Title: Love is Blind

Author: Sugar Coated Goodbyes

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU. Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes are best friends. However, when Nick finds out about the plans Sara's new boyfriend has, can he save her before it's too late?

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Sixteen-year-old Sara Sidle stared warily out the window of her foster family's '81 Lincoln into the crowd of high school students that had gathered in front of the school's large, stone steps. They were probably talking to their friends about their summer. Sara Sidle envied them. She would not be talking to her friends today. No, today she would be trying to survive her first day in a new school, in a new state.

"You'll do fine." Her foster mother put a comforting arm around Sara's shoulder and she resisted the urge to shrug it off.

Sara did not believe she would do fine. 'You'll change your mind. You'll love Texas.' She had been in Texas for three weeks and she still longed for California. She longed for the days she would sit with her best friend Bridget, talking about everything they could think of. She hated Texas and she doubted that anything would change her mind. Upon hearing the bell ring, Sara shrugged her foster mother's arm off her shoulder. "Bye."

"Bye sweetie. Have a nice day. Try to make new friends."

The emphasis on the last sentence annoyed Sara. She shut the door and tried to walk it off as she made her way to her homeroom. I don't want to make new friends. I want to go back to California. I want to go back to my old friends. By the time she got to her homeroom, her mood had not improved. If anything, she was angrier than she was just ten minutes earlier. She sat down at a desk in the back of the room and put her head down. She didn't want to make a bad impression on her first day.

"Hey that's my seat." she looked up to see a petite bottle-blond staring down at her.

"That's funny, I don't see your name on it."

She heard gasps from the class. However, she had no time to ask as the teacher came in the room just at that moment.

"Miss Hughes, please sit down." The teacher said. The girl did so, but not before shooting Sara a glare. After the teacher had finished taking attendance, Sara turned to the girl that sat behind her.

"What was all that about?"

"What do you mean?" the girl asked, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"I mean before."

"Oh, you mean with Gretchen Hughes?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sara asked, confused. "Why is everyone so afraid of her? I mean, all I did-"

"Gretchen Hughes is a cheerleader, her dad is one of the school's biggest benefactors. She could commit murder and no one would do anything." There was a hint of bitterness in the girl's voice but Sara didn't push it any further. "I'm Sharon, by the way."

"Sara." She flashed a smile. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad after all.

The bell rang and Sara looked at her schedule. Biology, room 2.

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Sara had gotten through the first half of the day without no problems aside from her confrontation with Gretchen Hughes. She still couldn't understand why everyone was so scared of her. She wasn't all that intimidating. She was short, maybe 5'4. And thin. But, she had more important matters at the moment…like where she was going to sit.
The cafeteria was a crowded room with about twenty tables, with seated four people each. It seemed as though each table had at least on person sitting at it, and nobody she knew. She sighed, maybe a table would become empty by the time she got her lunch. However, she discovered, she was wrong.

As she walked out of the kitchen area, it became apparent that no table was going to empty out. She sighed as she finally found relief in the form of a phone booth.

She sat down on the small stool and placed her lunch in her lap. She took a few bites of salad but she wasn't very hungry. She rested her head against the cool glass. She heard someone knock on the door of the phone booth. What now?

"I need to make a phone call." She looked up and saw a cute guy with gorgeous dark eyes staring at her.

"And I need a place to eat." She said with mock sweetness.

"Why don't you sit at a table?"

"Because, Sherlock Holmes, every table is full. I am new, and therefore have no friends."

"Why not sit with me?" he smiled and Sara doubted she had ever seen a sexier smile.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, I need to make a phone call. You need a place to sit. This way, we both get what we need. I'm Nick."

"I'm Sara." She smiled, happy not to have to sit in a phone booth for the rest of the period.

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"So, what's your next class?" Nick asked Sara as she ate another French fry.

"Honors English."

"Mr. Richards?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. You'll love his class."

"Why's that?" She was intrigued.

"It's really challenging. My sister took it last year, nearly failed the first grading period too. Dad wasn't too happy about that." She looked at him. "Don't worry. The only reason she almost failed was because she didn't finish her summer reading. Did you finish yours?"

"Yeah. I did mine in June."

They began talking about their schoolwork and the period flew by. Sara was disappointed when the bell rang, she was really beginning to like Nick.

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