Chloe ran her finger over the red dress that she had purchased yesterday while out with Belle. It was so completely out of character for her. She still couldn’t believe that she had bought it, along with a pair of matching shoes. Belle had insisted on accessorizing her, as if Chloe had been Belle’s very own life size Barbie.

Chloe picked the dress up and walked over to her closet to hang it up. She had decided yesterday that she wanted to go, and wanted to have a "Sandy moment". Chloe had to explain to a confused Belle that she meant she wanted to go from looking one way to looking a totally different one, kind of like the character Sandy from the movie "Grease". When Belle had inquired with a giggle if Chloe had anyone in particular that she wanted to have drool over her, Chloe had kept her mouth shut tight.

Chloe could admit only to herself that she had bought the dress wondering what Philip would think of it. Part of her was disgusted that she’d actually bought a dress to impress a boy, and the other part of her was excited at the thought of what his reaction would be. Chloe was sure that something had happened yesterday between her and Philip – she’d even thought that maybe he was going to ask her out. She sighed and guessed she wasn’t good enough at this whole dating thing to know any better.

Chloe’s phone rang and she crossed the room to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chloe?"

"This is she," Chloe replied.

"It’s Shawn."

"Hey Shawn. Belle’s not here," Chloe said.

Shawn grimaced, glad Chloe couldn’t see him. "Actually Chloe, I’m looking for you."

"Me? Why?"

"Uh, I needed to, uh, ask you something," Shawn stammered nervously. Should he even do this? If he didn’t, Jason, Jan and Philip would never let him live it down. Shawn ran his fingers through his hair. It had also seemed to him like it really upset Belle that he was taking a date to the Last Blast. But, he was a man of his word. If he said he was going to do something, he did it. No one could ever accuse him of being a liar.

"CHLOE!" came Craig’s voice from downstairs.

"Hold on a second, Shawn," Chloe said. "Craig’s calling me."

Chloe put the phone down and went out onto the landing to where she could see Craig.

"What?" she asked.

"You have a visitor, Chloe," Craig told her.

"Oh, just tell Belle to come upstairs," Chloe replied and started to walk away.

Craig cleared his throat, "It’s not Belle."

If Shawn was on the phone and it wasn’t Belle, who could it possibly…Chloe thought as she descended the stairs.

Chloe opened the front door to find Philip Kiriakis standing on the porch. He looked devilishly handsome as always in a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

He smiled crookedly at her. "Hey Chloe."

Chloe couldn’t help but smile back. "Hi, um, what are you doing here?"

"I actually came to get my jacket back," Philip explained.

"Oh," Chloe said, her hopes dashed. Like he’d really be here for any other reason, she thought.

"Well, come inside. I have it upstairs in my room." Chloe opened the door and let Philip follow in behind her. Chloe saw that Nancy was being pushed from the living room by a very determined Craig. Craig smiled and briefly waved and then pulled Nancy completely from the room despite her protests.

Chloe went upstairs with Philip close behind her. What was that cologne he wore? she thought. Part of her wanted to bury her face against his neck so that she could smell it better.

Chloe entered her room, walked over to her desk chair, picked up Philip’s jacket and handed it to him. "Thank you again for lending it to me."

"That’s okay," he smiled a wicked grin. He "accidentally" brushed his fingers against hers when he took it. Chloe felt a small jolt go through her.

"You know, I think it actually looked better on you than it does on me." He came over a little closer to her and leaned to whisper in her ear. She could feel his breath on her neck. "I wonder what else of mine would look better on you than it does on me."

Chloe nervously licked her lips, a small gesture that was almost Philip’s undoing. How could someone that looked like Chloe did on the outside hold so much appeal for him? Philip liked bouncy blondes like Belle that appreciated sexy clothes. Not someone as dark or as covered up as Chloe.

"Philip…I’m…I’m…on the phone right now," Chloe stammered.

"No you aren’t Chloe. Right now you’re talking to me," Philip said slyly, enjoying how much his comment had unnerved her.

"I meant, I was on the phone before you came over and I should probably get back to my phone call," Chloe replied.

"By all means, don’t let me interrupt Belle. I’m sure she’d never forgive me. Tell her I said hi." Philip stepped closer to Chloe so that there was almost no space between them. "Sweet dreams, Chloe." Chloe had only a moment to gaze into those beautiful blue eyes of Philip’s, and then he was gone, leaving a befuddled Chloe staring after him.

Chloe went over to her nightstand and picked the phone back up. "Shawn?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Shawn with a mouthful of food. He quickly swallowed what was left in his mouth. He leaned back in the kitchen chair he was sitting on so that he was balancing on the back two legs. "Were you talking to someone, Chloe?"

"Yes, Philip was here."

CRASH! Shawn lost his balance and fell over backwards. Chloe clutched the phone. "Shawn? Shawn, are you there? Are you okay?"

Shawn picked the phone back up. "Sorry Chloe, that was me literally falling out of my chair. Did you just say that Philip was there?"

"Yes, I said Philip was here," Chloe giggled.

"What was he doing there?"

"He was getting back his letterman’s jacket that he lent me," Chloe explained.

CRASH! Shawn had barely situated himself back in his chair when the newest revelation sent him reeling backwards again.

"Shawn?"

"Chloe, the next time you’re going to say anything about Philip, give me a little advance warning would ya? This is starting to hurt my head. Did you just say that you had Philip’s letterman’s jacket? Philip’s? Philip Kiriakis?"

"He’s the only Philip I know, Shawn."

"Philip Kiriakis was there."

"Yes Shawn, Philip Kiriakis was here. No hablas ingles? Philip Kiriakis fuera aqui."

"Chloe, I don’t even think you said that right. Don’t you take French?"

Chloe sighed. "Wasn’t there something you said you wanted to ask me?"

"Philip was there, at your house, in your room to get back his letterman’s jacket?" Shawn asked incredulously.

"Shawn, if you ask me that one more time I’m going to start screaming. I know you didn’t call me to inquire about Philip’s whereabouts."

"Actually," Shawn cleared his throat, "I called to see if you wanted to go to the Last Blast with me this Friday."

"You want me to go to the Last Blast?" Chloe’s voice had almost risen to a squeak.

"Yes," Shawn reiterated.

"With you?"

"Yes."

"This Friday?" Chloe asked to make sure she’d heard him correctly.

"Chloe, this is starting to feel like a weird episode of the Twilight Zone. I want you to go with me to the Last Blast this Friday," Shawn stated slowly.

"Why?" asked a puzzled Chloe.

"Chloe, you’re not supposed to ask why. You either say yes or no," Shawn sighed.

"Oh no," moaned Chloe.

"What is it?" Shawn asked, concerned that something had happened.

Dr. Evans’ words floated through Chloe’s head. "And the next boy that asks you on a date, you have to say yes."

"I have to say yes," Chloe told him.

"What do you mean you HAVE to say yes? Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. I’d never make you do something you don’t want to do, Chloe."

"No, I meant that…forget it. Yes, I’ll go with you Shawn."

"Oh, well, okay then. I’ll pick you up at your house Friday night at, say, eight o’clock. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school."

Chloe said, "Bye" and hung up. This had all been too confusing. First Philip was here acting like Philip – totally mysterious and playing games, and then Shawn asked her to the Last Blast. Shawn had never seemed like he was interested in her. It had always seemed to Chloe like he had a thing for Belle…

Craig knocked quietly on Chloe’s door. Chloe looked up at him. "Interesting visitor you had this evening. Want to talk about it?"

"There’s not really anything to talk about, Craig," Chloe said.

Craig gave her a knowing look. "You do realize that Philip Kiriakis is interested in you?"

"You know, you’re the second adult this week to say that to me," Chloe said, exasperated. "Philip is NOT interested in me. I am not even close to his type. I can actually read and write and form whole sentences."

Craig chuckled. "No boy lends a girl his letterman’s jacket and then lets her take it home for no reason. Especially a girl he doesn’t like." Craig went to close Chloe’s door and added, "Then there’s the way he checks you out when no one’s looking. You, my dear, fascinate him."

Craig shut the door to let Chloe mull the situation over.

What was going on tonight? Chloe wondered. There had to be something in the water.

She picked up the phone and dialed Belle’s number.

"Hi Chloe!" Belle’s perpetual perkiness managed to carry across the phone lines. "Caller ID. Just another one of AT&T’s deterrents to teenage phone pranks."

"Hi Belle, can I talk to you for a minute?" Chloe asked. "Something really bizarre things happened tonight. Shawn called and asked me to go to the Last Blast with him, and while I was on the phone with him, Philip came over looking for his jacket and acting all strange, and Craig came up here saying something about that I ‘fascinate’ Philip…"

Chloe paused to catch her breath. "Belle, are you listening to me?"

In a quiet, tremulous voice Belle said, "Shawn asked you to go to the dance with him?"

"Yes, he did. I know we said we were going to go and do the girl’s night out thing, but I’d made this promise to someone and I kind of had to say yes," Chloe explained. She hoped Belle wouldn’t press her further about it. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone that she was in therapy.

"Do you like Shawn, Chloe?" Belle asked solemnly.

Chloe blinked in confusion and quickly replied, "Shawn is a nice guy, but I’m not interested in him."

"Do you think that Shawn is interested in you?"

"Not as more than a friend," Chloe said. "Belle, what’s going on?"

"I have to go Chloe. I’ll see you tomorrow." Then all Chloe could hear was the dial tone. She put her head in her hands. She was so confused. She definitely had to try and figure this all out.

Belle stared at the phone for what seemed like hours. Shawn’s words echoed in her head, "No, I have a date." How could one of her best friends be going out with Shawn? She laid her head down on her pillow and started to sob like her heart was going to break.