It was a Thursday afternoon and Alex found herself sitting in a high-end coffee shop that she had never been to before and never would have stumbled across on her own. She wished she had known about this place sooner. Their desserts were divine. And expensive. Good thing she was getting hers for free.

"So is this, like, a bribe?" Alex asked.

"That's entirely up to you," Scam replied. He watched as she demolished the remaining half of her brownie sundae.

"You're just lucky today is my cheat day." Alex took another bite of caramel brownie and was once again transported to chocolate heaven.

Scam glanced at the bag of carrots that lay forgotten on the table. "Fad diets never work. If you add more variety to your meals, you'll get better results."

"Really? How so?"

"You need the correct ratio of protein to carbohydrates. It all depends on your goals as an athlete."

"Goals, huh?" said Alex thinking about her upcoming soccer practice.

"If the goal is more muscle mass, you eat more protein. But if your goal is to be lean and increase your endurance, for example, you should eat a moderate amount of protein and more carbohydrates and vegetables."

"I'm guessing you're the more muscle mass, more protein type." Alex observed.

"Yes, but I'm past the point of needing to follow a diet religiously. I can really eat whatever I want."

"Show off," she muttered.

He grinned and took a sip of his coffee.

"So," Alex said. "Back to you and my best friend…"

"Right. I am very good at reading people, and my first impression of your friend is that she is hardworking, intelligent, and much too focused on her studies to make time for anyone."

"Uh huh. That sounds about right." Alex tried to pay more attention now that she was finished with her sundae. But then she started playing with the silverware. She tapped the spoon against her cheek, then balanced it on her nose as she thought some more, which earned a laugh from Scam. "Why do you want my help anyways? I'd think a guy like you wouldn't have any problems getting dates. Have you talked to her at all?"

"I accidentally bumped into her in the hallway and made her drop her files. I helped her pick them up, but she just said thanks and kept going. She didn't even look at me."

Now it was Alex's turn to laugh as she imagined him looking like a rejected puppy. "Accidentally? Riiight. I bet you were all chivalrous and helped her up too. Sam's usually a romantic for that sort of thing." A lightbulb turned on. "Oh! I think I know. That's the same thing that happened with her last boyfriend. He was some British dude from London. He ran into her in the hallway too. She said it was love at first sight."

Scam leaned forward slightly, as if hearing that was a challenge. "So what happened? Is she still seeing him?"

"Definitely not. And that was like eons ago." Alex stopped balancing her spoon and instead starting folding her napkin into a paper airplane. "They had a big fight and he stopped coming around. He turned out to be a freeloading jerk. Clover and I never liked him."

"So she hasn't been in any serious relationships since then."

"She still went on dates sometimes but nothing serious anymore. Now it's like she cut out all distractions. She's taking a ton of classes right now and doing this outside research thing called…" Alex paused to get the words right. "Biomolecular polymorphism."

Scam suddenly was very interested. "That's a very specific term. How did you hear about this?"

"From Sam! Where else? She raved about it for like a month and pulled a lot of all-nighters to get onto the upperclassmen research team. Honestly, she had like a nerd crush on the head scientist even though she's never met him. He has like three bachelor degrees or something." Alex leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "Watch out for that guy—you may have some serious competition."

Scam, if anything, seemed more amused.

She paused. "She'd probably kill me if she found out I was telling you all of this."

He leaned back in his chair. "I knew I was right to choose you. Something tells me your blonde friend wouldn't be so open with me."

"Yeah," agreed Alex. "I don't think you'd be able to bribe Clover. Unless you've got, like, a hot younger brother or best friend or something."

"Actually, I do have a friend who's about your age."

"Wait, I lied." Alex suddenly remembered some very important information. "Clover's with Blaine now. They've got a good thing going on."

"What about for you?"

She almost rolled her eyes. "No thanks. I'm tired of people trying to set me up. I get enough of that from my mother."

"Alright, just do me a favor. Don't tell Sam about me or that I was asking about her."

"Okay." Alex would mentally face palm herself later. She was terrible at keeping secrets.


"Do you need a ride?" he asked as they left the coffee shop.

"Nah. I've got soccer practice and it's only a few blocks away from here. I had better walk off all those brownie calories or I'll be paying for it later."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." They rounded the corner and a nearby sports car beeped. Alex was surprised when Scam walked around it to the driver's side and opened the door.

"This is your car?" she said incredulously. She cupped her hands around her face as she peered into the passenger window. The inside looked like a modern-day Batmobile. "This has gotta be a rental."

He smirked. "It's mine, but weren't you walking?"

"No way! I call shotgun!" Alex hopped in the passenger seat, determined to press ALL the buttons.

Scam noticed her intentions and blocked the console with his forearm just in time. "Don't touch that."

"Well what about this one?" Alex pointed to another button.

He glanced at it. "Yeah that's fine."

Alex woohoo'd as the roof opened up. "To infinity and beyond!"