Matt kept on looking at the doors as he was eagerly waiting for Lori to come back from getting her phone. The window of time in which they could call Luke was going to close soon and Matt was wondering what was taking Lori so long to get back with her phone. There was no chance that Lori was not coming back down. Luke’s sister was too excited about the other members of the Saturday Morning Bike Club talking with him. Even if she was not extremely enthusiastic about them all sharing time together, there was no way she was going to be spending any time with Blake. Her anger at how he treated her at the prom was more intense than a New Year’s Day swim in the North Sea. She was also acting as frigidly towards her boyfriend as the water for that swim.

The boy who wanted to talk with one of his closest friends was not going to wait patiently for Lori to come. Not being proactive was exactly the reason he lost so much time with Luke. He was not going to lose those two being a part of their huge night. He told his girlfriend, Renee, he was going to Lori’s room to see what was taking her so long and would be right back.

In the lobby, Matt got a lucky break in trying to find Lori. He saw an upbeat Blake walking with his bag towards the exit. No one who was annoyed would have the pep in his step like Blake did. Lori’s friend was a little disappointed that Lori’s boyfriend was in such a good mood. That was a bad sign, if Lori and Blake once again got back together after a break up. Matt did find the good in the bad situation for Lori. She was going to have at least some good memories of her prom night.

After calling out to Blake to get the happy boy's attention Matt asked where Lori was. In a gleeful voice the boy who thought he became a man answered the question by saying “Why should I know? I broke up with that bitch.”

*********
Having an intense experience drained people. Being content made people want to stay where they are at. Being intimate with someone for the first time made people feel exposed. Laying naked next to the person someone loves made them want to stay to savor the moment. These are just a few of the reasons why Luke and Mary did not join their guests at the after prom party. The two lovers were more than happy to keep on sharing a moment of bliss together after they gave each other bliss.

Luke and Mary never thought this moment was going to end. Time was standing still. This was the closest the couple ever felt to each other. Half of who they were was laying next to them. As they were settling into what they believed was their eternity Luke’s phone started yelling at them for attention. Luke and Mary got pulled out of their own personal paradise by whoever was calling them. Knowing he had to live in reality and not that fantasy Luke answered the phone.

***********

After hearing from her boyfriend about where Lori was, Renee called Tracy and Ming over. Those two were going to want to help Lori get over her broken heart. She started to hastily pack her and Matt’s stuff from the poolside. Time was not of the essence, but Renee wanted to be there for Lori as soon as possible.

Laying next to the lady who was in a hurry was Amanda. She was too tired from the long day of decorating and enjoying the prom to enjoy a dip in the swimming pool. Seeing her friend in what looked like a panic, Amanda asked Renee “What up!”

“Oh, Blake broke up with Lori. We want to get up there to see if there is anything which can be done.”

“Yinz, get going. I’ll finish getting your things together and take them to my room. Tell Lori she can call me if she needs anyone to talk to. OK?”

As she was saying “will do,” Renee hugged her friend. Tracy thanked Amanda for getting their things before they left and Ming as he reached for a piece of paper said he would catch up with them.

As he was fidgeting with the paper Ming said “Thank you. Amanda I know you and Lori do not get along. She has not always acted like the best person. She has done a lot of growing up and so have you.

“Here is a little token of thanks for helping us be there for her and also offering to be there.”

After giving that little speech Ming handed Amanda a physical representation of his thanks, a zhezhi swan. Amanda smiled and thanked Ming for the origami. He thanked her and went off without correcting her. Her knowing it was the Chinese version of paper art was not important right now. Catching up with the rest of the group to be there for Lori was.

It did not take long for the straggler to reunite with the group. They were only walking in a hurry and he did a light jog. Ming did not bust into a full sprint because he did not want to draw attention to himself and more importantly he did not want to take a chance of running into anyone. When he finally was with the rest of the gang Ming simply and elegantly apologized for lagging behind by saying “Sorry about that. I said thanks and made her a zhezhi swan. I wanted to make sure Amanda knew how much we appreciated her finishing packing up our things.”

Tracy Armstrong, Ming’s prom date, found what he did to be sweet. She rubbed his arm and kissed him on the cheek before saying “You are so nice.” After giving the small compliment Tracy ended the quick showing of affection by starting another one by holding Ming’s hand.

After meeting with Matt, Renee along with the budding new couple of Ming and Tracy made their way to Lori’s room. The chatter was about how to deal with the situation. Ming came up with the best plan of following Lori’s lead. It was her they needed to help and the biggest part of being there for someone is actually being there. That is, pay attention and sort out what they need to deal with it in the best possible way.

Arriving at Lori’s door they all paused. They did not know who should knock. Tracy suggested the person should be her new beau. After all, out of them, he was the one who knew this side of Lori for the longest and the most. Before anyone could agree, Ming knocked. It made the most sense to him, if he did not wait until others prompted him to do so, the act would seem more of his own doing. That would make how everyone reacted be more natural and authenticity was needed. After Ming’s tap on the door announcing their arrival, the gang waited.

***********

Blake made the choice to go to the gameroom instead of the swimming pool. He finally entered into manhood and everyone knew that men shoot pool and boys played in pools. The darkly lit room felt like a bar to Blake. That was where men went. He casually made his way to the bar and ordered a coke. The server using a fountain gun to pour his drink into a real glass and putting a slice of lemon on the rim made Blake feel like he was drinking the soft drink like a man. Pouring from a can in a plastic cup was how a boy would have been served the drink.

Leaving the bar and going to mingle with the rest of the group, Blake was stopped by Peter Collins. The senior was upset and felt horrible about himself and was asking everyone if they saw Katie Amos. His relationship with Katie ended tonight. She found out at the prom of his plan of ending it with her right after graduation. He knew he messed up letting that information come to light on such a special night. Right now, all Peter wanted to know was how Katie was doing. If she was fine then he could quit beating himself up.

Blake answering he left her with Lori in such a matter-of-fact manner was a relief to Peter. Blake not showing any anger towards Peter was a great sign that Katie, her ex, was already moving on from their relationship. Knowing that Katie had people there to support her took away Peter’s sense of guilt. Not having to be concerned if Katie was crying, made Peter feel how Atlas felt when Hercules gave him a break. The man who had the weight of the world off of his shoulder, showed his gratitude by putting his hand on Blake’s shoulder and saying “Thank you. It is so cool that you and Lori were there for her.”

Blake wanting to get all the credit for being there for Katie corrected Peter. “It was just me. Lori and I broke up. She came back to the room when Katie and I really needed a little privacy.”

Peter’s hand was still on Blake’s shoulder and he started clenching down on it. That was a sign of his disapproval of hearing that those two needed a little privacy. He knew the man code. Needing a little privacy was just a way of saying having sex. He gave Blake a chance to clear up what he said, “What do you mean you needed a little privacy?”

Hearing the disapproval in Peter’s voice made Blake take a step back. He always wanted to get far away when someone confronted him. “Calm down Pete. You broke up with Katie tonight. It’s none of your business why Katie and I needed a little privacy.”

The mad senior amped up showing his disdain for what Blake was insinuating by poking his finger in the boy’s chest and stating. “You better not have taken advantage of Katie, you little fucker.”

Blake got more defensive by blustering himself up. “Like I said, calm down Pete. Don’t talk about me taking advantage of Katie. You were doing that. You planned to break up with her right after you graduated. You were just keeping her around until you had no use for her.”

“Fuck you man! I love Katie.”

Peter’s words match his actions of them both being true. He did love Katie, but wanted some freedom. He did not want to have to consider anyone else when making his plans for his epic summer. How could his senior year’s summer be one to remember if he could not do anything he wanted at any time he wanted to. Katie would have just held him back.

Tom and a couple of Peter’s friends arriving at the verbal ruckus made Blake get brave. He knew those calmer heads would not let the hothead he was talking to get physical. Peter’s buddies would want to make sure that he could walk on graduation day. Tom would want to make sure that Blake’s rep did not take any damage by his friend getting his ass wiped by Peter. “Yeah, you love her so much you broke her heart tonight.”

David Mullins, Peter’s friend, knew that those two talking was a bomb ready to go off so he was going to defuse the situation. “Just leave, Blake.”

Blake amped up the situation. He had nothing to lose now. He was as protected as a vase surrounded by bubble wrap. “No. You take Pete out of here. He’s a punk who is just mad that he lost a good girl and I was able to get with her.”

Peter had enough. The frustrated teenager was ready to start fighting to defend his honor and act like he was defending Katie's and he lunged at Blake. His friend held him back. Pete reacted by struggling to get free. The boy who was egging him on was going to get broken. Blake deserved the beating which Peter was more than happy to give to him. Defending himself was more important than wearing a gown and mortarboard to get handed a lambskin.

David, still working on defusing the situation, looked right into Peter’s eyes as he was saying “He’s not worth it man.”

Even with his mind being foggy from the haze of anger in it, Peter had some clarity. His friend would not steer him wrong. After all, David was one of the ones who made him see why Peter needed to be free this summer. “You’re right, let’s go.”

Blake was not going to let the last words be those which made him look weak. He was protected. Peter’s antagonist had the higher ground of knowing nothing would make this escalate into a fight. “David is right. Trying to look like you’re doing the right thing is not worth getting your ass kicked.”

Peter knew he was not going to have the chance to physically knock Blake out but he remembered a nice haymaker which would metaphorically do so. On his way out of the gameroom he said, “Oh shut up, Black Eye Blake.”

***************

Being there for Katie was the only reason Lori was not crying. The girl with a broken heart was using a great way to forget about her sorrow and pain, being there to help another girl with a broken heart get over their sorrow and pain. Dealing with someone else’s issue was a great short-term method of not having to deal with the issues which are bringing you down. There was one significant pitfall in dealing with one pain in this manner. It only dealt with the symptoms and not the cause of the sorrow and pain. That once there was no one else to help, she would now have to deal with the built-up sorrow and pain from what was bothering her.

The reprise of having to deal with her broken heart ended with a knock on her door. Her friends and reality were on the other side waiting to be let into the room. Even with wanting to stay in the fantasy of not dealing with her pain Lori knew she had to open the door. One of the lessons she got from the taming of the Brat Princess was that she needed to live in reality instead of what she and others wanted life to be.

Lori asked Ming and the rest of her friends to wait a minute. That time was used to start gathering herself to be able to greet her welcomed guests with a smile. The unwanted tagalong, her heartbreak, had put a frown on her face. Now was a time to be strong, tonight was about having a good time. Lori was not going to have the new issue in her personal life bring others down. Their memories of this night should be a joyous one for the prom goers to fondly look back on.

The smile in Lori’s face was glistering as brightly as the sequins on her dress as she opened the door. After all, she was a great actress. She honed that skill by feigning her emotion to get her way when she was in the War of the Twins. Even with wanting to be honest with her friends, Lori did not feel guilty. This was a brave front she was putting on for them, not her trying to manipulate them to achieve one of her goals.

Ming, Tracy, Matt, and Renee unexpectedly were surprised in seeing Katie with a broken smile inside Lori’s room. Those four did their best to repress any sign of being caught off guard. Having a look of confusion or bewilderment would be taken negatively by Lori’s guest. What was upsetting Katie might be a mystery, but her needing comfort and to feel welcomed was not.

Matt asked Katie if she wanted more time to talk with Lori. He knew better than to ask a sniffling teenage girl with running mascara if everything was alright. Clearly, it was not. Doing what was best to make Katie get better was more important than talking with Luke. The call was going to be a surprise, plus his friend was coming back home for two weeks in a month.

Now it was time for Katie to pull herself together. She did not answer Matt’s question right away. During that time she was gathering the strength to say no and get ready to leave. The heartbroken girl’s opinion of men was low at that moment. Tonight two members of the opposite sex did not care about her feelings, other than to get what they wanted from her. Her self-esteem while dealing with men was low from being used and could not consider for a moment a man would want to be there for her. She was shown they only wanted to be with her.

Katie said “I will be leaving now. I have taken up enough of Lori’s time. You guys need to deal with her. Blake really hurt her.”

Lori defending her hurt ego and wanting to be in that fantasy world of being strong enough to not be hurt said “Katie, I am fine. I should have broken up with him years ago. That little boy will never grow up to be a man.”

Then reality, the final guest, made itself known when Katie said “Lori, I want to take a shower. I want to get Blake off of me. I still can’t believe that he fooled me into sleeping with him.”

Lori had no British heritage but somehow she kept a stiff upper lip as she was forced to stare deep into reality’s eyes. She showed no signs of being upset and held no ill will towards Katie for letting that embarrassing fact become common knowledge to her friends. The other heartbroken girl doing a superb job of exhibiting grace under pressure would have impressed Sir Alister Oliver Luckinbill III, the most British Brit ever. The quintessential Englishman would have said “Bully, bully,” to salute her for doing such a good job as he was twirling his handlebar mustache.

Lori stayed calm as she was saying, “You did me a favor. Catching him with you was the best thing for me. I am sorry that he hurt you.

“Katie, use the shower here. Ming will go get you a change of clothes from your room. Matt and Renee, sorry I didn’t come right back. We still have time to call my brother.”

Tracy offered to go with Ming. “Baobei are you sure? I know you would love to talk with Luke.”

Ming’s date agreed without knowing the meaning of Baobei. Even without that knowledge, Tracy could tell by the sweetness in Ming’s voice he just gave her a pet name. She was as sure as this night was special she much rather spend time with Ming than be there for the entire phone call. It would only take 10 minutes to get back from Tracy’s room and she would be able to spend more time with the man who found her precious.

****************

Luke and Mary were still existing in the state of now when his phone rang. The buzzing sound not only informed the two lovers there was an incoming call, but also that there was a past and future. Time not being static meant that their time together was limited. If staying in this bed meant no more past or future they would have gladly accepted having their fate be one of this eternal silent bliss.

Luke started to smile as he was looking at his phone. The call was from his sister and he found it sweet that she wanted to talk to him on their big night. Having that positive reaction to Lori calling him would have been unheard of just a couple of years ago. It was ironic that those two being far apart played a role in them becoming closer.

Luke’s smile also got bigger thinking there was a good chance he would be able to talk with Matt and Renee also. Luke only just started the reconnecting process with them and so wanted to spend some time with them before his visit home next month. He knew his sister well enough to know that she was all about grand gestures and having them with her for the call would be one. Also, it just fit Lori. Luke’s sister had a flair for the spectacular and would want to make her call be a memorable part of Luke’s night. She did love the limelight after all.

Luke answered the phone and Lori greeted him and said that Matt and Renee were there with her. He said he was going on the speaker because Mary was with him. Lori did the same for then it could be more like a group call.

The call went great. For the most part, they did talk about the prom so Luke and Mary were able to stay in the present. The future only reared its ugly head when Matt started to talk about how much he was looking forward to seeing Luke. One reason he wanted to talk about the future was his excitement about the Saturday Morning Bike Club being whole again. The other was that Luke asked Lori about her night. Matt knew that Lori had too much pride to want to be talking about how her heart was broken. Matt did not know that Lori also did not want to bring the night down for others. Part of that was also her pride. She had to be seen as strong enough to not have how Blake cheated on her be detrimental to her.

Luke became less responsive as Lori was trying to steer the conversation back to the prom. She much rather hear about the future, but knew Luke wanted to stay talking about the now. It was more than her brother wanting to be there for Lori which made him want to know what happened. To Luke, it felt right and natural for him to be looking out for Lori.

Reading people was a strength of Lori and she knew her brother wanted to know more about what she was keeping private. She pushed her pride aside and opened up to Luke. The truth came out about how she caught him with another girl and broke up with Blake. Just because Lori was being open to Luke she left out who it was. That part was not important and it was not her story to tell. Also, she did not want to make Katie feel bad about what happened. The other girl was lied to by Blake and she was hurting.

Hearing about the breakup made Luke so proud of Lori. He could tell by the sincerity in her voice that the relationship was permanently over. Lori not swearing vengeance on the other girl made Luke’s sense of pride grow even more. His sister was mature enough to see that the unlucky girl had been used by Blake. Seeing how much his sister had grown as a person by getting rid of the last vestiges of the Brat Queen made Luke feel closer to her.

Ming and Tracy finally returned from getting Katie a change of clothing. Lori used having Luke talk with Tracy as a way to change the subject. For once she did not want to be in the limelight. Tracy’s excitement about having such a good man as a prom date helped to move Luke away from his sister. It also made sure he did not move on to start thinking about how his time laying at Mary’s side was soon to come to an end. Someone sharing their joy has a way to bring people into the moment and not dwelling on either the past or the future.

The call ended with Tracy innocently being the reason why Luke started to think about his future AM, After Mary. The girl who wanted to make the connection she broke stronger, told Luke she was looking forward to him coming back to visit. There will be only one week left with Mary then. He wanted more time but knew it could not be. Mary had her life to live and he had his. Their paths were at a fork and it would not be fair to either of them to have the other follow a path which was not there. Mary deserved to be flying high in the sky and he deserved to be doing what he was passionate about. Little did Luke know that Mary could only reach her highest with him at her side and his true passion was not working with computers. It was sharing his life with his soul mate.

After the call, there was an uncomfortable silence between Mary and Luke. The future coming closer to becoming the present was lingering between them. Knowing this will not last was putting an even greater pressure on them to enjoy the now. Knowing their unwanted fate was making it hard to rest, but being tired from a long day was winning out. As the new lovers were drifting off to sleep, their minds went from being stuck in the future back to where they belong, the present. Mary and Luke were back in the bliss of the forever now as they went to the realm where they knew they would always be together, dreams.