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Lieutenant braid, check. Jacket, check. Mallets and drum at school. Hmm, flip flops?”
    She practically shoved Wes out of the way, “Here’s one!”
    “What’s all that for?” Wes was intrigued.
    “Remember the big drum I was wearing that you conveniently kicked a hole through?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, I don’t know what happens in jolly old England, but here in the States, after you guys pass, punt, and kick your way to victory or whatever, then we, the Forrest Hills High School marching band, take the field and things really start.”
    “Oh.”
    “Have you never seen a half time show?” Commenting to herself, she murmured, “They were right here.”
    “No.”
    “Well, too bad, because you’re going to be in the locker room and miss all the action anyway.”
    With that, Lucy half crawled under the bed and then popped out exclaiming, “Aha!”
    Messy hair, sleep flushed face, and found footwear victorious, Wes couldn’t recall the last time he had seen anyone so…attractive?
    Lucy must have picked up on the weird tension. She said, “I’m going to be late for warm-ups, so you’d better leave and, by the way, I really don’t ever want to see you again.”
    Speechless, Wes followed her out of the house. Lucy started throwing her marching accoutrement in the back of her car. She glared at him, motioning to his car. His mini Cooper blocked her in. Still bewildered at what exactly just happened in the past five minutes, he got in his car, disappointed with the outcome of the visit.
    What did you think was going to happen? She was going to fall into your arms or something?
    No, not really.
    Well, then…
    Completely distracted by the force that was Lucy Karate, and unsure with the whole driver’s side on the left hand side of the car, Wes cringed when he heard a definitive CRUNCH come from the back of his auto.
     
    * * *
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE: The Deal
     
     
    From inside her Cavalier, Lucy Karate heard the distinctive crunch of a car meeting an immovable object. She cringed, took a deep breath and got out of her car, preparing herself for the worst. Wes was already out of his car, and with a shocked expression on his face, was staring mutely at her mailbox and his bumper, which seemed to have been magically joined.
    Craig, followed by a yapping Pam, came running out of the house, “What happened? Is everyone okay?”
    Wes looked absolutely mortified, and seeing Lucy’s horrified face, he managed to feel even worse. Lucy somehow managed to smile, “Wes, did I do something to do you in a former life?”
    “I – you – oh, bollocks!”
    Lucy looked at Wes and began laughing hysterically. The football player put his hands up to try and explain when Mrs. Karate pulled up to the house. She parked near the curb and got out of the car slowly. She looked at the mailbox, the bumper of the little Mini, Wes, and the daughter who was wiping tears out of her eyes and asked, “Would anyone like to inform me what exactly happened here?”
    Lucy, Craig, and Wes all began speaking at the same time.
     
    Bronwyn peered through the curtains and couldn’t believe that Lucy Karate was actually pulling up to her house. Even better, the senior had agreed to come in and meet Bronwyn’s parents so that they wouldn’t object to the inevitable future rides Lucy would (hopefully) provide their daughter. Bronwyn had called her best friends, Meredith and Megan, when Lucy had offered a ride to the game after class on Wednesday.
    Megan, a flautist, had said, “I heard from one of the upperclassmen in my section that she dated the rival Line’s Captain last season – in secret!”
    Meredith, a sax player, said, “That’s not all – she also dated one of the cymbal players!”
    Dating habits aside, seeing the stormy look on Lucy’s face as she pulled up to the Flueger residence, Bronwyn wasn’t sure if she wanted to get in the car with her favorite senior. Walking up to the house, however, Lucy’s face morphed into that of