Whitney hoped down the stairs and walked over to the front door and opened it just before the visitor could ring the doorbell for the third time.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, you're Whitney, right?"
"Yeah, do I know you?"
"Not officially, I saw you around the halls of Harmony High before you graduated last year."
"Oh, yeah, you look familiar. Hey wait a minute, weren't you the guy who turned Harmony High's parking lot into a car wash last month? And used the principals car as an advertisement of you businesses cleaning ability?"
"Yep, that's me." He smiled with pride. "Ty Ellis," he said extending his hand.
"Nice to me you," she said shaking it. "So how can I help you? Do you want to get our permission before you egg our house?"
"No, that'd be stupid. I was wondering if Simone was around?"
"She went out earlier this evening, but she's not back yet."
"Do you know when she will be?"
"Well, since it's summer, our parents extend her curfew to 12, but she's usually late so she probably won't be back until around 1."
"Okay, well, I would hang around, but I have to get up tomorrow for some matters."
"Like community service?"
"Damn, this town is way too small. What'd they do, print it in the paper?"
"Hank Bennett, a friend of the family, is in charge of you and your group. He was over here earlier tonight comparing notes with my dad about some the students in the program, like you."
"Oh, well I hope I scored good. I do think I'm going to leave now. It looks like I interrupted your I-could-care-less evening," he said looking down at her white tank top and baggy gray sweatpants.
"Yeah, and look your having one too," she said sarcastically.
Ty looked down at the clothes he had been working in all day at the Youth Center and laughed.
"Good one," he said before turning, "Goodnight."
"'Night, oh hey do you want me to tell Simone you stopped by?"
"Uh, sure, thanks," he shouted.
Whitney closed the door and looked down at the clock to the left. "10:47 pm, where could they be?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Chad and Simone walked through the park right next the Lighthouse where they had meet a few hours earlier.
"I loved that movie. I was surprised to see Miguel, Charity, Kay, and Reese there." Simone said looking up at Chad.
"Yeah, it was almost like they were on a double date, which is pretty strange cause I always thought Kay had a thing for Miguel," he laughed.
"That's so silly, they're just friends, always have been." Simone laughed back, but her smile quickly fading after a memory of all the schemes Kay has had to try and get Miguel, so she quickly changed the subject.
"So what do you plan on doing the rest of the summer? Heading out of Harmony for a week or two?"
"Oh I don't know. Probably not. Beth has had a hard time hiring help so I should stick around and help her out."
"Well, maybe I should ask her for a job."
"What? No, listen, this is your last summer before college, you should be out having fun, going to the beach, hanging out with your friends most of them will probably be leaving for college in other states in the next few weeks or so."
"Yeah, I guess I'll wait for a job. That's so sweet of you to want me to spend time with my friends who won't be going to Castleton College this fall."
"So I take the rest of your gang is too: Charity, Miguel, Kay, Reese?"
"Yep, we'll all be together. You know I really did have a great time with you tonight. This is like our first real date."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Sheridan and Luis's engagement party doesn't really count. There were so many people around."
"There were a lot of people in the movie theater."
"You know what I mean," she said poking him with her index finger. 'God what a biceps!' she thought, all breath leaving her body. Simone knew she had to get Chad's attention some way. Though they had been together the whole night and Simone knew Chad had been enjoying himself, she couldn't help but wonder throughout the night if Chad was ever thinking about Whitney.
It was true Chad had enjoyed his evening with Simone. She was a good friend of his, she along with Miguel were the first people to give him a chance in this town no questions asked. And she stood up for him, she stood up to her parents and defended him when no one else would. That no one, Chad knew, was Whitney. When Kay had told her that Chad had gotten a girl pregnant and dropped her, Whitney believed it, without even questioning if it were true. The hurt that Chad felt that night Whitney lashed out at him reflected on his face.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine," he said forcing a smile.
Simone felt like she was losing Chad. She knew she had to act tonight to get into Chad's head.
"You know, when you first came to Harmony, I completely feel for you at first sight," she let out a mix of embarrassed and silly laugh and continued, "and when I was talking to you and you told me you weren't from Harmony, I...I felt relief. I thought 'Great, here's this amazing guy and he doesn't know Whitney.' And when you two meet and fought constantly, honestly, I felt relief that she wasn't interested in you."
"Why? I mean, you're talking like you have a problem with you sister. I thought you two were really close."
"We are, but that doesn't change the fact that Whitney is the perfect daughter-slash-sister-slash-student-slash-athlete-slash-everthing else. She's always been in the spotlight and gotten whatever she wanted. I gotta tell ya I was so happy when she graduated from Harmony High. All of the guys thought she was gods gift to them or something." Simone laughed. "Whitney and I are just two completely different people. We're nothing alike."
"Yeah right, I bet you two have tons in common."
'Yeah we're in love with the same guy.' Simone thought sarcastically, "nope nothing. Listen I don't want to talk about my internal war with Whitney anymore. It's over and done with. I finally have something she doesn't or even want anything like it."
"What do mean?"
"Whitney went all through high school without dating 1 guy. I'm surprised people didn't start thinking she was a lesbian. She would never open up to a guy she's too wrapped up in her tennis."
Chad and Simone walked the next couple of blocks in silence until they finally reached the Russell house.
"Listen Chad I'm sorry I brought up all of this stupid discussions."
"No, it's okay, it was interesting. So, goodnight."
"goodnight," Simone turned to face the door but stopped and turned back to face Chad. "Chad, you know, the main reason I'm glad you and Whitney aren't an item isn't because of the way I feel for you it's because I don't want you to get hurt and Whitney will, I mean, would hurt you if you two were together."
"Hurt me?" Chad said nervous and confused.
"Whitney's game is better than ever now, and any day, some scout or someone could come into Harmony and offer Whitney a place on the Olympic team or a spot at Wimbledon. And she wouldn't even think about it, she'd just go! And if you two were a couple, she would be in some other country on some other continent with a trophy in her hand before she gave you a thought."
Simone saw the hurt reflecting on his face, the exact look she wanted to see.
"It is sad she would be that way, but it's true. I'm just glad you don't have feelings for her, that way you can go without all of that hurt and pain." Simone placed her hand on his cheek, "no, you deserve someone who will love you unconditionally, that won't run out of the country with a tennis racket." She moved her hand down to his shoulder to lift herself up and kissed his slightly where her hand had just been. She stepped back and turned toward the front door. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then she stepped inside.
Chad made his way around the house and up to his room. He turned on the light and walked across the room and sat down on the bed, thinking about what Simone had just told him. 'She's right. Whitney leave me in heartbeat. She wouldn't even think about me or our relationship once. Just like she hasn't now.'
Unconsciously Chad stood up and walked over to the table night to his bed, opened the drawer and pulled out a picture of him and Whitney from the Charity Event from over a year ago. He took one last look at it before tearing it down the center, splitting Chad and Whitney apart onto two different pieces.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Simone closed the door and smiled at her nights accomplishment. She knew she had gotten through to Chad making him think Whitney would choose a sport over him, which she believed Whitney would. 'Whitney has no idea how to love a man like that.'
"I'm surprised to see you home, it being only 11:30." Whitney spoke coming out of the kitchen with a glass of milk.
Simone's smile quickly faded when she saw Whitney. "We decided to call it an early night," she said crossing her arms and walking into the living where Whitney had already sat down on the couch.
"We?"
"Yeah, you know me and MY boyfriend, Chad. We were on a date." Simone said smirking.
"Oh, yeah I forgot you we're going out with him tonight. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it was great, you sure are missing a lot Whitney." Simone said sending fear through Whitney's body.
'Could she know?' Whitney thought. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just you've never gone on a date with a guy and I just meant it's a great experience, an experience you're passing over so you can hit a ball with a racket."
"I'll date when I'm ready to date."
"You're 19, soon to be 20, and you're not ready to date yet?" Simone chuckled. "That's pathetic. I mean look at you, on a Saturday night, sitting at home watching what, a tennis match going on in England? Even Mom and Dad were out tonight! I bet even they dated more than you when they were your age."
"I will date guys...someday."
"Someday? Fine, you want to spend all of your young years whacking a ball around, go ahead, but when your 50 trying to get a date, don't call me honey, no one will be able to help you." With that cruel remark, Simone was on her way up the stairs leaving Whitney hurt and alone.
"Oh Simone, some guy..." Whitney couldn't even finish after she heard Simone's door slam shut and music turned up.
Whitney sat back down on the couch and tried to put all of her thoughts together. 'Simone was so happy when she came home from her date with Chad, and then, it's like she's really mad at me for some reason. I wonder if Chad had a good time tonight too.' Feeling a tugging in her chest she reconized...her longing for Chad.
"This is your doing, Whitney, now you have to live with it."