Brian and I walked out of the school and to the Jeep in silence. It soon became obvious that he wasn't taking me to his loft or even to my house, but to the park where Brian first told me I could have a chance with him after I graduated. I didn't make any comments and instead listened to Steve Perry serenade us with Journey's magnum opus "Don't Stop Believin'."

The song was coming to an end as Brian came to a stop and put the Jeep in park, allowing the heater to continue running and the music to continue playing. I waited to see if he would say anything, since I didn't want my big mouth getting me into any more trouble with him that day.

Journey's Greatest Hits* album must have been in the CD player because "Wheel in the Sky" came on next. Brian stared straight out the windshield in lieu of speaking, so I decided to make small talk.

"My parents practically raised me on classic rock. My dad once said that I was probably conceived while ‘Stairway to Heaven' was playing in the background. One of their first dates was seeing Styx. My first concert was Bon Jovi when I was six. Hey, that sort of rhymes.... Styx, six."

I giggled uncomfortably.

Brian finally turned to look at me but didn't say anything. Instead, he unbuckled my seatbelt and pulled me over onto his lap as if I were a rag doll.

Before I knew it, Brian and I were engaged in an intense game of tonsil hockey. He had his right arm wrapped tightly around my torso and his left hand clasped behind my neck as if he feared I would disappear if he let me go for even a second.

We continued going at it all throughout "Faithfully" and "I'll Be Alright Without You." The only time his lips weren't on mine was when he was licking and sucking on my neck, which he knew drove me crazy.

Brian suddenly pulled away during the first verse of "Any Way You Want It," which I admit isn't a very good make out song. We then breathed heavily into each other faces for several seconds before he said, "I have a lot of work to catch up on."

I took that as a cue to get back into the passenger seat and I did so without protesting, wishing to myself that whomever had organized that compilation had put another slow song in there for us to continue our glorious snogging session. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" would have been good and "Open Arms" would have been perfectly poetic.

Before we could leave the park, Brian had to turn the defrost up on high for a minute to defog the windows.

Brian stopped in the usual drop-off spot down the street from my house, again resuming his look silently out the windshield bit from before.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I grabbed my backpack from the floorboard and opened the door to get out.

"No problem... later," he mumbled.

I stood on the sidewalk and watched the Jeep get farther away until Brian took a right turn out of the neighborhood.

"What the fuck...?" I whispered to myself as I started walking in the direction of my house.

I didn't even notice that I had walked past my house until I was knocking on the front door of Daphne's house down the block, despite the fact that I really should have gone home to change my pre-cum soaked underwear. Daphne answered and gasped when she saw me.

"Get in here!" she screamed as she grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs to her room.

She made sure to shut her door before demanding, "Alright, what happened? Tell me everything."

"I... I'm not entirely sure," I said, still perplexed by what had occurred over the past twenty or so minutes.

"Well, did Mr. Kinney give you a ride home?" Daphne asked.

I nodded.

"What did he say?"

I shook my head.

"What do you mean...?" Daphne asked before mocking my head shake.

"Nothing. We went to the park and made out to roughly one-fifth of Journey's greatest hits in his Jeep."

Daphne's eyes bugged out. "And then what happened?"

"And then I came here."

She held out her hands in exasperation, clearly unsatisfied. "That's it? He didn't beg you to take him back or profess his love for you?"

I stretched out on Daphne's bed. "Nope."

She sighed and laid down beside me. "Alright, what do we do next?"

"I don't know, but I'm about ninety-nine percent sure he knows that you know about us after your little stunt today."

"Hmm," she said, not letting that information interrupt her scheming. "Do you know what he does when he's not at work, like where he goes in his spare time?"

"He usually hangs out on Liberty Avenue with his friends. He often eats at the diner where I work, goes drinking at a bar called Woody's, goes to the gym several times a week, and he actually owns Babylon."

Daphne sat up and clapped her hands. "Holy shit, that's fucking perfect!"

"He banned me from ever going to Liberty Avenue again unless it's to work, and even then I'm not allowed to treat him any differently than all the other customers."

She obviously had selective hearing because she announced, "We'll go to Babylon tomorrow night."

"He'll throw us out," I said as I stared up at Daphne's poster of the Backstreet Boys taped on the ceiling, admiring AJ's bare chest and abs.

"And we'll find you a hot guy to dance with and Mr. Kinney will get really jealous," Daphne continued.

"No, he won't."

"There's no way he won't take you home with him," she concluded.

Despite my protests, we did indeed go to Babylon the following evening after a rather uneventful day at school, a Friday. Once again, Brian did not call on me during either of his classes, though we did eye-fuck each other thoroughly.

Daphne and I arrived at Babylon right as the doors opened at nine o'clock and stood shivering in line for about ten minutes before we made it to the entrance.

The doorman, who I recalled was named Bruce, unfortunately recognized me.

"I'm sorry kid, but I can't let you in," Bruce said in his rumbling bass.

Daphne, who was clearly not intimidated by the large gentleman dressed in head-to-toe leather, stepped up to him and asked, "Why the hell not?"

"Because my boss said so," Bruce informed her, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

"Well, how about you tell Mr. Kinney that Daphne Chanders is here and is requesting entry into his fine establishment," she said, crossing her arms sternly over her own chest.

"Daph!" I yelled.

A few guys in line behind us started screaming at us to get the fuck out of the way so they could get inside.

Bruce and Daphne stared each other down for several seconds before Bruce pulled a walkie-talkie off of his belt and said into it, "Paul, come and cover for me at the door for a minute."

A man slightly smaller than Bruce, whom I assumed was Paul, joined Bruce in the doorway a few moments later. Bruce told me and Daphne to step inside.

While we waited by the front podium, Bruce pulled out his cell phone and punched in some numbers.

"Hey boss, it's Bruce," he said into the phone after a few seconds. "There is a pretty young lady here named... what's your name again, sweetheart?"

"Daphne Chanders," Daphne said, enunciating each syllable.

Bruce continued, "Daphne Chanders with that little twink you said not to let in.... uh-huh... yeah... alright, hold on."

He pulled the phone away from his ear and informed Daphne, "Mr. Kinney said that the two of you need to leave immediately."

Daphne got nose-to-chest with Bruce and said loud enough for Brian to hear through the phone, "You can tell Mr. Kinney that he can come down here himself and tell us to leave."

Bruce put the phone back up to his ear. "You hear that, boss?"

Bruce nodded his head as he listened to whatever Brian had to say about that. "Alright," he said before hanging up his phone. "Mr. Kinney said to let the two of you in, free of charge, and that he'll deal with you later."

Daphne raised her chin defiantly. "That's what I thought."

Bruce shook his head in exasperation, probably wondering just who the fuck this Daphne Chanders was to get such special treatment, and walked back to his post.

Daphne and I checked our coats before we hit the dance floor. ABBA's "Dancing Queen" was blaring over the sound system.

"He's gonna be so pissed," I yelled to Daphne as we shook our asses to the music.

"I got us in, didn't I?" she said before sticking her tongue out at me.

I presumed that the musical theme of the night was The Best of Disco because Daphne and I boogied to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees, "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer, and "Get Down Tonight" by KC and The Sunshine Band before Emmett found me.

"Baby!" he screamed before wrapping his arms around me.

I hugged him back before asking, "Do you remember my friend Daphne?"

"Oh yes," Emmett said, most likely also remembering the last conversation we had pertaining to her. "I certainly do."

"You're Justin's fake boyfriend, right?" Daphne asked, flashing me a smile.

Emmett cackled. "That would be me."

"Have you seen you-know-who yet?" I asked him, hoping that they hadn't come in together.

"Yep, he's up in his office breathing fire while he decides how to punish you," Emmett answered.

Holy shit...

The three of us danced to Peaches & Herb's "Shake Your Groove Thing" before Emmett decided that it was time to start drinking. Using his handy VIP status, he procured a tequila sunrise for Daphne, a Jack and Coke for me, and one of those girly Cosmos for himself.

Emmett escorted us over to an area of the club that I hadn't been to before where there was a seating area. It was blue-lit, much like the backroom, and quieter than the dance floor had been so people could talk if they wished. Mostly they just made out and dry-humped on the couches.

I tried to enjoy my drink but was worried about what Brian would do or say to me once he came to hunt me down. I was also worried for Daphne, but she didn't seem to have a care in the world as she sipped her cocktail and bopped her head to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge.

"So, I'm guessing that you know all about our little cutie pie's verboten tryst with the English teacher?" Emmett asked Daphne.

"Ever the wordsmith," I said to Emmett.

"Why do you think he's here tonight?" Daphne said. "I'm helping him get his man back."

I finally posed the question I had wanted to ask Daphne for the past thirty-six hours. "Why are you trying to help me get back with Brian?"

She looked at me like I was a moron. "Because I want you to be happy and you're obviously miserable without him."

"The two of you are so perfect together... the star-crossed lovers aspect just makes it even better," Emmett added. "Don't let him lie: he's fucking crazy about you and has been miserable without you, too."

"Really?" I asked, involuntarily breaking into a huge smile and blushing.

Emmett took a sip of his Cosmo and nodded. "He'll never admit it, but it's true. We went to the gym yesterday evening and he was a total beast. He took a sixty minute spin class, which he never does, and then lifted weights for like thirty minutes, grunting and stomping around like a wild animal. I spotted him on the bench press and he was up a good forty pounds from his regular weight. I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel or two. When I asked him if he was upset about you, he screamed in my face ‘Fuck you, Honeycutt' before he went to do some bicep curls. Michael thinks that Brian is just stressed about work, but he can't fool me."

This beastly episode would have taken place just after our little make out session in the park. Once I had gotten home from Daphne's that same evening, I was briefly animalistic as I abused myself in the shower and later again in my bedroom.

I was finishing the last little bit of my Jack and Coke when I heard a familiar voice ask behind me, "Can I buy you another one of those, Blondie?"

I jumped and nearly spit my drink out as I turned to see Brian, who looked like his usual drop dead gorgeous self in a tight black sweater and blue jeans.

He didn't wait to hear my response, instead turning to Daphne. "Good evening, Miss Chanders."

"Mr. Kinney," Daphne replied with a raise of her glass.

"Do you mind if I borrow your date for a little while?" he asked her.

She gave him a big smile. "He's all yours, sir."

"May I see you in my office, Mr. Taylor?" Brian asked, as if I had a choice.

I stood up on shaky legs. "If I don't come back, tell my mother I love her," I said to Daphne as I left to follow The Boss through the club and up the stairs.