"... and then the filtered signal goes to its ADSR envelope and then to its output." Jenn was showing me her analog synthesizer design, carefully mapped out on a giant sheet of butcher paper, swiped from the art room. "And you have to use a separate mixer to get the final signal but that's okay since I can use the one you got me for Hanukkah." She'd been practically shaking with excitement all day, or at least since 7:45, when we met to hang out before homeroom. At 3:00, I discovered her waiting for me outside my Physics class; apparently, she had faked a bathroom emergency to get out of Economics early. Her excitement grew geometrically since then: her cheeks were brightly flushed and she only paused for a breath after every third sentence. "Oh!" She jerked her hand from mine to point at a precisely drawn line on her diagram. "And also, oscillator one can be used as a modulator for oscillator two." After pausing for a moment (for the first time all day!) she turned to look toward me, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

I grinned. "Cool." Her face blossomed into a radiant smile and she tackled me to the carpet with a big hug and a wet kiss.

I carefully watched my steps as we walked through the front gate. The morning was chilly; Jenn warmed me by squeezing me tightly and herself by talking about her synthesizer. "And I found some good temperature-stable resistors in a catalog from Germany... oh, and Daddy says we can use his soldering station so we'll have two and we can work on it together, and-" Jenn stopped abruptly and took a step back. I looked up at 200 pounds of 19-year-old senior, commonly known as "Jared."

"Hey, Linus!" My name isn't Linus. "You and Junn-ifer here totally have my vote for Prom King and Queen." He continued without pausing, "Or is it Prom Queen and Queen?" He chuckled at his un-spontaneous cleverness. I glared over my glasses at his blurry head for a second, then looked down at his shoes: unnecessarily complicated-looking Nike cross-trainers.

"Thanks Jared," I muttered. Jenn and I separated and stepped past him.

"Hey, wait a second!"

I sighed and spun around. "What?" Jared's fist was coiled back; it hovered there a minute, then sprung forward into my stomach. I fell down.

Prom Night arrived quickly. I rang her doorbell at 7:00 sharp and her father greeted me at the door. "She'll be down in a bit," he told me. "Have a seat."

I sat in the living room, grinning nervously at Jenn's dad. I had no reason to, I realized-I met him almost a year ago, and I'd had dinner at Jenn's house several times. I relaxed a bit and looked at the hardwood flooring. "So how's school?" he asked.

"Uhm, okay, I guess. A.P. tests are coming up..."

"They are indeed-which are you taking again?"

"Physics, calculus and English."

"Aha, excellent. I'm happy that my daughter found such a bright fellow as yourself. You remind me of myself when I was your age: sharp and hard-working."

"Thank you, sir." I cleared my throat.

"Say, would you like to smoke a doobie with me?"