Then we had to go back to the apartments to leave Drew's car.