Roswell Fanatics

Title: Calendar Girls

Genre: CC AU (conventional pairing, all)

Rating : Mature (honest)

Summary : Four eighteen year old girlfriends decide that they need to do something to earn some extra money. Only two of them have jobs and the other two do volunteer work. They really need to do something to earn money to do the things they want to do before heading off to college. They may have just stumbled onto something really BIG!!!

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the show Roswell or any of it’s constituents. I have borrowed the names of the characters simply because I like them.

(For all of you skeptics, this story is about starting a business and believe me it is this easy to start a business…nobody cares as long as they get paid and that includes the government. Just give them the information they need to collect the funds. Honest!)


*~*~*
Chapter: 1


“Hey guys what’s up?” Liz asked as she joined her three best buds in the quad for lunch. She sat down and opened her sack lunch, checked out what her mom had thrown together this morning and smiled. Her very best favorite, PB&J…yummy.

Isabelle looked over at her and grinned…

“How can you eat that everyday?”

“It’s delicious!” Liz replied with a smile and then stuck her tongue out, coated with peanut butter, bread and strawberry jam.

“Oh God Liz! You’re just gross!” Isabelle shivered in disgust and everyone laughed at her.

“Hey, there are only a couple more weeks of school and we need to make some plans for this summer…we need to do something really big before we set off to college.” Tess said…her usual bubbly personality taking on a new bubble.

“Well, we could always sell porn on the internet.” Maria drawled out as they all laughed…then Liz got a serious look on her face and said,

“Why not make a calendar and sell it?” She gazed at her friends in all seriousness…

Three young women all sat slack jawed and looked at their friend in disbelief…

“You’re kidding…right?” Isabelle asked, almost in shock.

“Well, no. Not really,” Liz answered thoughtfully…”it could work”.

“What do you mean it could work?”

“Think about it. We could take pictures of each other, edit them in ‘photo shop’, print them out ourselves and sell them on the internet. We could print them up as they’re sold and we won’t have any overhead except the blank calendars at Staples and shipping of course. We already have computers. We get some manila envelopes find out how much the postage and calendars will be, figure that into our cost of goods tack on a percentage, say 100%, it’s our bodies after all and sell the calendars. We’ll give the customers a wee peak at what’s in store for them and I’ll bet we can sell a bundle.” Liz was on a roll.

The three other girls sat and looked at their friend as though she had lost her mind…’so that’s what a valedictorian looks like’ Isabelle thought to herself. Then she really thought about it, they could do this. They would have to incorporate Alex’s talents for the computer web site, or maybe they’d better get someone else…Alex might not be too pleased with her selling pictures of herself. 'Yes… someone else', she thought.

“It could work.” Isabelle said as Maria and Tess looked at their two friends and frowned…

“You’re serious aren’t you?” Tess asked.

“Yes. It really could work. We’ll need the help of a computer geek, but yes, it could work.” Isabelle said.

“Who? Alex?” Maria asked, she was just a little concerned about Alex seeing her in some kind of semi-nude or nude state and the idea wasn’t all that appealing.

“God no!!! Not Alex!!! He’d kill me!!!” Isabelle was horrified at the thought.

“Then who?” Maria wanted to know.

“Hey, whoever we get doesn’t need to know what we’re going to use the site for. They only need to know that we want one set up.” Isabelle answered matter of factly!

“That’s true. We can certainly figure out how to fill in the blanks, we’ve all had some computer training. What do you say?” Liz was getting into this plan big time.

“Fine. Count me in. Now where do you suggest we take these pictures?” Tess was joining in… quite enthusiastically now.

“Well, we can take them anywhere and everywhere. We’ll figure it out.”
Liz said and then she looked at her friends and smiled. “Let’s go to Staples after school and see what those blank calendars cost.”

“Okay, count me in.” Said Tess and Maria just groaned…

“I have the afternoon schedule and Liz, you’d better be there for the dinner crowd.”

“I will. Have I ever failed you?” Liz grinned…

“Don’t go there girl friend, you might not like the answer.” And both girls giggled. How many times had Maria covered for Max and Liz…too many to count is how many.

*

And so the four young ladies all headed back into the hall to prepare for their next classes when they saw their boyfriends laughing and heading their way.

The four young men all stopped in front of their significant others and all four promptly kissed their girls in varying ways. Alex gave Isabelle a kiss on the cheek, Max kissed Liz on the forehead and smiled as Kyle kissed Tess on the cheek and Michael and Maria just got it on and went for broke. They always did.

As Maria and Michael were sucking face so to speak Liz, Tess and Isabelle were explaining to their boyfriends why they couldn’t join them after school for a quick trip up to Frasier Woods for some swimming at the lake.

“We have to stop in at Staples for a large project Max. Maybe we can meet up after my shift tonight for a little bit.” Liz looked up into her boyfriends eyes and gave him that hopeful smile that she was able to pull out of a hat any time she needed it and Max melted as always.

“All right…if Staples is that important I’ll just drive over to the Crash after I do my homework instead of before.”

“Great…I’ll see you then.” She stood on her tiptoes, gave Max a quick little peck on the lips and was off.

Isabelle and Tess were both telling Kyle and Alex the same thing and both boys just stood there. The Girls never turned down a chance to go have some fun…since when did a school project ever interfere with that? The boys just assumed that the big project was a school project…and the girls really hadn’t lied to them, they didn’t even know they had been misunderstood at the time and all was good with the world. Besides, who had a big school project two weeks before graduation? All the tests had been taken; all the grades were in, all the college apps. finalized, the rest was just cosmetics.

So, after their last period Isabelle and Liz jumped into Tess’ mini van and took off. Maria headed home and as she was changing clothes to get ready for her shift the other three converged upon Staples.

They found their way back to the service desk and started asking questions about blank calendars.

“Hi, we have some questions about calendars that you can print your own pictures on.” Liz said.

“Of course. How large of a calendar do you want?” The service clerk asked.

“Twelve months?” Liz frowned at the question…

The clerk giggled…

“No, actually the calendars come in various sizes…what size would you be interested in?”

“Well, let me see. What size manila envelopes do you have? We want one that will fit into a manila envelope.” Isabelle answered.

“Well…why not go over there to aisle 7 and check out the various sizes of envelopes and choose a size that you think would fit your needs and then we’ll get some idea of what you want.”

“Great.” Isabelle replied and the three girls went over to aisle 7 and started looking around.

“Hey, look at these. They have different weights in the same size for different prices. What do we want to get, the cheap stuff or the expensive stuff?” Tess asked.

Isabelle and Liz both went over to Tess’ area and checked them out. There were manila envelopes in boxes of varying counts starting from 12 up to 24. You could buy a package of three clear up to eight and then they came in different weights as Tess had pointed out.

“Why don’t we go for the 8x10’s? They’re not the smallest but I think they would make the best picture size and then we can get the cheapest weight. What do you think?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. We’ll start out with a box of 24 for $25.00 and buy as we need them.” Liz said….

“Great. Oh here’s a scale. I wonder how much one of those envelopes weigh?” asked Tess.

Isabelle opened the box and took one out and stuck it on the scale…1 oz.
The three young girls looked at each other and smiled…44cents said Liz.

“No…wait, I mailed an envelope for my dad the other day and this is oversized. It’s more than 44 cents. When we go over there to that service counter again let’s ask that clerk if she knows. I think they mail stuff here, she should be able to tell us.” Isabelle informed them.

“Great! So far our cost of goods sold is 25.00 divided by 24. Let’s check out the rest.” Tess said.

So Liz wrote down, one box envelopes: 25.00

Back to the service desk they went…

“Do you have 8 x 10 calendars?” Tess asked…she was really beginning to enjoy this.

“Yes we do.”

“How much are they?” Liz asked.

“With one picture per page they would cost you $9.95.”

“Oh, we want to print them ourselves, how much for just the calendars?”

“Well, we’ve never just sold the calendars plain. I’ll have to ask.”

“Liz, how are we going to print them…we don’t have that kind of printer?”
Isabelle asked.

“Yes we do. My printer prints 8 x 10 sheets and it has a photo print quality setting. I don’t see why we can’t use it.”

“Okay then, now we’ll have to figure out how many pictures we get out of a cartridge of ink and figure that into the cost as well. Maybe we should just let them print them out for us.” Tess suggested.

“Hey, we don’t want this to get all over town and if we use their printing you know it will.” Liz said.

“Then we’ll just drive to Las Cruces and have them printed there.” said Isabelle.

“Nah, nah, nah! Nope!!! I’m going to school in Las Cruces…no, no, no!” Said Tess, shaking her head from side to side til Liz and Isabelle thought she would lose consciousness.

“Well I’m going to Albuquerque, it’s a larger city and won’t be so closed in. Maybe we could just go there and have them printed.” Isabelle suggested.

“Hey, you’re going to be studying law, your dad’s a lawyer, why not just go through his law books, find a simple contract binding all parties to secrecy and have the darned things done right here. That way we know it will cost us $9.95 plus $1.0444 each for envelope plus postage.” Liz said.

When the clerk came back Liz presented her with their proposition and the clerk looked at her a little weird. “Who are these people?” she thought.

“How much do you think it would cost to mail one of these calendars in a manila envelope?” Liz asked.

“$2.15 the girl said.” Liz added 2.15 to her list of 9.95 and 1.04444 and smiled. Doubled was $26.88. She showed the figures to Isabelle and Tess and they shook their heads.

“How much?” Liz mouthed; wanting to know what they thought would be a good price.

Isabelle thought for a minute and looked at the two girls…

“I don’t think we should go over 20.00 if we really want to sell them.”

“Yeah, I agree Liz. We’re only going to sell them as they’re ordered and we won’t ship until November that way we’ll have some idea of where we stand money wise.” Tess said.

Liz looked at the girl behind the desk and started asking questions about how they would go about getting the photo’s to her.

“Most people just bring a CD into us and tell us where to go from there. The pictures are usually laid out with the months printed below them after they have been sorted on their computer. You can use your own photo shop for different layouts and save them to a disk and we just print them to the pages for you. “All three girls smiled as they left the shop.

“I still think we need to go out of town for this. It’s just too close to home.” Liz said.

“I agree.” Isabelle agreed. “No one will ever recognize you in Las Cruces Tess. Once we get the CD to them we can just keep ordering as the orders come in. We can even get a credit card and set it up to pay them from that and then we can open a checking account to deposit our cash receipts into the bank and pay the credit card bill from there. This is going to be so much fun!”

Liz and Tess just stood there looking at their friend…then they decided yeah, it is fun.

Thank God they were all 18! Were they in for a surprise?

***

Eve: Yep, they're all little devils in this one, sweet little devils that is and the pictures are real. If you google the actress' name you will have the option of looking at photos. There are hundreds of them and while I do searches for other banners I come across things like this so I decided to put a story to them. Majandra has some pretty serious stuff out there...truly risque "STUFF"
Lizza: I think the girls are very aware of the trouble they MIGHT be in, not necessarily in but but they don't want to take any chances. We'll just have to see how it all works out for them.
Carolyn:

Alex won't be the only one to kill Isabel..

We'll see...
Dreambeliever: This time they may have just gotten themselves in over their heads...let's wait and see how it all turns out. They are graduating after all so maybe they can run and hide...what do you think?
Jake17: Well, they may have some explaining to do...we'll see, but it won't happen for awhile yet.
Cardinal: This one was a fun one that's for sure...

*~*~*

Chapter: 2

When Tess dropped Liz off at the Crash she headed on over to Cherry Tree Lane to drop off Isabelle and then headed home. Liz ran in through the back door of the restaurant and checked out through the break room window hunting Maria down. When Maria saw her friend she handed a full coffee pot to Agnes and took off for the back room. Agnes stood there in disbelief…’what the hell’ thought the crusty middle aged woman and walked toward the back of the dining room when Jeff appeared through the front door and gave her a frown. Agnes knew better than to try and pull any crap with the boss and promptly started to fill up coffee cups of the patrons. Jeff smiled as he passed her on his way to the back room…

Liz had Maria pinned next to the lockers deep in discussion and Jeff just shook his head and headed on up the stairs.

“Maria, have you ever used photo shop on your computer?”

“Yeah…I’ve used it quite a bit in my photography class. Why?”

“Well…the girl at Staples said we can put our photos onto a CD. Just use photo shop to edit our photos and take them into her. Maria, it’s going to be a lot cheaper if we have them print these for us…honest. By the time we buy the blanks, the envelopes, ink cartridges and everything it’s just going to be cheaper to have them printed at Staples. They charge 9.95 per calendar and that includes 12 photos.”

“Hey, that’s not bad!”

“No it isn’t and the postage will be $2.15 and the envelopes will cost about $1.0444 each. If we do it ourselves we’re getting into a whole lot of overhead and we really can’t guarantee that any of our printers are going to hold up under all this printing.”

“That’s true, but do we want to have Staples printing our pictures Liz? It will be all over Roswell.”

“We decided to take them to Las Cruces where nobody knows us.”

“That’ll work. What about Tess, she’s going to be going to Las Cruces, so is Kyle. What if he sees one of these calendars? He’ll be pissed.”

“Maria, we aren’t going to be printing porn…just nice pictures.”

“Liz, they have to be just a little bit more than nice for God’s sake!”

“Well, yeah, but they don’t have to be dirty.”

“No, I guess you’re right.”

“Hey, I’ve got still got some work to do on my speech I’ll be down in a little while.”

“Liz, we graduate in two weeks…you know you’ve got that speech down pat.”

“Just a simple little change, that’s all.”

“You’re nuts girl friend. Just tell them good bye; that we’re all moving on. Some of us aren’t moving forward but we’re all moving just the same. ”

“You’re nuts Maria.” And with that Liz headed upstairs.

*

Tess arrived home just before Ed got home and her mom was already starting dinner…

“How did things go today dear?” Her mother questioned.

“Great mom, need any help?”

“No. Your dad’s going to bar-b-q chicken tonight so I picked up some Colonel’s coleslaw on my way home and threw some potatoes in the oven. It’s an easy night tonight.”

“Okay then, I’ll just head on up to my room and change clothes.”

When she got to her room she took a good look around and smiled. “PINK” she thought…almost everything was pink. She loved pink and she knew exactly where they were going to do her pictures. Right over there in the corner with her pick vanity stool. She could envision it all now and she smiled…this was going to be great! Wait til the girls here about this.

She changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top, stuck her feet into a pair of backless sandals and headed on downstairs. Her mother noticed a smile on Tess’ face but didn’t say anything…’she must have really had a good day’ Theresa Harding thought to herself.

*
Isabelle walked into a house void of people, headed back to her room and was shocked to see Max sitting there working at his desk.

“Max, what are you doing home?”

“Well I told Liz I’d go over to the Crash after her shift tonight and I wanted to make sure my Salutatorian speech was definitely complete. I can’t believe she beat me out by two points…I knew we were close but two points is ridiculous!” Max whined.

“Well, look on the bright side Max, it is your girlfriend and two points isn’t a whole lot when you look at it like that.”

Max grinned,

“You’re right Isabelle. Where did you guys go to anyway? I noticed you all piled into Tess’ car and Maria drove off alone.”

“Oh, we have a little project we’re working on and Maria had to go to work. Have you guys had anymore ideas on what you would like to do this summer?”

“Nah…not really. We’ve bounced a few ideas around but if we don’t work we won’t be able to afford it and if we do work we won’t be able to do anything… because we’re working. We’re still muddling our way through.”

“Well let us know if we can be of any help.”

“Yep, will do.”

*

Liz looked around her room as she ran her speech over and over in her brain and then she noticed the wicker chaise sitting out on her roof and she smiled. Why not she thought to herself, that’s where I’m the most comfortable and I won’t be too embarrassed to be out there…’yep that’s where I want my picture taken’ and she smiled. This was going to be great!

She noticed the time and decided she’d better get a hurry on and started to change into her uniform before Maria came and started to rant as only Maria could do. She really could be a pain sometime.

She made her way down the break room stairs and headed straight for the time clock. Living upstairs really did have it’s advantages…she made it exactly one minute before 5:00 and her dad just stood there and shook his head at her.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing…could you play it any closer to the belt Liz?” Jeff smiled.

“I was practicing my valedictorian speech dad. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

Jeff smiled at his daughter and gave her a hug…

“I don’t think that’s possible Liz.” She giggled and said…

“You’d be surprised dad, really surprised.” And Jeff continued to smile…he was so proud of her.

About that time Maria came barreling through the door and was ready to plow her way upstairs when she noticed Liz…

“Come on girl friend…the natives are getting restless.”

“I’m coming Maria, settle down for Pete’s sake.”

And both girls headed to the dining room leaving Jeff Parker to shake his head at the two of them. ‘What are they going to do without each other’ he thought to himself. They have been friends since pre-school…I hope they can deal with it. Of course there is always the internet and he headed to the kitchen to help Jose with the dinner crowd.

*
Max walked into the front door of the diner just at closing and Liz gave her boyfriend a great big smile and headed to the soda fountain to get him a cherry cola. Maria watched this scenario and then she walked over to Liz and said in a very quiet voice….

“When do I get in on all the particulars of our little enterprise Liz?”

“I’ll call you when he leaves. Dad won’t let him stay past 11:00 so just keep your cell under your pillow.”

“Okay…I’ll be waiting you know.”

“Yeah, yeah…I’ll see you later.”

And Liz took her cherry cola and headed to Max’s booth, bent over and gave him a peck on the lips as she sat the drink down and told him to just give her a half hour. She had to help with the clean up or Maria would be furious. Max smiled and took a sip of his drink before standing up and removing his jacket. After the last customer was out the door Max started lifting chairs onto to tables and then headed for the rest room. He grabbed the cleanser, shook some into the toilet and sink and then turned around and reached into the cabinet behind him and got out a clean rag. He sprayed the mirror first then went to work on the sink, wiped down the back of the toilet and the seat and then reached for the toilet brush that was housed in a receptacle behind the toilet itself. By the time he was finished Liz was there with the broom and when she was finished sweeping Maria followed with the bucket of soapy water and a mop. Between the three of them they had the place shining in no time.

While Liz cleaned the milk shake machine Max swept the floor in preparation of Maria’s mopping. Liz took care of the counters, tables and booths and Jeff worked in the kitchen as the kids worked in silence and he smiled. ‘They really are good kids’ he thought to himself.

*** (13)

Eve: You're certainly on the right page about the attire, or lack there of, we'll see what happens. And I'm not going to be giving anything away by telling you that they do wait until after graduation.
Carolyn: Killjoy left you a message, it seems he's way ahead of us as far as this picture of his favorite little alien is concerned...
Cardinal: Yeah, it's too bad that they only put a teaser out there for you...you have to purchase the calendar to view the rest!
angiebrenna: You are certainly on the right page regarding them showing off their lovely lady parts to the world. For some reason though it doesn't seem to bother them as long as they don't know who is looking...strange behavior isn't it?
Killjoy: Hey there, I thought that banner would get some attention. Every time I went on a search for pics I would come across these and decided they needed a place of their own. Let's hope the technicalities of the story don't get too boring for the crowd...it is labeled mature but only because I didn't know whether PG would work or not.

*~*~*

Chapter: 3

So right at 11:00 p.m. Liz kissed Max goodnight at the dining room door and headed back upstairs. Her mom and dad were both watching the eleven o’clock news and she smiled as she made her way over to the back of the couch, reached down and gave each of them a hug goodnight.

“Sleep tight Lizzie.”

“I will dad. See you both in the morning.” And she made her way to her room, carefully closed the door, got ready for bed and then called Maria.

“Okay girlfriend! What did you find out?”

“Well, Staples has the calendar blanks and will print them for $9.95. We thought we could print them ourselves but that would involve a whole lot more overhead…” and Liz continued to tell Maria everything they had found out.

“Boy that sounds really involved Liz. If we do this over the internet we’ll have to set up bank accounts, credit card accounts and the whole works.”

“I know.i think we should look into a privacy contract with Staples too.”

“Hey, why don’t we just google all of this into the computer tomorrow and see if we can figure something out. Maybe we can just sell computer pages that people can use as wall paper or print the thing out themselves. Let’s give that a try.” Maria suggested.

“I don’t know Maria, that doesn’t sound very professional. We don’t want this to be some POS…we want it to be nice and professional looking. We can see if we can download some kind of a contract maybe…and some information on setting up a web site. I know that’s possible but I’m not so sure about our computer skills.”

(Eve, POS means "Piece of shit", my young niece explained that to me! 0

“Well I should think that between the four of us we should be able to figure it out. You know Tess is pretty good at that kind of stuff.”

“No. I didn’t know that.” Liz was surprised.

About that time Liz heard her dad outside her door….

“Hey Maria, let’s talk about this tomorrow. I think my dad is roaming.”

“Oh alright, tomorrow it is. It’s better for the four of us to be in on all conversations anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you in the morning. G’night.”

“G’night Liz.” And they rang off.

Liz reached up and put her phone in its cradle just as her dad knocked on her door.

“Yeah?” She knew who it was…

“Is everything alright Liz?”

“Yeah dad, good night.”

“Good night Liz.” And Liz breathed a sigh of relief, turned over and went to sleep.

*

The next morning all the girls met up at Liz’s locker and started to discuss what they were all thinking about last evening when suddenly their boyfriends joined them for a little bit of friendly conversation before first period. They looked at each other helplessly and Max picked up on it immediately.

“Hey. Were we interrupting something over here? We can always disappear you know.”

Liz stood on her tiptoes and gave Max a peck on the lips before answering…

“Don’t be silly. We were just talking about a project we’re working on.”

“What project?” Asked Michael, who had just released Maria from her morning lip lock…, Maria was still smiling and couldn’t answer through her happy fog…

Isabelle rolled her eyes and Tess giggled as she leaned back into Kyle’s chest.

Liz responded…

“It’s no big deal Max. Just something we’re thinking about doing over the summer to earn a little money before going off to college. We’ll let you know how it goes if it materializes.” And the other three giggled and agreed verbally but all three were thinking something along the lines of ‘yeah, when pigs fly!’

The girls all had study hall third period and although Max, Michael and Kyle had phys. ed. that period they tried to talk the girls into skipping. The girls wouldn’t have any part of it due to their planned business meeting and so the three boys grabbed Alex and headed to the malt shop for an early break. They were graduating in two weeks, all the decisions had been made, grades were in so why waste their time hanging around for gym.

In the library the four young ladies discussed what they had decided after arriving home the day before and Maria said that she could ‘borrow’ a camera and some lights from the photography department for the rest of the week and they could spend each day with one of them and she could take the photos.

Tess told them that her dad and mom wouldn’t be home after school today and she would like to have her photo’s done in her bedroom with the pink walls and her pink furniture as background. The other three smiled and told her they thought that would look really great. Then Liz popped up with, “Isabelle, why don’t we search the web while Maria does the photos and see what we come up with”.

“Fantastic.” Isabelle agreed.

So Maria went to the photography class room supply closet and chose the equipment she would need, spoke with the instructor, and signed the equipment out on loan, promising to have it back by next Monday. She promised with her life that nothing would happen to it…after checking out the best camera in the department including the lenses. This was Tuesday. If they planned this all right they would have their photos ready to work on in photo shop by Sunday at least. This would give them at least 6 months until Christmas…oh this was going to be so much fun.

When they met up in the parking lot after school Max was waiting for Isabelle and she informed him that Tess would take her home…Michael waited for Maria to set up a place to meet but she informed him she was going over to Tess’ and Liz hopped into the Jetta with Maria. Four puzzled young men stood watching their girlfriends drive off without so much as a ‘by your leave…

“I wonder what the hell they’re up to.” Max though out loud.

“Your guess is as good as mine but I have a sneaking suspicion that we aren’t going to like it. They’re being too damned sneaky.” Michael said.

“Yeah, that they are.” Agreed Kyle and Alex just stood there watching the retreating cars and shaking his head. He wasn’t so sure he liked this anymore than the others did.
*

When the four friends arrived at Tess’ house they all helped Maria in with the equipment and headed on up to Tess’ room after stopping in the kitchen to grab some sodas out of the fridge.

Tess went to her closet and started digging through shoe boxes for a pair of pink shoes and came out and set them on the bed…

“What are you going to wear?” Maria asked.

“Pink shoes.” Tess replied and headed on into her bathroom as nonchalantly as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and it was really, very natural.

Liz looked at the other two in semi shock and they giggled at her…Maria got a good look at Liz’s face and thought, ‘Thank God Tess is the first on the list, Liz is never going to go for nudes. This is certainly going to help break the ice.’

“How many pictures are we going to take?” Tess asked as she came out of her bathroom wearing a towel, hair and make up perfect, and slipping into her pink shoes.

“Well…we’re going to need at least three good ones of each of us. I thought of a composite for the cover and we could do a composite on some of the months if we have some that we really like and can’t make a decision on. How’s that sound?” Maria suggested since she was the photo expert.

“That sounds great. How much film do you have in the camera? Should we have bought some before we came over?” Isabelle asked.

“No…it’s a chip. When we finish taking the pictures we’ll download them to the computer and then delete them from the chip. Then we can choose which ones we like and copy them over to a CD; delete the discards for safety sake. We can use the photo shop program in the lab, copy them on to a flash drive and destroy the disc when we’re done. We can do all kinds of things with them. This is going to be so much fun. We use the flash drive over at my house and work on them while mom’s at the shop. Okay Tess, where do you want to start?”

Tess pulled her pink vanity stool over to the corner of the room, removed her towel and started posing. Maria must have snapped over 50 poses. Tess was a natural and had absolutely no fear of the camera. It must come from her dancing all these years…she was quite the accomplished ballerina.

All three of her buddies watched in awe as she moved from one position to the other never revealing one private part of her body but was absolutely as naked as the day that she was born.

When Maria was finished Tess grabbed the towel, slipped off her shoes and went to her chest, pulled out some clean underwear a pair of shorts and a tank top and headed to the bathroom. She was back in no time at all and plopped herself down at her computer…inserted the San disk from the camera into the computer and slipped in a blank CD. Then they started looking…

“Oh God Tess, these are positively beautiful!” Liz gasped and the other two agreed. “This is going to be the toughest part of the calendar…we have to choose only a few.”

“I know said Isabelle…do you think we should all have a say in each other’s pics or is it up to each of us to pick the ones we like?” Isabelle asked.

“I think we should all pick. We will all see something that the other doesn’t and that way we can discuss what the best is.” Maria suggested, she truly felt she was the best suited for this part of the operation of course.

“Okay.” They all agreed.

And so the rest of the week went, each in turn having their photo shoot and Maria was right…Liz wouldn’t do a nude but she did buy a cute little bikini and tank outfit which worked out quite well and it really was sexy as Liz got with the program. The ones that really stood out were the few that she had done laying on her mussed up bed in a pair of red boy shorts and a black tank...they all decided that those would be a composite of their own.

Check out what Maria and the rest did with that grouping:



They used the same San disk for all four photo shoots, it left less chance of getting one misplaced and then they had to decide which of the photos they would use for their calendars. That was not an easy task, all four of them were absolutely gorgeous.

*~*~*

Carolyn: Keep shaking, it gets better.
Lizza: Believe it Lizza, they're doing it and you'll just have to wait to see what happens.
Eve: Oh God NO! The last people they want to see this is their boyfriends or their parents and they are hoping no one in town sees it...not for a very long time. Just wait, I think you'll like it.
Cardinal: I had a tough time choosing which of those to use and then decided that "Liz" would be more in tune with the "bedroom" scene.
Killjoy: I will make a "special" banner just for you next chapter, which will be January's. How's that?

On with the show people!!!

*~*~*

Chapter: 4

The last week of school the girls spent every study hall, lunch hour and after school hours playing with the photo shop program at school, inserting their photos on different backgrounds for various months, Tess’ photo’s being used primarily for the spring month due to the all pink affect. They were having a ball and their boyfriends were feeling totally neglected.

“What do you think they’re up to?” Kyle wondered out loud as they sat at the quad having lunch alone for the fifth day.

“God knows, but if Maria is involved it could get quite ugly.” Alex pondered.

“Why Maria, how about Tess? Or even Isabelle?” Quipped Kyle.

“Well if Liz is with them they aren’t doing anything too bad. She would never be involved in something ‘ugly’ as you put it. It’s just not in her nature.” Max added and Alex laughed.

“You really don’t know your girlfriend very well Evans.” Alex jibed…and then chuckled remembering some of the nasty little tricks Liz had innocently pulled on some people she hadn’t especially liked in grammar school.

“What’s that supposed to mean Whitman? Liz doesn’t have an ‘ugly’ bone in her body.” Michael and Kyle joined in the laughter now…

“Max…you are so blind. That girl would think the socks off the rest of them and get them all into some really deep shit. She may not have an ‘ugly’ bone in her body Max but don’t be blinded by love man. She can be pretty damned mean when she’s pushed…not that I’m saying they are up to something mean, but they are definitely up to something. I can feel it.” Michael said.

They went back to their sack lunches and then headed on into their classes just as the last bell rang, each with their own thoughts.

*

“Well Maria, what did you do with the CD?” Isabelle wanted to know before they locked up the classroom. Liz had put the flash drive in her back pack inside her cosmetic bag.

“I cut it into strips right in my mother’s kitchen and then stuck it into the pie dough that was in the garbage can. I think it’s safe.” And she giggled…

“God I would hope so. Who would want to dig through that?” Tess asked.

“Okay, now we have to get to work on a web-site and see how to go about working this out.” Isabelle said.

“Well, we covered some of that in my advanced computer class so why don’t we all come over to my house after school and get to work on it. What I can’t find in my book we can probably find on the internet.” Tess interjected.

“Great! Then it’s all agreed. We all meet at Tess’ after school” Liz, Maria and Isabelle all nodded at the same time.

“Liz, you sure you have that flash drive?” Maria asked as she made doubly sure there was nothing left on the computer in the photography department.

“Absolutely. Now let’s leave a thank you note for Mr. Philips and get out of here.” Liz wrote a note of thanks for the teacher who allowed them to use the equipment and they were off.

When they got to their next class four young men were waiting outside their respective classrooms, each in his own way questioning his respective girl-friend.

“Okay Maria, what’s going on?” Michael wanted to know.

“What do you mean Michael…there’s nothing going on.”

“Bull shit Maria, you four are up to something now what is it?”

“Oh come on Michael…I told you we were working on a special project and it’s of no concern of yours.”

“If it’s no concern what’s the big secret?”

“Michael, there’s no secret. It’s our special project and we intend to keep it ours. Michael, in a relationship, in order for it to work you need to be able to give the other person some space some time.”

“Okay Maria, but don’t let those words come back and bite you in the ass some day because I definitely will remember them.”

“Alright Michael, now give me some sugar.” And Maria stood on her tiptoes to get a kiss from Michael who was not so sure he was quite ready to part with one. He sort of raised his head up out of reach and looked down at her over his nose and then caved. She could be so exasperating he thought as he tilted in and kissed her full on the mouth for a second. She smiled in satisfaction as she strutted off to her next class and Michael just stood there shaking his head.

Down the hall a similar scene was taking place as Max got Liz’s attention…

“Okay Liz…tell me what you’re up to?” He demanded.

Liz looked up at her boyfriend and for a second, just a second, got a little miffed at his tone of voice and answered his question with one of her own.

“What do you mean Max?”

“You know what I mean…what are the four of you doing that is so important that you can’t spare a moment of your time for a hug, a hello or even a lunch?”

“Oh Max! Don’t be so dramatic…we’ve got a special project that we wanted to get done before school was out is all. We finished up the school part today and now we can work on it at home. It’s no big deal.”

“If it’s no big deal then why aren’t we all in on it?” Max had her for just a second. She really didn’t want to lie to him but she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him either. She looked at him a little puzzled for a second or two and then said …

“We’re helping Tess arrange a surprise and I can’t tell you about it.”

“Oh. So this is something Tess needs help with?”

“Mm hmmm.” And she nodded yes in agreement with herself.

Max didn’t believe her for one damned minute, he always could tell when she was lying but he didn’t think he was going to get anywhere this way so he just gave up on her.

“Do you want to do something this evening? We haven’t had a date in almost two weeks.”

“Well, let me see what the rest of the girls are doing first Max…I’ll call you.” And she was off to her next class just as the warning bell rang. Max just stood there with a bewildered look on his face.

The other two girls were going through similar grillings with their boyfriends as well and when the four young men finally met up in the quad between second and third period they all had similar stories. None of their girls were talking and they all sat around like deserted babies.

*

“Hey guys.” Liz said as she met the other three outside the school next to Maria’s Jetta.

“Hey, are we all ready?” Maria asked.

Liz looked over toward the other two girls standing next to Tess’ car now and waved them over.

“Hey, I don’t know about the rest of you but Max is getting very suspicious and wants to go out tonight.”

“Yeah, Michael gave me the third degree this afternoon too. Do you think we should make some time for them. We do have a good handle on the photos and the layouts. The hard part is just about to start and if we don’t make some time for them they’re going to get really nosey and just might accidentally find out what we’re up to. You know Alex is pretty good at this computer stuff and he could very easily find out stuff if he wanted to.” Isabelle said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, she’s right.” Tess agreed.

“Okay…why don’t we all just head home, log on to our own computers and gather all the information we can about building a web site and then compare notes tomorrow. Tonight we can give our time to our other halves and enjoy ourselves.”

“You think we should make it a quadruple date or something. Go bowling, to a movie and burgers after?” Liz asked.

“Nah, I want a real make out session with space boy. You guys can do something though. I’m okay with it.”

“Nope, I want Alex alone, I’ll pass.” Isabelle agreed with Maria.

“Me too.” Said Tess with a grin…Liz decided the girl had no shame.

“Okay, I’ll call Max and tell him I’m free then. Everyone have fun and we’ll meet up in the quad and try to discuss what we find out this afternoon. Although I don’t think we’ll be alone, you know they’ll be joining us. Tomorrow is their free day.”

“That’s right, maybe during study hall?” Tess said and the rest agreed with a unanimous ….

“Yeah, that’ll work.”

And they all headed home.

Liz called Max immediately…

“Hey Max. We decided to take the night off are you still up for doing something?”

Max thought about it for a minute and then said….

“Sorry Liz. When you said you had other plans I made some of my own.”

“Oh! Okay then, see you tomorrow.” And she hung up, cheerful as all get out.

Max looked at the dead phone and shook his head…’well that didn’t go well at all’ he thought… Damn. He immediately called the other three young men and filled them in on Liz’s call…Alex was the only one that wasn’t willing to go along with Max’s game…

“Sorry man, but if Isabelle wants to do something tonight I’m there. Play your game without me man.”

And Alex, being the wise one, smiled. ‘They are working on something that means a lot to them and they are together…they are not cheating on us just ignoring us and that really isn’t a bad thing when you think about it. No, I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to spend a night with my girlfriend. Let them bite their noses off to spite their faces not me.’ And he kept on smiling.

Michael, Kyle and Max all sat around Michael’s apartment drinking Snapple and watching “Brave Heart” for the millionth time as Alex held Isabelle’s hand while watching the newest Katherine Heigl movie on the big screen.


Maria, Tess and Liz all sat scrunched around their computers oblivious to their boyfriend’s self-imposed exile and studied web sites on building web sites. There were even sites that would build them for you and they were enthralled.

In the meantime Kyle and Max were bored to tears while Michael shouted at every appropriate moment and kept himself busy with the body count. ‘What a bust’ thought Max and Kyle’s sentiments weren’t that far off Max’s.

*~*~*

Lizza: I updated early this week just because I promised a certain birthday guy a calendar page. and I don't know which day to post so here it is for the month of January...enjoy. I hope you had a great New Year celebration Lizza.
Eve: So glad you are enjoying this, it was meant to be cute, let's hope i achieved that...happy new year to you and thank you.
Carolyn; Thank you...hope you enjoyed your little excursion for the New Year.
Cardinal: ah, come on...they aren't lying...not by omission or commission. If someone asked you what you got them for Christmas and you said "Just a wait a little bit longer." Are you lying? I don't think so...and neither are they. They simply are not sharing and that isn't lying....
SmileeUK: Welcome and I hope you'll continue to read...if you check out my response to Cardinal I'm sticking with the plan. Oh, and I never start posting a story until I have it finished so the di has been cast...just enjoy. Happy New Year.

And a happy birthday season to Killjoy. This chapter is dedicated to you.

*~*~*

Chapter: 5

Liz finally gave up after looking at all the options and decided that they should each take one program and get all the information they could on that particular site and share it. This was beginning to get really involved.

She dialed Maria first….

“Maria. Have you tried the web sites yet?”

“Yeah Liz, there sure are a lot of options out there.”

“Yes there is. What I thought we should do tonight is each take one, start at the top of the list and work our way down and see what was happening. How about you call Tess and I’ll call Isabelle. I’ll take “Web.com, three easy steps”, you take “10 Best Web Hosting Sites, Webhostingfreereviews.com”. Give “Build a Web Site for Your Business Fast and Easy” for Isabelle, it says ‘try it free’ and then Tess can try “Yahoo! Web Hosting”. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a great idea…I’ll make my call right now and you call Isabelle. We’ll discuss it tomorrow in study hall. We may have to make a trip to the library after school…we can take our lap tops or use their computers.”

“I think we should bring our laptops and find an empty class room; we don’t want to get thrown out of the library for making too much noise.”

“Yeah, you’re right. What do you think the guys did tonight?”

“I’ve no idea. When I called Max he told me they had made other plans, I said okay and hung up. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Michael said the same thing…but he didn’t say what. Oh well, hope they’re having fun.”

“Yeah, me too…we really should try to make some time for them. It’s been almost two weeks now that we’ve been tied up with this and from the looks of things I think it’s going to be a little more involved than we thought.”

“It sure looks that way doesn’t it? Oh well, I think it’s going to be worth it. I really do like the photos we have though. The layouts are really cool too. I especially like the front composite…it looks very professional. Not too gaudy at all. We should get busy.”

“Yeah, talk to you tomorrow.”

And they rang off.



The next morning at school the girls met up at Liz’s locker since it was the most centrally located between the four of them and they made plans to go to the music room third period instead of their usual study hall and compare notes. Their significant others strolled over to get their morning sugars and Isabelle got an extra big hug from Alex who was still besotted with the extra long time in the parking lot before heading over to Cherry Tree Lane and letting Isabelle off. Max and Kyle were still pissed at themselves for being such jerks and Michael didn’t seem to mind one way or the other. He had a great time with “Braveheart” whether they did or not.

“Hey sweetie? Did you enjoy yourself last night?” Liz asked as Max placed a kiss on her forehead.

“It could have been better…another night of “Braveheart”.” Max snarked and Liz giggled.

“I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, you sound sorry. What did you do?”

“Oh, stayed home and played on my computer for awhile. Nothing monumental comes to mind.”

“Uh huh! Well what about tonight?”

“Well I’ve got the late shift tonight but we could probably do a DVD or something afterward.”

“Where? Upstairs?”

“How about my room…Mom and Dad are headed over to Las Cruces this afternoon for a new French fryer and are planning on spending the night.”

“Okay…I’ll be there to help clean up then.” And Max had the first genuine smile on his face since the beginning of the week.

What Liz didn’t know was that Nancy and Jeff were in Las Cruces to pick up her Graduation Gift…a brand new Camaro convertible with a scoop on the hood. Something Jeff had always wanted as teenager but that’s another story.

Candy Apple Red, scoop on the hood, white leather seats, T-top, God was she going to love this!!!

The other three couples settled in for similar conversations and all four of the girls were happy to see their boys smiling again.

*

Third period found all four of the young women in the music room with their notes and lap tops ready for their meeting.

“Okay Isabelle, we know you had a date last night so we don’t imagine you have much input.” Liz started.

“Really not much to report on the site you gave me…it’s all about a book we can purchase and I figure, if it’s a book, it must be in the library. It has various bullets, which a few stuck out…We already know how to gain access to web tools, which was one of them. Then the ‘learn online payment techniques’ and ‘distribute, print and online news letters’ really sounded interesting as well. I think we need to go to the library and check that one out.”

“Hey, that does sound interesting. Can you stop on your way home and check it out Tess? Maria and I have to work tonight and that leaves Isabelle who rides with Max.” Liz replied.

“Yeah sure, it shouldn’t take too long. I have to be at the hospital at 5:00 for my “Candy Striper” dinner service…but yeah, I’m sure I can make it.” They all smiled at that, Tess was going to make a great nurse, even if her goals are to teach and not actually work in a hospital she will have to do some of her training there.

Liz, still talking to Tess asked her if she found out anything….

“Yeah…we need to check out “Yahoo!-Web Hosting”. It’s not free but very in depth. I sort of glanced at some others but, even though the price is a little steeper, it sounds like you get a lot for your money.”

“Okay, as soon as we get everyone else’s reports we’ll take a look…Maria?”

“Well I looked at “Web Site for Your Business Fast and Easy”, Try it free. The first requirement was a domain name. I thought we could just use our “Calendar Girls” as our domain name. What do you all think?”

The girls all looked at each other and agreed totally, why mess around with various names when all they wanted to do was sell some calendars before the end of the year.

Then Liz gave her report…

“Mine was “Web hosting services” it had 10 companies with free space. They offer 24/7 customer support and there are various rates ranging from $1.99 to 5.95. The $1.99 rate is a mark down from $6.95; I don’t think that sounded too promising…business doesn’t sound very good for them.”

“Maybe there’s not much call for this type of work.” Maria interjected as a thought.

“Hmmm, maybe, but let’s wait awhile before we get into the dollars and cents of it all. We know it’s going to cost us something and I’d rather go with the best if you want to know the truth.” Isabelle interjected this time.

“Yeah, I don’t think we want to be putting money out there without getting any results. We ARE in this to make money not to spend it.” Liz added.

Maria and Tess agreed.

About that time they heard the first warning bell and gathered up their belongings and put their lap tops back into their back packs and headed on out.

“Hey, I’ll check out this Yahoo site tonight while Max is over at your place Liz. Alex has band practice tonight and I’ve only got a couple of hours at the children’s home and then I’m free.”

“Great Isabelle…we’ll talk tomorrow.”

***

That night, right at 8:30 Max strolled into the Crash with Michael on his heels. Both boys headed to their favorite booth and Liz and Maria showed up at their table with their cherry cokes and big smiles on their faces.

“What are you doing here spaceboy? I thought you were going to meet me at home.”

“Well, Maxwell said he was coming over to help clean up so Liz could get out earlier and I decided to come and help also. Give you a chance to get off a little earlier too.”

“Well that’s great, seems as though you two are our last customers so we can start wiping things down right now. What do you say Liz?”

“Sure…why don’t I just lock the door? It’s only 15 more minutes and Jose closed the grill down half an hour ago, why not?” And Liz went and got the keys and locked things up. Max and Michael both knew the drill as well as the girls and within a half an hour they were all finished with the nightly duties and on their way to better things.

Michael took Maria’s keys and led her right out the back door, hopped into the driver’s seat and headed right out of town to Buckley’s point and Maria giggled…”Home huh?” She asked and Michael just looked over and grinned at her.

Max all but carried Liz upstairs after she locked up behind Jose, Maria and Michael and she was giggling the whole way up…it looked like they were in for a long night.

*~*~*

Natalie36:Love the car too...I had a 56 Chevy Hard top that I wanted painted Candy apple red so bad I could taste it when i was 19...damn, I'd give my eyeteeth for that car now.
Lizza:I'm so happy you are enjoying this and I hope your mom is out of the hospital and feeling better.
Eve: Oh, they aren't going to put the entire calendar on the internet, just the front of it. The rest will have to be bought and paid for...it gets better, honest, much better.
Carolyn:The present shows up this chapter and your assumptions are correct.
Cardinal:Wellllll, mums the word on that!!!
Killjoy:You're welcome for the banner, as for the rest of the pics...welllll, let's just give it a little time.
SmileeUk:Yeah, I think most of us 'girls' would like or would have liked that one.

***

Chapter: 6

The next day was their last day and only half a day at that. They only had to show up for commencement rehearsal and they were finished. They picked up their caps and gowns and were off. The guys wanted to head on out to the lake for the day but the girls turned them down flat. They had hair appointments and family waiting at home to visit.

About that time Mr. Forrester came barreling out of his office with rage painted all over his face….

“Mr. Forrester, what’s wrong?” Isabelle almost ran into the man on her way to class.

“Miss Evans! God am I glad to see you. Will you run over to Kinko’s and pick up the programs for this evenings commencement. Someone forgot to tell them to deliver them and I have a monumental list of things to do. I hate to ask this of you but I will write you an excuse for anything that is going on.”

“No Mr. Forrester, it’s okay. I’ll get my brothers jeep and head on over. It’s the one on Main St. right?”

“Yes, but here, take my keys and use my car. It’s in the teacher’s lot, the blue Honda.”

“Yes Mr. Forrester, I know which one it is. I’ll only be a short while. Where do you want them delivered?”

“Just have a couple of the boys bring them to the hall. Someone will be there to set them up.”

“Will do. And stop worrying…it won’t take that long. I’ll be back in time for rehearsal.”

And off she went.

*
Isabelle drove into the parking lot of Kinko’s just fifteen minutes later and waltzed herself right up to the main desk at the front of the store and presented herself as the person to pick up the programs for that night’s commencement exercises at W. Roswell. The girl behind the desk smiled as she called back to the warehouse and told Isabelle they would be right out.

As Isabelle surveyed the store she noticed the large menu board over the main desk and saw the words: Printing, Shipping, Delivery and the list went on. Isabelle stood there with a look of shock, anticipation and elation. This is what they needed….Prices were listed from 1 to 5000. They did flyers, announcements, CALENDARS, business letters and numerous other possibilities. Isabelle felt like she had died and gone to heaven. This was just what they needed. They could contact Kinko’s in Albuquerque and have everything done for them right there. She couldn’t wait to get back to school.

*

“Michael, come home with me and you can help mom get ready for my grandmother. Mom needs help moving the extra bed from the attic into my room.” Maria smiled.

“Maria, you’re going to the beauty parlor with the rest of them and I’m not going to be stuck with your mom and grandmother for the rest of the afternoon. You can sleep on the couch and let your grandmother have your room all by herself. Besides, if she’s in there she won’t know what time you get home.” Michael stated emphatically.

“Aw…come on Michael…I sorta told mom…” Michael stopped her right there.

“No Maria. You go home and un-tell them. I’m going to the lake with or without you. Now go have fun and I’ll see you at graduation.”

“All right Michael, but I’m not so sure I’ll be spending much time with you tonight.” Maria snarked.

“Whatever Maria…I’m not going. Period!

Liz, Max and Tess stood and listened to the age old story of Maria and Michael. She was constantly offering him up to do things without asking first and usually Michael went along with it but it looked like he wasn’t going to play along this time and truthfully, the rest of them totally agreed with him. She had to start treating him with a little more respect. Oh they all knew she was crazy about him but she also had a tendency to use him which wasn’t really very nice on her part.

So Liz, and Isabelle, who had returned from her assignment, jumped into Tess’ van and Maria followed in the Jetta as the four young men all waved and drove off with Michael in Max’s jeep and Alex in Kyle’s mustang. They all planned on meeting at the Crash after the commencement for a party put on by Nancy, Jeff and the other parents for the 8 teenagers and their visiting relatives. Jeff was having it catered if you can believe it…Liz was shocked but was pleased as punch about the whole thing.

*

When the girls all converged on the beauty salon Isabelle couldn’t wait to tell them the news…All she could say in public was “Think Kinko’s!” And three young women looked at her with huge eyes and knowing expressions. Liz’s dad used Kinko’s for menus, Amy used Kinko’s for advertising when she was running specials and Tess’s mom used them for Christmas. They never gave it a second thought until now and they all got so excited that they were ready to cancel their hair and nail appointments…almost!

After leaving the salon they converged on Tess’ house because Mr. and Mrs. Harding both worked and they were free to search the net and check out the Kinko’s web site. It was everything they were looking for. The more calendars they ordered the cheaper the cost. They could also order the envelopes or boxes to put the calendars in. They were so excited they didn’t know what to do with themselves. They also checked out the various sites to build their web page and decided to go with Yahoo. Although it was the most expensive it offered the most value for the money and they felt they should go with the tried and true. They followed the directions on the screen and Liz used her credit card to pay the fees and initial building of the site. They decided to name their site “Calendar Girls” and would post their composite after they had achieved all of the other necessary information they needed.

Liz, Maria and Isabelle all left at 3:30 to head on home to get ready for the graduation ceremonies. They had to be at school by 6:00 so they really didn’t have a lot of time to get there and then the party afterward and as Liz put her flash cards in the pocket of her jeans for her valedictorian speech she decided to check out the web page to see how it was going. She couldn’t believe her eyes, they already had over 100 hits and it had only been a little over an hour since they built the site and didn’t even post a photo yet. “God what have we gotten ourselves into?” She wondered!

*

The graduation ceremony went off without a hitch…Max gave his speech and then Liz gave hers. Max chose to move forward predicting a life of hard work and rewards whereas Liz chose to reminisce about the life they were leaving as they moved forward. The speeches, although different in many ways also reflected the personalities of the two young people and it was amazing how alike they were in so many ways. Both sets of parents remarked about this as they stood and waited for their children to meet them in the area surrounding the commencement hall for pictures. It was then that Nancy and Jeff handed Liz her graduation card with a little box attached to it, all wrapped in pretty candy apple red paper and a nice curly gold bow attached, almost the school colors. Liz looked at them a little skeptically since they were, after all, headed to the Crash Down for a party but her mother just looked at her and nodded.

No one had any idea what was going on so Liz gingerly opened the card and read the sentiments from each of her parents and as her eyes were starting to fill with tears she sniffed and wiped her eyes. She handed the card to her mother, smiled at her dad and then opened the box.

She stood there staring for the longest time as thoughts of wonder ran through her mind. “Wha…wha…what? What is this?”

She managed to get out of her mouth as her friends stood there and gawked at her. It wasn’t like Liz to get flabbergasted over anything. Max looked over her shoulder and into the box, looked up at Jeff and Nancy and grinned. They had managed to render their daughter speechless and he stood there and pumped air.

“What is it Max?” Maria whispered in his ear…

“Car keys!” Max grinned.

“No shit!!!” Maria yelled and her mother looked at her and shook her head.

“Maria DeLuca!” Amy yelled as everyone stood and laughed at the two of them.

Liz reached into the box and jiggled the keys that were attached to a beautiful key chain that had her initials on it and smiled. It would have taken a nuclear explosion to wipe that smile from her face…then she asked…

“Where is it?”

Jeff turned her around and pointed to the first car sitting in the parking lot in front of the gates leading to the hall. There in all of its’ glory was a candy apple red Camaro T-Top convertible with a scoop on the hood and the T- top open, white leather seats...just like the song. Liz just stood there looking at it in awe and then she started to smile. Not very big at first but it kept growing and growing and soon her face started to hurt. Then Jeff handed her another card and she read it and started to cry.

The car was from Grandma Claudia. She had picked it out before coming for her visit in her sophomore year and Jeff and Nancy had told her that Liz couldn’t have it until graduation so Claudia had written Liz’s card out two years earlier for her and gave Nancy and Jeff strict orders where the car would be and told them that it was already paid for and where to pick it up. The dealership had special ordered it in March to make sure that the custom paint job and leather seats would be ready for pick up this past week. Jeff had stored it in a private garage in the downtown parking area over night and had driven it over to school earlier before leaving for the commencement. Liz just stood there looking at it and then she looked at everyone and said…

“See ya!” And she took off running. She had the thing started and out of the parking lot in nothing flat and they all stood there watching.

“I think we’ve unleashed a monster.” Nancy said to her husband.

“No…she’ll be fine. Let her have her fun. Well everyone let’s get back to the Crash Down and get this show on the road. We may not see Liz until tomorrow the way she was going.” And they all started walking and laughing as they headed to their vehicles.

Max was feeling almost as happy as his girlfriend was at this point…he knew how much she loved her grandmother and this was just perfect in every sense of the word.

*~*~*

Lizza: wow, you want a car too...maybe some day. What do you think?
Eve: all I can tell you at this point is, their boyfriends find out...
Natalie36: yep!
Carolyn: Keep thinking Kinko's they're the good guys...
Cardinal: Kinky's works!!!

*!*

Chapter: 7

When everyone arrived back at the Crashdown the caterers had set up a beautiful buffet on the counter and all the booths had been set with table cloths, linens and silver. The place mats were strewn with streamers in red and gold to represent the school colors and the tables in the center of the crash had also been arranged to allow an area for mingling and dancing later. It was beautiful and Nancy and Jeff were thrilled because they didn’t have to do a thing.

The caterers would even remove all the dirty dishes, clean up all the trash and take the linens away as well. This was worth every penny. To say the guests were impressed was an understatement and all of the parents were tickled pink that they didn’t have to put on this show. The kids were as happy as their parents but for different reasons of course and after an hour passed they were all beginning to wonder if Liz was ever going to come back. Max just smiled. He knew where she was and he wasn’t one bit concerned.

*

It was very quiet at the graveyard where Liz was kneeling in front of her grandmother’s headstone. She had many emotions running through her tiny body right now but the biggest one was love.

“Grandma, I know you can hear me even though I won’t be able to hear you but I need to tell you once again how much I love you. The car is perfect in every way and although you can’t be here to see how happy I am I know in my heart that when you chose it you knew I would be so I will just have to settle on that.

The graduation ceremony was very nice…I’m sure you remember Max, well I beat him out by 2 points. Can you believe it? I never dreamed in a million years that I would be valedictorian but I was and Max was salutatorian. We gave our speeches and sat side by side on the stage with our teachers and it was wonderful. You know that Max and I will be together forever don’t you? At least that’s what we’ve planned.

We are headed off to Boston in August and the girls and I, you remember Maria, Isabelle, and Tess right, well, we are working on a project. I’m not so sure you would approve of it Grandma, but knowing you as I do, I think you would be okay with it. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It must be nice where you are. Not having to speak, just watch and observe. I wish you were here to share this special occasion with me but I know you are in spirit.

I have so much to tell you and I miss you so much. I don’t know why I was always able to talk to you easier than anyone else and I mss that. I have my friends and we share, but it’s not the same.

Well, I’d better get to my party before dad has Jim Valenti’s forces out looking for me. I will come back and talk to you again before I leave Grandma. I love you and thank you for the car, I will cherish it forever, and I mean it, forever.”

And with that Liz left the graveyard with misty eyes and headed for “Beauty”, that’s what she decided to call her graduation present. It doesn’t matter what other gifts she receives nothing will compare to this and then she thought, that’s not nice Liz Parker! And she continued on her way.

*

When Liz finally arrived at the Crashdown the party was well on its way and she was able to sneak upstairs and put her things away before joining the group.

She was truly impressed with how nice everything was and she was happy for her parents that they didn’t have to wear themselves out for a change and that they could relax and enjoy themselves as well. This was going to be a wonderful night.

Max had seen Liz as she came in and he smiled at Maria and listened as she finished her sentence before excusing himself to go find his girl friend.

“Hey…”

And Liz smiled and walked over to greet her very best friend on earth with a little peck on the lips…

“Hey. Did everyone get here okay? I hope I wasn’t too rude by taking off like that but I just had to do something.”

“I know. How was grandma anyway?”

Liz giggled, ‘he knows me so well’ she thought to herself.

“Actually she was a little quiet tonight. Mostly a one sided conversation but I think she understood. I told her about you and me going off to college together, I think she approved.”

Max smiled down at his favorite girl and nodded his head in understanding. He liked Liz’s grandmother almost as much as Liz did and he always felt the feelings were mutual.

“Well I’m glad to hear it. Now, do you think you should come downstairs and join the party? It is in your honor you know.”

“Oh Max, it’s not just in my honor and you know it. It’s for all eight of us. I think my mom and dad feel as though you are all a part of this family and all of our parents chipped in. We have been friends since kindergarten even if we weren’t soul mates that long but I do believe it was written in the stars.”

Max grinned at Liz…he knew what she meant but she could be a little gushy sometime.

“Before we go though I have something for you.” And he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box and handed it to her. Liz took the box and opened it and her eyes started to water up again as she looked up at her beautiful boyfriend.

“What is this Max?”

“It is not an engagement ring Liz…that is going to come sometime in the future. This is a promise ring. I promise you that I will give you an engagement ring someday and in the meantime I wanted you to know what the future has in store, for me anyway.”

It was a platinum heart shaped ring with a small diamond set in it…Liz looked up at Max again with teary eyes and smiled.

“Thank you Max, I will never take it off until you replace it with the real thing. That’s my promise to you.” And Max Evans started to get a little teary eyed right along with his girlfriend and then there was a knock at Liz’s bedroom door. Maria! She always did have great timing…

“Hey you two, no private parties tonight there are too many people downstairs waiting for all of us. Come on.”

Max and Liz smiled at each other and allowed Maria to lead the way back down to the Crashdown where everyone was waiting for them so they could start helping themselves to the beautiful buffet that had been set up.

After everyone had eaten their fill, all dishes cleared away and the huge cake had been cut Jeff had the men help him move the tables around the perimeter of the dining room and made a huge dancing area for everyone in the center of the floor.

He had some “elevator” music keyed in to the stereo system for dining and conversation but now it was time for some fun. Most of the parents all belonged to the same dance club and they met every Thursday evening at the Civic Center for just some all around fun and relaxation. One of the things they did was line dancing so the Whitman’s, Evans’, Jim and Amy all joined Jeff and Nancy in the middle of the dance floor and set up their lines to incorporate those that weren’t familiar with the dance style. Jeff explained to everyone what they were going to do and then he keyed in some different music. The minute the kids heard the song they started laughing and joined in… as Brooks and Dunne rang throughout the Crash.

She's got a T-Top Camaro with a scoop on the hood
And two big speakers blasting Johnny B. Goode
Looking so sweet it oughta be a crime
She plays with my heart and messes with my mind
Acts like Madonna but she listens to Merle
Rock my world little Country girl

She wears snakeskin boots made by Calvin Klein
And cheap sunglasses from the five and dime
All the other girls in school they give her dirty looks
She got an "A" in math and never cracked a book
Sure looks good in her denim and pearls
Rock my world little Country girl

Rock my world
Drag me out on the floor
Dance with me till I can't dance anymore
One-step, two-step, get in a line
I gotta find a way to make you mine

I tell her that I love her but it ain't enough
She says I got to learn to loosen up
Get a little wild on Saturday night
But make sure she's home before the mornin' light
Sunday she's all ribbons and curls
Rock my world little Country girl

Rock my world
Drag me out on the floor
Dance with me till I can't dance anymore
One-step, two-step, get in a line
I gotta find a way to make you mine

Rock my world little Country girl

Everyone was laughing at the lyrics as they danced along with the adults who knew the steps and the adults were very surprised that the kids all knew the steps as well. They had all learned them when they went to the dances held on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the skating rink. Jeff and his dance buddies were shocked that the kids all joined right in and helped their grandparents and friends right along with them.

The more Liz listened to the lyrics the more nostalgic she became and soon she started to tear up, she had absolutely no control of her emotions right now…Max noticed this immediately and grabbed her by the hand and led her to the other end of the room and started to twirl her out and bring her in close to his body where he could hug her and take her mind off her grandmother. He knew what she was thinking and she definitely needed cheering up. Soon she was smiling again and all of this action didn’t go unnoticed by anyone, especially Jeff and they all felt the sadness that was lurking in Liz’s heart and thanked God for Max’s insight.

It was then that Jeff noticed the ring on Liz’s finger and he started to get a little teary eyed himself…’she’s a young woman now Jeff, not a little girl and if you had to choose a young man for her you would never find one as good as the one she has chosen for herself.’

It was then that Nancy noticed the tears right at the corner of her husbands eyes as he watched his daughter and she smiled…She wasn’t much older than Liz when she met Jeff; this was going to be tough on him and she grabbed hold of his hand as they turned toward the back wall in unison with the rest of the dancers and smiled at him. She knew exactly what he was thinking and she wasn’t so sure she was ready for this either but it was going to happen. And the evening went on. Jeff never mentioned the ring to Liz, he figured she would share when she was ready, Nancy hadn’t noticed it yet.

*

In the meantime, the website the girls had set up earlier was going crazy, were they going to be shocked at this.

*-*-*-

Eve:
The song is "Rock My World" by Brooks and Dunne Here:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/pla ... s+%26+Dunn

Natalie36: I see you're sticking with it...good girl!
Eve: Hey, thanks...glad you enjoyed it...
Carolyn: Yes, that promise ring was a bit of a surprise for me too, it just sorta' typed itself right into the story for some reason...
Cardinal: Hey, you're right about that sweet ride...I used to work for a car dealership when I was younger and let me tell you that Camaro was a fun car.

Chapter: 8

When the party was over and all the guests had gone home, including all the friends, boys and girls alike, Liz made her way out onto her balcony with her laptop and “Googled” their web site. What she saw caused a small pain in the back of her neck from the shock. Over 1000 hits since six o’clock…she immediately crawled back through her window and grabbed her cell just as it started to vibrate…it was Tess.

“My God Liz, have you seen it?”

“Yes! What in the hell are we going to do with all of these hits. These people are leaving credit card numbers.”

“I know. We have to get to the bank and quick. Can you meet me at First Interstate tomorrow at 10:00.”

“Yes, but I think we should meet somewhere before that and talk about this. We’re going to have to get to Las Cruces or Albuquerque really soon too. God, can you believe it?”

“No, as a matter of fact I’m having a little trouble wrapping my brain around it all right now. You call Maria and I’ll call Isabelle and let’s meet at the I-Hop out on 285 about 8:00. Is that too early?”

“No, I don’t think it’s early enough. We really do have a lot to talk about.”

“I know but let’s not panic. We’ll get this done.”

“Okay, tomorrow…I’ll call Maria.”

“Great, see you in the morning.”

And Liz hung up and called Maria who was just dialing her…they made their arrangements and then they TRIED to sleep. “Good Lord what have we gotten ourselves into?” The entire group was thinking as they tried to erase it from their minds for just a little while.

*

Max called Liz’s cell right at 9:30 and it went directly to voice mail so he called the Crashdown when he didn’t get an answer. Surely she was up by now.

Jeff answered the phone in his office…

“Good morning…Crashdown Café, this is Jeff. How may I help you?”

“Hey Mr. Parker, it’s Max. Is Liz there?”

“No Max, she took off about 7:45 this morning, said something about meeting the girls for breakfast or something. I found it a little strange that they weren’t meeting here but maybe she just wanted to drive “beauty”. That’s what she calls the Camaro you know.”

“Yeah, I know. She told me last night. Would you tell her I called.”

“Sure Max. I’ll be glad to.”

“Oh, and Mr. Parker, the party was great. Thank you so much.”

“Oh Max, we didn’t do it all by ourselves. All of the parents chipped in, you do know that don’t you?”

“Yeah Mr. Parker, but you lost business by closing the place down, and you provided the place as well. That was very nice of you and thank you.”

“You’re welcome Max and I’ll tell Liz you called when she gets back in.”

“Thanks Mr. Parker.”

Now Max knew for sure that they were all up to something, but what? That was the question. He called Michael to see if he had heard from Maria.

*
“Hey Michael, have you talked to Maria this morning?”

“No man, why? Something up?”

“Well, I tried calling Liz and Mr. Parker said she and the girls all went out to breakfast…and not at the Crash. They’re up to something Michael and whatever it is I don’t think they want us to know about it.”

“Well then Max, there you go…if they don’t want us to know about it then I guess we should mind our own business. We know they’re together so that means they’re safe…we know they’re keeping a secret and I guess it’s their secret to tell so what’s the problem man. I know we haven’t seen much of them the past two weeks but hey, a lot has been going on too. They’re fine. Maybe they’re planning a surprise for us…did you ever think of that?”

“Yeah…No…Maybe, I guess. It’s just not like Liz to be secretive about stuff.”

“Hey, whatever it is we’ll know in due time and maybe, just maybe we’re better off not knowing. Did you ever think of that? You know they can do some crazy shit Max. Alone their dangerous but you put the four of them together and I don’t care what you think about your girlfriend man, she can think up some really crazy stuff when she puts her mind to it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I just wish I knew what the hell was keeping her away from me so much.”

“Ah, come on Max…put on some sweats and meet me over at the park…we’ll shoot some hoops.”

“Yeah, sounds good. See you in a few.” And they hung up. Max still wasn’t resting easy with the idea that Liz was keeping secrets.

*

“Hey, did any of you think about this getting so huge?” Maria asked, her green eyes looking like saucers…

Tess almost choked on her coffee as she shook her head in absolute wonder…

“Do you think we can handle this?” Isabelle wondered.

“Sure we can. Other people do it all the time. We have our pictures, we know where we can have them printed and mailed now all we need is a bank account to deposit the money in.” Liz chimed in.

“It’s not that easy Liz. We’re going to have to incorporate and get a Federal ID number; I checked it out in one of dad’s law books. This is more than a just couple of calendars we’re talking about. This is a mushroom…a great big mushroom and it’s growing.” Isabelle interjected…”we’ve really got to sit down and do some planning here. We may even need to hire an accountant. I don’t think any one of us has the time to devote to this if it gets any bigger.”
“Okay then. First things first, let’s open the checking account…but do you think we should do it in Roswell? Maybe we should just drive to Las Cruces and take care of everything there all in one day. We can go to Kinko’s and make arrangements to print and ship the calendars but first we have to lay out the months the way we want them. We can do that the rest of this week-end and then we can open our bank account and apply for the ID number and visit an accountant and get advice from him. Do we have to tell him what we’re selling?” Liz asked anxiously.

“Well, if we’re embarrassed to admit what we’re doing then maybe we shouldn’t be doing it.” Maria decided.

“No, no I disagree with that thought. We’ve come this far and why should we be embarrassed. The pictures are tasteful and people want to buy them.” Tess said.

“The pictures are one step shy of porn Tess.” That was Liz…

“Oh for God’s sake Liz, have you ever really seen porn…they are not porn! They are gorgeous. Let’s be honest with ourselves. These ‘customers’ have only seen the cover and they want the calendar…I say we raise the price is what I say!” Tess was adamant now and the other three girls laughed. She could be right.

“Okay, Monday morning early we head to Las Cruces and visit the bank, and then to Kinko’s and we’ll find an accountant on the internet. We might have to apply for a Tax ID number in Albuquerque but we can ask the accountant about that. Now what time do we want to leave?” Liz wanted to know.

“We should take off by 7:00 so we can make all of our stops before the end of the day. We’ll take my SUV, I think it will be more comfortable than ‘beauty’ or the Jetta. What do you think?” Tess wanted to know.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Shall we meet somewhere or will you pick us up?” Isabelle inquired.

“Let’s all meet at the Crash at 7:00. That way we can grab a sandwich to eat on the way.” And they all agreed, Monday morning, 7:00 a.m. Crashdown Café.

“Oh this is so exciting!” And Tess was beside herself…the other three weren’t quite sure about this at all at this particular stage of the game but they would wait and see.

Later they met up at Tess’ home to work on the monthly layouts and downloaded them to their disc and then they checked their web site again. They all stood there flabbergasted when they got a load of the hits…they might have to rent an entire building and start their own publishing firm before this is all over.

*

Eve:

Thank you for the song...I really enjoyed it and thanks for reading.

Carolyn:

Hey, thanks....

*****

Chapter: 9

It was now just a little before three as Liz pulled into her “private’ parking space in back of the Crash, it had her name painted on it in big bold letters; something Nancy thought Liz would get a kick out of and she did, for sure.

When she walked in through the back door her dad met her with a big grin on his face and told her that Max had called looking for her…she thanked him, gave him a hug and then looked around for her mother. She knew who had painted the sign and wanted to tell her thanks…it really was cool.

After speaking to her mom she made a bee line to her room to call Max who she knew she had been sorely neglecting for what seemed like forever. No one had mentioned the ring on her finger yet and she didn’t mind really, she was enjoying the privacy for a while…not having to explain anything to anyone. It was nice. Then she thought to herself and she smiled a great big smile. ‘if this calendar thing gets any bigger Max and I will be able to afford off campus housing and that will be great’

She could hardly wait for Monday to get here so they could find out just exactly what they were doing. It was exhilarating and frightening all at the same time.

When she dialed Max’s number it went directly to voice mail so she simply told him that she was home and to call her when he was free. She figured he was with Michael somewhere. ‘Probably at the park shooting hoops.’ That’s usually what they did when they didn’t have any other plans and she smiled, looked down at her ring and smiled broader still. She was so tempted to tell Max about the calendar but she wasn’t so sure he would understand so she would just keep quiet about it. She was sure it would come out eventually but she just didn’t know how to bring it up.

*
Isabelle opened the front door and knew immediately that she was the only person home…the door sort of had that empty “echo” click when she shut it behind her. She suddenly felt very lonesome for some reason and she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe the realization that everything would be so different soon and she wasn’t sure that was what she really wanted.

She wanted Alex to go to Albuquerque with her to school instead of Las Cruces. She knew that Las Cruces had the courses Alex was interested in and it was very selfish of her to want him to change but Albuquerque had the law courses she wanted. It was a dilemma that she wasn’t ready to face. Maybe she could go to Las Cruces for a year or so and then transfer to Albuquerque for a year or two and then transfer after she had her required subjects in. That might work.

She made her way to her room, kicked off her shoes and settled down onto her bed, grabbing a throw pillow to clutch close to her while she thought this out. ‘If this calendar thing keeps growing we just might have to stay here and run a nude calendar business.’ And with that thought running through her mind she started laughing. Things were happening too fast, she needed Alex.

Reaching over to her night table she grabbed her cell from where she had tossed it earlier and chose number one on her options and waited.

“Hey Isabelle…did you finally make it home?”

She smiled,

“Hi Alex…yeah, I did and I’m lonesome. Are you busy?”

“Nope, just finished up a little project I was working on for my mom. How about you pack us a couple of sandwiches, I’ll stop by the market and pick up some sodas and I’ll be there in about twenty. We can go to the park and watch the kids play.”

“That sounds great Alex…corned beef on rye okay?”
“Corned beef on rye sounds great Izzie, I’ll be there by the time you’re done.”

“Thanks Alex.”

And they hung up with Isabelle feeling rejuvenated and ready for some one on one time with her boyfriend.

*
Maria got home about the same time Isabelle arrived at her home and she thought she was alone also but then she heard some weird noises coming from the pantry and rolled her eyes. ‘Can’t mom and Jim find someplace besides the damned pantry to make out for God’s sake. Our food is in there.’[/b] Feeling a little bit feisty she walked past, knocked on the door rather loudly, and continued on to her room. She laughed as she laid her purse and keys on her dresser, kicked off her shoes and made her way to her bed to call Michael.

Of course Michael’s phone went straight to voice mail and she knew, just as Liz had known, that he was shooting hoops with Max. Those two just had no imagination when it came to fun. She left him a message and headed to the shower off her room to take a quick one and then, dressed only in her underwear, proceeded to crawl under the comforter on her bed and take a nap. It felt as though she hadn’t slept in a week.

*
Kyle had just gotten home when his cell started vibrating in his pants pocket and he reached down and checked caller ID…

“Hey Sweetie! How was your breakfast?”

“Great Kyle, what are you up to?”

“Oh, there was an emergency over at the garage and I went in for a couple of hours to relieve Toby. He cut his hand pretty badly and had to have some stitches but he’ll be fine. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, we really haven’t had a chance to be alone for what seems like forever, what say we head over to the park and take a picnic. Dad’s going to bar-b-q some chicken and I’m sure there will be enough for me to make a nice picnic lunch for us. How about it?”

“Tess, that sounds wonderful. Just give me an hour to degrease myself, shower and change into something comfortable. Do you want me to bring the Parcheesi board?”

“Yeah…that sounds like a great idea Kyle. I’ll meet you over there by the fountain at 5:00 or so. How’s that?”

“That’s perfect…I’ll see you soon, and Tess?”

“Yeah?” She waited…

“Tess, I love you.” Kyle was shocked at his admittance, but it was how he felt.

Tess got all warm and fuzzy and replied,

“I love you too Kyle, very much.” And both young people hung up feeling very, very good. They had always taken each other for granted and never professed their feelings before and it just felt right.

*

Maria awoke from her nap about 5:00 p.m. and sat up suddenly, wondering where she was…it had been a very busy two weeks and include in that the excitement of graduation and the girl was wiped out. She looked at the clock and wondered if Michael had called her back yet. She reached over to her night table and looked at her cell phone, only one message…Liz. Well, I wonder what Michael is doing; he didn’t have to work today so she called Liz.

Liz was busy checking out pricing on the internet again. The hits to their web site were outrageous and she didn’t think Kinko’s would be able to handle all of it. She was in a quandary over the entire plan. My God, who would have thought?

When her phone rang she thought for sure it was Max but no, it was Maria instead.

“Hey girl friend, what’s up?” Liz asked.

“Not much, I just woke up and I thought maybe Michael would have called me by now but I haven’t heard from him. Have you heard from Max?”

“No, but I’m sure they’re okay…probably still shooting hoops or they’ve stopped for a burger some where. They’ll call when they’ve run out of steam.”

“Yeah, I guess. Have you checked the web yet?”

“Been working on it since I got home. Maria, there are over 1000 hits and they just keep coming…I’m beginning to think we are in over our heads here.”

“Nah…just hold tight and wait until we see what we find out in Las Cruces. It’s going to be fine.”

“God, I hope so. Hey, if you hear from Michael do you want to do something later?”

“Nope. I want some alone time with my boyfriend. I’ll talk to you later Liz.”

“Okay then, later.” And the two friends hung up.

Meanwhile, over at the park it seems that Tess and Isabelle pulled into the parking lot at the same time.

“Hey, it looks like great minds think alike.”

“Yeah, it does. Are you meeting Kyle?”

“Yep, we thought fiveish…how about Alex?”

“The same, wanna sit this out together?”

“Sure, why not? It’s too public for anything else.” And they both laughed.

About that time Michael and Max started for the parking lot to head on home when Max spotted Isabelle…

“Hey Izzie, what’s up?”

“Oh, just a little picnic in the park…that’s about it.”

“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” Max was just a little inquisitive as to why I-hop.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I did. We drove over to I-hop so Liz could drive her car a little. I think she needs places to go.”

Max and Michael both laughed and told the girls they’d see them later and took off.

*