On a Sunday, three weeks—minus a day—before their wedding, Warren and Sophia found themselves at the parking lot of the Oceanview Mall. They were here to meet Tom Bellamy. Tom was staying at the Kellehers’ for the week that Warren and Sophia were going to be choreographing for him. Warren had told him, "The mall’s a lot easier to find than my parents’ house. So, we’ll meet you there and lead you in." Tom had driven up from New York.

When they got to the Kellehers’, Warren and Sophia—with Betsy in tow, to her grandparents’ delight—introduced Tom to Peg and Jim. Warren helped Tom with his bags and showed him to his room—Warren’s old room. On the way in, Tom met Warren’s brother Ryan. After they had gotten his stuff in, they went down to the family room.

Tom noticed a girl close to his age sitting on the couch, reading a book. She was cute, with golden brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a button nose, and deep brown eyes peering out from behind glasses. "This is my sister Kristin," Warren introduced her. "Kris, this is Tom Bellamy."

"Nice to meet you," Tom said.

Kristin looked up briefly, blushed, said "Hi," then went back to her book.

"Very shy," Warren mouthed to Tom out of Kristin’s line of sight.

Hi, Kristin thought to herself. How pathetic. Damn, I can’t even make small talk. She wondered why her parents had to let Warren’s choreography clients stay here. Liz Cushman, last year, was bad enough—but Liz was friendly and outgoing and didn’t give up on Kristen until she stopped being shy. Besides, Liz was a girl. This was a guy. And this guy was a hunk!

Warren loved Kristin to pieces, but had once told Sophia that "Kris is what I would have been like if I’d never met you." In other words, a painfully shy bookish outsider. Kristin went to Wilkins Academy, because her mother taught there so she could go for free. And she stuck it out for the academics—that was important to her. But she did not fit in socially and she knew it. Not that she thought it would have been any better at Oceanview High.

Warren and Sophia took Tom out to eat that night. They wen to Woodman’s, a famous seafood restaurant up the road in Essex. "You can’t come to the North Shore and not hit Woodman’s," Warren told him. Afterwards, they dropped him off. He wandered into the family room and found Kristin alone in there, nose still buried in a book.

"Hi," he said. "So what are you reading?" She held it up. It was War and Peace. "Cool, another Tolstoy fan. I just finished Anna Karenina."

Kristin looked at him. "You read Tolstoy?" she asked softly.

"I read a lot of things," he grinned. "Haven’t quite gotten to War and Peace though. I almost brought it here with me, but I’m working my way through some Vonnegut at the moment."

"I love Vonnegut," Kristin told him.

"He’s great, isn’t he?" They discussed Vonnegut, Tolstoy, and some other writers they both enjoyed for about an hour. Tom was pleased he finally got Kristin talking.

Finally, he yawned. "I think I’m going to leave you to your War and Peace. It’s been a long day, and I’m exhausted!"

"OK. Good night," Kristin said quietly

"Night."

Warren had thought that the music Tom had skated to for the past season was too heavy for him. Tom agreed. "My coach has been doing my choreography. And I love my coach," he laughed, "but I think she picks music from the Elvis Stojko School of Ponderous Movie Soundtracks." Warren wanted something lighter, so had picked Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Tom loved the choice, and Warren and Sophia started working with him Monday morning on a program.

They made excellent progress. Afterwards, Tom had gone back to the Kellehers. He joined them for dinner. After dinner, he had gone upstairs and fetched a book, bringing it back down. Kristin came into the room and saw him buried in his Vonnegut. She smiled, but didn’t say anything.

The next day, Tuesday, Warren and Sophia had a morning meeting with the wedding photographer, so they wouldn’t be going to the rink until about noon. Tom slept in. When he awoke, he came downstairs and heard the sound of a piano. Following the sound, it led him into the living room. He recognized the piece—Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu—and stepped into the living room, where he saw Kristin bent over the piano. He waited until she had finished the piece, standing behind her, and then applauded. She jumped!

"You scared me to death!" she gasped, turning around.

"Sorry," Tom grinned.

"I didn’t think anyone was here. Why aren’t you at the rink?"

"Sophia and Warren had a wedding thing—we’re starting late today. I’m glad I was here. You can really play."

"I hate playing in front of other people," Kristin admitted softly.

"Why?"

"I just do."

Tom walked over to the piano, and waved to her to move over. She just looked at him. He waved again, grinning. She slid over on the piano bench. He sat down, cracked his knuckles comically—getting a slight grin out of Kristin—and leaned over the piano. Whereupon he launched into Beethoven’s "Fur Elise."

"Wow," she said when he was done.

"That’s my serious side," he smiled at her. "Here’s my not-so-serious side." With that he broke into Scott Joplin’s "The Entertainer."

She was grinning when he finished. "My not-so-serious-side tends to be all that classic rock that Warren listens to," she told him. Then she favored him with a little of Springsteen’s "Racing in the Street," The Beatles’ "Let It Be," and Elton John’s "Tiny Dancer."

"You are really good," Tom maintained. "Play me something else classical." She smiled, and started playing Beethoven’s "Pathetique" Sonata. After she had finished, he said, "That is my favorite piece of classical music ever. And you play it magnificently."

"Thanks," she said, blushing.

They sat at the piano for about two hours, trading off selections—and then just getting silly. When Sophia walked in the house to grab Tom for skating, they were playing a goofy four-hand version of "Chopsticks" and laughing their heads off.

"You ready to go?" Sophia asked quizzically.

"Sure." He turned to Kristin. "Time to go skate. See you later."

"Bye," she said, still giggling.

They got into Warren’s van. As they drove, Sophia said to Warren, "You’ll never believe what I just saw."

"What?"

"I saw this guy," she pointed to Tom in the back seat, "hunched over the piano, playing silly shit, and laughing his head off—with your sister!"

"WHAT?" Warren exclaimed. "How did you pull that off?" Tom explained the events of the morning. "Jeez," Warren said in wonder. "Tom, you have to understand. Kris is the shyest person in the universe. You’ve known her two days and you got her laughing and playing piano with you? I’m stunned."

"How old is she anyway?" Tom asked.

"Just turned 16. You just turned 18, right?"

"Yeah. Warren, does Kristin have a boyfriend?"

Warren laughed. "Tom, Kris has never been on a date." Tom didn’t say anything. Warren glanced at him through the rear-view mirror. "Are you thinking of asking her out?"

"Uhm, well, would that be a problem?" Tom asked nervously.

"No. In fact, I think it’s great. As long as you remember how inexperienced she is with guys."

Tom laughed. "I’m not much more experienced."

"Why?" Sophia interjected. "I didn’t take you as shy. And there’s lots of girls in ice rinks."

"I’m not shy, but there’s no girl at my rink that I’d ever want to go out with. You guys are kind of isolated, and you were a couple before you started skating, you’ve told me that. But when you’re in a rink with lots of other competitive skaters, the fur flies. As do the rumors. Yeah, I could ask a fellow skater out—if I wanted everyone in the rink to know the next day. Plus, most girls in figure skating are silly. Present company excepted, of course."

"Of course," Sophia grinned back at him.

"I’ve had a few dates, but nothing much."

"Just be careful, that’s all I ask," Warren told him. "Don’t forget, you’re only here for a week."

"True," he said. "Though New York isn’t that far!"

Kristin thought about their little piano-playing session all afternoon. She was stunned. He actually got her laughing! He was a fellow reader, he was a fellow pianist, he was gorgeous—and he made her laugh.

My oh my, she thought.

When it was close to the time that he’d be returning, she kept going to the window. Peg asked her what she was doing, but she said nothing. When she finally saw Warren’s van pull up, she ran over to the piano and launched into the "Pathetique" so she was playing it when Tom came in.

What the hell am I doing? She thought to herself, but he came right into the room, smiled at her, and sat down next to her as she played.

When she was done, she said, "Your turn."

"Hmm. I’ve done serious and not-so-serious, so how about goofy?"

"Goofy?"

He grinned at her, hit four quick chords on the piano, and was suddenly full-tilt into "Great Balls of Fire." He kept a steady boogie-woogie with his left hand, as the right one hit every triplet, arpeggio, and silly little glissando. And he sang it, right at Kristin, hamming up the wink-and-a-nod lyrics for all they were worth. Kristin was howling.

As he ended, before the piano had even stopped echoing, he put on this mock-pompous face and started Mozart’s "Sonata Facile." He played the whole thing—flawlessly—while making a face like a constipated schoolmaster. Kristin was laughing so hard she was about to pee her pants. He hit the final chord and she was still cracking up.

He grinned at her, and waited for the laughter to die down a bit. She had subsided into happy giggling when he said, "Kristin, will you go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"Sure," she giggled. Then she realized. And stopped giggling, looked at him in amazement, and said "WHAT?!?"

"You said yes, you can’t take it back!" Tom teased her, a huge smile on his face. "No, no, no, you can’t take it back." He got up from the piano bench, grinned at her, and walked out of the room.

Kristin didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.

After they had eaten, they ended up in the family room. Peg and Jim were outside, so Kristin and Tom were the only ones there, each buried in a book. Kristin kept shooting looks at him—and he noticed, but didn’t say anything.

Finally, Kristin closed her book, looked at Tom, and said hesitantly, "Did you really ask me out?"

Tom closed his own book. "Yeah, I did."

"Oh," Kristin said. "You were very sneaky about it."

"I know. It worked, didn’t it?" he grinned. She shot him a look he couldn’t quite make out, but it didn’t look good. So, he said, "But you’re right. It was too sneaky. Kristin, may I take you out for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Good."

Kristin thought about it all night, until she finally fell asleep. When she woke up, she was frantic. She came down and ate breakfast with Tom and her family. Tom waved goodbye to her, and then took off—since he now knew the way to the rink, he was going to drive himself there and meet Warren and Sophia

Kristin wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and ran to the phone, dialing Warren’s number. She was hoping Sophia hadn’t left yet.

"Hello, is Sophia there?"

"Nope, she’s headed to the ice rink. Who’s this?"

"It’s Kristin Kelleher."

"Kris! It’s Jessie. What were you looking for Sophie for?"

"Oh, Jessie, I actually have a date tonight. With Tom, that skater that’s been working with Warren. And I need help!"

"This is your first date, isn’t it?"

"Yeah."

"You’re nervous as hell, aren’t you?"

"Yeah."

"What do you need help with?"

"Oh, Jess, I don’t know what to wear and my hair and should I wear makeup and…."

"Calm down, girl!" Jessie laughed. "Look, Sophie’s gonna be at the rink all day, but I do know a thing or two. Is two o’clock cool?"

"Oh, Jessie, you’re the best!"

Jessie showed up at two. She took Kristin upstairs to Kristin’s room. "First things first, girl," Jessie told her. "You need a shower so I can do your hair. While you’re doing that, I’ll go through your wardrobe."

"Yes, ma’am," Kristin told her.

When she came out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, Jessie had her sit down in a chair, and went after her with a curling iron.

"Jess?"

"Kris?"

"I wanted to ask you something." She took a breath. "I can’t ask Warren." She took another breath. "What’s up with you and Warren? I know there’s something, but….." she trailed off. "You’re around all the time. You’ve been Sophie’s best friend for years, but I never got to know you before this summer. And sometimes it seems….." she didn’t quite know what to say.

Jessie laughed gently. "I sleep at Warren and Sophia’s apartment. The three of us. In one bed. I’m sure you can draw a picture from that."

"You and Sophie both make love with my brother?"

"And with each other," Jessie admitted.

"You like girls?"

"Only Sophie," Jess told her. "It’s weird, but it’s only Sophie. Sophie, on the other hand, has a definite bi streak."

"So, you don’t like girls but you have sex with Sophie?"

Jess looked at her. "Kris, someday you’re going to realize something. And don’t think I’m talking down to you, because it’s something I’ve only realized recently. You’re going to understand that there’s a difference between having sex—and showing someone how much you love them. I don’t have sex with Sophie. I show her how much I love her. It’s just that I use my body, and hers, to do it."

"And you have sex with my brother."

Jessie took a breath. "No, I don’t have sex with him, either."

"You love Warren?"

"Yes. He loves me too, you know."

"But he’s with Sophie!"

"Yes he is. That’s fine with me, you know."

"They’re getting married! Don’t you feel like, well, a fifth wheel?"

"No," Jess grinned, "because they won’t let me. Sophie asked me if the wedding bothered me. Of course it doesn’t. Those two were meant to be together. Forever. What I share with them is just temporary."

"But, if you love them……"

"You can love more than one person. All three of us are proof of that. And, don’t get me wrong, I am second choice, especially for Warren, and I’m fine with that. But I’m confident I will find someone to love and share my life with, sooner or later. And when I do, I’ll go with him, and I’ll just have to find other ways to show Sophie and Warren how much I love them."

"That’s a very cool attitude," Kristin said in admiration.

"A better one than I used to have, believe me," Jess grinned. "Hey, look at your hair!"

Kristin looked at the mirror. "Jess, you’re a miracle worker!"

When Tom came back from practice, he hustled into a shower and got himself ready. He came downstairs. A few minutes later, Kristin came down the stairs.

"Wow. You look fantastic," he told her.

"Thanks," she blushed.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

They went out to a local Italian restaurant. Tom immediately was telling silly jokes and making her giggle.

"God you make me laugh," she said happily.

"And you’ve never even seen me skate," he grinned.

"Yeah, I’ve seen you skate. I was at Nationals this year."

"It’s gonna be better this year," Tom predicted. "That brother of yours, and Sophia, they can choreograph up a storm."

"I’ve watched them choreograph for themselves before. It’s fascinating."

"So, you done with War and Peace yet?" he asked her.

"No," she sighed. "I love it, but it’s endless."

"Tolstoy does go on, doesn’t he?"

They finished the meal, chatting happily. Towards the end, Kristin said, "How do you do this to me?"

"What?" Tom asked, confused.

"Make me feel so at ease. I was so scared. This is my first date, you know."

"Warren told me," Tom said.

"I thought I’d be nervous, stuttering, making a complete fool of myself. How did you do this to me?"

He grinned at her. "The minute I caught you playing the piano, it was all over. You can’t be shy around me after that, and you know it."

Kristin thought about that—and realized that he had a point.

They decided to just get in Tom’s car and drive around for a while—neither of them wanted to stop talking, and they didn’t want to talk at the house, where Peg and Jim might be around.

"You know this is my first date. Do you have a lot of girlfriends?" Kristin asked him.

He laughed. "I haven’t gone to school since eighth grade—I’ve been tutored since then. The only girls I ever see are the girls at the rink. I’ve known all of them for years. There’s only a few that aren’t flighty gossip-mongers. I don’t date much at all. I just don’t meet girls I’m interested in." He grinned. "Well, until this week."

"You’re the first person that’s ever even asked me out."

"There must be a lot of stupid guys in Oceanview," Tom said. Kristin beamed at that one.

They got back to the house around ten, and walked up onto the porch. "Kris?" Tom asked. "Before we go in, well, would it be all right if I kissed you?"

Kris’s heart started thumping like the snare in a marching band. "Yes," she whispered. Tom leaned down to her, and their lips met. Tom didn’t want to rush things. It started as a light, fairly innocent kiss. It didn’t end up that way. To both their surprise, it just built and built. The sparks between them were almost visible. By the time Tom finally had the presence of mind to pull away—before he completely lost control—they were plastered onto each other, their arms wrapped around the other, and their lips locked.

"Wow!" Kristin breathed.

"You can say that again."

"We’d better go in," she giggled. "Before, you know, something….."

"I know what you mean. Believe me, I know what you mean."

Practice for Tom ran a little short on Thursday, so he was home in the early afternoon, much to Kristin’s delight. They fooled around on the piano for a couple of hours. At one point, he turned to her, beside him on the piano bench, and spontaneously kissed her. She eagerly returned the kiss.

After they ate supper with the Kellehers, Tom found a movie they both wanted to see, so they went. Friday, Kristin asked to come to practice and watch. She did that every so often with Warren and Sophia, and enjoyed it. She got to see Tom’s new Mozart program in its entirety, and she enjoyed watching her brother and her almost-sister-in-law choreograph for him. She also got to help out with Betsy. She adored her niece. She noticed Tom grinning at her at one point while she fussed over Betsy. He skated over and kissed her nose, then skated away.

Warren was working with Tom and one point, and Sophia had come off the ice because Betsy was hungry. "So, what’s up with you and Tom?" Sophia asked Kristin.

"I really like him! He really likes me, too!" she said, incredulous.

"You guys have a lot in common."

"Yeah, but luckily only one of us is painfully shy. It’s a good thing he asked me out!"

Sophia giggled. "Yup. Reminds me of me with your brother." Kristin laughed out loud at that one.

Jim and Peg went out that night, so Tom and Kristin stayed in. Tom would be leaving the next day, so they just wanted to spend time together. They didn’t go past making out, but they did quite a bit of making out.

"This sucks," Kristin sighed.

"What?" Tom asked, puzzled.

"You’re leaving tomorrow."

"Yeah," he said. "But it’s only New York. It’s not that far. I’ll be able to visit."

"Will you?"

"Sure."

Just then Kristin remembered something. "I was wondering. Do you think you could make one of those visits two weekends from now?"

"Maybe. I’ll have to see. Is there a reason?"

"Well, yeah," she giggled. "I don’t have a date to my own brother’s wedding."

"Oh! Well, then, yes. I’ll definitely come. I’ll work it out."

"Great!"

Tom left the next day, and Kristin and he shared a long good-bye kiss, in full view of Jim, Peg, and Warren (who had come over to see him off). When they got into the house, they all went into the family room—and Kristin, to everyone’s surprise, including hers, started crying.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit," she said, trying to stop crying.

"Kristin, honey? What’s wrong?" Peg asked.

"How the hell can you fall for someone in a week?"

"What?" Peg gasped. "I know you two went out a few times…."

"Yeah. But it’s more than that."

"How much more than that?" Peg asked carefully. Kristin just looked at her. "Kristin, you know you can talk to us about anything."

She looked at them for another minute, confused. Then light dawned. "Oh, no, not that," she said. "We haven’t done anything more than kiss. It’s just that—oh, man, he’s the perfect guy for me! And he’s five hours away!" She started sobbing again.

"Kris," Peg started, "like you said, you’ve only known him for a week. And you’re only sixteen."

"War?" Kris asked. "When did you know?"

Warren, knowing exactly what she was talking about, grinned, "It wasn’t much longer than a week."

"And you were only fourteen," Kristin said.

"True," Warren agreed.

"I really should know better," Peg grinned. "Look, Kris, how does he feel?"

"He likes me a lot, I know that."

"Then it’ll all work out, if it’s truly meant to be. New York isn’t that far away."

"That’s what he said," she said, then brightened visibly. "He is coming up in two weeks." She grinned at Warren. "I have a date for your wedding."

"Great! One more figure skater at the wedding can’t hurt anything," he laughed.

Over the next two weeks, Kristin counted the days until the wedding. She had been looking forward to it anyway—she loved Sophia, she knew Warren and Sophia were meant to be together and was thrilled it was finally happening, and she got to be a bridesmaid. So, she’d been looking forward to it, anyway. Now she was really looking forward to it.

She was diverted a bit by the arrival of Liz Cushman the day after Tom had left. Liz was happy to see her. This year, she was determined not to be shy around Liz. Liz was practically part of the family—and she was engaging, gregarious, and fun to be with. Kristin even let Liz hear her playing piano. Tom was the first person not in her family to ever hear her—and now she played for Liz. Liz was impressed.

Liz had come in for a week of choreography—Warren and Sophia had picked Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, the Emperor, for her music. The week after that, she was just going to hang and help with the wedding plans.

Kristin told her all about Tom, and Liz was thrilled. "I like Tom," she told Kristin. "Wish I had a love life to discuss with you," she said ruefully.

That was right after she had gotten into town. Suddenly, by the Friday of the first week, she had told Kristin she had a date. Then another on Saturday. Then another on Tuesday of the following week. She hadn’t told Kristin who the dates were with, and Kristin hadn’t asked. Until, that Tuesday night, Kristin happened to be sitting in the living room, reading, when Liz came home. Liz had opened the door, and Kris could see her kissing some guy. When she pulled away, Kris got a look at the guy as he said goodbye to her.

Kris didn’t say anything to Liz about it, just wished her goodnight, but she was a little stunned.

Liz Cushman was going out with Crash?

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