"Who's the new girl?" Deeks asks, nodding towards the table a mere forty feet away.
"Oh, her?" His friend Josh points one finger in her immediate direction.
"I think her name is Kensi… It's her first day. I don't know much about her though- someone said that her dad's in the military, and that's why she switched schools? I'm not totally sure though."
"She's pretty," Deeks adds, unable to pull his eyes away from her.
Okay, maybe pretty is an understatement.
She's beautiful, with long brown hair and two different colored eyes that he can spot from a mile away. She's playing with her food, not really consuming it. Must have high standards.
He can deal with that.
He's never seen her around before, but it doesn't even matter. The girl is clearly new, solely judging by the way she's sitting completely alone. He hates it, really.
She's beautiful, graceful and angelic. She doesn't deserve to be sitting by herself.
So he's not gonna let her.
"Deeks, dude, what are you…?"
He grabs his tray, standing up and walking away from the table without a single word.
"Hi."
Kensi's eyes shoot upwards, her heart skipping a beat as she evaluates the boy standing in front of her.
Damn, he's gorgeous. Tan, muscular, with baby blue eyes that look just like the sunny, California sky.
"Um… hi."
He smiles at her awkwardness. The expression is cheeky and more than a little flirtatious.
"Can I sit?"
She nods furiously, sitting up tall.
"Er, yeah! Sure."
Her eyes don't leave his face as he maneuvers over the bench, sitting down with an unparalleled fluidity.
God, could he be a surfer? I think he's a surfer. He's super tan like a surfer.
"What's your name?" He asks, interrupting her thoughts. Deeks knows the answer, but his momma taught him to ask the question regardless. Be a gentleman.
"Kensi," she states simply.
He nods. "I'm Marty. Everyone just calls me Deeks though."
"What's a Deek?"
That produced another smile. She almost fainted.
"My last name."
She nods slowly, allowing herself to grin just slightly. "Right. Got it."
"So is Kensi short for anything?"
"Nope. Just… Kensi."
There's a brief silence.
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."
Ohhhhh. So he's a flirt.
"Thanks," Kensi mutters, her cheeks flushing pink.
He lowers his head down slightly, hoping to meet her eye line. "What's your next class?"
"Um…"
She rotates around quickly, pulling a wrinkled sheet of paper from the front zipper of her backpack.
"After lunch… I have chemistry."
His eyes light up. This might just be his lucky day.
"Same, actually."
Kensi has yet to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
She thinks she likes him. He seems sweet enough.
For some reason though, she has this odd inkling that he may start to drive her crazy at any given moment.
"You wanna get out of here?" He asks suddenly, a tiny grin tugging at his features.
She sits up straight, swallowing hard. "What?"
Deeks rolls his eyes, chuckling quietly. "I'm not asking to go make out under the bleachers, princess. I'm asking if you wanna walk around outside until lunch is over."
He points to her food. "You don't really seem to be enjoying that."
She ignores his use of the word princess, and grins. "It's revolting."
"My point exactly."
Kensi sighs. "Fine. Lead the way."
He winks, spinning around and jogging towards the front door. His group of friends all widen their eyes as the two of them pass, Deeks smirking in their direction. Josh gives him a discreet thumbs up, one that Kensi is completely oblivious to.
"So… why did you move schools?" He asks as they walk through the corridors, passing wall after wall of lockers.
She fidgets with the books in her hands, holding them tightly against her chest. "My dad's in the military. We move around a lot."
"That sucks. I'm sorry."
The words are surprisingly sweet. Kensi would never have expected something like that coming from him, but she got it nonetheless.
"Oh. Thanks."
She just keeps on walking, her eyes glued to the bleached floors. Deeks pushes the door open for her, allowing Kensi to exit in front of her.
She mumbles a quiet thank you, stepping out into the midday sun.
Regaining some of her confidence, Kensi decides it's best to break the silence. "It's gorgeous out here."
He smiles. "Just like you. A little breath of fresh air."
Normally she'd laugh, or make some snide remark. It is a rather lame pickup line.
But he's giving her this tiny crooked smile, and for some reason it seems that no words can pass her lips.
Hell, she's almost feeling lightheaded.
Kensi tries to plant one foot in front of the other, but her eyes aren't watching the ground in front of her, they're too stuck on his features. She trips over something, falling down but catching herself on her palms.
Cursing quietly under her breath Kensi makes a fleeting attempt to stand up, just so she can run away and never ever see this gorgeous boy again, the one whole she just humiliated herself in front of on the very first day of school.
He's not quite as quick to let her go, though.
"Are you alright?"
Deeks kneels down beside her, placing one hand on her shoulder while using the other to pick up her books.
"I'm fine."
He doesn't believe her. "You know, people only say they're fine when they aren't actually fine."
She grins. It seems Deeks already knows her pretty damn well.
"Okay then. Gimme a hand?"
He stands, pulling Kensi to her feet.
"What did I trip over anyways?" She asks, her eyes tracing over the ground. A smashed plant sat on her left.
She'd stopped walking in a straight line and run directly into a fern on her very first day. Of course.
"Those plants can be tricky little bastards," he says as she continues brushing herself off.
"I tripped."
She thought about tacking the word 'ass' onto her statement, but assumed it was a bit too soon.
Maybe next week.
"Yeah, over a fern."
Kensi rolls her eyes. "Shut it."
"That's your new nickname, by the way."
She lifts her eyes, puzzled. "Shut it?"
He chuckles. "No, no. Fern."
She snorts. "Don't you dare call me Fern."
The bell rings, catching them both off guard.
"Sorry, but I like it. Seems fitting."
He quickly starts walking away, still holding her books and bracing for some sort of a slap or punch. She seems like the girl who wouldn't hesitate to beat him up at a moments notice.
"Deeeeeks!" Kensi growls, both feet planted to the ground.
He spins around and grins, walking backwards.
"Come along, Fern. Don't make your new chem partner late for class."