"Hey, man, could you loosen the grip a little bit? It's not like I'm trying to run away or anything!"

"You watch your tone, kid. You're in big trouble."

Griffin sighed. Seriously, they should have the owner of the bike arrested for being stupid enough to leave the keys in the ignition instead of him, for borrowing it - not that he expected anyone to agree with him, of course.

The cop stopped in front of an apartment door on the eighth floor.

"Your best hope is that they don't press charges, but I wouldn't count on it" he said as he knocked on the door.

A very loud, tall dude answered. Griffin didn't really pay much attention to the conversation that followed, but from what he heard, he could only come to the conclusion that this guy was pretty daft. He tried to argue his way out by explaining he never meant to steal it, but, as expected, that didn't really stick. He started to imagine the load of crap he'd have to put up with from his mother - "we just moved in and you've already gotten into trouble!" "what will the neighbors think?" "no more pudding for you, mister!". Boooring.

Suddenly, a much higher-pitched voice joined the conversation, catching his attention. Wait, who was the cute girl? She seemed angry; apparently, she wanted him arrested.

Too bad they didn't get off on the right foot.

However, against all odds, Tall Loud Dude said five magic words: "You can let him go"

Cute Girl threw a tantrum. She'd be a tough nut to crack, but he had to give it a shot, he just hadto - it was against his principles to walk out on a cute girl.

So, when the cop left, he didn't go home: he turned back and tried to make some small talk. She was still pretty pissed, but Tall Loud Dude (what was he, her dad? Seemed way too young for it) started talking to him. Okay, he'd have to wing it. He engaged in a conversation with the guy to buy himself some time.

Griffin was as charming as he could be, but nothing seemed to work. He was close to giving up when, once again, against all odds, her... uncle? Okay, he'd have to find that out. But, anyway, Tall Loud Dude actually invited him to come over and help him work on a sculpture, which was probably the most boring thing he could think of doing after school, but, hey, it counted as progress, right? Who knows, maybe she would cool off after sleeping on it.

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It had been almost an hour and she still hadn't showed up. Spencer (he finally learned his name) spent most of that time telling him about the wonders of sculpting - Griffin had to focus really hard not to fall asleep. Then they went around as Spencer showed him some of his work. It wasn't such a waste of time, however, since Griffin did manage to get some information out of him. He learned that Cute Girl was Spencer's sister and he had been her guardian ever since their dad, who was in the army, went off on some crazy expedition thing. Cute Girl even had a real name, now: Carly. He liked it.

"Okay, so now... WE SCULPT!" Spencer announced, very excited. They had to carry a large metal cube and place it on top of a platform.

"So now what?" This was Griffin trying to show some interest. Spencer was weird, but he had been nothing but nice to him, from letting him off the hook with the bike thing to actually wasting time trying to teach him something.

Spencer pointed at two huge hammers and told him to take one. Wow, sculpting might actually turn out to be fun! Just as he was starting to get into it, however, Cute... no, wait, Carly walked in with a friend. Still cute.

Unfortunately, still pissed, too. She was clearly not happy to see Griffin in her apartment. She and Spencer had a private talk, while Griffin tried to eavesdrop (he was only human!). Spencer assigned him a task and said he'd be back soon. Did that mean he'd be alone with Carly? No, he'd forgotten about the friend. Third wheel much? Anyway, maybe she wouldn't be so harsh on him with someone else around.

His plans went down the drain when he noticed they were going upstairs.

"Hey, aren't you gonna stay here?"

He swore the look she gave him could've burned his skin.

"We have to study. Try not to make too much noise, will you?"

Griffin smiled to himself. He knew exactly what to do to get her to come down.

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"Wendy, I'm so sorry!"

Wendy seemed upset and shot him a glare as she said "It's cool, I know it's not your fault, Carls. See you tomorrow!"

Carly shut the door and gave him a vicious look.

"Are you pleased with yourself?"

Considering he managed to be alone in the apartment with the cute girl he met the day before, yes, he was, thanks for asking. Not that he would answer that,
of course.

"Listen, I didn't think it would distu..." he didn't get to finish the sentence; she was already throwing rocks at him. Metaphorically. At least for now. He started to wonder if she could lift one of those hammers he and Spencer had used earlier.

"Oh, really? Didn't my screaming "TURN IT DOWN" give you anyhint?!"

"Geez, relax, a little bit of music never hurt anybody!"

If he thought the look she gave him before could burn his skin, this one definitely had the power to punch a hole in it. She didn't even bother to respond; instead, she walked over to the kitchen to get a drink. This was going to be harder than he anticipated.

"Listen, Carly..."

She looked surprised.

"How do know my name? I never told you my name."

"But your brother did."

"Whatever."

"You know, scientists say that music helps develop the brain. They did this experiment with babies and made them listen to Mozart and then..."

"Why are you still talking to me?" she inquired, in sarcastic disbelief.

They sat in awkward silence for a couple of minutes (although it felt more like a couple of hours). Griffin wasn't sure if he should just get up and leave. He should wait for Spencer, right? He'd been gone for a while and would probably be back any minute.

Or maybe he should just admit he hadn't quite given up. After all, if the girl was so mad at him, why was she still sitting there? This was her home, she could kick him out if she wanted to. Or just get up and go to her room. His gut told him he might still have a chance.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry, you know? I didn't mean to make your friend leave", he flat out lied. "If you want, I can leave so you'll be able to study. I'll call Spencer and..."

"Nevermind, I don't feel like studying anymore"

She sounded... calmer. She wasn't particularly nice or anything (she didn't even bother to look him in the eye), but he was no longer afraid of getting hit in the head with a hammer.

This was it. All or nothing.

"So... do you mind if I put on some music?"

He regretted it as soon as the words came out of his mouth. She didn't seem to like the music before, why would she like it now? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"I guess not" she said with a shrug. Wait, what? 'Don't ask too many questions!' he could hear his conscience whispering in the back of his mind.

"Ahh... okay, cool"

He picked a song and it played for less than 10 seconds before Carly choked on her drink.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" she replied, a little watery-eyed from coughing. "You like 'The Shins'?!" she asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yes, they're awesome!" he sort of laughed as he said it. She looked even cuter when she wasn't trying to turn him into stone.

"They're like... my favorite band ever. Ever" She stated.

Had he just fallen in love?

"You know, I... I was at their concert a couple of weeks ago."

"God, I'm jealous! They were in Seattle a few months ago, but Spencer wouldn't let me go"

"Why not?"

"Because none of my friends would go with me and apparently it wasn't safe for me to go alone"

"Well, in that case, you need to make some new friends"

"Yeah, I'll put up flyers: must like 'The Shins'" she said, sarcastically.

He laughed.

"Not a bad idea!"

The atmosphere was considerably lighter in the room, but another awkward silence set in.

"So... couldn't your boyfriend take you or something?" Okay, fine: subtlety was hardly one of Griffin's qualities, but he had to know.

Carly cocked her head to the side, looking slightly suspicious, but she chose not to comment on it.

"Well, he would have to exist first" she said. Emphasis on "exist".

Well, someone would have to change that, wouldn't they?

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Spencer had been gone for almost an hour and Griffin should probably worry, but, in all honesty, he was glad. Carly was sitting next to him on the couch and they had been talking. Normally, you know, without any death threats. She was way cooler than he imagined. And God, he was dying to kiss her. But he didn't want to scare her off - after all, this was a girl who wanted him arrested less than 24 hours ago. He wasn't going to push his luck. No, sir. Great things take time. He had to get her to meet him halfway. In this case, literally. Their heads were about 6 inches away, according to his latest estimate.

She pointed at the bruise on his arm.

"How did you get that?"

"I, erm, got into a fight. Some guy in my class was making fun of my little brother, so..."

She lifted her eyebrows.

"That is... both right and wrong. I can't make up my mind!"

"Ha, see, I'm not all bad!"

"No... I guess not"

She blushed and looked away. Griffin had an entirely new definition of "cute" now. He had to muster all the self control he could find in him not to kiss her right
there. But he did move a little closer, as subtly as possible. Silently, he thanked the Gods of the Shuffle Playlist for arranging a sequence of decent songs. Not all of them were necessarily romantic, but at least none had ruined the moment.

His musical wonderings were interrupted when he felt a pair of lips brush up against his.

Bingo!

Before he knew it, he was already making plans to show her his Peewee babies collection. She'd love them!

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A/N: If you don't know/like The Shins, don't talk to me.