Shifting uncomfortably, I pulled the collar of my North Face jacket up higher against the bitter wind

Shifting uncomfortably, I pulled the collar of my North Face jacket up higher against the bitter wind. It was my third October in Poughkeepsie, and I'd been forced to learn quickly that it was a climate of extremes; hair-frizzlingly hot in the summer and lip-chapping cold in the winter.

The reason I was waiting outside of my high school at this unreasonable hour on a freezing Saturday morning was because I wanted to get into college. Even though I was only a sophomore, I had decided to take the SATs and see if I could get them over with. Wishful thinking, to be sure. My eagerness could partly be attributed to Collin; the wunderkind junior had taken his round of standardized tests early and now was finished with the whole process – all he had to do was apply to colleges next year. I figured this way of doing things could only bring about less stress, which takes me back to where I was before; freezing in an inadequate jacket, waiting for the janitor to come and open the door.

With me were about half a dozen other kids, most of whom I identified as slacker seniors, who had procrastinated till the last minute, I'm sure, on taking the test. The one exception was a boy who stood next to me; brown hair cropped close at the sides, but pointing up in a miniature faux-hawk on top of his head, and small silver ring glinted from his eyebrow. I recognized him as Nick; another fellow 'faculty brat' as we called ourselves, whose British parents both taught at my mother's college. I knew that he was a junior at a private school across town thanks to the logo on his jacket, but I wasn't quite sure he remembered we'd had an awkward conversation at last year's annual faculty and family Christmas party.

I'm not sure what possessed me, but recognizing the trademark skull on his shirt, I spoke and gestured to his chest.

"Misfits, right?"

Nick's head shot up and he gave me an impersonal, cursory once over. I took that to indicate that he didn't recognize me, and was about to re-introduce myself, when a sneer fell over his features.

"Yeah, I'm sure you listen to the Misfits." With another curling of his top lip, he dismissed me.

I colored down to my boots and glanced towards the door again, feeling as though I'd been put in my place. The Collin-influenced part of me encouraged confronting Nick, to ask him what the fuck was his problem. The remaining half, the half that was a girl who couldn't tell you if she was a virgin or not, who liked to take black and white portraits of strangers, resisted the urge. That half won, and I shuffled closer towards the door, the shadowy movements of what was presumably the janitor coming to let us in having caught my eye.

Four hours later I walked out of the building, stiff in the back, but satisfied. Call me crazy, but I love standardized tests – I like knowing that someone's tried their hardest to trick me, and that I can overcome their petty obstacles. From the looks of the other people around me, however, I am still apparently alone in this enjoyment.

Most of the miserable seniors hustled out to their cars, complaining loudly about the test. Alone again, I leaned against a locker in the hallway to wait for Hannah, who had agreed to meet me at the school so we could walk to get pizza. I had pulled out my camera and was playing with the shutter settings when I spotted Nick walking out of a classroom through the viewfinder.

Quickly looking down, I made a show of putting the lens cap back on, hoping to avoid his notice, but to no avail. Nick came to a stop next to me, sighed, and muttered something under his breath so quickly that I wasn't sure I'd heard it, though it did sound suspiciously like 'Barbie'. Before I could take offense, he started to talk.

"So…you know the Misfits?"

I shrugged, not wanting to make eye contact, but at a loss for what else to adjust on my camera. I had to admit though; he had a lovely voice, a sort of Americanized British accent that was just barely noticeable.

He spoke again, this time with the smallest amount of irritation in his tone. "Well what kind of music do you listen to, then?"

I began to open my mouth when he interrupted me. "And if you tell me you mostly listen to stuff that's on MTV, I don't know if we can be friends." The corners of my mouth turned up; Collin had often expressed the same sentiment in a few of our exhaustive conversations.

Eventually I looked up, a tentative smile creeping around my lips. "You were right before; I don't listen to the Misfits. I much prefer NOFX." Nick's response was a short, surprised bark of laughter.

"I was a bit of an arse before, wasn't I? Had a bit of a fight with my mum this morning." Nick gestured to his eyebrow and smiled wryly. "She hates my new piercing."

"Whatever," I grinned at him, then just as quickly looked down, struggling to think of something else to say. After an almost long enough to be awkward pause, I noticed Hannah's bright blonde head outside the door. I gestured to her, only mildly curious as to how long I'd been ignoring her. "Well, I've got to go now, but I'll see you around?"

Nick turned towards where I'd pointed and chuckled at the sight of Hannah hopping up and down to stay warm. "No car?" he asked rhetorically. "Name your destination. I'll give you a ride if you'd like."

Swallowing down the 'fight or flight' instinct that had bubbled to the back of my throat, I considered his offer. Nick grasped my elbow before I had time to make up my mind and began to lead me outside. "Go ahead and say yes, Leia. You'll freeze before you get wherever you're headed, and it's not like I'm going to rape you."

His choice of words couldn't have been more ironic. My stomach felt like it was on a very small plane fighting its way through a turbulent thunderstorm.

As Nick guided me to the parking lot, I called Hannah over and made the requisite introductions. Not very subtly she caught my eye and winked. Hannah was between boyfriends, and Nick wasn't hard on the eyes, though I did wish he would have let go of my elbow.

One pepperoni and mushroom pizza later, I was ready to leave. I'd been uncharacteristically verbose at first; exclaiming my rapture over the perfect ratio of cheese to meat and fungi much to everyone's amusement, but had fallen silent when it became very obvious that my presence was more of a nuisance than anything else. There's nothing worse than feeling like the third wheel, and from the way Hannah and Nick were acting, it seemed inevitable for me to become the odd wheel out on their tricycle of love. I was internally debating with myself as to how rude it would be if I took a book out of the mini-library that I carried in my bag when the usually oblivious Hannah caught on that I was ready to go.

After we'd paid, Nick offered both of us a ride home, which Hannah eagerly accepted but I declined, ready for some solitude with my iPod and camera. As I slid out of the booth, he took advantage of my grown-too-long hair and tugged on it to get my attention.

"Can I get your phone number?" Nick asked, the small silver device already in his hand with his thumb poised expectantly.

I raised an eyebrow, and Nick chuckled.

"Oh, come on, Leia. I'll give you a call and we can do this again sometime."

I remained silent, mulling over what he said, while Hannah eagerly whipped out her own phone and demanded that they exchange their numbers too. When they had finished I turned again to leave, only to be caught again by Nick.

"What about your number? Or do I have to blackmail you to get it?"

I shrugged, trying not to laugh. Abrasive though he may be, I did find Nick funny. "I wouldn't go so far as to say blackmail, but maybe forceful persuasion would do the trick? Bribery never hurts either. And anyway, Hannah has your number. If I want to talk to you, I can just get it from her."

Wising up, I pulled my hair over one shoulder, a heavy brown rope, and slid away from him. As I walked away, I couldn't resist calling over my shoulder with a wink, "But don't worry, baby, I won't forget you."

The cold outside the door was like a slap to the face, but the sound of Nick's laugh followed me home.

A few months later, and exactly a week after my birthday, I was going through Hannah's phone on Friday after school, waiting for my incorrigible best friend in the gym while she served detention. As I scrolled through the contacts I noticed one labeled 'Nick Love' and rolled my eyes. Going on a whim, I pressed the green call button and waited to see if he'd pick up.

After three rings, he answered. "Hannah?"

I laughed, feeling playful. "Beeeep. Wrong answer. Care to guess again?"

"Hmm. What are the stakes of this game?" he hedged. "Why don't you tell me who I'm playing, and we'll see if I'm interested in going another round."

I pursed my lips while trying to think of something witty to reply with. "Here's a hint – make a list of the top ten coolest people you know, and I'll bet you I'm on it – in fact, I'm sure I'm in the top three."

On the other end of the line, I heard Nick sigh. "Well, that creates a problem."

"Really? And what is that?"

"Seeing as how I occupy the first seven spots on my list of cool people, and the remaining three are held by this awesome girl named Leia who never talks to me, that leaves me with a worthless clue."

I tried my best to keep a straight face, but my valiant efforts failed, and I burst out laughing. "How'd you know it was me? And if you tell me that my Boston accent gave it away, I will hang up right now, mister."

The conversation considered in a similar teasing vein for a few minutes, with me remembering exactly why I'd wanted to call in the first place. After a not entirely uncomfortable lull in the conversation, I spoke again.

"So, Nick, what are you doing toni-oof!" Suddenly a warm, slightly damp body slammed into my side. I turned to glare at Collin, who, by the smell, had just come from indoor track practice.

After making a few vaguely threatening gestures in his direction with my fist, I turned my attention back to Nick, who was concerned that I was getting mugged. I reassured him that I was in no danger from human hooligans but instead was being attacked by the evil B.O. monster. Collin gave me a dirty look and stalked off, hopefully to the showers, and I returned to the question I'd been about to ask Nick.

"Anyway, what are you up to tonight? Do you want to hang out?" I asked.

Nick made a noncommittal noise. "I don't know if I can."

I started to respond and tell him that I didn't mind, that we would hang out another time when he interrupted me.

"Remember that girl I was telling you about? The one who never spoke to me? Well she just called and wants to hang out, and I can't say no, because I'm sure she'll never invite me again…"

Nick trailed off and I rolled my eyes, though I knew full well that he couldn't see them.

"Nick, my boy, you are a tool. And I'll see you at my house at seven." With that, I hung up and turned my attention back to my Latin homework that I'd been neglecting.

A half-hour of Latin verb conjugations later – "O or M, S, T, Mus, Tis, and Nt" – Hannah materialized at my side. I returned her phone and told her of the plans for the night; unfortunately she'd been grounded for her latest misdemeanor, but she did all but extract a blood oath that I would tell Nick she said hi. Soon enough Collin re-emerged, still warm but a little damper, and I walked with him out to his battered car – affectionately named 'the Stinker' not only because of its appearance, but also because the smell radiating from the backseat where Collin kept his rarely-washed track uniforms was hardly strawberries and champagne.

We chatted lightly until it came time to compete for control over the heating vents, when it became an all men for themselves battle. Per usual I won, with my girlish but effective cheating methods of hair pulling and biting. When Collin was done sulking, I started the conversation again.

"So, I invited someone to hang out with us tonight."

Collin's jaw dropped, and when he turned to stare incredulously at me, he nearly drove off the road.

I shrugged and turned to look out the window, biting on my ring finger nail. "It's not that big of a deal, Collin. He's just a guy I know because of my parents."

When the driver's side seat still remained silent, I tried again.

"C'mon. Nick has great taste in music." I said, knowing that the only way to sell Collin on anyone was by the contents of their iPod.

We pulled up to my house, without Collin having said a word yet. In desperation, I turned to him, knowing that there was only an hour between us and Nick's arrival.

"Seriously, are you really that upset about this? Why is it such a big deal that I've invited someone to hang out with us? You have no reason to be this angry, you know."

Collin turned to me, with a surprised look on his face. "You think I'm mad?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Uhh, sulking in silence, check. Ignoring me, check. I know I'm more of a Watson than a Sherlock like yourself, but it doesn't take that big of a genius…"

Collin chuckled. "I'm not mad…I'm just surprised, I guess."

My turn to look startled rolled around, and I raised my eyebrows. "Surprised by what? I'm not socially retarded or anything. I can make friends too, you know." I made the effort to laugh, but we could both tell it was half-hearted.

He shifted from one foot to another, and back again, the way he did when he was nervous. "Well, I mean, I'm just used to you only really talking to me, and Hannah, and your brother in school."

I didn't say anything, and Collin tried again. "Leia, after that party, you –" He broke off, and I couldn't have been gladder. He'd pestered me a few times after we'd first talked in the pool about what happened, but I'd never said a word, truthfully because I didn't know. And because I didn't want to.

I wanted to shout at him, to tell him to stop talking, to tell him that I'd try harder to make more friends, to tell him that he didn't have to protect me. A smaller part of me wanted to cry, and confess that I was scared. Thankfully my jaw seized up and my throat got tight and I was able to keep it all inside of me.

Collin had just opened his mouth again when the doorbell rang, and silently I moved to answer it. Nick peeked his head it.

"Wow, Leia, nice digs. Sorry I'm early, but to make up, I brought chips!" He flourished a bag of sour cream and onion chips in his right hand and moved to pass me, but stopped at the last minute.

Gently he poked my nose, and with a considering gaze, he asked, "Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? You've got the face it'd look good on."

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Ok so I know it's been a while, and I know that was a weird place to end the chapter, but I promise there's some method to my madness.

Maybe.

Or maybe not. You'll never know unless you review because then it'll take me another few months to update…