Lindsay came in early to school on day, to work on her homework. Extremely tired and out of things, she trudged up the stairs and down the hallway to her locker. It was then that she noticed just how quiet the school was without kids in it. Pausing to take in the moment, Lindsay breathed in and out slowly.

Suddenly, she heard a noise. What was it? It sounded like someone gasping for air. Frightened and worried, Lindsay followed the noise to Mr. Kowchevski's room. Why would anyone be in here, she thought. She stood on her tip toes and peaked her head through the window, brushing her already tangled brown locks out of her face. Who was that? Was that…

"Daniel?" She whispered to herself, musing. His head was slumped, his shoulders matching. Lindsay felt awkward already, but she knew she had to go in and see what was wrong. She felt she had to be a good friend at a time like this.

Slowly, Lindsay creaked open the door. "D-Daniel?" she stuttered, embarrassed at how nervous she was. It was just Daniel, why did she feel like this? Her stomach was jumping; her face as calm as a river.

His head leaped up. She noticed it was red, especially around his eyes.

Lindsay sighed. "Oh. You're just getting high." Disgusted, Lindsay turned to leave.

"N-no." The voice was so small and meak Lindsay barely heard it, let alone matched it to Daniel.

She turned back around, eyebrows furrowed. "What? You're not high?"

He shook his head. "Naw, Lindsay, I'm not." He seemed offended. Well, this was new, Lindsay thought. He never got offended because of drugs, Daniel was always proud of his smoking and drinking skills.

"So…why are you here?" She didn't seem angry, just curious.

He shrugged. "I – I don't know. Mr. Cowchevski made me come in. You know. For math and stuff." He sniffed and looked away from her.

"Oh..ok. Well I really have to go finish some homework. I just came in here cuz, uh, it kind of sounded like someone couldn't breathe in here." This reminded her of her original point. "Wait, was that you?"

Daniel shook his head no, but his face turned bright red. "No, I dunno where that came from." He bit his lip.

Something wasn't right. "Daniel? Are you – sure you're okay?" Lindsay asked. She knew, from the math tutoring incident, that it took more than one try to get Daniel to talk.

He finally gave in. He buried his head in his arms, on his desk, and began to sob. At first, Lindsay was startled. Then she assumed he was fooling her, after all he'd done this type of thing before.

To brighten the mood, Lindsay broke out into her loud, obnoxious cackle, hoping Daniel would join in. But as she laughed, he raised his head to look at her; it was red and tear streaked, and he did not look happy.

"What the hell?" That was all he said before he got up and headed for the door, anger radiating off of him as he walked.

"What? No, wait, Daniel, I'm sorry, I thought you were kid-"

The door slammed before Lindsay could even finish her sentence.

All day, Lindsay could only think about Daniel. Why was he crying? Why had she laughed at him? Lindsay felt so terrible she could barely speak to anyone that day. During lunch, Kim tried to invite Lindsay to hang out after school.

"Hey! Hey Braniac!" She snorted, laughing at her own joke.

Lindsay suddenly snapped out of it. "What? Oh, sorry! I'm kinda preoccupied, sorry Kim."

"Well get unoccupied and listen to me, Lindsay. I asked if you wanna hang with us tonight at Nick's." She dangled a piece of spaghetti over her mouth grotesquely for a few seconds before chomping down on it.

"Us?" The first thing that came to Lindsay's mind, of course, was Daniel. "So, you, Nick, Daniel, Ken, me…"

Kim wrinkled her forehead. "Uh, yeah, brain, who else would come?" She laughed again, obnoxiously, which just reminded Lindsay of her flamboyant laugh earlier than day. She shuddered at the thought of it.

"Speaking of Daniel, where is that loser?" Kim finished off Lindsay's lunch and got up, almost tripped over her feet. She hurried away, probably to the patio, Lindsay thought. She then decided to go get some lunch for herself, seeing as Kim ate it all in five seconds flat.

As she was in line, Lindsay scanned the room for the hundredth time that day for Daniel. I guess he's on the patio then, she thought.

"Ow!" Someone stepped on Lindsay's foot at that moment; she jumped back as a reflex. When she turned, though, the person was walking away. "No, that's ok," she said sarcastically under her breath, "just walk away after you step on me."

He turned. It was Daniel.

"Oh. H-hey, Daniel." Shit, she thought. What do I do now??

But he just smiled politely and quickly walked away. No apology, nothing.

Even more disappointed in herself now, Lindsay wondered how she was going to get through the rest of the day.

Finally, last period was over. Lindsay headed to her locker, shoulders slumped. She had just about given up when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around.

"H-hey, Lindsay." He said shyly. "Uh, can I – can I talk to you for a minute before you leave?"

She swallowed nervously. "Sure. Yeah, sure. Let me just…" She paused, debating. "Let's talk now, ok?"

He nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, ok." He led them to an empty stairwell, and they walked under it, to the corner. Lindsay wondered if she should sit down.

"So, I've been…meaning to talk to you." He seemed really nervous, which was unusual for him.

"Oh?" She was surprised. Lindsay really wanted to know about the crying. But she decided it had something to do with what Daniel was about to tell her.

"Um, ok. So like, this morning. I was, uh, well…Kimbrokeupwithme." He gulped, steadying his breath.

Lindsay really didn't see the problem. "But…doesn't she always? And you always get back together." Something wasn't right. "Daniel, you know you can tell me the truth. Right?"

He was trying so hard not to cry now, Lindsay could tell. Looking away from her, he sniffed and said quietly, "My – grandma died."

Lindsay gasped. "Oh, Daniel, I'm – I'm so sorry!" She knew, from experience, how shitty he must be feeling. Without even thinking Lindsay threw her arms around Daniel. At first, he seemed surprised, but then he returned the hug, silently sobbing.

When she let go, they sat in silence for a few minutes. No awkwardness; Lindsay just wanted to wait until Daniel was okay.

Finally, he turned to her with a small smile, and said very genuinely, "Thanks, Lindsay."

"No problem," she said casually, liking him more every second. Crap, she thought, he's dating Kim, so don't even think about it. "So," she said aloud, "are you…ready to go back or…"

He bit his lip.

"I mean, if you aren't it's totally okay, really. I'll – stay here with you." She smiled at him.

"You don't have to," he replied, looking at his feet. "I don't wanna hold you up."

She shrugged. "I don't have anywhere to be. Really, I don't mind."

He looked at her; she could tell he was really looking. After a minute he said gently, "Lindsay, you're amazing." He then grinned, something that relieved Lindsay so much: He was okay. That perfectly adorable grin sent sparks threw Lindsay's entire body, she wanted him so badly now.

"You're – even more amazing." Oh god, how lame, she thought.

"Naw," he shook his head, that sexy grin still plastered to his face, "not possible." He then leaned in, ever so casually, and gently kissed Lindsay on the lips.

She returned the kiss instantly, then pulled away. "Daniel." She hated to say it, but… "Kim?"

He shook his head. "We've been over for a while now, Lindsay. Come on, keep up." There it was again, that spectacular grin.

But this time, as the sparks flew throughout Lindsay's body, they were satisfied with another perfect kiss from Daniel.