“I have a serious girls’ night question for you,” said Kami. “I know you’re new to this, but I will require an answer quickly. Are you prepared to eat at least five éclairs tonight?”

“Boys. Listen up. We are going out for a girls’ night, where there will be dancing.”Kami did an illustrative shimmy. Angela looked resigned.Jared looked amused. “What was that?”“You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watching, Jared,” Kami informed him.“Have you considered that perhaps nobody’s watching because they’re too embarrassed for you?”“Fine,” said Kami, grinning at him. “Be a hater of dances. Be a hater of joy. I don’t care. You’re not invited!”

“Kami: I beg you not to throw down with Angela.Jared: I know you want us to get on, but-Kami: She'll beat you down until you cry. I'll be so embarrassed for you.”

“If you’re calling her a floozy, I’m by way of being a bit of a floozy myself.” “Oh, Jared,” said Kami, who was well aware of his romantic experience, or total lack thereof. “You are not.” “Well, I have floozy ambitions.”

“A leather jacket,” Kami said as he shrugged into it. “Aren’t you trying a little too hard to play into certain bad boy clichés?”“Nah”, said Jared. “You’re thinking of black leather. Black leather’s for bad boys. It’s all in the color. You wouldn’t think I was a bad boy if I was wearing a pink leather jacket.”“That’s true,” Kami said. “What I would think of you, I do not know. So what does brown leather mean, then?”“I’m going for manly,” Jared said. “Maybe a little rugged.”“It’s bits of dead cow; don’t ask it to perform miracles.”

“They had to swing by Jared’s locker so he could grab his jacket. “A leather jacket,” Kami said as he shrugged into it. “Aren’t you trying a little too hard to play into certain bad boy clichés?”“Nah,” said Jared. “You’re thinking of black leather. Black leather’s for bad boys. It’s all in the color. You wouldn’t think I was a bad boy if I was wearing a pink leather jacket.”“That’s true,” Kami said. “What I would think of you, I do not know. So what does brown leather mean, then?”“I’m going for manly,” Jared said. “Maybe a little rugged.”“It’s bits of dead cow; don’t ask it to perform miracles.”

“What the hell is going on?" demanded Kami's dad, advancing with his black eyes snapping. Jared blurted, "My intentions are honourable."Kami sat up straight in her bed and stared in Jared's direction. "Are you completely crazy?" she wanted to know. "This isn't the eighteenth century. How do you think that's going to help?""Well, I mean," Jared said, back against the wall like a cornered animal. "When we're older. I mean-""Please shut up," Kami begged."I agree with Kami," said Dad. "When you're in an abyss-like hole, quit digging.”