At first, it seemed like her dreams had come true.

Nick was desperate, and he really needed her help. And Sara gave him her support. It was evident that he had a broken heart, but Sara didn't mind. Nick wanted to forget his crush, and she helped him with it. Sara imagined Nick as an ancient marble column, severely damaged by barbarians. And she would be a vine which covered his injuries and protected him from all the dangers of the world.

It was hard, but it worked. Slowly, step by step, Sara and Nick overcame most of their difficulties. He flushed all of his weed, and Sara spent all her free time trying to help Nick to improve his grades. And then she insisted on dancing. Sara knew how rhythmic music and movements could cure unrequited love, and she was happy that Nick did his best. Of course, he spoke about Lindsay Weir, more than he should, but old flames die hard. Sara knew she should be patient even if it was annoying.

When his burn-out buddies found out about their relationship, Sara was freaked out a little. She didn't like them (she thought they didn't deserve such a great guy like Nick), but they paid her back double. Sara felt her skin crawl at their contempt, no matter how hard she tried to be nice to them. But Nick stood by her, this time he protected her from his friends. When he did that, she wanted to weep for joy, but she only squeezed Nick's hand tight.

And then there was a moment of truth. One of Nick's freak friends, Kenneth, with that Lindsay Weir, tried to crash the disco competition. "Why did they want to ruin everything they don't understand?" she thought with resentment. Security quickly withdrew the troublemaker from the hall, but Lindsay stayed. Sara watched her speak to Nick, although she didn't hear any word of their conversation. Her heart skipped a beat. Would he stay with her or would he go with Lindsay?

Nick stayed with her. Lindsay pretended to be cool, but Sara noticed she was hurt. Did Nick say he didn't need her anymore? She smiled peacefully because Nick's affection for Weir had passed at last. Now it was only her and Nick. And disco, of course.

But Sara was mistaken. The next day she noticed that something changed in Nick. He looked distracted and depressed. She thought he felt terrible because of losing the competition and tried to cheer him up, but he just avoided her. Nick used to share his doubts and thoughts with her, but now he just closed himself off from everyone (she knew it wasn't just her, noticing as he ignored his friends as well). Sara didn't understand what had happened but she still felt guilty, like she had done something to cause it.

She realized what had happened a few days later when she had heard about the summit at U of M. Lindsay Weir left town, and she wouldn't return for two weeks. So Nick didn't have to pretend to be in love with someone else. And this meant...

"This means he doesn't love me. This means he's just using me to make her jealous. This means he's trying to get her back."

For the next two days, Sara woke up and fell asleep with tears. She couldn't believe how much he had betrayed her. Sara liked Nick so much; he was such a sweet and kind guy, he had a heart of gold. Sometimes Sara thought she was almost ready to sleep with him. How could Nick be so cruel to her? He couldn't! Sara tried to find something that could prove she was misunderstanding what was happening. She recalled all of his words to her, all of his actions and kisses. Did they all mean nothing?

"But he changed so much with me, and for me," Sara thought with slight hope. "His grades were awful, he smoked too much, and he wasted his life on meaningless things... like drumming or hanging out with his freak friends. And now..."

"And now he's better fit to be with perfect and flawless Lindsay Weir." Her hope died.

But then Sara felt something new - rage. A boiling wave rose inside of her, pushing her to destroy everything and everyone. Did Nick hurt her? Yes. So, it would be fair if Sara did the same. Oh, she would be a perfect girlfriend, so Nick couldn't find a reason to broke up with her. And she would separate him from all his friends so he would feel total loneliness. And then, last but not least, she would meet with his father. The two of them would persuade Nick to join the army, eventually. It was for his own good.

Oh, and Lindsay Weir. Sara smiled vindictively. She had heard odd rumors about one smart girl from McKinley who had run away with some hippies. She wondered if Mr. and. Mrs. Weir had heard something about that? It would certainly be interesting if they had.

Sara's tears dried up at last.