Surprised

Ariel chuckles and nods. "Yeah, lets." Finishing off her fruit punch, she slides off the stool and turns to go, but then looks back over her shoulder. Retrieving the flowers, she looks up at Trey with a little grin. Now she was ready.

Walking with him across the floor, she finally spots Pete standing near a table, chatting with some other people, a soda pop in his hand. Approaching casually, Ariel gives him a rather peeved look.

Pete excuses himself quickly from the table and looks back and forth between Trey and Ariel before landing on Ariel. "What? What did I do to you?"

"Oh, you know. Just watch out for the payback."

Pete tries not to smile, but it doesn't work very well. "You're looking nice tonight."

"Thanks. So are you."

Pete glances to Trey and gives him a wry grin. "Mingling, are we?"


Ashlee's words bring Eric's brushing to a sudden halt, and his eyebrows rise slightly. He shouldn't have been surprised. She was a bright girl who observed a lot. But it wasn't exactly something he'd hoped she'd notice.

Her question brings a serious but soft expression to his face. He might as well level with her, if she'd figured out that much. Tipping his hat back a little, he leans on Static's back and studies Ashlee for a moment or two. "I hope so," he finally answers. "It's not gonna be easy for him though. Something like that..." He shakes his head. "It's easy to get into and hard to get back out again. Thankfully, he's trying to get out. But he's gonna be pretty sick for a few days."

Focusing on the brush for a moment, he finally looks back at Ashlee. "The best we can do is let his dad help him through this. Then when it's over, Dylan's gonna need to know that he's still got friends who care about him. Right now it's his body that's retaliating. When that's over, it's going to be his mind, and that can be worse. But... as long as he knows we're still here for him even after all of this... I think he'll be okay."