STARCROSSED: Anthony LaRusso (ON A HIATUS)

Chapter XV: Sensei and Students Bonding Time

"Never thought we'd know so much about alternators and power-steering pumps." Miguel and Julia were fixing Carmen's car.

"I'm sorry you had to give up a Saturday to work on a car." Daniel felt bad for having Miguel and Julia work on a weekend.

"Oh, uh, it's okay. I mean, my mom will be happy. She can go out on dates again. Maybe we shouldn't have fixed it." Miguel chuckled.

"Ah, yeah, I can relate to that." Daniel chucked. "My mom used to call it "lunch with a friend." I hated that. One time, I caught her on a date with Mr. Harris, my history teacher. That was, um... Talk about awkward. But he gave me an A, though, so there's an upside. All right, this looks good. Now, it's the moment of truth. Get in, give it a try." Daniel was ready for results.

"All right. Let's see." Julia and Miguel were ready too. Miguel went into the driver's seat of the car and close the door.

"Just start it up?" Miguel asked.

"Start it up." Daniel told Miguel, who turn the key on the ignition, and the engine revved. "Oh, success!"

"Look at that! You're a natural." Daniel went into the passenger seat, Julia went into the center of the back seat, and with all three of them inside the car, the doors were all closed.

"Now, we gotta get to a party and meet Amanda, Sam, and Anthony. I'm running late. Let's go." Daniel was ready to go.

"What? I don't know how to drive a car." Miguel was confused. He had no experience with driving.

"Oh, well, then I suggest you back us out nice and slow." Daniel told Miguel.

"Okay. All right." Miguel put the car in reverse, and they backed up for a second before the car stopped.

"No, you're doing great." Daniel assured Miguel, who said, "Okay."

"Doing great."

They backed up again before Miguel stopped the car after a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Amanda, Sam, and Anthony were at an ocean-themed kids entertainment center for Cindee's birthday party, because her mom, Sheila, worked at the LaRusso's dealership for 10 years. Emma and her boyfriend Steve were with them, too, and she and Anthony agreed to a truce until the party was over.

"Did I really have to come?" Sam asked. She was anything but happy with how she, her mom, and her brother had to show up.

"Uh, Sheila's worked for us for ten years. She's practically family. Anyway, you used to love to babysit Cindee." Amanda tried to give Sam the benefit of the doubt.

"Oh, hi!" Amanda waved at Sheila.

"This is just about the last place I'd like to be spending my Saturday." Sam complained. "A lot of people have it worse than you." Amanda reminded her daughter.

A few girls were getting their makeup done for the party. "Let's go, ladies. Time is money. They're not gonna wait all day. By all means, take their tips, but be discreet about it. Tammy, come on. More red lip." Mike, the girls' boss, was waiting for them, and one of the girls turned out to be Tory, who corrected him. "It's Tory."

"Well, whatever. Just hurry up. Let's go, ladies! It's showtime!" Mike urged them to get ready quicker.

After the girls got ready, they were excited for the party to start. Most of the girls were dressed up like mermaids, but one was dressed up like a pirate. Tory smiled and waved at her younger sister Emma, but Tory's smile dropped the second she saw Sam, who quipped "Did I say the last place I want to spend my Saturday? I meant the first."  Tory didn't need a detective to realize that Sam, her arch-enemy, was up to no good. "Shut up, Sam, she didn't do anything." Emma glared at Sam, who shot back, "Not yet."