Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm not a regular on the Everwood fanfic link of ff.net, but I'm a big fan of the show and I really felt bad for Colin. SO, here's my first Everwood fanfic! It takes place after "Price of Fame." Please read/review, I really appreciate it. And I'll try to read some of your fanfic to spread the support! Hope you enjoy!

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She had to give the people of Everwood credit, they didn't false advertise. It was just as freezing there as the pictures made it look. Dirty snow littered the ground. She trudged to school, what a joke. She cursed her parents for making her move there, she cursed herself for giving them a reason to uproot her and ship her here. She was officially in the middle of nowhere.

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"Class, we have a new student. Meet Alex Nasagawa," his history teacher said. God, what was his teacher's name again? Colin shook his head and looked up, expecting to see a nerdy looking Asian boy with thick glasses.

He was mistaken. In front of the class stood an Asian girl, medium height, with hair almost the shade of Ephram's hair. She was very pretty, at least Colin thought so.

"Hey, the chick's got hair like Ephram's, what a freak," Bright commented to a buddy next to him. Bright's friend's name was Charlie, right? Colin thought. Bright sat in front of Colin and Charlie sat to Bright's right.

Colin disagreed anyhow, the dark purple-red color suited her very nicely.

"Alex is from Los Angeles," his history teacher added.

The class did not seem interested in the new student. Colin could tell that Alex did not enjoy being in front of an entire class of strangers.

"Hey, did you see any movie stars?" Charlie asked cockily.

Alex turned her attention to him. "Do you know Julia Roberts?" Alex asked thoughtfully.

The boy became very interested. "Yeah..." he replied excitedly.

"Really? Cause I don't, do you have her number?" Alex replied.

Colin and a few other students laughed heartily at her comment. Bright and Charlie just sneered. The history teacher frowned.

"That's enough class. Alex, take the seat in the back corner, to the right of Colin," the history teacher said pointing to a rather attractive boy in the back.

Alex made her way to the back and sat down, never turning to Colin or anyone else while the teacher lectured.

Colin was intrigued - she was new, she didn't know him. But he had Amy, right? Well, he was supposed to be with Amy, if only he could remember why he cared so much about her. She was nice, granted, but anxious. That freaked Colin out at times. What would be the harm in adding another friend?

When the teacher had finished her lecture, there was still fifteen minutes left in the period which she gave to the class as free time. As Bright, Charlie and some of his other "friends" talked about the Lakers' recent comeback, Colin turned to Alex.

"Excuse me, can you tell me what was the last thing the teacher said? About the grandfather clauses?" he asked her politely.

Alex looked up. Colin had amazing blue eyes. "Oh, um, people were only allowed to vote if their grandfathers could have voted. Since the grandfathers to the African-Americans were not allowed to vote, being slaves, they in turn were not allowed to vote," Alex explained.

"Right, thanks," Colin replied, trying vainly to write all Alex had said with his left hand. He really wanted his right hand back, he must have been right handed before.

Alex watched him struggle. "Did you break your arm playing sports or something?" she asked casually.

Colin didn't want to tell her the truth. "Something like that," he replied. "I'm right-handed, can you tell?" he added, smiling.

Alex smiled in return. "Here, lemme show you how to hold your pen with your left hand. I'm left-handed."

"Okay," Colin replied.

She placed a pen in her hand. "It helps it you don't grab it like you would a knife. Rest the pen on your middle finger and thumb on the front of the pen. And then the index finger goes here," she said, showing him her hand. Colin tried to mimic her, but couldn't. "Here," she said, placing the pen in his hand, moving his fingers to loosely hold it in place. He liked her touch. Both were oblivious to the stares and whispers they were attracting from the rest of the class. "Try writing," she said.

He tried, it was easier, but not very legible. He laughed, "Guess I'm not ambidextrous."

She shrugged. "It's all good," she replied, smiling.

"I'm Colin," Colin said.

"Alex."

"Is that your real name?"

"Alexis is my real name, but I like Alex more," Alex replied.

"Why?"

She thought about it. "Don't really know..."

The bell rang and the class got up and began filing out of the room.

"So, what do you have next?" Colin asked.

"English," Alex replied.

"Same here. Wanna walk together?" he asked.

"Um...I think they want you," Alex said, pointing to group of guys wearing the same Miners jacket Collin was wearing.

"Colin, c'mon man!" Bright called to him.

"You should get going," Alex said.

"Will you find the class okay? I don't mind walking with you," Colin said.

"You might not mind, but I think they will. I pissed off that Neanderthal looking one already," Kris said, looking at Charlie. "I'll be fine, thanks," she added, walking off.

Colin smirked. Charlie did look like a Neanderthal.

"Hey, why are you wasting your time with that chick?" Charlie asked as they made their way to English class.

Colin shrugged. He didn't like the fact that his group of supposed friends were so close minded. Was he like this before the accident? If he was, he didn't like it at all. His friends seemed to think they ruled the school, which was really arrogant. Colin just didn't feel like he belonged.

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He watched her eating lunch all alone with a book in front of her. She was so engrossed in what she was reading that she didn't even notice when a girl slipped and fell, spilling the contents of her lunch on herself. She was crying and throwing a fit practically in front of Alex, something about her shirt being brand new, but Alex didn't even look up. Colin chuckled lightly.

"Colin? Are you listening to me?" Amy asked, looking at him.

He turned he attention to her. She had been speaking? "Uh, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Amy frowned, turning around to see what Colin had been looking at. "Who is she?" she asked, a little angry.

"Oh, um, Alex. She's new," Colin said, taking a bite of his sandwich. He didn't like making Amy mad, and he didn't mean to, but he felt so trapped in an image he no longer fit.

"She's annoying," Bright commented.

"You don't even know her, man," Colin said.

Bright and Amy looked at him oddly, but said nothing. Colin resumed his watchful stare towards Alex.

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Alex had only sixth period left and then she was out of there. There must have been only two thousand students in the school, scarily different from the five thousand-student school she had come from in Los Angeles. Sixth period was Calculus, and she needed the notes from the semester to see if she understood everything the other kids had learned.

"Excuse me," she said to the girl in front of her, "do you have the notes to this class?"

The girl turned around with a sneer on her face. "Look, if you know what's good for you, don't talk to me. I don't want anything to do with a new girl who has the nerve to go after Colin. He's Amy's," the girl said cruelly.

Alex was shocked. What was going on? Perhaps this girl was just a little mental. She asked the boy next to her, "Excuse me, can I borrow your notes?"

The boy did not even acknowledge her existence. She looked around the room and noticed that majority of the people gave her angry and distrustful looks, and she felt like crawling into a hole until high school was over. What did she do? She had shown Colin how to write left-handed, that was it, and now she was seen as a leper. It was scary how quickly word traveled in this school and it was even scarier that people reacted so fiercely to mere gossip.

Eventually the period ended and Alex quickly got out of the classroom and headed towards her locker. As she opened it, someone approached her.

"Hey."

She looked over to see Colin smiling at her.

"I don't think you should be here," she said coldly.

He frowned. "Did I do something?"

"No, apparently I did. People are ignoring my existence or being downright hostile to me because they think I'm trying to steal you away from this Amy girl. It's completely ridiculous! I don't even know you, I don't know who Amy is and people already have me pegged as a man-stealer! This town is way too small and these people have nothing better to do than to butt into my business and then judge me for it!" Alex said, frustrated.

Colin swallowed hard. He didn't mean for this to happen, his own popularity was still foreign to him. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just go away."

"You asked me how I broke my arm, remember?" he said tentatively.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Do you really want to know the truth?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I've been in a coma since the fourth of July. People thought I wouldn't survive or wake up. A brain surgeon who lives here did an operation and saved me. I woke up. But I don't remember anything about me or my past. And apparently, I was really popular and well-liked and had a girlfriend named Amy. I don't know her though, I don't know any of these people who claim to be my friends," he said quickly, watching her face for some sort of reaction.

There was none. She just stared at her locker for what seemed like minutes.

"Are you gonna say something?" Colin asked.

"What can I say?" Alex asked softly.

Colin shrugged. "Whatever you want to, I guess."

"Your life sucks more than mine does," Alex said frankly. Colin was shocked at her statement, but found it amusing. They both laughed. "So, um, you can't remember anything? At all? Not even your parents?"

He shook his head. "It's like I was born sixteen and in eleventh grade. I can't remember them or Amy or Bright who were supposed to have been my best friends."

"That much be really harsh on them as well," Alex replied thoughtfully. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Huh?" Colin was confused.

"You obviously have a very strong fan base. You don't need me added to the list," Alex said.

"I don't want a fan. I just want a friend," Colin replied.

"The whole school is your friend," Alex replied, slightly annoyed because she still did not understand why Colin was still talking to her.

"No, they're friends with the Colin I can't remember. It's suffocating to try and be that Colin. You don't know me, I don't know you, and that is really cool," he tried to explain. It was the same logic he used to want to befriend Ephram.

Alex stared at her locker. "Look, it's not that I don't want to be friends with you, but do you think it's smart? I mean, people already think I'm a terrible person for showing you how to write with your left hand. C'mon, this school is a total joke! I have my own set of problems and being shunned for being your friend is not something I want add to the list," she explained.

"They won't bother you," Colin stated firmly.

Alex looked at him strangely. "What? How can you be so sure?"

"I'll ask that to not spread those types of rumors about you."

"Do you think you're some sort of god or something?" she asked, exasperated.

"No, but they think so," Colin replied. Alex laughed.

"Hey, Colin, what's up?" a boy greeted.

"Ephram, hey! Ephram, this is Alex Nasagawa, she's from Los Angeles," Colin said. "Alex, meet Ephram Brown. He's been here for a couple months."

"Nice to meet you," Ephram said.

"Same to you," Alex replied. "I like your hair," she added.

Ephram looked at her and laughed. "Yours too."

"So, where are you from?" Alex asked.

"New York City."

"Ah, the other side of heaven," Alex commented. Colin didn't understand what she meant by that, but Ephram seemed to agree with her. He nodded and smirked.

"We should get going, who wants to stay in school longer than they have to?" Colin suggested.

As the three headed out of the building, Alex asked, "So, Ephram, are you in eleventh grade too?"

"Tenth, actually," he replied.

"He's in the same grade as Amy," Colin explained.

"You know Amy?" Ephram asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Oh, no. But some people think I'm trying to steal Colin away from her," Alex replied truthfully.

Colin was surprised that Alex answered questions so honestly. People around him have been so nice and helpful at times that Colin could never tell if their actions were genuine.

"Wow, harsh claim," Ephram said.

"Yeah, and it's only my first day of school. Imagine what they will say about me in a week?" Colin and Ephram both laughed. Ephram understood why Colin was spending time with this new girl. She was smart, witty, and new. Ephram thought she was rather pretty as well, but that was besides the point.

"Colin! Where have you been?" Bright called out from beside the truck. A girl was beside the truck as well; Alex wondering if this was Amy.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. You guys could have gone without me," Colin replied.

"No way man, we always go to school and go home together," Bright said.

That trapped feeling crept into Colin's mind. What happened if one day he really didn't want to go home with them? The routine was rather boring in his opinion.

Bright looked over to the two people accompanying Colin. "Hey Ephram," he said neutrally.

"Bright," Ephram replied equally neutral.

"This is Alex Nasagawa," Colin said, trying to relieve the bit of tension in the air.

"Hey, I'm Bright," Bright mumbled. He didn't like the fact that Colin was hanging out with girl that wasn't his sister.

"I'm Amy," the girl replied, smiling slightly at Alex. She recognized her as the girl Colin was so transfixed over during lunch. She felt a stab of jealousy, but quickly dismissed it.

Alex nodded. "Hi."

"Hi, Ephram," Amy said softly.

Ephram didn't look at her. "Hey." Alex sensed something between the two of them.

"We gotta get going, bro," Bright said.

"Right. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Colin said to Ephram and Alex.

"Later," Ephram said.

As the truck drove off, Ephram turned to Alex. "So, I didn't bring my bike to school today. Can I walk you home?"

"Sure," Alex replied.

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Author's Note: I desperately need your help! I cannot remember the name of that Italian/Chinese restaurant in Everwood and the name of that Chinese guy who owned it. I can't find any info on the Internet either. This is crucial to my story, so anyone who knows it please e-mail me or leave a review and I will worship you for eternity! Thanks!!