Her sharp Latina features were accentuated by her dark skin and that night, like any other, she looked incredible.At the party, we found the usual cre.... There were Chuck and Scotty in the kitchen playing dominos with Joe and Dan, a group of interchangeable girls that worked with Scotty at the steakhouse. Hillary was there and already as drunk as everyone expected her to be, and lastly, there was Marcela. She was Belinda?s best friend and had been since they were in the 6th grade. I met her. "Why not? I'm sure you could convince her. Bribe her with something."That night over dinner I casually asked Stephie what she was planning to dress as for Halloween."I'm not dressing as anything. I'm not going out. Halloween's lame." Oh, come on, Stephie, you've got to go." What are you planning on wearing?" I'd like to be a lion trainer, but I don't have a lion. Maybe you want to be my lion, if you don't have any other plans?" Yeah right! Dream on, bro!" Oh, come on, Steph, it will be fun!. She flies over the fences you build to keep her out, and you're sure she doesn't even notice how hard you're trying not to notice her. If you could just shut her up, just for a moment.You stab at the spine of the lettuce leaf, tines sinking into the white, crunchy ridge, twisting the fork around, hesitating when you happen to overhear Tori's squawking. She's talking about staying back in the Black Box after school, asking Andre for a CD she apparently arranged for him to make. You don't care. " I'll bet you're glad now you never did." Yes and no," she sighed. "I might've kept him if I had." You deserve better." Thank you," she smiled. "I don't know. Part of the problem is that I've built up the all-important First Time in my mind, probably too much. I've been thinking about it. I should just get it over with." Not with Max." No way. I mean, just pick a friend. Someone I know that'd treat me right. Get it out of the way."I was becoming increasingly aware that she was talking about.