"He's Gorgeous!"
It was Friday morning. Joey was sitting on the grass beside the beach, reading a magazine. She had a problem and she wasn't happy. Her problem was lying next to her. Dawson was like a stranger this morning. The two of them had known each other all their lives. But today, Dawson was like somebody she had met for the first time - somebody who wasn't really interested in her.
When Dawson had come to her house that morning, he'd played with her sister's baby. But he hadn't talked to Joey herself. When Alexander started to cry, Dawson had said something strange.
"Why don't you sing to him?" Dawson had asked her. "That's what a professional nanny does."
"Why is he talking about professional nannies?" Joey had asked herself. "I'm not a nanny. I'm someone who tries to help her sister."
But later, as they walked to the beach, she had started to understand. Dawson had talked all the time about a wonderful Australian girl. The girl was taking care of the Barclays' twins. The girl would be great in a movie.
"Sheila's voice is wonderful and her face is perfect," he'd told his best friend. "And she's so good with those twins. She's only three years older than we are. But she knows everything about babies. You could learn a lot from her about taking care of babies. Then you could help Bessie more."
Joey didn't want to hear any more about Dawson's new friend. She looked around her. She saw some teenagers putting up a net further along the beach. When they had fixed the net, they started a game of volleyball. They were guys and girls like Dawson and herself. But they were having fun!
"I'm going to watch the volleyball game," she told Dawson quickly. She put Clarissa's virtual pet on the ground next to him. "You can look after Howard for me, Dawson."
Joey walked away along the beach. She sat down on the sand close to the people who were playing volleyball. She tried to think about the game, but she couldn't forget Dawson's words. She was often angry when Bessie asked her to take care of Alexander - that was true.
"Maybe I could help Bessie more," she thought. "I could spend more time with Alexander. Then Bessie and Bodie could do more things together. But I must have a life too. And I don't need an Australian to tell me about babies."
At that moment, one of the female volleyball players ran over to her. The girl was breathing quickly.
"I'm tired," the girl said. "Do you want to play in the game instead of me?"
"OK," Joey replied. She got up and joined the other volleyball players.
"Maybe some fast exercise will be good for me," Joey thought. "Maybe it will stop me thinking about my problems."
Soon she was hitting the ball over the net with all her strength. She thought about Dawson Leery's head in place of the ball! And soon, she was feeling better.
One of the players on the other side of the net was a handsome young guy. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a muscular, suntanned chest. He was wearing blue swim shorts with a bright yellow pattern - a pattern of flowers!
"He's cute," Joey said to herself. "The shorts are a little strange. But he's really cute. In fact, he's gorgeous!"
She looked again. And the handsome young guy was looking back at her and he was smiling.
When the game was finished, Joey walked back to the place where she had been lying with Dawson.
Dawson wasn't there. He had gone to swim in the sea. Joey lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she was almost asleep. She could hear some people laughing and shouting but they weren't very near her. Then she heard a sound that was right by her side. It was Howard. He was making a loud, high sound - BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Joey picked up the virtual pet and looked at its screen. There were some shapes on the screen, but Joey didn't understand their message. One of the shapes looked like a duck, and it was flashing. It was there for a second. Then it was gone for a second. Then it was back. Howard was trying to tell her something. But what was he trying to tell her? She started pulling everything out of her bag. She had to find Howard's manual.
The next moment, the cute young man from the volleyball game came over to her.
"Let me show you what to do," he said. "That will be easier than looking in the manual."
Joey gave him the toy. "He's called Howard," she told him.
"Ah," he said. "A picture of a duck is flashing. That means that Howard has used the bathroom! You press this button. When you do that, you clean up the mess!"
The young man pressed one of the buttons on the toy and the beeping sound stopped. Then he smiled and gave Howard back to Joey.
"My name is Jeremy," he said. "Jeremy Fields."
"I'm Joey Potter," Joey replied. "How do you know so much about virtual pets?"
"Well, my younger brother has five or six of them," Jeremy said. "Sometimes I take care of them for him. Do you live in this town, or are you here for a vacation?"
"I live here. I was born here," Joey told him. "But you must be a visitor."
"That's right," said Jeremy. "I'm from New Hampshire." Then he saw Dawson walking towards them. "I'd better go now," he said. "Your boyfriend is coming back."
Suddenly, Joey didn't want Jeremy to walk out of her life.
"Oh, he's not my boyfriend," she said quickly. "He's - he's someone who I've known all my life. But he's not my boyfriend. I don't have a boyfriend right now."
"Well, maybe you'd like to come to a movie with me tonight?" Jeremy said.
"Yes, I'd like that, Jeremy," Joey replied. "I have to work this afternoon and evening, but I finish work at nine o'clock."
"OK, that will be great!" said Jeremy. At that moment, Dawson arrived and sat down. Jeremy tried to be friendly with him, but Dawson was angry and unfriendly.
Jeremy started to leave.
"Where shall I meet you tonight?" he asked Joey.
She told him how to get to The Ice House.
"OK, I'll see you there at nine," he said. Then he walked back towards his friends.
"Who was the guy with the strange swim shorts?" Dawson asked Joey when they were alone.
"Jeremy Fields," Joey said. She held up Clarissa's virtual pet. "He's nice. He helped me with this stupid toy."
"You just met him half an hour ago," said Dawson. "He's a stranger. And you're going out with him tonight? Are you crazy? Maybe he's a murderer. Well, it's your problem. I'm going to meet Sheila tonight."
"Don't worry about me, Dawson," Joey said. "Jeremy is cute. And he won't be a stranger for long!"
By Kevin Williamson