A/N: Probably the biggest oneshot I've ever written. So big, I had to split it off into two parts. Part two will be posted in three days. Until then, I hope you enjoy!

Every High School has a Ladies' Man.

We all know the type. He's got the looks, the charm, a way about him that makes all the girls swoon. He may also cross into Big Man On Campus territory, with stellar grades and a top spot on the school's football team. He's the kind of guy everyone loves and desires, and if they don't desire him, they desire to be him.

In the High School where our story takes place, that man would be one Thomas Christopher Williamson. Tommy for short.

He was tall, several inches above six feet from head to toe. He wasn't particularly muscular, but his lean body was more than enough to make so many of his female (and some male) classmates fantasize about him bare-chested. His hair was dirty blonde and curled in places. As a child, Tommy had always hated his unruly hair and the fact that his mother refused to cut out the curly bits ("You just look so cute," she would say). It wasn't until high school, when puberty had granted him the looks to make it work, that he started to appreciate it a little more. He had high cheekbones and a long nose that fit his face well. But in Tommy's humble opinion, his best physical feature had to be his eyes. They were a piercing blue that put him at a stark contrast with his brown eyed parents and younger brothers. According to his father, they were inherited from his grandfather, a man Tommy had never known thanks to an untimely death years before his parents had even met. The black and white photos he had found in the attic weren't much help in confirming that, so he just took his father's word for it.

At school, Tommy couldn't take three steps without someone calling out to him, or the lustful eyes of an admirer locked on him. They rarely met his gaze, but looked absolutely everywhere else. Their intentions were obvious, and it was one of many reasons why Tommy, despite his reputation, had never so much as asked one of those girls their name (another was that they just plain weirded him out).

It wasn't that his reputation was fake or anything. He had been through his fair share of girlfriends in the past three years. He always went for the girls more forward about their affections. The ones who actively flirted back rather than just sat back and mentally undressed him. In the five relationships he'd found himself in, he always started in the hope that this time- this time- the girl would be a perfectly normal young woman who just wanted a legitimate, stable relationship and not just a quickie fling with the local hottie. So far, he was 5 for 5 in the latter and starting to lose hope.

It got to a point where even the flirty girls seemed like a danger. His best friend, Nat, ever the sharp tongued snarker, never failed to point out how obvious this should have been from the start.

As she once said: "I really don't know what you expected from a girl who likes to tell in depth stories about the time the drummer from her favorite band signed her tit."

Sitting in the library, alone for once and with a book hanging loosely from one hand, Tommy winced and brushed the thought away. He instead focused on the girl in the farthest corner, hunched over the table with her back to him. Tommy eyed her long, dark brown hair that hung straight and free down to her lower back. He kind of wished she'd taken a seat facing him. He still wouldn't see much of her face, but it would be a helluva better than just the back of her head. She was a very special girl, one Tommy had known by name for years, but hardly noticed until now. Over the past few months, she had truly blossomed into a woman. She was so pretty, it would be a crime not to notice her.

Her name was Sarah Williams, and she was one of the school's more notable loners. She sat two rows ahead of Tommy in algebra and one row behind him in American History. She was never found without her nose in a book or her eyes on the sky, lost in her own world and caring little for the reality around her. Some people found her to be an enigma. To others, she was just a random nobody. The only thing known for sure was that she had no friends of her own and wasn't all that interested in making any.

Tommy planned to make her his girlfriend as soon as possible.

Well, girlfriend might be a little too much too soon. He still wasn't entirely sure Sarah would be different from the other girls he'd taken a chance with. Sure, he'd never caught her eyeing him hungrily before like the rest. She never tried to talk to him, never glanced in his direction during class. Tommy figured she was just shy or something, that was the only explanation as far as he was concerned. It wasn't like there was a girl in this school who could resist him!

Okay, maybe a couple; most of the female teachers and Nat for sure, but hardly anyone else. Statistically speaking, it was far more likely that Sarah did like him and was just really, really quiet about it. Until proven otherwise, that was the theory Tommy would be running with.

When the bell rang, Sarah was up immediately, just like always. That was an interesting thing Tommy had noticed about Sarah: whenever class ended, she was on her feet and out the door before anyone else. Her bag was already packed and she didn't have any friends to keep her. It was almost like she was running from something, or towards something. Tommy didn't have a clue.

She turned around, finally allowing Tommy a look at her face. Her soft, brown eyes and pale skin tinged with red around the cheeks. Her full pink lips parted slightly as she quickly skimmed the back cover of her book. He really had no idea why she wasn't turning more heads, a gorgeous girl like her. Maybe her wardrobe had something to do with it. She did dress kind of drab.

As she approached, books in arm, Tommy put on his most charming, white toothed grin. This was a look that had gotten many a young lady to blush and stammer. It was practically irresistible, his smile.

"Afternoon, Sarah," he said.

She didn't stop. She hardly even looked at him. Her eyes moved the barest of fractions for a split second, so fast it might as well have been a trick of the light.

"Hey," she said as she passed.

That was that.

Sarah Williams was gone, out the door and into the pool of gathering students struggling to reach their next class on time. Tommy wouldn't be arriving to Advanced English until fifteen minutes later, much to his already stern teacher's consternation. He would be unable to explain that he'd been spending all that time staring blankly after Sarah Williams, wondering to himself what the Hell had just happened.

As expected, Nat was entirely unsympathetic the next day at lunch.

"So, you got blown off, huh?" she said, stabbing mercilessly at her salad with a plastic fork. "Didn't see that coming."

"I just don't understand," Tommy said, his own food untouched save for a few small bites of his sandwich. "I know I only said two words to her, but I still thought I'd get- well some kind of reaction!"

His sudden exclamation drew a few stares from those nearby, but neither Tommy or Nat paid them heed.

Nat twirled the fork between her fingers as she spoke. "It's not that big of a deal, Tommy. Rejection hurts, sure, but that's just how it goes sometimes."

"Not for me," Tommy shouted, drawing himself up and motioning with great passion at himself. "Nat, you know me! You know I don't get rejected, that just doesn't happen."

Nat snorted and pushed her now empty salad container to the side.

"Mostly because you don't usually do the asking out," she said. "And when you do initiate, it's always with one of the girls who flirts with you constantly, meaning there's not a chance in Hell that they'll say no. Sarah Williams isn't one of those girls."

"Which is exactly why I want to date her," Tommy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm tired of all those fangirls, Nat! They only want me because they think I make good arm candy. I'm done with them. I'm looking for a girl who will look deeper and want me for who I really am."

"And you think Sarah Williams is that girl?" Nat said, snorting. "Because I've been in class with her since first grade, and let me tell you, she's not exactly a social butterfly. I really wouldn't be surprised if her only real friends are named Merlin and Frodo."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Which means you're off to a fantastic start," Nat grinned. She then proceeded to bring a piece of lettuce to her lips and tear it in half while Tommy fumed silently.

"Spare me the sarcasm, Nat. I have to figure out a way to get Sarah to talk to me. There's got to be some way to break the ice ..."

For the next two days, Tommy observed Sarah Williams.

He kept eyes on her in Algebra and listened for any sounds she might make in American History. During lunch and study hall, he sat a few tables away from her, close enough to see but far enough to not make her suspicious. She never once looked his way or noticed his eyes on her. While this was technically a good thing (it would be difficult trying to explain to a teacher what he was doing without it looking like stalking), the implications still made Tommy a bit uneasy. He didn't want to believe what Nat had said; rejection was completely alien to him Surely Sarah's behavior was just the result of lacking social skills. It wasn't that she never spoke to anyone, she just always happened to be alone whenever Tommy was around.

She read a lot, that much was clear. Tommy rarely saw her without a book in hand, usually something to do with fantasy or folklore, with the occasional history book thrown in.

Today's selection was a massive Norse mythology book. Tommy had tried every which way to get a glimpse of Sarah's face, but she was completely covered from view. Tommy had no choice but to spend the rest of Study Hall in a fruitless staring contest with some angry looking blonde guy waving around a giant hammer (he didn't care enough to try and remember any names) while he went over everything his research on Sarah Williams had turned up.

She did pretty well in Algebra, even though she clearly hated it.

She did even better in American history, which she seemed to enjoy.

She would rub her earlobe at times, possibly when deep in thought.

Her time not spent reading or doing schoolwork was dedicated to staring out the window with this funny look on her face. The only word Tommy could think of to describe it was longing.

Longing for what?

If there was anything weird about Sarah Williams, that was it.

Not that Tommy was in any way deterred by this. Weird could be fun after all, and who was truly normal anyway?

Even Nat had her little quirks. For example, her ability to burp her full name, or her bizarre childhood crush on Darth Vader that she thought he didn't know about. Tommy laughed in spite of himself, imaging how red in the face she would get if she ever found out he knew. A passing librarian shushed him harshly, and Tommy glared at her back as she walked away before turning his attention back to Sarah Williams.

She was gone.

Tommy blinked a few times, and then his legs started working again. He sprung out of his seat, backpack and open math notebook forgotten as he moved around the empty table and towards the one Sarah had just occupied. He walked slowly, hands in his pockets and expression aloof. The last thing he needed was to look weird or desperate in front of the smattering of students hanging around. Sarah's brown bag was beside the pushed out chair, and Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. She was still here.

He glanced around in all directions, searching for even a hint of her somewhere in this jungle of books. She'd been wearing a blue shirt today, right? Or was it dark green?

Tommy shook his head and started for the aisles, whistling innocently as he casually eyed each one and found nothing but more books all neatly lined up. He didn't stop until the very last one, where he finally located Sarah. She stood before a section labeled 'MYTHOLOGY.' Her previous book was nowhere to be found. Tommy surmised that she had put it back and was now looking for something else to read. She had a hand on her chin and she tapped at her cheek, lips pursed and body language relaxed. Well, this was new.

Tommy kept to the end of the aisle, not sure if he should try getting her attention yet or hang back, take some more time to plan his next move. It wasn't like he could just come out and ask her after the way she'd reacted to him the last time.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Tommy's head shot back up, and he now realized that he'd been staring at his feet as he dove deep into his thoughts (one of his quirks). His lips parted slightly, a whistle of air leaving him, too soft for Sarah to hear. She met his gaze, green eyes on blue, her face betraying nothing. Tommy opened his mouth all the way, then closed it again. It was unbelievable how absolutely nothing was coming to him, and she was still staring at him. What had she asked him again?

Oh, right.

"Uh- no. I'm fine, just " he paused and shrugged his shoulders. "You know, looking for something to read. Same as you."

Sarah nodded slightly, her mouth forming a silent 'oh' as she turned and went back to her previous task. Within moments, she'd forgotten his presence entirely. This did not sit well with Tommy at all, and he wasn't about to let it continue. He cleared his throat.

"So," he said, possibly a bit too loud as Sarah jolted. "You really like this myth stuff, huh?"

She glanced around in different directions. Did she think he was talking to someone else? Then she smiled, but still appeared to be off guard.

"Oh yeah. They're one of my favorite subjects."

"Yeah, I saw you before with that Norse book," Tommy said. "Looks interesting."

"It is," Sarah answered, going again for the bookshelves and running her fingers gently along the spines, mouthing the titles whenever she wasn't talking to him. "I'm more into the Greek and Roman myths myself, but I like to branch out into other cultures too. I mean, you can only read about Echo and Narcissus so many times."

"Echo and Narcissus?"

Sarah looked at him again, this time in disbelief. Later on, Tommy would be ashamed to say that it made him feel fidgety. He was supposed to be in control of the situation dammit, not freaking out like a five year old about to tell his teacher that he has a crush on her!

"You don't know that story?"

Tommy grinned apologetically. It wasn't nearly as charming as his regular smile.

"Sorry, myths all that stuff have never really been my thing," he said. "How does the story go?"

Sarah moved away from the bookshelf and leaned against a pillar. Did that mean anything? Was it a good sign?

"Well, Echo was a wood nymph who fell in love with a human hunter named Narcissus, who was known for being extremely handsome."

Now that piqued Tommy's interest.

"Is that right?"

Sarah nodded. "Echo really wanted to tell him how she felt, but there was one problem: she'd been cursed by the Goddess Juno to never speak except to repeat the last words spoken to her."

"Like an echo," Tommy said, his grin turning sly and his confidence coming back in boundless waves.

'Okay, I know where this is going,' he thought. 'Probably like one of those Disney fairy tale type things. Guy breaks the spell with his love or something. I wonder if she's trying to send me a message, because she's so shy and all. Man, Sarah, could you be any cuter right now?'

"So," Tommy said suavely as he took a few easy steps closer. "How does the story end?"

She thought for a second. "Well, Echo eventually approached Narcissus, but he rejected her flat out. In her despair, Echo hid in a dark cave and wasted away until only her voice remained. As for Narcissus, the Gods punished him for his cruelty by cursing him to fall in love with his own reflection. He wound up starving to death not long after because he would do nothing but stare at his reflection in a stream. The Narcissus flower was said to have grown where his body rested, and he's also where we derive the term narcissist from, for people who are very vain and full of themselves."

As he was completely frozen, Tommy's face was still locked in a devilish smirk, even though his eyes spoke of much different, very uncool emotions. Luckily for him, the bell rang a few seconds later. Sarah sighed and started for the exit.

"Sorry, I can't be late for Chemistry again or Mr. Jackson will flip his lid," she said. "It was nice talking to you... Tommy, right?"

Tommy's body unstuck itself and he fell limp, almost losing his footing as his arms hung loose in front of him. Sarah waited expectantly.

"What?" he asked stupidly. "Yeah, that that's me."

"Okay then, see you later, Tommy."

She headed for the door, long brown hair swishing with her steps. She never looked back once. For the second time, Tommy was left to stare after her retreating form, his mind going into overdrive as he processed what had just happened. One thing in particular stuck out to him.

"She didn't know my name? "

"SHE DIDN'T KNOW MY NAME!"

Nat was unfazed by this outburst as well. She had years of dealing with Tommy and his mood swings under her belt. She eyed him over windswept hair, mouth twitching to one side.

"I can't believe it," she muttered.

Tommy had begun pacing, but he still heard her.

"I know, it's unreal! How could she not know who I am after all the years we've been in school together? Not to mention everyone here knows who I am."

Nat leaned back in her chair, popping a mini-cookie into her mouth like she was enjoying a favorite movie and there wasn't a crisis going on. Tommy's anger and frustration was coming dangerously close to boiling over the longer she remained apathetic.

"I was referring to you not knowing the story of Echo and Narcissus," she said flatly. "I mean, doesn't everyone know that story? Even I know it. Next, you're going to tell me you don't know how Romeo and Juliet ends."

Tommy scoffed at her. "I know how it ends."

"How?"

"They both die," Tommy said without missing a beat. "Romeo takes poison and then Juliet stabs herself."

"Hm," Nat said, making a face and nodding. "Very good."

Tommy smirked in triumph. "Right, and before that there's a big family feud and some witches show up to tell the future or something and-"

"Oooooooh, so close," Nat said, loud enough to cut him off. "But thank you for playing, we have some lovely parting gifts for you. The witches are in Macbeth, smart guy."

"Forgive me if I haven't been brushing up on my thousand year old literature," Tommy snapped and crossed his arms over his chest. "This is ridiculous. We should be talking about Sarah. What am I supposed to do now? She didn't know my name, how exactly am I going to work my way up to asking her out now?"

"You could try asking out another girl," Nat said innocuously. "One you actually know on a first name basis. Or actually know period."

Tommy's eye twitched. He grumbled under his breath, little phrases directed at Nat that she either couldn't hear or didn't care to listen to.

"I just need to keep trying," he said to himself, wasn't like Nat was being helpful. "So she didn't know who I was before, she does now! This might even turn out to be for the best. Since she didn't know me before, she won't be aware of my reputation or dating history. It's almost like starting over with a blank slate. Yeah! I can still make this work!"

He strolled to the open cafeteria doors with renewed purpose. Nat watched him go, silent and with a frown.

"Good luck with that, I guess..."

The next day, fate smiled on Tommy Williamson.

As it turned out, fate looked exactly like his short, squat, pimply faced American History teacher, Mr. Blake.

"Alright, class," he had said at the start of the day. "We'll be starting group projects this week. Everyone gets a partner and you will work together to give a presentation about one facet of the Civil War era. Some of you will be covering the Confederacy, others the issue of slavery. I will be choosing your partners-"

He was drowned out by the collective groans of the students. Only Tommy and Sarah were quiet, the former too busy watching the latter stare out the window again. From where he sat, Tommy could see nothing but dark brown hair, and that caused no small amount of aggravation.

'Times like this I wish I were a mind reader. What are you thinking about, Sarah?'

"Tommy Williamson."

He straightened in his seat, so fast it made a few people snicker and Mr. Blake narrow his eyes.

"Glad to see you've joined us, Mr. Williamson," he said. Then he struck a pen down on his clipboard. "As I was saying, you will be working with Sarah Williams."

It was like a choir of angels had descended from on high to sing of a miracle. Tommy almost couldn't believe it was real.

Sarah didn't seem to care in the slightest.

They got together ten minutes later, when Mr. Blake dedicated the rest of the day to brainstorming their project topics, which were to be handed in at the end of the day. Tommy grabbed an empty desk next to Sarah, who hadn't moved an inch. Pushing it against hers, the screeching brought Sarah out of her reverie and made her look away from the window for the first time since class had started.

"Oh, hi Tommy," she said when he sat down. "I guess we're working together, huh?"

The grin she gave left all her teeth visible, kind of like how Nat did it. Although Nat's was a lot bigger if he remembered correctly. And her front teeth were more pronounced.

"I guess so," he said, flashing yet another smile that would normally have a girl blushing. Sarah didn't react at all.

"So what do you want to do the project on?" she asked, oblivious to his deflating as she reached for her bag under the desk. "I was thinking of either the lives of former slaves in the North or the aftermath of the war. What do you think?"

"First one sounds good," he said. He didn't care either way, but if the pages crammed with scribbles and notes in her notebook were any indication, she sure did. He moved to get a closer look. "Wow, you're really into this project."

She laughed a little, and it sounded strange to him. "Not really, but it makes for a good distraction."

Tommy cocked his head to one side, studying Sarah intently and finding nothing odd about her demeanor. The only thing giving off a degree of sadness was her voice. What was that about all of a sudden?

"Distraction from what?" he asked.

Sarah paused. Her whole body tensed like she'd just been caught in some huge lie. Without looking at Tommy, she cleared her throat.

"Just the usual. Stress, boredom, that sort of thing."

Tommy forced a smile. "Okay." 'Yeah right, I've never heard of anyone besides geeks and eggheads using homework to cope with anything. What aren't you telling me, Sarah?'

Tommy thought on this while Sarah explained what she had already covered and what was still missing to complete their project. He only half listened to her, though he was pretty sure he caught most of the important stuff. She wanted him to get the research on everything they were missing and wrote down for him where in the library the right books would be. Easy enough task to complete; the real job would be figuring out just what was going on in that head of hers.

'Oh well, I have an entire week to get through to her. This is going to be a cinch!'

Six days passed, and Tommy hadn't had a single conversation with Sarah Williams that didn't involve school work.

It just didn't make any sense! They'd met up twelve times now, every day during study hall and for an hour after school. Sarah was always there before him, her nose in a book or her pen scribbling at a dizzying pace he could hardly keep up with. She talked only about the project, barely responding when Tommy tried to bring up anything else.

It was worse every day. By day five, Sarah was completely withdrawn, not even the project holding her attention for long. All she seemed to care about was the sky. She stared out the window, eyes never wandering but staying firmly in place regardless of what passed her line of sight. Tommy glanced at her every other second, making it extremely difficult to get his half of the work done. It was like a chain reaction of sorts. Sarah goes catatonic, Tommy is weirded out by it, he can't focus on anything but her, they fail their project, Sarah no longer spends any time with him, she never agrees to go on a date with him.

This was bad.

This was really, really bad.

What the God's name was going on with this girl?!

'I knew she was quiet, but this is ridiculous,' Tommy thought to himself in the middle of Day Seven. It was his final day with her and their progress was in the negatives. There was no longer any time to wait.

Tommy straightened up in his seat, a book on the Lincoln assassination sliding off his chest and into his lap.

Sarah was back to staring. Today, there was a black and red bird feeding it's three babies. A black truck was also parked outside the main entrance. Tommy was pretty sure it was the delivery truck for the cafeteria. The Vice-principal was arguing with the driver about something and waving a piece of paper around, and Sarah saw right through it all as usual. Tommy tried to ignore it and cleared his throat.

"So," he said loudly, too loudly. He paused to calm down and hopefully dial it back a bit. "We're making good progress."

Sarah nodded once. "I know."

Painfully long seconds passed. Each tick of the clock was like another layer of awkwardness hanging over Tommy's head.

"I think we've got that A in the bag!"

"Probably."

Tommy's mouth twitched.

"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if our project is better than anyone else's. So good, Mr. Blake will be bragging about it to the other teachers and using us as an example of perfect students for years to come!"

"That sounds nice."

His hands slammed on the table, he stood fast enough to make his chair topple over. Sarah's head snapped in his direction, her startled face was what finally brought Tommy back to his senses. It wasn't going to stop him from talking, though. He was just going to be a lot more subdued about it than he desperately wanted to be.

"Sarah, what's going on?"

It came out, again, much too loud and too forceful. Sarah may have inched back away from him, or maybe Tommy imagined that. At any rate, she didn't look at all like she wanted to answer.

"What are you talking about?" Her voice was quivering. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Tommy wasn't sure where this was going from, but he wasn't about to complain. "You've been like this for days now, don't think I haven't noticed."

"I said, I'm fine."

Her words were fierce this time. He must have touched a nerve somewhere. Tommy wouldn't lie, Sarah was kind of intimidating when she was angry. She had drawn herself to full height, which, admittedly, wasn't that impressive given his full head over her. Still, she cast a shadow, and Tommy couldn't help inching away from her. He'd have to choose his next words carefully. He had a feeling he was toeing a line.

"Well, sorry if I sound nosy or anything, but you don't seem fine."

She said nothing for a very long time and the longer it went on, the greater Tommy's raw nerves grew. It was to the point where a single movement from an outside party would have him jumping in the air by the time Sarah let out a drawn out sigh of defeat and slumped back in her chair.

"I'm just having a bad day," she said weakly.

'More like a bad week.' "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sarah shook her head, but she didn't look resolute. Lowering himself back down, Tommy waited patiently for her answer. His heart was starting to pound, but he ignored it. Sarah looked away from him and brought a hand to rest on her cheek. One finger went for her ear lobe and she stroked it slowly. Tommy almost leaned forward, but caught himself at the last second and pushed his back into the wooden frame as far as it would go. This was an even longer pause than the last one had been, but at least this time he might actually get something from her. She seemed to be fishing for the right words.

"It's difficult to explain," she eventually said. "Today is kind of an important day for me. Something happened three years ago today and it's just been on my mind a lot."

Tommy nodded, keeping his face impassive so she hopefully would have no clue of his mental celebrations. She was finally confiding in him!

"I'm guessing it wasn't a happy experience," he said.

Sarah cracked a humorless smile. "No, not really. It's kind of hard to explain, but I made a huge mistake and almost lost something important. I got it back, but I may have really hurt someone in the process."

She mumbled the last few words and stopped to take a breath. Tommy waited patiently for her to go on, all the while wondering how huge this mistake of hers had to have been to make her this nervous. At least she was showing no signs of stopping. She was shaking her head and tapping at the table and everything. This was the most animated Sarah had been in days!

"I think it's that I didn't know I was hurting him at the time. I was zeroed in on fixing things, and I wasn't looking outside the box. I've always believed everything that happened was a lie, but I don't know, lately I haven't been so sure. I don't know if my mind is playing games with me or if I'm just looking at things more maturely now .. I've just been thinking more and more that I should try reaching out again. I mean, it wouldn't be easy at all, but something tells me it's the right thing to do. And then another part of me thinks that's crazy and it's all just mind games. I try to ignore it, but it gets worse and worse everyday and I can't even think straight and I throw myself into whatever I can, be it homework or college applications or writing horrible poetry in my journal but it just won't go away and this is driving me crazy!"

Sarah slammed her hands on the table. It was a good thing Tommy had leaned his chair back as far as it would go. Around them was nothing but more empty tables and chairs. The librarian appeared to have stepped out for the moment. They were completely alone. Thank God for that.

Breathing heavily, Sarah sank back into her seat. Her head joined her hands on the smooth, wood surface, brown hair splaying everywhere in a giant mess. Tommy edged his fingers away when one section almost brushed them. He felt like he should say something, but the words refused to come to him. His mouth stayed closed, he didn't care to gape at her like a fish ever again. It wasn't a handsome look at all.

Sarah raised her head, sucking in air through her nose and brushing all the hair out of her face. Tommy tentatively reached out with one hand.

"Feel better?"

She looked at him, and the fire burned out like it had never existed. Sarah rolled her shoulders before answering.

"Actually, yeah," she said as if this was some kind of revelation. "I guess talking about your problems really does help. I'm sorry for unloading all this on you, Tommy."

"No, no, not at all," he said firmly. "I'm more than happy to listen."

Sarah door and ran her front teeth over her bottom lip. She glanced away for a mere second, and then their eyes locked again.

"Tell me, if you were me, what would you do?"

Tommy stared blankly at her as the question sunk in. He felt a strange sense of fear rising in his belly. No one had ever asked him for advice before, not about stuff like this. He'd given plenty a knobby kneed freshman pointers on how to talk to the girl of their fancy, but this from a girl he was trying to woo? All he ever got with his previous girlfriends was more flirting!

Tommy felt like grinning in spite of himself. He knew Sarah Williams was going to be special.

"Well," he began lightly, lacing his fingers together in a professional sort of way. "In my experience, the best thing one can do in this situation is to follow their instincts. They never steer you wrong."

Sarah offered a half smile. "No offence, but I doubt it's that easy."

"Of course it is!" Tommy said. "It's intuition, it always knows what's best and most people are too foolish to follow it. If you don't, you might miss out on something amazing. There are so many unsatisfied, angry people in this world precisely for that reason. They go about their day to day lives hating everything and everyone around them because somewhere down the line, there was this great opportunity that they missed, and now they can never stop wondering 'what if?' Do you want to be that person, Sarah? Do you?"

During the time that he was speaking, Sarah's expression had gone through a number of changes. Her frown had softened into a look of amazement, her eyes widened, her shoulders relaxed and gave her much better posture. When he was done, her lax jaw tightened, and she swallowed.

"That... actually really helps," she said. "I mean it. Thank you, Tommy."

He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Anytime."

She gave a smile, the first truly happy one he'd seen from her in over a week. Tommy was astounded by how much brighter and more alive she looked. It was like how Nat got when he bought her those fancy chocolates she liked so much for her birthday. Were a few words of encouragement really all she had needed?

'To think I was just making it up as I went along,' he thought.

Tommy turned away from Sarah. He could hear her rifling through her things, probably looking for more of her notes or something. Seeing her bounce back like this was just what he needed. He felt as rejuvenated as she must be. He knew he could do this now. He'd jumped the greatest hurdle, and now the time had come. He inwardly gave himself fanfare and a drumroll as he looked again at her. This was it, the moment of truth.

"So I was thinking, once you've gotten everything settled, how about the two of us-"

He took in the empty space Sarah had occupied just moments ago. All her books and her bag were gone, and he could see her in the distance, walking briskly to the exit and slowing when she neared it to look back.

"I need to get home, but I already looked over your part of the project and everything looks good. I'll see you later, and thanks again!"

For the third time in a row, Sarah Williams walked through the door out of sight, leaving Tommy alone and defeated.

"-go out sometime " he finished pathetically. "You know, like to a movie or something... just the two of us... on a date... "

With a frustrated sigh, Tommy fell into his chair. He slid down until the back of the chair was forcing his chin into his collar bone. It was uncomfortable and also a little painful, but it didn't compare to what Tommy was feeling inside. He could already hear Nat's laughter and sarcastic remarks once she found out about this.

'At least you've made some common ground with her,' the shriveled up little optimist in his head said.

Tommy snorted and pulled himself to his feet. He grabbed his backpack, slung one strap over his shoulder and started for the exit on the other end of the building, blind to any distractions along the way.

"Tomorrow," he grumbled on the way to his car. "I'm asking her tomorrow for sure."