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seat. She just rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Jesse.
    “What time are we coming over?” she asked as s he took a bite of her sandwich.
    “Around seven or so.   Whenever,” he said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.  “I was gonna throw some burgers on the grill so don’t eat before you come,” and then he stopped and looked at me. “You’re still coming, aren’t you, Boston…I mean, Riley?” He widened his eyes and grinned at me when he said my actual name and I just smirked back.
    “Yeah, I was planning on it.  I need directions though.”
    “Why don’t we ride together?  Jesse lives out in the sticks.  You’d probably get lost,” Holly suggested.
    “Sure,” I agreed. “Do you want to take your car or mine?”
    “I share my car with my little brother, but I do n’t think he needs it tonight.”
    “How about I drive then?”
    “You sure?” she asked.
    “Yeah.   It’s not a problem at all.  Just give me your address.”
    Holly nodded and then pulled out a pen and a notebook from her backpack and began scribbling on it. 
    “What’s going on?” Mandy whispered to us.
    “What are you talking about?” Laura said, asking the question we were all thinking.
    “Alex Bettencourt.  Why is he coming over here?” she said and all of our eyes drifted to where hers were focused.  Sure enough, he was walking towards us.  His dusty hair hung in his eyes and he reached up and brushed it out of his face. 
    “Hey, Riley Regas,” he said, stopping at the end of the table where I was sitting and looking down at me, but seeming to ignore everyone else.
    “Hi Alex.”
    “You got a minute?”
    “Um, yeah,” I said , looking around the table.  The girls were looking at me with wide eyes and Jesse and Brandon seemed uneasy.
    “I w as wondering if we could talk.”
    “Sure,” I said , gathering my things and standing up next to him.  I looked at my friends who were still silent. “I’ll be right back,” I told them.
    I followed Alex across the cafeteria and we stood facing each other, away from the crowds. 
    “You look cute today,” he said.
    “Thanks.” I nervously brushed my hair behind my ear while waiting for him to speak.
    “Well,” he began a moment later and a slow smile spread across his face. “I wanted to talk about Saturday.”
    “Saturday?   I didn’t think we had any set plans for Saturday.”
    “ Which is exactly what I want to talk about.  I think we need to set our plans for Saturday.”
    “Oh yeah?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at him flirtatiously. 
    “Yeah, I do.”
    “And why would that be?” I teased.
    “Because I would like to take you out.”
    “I said we could go if I was free.  I told you I’d give you a call.”
    “I know you did,” he said as a playful grin spread across his face. “B ut, I would like to know ahead of time, if you would be so kind, Miss Regas.” 
    I’d been playing a game with Alex, a game I’d obviously won since he clearly couldn’t stop thinking about me.  And since I’d won, I figured I’d let him off the hook.              
    “Fine,” I relented .
    “Fine what?”
    “Fine, we can go out Saturday night.”
    The grin on his face grew wider and had turned confident.  Perhaps I hadn’t completely won the game.  He seemed like he might be a worthy opponent.
    “I knew you couldn’t resist,” he said slyly and I blushed.  I felt myself reach up and tuck my hair behind my ear again, a nervous habit I needed to break.
    “You’re pushing your luck, you know that don’t you?” I said once I’d composed myself.
    “Yeah, I know,” he said , looking up at me. “But, now that you’ve agreed to go out with me, I was thinking we could go to the batting cages.  There’s mini-golf there and stuff too.  Whaddya think?”
    “Yeah, sure.   Sounds good.” I smiled at the simplicity of it and thought it might be refreshing.
    “Are you sure?  You don’t think it’s lame?” he