Title: "Revelations: Part 5 of 14"        

         "I don't care? What do you mean by that? I care for you! It's just that there are more...there are other important things going on right now, too." Patrick was quick to stop himself. He realized that Erica, who sat across him in the passenger's seat of his convertible, was already at the brink of crying again. "When you left last night," he continued, "I was stumped. What did you say? What happened to you?"

         Patrick and Erica were parked on the hill overlooking the campus. It was the same hill as the one they had been at the night before. Following the events of that night, Patrick had called Erica when he had returned to his home, but she had still not made it back. She had walked away from him on the blanket and had stayed out, wandering the inner streets of Berkeley until five that morning. But later in the day, Patrick had finally been able to get hold of her.

         Erica looked into his eyes. The cold covering that they had was still lingering. As she replied to him, she felt him place his hand onto her knee. "Patrick, it wasn't just last night. I just don't...the way we used to feel, it just doesn't..."

         Patrick was quick to jump in with his rehearsed and often used lines. "Baby, the feeling is still there. We were made for each other." He moved closer to her. His voice dropped in tone, reducing to just above a whisper as he spoke to her. "You're dating the guy who scouts have picked to be the top prospect out of college. I'm a Balmore, and we've excelled high and beyond any others who ever played football at Berkeley. And you, you were one of the top cheerleaders in school. We were meant to be, and you know it." His idle hand went up to her hair as he brushed it away from her ear. "Last night, it...it hurt to see what you done to me. The way you treated me. After so much I have done for you." His other hand slid up past her knee, coming to rest on her thigh.

         Erica looked into his eyes once again. He seemed to have changed. She hoped that perhaps he had come to terms with himself after last night. But as she looked into his eyes, his window to his soul, what he was saying to her did not match the way his eyes were looking at her. Something was being lost between the inches that separated the two. Unfortunately, Erica could not tell what it was. She was confused.

         She felt his hand move to her zipper. He was gentle with her at that moment. She had the urge to back away from him. But she couldn't. He seemed different. Maybe it would be ok for them to make up this way. Maybe it wouldn't be. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what was going on with she and Patrick, but he was wrong. Looking into his eyes once more, she realized that. They couldn't be made for each other. There were too many loose ends that he was talking circles around. His words only had one goal in mind.

         As he started to move her zipper down, she leaned back. It caused his hand to loose the grip. He was caught in a moment of surprise when she spoke up. "Patrick, no, not tonight. It doesn't feel right. There's too much going on."

         Patrick's eyes had already moved away from looking at her in the face. Her words caught him off guard. He threw a look back up at her. Again, he persisted with the low tone in his voice. "What do you mean? What's wrong with tonight? Can't you feel what's wrong? Baby, this will take everything that has been going wrong and make it all better." A sly grin passed over Patrick's face.

         A flash of anger rose up inside of Erica. She moved back in the seat, knocking Patrick's hands away from her. "Patrick..."

         But it only angered Patrick. "What are you doing, bitch! I told you everything is all right. I guess we can now see who the real problem is! I'm trying to make everything work out, and all you're doing is ruining everything for the two of us."

         Tears began to rise up under Erica's eyes. "Patrick, no. No, that's not what I mean. But you know...I can't..." Suddenly, the reality of what he was saying clicked into her head. Anger rose up inside of her. The tears began to flow down her cheeks, but they were now tears of anger. "Patrick, for weeks, months, you have stopped caring for me. All you care about is your own personal goals, what you want, and what makes you happy. You've been the most selfish bastard that I know. Now with your brother coming in..."

         The mentioning of his brother only server to further enrage Patrick. "Don't you bring up my brother as the cause of all of this! You're the one who has ruined everything! My brother is a breath of fresh air from all the shit you've put me through with your own wants and desires. You want all of my time. Maybe I want some time to myself sometimes! Did you ever think about that? Huh? Did you?"

         Erica's hand ran up out of instinct, slapping Patrick across his face. The sound rang through the interior of the car, as Erica turned Patrick's cheek red. It stunned him for a moment, almost as if he couldn't believe that she had just done that to him.

         Through the tears, Erica hollered at Patrick. "All I want is someone who would care for me, someone who actually tried to see what I like. Did you ever think that maybe I didn't enjoy being the only girl during the times that we went out with all of your drunken friends? Did you? Did you ever stop to consider that maybe I would have an opinion in something that we planned to do?"

         Patrick was holding his cheek, staring in disbelief at Erica. He spoke in an even tone, his anger boiling against his tongue. "Oh, now bring my friends into it. I see how you're going to be. If you didn't like it, you should have said something. It's not like I wanted you there, anyway. I would have been more than happy to just spend some time with my friends instead of having to carry you around everywhere."

         Sniffing and wiping her eyes, Erica's voiced dropped low. She looked Patrick square in the eyes and replied, "Then you won't have that problem any longer." As she finished her sentence, she immediately turned in her seat and opened the car door.

         Patrick, realizing that she was walking out on him again, immediately tried to reason with her. Holding his stinging cheek, he leaned over the passenger seat and hollered at Erica as she walked away. "Baby, come back! You know I get a little carried away sometimes when I talk." He tried to laugh a little as he said that. "Baby...Erica, come back here! Come back here!" The laugh ceased.

         She continued to walk away. Trying to ignore his hollering, she wiped her eyes. She started down the slope of the hill, letting the view of Gilman Street down below come into focus.

         Patrick, finally realizing what was actually happening, did the only thing he had ever known to do. He tried to turn the guilt.

         He hollered to you as she slowly walked out of his sight. "Ok, be that way! See if I care! Just remember that I won't be calling your house again, trying to see if you made it home ok. You just remember that! See how far you'll make it on your own without me. See if I care, bitch!" He slammed the passenger car door shut.

         Erica continued walking down the hill. Gilman Street was straight ahead. She tried to wipe her eyes before she got to the street. She had to go somewhere, anywhere, so she could forget about what had just happened.

* * * * *

         "Lucky, I'm serious. I went to his apartment, but he wasn't there. After a few knocks on his door, I went into the alley. He wasn't there, either. A fire was burning softly in the garbage can, so I was sure he had been there at some point. But, wherever he was after that, he was no longer to be seen."

         Matt had made his way back to Lucky's Bar to discuss with Lucky of his voyage to find Zero earlier in the day. It had been to no avail. No matter where Matt looked, it was as if Zero had foreseen the coming and had simply advanced to the next place of wherever he wanted to go for some tranquil time alone.

         The importance of Matt talking to Zero, and on behalf of Lucky as well, was to make sure that things would go smoothly the following day. Matt and Lucky knew of Zero's bitterness and constant memories of his childhood. Those were the things that Zero was trying and steadily working himself out of. Matt knew that Zero was trying to put it all behind him. His name was the last step for Zero to finally step away from the cloud of his past and move on to a better future.

         But was he still Lint Douglas? The Zero of today, and the Lint Douglas of ten years ago, seemed to be awfully different people. That was how it appeared from Matt's viewpoint after hearing brief stories that Zero had told him of his past. Could Zero simply be Lint again? Matt wasn't sure.

         The thing that would make the biggest impact on everything, though, was what was happening with Theodore's Balmore upcoming arrival into Berkeley. Neither Matt nor Lucky knew if Zero knew about it or not. The history between the two was enormous. So much, in fact, that it had caused the birth of Zero. But the bad blood had remained between the two despite any outward appearances that they had simply ceased to interact in any way with each other.

         After only brief instances of Theodore passing through Berkeley, and then a yearlong gap of Theodore not being in Berkeley at all, Matt was uncertain of what would happen between the two. "Ok, so let's say maybe this happens." Matt looked up at Lucky as the bartender chewed on his cigar slowly. He wiped a glass dry while looking at Matt. "What if," said Matt, "Theodore Balmore comes back and he starts feeling all high and mighty over everyone. What if he decided to be the dominant person like he was when he was growing up?"

         Lucky took his cigar out of his mouth and placed the glass on a rack filled with other various glasses. He leaned over the counter and replied, "I have no doubt that 'ol Theodore will try to push ev'ryone 'round. It's just the boy's nature. Now I don't see him having the kind of impact that he would have had back in his childhood. People are older now. Everyone has adult responsibilities. I doubt they'll all be lookin' up to him like before. But I do not doubt that he will try to be a pushover on ev'ryone. It's just the boy's nature. It's just the whole Balmore's nature, for that matter."

         "But what if he tries to do that again to Zero? They're both older now. Neither would be the one to back down from something now. I don't know, Lucky. Things just don't seem to be looking real good. I think a beer would be pretty good right..."

         Lucky cocked an eyebrow up at Matt. It wasn't in contempt, but just a little reminder that he still couldn't bend the rules.

         "Alright, alright." Matt tried to smile a little, but the present circumstances only allowed a small break of his lips. "But as I was saying, what if he tries to be a pushover on Zero? What if that happens? It'd be just more fuel to the fire that is taking place with Zero. Do you understand what I mean?"

         Lucky took the cigar out of his mouth and tossed it to the floor beside the wastebasket that lay behind the counter. His balding head gleamed in the light as he bent over the counter to reply to Matt. "Matt," he said, "Lint Douglas is a grown man. Theodore Balmore is a grown man. The two have had their differences in the past. That much is true. And I'd like to see them both act as adults now and simply put it in the past."

         "But that's a past that would be hard to forget about..."

         "Hear me out. I know it would be hard to forget. But they would both need to move on. And besides, Theodore hasn't even arrived yet. You never know, we could be just jumpin' to early conclusions."

         Matt thought about that for a moment. He adjusted his seat at the barstool and started to respond. "I just hope..."

         At that moment, with Matt not even paying attention to it, the bar door opened. No one paid it any mind. A young brunette, her face red from crying, walked through. She looked around inside of Lucky's Bar, easily apparent that she had never been inside of it before. Her tear eyed gaze passed over the various people sitting throughout the room until she saw an empty table in the far corner.

         Slowly, she walked across the people. Some glanced up at her, taking in the tears that still ran down her face, and then resumed to whatever activity they were doing. She didn't pay them any mind. She nearly tripped, though, as she came upon the table in the corner. Luckily, she caught her balance and sat down on the chair. Burying her face in her hands, she began to cry again.

         Back at the counter, Matt hadn't even noticed the girl come in. He had continued on with his topic of the incoming doom that he was most certain to arrive in any moment.

         "So, do you see what I mean, Lucky? If Theodore tries to run over Zero, everything that Zero is working for right now will be for no good."

         But Lucky, in a rare occasion, wasn't listening very well to what someone was saying to him. Instead, his attention had turned to the girl, alone and crying in the corner of his bar.

         Taking his gaze off of the girl, he turned his head back to Matt. Matt seemed to be hanging on the words he had just said, expecting some kind of reply from Lucky.

         Lucky had no idea what Matt had just said, though. He looked back over to the girl, and then to the quiet Matt. "Fallin' off the subject a little, if I may. Did you happen to see that girl who just walked in?" He nodded his head over in the direction of her. Matt looked to where he was talking about. Lucky continued. "I ain't never seen her in here before. Something doesn't seem right with her. Do you have any idea who she is?"

         Matt's gaze wandered onto the girl. He instantly recognized who she was. It had been no more than two weeks earlier that she and her friends had had an altercation with he and Zero. But he couldn't understand why should we be crying.

         Slowly, he took his eyes off of her to respond to Lucky. "Yeah, I think I know who she is. I remember seeing her around Berkeley High a little last year. That, and also the fact that she and Theodore's brother, plus some guy named Karl, stopped and paid Zero and I a visit a few weeks back on Gilman." To say that, was to barely hit on what he was thinking. Of course he knew who she was. He knew whom she was when she had sat in Patrick's convertible and asked for him to stop with his words to he and Zero. The only thing Matt wondered, though, was why she was in there to begin with. That, and why she would be crying at this moment when she could be off with Patrick on more of their escapades.

         Lucky looked at Matt. Through years of talking to different people about their feelings, he could read through what Matt had said and could see what he was thinking by just looking at the boy's mannerisms. Smiling a little, Lucky said, "You know, I bet she could use someone to talk to right now. Why don't you go over there and see what's wrong."

         Matt tripped slightly in his words. "Oh, Lucky, I mean...a girl like that wouldn't want to talk to a guy like me. She likes...other kind of guys. Plus, she's dating Patrick Balmore."

         Lucky leaned closer to Matt, directing his eyes over to the girl in the corner. "Matt, I don't think any of that really matters right now. Right now, she would just probably like anyone to talk to." Lucky slyly grinned. "Now why don't you get off your ass, stop talking to an old guy like me, and go talk to her!"

         Matt started to protest it, but the look in Lucky's eyes told him it would be a lost battle. He got up, mainly to avoid further "harassment" by Lucky. Matt knew he wanted to go talk to her. Having Lucky motivate him helped a little, though. He just wasn't sure if she would want to talk to him or not, but he figured it was worth a shot. She probably couldn't think any less of him anyway.

         She never saw him coming her way. The tears and anger that she was feeling was slacking up. All she could do was keep her head in her hands. She didn't want to look at people for fear that they were probably looking at her. She only heard the chair move.

         Matt made his way slowly to her. She had not looked back up. Her head was buried in her hands. Slowly, he pulled a chair back and sat down.

         She looked up as he sat down. Her tear hazed eyes looked into his.

         As he sat down, she looked up at him. And, despite the tears that covered them, he saw her eyes.

         Slowly, with a hint of stutter, Matt spoke first. "Hey, I saw you over here. My name is Matt Lee."

         She knew him. Maybe not personally, maybe not by name, but she remembered him from the four years that they had both had attended Berkeley High. That, and plus the fact that he was probably about to get his ass kicked a few weeks earlier in front of her by Patrick and Karl.

         Smiling the best she could, she responded. "Hello Matt. My name is Erica Storm."

* * * * *

         The knock at the door caught him by surprise. Karl Simmons had been half-asleep on his couch, the television already running over into playing infomercials. A can of beer was spilt on the floor, obviously dropped from his hand as he fell back and forth into sleep.

         The knocking continued.

         Karl, half drunk and half angered to be woken in the night by some door hopper, hollered out in his living room. "Go away! Nobody's fucking home! Come back some other time!" He tried to close his eyes and fall back to sleep, but the knocking picked up a notch. Half asleep, Karl ran his hand over his shaved baldhead and stumbled to his feet. No one came by his house at this time of the night. At least, not in a night where he was enjoying a few beers. No one, absolutely no one! Stumbling a little and mumbling to himself, Karl made it to his front door. Unlocking the top and middle locks, he slowly opened the door.

         "Now listen here, I don't care who you are. I was enjoying..." He had not seen who it was yet. Seeing the face made him stop dead in his words.

         "Oh you drunken bastard, I thought I was going to have to stay out here until the sun came up!" It was Theodore! Karl's house was the first place he stopped off at.

         Before Karl could even say a word to him, Theodore raised his hand in a quick halt. "Hold on a second, will ya?"

         Theodore walked off the front steps and back to the taxi waiting on the street curb. Karl saw him stick his head in the window and give the driver some money. A hassle seemed to come up, with Theodore ending up yelling at the taxi driver. Finally, the taxi pulled out. Turning, though, Theodore was all smiles as he walked back up to the front door of Karl's house.

         "I swear, everyone wants to give you a hassle when they know they're dealing with a celebrity!" Theodore stuck out his hand to Karl.

         "Man, it's great seeing you again! I thought you were coming in tomorrow." Karl reached out, and accepted Theodore's handshake.

         As Karl shook his hand, Theodore said, "My man, you drink too much. You have your days all confused!" Laughing a little, Theodore pulled Karl in and gave him a big hug. "How have you been, my man? How have you been?" Theodore patted him on the back a few times before they let go.

         Karl rubbed his head as the two stood out on his front steps. "Oh, you know me. I've...been. Why don't we step inside the house! The winds blowing and I'm standing out here in my boxers." Karl gave a big grin.

         Theodore laughed. "Man, I was just about to ask you the same thing. It should be a felony for the amount of exposure you're giving out!" The two laughed and walked inside the house.

         Inside, Theodore sat down on the couch to rest his knee. Karl went into the kitchen to grab some drinks. Coming back into the living room, Karl tossed a beer to Theodore as he sat down on the opposite facing couch.

         "So man, how was the trip over here?" Karl popped the cap and started to drink yet another beer in the night.

         Theodore sat back, propping his feet on the coffee table. He slowly opened his can of beer and took a few sips. "Oh, it was alright. Not near the quality of plane trips that I received for the Cowboys' trips."

         "Oh, they serve you up better than first class, don't they?" Karl took another long gulp from his beer.

         "No doubt they do. You're traveling in style when they put you on a plane. You don't have to put up with hassles or bullshit like...man, there was some attendant on there. She was nothing but some little smart-ass who didn't know who I was. Well, actually, I think she realized who I was, but she was too star struck to know what to do. People like that just need to get out of my way, no doubt." Theodore took another sip from his beer, sighing at the comfort of the couch.

         Theodore laughed at the stupidity of people. He could easily picture the attendant Theodore had just described. Anything that Theodore thought, Karl was his firm supporter. "Man, you should have just told that woman off!"

         "Oh, I did." Theodore cunningly grinned. "So man, tell me. How have you been? Things have been going good in Berkeley, no doubt?"

         Taking a last gulp and discarding the empty beer can, Karl let out a large belch.

         "Good one!" Theodore congratulated Karl.

         "Thanks man! How've I been doing? Oh, not near the same as you have. But I've been doing well. Got a raise at the warehouse. Just doing life as usual." Karl rubbed his gut, feeling the need to go back to that kitchen soon.

         "Hey man, that's great!" Theodore took another sip from his drink.

         "But man, Berkeley has been slacking. What we needed was you coming back. Finally, the life of Berkeley returns!" Karl smiled at Theodore, while thinking some more of going back to the kitchen.

         Theodore laughed. "Man, no doubt! I'm just what Berkeley needs!" Theodore took another sip from his beer as he watched Karl get up from his seat and head back to the kitchen. "Don't tell me you're getting another already. Man, I still have halfway to go on my first one!"

         Karl laughed. "Hey, what can I say? I like the taste!" He continued the walk into the kitchen, straight to the refrigerator.

         Theodore laughed. His alcoholic friend had more beer in him than what you would find at a college fraternity party.

         Outside, a sudden screech of tires rang out.

         As Karl rounded back into the living room, this time holding two beers for himself, Theodore got up from his chair and the two walked over to the front door. Unlocking the locks once again, Karl opened the front door.

         Patrick, Theodore's little brother, was making his way up the front steps. His head was hung low, his fists tightened by his side.

         Disregarding the sounds he had just heard, Theodore went outside to greet him. "Well if it isn't my kid brother! Patrick, how've you been, brother?" He reached out to hug him. Patrick lifted his face, and returned the hug whole heartily. It did feel good to see his brother again.

         Theodore stepped back, but Patrick didn't say anything. Theodore looked at him, and asked, "Patrick, what's wrong man? Not happy to see me?"

         He was quiet as he thought about what he should say. Finally, Patrick spoke up. "I hate spoiling this party for you. Can we go inside?"

         Theodore, just happy to see his brother again, quickly responded. "Yeah, yeah man. No problem."

         The two brothers made their way up the steps. Karl, who had been observing the brothers' quick reunion on the steps of his house, popped the lid on a fresh beer and walked back inside the house as well.

         Patrick immediately sat down on the couch, and put his head in his hands. Karl sat back down at the couch where he had been sitting and began to enjoy his beer to the fullest. Theodore sat down on a chair in-between the two couches and immediately began to talk to his little brother. "Ok Patrick, what is the matter? I know something has to be the matter if you're not ecstatic to see me."

         Karl let out a healthy belch. Patrick glanced to him in mild disgust, before turning his head to address Theodore. "Ok...man, I hate doing this to you. It should be your day."

         Theodore quickly cut in. "Hey, it is my day, but if something's wrong with my little brother, no doubt that I'll see to it that he's ok before I start up the celebration."

         An expression of what seemed to be relief passed over Patrick's face. "Ok man, I'm just making sure. See, it involves this girl that I have been seeing. Well, I don't know if that's the right word for it. She's more of just some girl that I made feel special by getting a chance to go out with me on occasions. Regardless, I had been taking her out for a while. I wasn't too serious about it. Well, at least not as serious as she was thinking we were. I was just in it for the easy lay, basically."

         They all broke out into laughter, with even Patrick chuckling a little bit. Theodore patted him over the back. "Yep, I trained you well I see!"

         They continued to smile, but Patrick's expression quickly reverted back to a cold glare. "But that's not the issue, Theodore. She dumped me tonight. She broke out into this crying game that she's been fond of here lately, and started crying and pitching a fit. I was there for her. I was trying to comfort her. But man, I think she went psycho. She...slapped me. Slapped me for no reason at all. All I was doing was trying to comfort her, and she just slapped me and stormed out of my car."

         The smiles left both Karl and Theodore's faces. No girl would ever slap them. They would be long gone before they ever thought of slapping them. This girl, this "Erica," had obviously jumped the gun. That didn't sit well with any of the three.

         "But the thing is," continued Patrick, "it's not that she slapped me. It's that she dumped me." He looked into Theodore's with the entire pity look that he could muster. "Man, NO girl ever dumps me! I'm Patrick Balmore! I'm a Balmore! Who does she think she is? And she isn't getting away with it, either. She's coming back to me. I will see to it. She won't get away with it. No girl ever will. I'll leave them on their ass, asking, no begging, for me to take them back!"

         Theodore's smile returned. This was his kid brother. Theodore had made sure to raise him right. No girl ever took advantage of a Balmore, and no girl ever treated a Balmore any lower than top priority. If they as so much as ever tried, the Balmore's made sure that justice was served. The Balmore's always got the last laugh. It was the Balmore way.

         Theodore patted Patrick over the back. "Don't you worry about it, Patrick. She doesn't know what she has now gotten herself into. We will see to it."

         Theodore threw a playful punch into Patrick's shoulder. "Come on man, that bitch will get what's coming to her. But right now, your brother is finally back! We've got some drinking and partying to do!"

         The smile returned slightly to Patrick's face. He tried to put what all had happened out of his mind. For Erica, the future wouldn't be as fun as slapping, and dumping, Patrick had been. Patrick would make sure of it.

         As he got up, Karl tossed Patrick his spare beer. With that, the three guys started into what would become a long night.

* * * * *

         It was past midnight. He knew that Theodore was supposed to arrive sometime in the night. He hadn't heard anything from him, though, and was ready to go ahead and go to bed. But JJ knew he should be in sooner or later in the night.

         He walked back to the living room and waited for the phone to right once more. He waited. The minutes started to drag by as JJ waited on his couch. Finally, he knew he was waiting in vain. He stood up to walk out of the living room, when suddenly to his surprise, the phone rang. He reached over slowly and picked it up. "Hello?" He had a suspicion that it might be Theodore, but he couldn't be sure.

         He was wrong. Instead, it was Karl, already into the upper stages of drunk. His speech was slurring just slightly. "Heey man. You know what? Theodore's over heeere!" He finished off his last line with a belch that even caused JJ to hold the phone back for a moment.

         "When did he get in?" JJ was excited, but also reluctant. He wanted to see Theodore. That was not the problem. But with this being the first night he was back, JJ was unsure of what Theodore would try to do to start off the homecoming with a bang.

         "Ohh man, he's been in for about an hourr," Karl responded.

         "Well, where are you guys at?" JJ knew it was going to be tough to try to talk to Karl right now.

         Suddenly, in the background, JJ could hear a voice talking up to Karl. Was it? It sounded like him.

         "JJ, my boy! How's it been man? It's me! It's Theodore!" Theodore was on the phone! Theodore had arrived in Berkeley. Hearing his voice now excited JJ. It was official; he was back in Berkeley.

         "Hey man, it's great to hear you're back! What happened to Karl?" JJ could hear Karl laughing in the background.

         "What, you don't want to talk to the celeb?" Over the phone, Theodore laughed a little. "Well, Karl's drank too much to be any good to carry on a phone conversation. So, I had to snatch it from him!"

         JJ figured that was what had happened. So, what were the guys up to? Theodore was quick to answer, even before JJ had asked the question.

         "Hey man, we're having a party of sorts over here right now! I'm over here, of course Karl is over here, and even my kid brother, Patrick, is over here! What do you say, want to come over here, too? It's a blast, no doubt, right now!" In the background, JJ heard a loud over the phone line. A barrage of laughter immediately followed it, though, by the unmistakable laugh of Karl.

         But did JJ want to? Or was sleep kind of important to him right now? JJ threw the two ideas around for a split second, but who was he kidding? Theodore Balmore, football legend at every place that he had went to, and the most popular guy that he knew of, was asking him to come to a private party! JJ couldn't resist it! Sleep could wait. Acceptance couldn't.

         "Yeah man, I'll be right over!" A warm feeling came into his stomach as JJ responded to Theodore. It did feel good to be invited by that legend! It did feel good to be accepted by him. JJ couldn't deny it. Worries and other "small" responsibilities could always wait. "I'll be right over man. About to head out now!"

         "Hell yeah!" Theodore's homecoming excitement was rising. That was obvious. "Now, the party is complete! We'll be waiting for you!" JJ heard the click as Theodore hung up the phone.

         Now, JJ just had to get ready. So maybe he had lied just a little to Theodore. It wouldn't take him long, though. Soon, JJ would be hanging out with the Berkeley Celebrity again!

         That warm feeling came back as JJ walked off to find some clothes to put on.