"Hey, Jackie -"

"It's Jaycee."

"Oh. Sorry, Jaycee. Hey, thanks for coming! It's gonna be a blast. Where's Jackie?"

"Oh, she's somewhere around here. She doesn't really bother to say hello to people. Bet she's looking for someone to w**** around with."

"Jayce!"

". . . I'm kidding, Kylie. Who else is here?"

"Well, Lauren just showed up in, like, a feather duster - she's over there - and there's Trey and Tevin, and there's Reese and Holly - did you know they're going out now?"

"No, really? I had no idea?"

"I know, right? It's just, like, out of the blue and . . . you're being sarcastic, aren't you."

"Me? Sarcastic? No."

"Heh. Well - oh hey, Ben! Jackie, this is Ben. He's a junior at Central."

"Pleasure to meet you . . .?"

"Jaycee."

"Pleasure to meet you, Jaycee. . . . Wait. Didn't I just see you somewhere? How did you get back here so fast?"

"Oh, Jaycee has a -"

"Magic, Ben. Come on, let's sit down. I've never met anyone from Central before."

"Oh, it's nothing special. Not like coming from, like, Uganda or anything . . ."

"Whatever. Just come on."

"Wait! Jaycee! Ben! I need to tell you where the - oh hey, Jackie."

"Hey, Kyles. Have you seen that tall guy with the curly hair? Who is he?"

"Uh . . . his name's Ben. I invited him."

"Well, where is he? He's kinda cute."

"Uh . . . I don't know, Jack. Let me introduce you to Oscar, though -"

"Oscar?"

"Yeah, Oscar. He's just over -"

"Nah, I'm going to go find Ben, or whatever his name is."

"But Jackie -"

*********************************************************************************

"You're on Facebook, right, Ben?"

"Of course. What's your number?"

"Here, give me your phone and I'll give you mine."

"Okay. Hey, are you doing anything next Friday?"

"Nope. Wanna hang out?"

"Sure!"

"Let's go to the mall, Ben. We can people watch."

"Um . . . okay."

"There. Here's your phone back."

"Here's yours. You've got a text."

"Oh . . . shoot, Ben. It's my mom. I've got to go call her; I'll be back in a minute."

"'kay."

"Hey, Ben! I'm -"

"Wait a minute! What - you just got up - and then - how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You just got up like a second ago! Jaycee, you really are magic!"

"Jaycee? I'm n - . . . oh. Yeah, I guess I am. Freaking sl**, Jaycee."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Uh . . . hey, Ben! Wanna . . . get cozy a bit?"

"Uh . . . Jaycee? We just, uh, met."

"So? Inexperience is the best kind!"

"The best kind of . . . what?"

"Oh, you know . . ."

"Know - uh, Jaycee? Are you picking your nose?"

"What? Oh, this? Oh, it's nothing."

"Maybe I'd . . . better go. I'll, uh, see you later."

"No, I'll go. You look comfy there. Byee, Benny!"

"Hey, Ben. Sorry that took so long. My mom is -"

"Wait a minute, Jaycee. What is going on?"

"What?"

"Ugh. This is total bs. I'm out."

"Wait - but - Ben -"

"See you later, Jaycee."

"Ben!"

*****************************************************************

"What did you do, Jackie? Jaycee looks like she's about to cry!"

"It's all just preemptive action, Kylie. I'm sure you understand. She's stolen so many of my boyfriends that I've got to take a little revenge."

"There's a difference between preemptive action and revenge, Jack. She looks really sad."

"She deserves it."

*******************************************************************

"Hey, Jackie, what's up?"

"IT'S JAYCEE!"

"Oh. Sorry, Jayce. I -"

"GO AWAY, John. I do NOT want to see you."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Good-bye."

". . . Bye."