I measured carefully and managed to make the holes pop out in the middle of cracks between the tiles. I attached some of the remaining stone to small...string I bought from the dollar store, and plugged the end of the holes with the stone. This way, I could pull the stone out easily to look, but when I left, I could plug it back up, so nobody could find what I had done. I layed out a bunch of snacks (chips, cookies, and the like) in the space by the holes, and left some comics and notebook. Colleen and I had made sure there were plenty of snacks and refreshments out for when the girls returned, and we enjoyed small talk as we all munched. The early April weather was unseasonably cool, and it was supposed to drop into the high thirties by midnight. We had no plans to go out. An evening in, with the gas fireplace adding warmth and ambiance to the atmosphere, sounded most excellent. Combine the gas fire with an eight person hot tub, and you have the makings of a wonderful. I embraced the term, because I had a job and income from the time I was 16.2Purchasing books and supplies was normal when I went to school. The only kids who didn’t have to buy their books were the really poor families. I bought used books, but I bought my books.At that time, ‘going steady’ was common for school kids, and considered normal. It was not a very common practice for someone to poach your steady, but as hormones often overrode brains it happened, and there were a fair number of. After our shower we went to the kitchen and I made breakfast and we sat down to eat.“Steve, may I make a suggestion?” she asked.“Sure.”“Broaden your circle of friends. Other than me, all of you are white, nominally Christian, 20-year-old Americans. And you don’t invite me to your Sunday gatherings.”“Do you want to be invited? I got the idea that you didn’t.”“I don’t. I much prefer having these conversations one-on-one. Have you ever had a friend that isn’t a person of European extract? Who.