For Nevermore Season 1

stomach bug, no big deal.”
    “So why do you look like someone stole your guitar?” Ash asked as she helped Tommy put the groceries away.
    “Nothing,” Sam said. “Just stuff.”
    “Oh,” Ash said, eyebrow raised, “What kind of stuff? Girl stuff?”
    Sam shook his head, embarrassed, not saying yes or no, but turning red just the same.
    “Oooooh, Sammy’s got a girlfriend?!” Ash ran from the kitchen, practically skipping into the living room, then plopped down on the couch beside him and folded her hands in her lap, smiling.
    “I want to know EVERYTHING!”
    “Sheesh, Ash, give the guy a break,” Tommy said, stuffing food into the fridge and a fudge popsicle into his mouth.
    “No, Tommy, you don’t get it. Sam has NEVER had a girlfriend! This is like, Big News!”
    “You never had a girlfriend, dude? But I always see you hanging out with chicks. What’s up with that?”
    “I dunno,” Sam shifted on the couch. “I was just always busy.”
    Tommy laughed, “Busy? You’re still in high school, and you don’t have time for the ladies? You have your priorities all wrong! Man, if I could go back to high school, I’d be . . .”
    Ash turned, “You’d be what?”
    “Nothing,” Tommy said, his grin spreading to Ash.
    “Yeah, I thought so,” she said, laughing. She turned to Sam, “OK, details. Now!”
    “Ugh, do I really have to do this?”
    “Um, yeah, I told you every detail of my love lives.”
    “Don’t remind me,” Sam said. “I’m still recovering.” He draped a blanket over his shoulders, then pretended to shudder.
    Ash smacked him in the shoulder, “Seriously, come on. Who is she? Is it Noella?”
    Sam found it interesting, though not entirely surprising that Noella was the girl who raced to Ash’s mind.
    “No, not Noella. Why would you say that?”
    “I dunno, you two seem all chocolate and peanut butter. You’re best friends, and I see the way she looks at you. So it makes sense. Is it her?”
    “No,” Sam said. “It’s Becca.”
    “Becca the cheerleader?”
    “Yeah,” Sam said, still embarrassed, though not exactly sure why.
    “Hot damn, man, you got a cheerleader?!” Tommy said, whistling from the kitchen. “Way to hit it out of the park your first time at bat! First girlfriend a cheerleader equals suh-weet.”
    Ash shook her head and rolled her eyes.
    “That’s awesome, Sam. So why do you look so down?”
    Sam spilled it all. From the first kiss at Keefer’s to Noella’s confession in his voicemail. He even held his phone to Ash’s ear while playing her the voicemail.
    Ash wrinkled her nose and said, “Aww, that’s so sweet. Do you like her? Like that?”
    “I dunno,” Sam shook his head. I’ve always liked her a lot. I sort of even had a crush on her, but didn’t want to mess things up. She’s my best friend.”
    “Well, why would you ever want to be with someone who’s your friend?” Ash joked. “I’d much rather date someone I find to be superficial.”
    “Hey!” Tommy said, entering the living room and plopping into the armchair across from the couch, still working on the popsicle.
    Ash said, “My mom’s going to kill you if you get chocolate on the chair.”
    “I won’t,” Tommy licked the drops from the bottom of the popsicle, then turned to Sam.
    “It’s not like that,” Sam said. “I didn’t want to screw things up, or tell her I liked her, and risk her not feeling the same. Then it would be even weirder. And besides, it’s not like Becca’s superficial. Well, not all the time anyway. She’s really cool once you know her. There’s this sweet side of her that I really love, a side she doesn’t show anyone but me.”
    “Why not?” Ash asked. “That sounds like something a pod person would do.
    Sam laughed. “I dunno. She’s shy, or maybe she feels like she has to fit in with her cheerleader friends, so she doesn’t let that side out. I’m not sure. Even though we’re friends, I don’t know her that well .”
    “Not as well as Noella?”
    “Oh God no. I know everything about Noella.”
    “Except that she loved you.”
    “Yeah, except that.” Sam half-smiled.
    “So,” Tommy said, “If you weren’t dating Becca, and you knew both girls liked you, who would you go out with?”
    “I dunno,” Sam said. “There’s good and bad things about both of them.”
    “OK, tell us the good and bad about Noella,” Ash said.
    “Well, she’s the sweetest person in the world. She’s creative, funny, and I feel a