Justin gazed happily at the white envelope in his hand. His fingers were grimy with oil from a mechanic's hard days work, but the green between his tips made it all worth it.

He had just graduated from Lincoln High about two months ago, but he'd been working at Lenny's Auto Shop since he was seventeen. He started in the summer just before his Junior year as soon as he got his work permit.

"Yo Jay feels good don't it?"

 "Timberlake!" sighed Lenny, yes the Lenny, as in the owner of Lenny's Auto Shop. He was an older looking man with a pop belly and a head full of white hair except on top where his dome shined so brightly you might think someone sprayed armor all up there. He patted Justin on the back and fiddled with his suspenders.

"Great job Justin. You keep up the good work and we may have to fatten up that ol' envelope right dere!" He chuckled. Justin grinned. Lenny always reminded him of his grandfather. A crazy old fella who was always spitting out stories about the good old days and over exaggerating everything. But still Lenny was the one who gave Justin a shot when everyone else said he was too young to be of any use around here and it was because of Lenny that he had his job today.

"Thank you sir. See ya tomorrow." Lenny wiggled a finger in the air with a smile as he hung up his jump suit and went home for the night.

 Tonight was Tuesday night and it was Justin and Trace's turn to close.

"Hey Jay where did Lenny say he wants this?" Trace was a short little man with a slight goatee. He'd been working here not too long before Justin arrived, but it was Trace who'd showed him the ropes.

"Jay?" He called again holding up a red tool box covered in stains.

"I think he said in storage." Justin yelled to him from beneath the hood of a Chevy. Trace disappeared to the back and Justin closed the hood down wiping his hands on a rag.

 It was ten o'clock and time to bring everything to a close. He washed his hands at a large rusty sink in the corner. So long as the water was clear nobody bothered to ask how many spiders inhabited the pipes.

Trace reappeared to wash his hands as well and the two moved swiftly to get everything back in it's rightful place.

"Alright man!" Trace said, giving his friend a brotherly shake goodnight. "And don't spend it all in one place!" He teased.

"Oh you know I'm gonna have to go get me that new Ferrari!" Justin joked back. Trace laughed at his friend. "Alright man peeeaacee!"

"Alright."

 Justin pulled down the huge tin door and shut the lights out before heading out the back and locking up behind himself.

The stars were bright tonight and he kicked up bits of gravel as he headed for his car. She wasn't exactly a Ferrari, actually he drove a 1970 Pontiac GTO the color of soot. Still she got him to where he needed to be on time and with a turn of the key she purred like a kitten.

With the open highway before him Justin popped in a cd from the sun visor and turned up his stereo. "Don't you know that I'm still in love with you" The soulful sounds of Al Green filled the car and Justin crooned along harmonizing with Al.

"And I look in your eyes." He felt a small vibration in his jean pocket and he reached in to retrieve it. "Hey baby." He said balancing his phone on his shoulder as he turned the volume down.

 Megan Palmer, where to begin? It was about October of Freshman year when Justin decided to go with a few of his friends to a Halloween party. Some girl named Crystal came from an well off family and it was her mission to make her party the party of the year all though he could never recall actually ever seeing a Crystal.

Anyway it didn't matter because some how his friends managed to introduce him to a slim brunette with cute dimples and an adorable giggle. She went by the name of Megan and after the party Megan and Justin had become the hit couple at school.

 "Hey!" She beamed on the other end. He grinned at her cute little voice. That was why he decided a long time ago that her nickname would have to be 'Minnie' short for Minnie Mouse.

"What are you doing?" She inquired.

"I'm on my way home from work. What are you doing?"

"Weeellll I'm just getting settled in to my new dorm."

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

"How do you like it?"

 "Well it's a little tiny seeing as how I'm used to having my own room, but I think-"

"Yeah, time to leave some of them blow dryers behind." She giggled and Justin smirked at that laugh. "Alright Minnie.." He teased.

"Shut up!" she squeaked trying to hold back another giggle. "Anyways I got my class schedule."

"Hows it lookin?"

"On the bright side I don't have to be in class 'til nine."

 "That's good!"

"On the down side I have eighteen credit hours and I know it's gonna kill me." The disappointment rang in her voice.

 "Well don't give me that negativity. You're a smart girl. I know you can do it."

  He could remember the day of graduation. Them and all their peers were sitting in the auditorium adorned in their cap and gowns-guys royal blue and ladies in gold, those were their school colors.

Principal Adams was making his usual long winded speech about basically nothing. Everyone just humored him by sitting quietly and waiting for him to finish 'building momentum.'

"And now.." he finally announced. "We will award the winner of this years annual hero's in history writing contest! The winner will receive a full scholarship plus a deluxe gateway laptop!"

Friends and family members cheered excitedly and Justin simply cut his eyes to peek at Megan. She told him she was entering a while back and by all means he told her to go for it. He always thought she was a pretty good writer and she made straight A's in English.

Her fingers groped the ends of her sleeve nervously. He took her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. She'd told him time and time again that she wasn't expecting to win and if she didn't that would be just fine, but judging by the moisture in the palm of her hand he could tell that that may not be the case.

 "And without further a due." grinned the principal opening a yellow envelope. Megan was trying to take in deep inconspicuous breaths, but he noticed immediately and leaned in close to peck her on the cheek.

"The winner of the annual essay contest scholarship and Gateway laptop is.....Megan Palmer!" All their classmates stood to applaud her as well as their families and Justin nearly had to shove her out of the seat to go up and accept.

He would always remember and pick at her about that look of hers. "Oh my goodness thank you so much!" She cried. Her eyes stayed the size of bowling balls and she couldn't seem to form full sentences once she'd started her speech. Still that was his girl and he was so proud of her.

 "Yeah well I'm gonna try!" She chirped.

"You better."

"Oh, hey sweetie mommy and daddy need help bringing some of my trunks in-"

"Some? Megan you don't need all that stuff."

"I do too!"

"Okay then what's in those trunksssssss with a plural?"

"Well you know like... my underwear and stuff."

"Uh-huh."

"OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH!" Justin heard a loud howl on the other end.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Oh! Daddy! I'm sorry baby I have to go daddy Just smashed his foot!"

"With what your underwear?"

"Byyye" She said in a playfully irritated tone.

"Call me when you're done okay."

"Okay, love-, NO! Daddy! don't put alcohol on it it'll-AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Justin heard the connection break and he chuckled to himself as he turned off his phone. He flicked on the left turn signal and pulled his Pontiac into a parking lot. On the way he passed a sign reading "Chaster Apartment Complex." He chose a parking space and shut her off.

The huge building before him wasn't exactly the Ritz, but it was all he could afford at the time and at the end of a long day like today any home looked a lot better than no home. He locked his car and started up the steps.

Unfortunately he lived all the way up on the sixth floor, but on the up side at least he could stand on his patio and sip a Natural Light without having to worry about someone above him peeing over the railing and ruining a perfectly good beer. Hey he'd actually heard someone downstairs yelling about that at three am one night and no he was the perpetrator.

With his key in the lock he twisted it and entered his home. A cozy little one bedroom was all he needed to make due. Again it wasn't the Ritz, but it was snug and Justin could adapt to just about anything.

He tossed his jacket on the back of the couch and headed straight for the kitchen. "Seriously need to get to the store." he mumbled eying the contents of the fridge. There wasn't much to choose from and so he quickly decided that the last Boston Market tv dinner would probably taste a lot better than the light bulb.

 With the dinner rotating in the microwave he went to his answering machine and pressed the button by the blinking red light.

"Mr. Timberlake this is Peggy from the insurance offic-message erased." "Hello Mr. Timberlake this is Jason calling from the Alltel-message erased." He plopped down on the couch and let out a deep breath as he massaged his temples. The microwave sounded with a ding and he hopped up to get his dinner.

Suddenly the phone sounded through out the house. He really needed to get caller ID. He wanted to answer his phone without fear of bumping into a very unpleasant conversation with a bill collector. Until then he'd just have to continue to hang up on them.

"Hello?" He sang into the cordless.

"Hello, I'm Bob calling from your local phone company." Justin grinned as he recognized the squeaky voice on the other end though she was doing her best to deepen it.

"Oh yes and what can I do for you 'Bob?'"

"I was calling in regard to your phone bill."

"Really? Is there a problem 'sir?'"

"Yeah you didn't answer your cell phone!" She finally broke out in her real voice.

"What?" He pulled his cell from his pants pocket. '1 Missed Call.'

"Well maybe you shouldn't be calling people talkin bout you're from the phone company!"

"I only did it cause you didn't answer when I called the first time."

 "Well don't be scarin’ me like that you know how it is."

"Awww I'm sorry baaabyyyyyyy." She googled over the phone. Justin listened to her giggle at herself on the other end.

"Alright Minnie.." She stopped immediately.

 "So what are you doing now eating? Ew! Whatever it is I bet you're pouring ketchup into your mash potatoes as usual. I told you a million times that is gross." She shuddered.

Justin tossed the little packet of Heinz back on the counter and stirred his plain mashed potatoes. "For your information I'm having tacos tonight and even if I were having mashed potatoes there's nothing wrong with putting ketchup on your mashed potatoes. If you can put ketchup on your French fries you can do the same with mashed potatoes it comes from the same family."

"Nooo, it's yucky." She spat on the other end.

 "Well look you keep eating the way you eat and I'll keep eating the way I eat. How bout that?"

"You're putting ketchup on your mashed potatoes right now aren't you?"

Justin squeezed the little package hard letting the dollop of red sauce plop down onto his tators.

"And?"

 "And Ew! I knew it stop that.." She laughed. They talked for hours as they normally did and soon it was 2:30 am.

"You gotta go to work tomorrow." Megan yawned over the phone. He loved making her talk til she was tired. There was something sexy about that grogginess in her vocals.

"You need to go to bed Mr."

"And you need to stop worrying about me and start concentrating on your school work."

"But, I haven't even started yet."

"And messing up your sleep cycle now is not a good way to begin. You need your rest. Go lie down and get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow."

 "Okay." She yawned again. "I love you." she said half raspy.

 "I love you too. Goodnight." He always waited for her to break the connection first. It was his way of being a gentleman and tonight his way of making sure she was safely tucked into her new bed.

As he spread out over his own comforter in the dark he tried to imagine her lying in her new room sleeping safely. Then he pictured the campus and all the new things she would encounter. He couldn't help, but ask himself why he wasn't in a similar environment.

He never thought college was for him. He was always more focused on hands on work than studying, which was probably why he went for the job down at the shop when he did. Some people just weren't meant for school and he did pretty well to get out of high school on time.

No he was exactly where he needed to be down at the shop. He closed his eyes and let his mind roam back to Megan and suddenly a thought occurred to him, how might school change Meg?