Running inside his house, Zac threw his coat on the floor.

“Ike!!” He shouted running up the stairs.

“Zachary Walker! Keep your voice down, Zoë is in bed.” His mother scolded.

“Sorry, Mom.” He looked at his tired mother for a moment and thought about Asia and without any warning he went to her and hugged her. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Zac.” She said confused. “Your brother is in the basement.”

“Kay, thanks, Mom.” He went downstairs and found Isaac writing. “Hey, Ike. Ike?”

Isaac looked up at his brother. “Yeah?”

"I found the perfect girl for you.”

“You did, did you?” Isaac said barely paying attention.

“Yeah, she likes tall skinny guys.”

“Zac, this isn’t the time to fool around.”

“I’m not. It’s the girl that I talk to on Friday nights.”

“Oh, that Asia girl?”

“Yeah, her.”

“Zac, I don’t even know her. Heck, you don’t know her that well either.”

“Ike.” Zac whined.

“Isaac, come up here and clean up this mess that you made in the kitchen.” Diana said from the top of the stairs.

“Okay Mom, be right there.”

“Look Zac, I don’t know this girl she doesn’t know me. It wouldn’t work.” He said going up the stairs to take care of what his mom wanted him to do.

That next Friday Zac met her at their spot before she got there.

“My, you are getting eager to see me.” Asia said jokingly sitting on the ground.

“No, not really.” He joked “I’m just eager to get away from my family.”

“Sure you are.” She smiled. “So did you have another uneventful week, Zac?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He said picking at the grass. “How’s your mom?”

“She’s doing okay. I guess. Prom is coming up and she wants to take me dress shopping, Zac. She wants to drive, pay, help pick out, she wants to do everything.”

“Yeah, what’s the problem?” he asked.

“I don’t have a date. I told her that there was a guy that was going to take me. I knew the moment it escaped my lips I was in trouble.”

“Just tell her that you are going to meet him there.”

“No, she wants to talk to his mom and help arrange for him to take me to dinner, the flowers, she wants to take pictures, she wants him to come to the door and take me in his car.” She sighed, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Zac was formulating a plan. “Will you let me set you up with someone?”

“Zac…”

“Will you?”

“I don’t know. Is who you have in mind nice?”

“Yeah, he’s a real nice guy. He’s looking for a nice girl and I think that you might be it.”

“Thanks, Zac. Don’t go to any trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it. When is the prom?”

“In a month.”

“Good I have time. So anything else going on with you?”

“No, not much. I’ve been working on a huge project for school. That’s taken a lot of time.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on a project.” Zac said thinking about all of the nights in the studio.

“Your mom makes you do school projects?”

“Yeah, real odd stuff. I swear she had a book that says ’one-hundred-and one weird homeschooling projects.’ ” He shook his head.

“With your luck she does.” She laughed.

“I need to find it and burn it.”

“I know that feeling. My Math teacher has this workbook thing that he’s had for like twenty-years and he makes copies for us they are so hard they suck big time. We are all plotting on taking that book and having a book burning.”

It was Zac’s turn to laugh. “You wanna know how stupid public school kids are?”

“Sure tell me.”

“Okay, I’m in the special English program, for students who are particularly good at English. And well my teacher asked on of the kids in the back to open the blinds, and he couldn’t so another kid that was next to him tried with him and then another kid was tried helping the two that were all ready working on it. Well, my teacher turns around and notices that there are three kids trying to get the blinds up and the rest of the class was trying to coach them on it. He started to laugh and he asked us ‘how many advanced English kids does it take to open the blinds.’ It was so funny.”

Zac giggled. “I’m glad I don’t go to public or private school.”

“You should feel privileged.”

Soon it was time for the two to depart ways for the night.

Two weeks passes as they had the others and all was going well. Zac was setting Isaac up for a date.

“Ike? “

“What, Zac?” He asked looking up from his book.

“There is a friend of mine that needs a date to her prom I was wondering if you would…”

“No Zac, I won’t take you two to the prom. Ask Taylor.

“No! No! She’s not my age, she’s yours. I was wondering if you would escort her.”

“Zac! I hate blind dates. I don’t want to.”

“Please, she will be so heart broken.”

“No, Zac.”

“Ike…” Zac began to whine.

“I said no, Zac.”

Zac sighed giving up for the moment.

He sat at the desk that was in their borrowed house in LA watching Isaac read on the bed.

“Ike, she’s a nice girl.” Zac said casually after a time.

Isaac sighed heavily. “Why should I be a charity date? Huh? Tell me that, Zac? Why can’t I get a girl because the girl wants a guy? Why do I have to be the guy that gives mercy dates? I know how this will go I’ll talk her she will go with me until she finds a friend of hers and then there I am alone in a school that I don’t know with no one.” He said exasperated.

“Good grief, Ike.”

“My answer is no, Zac.”

“Come on, she’s a nice girl. She doesn’t have someone that she can meet there. She’s not that way. She’s the nicest person.”

“Then why doesn’t she have a date?”

“Because she doesn’t have time to make friends.”

“Please say yes, Ike. Come on, it’s just one night.” Zac pleaded.

“I’ll think about it.”

Zac smiled to himself. He saw the digital clock. “Oh shoot it’s Friday! I bet Asia is out there.” He got up and ran out of the room.

Isaac watched him for a moment and shook his head.