A/N: Well hello! I'll be pretty brief here. This is the story of Collin and his imprint Matilda "Call-me-Matty." I'm taking it slow here though, hope you don't mind. Updates will be a little slow for a while, since I'm working a lot on graduation right now (eek!). But I really wanted to post this, so here it is.

Oh, and the title of the story comes from Tom Felton's song, 'Time Well Spent.' Watch it on YouTube. It's sexy. ;D The first one is the best, the second one is kinda 'ehhh,' and the third and fourth are alright.

--

The clocks ticking but I don't mind

Because there's no one else I'd rather share my time

And I've no idea where those weeks gone when

Yet I know that it's time well spent

(From "Time Well Spent" by Tom Felton)

--

PREMISE: Normality

I never asked for anything but a normal life. And I had a perfectly normal life, too. I went to work, read, surfed the net, hung with friends, was going to college in a little while, and had a great relationship with my boyfriend. Life was good. Okay, yes, sometimes I wished that my life could be more like the books that littered my floor and shelves at home. A dashing prince, magic spells, adventure… But I didn't REALLY wish for it. Just an errant thought, you know? I knew there was no way it could actually happen.

Or at least, I thought it couldn't.

Yet here I am, shaking like a leaf, planted on my butt, trying not to scream and on the verge of fainting as all hell breaks loose in front of me in the form of two ravenous mythical monsters fighting over who gets to eat me.

My life used to be normal.

--

CHAPTER ONE: He Stared at Me Funny

"Matty! Would you mind taking register for me for a few minutes? I gotta pee!"

I rolled my eyes at my shameless friend, Tina, but still smiled a little. "Yeah, I got it." I said as I finished putting the last copy of 'Where the Wild Things Are,' on the display table.

Tina grinned and with a quick "Thanks!" brushed past me and towards the restroom at the back of 'Loose Pages,' the bookstore we worked at. I quickly took her spot at the counter, not that the speed was needed. There was, as usual, no one around. We weren't exactly the biggest bookstore in Port Angeles. Not to mention it was a Tuesday morning in the middle of June. Why on earth would anyone come to a bookstore on a Tuesday morning in the middle of June? Well, besides me. I would, because I'm a book nerd that way. I loved working here, since most of the time Tina ran the register and when I was done putting books away I could sneak reading a few chapters of the latest hit.

A couple minutes passed, and there was no sign of Tina.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Where the heck was she?! I glared in the general direction of the back of the store. She was probably talking on the phone with her boyfriend, Tim. I grinned a little. It was so dorky- Tina and Tim. The cheerleader and the soccer player. How cliché could you get? But they really seemed to honestly like each other, so I guess it was okay. Plus she'd actually managed to stay with him for three weeks; a new personal record for Tina.

I probably shouldn't be one to talk though. I'd never even been asked out on a date before, let alone had a boyfriend for any length of time. I mean, come on. Who would want to date me? I was short, thin, flat as a board, and wore big glasses. Yeah, I'm sooo sure the guys are lining up for a piece of this. Please take note of the sarcasm.

After another minute I was seriously considering Sparta-kicking her stall door down, but then two boys came in. Well, not really boys, they looked to hot for that, and too old.

They were very similar looking (probably brothers), with tan skin, short black hair, dark eyes, lean yet ripped build, and 6 feet of height to their name. They were clearly Native American, and probably from one of the local reservations.

If I was a normal girl like Tina, I could have flirted with them when they came to the counter. If I was normal, I would be able to smile and flutter my eyelashes or whatever the heck other girls do to get a guys attention. But I'm not a normal girl- I have chronic boy shyness syndrome. No, it isn't real. Tina made it up and insists I've got a horrid, yet curable case of it. (I think she's got a case of psychosis, but that's not the point.) Whenever I try and talk to a guy, I just kind of… Freeze up. My face gets all red and I can't make my mouth cooperate with what my brain wants to say. It's horrible really. I mean, in my head I'm acting normal. When there isn't a guy right in front of me I'm normal. But the second they get too close it's like a trigger goes off in my brain that's labeled "ANTI-COMMUNICATIONS/PRE-CRAZY CAT LADY MISSION STAGE ONE" gets flipped.

Snapping myself back to reality, I watched as the two browsed through the shelves, snickering at some of the weirder titles and cover art. I tried not to roll my eyes at their behavior. I half hopped that they would stay a while though. I don't have to talk to someone to appreciate the eye candy.

Alas, twas not meant to be. Within another couple minutes the boys were walking towards the register, laughing and shoving each other as they came, one of them holding a book in his hands. The other one stopped walking when they passed the door and stood there, waiting for his friend with the book.

The book holding boy looked over his shoulder to continue the conversation they were having.

"- it's totally nuts that they assign us a book for the summer reading that we have to go all the way out to Port Angeles to buy. I mean how ridiculous can you get?" Laughing, he turned around to face me.

And froze.

His eyes went wide and he nearly dropped the book in his hands. That infamous blush of mine flared up, turning my cheeks and ears a bright red. I mean, okay, I'm not a model, but I'm not exactly ugly either. But the way he was staring at me! It was like… It was like he'd just witnessed a miracle. Like he'd been blind all his life and could suddenly see again, and I was the first thing he'd ever looked at. Like I was something amazing and beautiful.

Most girls would take it as a compliment. It just made me squirm with embarrassment. He made me feel so exposed. Like I had just laid out all my cards on the table for the whole world to see. I wish he would stop staring at me! This was beyond freaky. Boys don't stare at me, or look at me. Ever. And here is an insanely hot boy staring at me like I'm the center of his universe!

He blinked, and suddenly seemed to come back to something that might have been related to normal behavior. He smiled at me, revealing a small dimple on one of his cheeks, the happiness from his smiles reaching his dark eyes. He closed the yard gap between us and put the book he was holding on the counter for me to scan. I picked it up and frowned. "The Iliad." I had nothing against the book, but he seemed too old to be assigned this for summer reading. Then again, he could just be younger then his looks. I quickly scanned the book.

"That'll be $11.95," I said, my voice wavering a little. Uck. I wanted to smack myself for going all timid. So very not me (although apparently it was VERY me, since I was being timid).

He nodded, still staring at me, and reached in his pocket for some money. He scowled and looked over his shoulder to talk to his friend.

"Hey Brady, I forgot my money! Can I borrow some?" he asked. His voice carried well with its deep tones. Brady (or so I assumed) rolled his eyes but tossed a black wallet to his friend. The boy turned back and gave me the money, and I in turn handed him the change and bagged his book, receipt tucked in the middle of the book. Without a word I slid the bag towards him, praying he would leave so I could act normal again.

Did I mention I have bad luck?

"So… Do you like working here?" he asked as he took the plastic bag with the large smiley face on it. I gapped at him a little. What kind of question was that?

"Uh…" I said, feeling very intelligent. "I-I um… Yeah." My blush, once fading, came back full force. 'Leave! Leave already!' my brain cried. Still no luck.

"My name is Collin," he said with a large grin. "I live up at the Quileute reservation." There was a pause, and then I realized from his expression that he expected me to introduce myself as well.

"Matilda… But call me Matty." I said. I couldn't look at him as I said this though. Ack, ack, ack! Why wasn't he leaving? This was so confusing!

"That's a really nice name." He told me, beaming.

"Uh… Thanks?" What was I supposed to say? 'Well I think it sounds like a grandma name?' Yeah- how about not. Why do you think I had people call me Matty? Even if it does sound like a guys name, it's better then Matilda. Although I did love that movie…

His grin, if at all possible, grew wider. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Brady had chosen this moment to approach his friend to find out why they weren't leaving. Brady threw me a confused look (insert more blush here please) before grabbing Collin's shoulder and turning him so Brady could see Collin's face. Collin didn't take his eyes off me.

Creepy.

Brady looked between Collin and me, a look of understanding dawning on his face. This look then turned into a look of amusement and slight annoyance. Annoyance at his friend, or annoyance at me? It was hard to tell.

"Collin?" Brady shook his friend's shoulder a little to get his attention. "Collin, we have to go. I have to babysit my little sister, remember?" Collin blinked and finally looked at Brady.

"Oh, right." Collin nodded, looking like he had just woken up as opposed to turning around. He glanced at me and then back at Brady. "Okay." They turned and started to leave, and I felt myself sag with relief. Eye candy or no, the weirdness about this entire encounter was too much for one boy-shy girl to handle!

Just as they reached the door, Collin turned to face me and with a bright smile called out: "See you tomorrow!"

I froze. He would be coming… Back?

I didn't really notice when Tina came bustling back a few moments later, blabbering on about how Tim had called her but then she dropped her phone and couldn't get it to work and blah blah blah. I was too busy trying to get my brain to function again to listen properly.

Tina finally realized that I wasn't all there and touched my arm, causing me to jump a little.

"Hey, are you okay? Did something happen while I was gone? What was it?" she asked, a small crease appearing between her brows.

"I… I have no idea." I told her honestly.