"What time?" Brian asked.

"It starts at eight but..."

"Eight!" exclaimed Richard and Anne.

"Listen, but we're not up until ten-thirty."

"Ten-thirty!" cried Richard.

Maria looked down at them, hands on hips. "Oh this is fair. I went to all the cheerleader tryouts and those freshmen basketball games."

"I'm going Maria. Mom always takes Melissa to those Math meets around then."

"Thank you, Brian."

"Brownnoser." Richard hissed, rubbing his palm against his nose.

"We'll get up, Maria. We'll just make sure Brian calls us," Anne said, laying her head on Brian's leg.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...how are you getting there?" Brian asked Maria.

"Sherri's driving some of us."

"Oh God! Stay off the road! Sherri's on the loose. Have you seen that chick drive? It's enough to make you take the bus," Richard said, covering his eyes.

"It's not that bad." Maria pushed him in the shoulder with her foot.

"Except for that time she was going down the wrong way in the bus lane," Richard said, "I saw my life flash in front of my eyes and I wasn't even in the car."

"Well, you have nothing to worry about Saturday unless you're standing in front of the car. "

"Hold on, this Saturday?" Anne said.

"Yeah."

"Oh, I can't. This is one of my weekends with my Dad."

"Oh no! Can't you go after?" Maria asked.

"I can't. I missed last weekend, we only just went out for pizza Sunday night."

"So tell him to pick you up at school and stay over Sunday night like the other time," suggested Brian.

Anne considered this, then shook her head. "No, it's a pain to get back up here from Reston."

"He said he didn't care last time. Anne, you promised you'd go to this," Maria said.

"You guys, I can't okay? Why do you make me go through this every weekend I have to go see him?"

"Because they always come up on a weekend something's going on," Richard said.

"Too bad he couldn't move up here," Brian said.

"Why should he? Reston is where he lives. What is it with you guys anyway, you have never understood about my parents, not since the seventh grade!" Anne snapped. She got up off the floor.

"What?" Maria asked, looking at Brian and Richard.

"That they're not married, that I have to divide my time. Like it isn't hard enough without you hassling me every visit or making your stupid jokes. You never say things about anybody else's parents. I mean, grow up, lots of people are divorced!" Anne turned away and headed towards the sliding glass doors in Brian's basement. Brian thought she was going to walk out but she just wiped her eyes and stood with her back turned towards her friends.

"Hey Anne," he said, going to her, "we didn't mean you shouldn't see your Dad. We just want you to hang around with us."

Maria and Richard came up behind them. "Sorry Anne. I promise, no more hard times about weekends," Richard said.

Anne nodded, smiling a little.

"We were just kidding about your mom too," Brian said.

"But you must admit, for a mom she's pretty hot," added Richard.

Maria sighed and rolled her eyes at Brian, but Anne turned from the window.

"Oh yeah," Richard continued as Anne came away from the door and back to the couch, "look at your future. You kind of look like her now, wait 'til you're forty, you'll look like her."

"I'm sure that's a complement in his own perverted way," Maria said, smoothing Anne's hair."Who me? I'm not the perv, Brian started it. I'll take your sister though." Richard nodded at Maria, moving his eyebrows up and down.

"Richard you pig, she's twelve! Can't you guys talk about anything besides people having sex with underaged people?"

"Okay, let's talk about how many times we've almost been killed by cars driven by drillteamers," Brian suggested.

"No!"

Brian held out his hands. "I'm out of conversation topics."

"You're out of the psychoward."

"Oh Maria! You're killing me," Richard doubled over in pretend laughter. "Really, you should take your stand up act on the road."

Anne snickered. "Just don't let Sherri drive," she said.

"Oh yes! She's back!" laughed Brian and Richard.

"Anne! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Anne gasped between giggles.

"Divide and conquer my friend," Brian said to Richard.

"Forget it you meathead jocks!" Anne took Maria's arm.

"That's varsity meathead jocks," corrected Brian. Richard burped.

"Disgusting," Maria said. But when she caught Anne's eye they smiled.