CHAPTER 1

It had seemed like only yesterday when Vinny had been working in blissful content amont the things that were the dearest objects of his affections...yep, you got it. Dynamite. Explosives. TNT. Nitro glycerin. Siting in a little room surrounded by dangerous explosives that could easily make anyone nervous, Vinny felt right at home. The real time was about a week ago, back in the states. He sat, tinkering away with his toys, and attempting to master his lifelong dream: to create the perfect xplosion.
So far, he had been unsuccessful, but each 'boom' brought him closer to his destination. With a dreamy smile on his face, he pictured it...the loud boom echoing through the hills, the debris flying like money falling from the sky, and the pleasant aroma of smoke lingering in his nostrils long after...sighing happily, he kissed the dynamite stick in his hands.
"You will be the one, my friend. I can feel it," he spoke to the inanimate object. "You and me, we will make beautiful music together! We will..."
"Vinny!! Come, come quickly!!" a voice screeched.
The demolitions expert sighed in annoyance. "Don't worry, you can handle it, Mole!"
"No, no I can certainly not! These demons and these monsters,they are everywhere!" frenchman Moliere cried, poking his head down into the basement. "They have surrounded me! I fear for my life!"
True, Vinny could hear angry shouting and crying from above. He frowned. Perhaps it was getting a little too dangerous out there. Carefully setting his precious dynamite down, he stood and walked to the ladder.
"I'm a'coming," he said casually, climbing up. Once he had reached the top, he saw just what he had expected to see. The angry mob had the front counter surrounded, their eyes glaring and hands balled into fists. Their cries met his ears quite painfully.
"I want white carnations on mine!"
"I said red ribbons, not orange!"
"I demand a refund!"
Mole was hopping up and down in panic, holding his hands against his ears to drown out the sound. Vinny smiled briefly. When he had heard his friend wasn't making too much money in the geology business, he had offered to let him work at his new flower shop. Mole had been overeager to join, but surely he hadn't known at the time just what he would be getting himself into. Vinny glanced over the criwd, turned and calmly climbed back down into the basement.
"Wait-where are you going??"Mole gasped.
"I'll be right back."
"Nooo! Don't leave me all alone!! I beg of you!"
But Vinny had already disappeared. A few tense seconds passed, and the mob grew louder, before her returned. He walked right up behind the counter and stood before the crowd of angry teenage girls and their similarly outraged mothers. He looked at them calmly for a moment, not speaking a word, then suddenly held both hands high int he air. Everyone gasped collectively. In his right hand, he held a the same beloved, rather dangerous looking dynamite stick. In the other, he held a lit match. The distance between the two seemed very small.
"Now," he spoke loudly, "Everyone's corsages and flowers are in this freezer right over there," and he nodded to the metal door beside him. "If one more female speaks one more word, or I hear one more whimper, then the flowers get it. Boom. No corsage for the prom."
The crowd instantly quieted. The only sound that could be heard was crickets chirping. Vinny smiled smugly. I love my job, he thought wryly.
"Ah, Vinny!" Mole smiled widely to his rescuer, holding his arms out wide to him,"I think I love you!"
Vinny's nose wrinkled in slight disgust at having to hug the little man. Instead, he shifted the dynamite stick to his left hand and offered that hand to Mole. "How about a good handshake, instead?"
Mole shook his hand heartily. "That was genius, perfect geniurs!" But then he noticed something that made him uneasy. "Um...Vinny, my comrad...is that stick supposed to be sparkling like that.
Vinny arched an eyebrow questionly. "Hmm?" He glanced at the dynamite stick, then did a double-take. The match had accidently lit the dynamite without his knowing it! The crowd of women all gasped again, together, noticing this.
"Hit the deck!" one woman yelled, and the group jumped to their stomachs ont he ground. Mole grabbed the dynamite from Vinny's hand.
"Moliere to the rescue!" he cried, and looked around frantically for somwhere to dispose of the explosive. He suddenly grinned, and running to the freezer, opened the door, threw the stick in,then slammed the door shut and raced back. Vinny sighed, shaking his head, just as MOle pushed him to the ground and covered his own head with his hands. Mere seconds later, the dynamite exploded loudly. The freezer door blew of, luckily not hitting anybody, and in the smoke that followed, flower petals and ribbons of all shapes, sizes, and colors rained down upon the group. Slowly, the women stood and realized all their corsages had been ruined. Dreams and hopes of teenage girls' prom nights had fizzled out with a bang. Mole looked around in confusion as they began crying. Vinny, however, was in heaven.
"Ah...is there anything more beautiful than a great expolosion?" he asked dreamily, then answered himself, "No, I think not!"
A voice sighed from behind him. "I told you once, I told you a million times: blowing up your flower shop is not the way to run a good business!"
Vinny looked up at the accusing voice and grinned. He jumped up and hugged the elderly lady behind him. "Mamma!" But she sent him an angry look.
"What do you think you're doing to my flower shop, Vincenzo?"
"But this is my shop, mamma," he whined, "I pay for everything!"
"Yeah, and you hire just wonderful help around here, too," she said sarcastically, looking pointedly to Mole. He was attempting to help the crowd, but only succeeded in getting hit over the head with a purse when his stench got to near.
Vinny frowned, arching an eyebrow. "You didn't just come here to nag at me, did you?"
"No," she admitted, and pulled out an evelope. "This letter came for you. It said urgent, so I figured it couldn't wait."
He took the envelope and tore it open.
"Thanks, mamma."
His mother smiled wryly. "While I'm here,would you and your stinky friend care for a little help with these bloodthristy customers?"
Vinny grinned broadly, but it was Mole who gave her a great, big bearhug. "Oh, thank you! You are my hero!"
"Touch me one more time and I'm a'gonna be your worst nightmare!" she threatened in disgust."I have a bar of soap with your name on it.
Mole shuddered and Vinny chuckled, reading over the letter. That was his mamma: Stubborn, proud, and fearless. That's the kind of discipline she had used to bring him up. His smile faded, however, with the news in the letter.
"Uh, Mole. You'd better take a look at this"
 

"What??College?!"
Manuel Ramirez did not look up from his toolbox, but sighed in exasperation. He knew without even looking up that his daughter would be glaring down at him from under her baggy hat, with an angry pout on her lips. At nineteen years old, Audrey Ramirez was just as stubborn as her mother had been when he'd first met her at that age. He knew for sure whom their daughter had gotten the trait from.
"Yes, college. You know, it’s that place where you go to learn, read, write, and get a thing called a diploma?” he asked sarcastically. Then he glanced up at her quite seriously. "Oh, a diploma is something you get at the end of college..."
"I know what a diploma is!" she snapped. "I'm not going, Dad! I am nineteen years old! I am an adult, I can make my own decisions, and I decide to not go!" She frowned. "I want to stay here and help you with the new shop, and I thought that’s what you wanted, too."
He frowned, flinching at the pain in her voice. He finally looked up at her. "That was what I wanted, at first, but your mother and I have been arguing about this for a while now. Well...she won."
Audrey's mouth practically hit the ground. "What?? You're making me go to college because she won this argument?"
He shrugged. "Basically, yeah."
"Aren't you going to put up a fight?"
"No, Audrey. I agree with her."
She looked even more surprised, if that was possible.
"I want you to go to college and I want you to make me very proud."
"But...!"
"End of discussion, kid," he warned, and she knew there was no use in her saying anything else. "Oh yeah, this came in the mail for you today."
Still glaring fiery daggers, she walked up to him and grabbed the envelope from his hands.
"I am not a kid, and I wish you'd stop treating me like one," she hissed, before storming off out of the shop. He watched her go, then shook his head grimly, muttering to himself.
"Its what’s best for you. Trust me."

"Is not fair!" Audrey complained aloud, as she walked through the streets, hands thrust into the pockets of her baggy overalls. "He can't do this to me. I decide what’s best for me, and going to college definitely ain't it!" With this said, she gave a rock on the ground one good, hard kick. It flew through the air, narrowly missing hitting the knees of another person.
"Whoa! Watch where you're aiming that fire, sweetheart," the man said.
Audrey looked up into the face of the tall, dark, and handsome Derek Rodriguez. He gave her a wry half-grin, and she smiled back, then through her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He half-laughed a bit uneasily, and hugged her back, before breaking away. She frowned, sniffing his shirt collar.
"What's that strange smell?" she asked suspiciously. “Smells like...perfume..."
His eyes widened for just a second. "Oh! Ohh, that! That’s just my, uh, mom's new perfume! She gave me a hug before I came over."
Too worried about her other problems, Audrey nodded, believing him. Noticing something was up, he frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"My father...is forcing me to do something terrible," she sighed.
"Um...what would that be?" he asked suspiciously.
She sneered in disgust. "Go to college."
He laughed out loud. She sent him a look, and he stopped laughing, but was still smiling.
"What's so bad about that? You know I'm starting college this fall."
"Well, I'm not you," she sent back coldly. She began walking again, and he fell into step beside her.
"So? What, are you too good for college?"
"Its not that at all."
"Then what is it? I think college would do you some good."
She stopped, and narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Derek shrugged casually. "You just spend too much time at your dad's shop, that's all. Its...weird for a girl to like working on machines so much."
Audrey smiled wryly in annoyance. "So, is that what 'the guys' have been saying?"
"Not just them..."he hesitated, swallowing uneasily, "me too."
She sent him a shocked, outraged look. "I would have thought that at least my own boyfriend would have been on my side!"
Derek looked uneasy, and glanced away. "That's another thing, Aude...I've been thinking, and...well...I think we should start seeing other people..."
Audrey stared at him for a moment. "Oh, you do, huh?"
He nodded slightly. She finally shrugged casually.
"Well, I agree," she spoke, then, very suddenly, punched him right in the nose. He yelped out in pain. It was music to her ears.
"Nothing personal, Derek," she flashed him a sweet smile, then walked away. Once around the corner, she put her hands in her pockets, and was surprised to feel the letter. She'd forgotten about it. Pulling it out, she tore it open and unfolded the letter. Audrey had only read the first line before she froze and groaned.