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Elrod is in the parking lot when Sammy gets there, "In typical Elrod fashion I was listening to my iPod and didn't realize we were getting released early."

She sniffles and gives him a watery smile.  "Silly pseudo-slacker."  She burrows herself into his torso, holding on tight and taking comfort from his presence.

Elrod wraps her arms around her and holds onto her.  "I'll have you know that slacker was not always an act.  But I met this girl, and she's got this way about her that makes people want to be better.  I keep trying to backslide, then I spend time with her and get motivated to be a better person again.  It's sad really.  The Anti-Slacker."

She snuffles and holds on tighter.  "Don't put that on me.  You do what you do because you want to do it; I'm not responsible for your success or failure.  I can't be.  It's all you." 

"Yes, but I like to blame you.  It will sound great in my memoirs."

"You and everybody else then.  Can we get in the car?  It's cold out here."

She settles herself into the front passenger seat.  "There was a blowup at lunch after you left.  Alicia and Donnie then Greg... and they're all pulling me into the middle.  Alicia thinks I'm her BFF and expects me to always have her back, and is surprised when I agree she's crossed the line.  Greg and Donnie basically said that the reason they've put up with her shenanigans is because of me being willing to give her a chance that one day when she went after Sylvia.  Alicia's got enough emotional baggage to fill the cargo compartment of a 747, and when I've asked for help dealing with it, all I get is "be her friend, she needs a friend to believe in her" blah blah blah.  It's too much for me to handle!  I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and be supportive, but she makes it so damned hard!  The face she shows to nearly everybody is antagonistic, reckless, abrasive, and just plain rude; when I'm around her I spend most of my time being frustrated, angry, or scared by her.  Every once in a while she does something that gives me some hope, but then BAM, she does something else to squash it.  I just... argh!  Then Donnie starts preaching and Syl just disappears and I'm the chew toy in the middle of the dog fight...  I had to cut myself loose.  Its like she's drowning and needs a lifeline, but she's pulling me in instead of me pulling her out.  I can't save her.  Hell, I don't feel like I can even hold on anymore, not alone.  So I lost it, and cut line, and left."

*bleep* goes Sammy's phone.

s s Sry. Cal me if u wnt 2 tlk l8r
-d

Sammy looks at it and puts her phone away.  I'm not in the mood for this.

Elrod starts the car to let it get warm.  Other people are pulling out of the parking lot, so he's in no rush to move.  "Yeah, it's kind of like how it is with Lisa.  She's not a bad person, but she puts on this vapid exterior and then complains that everyone thinks she's selfish and shallow.  And then when you say, 'but sister dear you act selfish and shallow' she gets pissy and withdrawn and then a week later she's right back to how she was.  Things have been better since...well they've gotten better.  She's trying hard to be better, and it shows.  This thing with Alicia though, that's got you in a state.  I've rarely seen you this bothered, and when I have it's not usually good."  He scoots towards her on the long bench seat in his old Impala and puts his arm around her.  "Do they sell gift certificates for psycho therapy?  would she take them the wrong way if we sent her some?"

A gurgly, snurfy laugh escapes Sammy's lips.  "I don't know, but if they do, keep it in mind for me.  I'm going to be needing some if this keeps up."

She leans her head on El's shoulder, and rubs at her nose with the back of a mitten.  "So what do I do now?  I'm in favor of staying the hell out of it for a while, let it settle however its going to settle."

"I'll just slip a few into your Christmas and Birthday cards from now on then.  You can treat them like savings bonds and let them mature." 


"Gee.  Normally when Lisa goes psycho I just lay low and ask Dave to put a tail on her."

"I don't think Dave wants anything to do with this one.  He stood up to leave before I did.  He made me remember I don't need to be a martyr."

"Well, he's good for something then."  Elrod jokes.  the parking lot is beginning to think out, and he slides over to the drives seat and starts to ease out of the parking lot.  "Not to change the subject.  Well, who am I kidding.  anyway.  the reason I wanted to chat with you is that the student body president, and the Principal, and Laura Chapman, and about a dozen other people have asked me to not throw a Valentine's Party.  They want the school sponsored Valentine's Dance to actually be a success.  They feel that if I were to throw a party it might reduce the chances.  And I can agree with them.  they want to boost morale at school, and I suppose some school spirit wouldn't hurt me.  But, I wanted to know what you thought.  You are who I think of when I hear the phrase School Spirit.  They even went so far as to bribe me with a co-chair of the dance committee position if I would agree.  I told them I'd consult with my social secretary and get back to them."

"No party?  But..." You were cheated out of the last one.  That's not fair.  They're not the ones who cheated you though.  "Do you actually want to be co-chair?  That sounds like a token offering.  I'd say lobby for the band rights, but that cheats me out of a chance to dance with you all night, and I'm feeling selfish."  She reaches over and rubs his leg with her mittened hand (the not snot-soggy one  :8  ).  "Whatever you want to do about the dance is okay by me, so long as I'm the one spending that night with you.  But I do have to warn you that Sylvia was this close to getting Donnie to show up to your party in drag as a Mob Queen.  You'll be making a substantial sacrifice."

Elrod raises an eyebrow.  "Or, I lobby for it to be a costume themed party and I get to pick the band.  why should I settle for a co-chair when I can use extortion to get so much more.  You're brilliant!"  He leans over to kiss her while trying to watch the road.  "This will be great."

She smiles, pleased that he is pleased.  "That way it'll still be sort of your party, but not at your house.  No mess for you to clean up if you dodge the co-chair title; that's just another name for "Person Who Stays After to Push a Broom".  Do you want to dictate the costume theme, or let them pretend to have some control?  The Bonnie and Clyde thing might not fly at school because of the guns aspect."

"I'm sure they'd veto diapers and cherub wings too.  Massacre.  I need something that sounds like St. Valentine's Day Massacre but that isn't massacre.  Perhaps a job for my friends."  he says giving her a sideways glance.

"You're about as subtle as a two year old screaming "NO!"."  She's laughing as she says it, and that takes off any edge.  "I'll assign the very best minds available full time to the project."  She sits and stares out the car window.  "Massacre.  Massacree.  Tapestry.  Um, no."

"I could try to give you some sad puppy dog eyes, but I would jeopardize my cool exterior with such a stunt.  Well, maybe just for you."  and he looks her way, making a somewhat passable attempot at puppy dog sad eyes.  Then goes back to driving.

This earns a chuckle and a gentle fist bump.  "That might work to get some of my french fries, if I had any.  It won't make my brain work any faster."

They drive a little farther, Sammy murmuring words the whole time.  "Massacree.  Chimpanzee.  Schenectady.  No... mumble... Massacre.  Mass... oh I'm so stupid."  She turns and with a suspicious squint says, "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. A Saint Valentine's Day Masquerade.  You set that up on purpose, didn't you?  I guess you deserve some french fries after all.  Stop somewhere, I'm buying, unless you want me chopping potatoes and making them from scratch."

"As much as the idea of you in a domestic setting might appeal to me in twenty or so years, I'll let you buy them today."  and he finds a place with good fries and milkshakes.

"You are just afraid of letting me have a knife, with the mood I was in when I got in the car."

"I'm worried what you might do with a bottle of ketchup."  he says with a smile as they go into the diner.

Some fries and half a milkshake later...

When they eat in diners, sometimes Sammy sits facing Elrod so they can hold hands and play footsie under the table, making goo goo eyes the whole time.  Today though she's sharing the same bench, pressed up tight to his side, with one of her legs hooked around his below the knee.

She dips a fry into some ketchup and bites off the end.  "Do you ever wish I wasn't, you know, gifted?  That I was still essentially me,  but without the dealer's extras?"

"I never really thought about it.  You are you.  I liked you before you came out of the...whatever it is people with powers come out of?  Lair?  I suppose it makes accepting some things easier.  Donnie kicking the crap out of me would have seemed a little more random if there wasn't that sort of expectation of the strange.  I always expect our dates will get cut short when your phone rings.  I half expect you to fly out the window and leave me with a pot roast in the over or something.  But I never really thought about a Sammy without her wonderous powers.  Do you ever wish I wasn't stinking rich?"

"No, not really.  Just sometimes I wish I could keep up with you... you do such nice things for me, and I... I dunno, sometimes I don't feel like I'm doing enough for you, or being as much of what you really deserve."  She nudges him.  "I ought to take you flying more.  I've been figuring out my range, how fast I can go.  Someday soon, pick a place you want to go, within like 300 miles or so.  I'll sweep you off your feet and whisk you away."

"Can we wait until it's warm?"  he says nudging back.  "And relationships aren't about equality.  They're about inequality.  You get things from the other person you can't get for yourself, and in a good relationship I assume that works both ways."

"It just feels like"  her mouth twists up, like she's trying to find the right words, "like I take a whole lot more than I give.  That's why I asked about the whole powers thing.  There's stuff that comes with the package that maybe makes it not so sweet a deal for you.  Stuff that's as much a part of who and what I am as breathing water is to a fish."

"Ok.  I wont try to dissuade you.  When I feel I'm getting less out of the relationship as I'm putting in you will so be the first person I tell.  Deal?"

She gives in remarkably easily.  "OK.  That sounds fair."  She hugs his arm.  "If you're happy, then I won't worry about it anymore.  I'll just be." 

They finish their fries and shakes and Elrod runs Sammy home.  Before then mom has already called to see where she was, having heard that school was let out.

Sammy says her goodbyes and runs into the house.  "Your little lamb is home, mom."