It was 10 a. m. on Saturday morning when Ben arrived at Gwen’s house. They’d decided to have a normal weekend for once. Fighting aliens all the time certainly made you appreciate normalcy whenever you could get it. First order of priority was washing their cars. They’d both gotten cars for their 16th birthday, thanks to the generosity of their parents. Both cars were long overdue for a wash. He was to blame for that. He had an intense dislike of automated car washes, having been trapped in one when he was 10. He’d narrowly escaped the scalding hot wax cycle, thanks to Grandpa Max’s quick reflexes, but going through the giant roller brushes and commercial air dryer had been enough to traumatize him. As a result, he avoided all automated car washes whenever possible. They rarely had time to hand wash their cars, but today was the day. He parked his car next to hers on the driveway. The garage door was open, and Gwen was already gathering the supplies. His mouth fell open. She looked gorgeous. She was wearing her green string bikini top and denim cut-offs – really short ones. For some reason, he found that even sexier than seeing her in just the bikini. Her feet were bare, revealing toes that were perfectly polished. Her sunglasses perched dangerously on her head and she absently set them down on top of the storage cabinet as she continued rummaging through the shelves. …to be continued!