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Chapter One

Author's Note: Hey, Dwiggies! I posted a story here about a year ago, and I've been a lurker ever since. I know my story will be different from all the Pride and Prejudice stories, but I hope that you will take the time to read about my sweet heroine, Katie, and the city I've grown up in. I hope it will entertain you, and I hope you tell me what you think of this story that I've had in my brain for 2 years, but have been apprehensive to submit. Enjoy!

"What It Feels Like For a Girl"

Strong inside, but don't you know it
Good Little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak?

Do you know what it feels like for a girl?
Do you know what it feels like in this world for a girl?
~Madonna

No one who had seen Katie Morland as an infant would think she would ever grow up to be an enchantress. She came into this world jaundiced, wall-eyed, and chubby, with a bad case of colic that lasted 3 months. Her parents were blessed with special patience, for she was nothing like those cherub-reminiscent babies that were watched at the L'Infant Day Care Center. She did not have a smile that melted one's heart, or a contented temperament which endured abuse. Neither was she sickly or weak; she developed rapidly and normally.

By the time Katie was 5 years old, she did not have little boys leaving flowers on her doorstep; at ten, she had never ever received an anonymous valentine from an admirer, or any valentine from a boy that was not reluctantly given with a class list. Her dull brown hair was arranged in no darling fashion; being thick, her mother had cut it just above shoulder-length with bangs that stood up from a cowlick, and her top teeth stuck out unattractively. She had to endure the pain of having something so ordinary as braces affixed to her teeth, and she remained flat-chested and skinny while other girls were developing enough to buy training bras with matching panties. Nor did she suddenly blossom into womanhood at an older age. She would remain thin and boylike for the remainder of her teenage career.

Katie did, however, have sparkling, laughing brown eyes. Her laid-back personality gave her ease to make friends easily, and she only rarely participated in the put-down matches exchanged in her lunchroom. Her sense of humor convinced the most popular of students that she was odd, but for her close friends, she was amusing. Her talents were nothing out of the ordinary. Math and music came rather easily to her, but her writing was riddled with comma splices and run-on sentences, with misspelled words, so that her English grades suffered, and she did not have a memory for history or geography. She did not sneak under the covers every night with a flashlight and novel, and her reading had not progressed beyond an amusement at formula fiction and magazine articles. In high school, Katie read well enough to get by, but her standardized test scores were hopelessly average.

Katie's history with men was nothing exciting, either. She made friends with boys easily, but beyond that, they teased her or ignored her. When she was 12, her parents' friends had come over for dinner, bringing with them their good-looking son, who happened to be the goalie on his soccer team, and her heart's desire of the moment. However, instead of spending hours getting ready for his arrival, she played too long with some children down the street, rolling down a hill in their neighborhood, and smelled of dog poop when she arrived home. The boy called her "dog poopy girl" and refused to talk to her the rest of the evening, even when she had washed and their parents banished them to the living room to watch television together. Another boy, whom she liked in the 5th grade, was her hopeful partner to the 5th grade dance held at their school. She saw him on the stairs a week before the dance, and shouted up at him the question she had hoped he would ask her: "Will you go to the dance with me?" Unfortunately, the boy was surrounded by his friends, and, trying to show off, he spit down at her, which landed on her pants in an unspeakable place, making the crowd of boys laugh and Katie run to the girls' room in embarrassment.

My dear readers may think that these experiences would have scarred our Katie's delicately developing psyche, or turned her bitter toward men, but these assumptions are ungrounded. As you know, Katie had a great fondness of music, and had developed some romantic ideas from popular songs. She learned from Celine Dion that

"I'm everything I am, because you loved me"
and hoped that a boy would give her a better personality, and that "Love can touch us one time, and last for a lifetime."

"want to stand with you on a mountain,"
And "want to bathe with you in the sea; live like this forever until the sky falls down on me."

"When [you] fall in love, it will be forever."

"without you in my life, baby, I just wouldn't be living at all."

Katie also learned things from teenage romance movies. She saw Freddie Prinze Jr. fall in love with a girl who used to be a rejected nerd in their high school, and she believed someone could fall for her like that. She saw Melissa Joan Hart change a rebel in her school so that all their friends became jealous, and she thought she could learn to love someone so different. She also saw Leelee Sobieski fall for a rich, snobby boy, and fantasize about their perfect life together while she died of a rare bone disease, and she wondered why she hadn't been satisfied with her original boyfriend. All these movies showed our girl that, with a little patience and a cosmetically altered body, she too could be loved by a handsome hero. She tried not to despair too badly.

Then an opportunity came across her path, which surely was sent by divine intervention. Her older brother had gotten involved in selling time-share property with a roommate, and her family was to benefit by spending three weeks in a condo in Kissimmee, Florida, close to Walt Disney World! Katie and her mother were to spend three days there before being joined by her father and brother, who was finishing up a summer course at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Katie was sure of meeting her true love in such a place as this, and awaited the middle of the summer with great anticipation.

Chapter Two

The first half of the summer passed very slowly for our Katie. She spent the chief of her time working at The Gap at the mall near her house, to save up spending money for her vacation. The rest of the time, she hung out with her best friend Sarah: driving the car since they both had their license, going to the movies, talking about the local boys. They also discussed Katie's upcoming vacation. Sarah had been to Orlando four times with her parents because her grandparents lived in Boynton Beach, and a few times when they drove down, they had stopped there for a few days.

You will expect, dear reader, for Sarah to warn Katie of dark alleys in downtown Orlando to beware of; that she would pass on to her all the wisdom four summers would have taught her of fun places to go and amusing things to see. However, Sarah had not been for three years at least, and she knew none of these things. She knew there was a new theme park with Universal Studios that she envied Katie's being able to go see, and she remembered many tacky shops in Kissimmee that she warned Katie against. But beyond this, she was not of great help.

At last, the day came for Katie and her mother to embark on their journey. They didn't pack many clothes, for they knew of all the outlet stores that awaited them when they arrived. Sarah's mother, Mrs. Allen, and Sarah, drove them to the airport.

"Katie, you're, like, so lucky! Can I crawl into your suitcase?"

"Well, Sar, there is plenty of room. I won't have any fun without you, I'm sure! Can she come, Mom? Please?"

"Now, Sarah, you know I love you like a daughter, but our condo I understand is very small. Besides, you don't have a plane ticket, and I understand the cargo deck gets very cold down there."

"I was only teasing, Mrs. Morland. I have a job. Besides, Katie's going to email me every chance she gets to describe those hot guys down there."

The Allens saw the Morlands safely onto the plane, and walked off, Sarah feeling envious that she would have to spend the rest of the summer folding sweater sets and hanging clothes according to sizes while Katie played in the sun. Oh well, she would be back in time for them to get ready to go to college together.

As their plane flew over Florida's landscape, Katie kept observing things out the window. There sure were a lot of trees-more than she would have expected. She read out of the tourist's guidebook her mother had picked up.

"Did you know, Mom, that from any point in Florida, you are never more than 60 miles from a beach?"

"Mmm-hmm, honey." Mrs. Morland worked on a crossword puzzle.

"It's also just above the tropic line, which is why the weather is supposed to be so nice."

"If you don't count all the hurricanes."

Katie ignored her mother and continued. "Did you know there are four main theme parks in Disney World, along with three water parks and tons of shopping? Which one are we staying close to?"

Her mother put down the pen and thought. "We are staying in Lake Buena Vista, which is outside Disney property, I believe. We'll also be able to go to Universal Studios Escape, and there is plenty else to do. You will never be bored, I guarantee. The outlet shopping alone would take up several weeks!"

Katie rolled her eyes. "You can spend all your time shopping. I want to spend lots of time in the sun! Do we have a pool where we're staying?"

"I'm not sure, honey. We'll find all that out when we get there."

The plane finally landed in Orlando International Airport, and the two women managed to get their luggage and rent a car without too much trouble. They had printed directions to their time share townhouse from the internet, so they did not get lost, although they noticed that I-4 traffic was horrible.

After they put their bags down, they looked around them. Their townhouse was adorable, with three small bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and two big bathrooms. Outside the back door was a little porch, and beyond that, a lake where they could see three people on wave-runners.

Mrs. Morland made a list, as she always did, of things they needed to do the next day.

Buy groceries
Find out about wave runner rentals
Sight-see on International Drive
Shop at the Factory Outlet Mall

"Ooh, Mom, if we go get park hoppers, we can go to all four parks. It's a better deal, and we can just do the fun stuff and then go to another park."

"Well, Katie, I was really hoping we could get in a day of shopping. You promised we would spend some mother-daughter time together once we got in. And we really don't have anything to wear to the parks. I am not fit to be seen as it is!"

"Oh Mom, you look fine. But you're right, we should get in our shopping before Dad and Jay get here. OK, where would you like to go tomorrow?"

"We passed that wonderful mall on the way here, don't you remember? It had Tommy Hilfiger and Bebe outlets?"

"That sounds good. Then can we do something fun tomorrow night?"

They had a good compromise. The next day was spent buying Katie and Mrs. Morland some cute summery outfits and shoes. Katie left the store with no less than 4 pairs of sandals, and Mrs. Morland had three new sundresses. She also insisted upon buying a wide-brimmed hat, saying how classically stylish it was. Katie just thought it a sign that her mother was becoming an old lady. Katie thought that, if she needed something on her head, she would buy a visor at one of the parks. She opted for some sunglasses instead.

That evening, the two ladies went to see the show "La Nouba" at Cirque de Soleil. Katie was impressed with all of downtown Disney: the lights, the stylishly dressed people, and the size of the buildings amazed her. Mrs. Morland noted that, the next night, they would go dancing together at Pleasure Island, which Katie was both happy and embarrassed about.

The show was spectacular. There were so many things going on around her that Katie couldn't keep track! She loved the tightrope acrobats, the little girls juggling spools on threads, and the trampoline bouncers. She had such a good time she forgot she was with her mother.

As they were leaving, Mrs. Morland noticed Katie's discomfort, and consoled her by saying, "I wish you had some friends here, Katie. I know your dream vacation was not to come hang out with your mother. Maybe there will be some nice girl your own age staying at the lake with us."

"That's OK, Mom. I'm having a great time so far! Can we go back to see La Nouba when Dad and Jay get here?"

Mrs. Morland said that they certainly would, and so the two walked back to their car.

As they were walking, some teenage boys walking to the movies shouted, "Hey baby!" at her. Listening to Mrs. Morland's comments on the rudeness of boys today, Katie partly agreed, but also had a shiver of delight running down her spine, and went to bed that night with a smile on her face.

She was going to have a great time!

Chapter Three

Everybody knows that, yeah, I'm kind of shy
I'm not the kind of girl who can ever approach a guy
But I wanna find a way to get you to notice me
I got a 4 wheel drive, 55 from eyes
But maybe you can handle these because I'm free
Single, sexy, making my own money,
Looking for the right party,
and if you're free
maybe I'll let you share my fantasy*

To: Sarrybear47
From: Katiedid
Subject: O-Town!!!

dear sarah,
my mom and I just got back from wet-n-wild a little while ago, which is a very fun water park here. it was really crowded but there were lots of super-hot guys around!! i think half of the water flowing in the slides and stuff was frum all the gurlz drooling, they were so cute! lol

it was a little hard flirting though, because my mom just wanted to float on her tube in the wave pool and i wanted to ride things. unfortunately, no hot guys wanted to be my partner on the hidrafighter, which is this bungee cord deelie with a see-saw kind of bottom, the riders sit back to back and squirt water from their hoses and if they do it right they swing high. the people I saw waiting would get soaked if the riders went high, and they screamed! it was funny. if you were here we'd do it right.

well, i'm gonna go rest for a while. the sun really drains you, ya know? mom wants to go dancing at this disney place called pleasure island. :o( i mean, i want to dance but bleah, dancing with my mom is so ew. at least she tells me she wishes i had some friends but then she thinks it'll be fun to dance, just us girls. roll eyes

well I should go. i think I'm gonna wear my sparkly pink shirt tonight. do you think that will look good at a dance club? it's kinda tight, but as always, i have my trusty padded bra so I don't look 12. i'm glad my bikini top has pads, too, except it looks dumb cause i have nothing to push up. also when I put on my t-shirt later it left 2 big wet spots like i'm a pregnant lady, well not preggers but afterwardz.

i'm going for real this time so i don't bore you to death.

luv ya,
katie

After a nap, Katie and her mom got ready and went to Pleasure Island. They bought their tickets, but there weren't many people so they decided to get drinks. In their dancing shoes, they walked over to the Rainforest Café where they ordered smoothies from the bar. They sat, sipping their smoothies, until Mrs. Morland said,

"There's a gift shop. Let's go browse."

The gift shop had stuffed animals of the endangered species kind. Katie played with these for a minute while her mother priced some jewelry. She was deciding whether Sarah would rather have a white rhino or an aye-aye, when her mother walked up, patting her skirt with a napkin.

"Katie, just look what happened! Strawberry smoothie all over my new skirt. Those boys slapped my leg with a sticky frog and it startled me so I jumped and spilled all over myself. Can you wait here while I go clean this?"

"Sure, Mom. I'll be right around here."

She fiddled with the animals for another minute before her attention span ran out. She walked around the store for another minute before walking outside. The waterfall caught her attention, and she stared at the foaming white water crashing down the rocks.

"Are you waiting for a table?"

Katie turned around and looked into soft brown eyes framed with long brown lashes. "I'm sorry?"

"I was wondering if you were waiting for a table. If you are, you'll be here for a while and I'll get to chat with you."

Katie giggled at his forwardness, wondering if he were serious. "No, I'm waiting for my mom. She's in the bathroom. She spilled smoothie on her skirt," she explained.

"You're here with your mother? Not your boyfriend?"

"No, I'm on vacation." She didn't tell this cute Spanish stranger that she didn't have one at home, either.

"I'm sorry. I think you'll think I'm crazy. I'm Enrique Tilne." He held out his hand.

"Katie Morland. Nice to meet you." They shook hands. "I should go over there so my mom'll be able to see me."

He walked next to her. "So, Miss Katie Morland, where are you from?"

"North Carolina."

"How long are you here for?"

"Three weeks. You?"

"I live here. I work at the Magic Kingdom."

"Really?" She perked up and looked at him. "Do you love it?"

"Oh, it's OK. Have you been?"

"No, we're waiting until my dad and brother get here. I can't wait, though! I wanna ride Splash Mountain."

"Make sure you get a fast pass. At this time of year, you could wait an hour and a half."

Just then Mrs. Morland approached. "Are you making a friend, Kate? I can't leave you alone for a minute," she joked.

"Mom, I met a local! This is Enrique, and he works at the Magic Kingdom."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Morland. I can see a resemblance."

"Well, thank you. Katie, I am so irritated. I've scrubbed and scrubbed but this strawberry juice will likely stain."

Enrique looked at the wet patch. "Go home and soak it in Shout. I have drinks spilled on me all the time and that takes it out in maybe two or three washes."

"Really? I've never had patience with that but if you think it wouldn't hurt it, I would try anything."

"Sure, I do my own laundry all the time. My sister even makes me do hers, since I'm so good at it."

"Well, your sister must love you! Men are usually so bad at laundry. My husband had mixed new reds with whites so often that I've banned him from the washer. Though I don't think he's too sad about his punishment."

Enrique listened patiently and chuckled at her last statement. "So, Mrs. Morland, where are you and Katie off to this evening?"

"We are going to dance at Pleasure Island. Have you ever been?" She didn't see Katie wince.

"Sure! Me and my friends go there a lot. I'm on my way to meet them now, as a matter of fact."

"Is that right? Would you walk with us there?"

"It would be my pleasure to walk with you two hot ladies." He offered them each an arm. "So, how do you like Orlando so far?"

Katie answered, "I've had tons of fun! There's so much to do."

They were passing a huge Lego store with a McDonalds next to it. "Yeah, it's hard to get bored. If you live here, though, it gets expensive. My sister loves it when I get her into Disney." He dodged a child running with Legos in his hand.

"Do you really? That must be handy to her." Mrs. Morland looked as if she wouldn't mind a discount.

Katie asked, "Can you get her in anywhere, or just Magic Kingdom?"

Enrique laughed. "It's good to work for the mouse. I get discounts just about everywhere on Disney property."

Katie was hoping her mother would not ask him to get them in for free anywhere-she didn't want to offend him. "How old is your sister?"

"Eighteen. She's just getting ready to go to college."

"Really? Me too! Except I won't be eighteen until next week. Where will she attend?"

"UCF, same as me. You two should hang out; you'd like her."

Mrs. Morland cut in, "Well, introduce her! I'm sure she'll be bored for the rest of our trip. Her brother will be here, but it would be nice for her to have a girlfriend."

They were at the gate. The ladies had their hand stamps examined under a blacklight, and Enrique just had to show his employee I.D. "If we see each other again. I'll ask her what she's doing this weekend. I will be working on the Buzz Lightyear ride the next 2 days. If you stop by, ask for me, and if I'm free I'll come talk to you."

Katie suddenly felt shy. "I don't know... I mean, my dad and my brother... um..."

Three guys dressed in tight shirts, nice-fitting pants, belts, and matching shoes called out at them. "Eh, Rique!" They grinned as Enrique let go of the Morlands' arms and put his hands up in the air, shaking his hips as he greeted them. "Hola, senores! I want you to meet two lovely ladies from North Carolina. This is Mrs. and Katie Morland."

"Call me Janice," she smiled.

"Ladies, this is Scott, Will, and Jorje." The guys shook their hands and greeted them warmly. Katie was surprised that Jorje kissed Enrique close to his cheek, kind of in the air.

The guy called Will smiled at her. "No offense, Kathy, but you look a little too young for Mannequins," he said with a strong accent. She looked toward the club behind him that had mannequins in odd costumes decorating the front.

"Yeah, she can't get in here," Enrique answered for her. "But you two can go to Eight Tracks or the country place. They're still pretty fun." While her mother looked at a map and the other boys moved toward the entrance, Enrique said to Katie, "Seriously. Come by in the next few days and we'll hook up. Um, do you know the number where you're staying?"

Katie hadn't memorized it, and she didn't want to give her number to a stranger. "Um, no, I don't think so."

"OK. Well, I'll talk to my sis, get the scoop, and see if we can get a group to go out. Maybe your brother would want to go, too?"

This seemed like a better idea. "I bet he would! That would be great."

The guys grew antsy so Enrique walked backward toward them. "It was nice to meet you! Really, come by Buzz Lightyear."

"OK, Enrique. Thanks for being such a gentleman to us strange ladies!" Mrs. Morland crowed. They laughed as they parted.

A group of street performers were dancing to "Livin' La Vida Loca". Katie thought it was funny that a Spanish song should be playing right after she'd met a Spanish guy.

"Well, Katie, you are just the social butterfly!" admired Mrs. Morland. "Won't it be nice to meet some people your own age?"

Katie grinned. "Yes, I can't wait to tell Sarah. And Jay! I wonder if he'll like Enrique?"

"Well, dear, I hope everyone turns out to be nice. You young people need some time to get away from us old fogies." They got in line in front of Eight Tracks, a Disco Club with "Stayin' Alive" blaring from inside. "It's just too bad that Enrique's gay. The cute ones always are, you know."

Katie stared, open-mouthed, at her mother. "No, he isn't! He's just Spanish. That's how Spanish people are."

"Do you think so? No, he must be gay. He does laundry, kisses his male friends on the cheek... no, I think he's gay."

Katie was bewildered. Why had he approached her and asked for her phone number if he were gay? She hoped he wasn't. Those brown eyes... they were just too beautiful. She wanted them to look at her again as if she were pretty. So few guys had looked at her that way before.

This bugged her while she was dancing. She didn't know how to disco dance, so she mostly just wiggled her bottom and shook her fists, while her mother, in nostalgic glory, hustled and twirled with the best of them. Some guys wanted to dance with Katie, but they bobbed around in front of her so foolishly that she turned away from them.

As she danced, she decided to ask Jay. He would be able to tell instantly whether Enrique was gay or not. She smiled and noted that he would be there tomorrow evening.

*"Free" by Mya

Chapter Four

Katie was very happy that her mother said that Saturday should be a free day. She had not explored the lake on which they were staying, and she was very anxious to.

She awoke late the next morning with the sun shining through the blinds of her window. Eager to sunbathe, she ran to the bathroom, did her normal morning routine, then slathered on some sunblock and snatched her light blue bathing suit from the rack over the bathtub.

Pulling the straps on her shoulders, Katie slid the door to the patio open and stepped out. Her mother had already put a towel out here for her, so she grabbed that and walked toward the lake. She set that down in the grass and waded out into the greenish, gritty water.

Little fish swam in the lake. She watched them dart around her toes. There were also skinny, wavy plants that felt slimy. The lake certainly felt different from the ocean, which she had been to in North Carolina. She did not care to swim in water that smelled of boat gasoline and fish. She clambered out and sat down on her towel.

After a couple of minutes, Katie realized she was bored. She ran up to the house, grabbed a radio, and took it back to the towel. She turned to a pop music station and sang along, pretending she was a talented diva.

"He met Marmelade down in old Moulin Rouge
Struttin' her stuff on the street
She said, 'Hey, Joe, you wanna give it a go?'
Guichie, guichie, ya, ya, da, da,
Guichie, guichie, ya, ya, ee
Mocha chocalata ya, ya
Creole Lady Marmelade!"*

She closed her eyes to belt out the last note, and when she opened them, she saw three girls standing in front of her. The tallest and prettiest was wearing a string bikini top with tropical print triangles on her breasts, and cutoff jeans shorts. She had wavy blond hair that stopped in the middle of her back. The other two looked alike in the face. They had neon yellow and orange bikinis that covered more skin than the older girl's, who spoke to Katie.

"Good song! Are you staying here?"

Katie felt dazed. "Yes, we came in three days ago. Are you?"

"Yeah, we're a couple doors down. Are you with family?"

"My mom and I are here now, but my dad and brother will be here tonight."

"No kidding! Our brother will be here tonight, too. I'm Isabelle Anne, but you can call me Belle Anne, and these are my sisters, Daisy and Bambi."

"Hi! I'm Katie."

"Is your brother Jay?" asked one of the younger girls.

Katie was startled. "How did you know that?"

"We knew about you guys weeks ago. Our brothers play baseball together at Chapel Hill!"

"No way! Who is your brother?"

"John Thorpe. Has Jay told you about him?"

Katie thought. "He was the one who got Jay into this timeshare selling business, right?"

Belle Anne smiled widely. "Yep, he'd be the one. Or rather, our mom's boyfriend got him involved, so John talked Jay into it. He didn't tell you about us?"

"No, he just told us about the townhouse. Is John driving down the same time as Jay?"

"I think so. He's supposed to call us and let us know what time he's coming in." Belle Anne scooted in beside Katie on the towel. "So, are you totally bored yet?"

The other two girls sat down on their towels. "No, I've been having a good time. Orlando is neat!"

They all laughed, except Katie. "You wouldn't like it if you lived here," smirked one of the twins.

"Why not?"

"It gets sooooo boring! And there are tourists here all the time who don't know how to drive. We live in St. Cloud," remarked the other twin.

"I'm a tourist. I don't think my mom has done such a bad job driving. That one interstate is really a mess, though," said Katie, a little defensively.

Belle Anne leaned back and stared at the sky, her hair spread out in the grass. "Where all have you been so far?"

Katie watched a duck and some medium-sized ducklings following her. "Um, we've been to Wet-N-Wild, the outlet stores, and Pleasure Island," she recalled, "but we're going to Disney tomorrow."

"Which park?"

"Probably Magic Kingdom to start with. Then we'll work our way to the other parks."

"Cool. We have annual passes to Sea World, when you want to go. Have you met any cute guys yet?" Belle Anne was examining her nails.

"Uhhh...." She wasn't sure if she wanted to bring up Enrique. She still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened. She wanted Jay to see him and tell her what he thought first.

"I can tell you did! Where did you meet him?" Belle Anne prodded.

"Last night at Pleasure Island. He was really cute, and Spanish, but my mom thinks he's gay."

Belle Anne sat up and laughed. "Probably not, knowing what womanizers those guys are. And by the way," she looked Katie in the face, "don't call them Spanish to their faces. Call them Hispanic or Latino. There are so many here, I'm afraid you'll get beat up. Those Hispanic chicks are feisty."

Katie hesitated, but she liked Belle Anne and wanted her to like her, so she told her. "I'm supposed to meet him at Magic Kingdom tomorrow. He works there."

Belle Anne's eyebrows shot up, and the twins made "oooh-ing" sounds. "Cool! Are you gonna do it?"

"Well, my brother will be here, so I think it's safe."

At this point, they stopped to hear a commercial that was playing because it had a guy speaking in an annoying voice that was, at some strange level, amusing. When it was over, Belle Anne asked, "Wanna go swimming?"

Katie shook her head. "Not in there. It's all murky and gross."

"No, of course not in there. I mean at one of the hotels."

Katie's eyes got really big as she looked at Belle Anne's serious face. "Are we allowed? Don't you have to be a guest?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, you're supposed to be, but if you don't get caught, you don't get in trouble. The pool at the _______ resort has this water slide that you can go down."

"Um, I don't know. I'll ask my mom. How will we get there?"

Belle Anne giggled. "I'll drive, silly. I've got a car."

Katie stood up, her legs still crossed from sitting. "OK, let me run in." She ran inside. Her mom was watching T. V. on the couch, her legs propped up on the coffee table. "Mom, I met these three girls outside and they want to go to a hotel to go swimming. Can I go?"

Mrs. Morland looked up at her, snapping out of her television-watching reverie. "What?"

Katie felt impatient. "There are these three girls who are staying a couple of doors down, and they want to take me to a hotel to go swimming. Can I go?"

Mrs. Morland looked at the screen. "Who are they?"

"They seem like locals, and their brother plays baseball at Chapel Hill with Jay."

"Really? What's his name?"

"John. Thorpe."

"Oh, is that the guy who...?"

"Yes, he persuaded Jay to sell us the timeshare."

"Well, Katie, I want to meet them! How exciting! Do I look all right?"

"Yes, Mom, you look beautiful." She opened the sliding door. "Hey, come here for a sec!" she yelled.

The three girls ambled in to the living room. They made their introductions, and Mrs. Morland delighted at Katie's finally having some girls to hang out with. She said they might certainly go, but Katie should be home around three to start preparing for the Morland men's arrival. They agreed on this, and the four girls gathered some items to take with them.

Climbing into Belle Anne's old Toyota, Katie asked, "Why are you staying here if you live nearby?"

The twins snorted. Belle Anne looked annoyed at them and responded, "we lost the lease on our last place, and since Bill was selling these, he let us stay here for a while. We can stay as long as we like."

"Well, that's good then. Make the best of a bad situation." Katie felt uncomfortable with her honesty. She slammed the car door shut. "So, how old are you all?"

"We're fourteen," piped up one of the twins. "I'm eighteen," smiled Belle Anne.

"I'm about to turn eighteen! Are you going to college?"

"I'll go to the community college. I'm not into school enough to go away somewhere." Belle Anne rolled her eyes. "My mom wants me to go more than I want to go. I'm so over school right now."

Katie played with a rip in the upholstery. "I know what you mean. I hate studying."

They rode along with the windows rolled down, hot air blowing in their hair. Katie saw huge hotels, and marveled at the architecture that was meant to impress. She laughed at the statue on top of a hotel that looked like a fish with huge lips. Finally they were at the resort where Belle Anne wanted to swim.

As Katie walked from the self-parking lot up to the lobby, she felt apprehensive. She didn't know if she should be doing this, but it was sort of fun, being sneaky. She hoped they didn't get caught and forced to leave in an embarrassing manner.

Chapter Five

Belle Anne, Katie, and the twins stalked into an impressive, modern lobby. Tourists milled about, checking in, looking at maps, or chasing children. Katie looked up at the ceiling, but the Thorpe girls kept walking.

Belle Anne hissed, "If you look like you don't belong, someone might ask you if you need help. Just keep walking."

They walked through the back door, where there was a small courtyard and the sounds of splashing. Belle Anne put on her sunglasses and took a deep breath. "If anyone stops you, say you're staying at the _________ hotel and it was crowded, so we decided to come over here. But the key is that we just look like we belong."

"OK," said Katie.

They walked through a little gate. The pool was gorgeous! Crystal-clear, sparkling water spread out in every direction. The bottom was light brown, and it seemed that everyone could stand up. Hundreds of people played in the sun: parents with small children, middle-aged overweight ladies, couples that looked like they were honeymooning, a group of elementary-aged children with two people who looked like camp counselors, and teenagers, male and female alike. There were about eight teenaged guys who were playing volleyball with a beach ball in the center part.

"Where should we put our stuff down?" asked Katie.

"Over there is a good spot, where no one is sitting. Come on."

Once again, Belle Anne led the way with Katie and the girls following. They put their bags on a table with an umbrella and sat on the bench attached. Katie started rubbing on more sunscreen, while the other girls wiggled out of their tank tops and shorts.

"What do you want to do first, Kate? Wanna go down the slide?" inquired the older girl.

"I wanna go on the slide," said Bambi.

"Fine. You two go slide, and we'll stay here for a while." The twins trotted off. Belle Anne had her back to the pool. "Are they looking?"

Katie looked up from a white, smeary leg. "Do you mean those guys?"

"Yeah. Are they staring at us?"

"No, they're still playing with the ball."

"Good. They're always looking when they should just keep their eyes to themselves. It's so disgusting, they way they gawk sometimes. Like they're undressing you with their eyes."

Katie grinned. "I know. Like we're pieces of meat or something."

Belle Anne turned on the bench so her profile was visible from the water. She stretched her long legs out luxuriously. "Do you want to go in?"

"The water? Yes, it's so hot! But maybe we should go over there so those guys don't bother us." She pointed at a section under a footbridge.

"Nah, let's just stay right here. We should watch our stuff. This is fine, right here."

They sat on the edge and eased themselves into the cool water. "Ah, this feels nice! This is what I'm talking about!" grinned Katie.

Belle Anne closed her eyes and leaned her head back with her arms resting on the edge. "Yes, this is the life."

The beach ball landed on the water in front of Katie with a hollow thud. She picked it up.

"Hey, can you throw it back?" yelled a guy with a crew cut.

"Come and play with us!" offered a cute guy with well-cut pectoral muscles.

Katie opened her mouth to say no, but Belle Anne shrugged and said, "Why not?" She waded over there. Reluctantly, Katie followed.

Even though she was apprehensive, the game was pretty fun. The rules were really relaxed since there was no net, and the guys flirted and paid them lots of attention. She noticed that Belle Anne was much friendlier than she had seemed when they first got there. After an hour or so, one of the guys had to go up to his room, and another went to get them all drinks. The girls sat down at their table with some of them.

They talked and flirted all afternoon. Katie had never felt so admired! Byron, Steve, and Jared all paid her lots of attention, and Heath, Brandon, and Hunter focused on Belle Anne. The twins stayed in the pool, and everyone had a good afternoon. The boys were only going to be in Orlando for two more days, and they had a soccer camp to attend, so they couldn't make plans, but Katie still had a great time.

About 2:30 it started to drizzle. "Oh no! Grab your stuff!" Belle Anne stuffed her shorts in her bag and ran towards an awning. The twins met up with them underneath. "Well, shoot. I guess we'll just have to go back home and hang out."

Katie looked at her watch. "Yeah, Mom wants me home, anyway. Do you want to come wait for the guys at my place?"

They did, and they ran out to the car together in a downpour. Riding in the car while wet was uncomfortable, but they turned the radio up and sang along and had a great time.

Back at the townhouse, the girls combed their hair, changed clothes, and settled down in the bedroom. The twins wanted to go home to see if any boys had called, but Belle Anne liked Katie's bedroom.

"If the guys get in early enough, we should go out to dinner together. Mom really likes to go to Olive Garden," Belle Anne was saying. "I can't wait to see my brother again. He's such a cutie! I think you'll really like him."

Katie smiled. "I hope so. We would have so much fun together!"

"Yeah, that would be nice. Hey," she paused. "Your hair is so thick and shiny. Do you usually wear make-up?"

Katie glanced at her small make-up case, which held only some lip glosses, powder, and blush. "Not too much. On prom night I did," she shrugged.

"Ooh! Can I give you a makeover?" Belle Anne seemed to brighten up.

"Um, I don't really like people playing with my face," Katie hesitated.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. You'll look like Christina Aguilera."

Katie almost protested that she wore too much make-up, but she followed Belle Anne to her place and allowed her to tease her hair up, put stripes of eye shadow on her, and line her lips with burgundy liner. She looked in the mirror and almost freaked out! She looked like an old celebrity who wears too much make-up in an attempt to look younger.

"Well, it's pretty, but I don't think I would do this every day," she said timidly.

"Well, of course not every day," said Belle Anne, hurt. "This is pretty dramatic. I want you to look nice when the boys come."

Just then Mrs. Thorpe shouted at them from the living room, "Girls! The boys are here!"

Belle Anne gave a squeal and jumped off the bed. Katie walked slowly. There wasn't time to wash her face, and her hair looked very eighties. She wondered if she could sneak around back to her own house before meeting the guys.

Chapter Six

There was no time. Katie walked out the front door to see Belle Anne hanging by her arms from a guy's neck. Her brother and father were in front of her own condo, greeting her mother. She smiled and ran towards her big brother who she had not seen in 4 months.

"Jay! Dad!"

The men turned and both held out their arms to her, catching her in a sandwich hug. She was temporarily dangling from their necks, and when they set her down, she looked up at them with happy eyes.

Jay remarked, "So, Katie, have you gotten into Mom's make-up again?" referring to when she had been small and often emerged from her parents' bedroom with blush, lipstick, and eye shadow fighting for ownership of her face.

She held up her hands to her cheeks. "Oh, no," she stammered. "I had a make-over."

Belle Anne and John Thorpe strolled over. "So this is your little sister. Just as pretty as you described her, Jay! Katie, I'm John. I keep your brother from being too boring."

"Hi, John," said Katie, shyly. She wished she hadn't let Belle Anne practice her painting on her face.

"Well, let's get our stuff inside so we can catch up," declared Jay.

"Oh yeah, let me see this place!" shouted John. He and his sisters walked back to their place and began taking his things inside.

Katie helped Jay take his things in to his bedroom. "So, what have you discovered about Orlando?" he asked. "Where should we go tomorrow?"

Mrs. Morland answered, "Tomorrow we're all going to the Magic Kingdom. Katie has been dying to go, but we wanted to wait for you."

Jay kissed his mother on the cheek. "Coolness, Mom," he said. "I also want to go to Islands of Adventure. I hear the roller coasters rock."

"Um, you and Katie can go on those. Your father and I will watch," chickened out Mrs. Morland.

After Katie had helped Jay put some clothes away, and washed her face, they went into the living room where their parents sat on the couch. "You made really good time today," remarked Mrs. Morland.

"That was John's doing," answered Jay. "He likes to see just how fast that engine can go. We got over 100 a few times today."

"That's so dangerous! I'm glad you weren't in an accident!" declared his mother.

"Oh, we were OK. There wasn't a lot of traffic."

Mr. Morland cut in, "If he had done anything dangerous, I would have made Jay pull over and let me drive. They were just having a bit of fun."

After they had chatted a while, the Thorpes came over. "Do you want to go to dinner?" asked John, putting his feet up on the coffee table and resting his hands behind his head.

"Actually, we were just discussing that," answered Mrs. Morland. "We were thinking someplace like Olive Garden or Jungle Jim's."

"Mmm, I haven't been to Jungle Jim's in a long time," responded Mrs. Thorpe.

So the party set out to go to Jungle Jim's, the Thorpes in John's car and the Morlands in Jay's car. Belle Anne had wanted Katie to ride with her, but Jay insisted that he hadn't seen his little sister in so long that he'd like to spend some time with her.

"So, K, have you seen any cute guys yet?" prodded Jay once they were buckled into the back seat.

"Well, we'll see," responded Katie mysteriously. "Tomorrow you'll have to check something out for me. Mom insists he's gay, but I think he's just Hispanic."

Jay pushed her leg. "What are you doing hanging around with Spanish guys?"

Mrs. Morland interrupted, "We met him at Pleasure Island. He seemed very nice. He works at Disney World, though, and from what I hear they are all gay over there."

"So this is where you come in, dear brother," smiled Katie. "He wants us to go out in a group this week. If you don't like him, we don't have to go."

"We're going to hang out with John and Belle Anne! You'll really like John once you get to know him, K. He's so much fun! And he seems to like you."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Sure, Jay. I am sure I'll love him."

"No, really. He's a very loyal friend. Very kind."

"Well, I already like Belle Anne," she began. Mr. Morland pulled the car into the parking lot. "Just keep an open mind tomorrow, OK?"

"No problemo, seniorita," joked Jay. He ducked as Katie swatted at him.

Dinner with the two families was a little strained. The Morlands were used to polite conversation, while the Thorpes liked to be rowdy and make others stare at them. Jay joined in with John's spoon-balancing contest, shooting straw wrappers across the table, and stacking up the plastic animal drink decorations. Katie and Belle Anne chuckled at the boys, amused that they were so easily amused.

After dinner, the boys suggested going someplace. "Let's do something! I don't just want to sit around tonight. I've been sitting all day long," moaned John.

"Where should we go, Belle Anne?" Jay looked her straight in the face.

"Citiwalk is pretty good, if you're just looking to walk around. There's lots to do there."

"Do we have to pay to get in?" asked John.

"No, parking is free after 6, I think. We just can't go to any clubs."

The parents agreed that they would rather go back home while the kids went out. The Morlands and Mrs. Thorpe piled into Jay's car, while the teenagers decided where to sit in John's Mustang.

"Katie, you sit up front next to me. It would be too weird to have my sister sitting next to me," explained John.

"Um, maybe Belle Anne and I should sit in the back seat," began Katie.

"Nah, you sit by John and I'll sit by Jay. It would be odd to have two girls in the back seat." Belle Anne and the boys seemed satisfied with this explanation. They all climbed into the car, Katie getting in last.

She was glad she had buckled her seat belt. John screeched out of the parking lot, coming very close to some pedestrians walking by. "How do you like my car, Katie? 180 horsepower, V-8 engine. I dropped it 2 inches, got a borla muffler, kickass rims, and the best sound system money can buy! Listen to this," he bragged, turning the sound system up. Katie covered her ears but the vibrating bass from his rap music thudded through her chest.

"Isn't that sweet?!" shouted Jay. "Put in Limp Bizkit, T-Dawg!"

Belle Anne shouted some directions while Jay thumbed through John's CD collection, looking for his burned CD. He found it and John popped it in. Katie was frightened as her brother and John sang along with all the lyrics to "Nookie", making hand gestures and faces she'd never observed before. Belle Anne sat in the back, laughing and hanging on to Katie's seat.

When the song was over, John grinned at her. "So what do you think?"

"It's so loud," she responded, rubbing her ears.

John laughed. "That's the way you're supposed to listen to it. It sounds so much better when you can feel it!"

"Yeah, but it hurts. Doesn't it hurt your chest?" She was perplexed.

"I don't think it hurts," responded Belle Anne.

"I guess I'm just a little old lady. I don't like loud music so much." She was embarrassed that no one else felt the same.

"Do you like my ride, though? Isn't it sweet?" John prodded.

"Yeah, it's a nice car. When did you buy it?" she didn't want to sound disinterested.

"Last year. I talked the guy down from, like, ten thousand. He agreed to hook me up with labor if I bought the extras from his store. I probably could have gotten a better deal, but I really wanted this one. The paint job was brand new when I bought it."

"And what year is it?" inquired the not-wanting-to-appear-ignorant Katie.

"Ninety-one. Have you seen the two thousand and two's? Sweet! I wanna go test drive one to feel the handling." He glanced over at Katie. "What do you drive?"

"Um, my parents' cars. Or my best friend picks me up in her Saturn." She squirmed. "I'd like a new beetle, though."

To this the guys broke out in moans. "You've got to be kidding!" shouted John, and Jay said, "I can't believe My Sister would want something so ugly! Why would you want something that looks like a bubble?"

"They're not ugly, they're cute!" She felt very defensive, now.

"That's OK, Katie, I think they're cute, too," reassured Belle Anne.

By this time they had arrived at the parking garage. They had to maneuver around pedestrians, and John insisted on driving around cones past a line of cars waiting for spaces. Several people honked their horns at him.

The rest of the evening was not so bad. Universal Citiwalk is the type of place where, no matter how obnoxious you are behaving, the crowd is so thick and the music so loud that no one cares. They visited a novelty store where a man in a funny shirt greeted them with a puppet speaking gibberish. A glow-in-the-dark store kept them trying on wigs and tossing toys to each other. The guys were anxious to visit the Nascar Café shop and the NBA gift shop, and the girls liked hanging off the railing, watching the people across the lagoon walk by.

They were all quiet on the ride home. They were all weary. Katie looked forward to a night of sleep, when she knew that tomorrow they would get up early to go to the Magic Kingdom. She wanted to look nice to see Enrique, and her mom wanted to make reservations for dinner. As she got ready for bed, she thought how nice it was to have a friend, finally. Yesterday at this time she had known no one, and now she knew Belle Anne, Jay, John, and maybe Enrique. Her head sank into her fluffy pillow, planning all the things she would do over the next two weeks.

Chapter Seven

The Morlands ate breakfast Sunday morning at the Waffle House. It was early, too early for Katie's taste as she had been up late the night before. She stared at her waffle and smothered hash browns, stomach not wanting to take in such rich foods.

"So did you guys have a good time last night?" asked Mrs. Morland, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Yeah. Citiwalk is pretty cool," answered Jay. "They have these moving sidewalks from the parking garage to the fun stuff, so if you're tired, you just stand on those."

Katie just smiled and drank her grapefruit juice. She liked Citiwalk, but looking back, John had gotten on her nerves. He had kept trying to walk next to her and put his fat hands on her. She felt more nauseated thinking about it.

Mr. Morland spoke. "Well, good. It's nice that you have some friends to hang around." He was good at saying obvious, non-confrontational things.

After they had finished and paid, they climbed back into the car and drove to the park. Katie had not realized it would be so much trouble to pay for parking, follow the parking attendants (although she noticed how much more efficient this lot was than the garage at Universal), get their tickets, and then wait in line for a ferryboat just to take them to the Magic Kingdom. The boat was crowded, but luckily they got toward the front, next to a window. She noticed how much foresight her mom had had in rushing them all out the door.

Once inside the park, they looked at their map. "Where do you want to go first?" asked Jay. "We can go around together, and meet Mom and Dad later. Is that OK, Mom?"

"I guess so. Where shall we meet for lunch?" They spent a few minutes choosing places to eat for lunch, and decided to meet at the Pinocchio restaurant at noon.

Katie thought she'd like to see if Enrique were working. "But if we wait, we might have to wait forever to go on Splash Mountain," pointed out Jay. But Katie didn't want to see Enrique after her hair got wet. "Let's at least go get the passes for later."

"OK, as long as I don't look like a drowned rat for him," she grinned.

They got their passes and then walked over to Tomorrow Land. It was an awfully long walk, they noticed. By the time they got back in front of the castle, they were trudging along at a snail's pace.

They stopped to get a lemonade from a cart and sat on the bench. "How old are we?" teased Katie. "We shouldn't get tired from just walking across the park."

"Yeah, but we only got six hours of sleep. And we were walking around a lot last night. I can't believe just walking around tires me out, though. At school, John and I stay up so late and party with the team."

Katie looked him in the eyes. "You have changed a lot, then. In high school you never went to parties."

"Well, I found out they're not bad. They're a lot of fun! I hang out with my friends, talk, and stuff. You'll see when you go to college! It's not taboo anymore to do that sort of thing."

Katie felt a little sad in her stomach. Jay used to be such a nice, calm boy.

He continued. "I used to be really boring. Remember Rebecca? She said I was boring. And I was. So last semester I decided to stop being boring and have fun. People seem to like me better. And I like having so many friends!"

"Just because some girl says you're boring doesn't mean you are," countered Katie. "You are also really smart and kind. It's possible to have too much fun, you know."

"Yes, I do know, Mom. But I am still responsible enough to know when I've had enough. I promise you I won't go jumping off balconies on spring break or something like that." He rested his foot on the bench. "You'll understand in a few months."

They got off their seats and walked into Tomorrowland. They bypassed several rides before getting to the Buzz Lightyear ride. There was already a 15-minute wait. They got at the end of the line and waited their turn. When they finally got up to the cars, Katie started to ask the employee if he knew if Enrique was working today, when she heard her name.

"Hola, Katie! You came to see me!" He was walking toward her in his Buzz Lightyear outfit. "Hey, Ryan, I'm here to break you. Stand here for a minute, you two." Katie and Jay waited while he directed people into their cars. "I'm Rique. Are you Katie's brother?"

"Jay. Nice to meet you, man." They shook hands.

"Hey, are we still on for Tuesday night? My sister said she'd like to see a movie. Do you think you'd want to go?"

"Sure, we can meet up. How will we...?" Katie was unsure of how to ask how to meet.

"Here's my sister's phone number. Her name is Illeane. Hey, if you stick around, I'll be off work at 2:30. You wanna walk around with me?"

"We can do that," said Jay. They settled on meeting in front of the ride at 2:45. Enrique didn't want to get in trouble, so Jay and Katie got on the ride. Katie was glad that Jay seemed to be in a good mood.

The rest of the day went very well. They acted like teenagers: screaming and laughing, causing people to stare at them. Jay forgot his sophisticated college attitude and had fun with his sister, just like they always did when they got together. They got very wet on Splash Mountain. When they saw the picture, they doubled over laughing. Katie's hair was flying straight up, and Jay's eyes and mouth were open as wide as they would go. When they met their parents, dripping and giggling, they were ready to eat. They sat at a table overlooking the "Small World" ride so they could wave at the children passing by in the boats. That got them in a childlike state of mind, so they went on the carousel, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh.

They met Enrique just like they said, at 2:45. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a white T-shirt. They were all ready for some good rides, so they went on Space Mountain and the teacups. Enrique spun them fast. Katie leaned her head back in the cup, her hair flying. She couldn't decide if she got dizzier with her eyes open or closed.

Katie was pleased to see the boys getting along. They talked about music, baseball, and college life. They seemed to like each other a lot and laughed at each other's anecdotes.

After a few more rides, they were amazed to find that it was already 6:00. The Morlands had to meet their parents for dinner, and Enrique had to go home since he had been awake since early that morning. They said their good-byes, and Enrique walked off toward the castle while Jay and Katie walked toward the Crystal Palace.

Patting her pocket with the phone number on a little white slip of paper, Katie felt her heart leap. He thought about her! They were going out, in just 2 nights! She skipped toward the fancy restaurant.

Their parents were tired. They had planned to stay at the park until it closed, but they said they wouldn't enjoy the parade or fireworks when they were so tired. Jay said that he was tired and therefore didn't mind going home. Katie felt the same way, but for another reason: she wanted to call Illeane to see what she was like. They ate their dinners and then left the park.

At home, Katie dialed the number. She almost shook as she heard the phone across town ringing through her phone. On the third ring, a female voice said, "Hello?"

"Um, hi. My name is Katie. I'm calling for Illeane?"

"That's me."

"Oh, hi, Illeane. I met your brother at Disney and he said you wanted to go to a movie. Do you still want to? My brother and me, I mean, my brother and I, would go. What do you think?" she fumbled nervously.

Illeane giggled. "I still want to go. Rique and I are both off of work on Tuesday. Is that a good night for you?"

"Yeah, that's good."

"Well, hold on, let me get the Calendar section." Katie heard the phone get set down. Illeane returned after about a minute. "Sorry, it was buried underneath some other papers. What about... have you seen "Legally Blonde" with Reese Witherspoon? That looks pretty funny.""

"No, that does look funny. I liked her in Cruel Intentions."

"Oh I know, that is like, my favorite movie. I think Ryan Philippe is so cute!" She hmm-ed as she scanned the showtimes. "Can you meet us at the Pleasure Island Theatre at 8:30? There's a show at 9:00."

"Sure, we can do that. Where do we meet?"

"We usually meet in front of the Virgin Megastore, on the side of the movie theatre. You can't miss it! It's got huge letters that say "virgin"."

"OK, sounds good."

"Just to warn you, some of Rique's friends might come," Illeane said. "They're really fun, but they're pretty loud."

"I think I met some of them the night I met him at Pleasure Island," responded Katie. The two girls talked about the nightclubs there, and then they talked about clothes. The conversation moved then to prom, school, and college. Katie was surprised to see she had been talking to Illeane for 30 minutes.

"Well, I think I have to go. It was nice talking to you, Katie," said Illeane. "I can't wait until Tuesday night! It'll be so much fun."

Katie grinned. "Yes, it will be. See you then!"

Chapter Eight

Midnight. A moonlit beach. Katie watched Enrique walk toward her wearing only his swimsuit. When he approached, he clasped her shoulders in his hands. "You are the one I've been looking for," he whispered. "Why didn't I see it before? You are so perfect for me." He kissed her gently, then pulled her down to the sand. He stroked her cheek with his curled index finger. "Promise me that you'll stay here. Don't go back to North Carolina. I need you." The couple kissed again, more passionately and urgently than before.

Then John Thorpe was pulling up in his Mustang, spraying sand on them. "Check out the new decals I put in my back window!" he crowed. Suddenly it was broad daylight, and Katie could see the decals, silhouettes of naked women, on his back window.

"You are so disgusting! How could you put something so awful on your car? I hate you and I hope I never see you again!" She ran away, on hard ground now. She approached Donald Duck and she slowed down to hug him. He took off the Donald Duck head and her brother was inside.

"Don't say that about him! He's my best friend and you'll learn to love him." Jay looked hurt. "Won't you give me some of your lunch?"

Katie looked down, and in her hand was a bag. She looked in the bag, and a McDonald's happy meal was in it. Looking at Jay, she said, "but I'm too old for this!"

Katie realized suddenly that she was in her bed, and someone else was, too. Opening her eyes, she saw Belle Anne lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. "You're here awfully early!"

Belle Anne grinned. "Yeah, I was bored so I thought I'd come see you. I usually sleep late, but for some reason today I couldn't. What are y'all doing today?"

Katie snuggled a bit into the covers. "Oh, Mom and Dad are going to get some jet skis or something. We didn't want to be in a crowded theme park today. We thought we'd have some fun family time. Yippee."

"They're already gone! Jay went with them. He let me in your room."

Katie looked at the clock. 10:07. "How long have you been here?"

"Mmm, maybe ten minutes. You were sound asleep! Having good dreams?"

"Yeah, about Enrique." Katie smiled, remembering the kisses.

"Who?"

"Um, the guy I met at Pleasure Island with Mom. He works at the Magic Kingdom. We saw him yesterday and hung out for a while." Katie realized she hadn't told Belle Anne about her upcoming "date" with Enrique and his sister and friends.

"Oh, so he's not gay, after all? That's good to know. What did y'all do?"

"We rode a bunch of rides, walked along, being silly."

Belle Anne was looking through Katie's make-up and toiletries. "Did he ask you out?"

"Well, yeah. We're supposed to hang out tomorrow night. With all his friends, though. Jay will come with us."

Suddenly Belle Anne paid attention. "Really? So he approves?"

"Well, sort of. He likes him! Enrique and Illeane invited both of us so we would feel comfortable." Katie started to feel uncomfortable with Belle Anne staring so hard at her. "Um... Jay gets along with everyone. He was being so funny yesterday." She sat up and slid her feet into her slippers. "Jay is so crazy. We walked past these two boys trying on hats. So he goes and grabs the hat away from one of them, and puts it on his head. It was a baseball cap with Goofy ears hanging down. So he starts imitating Goofy, doing the stupid laugh, and made these two boys laugh."

"Aww," cooed Belle Anne. "He's so cute! Do you think he likes me?"

"What?" Katie was caught by surprise.

"Well, I know he tells you a lot. Does he talk about me?"

"Um, I don't remember. Wait, yes. He said he was glad you and I were hanging out because I need some friends. Just like I'm some destitute nerd, incapable of making friends on my own."

"But nothing about me and him? Nothing about my looks?" Belle Anne pressed.

"I don't think so."

"You could ask him," she said, getting off the bed. She fiddled with the radio. "Just be like, do you think Belle Anne is hot?"

"I think he'll think I'm gay." She stood up and walked to the closet.

"No, he won't. And I'll tell you something else! John thinks you are cute. He thought it was a hoot how you didn't like the loud music."

Katie thought about his car, and how he listened to obnoxious music. "Um, that's great," she managed to squeak out. She pictured him kissing her, that acne-riddled face with its big nose and fat lips coming closer and closer... she shuddered.

"...don't you think?" Belle Anne was finishing saying.

"Huh?" Katie had missed it.

"You know, like a double date. We could go tomorrow or Wednesday, all four of us. Daytona Beach is great. Of course, I've been for spring break the past two years and that's when you really have to go, but it's fun now, too." She put the radio onto a Backstreet Boys song and flopped into the chair. "C'mon, get dressed and let's go out. I'm bored."

Katie put on her board shorts and a light blue T-shirt. She didn't bother looking at her hair, even though she knew it was probably messy. She shoved her feet into flip-flops with flowers on the toes.

Belle Anne stalked across the living room and slid open the glass door. "Where are you all going tomorrow night?" Her green eyes narrowed.

"To see 'Legally Blonde'. At Pleasure Island."

"I'm dying to see that!" Belle Anne's attention was then caught by some men out in a boat. They appeared to be blonde and wearing British soccer jerseys. She stared for a moment, remarked, "Oh it's so hot out already!" and took off her shirt. Underneath she was wearing the same skimpy bikini top from the other day.

Katie was all for lying on the shore in the sun, but Belle Anne insisted they go into the water. She dragged some plastic inner tubes so they could float. Katie wound up having to change into her swimsuit.

After they had been out there, Belle Anne complaining frequently that the guys stared too much at them, then checking to make sure they were, the Morlands returned with a ski-do in tow. Mr. and Mrs. Morland went to work setting it up, while Jay ran to the Thorpes' to gather John. He returned with John, the twins, Mrs. Thorpe, and her boyfriend, Bart Blackaby.

The Morlands and Thorpes passed the late morning and early afternoon in and out of the water, taking turns mastering the ski-do. Katie loved riding it, especially since her father wouldn't let anyone but himself take her for a ride. John rode it extremely roughly and encouraged Jay to do the same. Jay rode more tamely than John, but he usually had Isabella clinging to his waist. The twins, Daisy and Bambi, whined about not getting to ride as much as everyone else. Mr. Morland tried to give them each equal time, but neither one was good at hanging on and they kept falling off, crying to go in; then after a brief recovery, whining again to go out. Mrs. Thorpe did not pay any attention to their moans; she spent most of her time on the shore, on a blanket with Bart Blackaby, behaving improperly in view of her children.

When everyone was drained of their energy, the men and Jay put the ski-do away while Katie, Belle Anne, and John sat on their little porch. Belle Anne asked, "So, Katie, what will you wear tomorrow night?"

"Oh, I don't know! Maybe my white capri pants and purple T-shirt. But maybe that's too casual. A skirt?"

"Where are you going?" asked John.

Katie thought of how she could phrase it without hurting his feelings. "Um, to meet some other friends to go see a movie."

"Really? Which movie?"

"'Legally Blonde'. With Reese Witherspoon."

"Cool." He didn't seem too hurt. Just then Jay was walking across the lawn toward them. "So I guess you and I'll have to hang tomorrow night since the girls are going out without us," John called at him.

"Huh?" Jay was confused.

"The girls are going to see a movie tomorrow night," said the confused John Thorpe.

"No, they're not," said Jay, right as Belle Anne blurted out "I wasn't invited!"

Katie interjected, "No, Jay and I are going."

"But you can go if you want, I'm sure," proposed the ignorant Jay.

"Well, if you're sure they wouldn't mind..." beamed Belle Anne.

"Um, they probably won't," Katie finished for her. She hopped up. "Just a minute, let me call Illeane."

She went to her room. She could have kicked Jay. She loved Belle Anne, but these were her plans, and she didn't like having to ask permission.

Illeane was more than happy to oblige Katie. "Any friends of yours are friends of mine," she said kindly. "We are gonna be a big group anyway. Hopefully the movies won't be too crowded, and we can all sit together. That's why we like to hook up so early."

"Oh, that's good," said Katie. They talked for another few minutes, and then Katie had to say goodbye. They re-confirmed their plans and hung up.

She looked at her clothes in her closet. She didn't have too many skirts. Most of what she had bought with her mom was for going to theme parks. She was picking out some outfits when Belle Anne walked in. After a 10-minute inventory, Belle Anne announced that they would have to go shopping.

"Belle Anne, I don't have much money to be spending," protested Katie.

But Belle Anne pleaded, so they wound up going. Mrs. Morland wanted them to be home "at a reasonable hour, since they were going to Epcot Center tomorrow". Belle Anne assured her that the shops closed at 9:00, and they would be home shortly thereafter.

"Gaw, I have to go back to work tomorrow," complained Belle Anne.

"Work? I didn't know you had a job," Katie said, surprised.

"Yeah, I work at a store called Rave. It's in the mall we're going to," she answered.

Katie wanted to go to the Gap, where she could get a discount. Belle Anne assured her that Rave had better clothes, and she could get her a discount. Katie consented.

Belle Anne picked out for Katie: 3 strapless, stretchy dresses, in very bright colors, a floral print handkerchief skirt with a matching halter top, a black print skirt that came below the knee and three tiny shirts that could match it. They went back to try them on.

"Belle Anne, I'm serious. I don't have anything to hold these up!" Katie whined, pointing out her lack of cleavage. "I know these are cute and in style, but I just look awful."

"No, you don't. You have to try things on to see how they look." Belle Anne helped her pull things up.

After some more agony on Katie's part, Belle Anne agreed that they could try another store. Katie picked out some more conservative clothes that would flatter her figure better. Belle Anne supplemented these with some tight, skimpy choices. Back in the dressing room they finally agreed on an outfit: a white wraparound shirt, with the V at such a position that it didn't make her look flat, and a floral print skirt that had a fluttery hem line. Luckily, it was on sale.

They girls spent the rest of the evening watching movies on Katie's couch. Jay flopped down between them and made them giggle. Katie fell asleep before the end. She couldn't stay up until all hours of the night like the others, and completely missed the flirting going on between Jay and Belle Anne, or the smirks on John's face at seeing his sister behave so.

Chapter Nine

"Only 5 minutes. We'll be fine." Belle Anne seemed unconcerned.

"Yeah, they're probably late too," assured Jay. "Hispanic people usually are."

They had had to park towards the back of the parking lot, so they had a long walk ahead of them. Katie tried to speed walk but the others dragged behind.

The House of Blues had a big pineapple on top, and the Thorpes pointed that out, giggling. They also oohed and aahed at the huge buildings, making Katie feel like a tourist.

When they reached the front of Virgin Megastore, they could see a cluster within all the hundreds of people walking through the square. Katie waved when she spotted Enrique, his friends Will, Scott, and Jorje, and a pretty girl that she thought must be Illeane. She felt important, making the introductions between them and Jay, John, and Belle Anne.

Enrique had already bought tickets for the four of them. Katie wondered if she should offer to pay for her own, or if he considered it a date, if she didn't need to. She decided to ask him about it later.

They got inside the theatre. "Katie, I'll be so sad if we don't sit together," Belle Anne had said earlier. But now she and Jay slid into their seats, laughing and ignoring everyone else. Katie decided to pay attention to her new friends and sat in between Illeane and Enrique. On Enrique's other side were his three friends, and next to Illeane were John, then Jay, and Belle Anne. It was quite a long party in the row.

Katie studied Illeane's face as they talked. She was simply a beautiful girl. Not the in-your-face kind of pretty like Belle Anne, but truly beautiful, without having to wear make-up. Her features, simple and natural, were nicely proportioned, with long lashes and darker coloring around her eyes. Her hair was long and wavy like Belle Anne's, but she had the sides pulled back in a barrette. She wore light blue capri pants and a striped T-shirt.

The group enjoyed the movie. John and Enrique's friends called out a few times, which made a few other patrons laugh and a few others annoyed.

When the movie let out, they walked down the long corridor, laughing and talking. Belle Anne and Jay held hands. They made a formidable group, dodging the other moviegoers. As they approached the main lobby, Enrique declared, "I want some ice cream!"

"Yummy!" responded Illeane.

"Where can we go?" asked Jay, tearing his gaze from Belle Anne long enough to ask the question.

"Ghiradelli's or Marble Slab." Scott presented these choices.

"Ooh, I just love Marble Slab," cooed Belle Anne. The group got directions and walked to their respective cars. Katie decided to ride with Illeane in her Mitsubishi Eclipse.

The two girls got along very well. Katie told her her fears about being late, and Illeane assured her that they were often later. Illeane told Katie about her father's beach house, which they were going to stay at in a couple of weeks. Katie asked lots of questions about that. It seemed that there was no Mrs. Tilne, so when her father got a break, he liked to go back and forth between the two houses. Katie thought he must be avoiding memories and possibly have gotten his heart broken.

Once at Marble Slab, Katie stood by Illeane. Enrique came to stand by them. John came and wanted to cut in front of Katie. He watched as his rival explained the ordering procedure to Katie.

"You pick your ice cream, and if you want it in some kind of cone," he explained, pointing at a wine-rack that held all kinds of waffle cones: dipped in chocolate, sprinkles, and other delicacies. "Then you choose something to put inside the ice cream. They have something like fifty things to choose from." He pointed at the end of the ice cream bins, where there was a countertop of marble, and jars that held all kinds of candy, fruit, and nuts. "They mix it up in front of you, and then put it in the cone."

Katie and Illeane both ordered chocolate with peanut butter cup mixed in, in ordinary waffle cones. John had concocted something out of a few conflicting candies in minty ice cream, which Katie thought must taste disgusting, but he was adamant about its being delicious. The other guys thought John was very daring, and they laughed and started talking about cars and baseball.

Belle Anne came outside where Katie and Illeane stood. "I swear, guys are such pigs," she snorted as she nibbled her vanilla with strawberries.

"I know," smiled Illeane, as Katie said, "Even Jay?"

"I mean, Jay is wonderful, but when he gets around the other guys he turns just as silly as they all are."

"So I noticed," Katie said dryly.

Enrique broke away from the hooting pack of guys to come talk to them. "So how is the ice cream, girls?"

"Yummy," they responded.

"I think it's the hot weather that makes it taste so much better," he remarked. "You can drink hot drinks in hot weather, but you can't eat ice cream when it's cold outside."

"Really?" questioned Belle Anne.

"Yeah, when it's hot, and you drink hot drinks, it equalizes your body temperature so that you don't mind the heat as much."

"That's cool!" Exclaimed Katie. "I get cold really easily. I can't eat ice cream when I'm cold."

At this point, Belle Anne wandered over by Jay, and the three of them were able to chat. When everyone had finished their ice cream, and the guys ran out of things to say, they all headed back to their cars. John showed off all the amenities to his car, which impressed all the Hispanic friends of Enrique. They in turn showed off Jorje's Civic.

Katie noticed Enrique and Jay off to the side, talking quietly. Then Enrique moved toward her, smiling. "So, did you have a good time tonight? Me, too. Hey, would you want to go out again, just the two of us?"

"Yeah, that'd be fun," answered Katie, trying to play it cool.

"OK, give me your phone number and we'll go out Friday. I work in the morning again, so we can catch a movie or do something else."

She dug in her purse for a pen and paper. When she found it, she scribbled her name, phone number, and a smiley face. She had memorized the phone number where they were staying just in case he asked.

"Cool, I'll call you soon to discuss it," he said. He squeezed her hand and got in his car.

"It was nice to meet you, Katie. Call me!" Illeane hugged her and kissed the air next to her cheeks.

"OK!" agreed Katie, and they all piled into their cars and drove home. Katie noticed that John was very quiet. She didn't want to ask what was wrong and cause him to talk.

Continued in Next Section