”“Get what?” Mary Ann asked.“We are finally going to get rid of Stoppingham.”“What?” We both said in unison.“The school board,” she ...started (I should tell you that mom was on the school board).“He was forbidden from doing this kind of thing at a school function,” she said, laughing.Mary Ann was as confused as I was.Mom just shook her head.“Don’t worry about it. Just go enjoy your day off. You will be back in school, tomorrow,” she said.Well, if what mom was saying was true, and I had no reason. Bacon was her favorite food.At midnight, everyone hugged each other and there were sentimental dialogues and promises exchanged. I nodded, smiled, and wished them a very happy new year. That’s when I realized that she was missing from the crowd. I went inside the house, looking for her. In the adjacent room, I heard her screaming at someone, which seemed to be her boyfriend. Or her ex-boyfriend, I hoped. After knocking, I entered the room, pretending to look for the camera.She suddenly said,. A gruff voice commands you to get up and walk, and you feel something grab your arms. You’re pushed a step or two forward and the ground disappears from beneath your feet. Your stomach leaps into your chest as you plummet through the air, and a moment later your feet smack painfully onto some gravel. You’re marched along by whatever force is guiding you, and the crunching rock soon turns into a long trek over soft ground. Every so often, you feel something supple and stringy lashing out across. His hands on her shoulders, he stood close behind her, tall and sheltering. Moving into the hallway through the door, she asked, ‘Want a coffee before you go home?’ only to turn around and stare up at him, the look of undisguised passion in his face, as he stood there still and waiting. ‘Misha?’ ‘Froo……….?’ The kiss when it happened was so beautiful it promised so much, lips nibbled and slid as tongues swirled, hands grabbed at each other, his in her hair, and around her back, hers holding on.