"Oof!" Leila Rosewood grunted as something slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Glaring up at whatever or whoever had bumped into her, she said, annoyed, "Watch where you're going!"

"I'm really sorry," the boy apologized. "I'll help you get your stuff."

Leila suddenly realized who it was, and almost gasped as he reached for some scattered papers and her sketchbook. "Wait!" she cried, and he stopped, his hand halfway there. "Um, I mean, I'll get those. Can you get those books?" Her half-excuse petered away lamely as he gave her a quizzical look and gathered the books.

She couldn't let him see those papers, because they were drawings of him- and the sketchbook was full of more. Sketches from every angle: head shots, full body drawings, torso drawings, everything from rough sketches to inked and colored pictures. Of late, Leila had applied her growing talent in art to her crush on Wilbur Robinson. Luckily, the drawing that would have been the most embarrassing for him to see- one of them together- had been left on her desk that morning, so he couldn't possibly see the evidence. Darien often teased her playfully about her drawings and daydreams about Wilbur.

"Here," he said, handing her the books. Realizing that her face was fast going red, she kept her face down, and turned away as fast as possible. "Thanks," she mumbled, stuffing everything into her shoulder bag.

"I really am sorry," he said.

"It's okay, it was an accident," she said hurriedly, trying her best not to look at him (though that was usually all she did).

"Well, I'll see you in class, then," he said in goodbye, and walked away.

Leila only looked at him when she was sure that his back was to her. She could feel her cheeks' bright red color. Great, now he probably thinks I'm some weirdo who's possessive of her drawings. Way to suck that one up, Lei.

She sighed. Oh well, maybe he won't notice me any more. With that less-than-comforting thought in mind, she trudged off to her next class, forgetting that Wilbur was also in that class.

She remembered, however, when she walked in and saw the back of his head one seat in front and two to the left of hers. Please don't look behind you, please don't look behind you, she silently begged. Luckily, he was busy talking and laughing with his friends. Leila almost glared at the girl sitting on Wilbur's desk, but remembered that the act would look weird.

Leila was very jealous of Tina Hathaway, one of Wilbur's only female friends. Tina was totally comfortable with Wilbur- she laughed at all his jokes, got teased by him and teased him in return, playfully punched him in the arm, even went over to his house (only with a group though). Basically, Leila would give anything to be Tina Hathaway.

"Alright, settle down," the teacher, Miss Reede, called over the chatter after the bell rang. Leila hurried to her seat and spent a few seconds extra rummaging around in her bag when she noticed Wilbur glancing her way.

"Now, today I will assign you to your partner for your end-of-the-year project," she announced to many groans. "I'll be doing it alphabetically, so don't even think about changing partners because I'll know. If you really, really, need a partner change, then come to me and ask, and I'll see what I can do.

"First are…Tamara Alston and Mason Anake." Miss Reede continued down the list. Leila didn't pay much attention until she got to the P's, when Leila got a growing sense of apprehension.

"Let's see, no Q's, so… Wilbur Robinson and Leila Rosewood." Leila was paying attention then. What?!

She sunk a little into her seat. She pointedly avoided Wilbur's eyes as he looked to her. Why, oh why? I hate my frickin' name.

Leila was packing her things into her locker after her last period when Wilbur came up to her locker. "Hey, um, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Uh, sure," Leila mumbled, distracted.

"Look, I'm sorry about bumping into you earlier, and I felt like I should apologize properly," he said, surprising Leila a little. She chanced looking up at him. His face was totally serious.

"Apology accepted?" she answered, more of a question than a statement. He looked a little relieved.

"So, listen, I was thinking that we could get started early and have it done and not have to worry."

"What?" Leila asked, a little confused.

"Oh, I meant the project."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Probably good to get it done, like you said."

"So, you want to come over to my house today?"

That got him her full attention. "Wh-what?" she spluttered.

"Do you want to come over and get started?"

Leila could feel herself going a little pink. "Oh, um, sure, I guess…" she said, her voice trailing off. "I just have to talk to Darien to tell him I'll be late."

"Darien?"

"He's, uh, my older brother," she said, her words rushing together a little. It was a lie- Darien wasn't even related to her, even though he was like an older brother. But it wasn't like she made it commonly known that she was an orphan living with her dead older brother's best friend and college roommate.

"Oh, okay. He'll tell your parents?"

Leila choked a little, but managed to disguise it as a cough. "Oh, um, they're out of town for a while…for work." As if. They're not out of town, they're still here- in the cemetery. Like they even care if I'm going to a classmate's house. The dead don't care about anything, not even the ones they leave behind. Her eyes teared up a little, but luckily Wilbur didn't notice.

"Well, you call him, I'll tell James I'm not going to his house. Meet me at the front of the school."

"Okay," Leila answered, not having a clue who James was, but Wilbur had already turned away.

Normally she would have been ecstatic about this kind of a chance, but the sting of the run-in earlier was still there, and now she would have to spend an hour, maybe two, with just him. She could barely string together sentences for five minutes, let alone sixty.

Resigning herself with her fate, she quickly connected to Darien's MoComp with her own.

"What's up?" he asked, his face coming into focus on Leila's own screen.

"I'm going to Wilbur Robinson's house to work on a project for history," she said quietly.

"So, it's off to the infamous Wilbur's place, eh? No problem, just get to Main Square and you'll get home fine."

"Thanks," she said, cutting off the connection and heading to the front of the school.

Wilbur led Leila to a huge mansion that she correctly guessed was his home. She was awed by the sheer size and oddness of it.

"Wow," she breathed. Wilbur grinned at her.

"Home sweet home," he said. "Come on, you have to meet my mom." He grabbed her hand, sending an electric shock-like feeling up Leila's arm and throughout her body, and pulled her to the front door.

When they got there, Leila looked all around her, still amazed. She was shocked when a head popped out of the potted plant next to her.

"Ring my doorbell," the head cajoled. Surprising Leila even more, another head popped out of the potted plant on the other side of the front door. "No, ring mine," the other pleaded.

Wilbur chuckled. "That's Uncle Dimitri and Uncle Spike," he explained. "We're not quite sure how they're related to any of us." Instead of ringing either doorbell (as there were two), Wilbur knocked, causing simultaneous groans and arguments between Dimitri and Spike. A second later, he seemed to realize that he was still holding her hand, and pulled his own away, making Leila less uncomfortable.

The door opened, revealing a woman who looked very much like Wilbur. Her hair looked much the same, and she wore a blue and red dress.

"Wilbur, you're home. And who's this?" she asked as she pulled her son into a hug.

"This is Leila, Mom," Wilbur introduced after rolling his eyes a little. "We're working together on a project for history. Leila, this is my mother, Franny Robinson."

"Nice to meet you," Leila said a little shyly, shaking Franny's hand.

"You as well." She let the two inside.

"Well, the kitchen is down the hall to the left. Wilbur's room and the study are upstairs; Wilbur can show you where. I'll leave you two to it. If you need anything, just ask." Franny walked away towards the kitchen.

"Come on, I want to show you the garage," Wilbur said, taking Leila's hand again without realizing it and pulling her down a hallway. Despite her earlier apprehension, Leila was getting more and more excited. I can't believe I'm actually at Wilbur's house! And he's showing me around! It's like I'm in a dream.