Stranger Danger

Part 1

"Omg, he's so cute!" sixteen-year-old Cassidy Banks exclaimed. It was the second to last day of exams. The tenth graders had one more the next day and then they'd get to pick up their report cards the next week before summer vacation. Cassidy, who had been standing outside of her school building, in conversation with her closest friend Maureen, now had her focus on Tyler Green, a boy from their grade ten classes, who was descending the steps of the school entrance to join a group of guys.

"Imagine spending the whole summer with him," Cassidy said dreamily.

Maureen rolled her eyes but smiled. "If you manage to get that to happen, I'll be impressed."

Cassidy grinned and nudged her friend. "Oh, come on, you know he's cute!"

Maureen giggled. "Well yeah, he's cute! You're not the only one who thinks so. See all those other girls staring at him and his friends?"

"Omg don't remind me or I'll get jealous!"

Maureen laughed. Just then, Tyler and his friends began walking in the girls' direction. As they passed by, they nodded at both best friends. Tyler added in a smile. When the boys were out of earshot, Cassidy clutched her heart dramatically and let out a sigh. Maureen laughed and shook her head at her crazy friend. She took Cassidy's arm. "Come on, we should be heading home." Both girls linked arms and headed towards their homes as they continued their previous conversation prior to Tyler showing up. *

The next afternoon, after finishing their last exam, Cassidy and Maureen were outside getting their yearbooks signed and talking with a group of friends. "So, what are you guys going to be doing this summer?" the prettiest and most popular of the group, Lena, asked.

"All I know is that I'm going to be staying with my dad for the whole month of August," said Page, the second prettiest, while rolling her eyes.

"I'm going to a rock concert with Mark and I'll probably go on a road trip with him, his band and a few other girls," said Lindsay.

"You guys are still together?" Maureen asked.

Lindsay nodded. "Yeah. Our last fight wasn't as serious as I thought." The girls weren't surprised by this.

"What are you doing this summer Lena?" Cassidy asked.

Lena shook her natural ash blonde hair out of her face. "Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm going to Italy with my mom to see her boyfriend. But I don't know for how long."

"Is it the twenty-something year old?" Maureen asked.

"Yup. That's the one."

"Oh, hey look, here comes Tyler and Dan," Lindsay said. Tyler and his friend Dan were walking out of the school. Page called them over. When the boys reached the girls, they exchanged and signed yearbooks and talked about their summer plans. "I'm going to Pittsburgh to see a Future concert. My brothers' band will also be performing that same week. Dan's coming with me," Tyler shared.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"Yeah," Page agreed. "I'd definitely go see a Future concert if I had the chance." Everybody else agreed.

"You girls should come then," Dan said.

"Seriously?" Maureen asked.

"Yeah," Tyler brightened. "We won five tickets from a sports competition. We were gonna go with some other guys, but they can't go anymore."

"Well, I can't go," Lena said. "My annoying mother has booked my entire summer so now I'm forced to be a part of her dumb plans."

"I can't go either," Lindsay said. "I've got things to do." The boys nodded.