Sage was already outside and waiting for Brooke and Rachel to join her for the recess. As the two of them came over, they went to a side part of the playground, near the classes, but near one of the basketball courts. As they watched the boys play, Sage saw Yvette coming over to them and she warned Brooke and Rachel.

“Hey, like, um.....” Yvette sighed and she dropped the Valley-speak. It had been just a day or so since she talked to her cousin. She had wanted to take Heather and apologize together, But today Heather was sick, due to nerves of possibly being attacked, so that gave Yvette a chance to speak freely to people. “Can I ask you all a question? Please?”

At the word please, Rachel and Brooke's jaws dropped and Sage just blinked a couple of times. When they didn't respond, she asked again. “Please, can I ask a question? I know I've been...well, I've been a jerk, and I really am sorry about it, but I want to know something.”

Edited by Djkauf

More of Tracy and those around her. A bit of fluff this time, but slowly adding to the story

Monday 28th 1983

Vance was a bit nervous as he was led into the main part of the school. The principal led Vance to his new home room. Vance had decided that he could go on his own, so the kids wouldn’t tease him for having his mother with him. As he went through the school, he passed Moony and the boys he had played basketball with and he gave them a small wave, but they kept moving. The principal led him to a room and gestured inside. Vance had a crude hand drawn map of which classes he had next and they had met with a few of the teachers on Thursday, but the home room teacher he was getting had been out sick.

The principal knocked on the frame to the room and he cleared his throat, before stepping in with Vance. “Lois, I want you to meet Vance Patterson. Vance just moved to town in the past day and they are starting him here. I have his records from his last school, and since you'll be his reading and English teacher, we felt you should meet him and if you want, test him. We're also placing him in your home room, because you have the space.”

“I understand.” the teacher said with a nod.

“Vance, this is Lois Rosewood.”

“Ma'am.” Vance said.

“Well Vance, there is only one open desk in my room, that one in the back. I'll trust that you're not going to talk in my class?” Lois asked.

“I don't know if the people I know are in this class.” Vance honestly replied.

This caused the teacher to question him. “What are the names of the people you know?”

“Moony...I mean Marcus Miller, Bryce Holcomb and Jamie Williams.” Vance stated.

She nodded. “Jamie is in my class. I believe that Marcus is in Mrs. Peabody's class. I don’t know about the other two.”

“Ah, okay.”

The Principal waited for a moment, then he spoke up. “If you have any problems, the number of his Godparents is listed as a contact number. The parents are in the process of moving down here and are currently out of town.”

“Well, I can do that.”

“Young man, it’s good to have you here as a student.” The Principal said with a smile.

“Thank you, sir.”

~o~O~o~

Jamie walked into her class and as she took her seat, she watched as Vance Patterson walked in and went past her to the open seat in the back. He smiled as he passed her. She turned in her seat. “Vance? What are you doing here?”

“I go to school here.” He replied with a smile.

“Started today?” She asked and he nodded. “Moony know yet?”

“Yeah, just had breakfast with him, Kevin and Bryce.”

“Nice.” Jamie said. As more of the class came in, many of them were baffled as to who he was. The teacher called them to order, then she quickly gestured to him.

“Everyone, this is Vance Patterson, he is in our home room and he'll be in many of your classes. He just moved into town in the past two days and is starting here today.” She stopped and gestured for Vance to stand up. “Vance, tell us a bit about yourself.”

“I just moved from a small town, it’s kinda a farming town, north of here about three hours. I like to play basketball, baseball and soccer. I play some football, but not much and I like track.”

“Very good. Any siblings in the school?”

“No. I have a sister who is in the elementary school.”

“I see. Well, have a seat and we'll start with roll call.”

~o~O~o~

Sage was already outside and waiting for Brooke and Rachel to join her for the recess. As the two of them came over, they went to a side part of the playground, near the classes, but near one of the basketball courts. As they watched the boys play, Sage saw Yvette coming over to them and she warned Brooke and Rachel.

“Hey, like, um.....” Yvette sighed and she dropped the Valley-speak. It had been just a day or so since she talked to her cousin. She had wanted to take Heather and apologize together, But today Heather was sick, due to nerves of possibly being attacked, so that gave Yvette a chance to speak freely to people. “Can I ask you all a question? Please?”

At the word please, Rachel and Brooke's jaws dropped and Sage just blinked a couple of times. When they didn't respond, she asked again. “Please, can I ask a question? I know I've been...well, I've been a jerk, and I really am sorry about it, but I want to know something.”

“What is it?” Sage asked, afraid the niceness was an act to lure them into an insult.

Yvette wanted to run away, afraid of what could happen. She began to picture all three of them just hitting her for being so mean, but she wanted to know who the boy was. “The weekend we met in the park. Who was the boy with your brother? The one with dark brown hair?”

Rachel decided to reply, and she was not as nice as Sage was going to be, but she wasn't rude, just truthful. “His name is Vance. He's Tracy's brother. She's the one you called Porker Pigtails. They just moved from a farm town up north.”

Yvette blushed in shame. “Oh...” And she kicked herself for shooting herself in the foot with her big mouth. She knew she had to turn over a new leaf, but she didn't want to lose a cousin in the process, but she also didn’t want to be attacked either.

“Tell her I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have called her that. I shouldn't.....” Yvette couldn't look them in the eyes and she was doing all she could to not just run away, sobbing. She knew how it felt to be teased and insulted and she had been doing it to keep others from doing it to her. A tear streaked down her cheek and was quickly followed by another. “In fact I'm sorry for being mean to you three as well. I should have never said anything mean to you. I'm sorry for everything I've ever said to you all. Sorry....”

Before they could say anything Yvette turned and sprinted away. Sage just watched her, but Rachel looked to Brooke and shook her head in disbelief. “Okay, what just happened?”

“I don't know.” Sage said, “but I'm gonna go find her. She looked like she was about to cry.”

“Sage, she has done nothing but run us down with her friend. Why should we care?” Rachel asked.

“Because it’s the right thing to do and your bible tells you that.” Sage replied. “Turn the other cheek and be kind to those who run you down and all that. It's the nice thing to lend a hand when people need it.”

Brooke nodded. “If you two wouldn't let me be after I was a jerk to both of you, you think she will let Yvette be after she just did that to us?”

Rachel thought about it and shook her head as Sage and Brooke started to move away from her. “I guess not. I'll help, too.” She followed after her friends.

Sage came around the corner of the building to a little used area of the school. She was about to turn and leave when she heard the sounds of someone crying. It only took a moment of looking around until she noticed a pair of feet by the backside of the base of a tree.

“Yvette?” Sage asked as she stopped near the girl. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Yvette said, wiping at her eyes. “Just go away.”

Sage didn't give up. She moved closer and stopped near the tree. She could see the tears dripping off Yvette's cheeks.

Sage dropped to one knee by Yvette, but she didn't touch her. “Yvette, I'm willing to talk to you, If you want. I don't mind that you've been mean before. You look like you need someone to talk to.”

Yvette didn't say a word, so Sage sat down, near her and they just sat and listened as Yvette cried into her arms. After a few minutes, the bell rang, warning them they had five minutes to get to class.

“Come on, class is about to start again.” Sage said.

“I can't go in there like this.” Yvette said between sniffles. “They’ll tease me.”

“Then let’s take you to the office and you can sit in the nurse’s office.” Brooke said, making her presence known.

Yvette turned and saw Rachel was there as well. “Why are you all being nice?”

“Why shouldn't we be?” Sage asked. “Come on, let's take you to the office. Rachel, I got this, if you and Brooke want to go to class. I'll see you at lunch.”

“Okay.” Rachel said as they got close to their room. “We'll see you then.”

As Sage passed her class, the teacher stepped out. She saw the tears on Yvette and Sage's determination. “Is everything alright, Sage?”

“She's having a bad day and needs the nurse’s office.”

“Okay. Here, take this hall pass.” The teacher said. “Get back as quickly as you can.”

“Yes Ma'am.” Sage said as she pushed through her class.

When they got to the office, Sage opened up the door and held it for Yvette. The secretary stood up from her desk. “Can I help you girls?”

“She needs to sit in the nurse’s office for a little bit.

“Come on back.”

Sage led Yvette into the nurse’s office, and helped her climb up on the bed. Yvette was about to ask why Sage was being nice when the Nurse came in.

The Nurse looked over Yvette, not throughly, though. She was one of the few who knew about both girls and a part of her was shocked that the two girls had not became friends earlier. “What happened?”

“Just nerves and stress.” Sage said. “She just started crying and she isn’t feeling good.”

“I see. Well, you should get to class and I can take care of her.” The Nurse said.

“Okay.” Sage said with a nod. She looked to Yvette and gave her a sad little smile. “Feel better Yvette. We can talk at lunch or tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Yvette replied, but the guilt struck her again and she began to cry again. Sage took one more look before heading out of the nurses office.

~o~O~o~

Peter was bored. No Tracy to keep him company. Mary Beth had her own friends and he was still not too sure about Jerry. He had been spending his time in the library, reading and talking to the librarian. She was busy this time, so he found a table off to the side and he sat, reading a book, the best he could. He wasn’t the smartest child there, and his reading was a grade or two behind what he should have been in. While he read, A pair of shadows fell on him and he looked up to see Bobby Anderson, plus another boy his age.

“Well, look who it is.” Bobby said, pointing at Peter. “The fag’s boy friend.”

“Go away. I don’t want any trouble.” Peter said, turning his attention back to his book.

“Too bad, queer.” Bobby replied.

The two boys tried to puff out their chests and look intimidating, but Peter kept reading. “Please go away.”

“Why, so you can read your baby book, you big baby?” Bobby teased. Then he yanked it out of Peter’s hands.

As Peter stood up, the Librarian came over and cleared her throat. “Okay, Anderson, Winslow, you can leave.”

“We ain’t done nothing!” Bobby exclaimed.

“You just ripped a book out of his hand and tore one of the pages.” The Librarian said. “This young man was reading before you came in and disturbed him. So you may leave, now.”

Both of them knew she could call the office and get them into a lot of trouble, so Bobby decided to leave. But he wanted to threaten Peter just once more. “This ain’t over, baby.” Bobby said as they headed for the door.

~o~O~o~

Maggie walked into Big Mama’s deli at a little after noon. Like Lok’s martial arts studio and acupuncture shop, there was an entryway, with two doors inside, one to the left and one to the right, each clearly marked. The left was marked Big Mama’s Bakery and the right one was marked Big Mama’s deli. She had tried the bakery door, before reading the note that the bakery was closed and the deli was open. So she turned and went to the deli door. As far as she knew, her daughter was at home, doing her school work. Vance was busy with school. This left her with the fun of finding a job. She had a few applications with her, and she was ready to fill them out that night. Even with the vacation to Disneyland, she was sure she could get a job, she had ten years experience as a secretary, several years as a waitress and a few other odd jobs. So she was hopeful. But she wanted something part time, till she could get another job.

Beth had offered her a job, just for part time, and she thought it would be smart idea to take her up on the offer. She knew Shelly and Frank had offered to help out, but she hated to feel like a mooch. And the sooner she had a job, the sooner William could look for work and then they could move. She loved Shelly, but she had kept thinking of the old adage, visitors and fish begin to stink after three days. And she didn’t want to ruin a good friendship.

The bell rang as the door opened up to the deli. As she stepped in, she looked around and saw the door that led to the bakery from the inside was closed as well. There were a few tables, and a couple of booths, only a couple of places had people in them. The main counter of the deli had seats, like at a diner and a few more people sat there. Then there was the place to give your order and pay and as she stepped up, a man in front of her stepped away.

“Hello!” A chipper young lady behind the counter said. “Can we interest you in a salad or a sandwich today? Mark is in the back working on a wonderful vegetable soup. Very good for a cold day, like today.”

Maggie’s stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t ate since breakfast. She was hungry, but she wanted to inquire about a job, before she ate anything. “Maybe later. I had stopped by to see if Beth Paulson was here? I wanted to ask about a job.”

“Just a moment.” The girl turned to the side and leaned so she could see the kitchen. “Mark, is your sister here? We have a lady who wants an application.”

“Okay, just a moment.” He called out. A moment later, he stepped out, holding a piece of paper. “Who was it for?” He asked the girl and she pointed to Maggie.

“Oh My....” Maggie said with gasp. “You have barely changed, Mark.”

“Do I know you?” He asked.

She smiled and nodded. She wasn’t going to make it easy on him. “I hear you met my daughter, Tracy, on Valentines day. She was here with Shelly Cooper.” Maggie said.

“Shelly.....Tracy? Maggie?!?” His face broke out into a huge smile. “Little Maggie Richter?”

“Well, not so little anymore, and no longer Richter. Now I’m Maggie Patterson.”

“So I heard from your daughter. I must say, she is a spitting image of you as a girl.” Mark replied.

“Thank you. She is a very special little girl.”

“And a talented cook. I hear Beth is asking her for some recipes from her grandmother.”

Maggie nodded. “My mother-in-law has been helping me teach her to cook, so she was making dinner at our old house, so it was ready by time we got home. I hear from Shelly that she is still doing that. Tracy did say she would have to ask permission for the recipes.”

“Well, we enjoyed what she had made. I think it could sell very well here and we’d compensate her and your mother-in-law.”

“Well, Modine said that if you offered, to just give it to Tracy. She did the work of showing it off.”

“So you are looking for a job?” Mark asked.

“Well, I am looking for something part time, till we are fully moved down here, this way there isn’t a long period with no money.”

“Yes, I can understand that. We are looking for a bakery to deli worker, but Beth can tell you about that.”

“I do have my resume and a letter of recommendation from my last employer, but I’d need the letter back, he only gave me one.”

Mark looked at the people who were walking in, then he looked to Maggie. “Tell you what. I need to get back in the kitchen. She is in the office and busy for a few minutes. Give me the resume and the letter, I’ll give it to her and you can go fill out the application, if you’d like. You can take over one of the smaller tables.”

“You don’t mind me taking over a table?”

“Not at all.” Mark replied.

“Thank you.” Maggie said as she handed over the resume and letter of recommendation. She took the application, turned and headed for the table in a corner. She took a seat and started filling out the application. About ten minutes later, she looked up and saw Beth coming out to her. Beth stopped her from getting up and she slid into the other seat.

“Hello, Maggie.”

“Hello Beth. I hope you don’t mind me taking one of the tables.” Maggie said, putting the pen down.

“Not at all. I was hoping to see you, or at least your daughter.”

“She is at home, doing schoolwork.”

“Well, that is more important.” Beth said with a nod. She had already called Maggie’s old boss, Chris and got his glowing verbal recommendation, then there was the fact she had been there almost a decade with no issues. She just wanted to question Maggie on her lack of recent restaurant work. With Shelly’s vote of confidence too, she knew Maggie was a good person, she just needed someone who could handle the stress of a job like that.

Beth looked at the application, then at Maggie. “So, Mark gave me your resume and letter of recommendation. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. The first is that you haven’t worked a restaurant since about nineteen sixty nine?”

“That’s correct. I have been working my last job full time since we moved to Oroville.” Maggie replied.

“The Wright cleaning place?”

“Yes.” Maggie said with a nod.

“What did you do there?” Beth asked.

“Secretarial work. Answer phones, send out bills, take payments from clients. Occasionally I had to take over for some of the workers and do some of the cleaning jobs.” Maggie replied.

“And you left to move here, right?” Beth asked, trying to recall what Tracy and Shelly had told her.

“Yes.” Maggie said with a nod.

“And when you worked the restaurant, what type was it? A diner? A fancy place, a fast food establishment?”

Maggie thought back and tried to think of how to best describe it. “It was a small family diner in Encino.” Maggie replied. “I bussed tables, was a waitress and even helped with running the till, when we got busy.”

“I see.” Beth looked at the paper, then back at Maggie. “When could you start?”

“Is tomorrow too soon?” Maggie said with a smile.

“Not at all.” Beth replied, then she leaned forward. “But I want to know. I know you have your kids, and I’m sure that you’ll want to look for something a bit more full time, which I can’t offer. What hours are you looking at? Our bakers get here kinda early. Two of them are here at three or four in the morning. They work till noon. We close the bakery at about eleven thirty and move to the deli. The deli starts at about ten thirty, and we could cross train you. We do have bakers, so the early morning is out, but if you wanted, you could start at like seven and move to the deli at eleven.”

“Could I work from say six or seven, til two, so I can still look elsewhere, and be home for the kids?”

“Sure. You’re just going to be part time for now. So you have a fluid schedule.” Beth replied, then she asked. “What about moving from the other town. Have you brought up all your stuff?”

“Well, we are moving this weekend. William gave his two weeks and that is up this weekend. I wanted to take the kids there on this Friday, after Vance gets out of school, then we’re going to load up a Uhaul on Saturday and move on Sunday.” Maggie said, then she added. “And in March, the Godparents of my kids have paid for us to go to Disneyland, so I’d be unavailable for a week.”

“What week?” Beth asked, pulling out a small calander.

“The twenty fifth of March, to the first of April. We also have a series of important appointments for Tracy on the twenty-fifth. So I need to be with her for those.”

“Nothing bad, I hope?” Beth asked, genuine concern in her voice.

“Well, nothing too bad, just getting a full check up and dealing with a therapist for her stress.” Maggie replied.

“Stress? In an eleven year old?” Beth raised an eyebrow. Then she recalled something and she began tapping a finger in the air. “Is this concerning why you all left? Tracy mentioned that someone was trying to hurt her.”

“Well, in a sense. There were some attacks, but the most recent happened at a court date this past Friday, where the woman who attacked her in a gas station attacked her and two other girls in a court of law. She ended up with a black eye from this attack.”

“Wow. She attacked Tracy in a courthouse?”

“Yeah and if you see Tracy, don’t bring it up. I think she is trying to hide her fear.” Maggie said. “But she knocked Tracy to the floor and was trying to bite her face. The woman was like a rabid dog.”

“I’ll keep quiet.” Beth said. “Is Tracy okay?”

Maggie nodded. “Black eye, and scared, but she is okay. And the Woman is in jail, for breaking a temporary restraining order.”

“That’s good.” Beth said with a slight nod. She leaned back in the chair. “The poor little girl of yours. Why would someone attack such a good child.”

“I don’t know....” Maggie said with a shrug. “That woman was just crazy. Ranting on how Tracy is a rapist and a murderer.”

“Wow. That’s out there.” Beth stated.

“Yeah” Maggie nodded again. “Could we change the subject. These attacks are getting hard to deal with and I’d just rather not focus on them.”

“I can respect that.” Beth said. She leaned forward, held out a hand and smiled. “We can talk more later, when you want, but for now I want to offer you a part time job.”

“Thank you.” Maggie said, smiling and shaking her hand.

~o~O~o~

Yvette sat in the waiting room to her therapist. She had been seeing Doctor Ivan for more than three years now and each time, she rarely talked. Today she was mentally absent, after her breakdown at the school. When her mother had picked her up, she had also set up a meeting with her therapist, due to the problems at school.

Her mother had already talked to the therapist, and now Yvette was sitting on the couch in his office, thinking about Sage and how she had been nice and crying over how she had treated people for the past few years. Finally after a few minutes of her just crying, Ivan spoke up.

“Yvette, each time you come here, I tell you that you can speak your mind, and you never do. Something is bugging you today, more than normally. I can help you, but you have to help me help you.”

“Something happened at school.” Yvette said.

“Did someone find out about you?” Ivan asked.

“No.....” Yvette replied. “But I....”

“What happened?”

Yvette didn’t look up, but she wiped at her eyes with her shirt sleeve. “There were some girls and I’ve been picking on them, but I’ve been feeling bad about it, so today I kinda apologized.” Yvette went quiet and she kept looking at her hands in her lap.

“How did it feel to say you were sorry?” Ivan finally asked, after several moments of silence.

“I...there's been like a weight on me and when I told them I was sorry and really meant it, I ran away. I know how it is to be treated like dirt and I was doing it to them. I figured they would hate me, but Sage followed me and sat with me while I cried.”

“Sage?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah, she goes to my school. Her friends Rachel and Brooke are our usual targets because Rachel is big, Brooke is in a wheelchair and Sage's family is poor.” Yvette said, her head hung in shame. “And Heather thinks it’s better to insult people, so they don’t find out about me.”

Ivan was only slightly aware that two of his patients were at the same school, but he wasn't going to tell either one about the other. He also knew that the Millers lived in poverty, but they weren’t poor, just that Carl was strict about spending money with no purpose. He continued with questioning Yvette. “So what happened after you cried?”

“Sage helped me up and she walked me to the nurse’s office, because recess was almost over.” Yvette said.

“Did she stay with you?” Ivan asked.

Yvette shook her head. “No. The nurse called my mom and she sent Sage back to class.” She looked up at him. “Why did she do that?”

“Because those other girls should be in class and your mother is a better choice in calming you down.” Ivan replied.

“No....” Yvette shook her head again. “Why did she help me? Sage I mean? We've been mean to her for two years now and she willingly helped me out when I was crying? Why would she do that?”

“Yvette, some people just have a good heart. You have one, but your cousin has you so afraid that something will happen, that you attack any kindness, because you think it's a ruse to hurt you.”

“Oh...” She thought about it and he was right. She looked up into her eyes. “What should I do? About Sage, I mean?”

“Well, you should talk to her, so she knows that you're being honest about what happened. You don’t have to tell her everything, but at least tell her you really are sorry.” Ivan suggested, then he added. “Telling her that you’ve been attacked and were afraid you’d be attacked again is a great place to start. You could explain that you thought you were doing what was best.”

“Do I have to tell her about...” Yvette gestured to her crotch. “About my parts?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Ivan said. He began to think of a way of making sure that Sage and Yvette ended up with an appointment on the same day. He knew that could help show how alike they were. He also knew it could blow up in his face too. “Yvette, just tell them you were beat up once and you were being mean to keep from being beaten again. You don’t have to tell all, just be honest about what you do say. Because, sometimes people can surprise you.”

~o~O~o~

Tuesday March 1st 1983

Tracy was headed for the kitchen as she descended the stairs. When she got to the bottom, her mother was already dressed and ready to leave. She paused at the door and Tracy quickly got down the last few steps. She hugged and kissed her mother. “Want breakfast?”

“Can’t. I got to get going now. Beth wants me there about six thirty, so she can teach me the register in both the deli and the bakery.”

“Oh.” Tracy said, sounding slightly sad. “Well, have fun.”

“Smile, Tracy, soon you’ll be worrying about school and not if I am home.” Maggie patted her arm. “I’ll be home about noon and we can go grocery shopping with your aunt Shelly before Vance is home from school and before Tai Chi.”

“Okay.” Tracy said while she headed to the kitchen. She got in there and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She took her seat and was halfway through the bowl when Vance came down, mumbled something and he poured his own bowl.

“So....” Tracy started to say, when he seemed to wake up a little. “Ready for school?”

“Yeah. I guess.” Vance said. “I think they got baseball tryouts starting soon.”

“Cool. I hope you get it.” Tracy said.

“Me too. I just got to remember which classes I have today.” He said, then he took a bite and looked at the clock. “Darn it, half an hour to go.”

“Wake up when I do.” Tracy said with a grin.

“Meh.” He muttered as he shoveled in another spoonful.

As he left the table, Tracy got up, put her bowl in the sink and went to the desk where she kept her school work. She wanted to get started early, so she was ready for shopping later.

~o~O~o~

The shopping for another two weeks was done an Tracy was now headed to her Tai Chi class, with her mother. Her Aunt and Uncle were at home with Vance. She was ready for a good workout, then to go home and go to bed. But as she got to the door of Lok’s school, she heard the sounds of someone running towards them. She turned to see Stacey running to her and her father just behind her.

“Tracy!” Stacey said as she caught her in a running hug.

“Stacey!” Tracy exclaimed back as she hugged her back. Are you going to take the classes here too?”

“No, I actually came to give you this.” Stacey held out an envelope.

“What is it?” Tracy asked, opening the envelope. Inside was a pink piece of paper.

“An invite to my birthday, on the ninetieth.”

“At your house?” Tracy asked.

“Not all of it.” Stacey said. “We’re going to a roller rink in San Ramon, then we’ll go to my home, but my two friends from my school will be there and we’re having a sleepover.” Stacey followed Tracy into the studio, their parents were behind them. Harvey slipped Maggie an invite for Vance, so they could have enough kids for the minimum needed for the party room.

“Will....” Tracy stopped and looked to Stacey. “Will your friends be there for the sleepover?”

“Yeah.”

“I...um...I”

“Tracy.” Harvey said, getting her attention. “Are you worried that someone will find out about you?”

“Yeah.” Tracy said with a nod.

“I will keep you safe in my house.” Harvey stated.

“They’re good people and I really want you to meet them.” Stacey said, then she pouted her lip and looked at her friend with pleading eyes. “Please, no one will find out. Sage is coming, Rachel and Brooke too. It’s only two girls from school. Please?”

“Tracy, I think you should go.” Her mother said. “You can always call us if you get worried.”

“I could?”

“Yes.” Maggie said with a nod.

“Please?” Stacey pleaded again.

“Okay.” Tracy said with a nod.

“Thanks!” Stacey hugged Tracy.

“Are you staying for the class?” Tracy asked.

“No, we got things to do and Dad has to get me home. He has the evening shift tonight.” Stacey said with a shake of her head.

“Saturday then?” Tracy asked.

“Yeah. I think Rachel wants to go to her place, so we can plan what places in Disneyland we want to see first.”

Tracy chuckled and shook her head. “I vote pirates and the haunted mansion.”

“Come on Stacey, we should get going and Tracy needs to change.” Harvey said, knowing if they got started on the topic, they could talk all night.

“Okay, Dad.” Stacey said. She hugged Tracy. “See you on Friday.”

“Bye Stacey.” Tracy said.

Up next, more fun with Tracy, Vance and the rest. And now we are out of February 1983!