It was the scent he noticed. It spoke of summer afternoons in school or sitting in a fresh mown meadow with homework. There was a hint of blackboard chalk and erasers carried on a waft of flowers, with a hint of fruit.

He breathed deeply and looked around for the source. He'd momentarily forgotten he'd removed his glasses. He just caught a glimpse of a tall girl with a mane of brown hair sweeping past. She appeared to be lost in a book but she was gone before he could focus. Heaping his textbooks into his bag he stood up, wiping his glasses quickly on a sleeve. As he scanned the room again it was clear she'd gone leaving only a hint of perfume behind.

It wasn't until the next day when he was back in the library that he smelt it again. He quickly looked to the end of the aisle and saw a tall girl with a bob of brown hair.

'It's her.' he thought excitedly. As he rushed out of the shelves to follow her he almost bumped into Jeanette coming out of the row next to his.

"Oh! Sorry, Simon." She pushed her unkempt hair back from her eyes. Simon didn't notice. The scent was stronger here and he was watching the tall girl leaving. With a distracted smile at Jeanette he hurried off. His mind was focussed on that tantalising fragrance. He was sure he'd smelt it previously and wondered how often he'd passed the girl at school. If it hadn't been for the scent hitting him yesterday when his other senses were dormant he might never have realised.

Now he had a firm idea what she looked like, he kept looking out for her. He learnt her name was Jillian. She was apparently quite clever and loved to read. He wondered as he doodled 'S+J' if she liked singing? And throughout the school day he smelt that scent of heaven that was her.

However when she came close, he hid. He knew he had no chance with a girl like her but he wanted their first meeting to be special… memorable.

He was actually heading home with Alvin and Theodore when he suddenly realised she was heading straight towards them. Dropping the groceries in a panic he tried to hide. Alvin however was not one to let sleeping dogs lie.

"What's with him?"

"He likes Jillian," Theodore explained. "But she doesn't seem to like him."

"She thinks I'm a loser," Simon exclaimed. "A reject! A… a…"

"A nerd?" Theodore supplied helpfully.

"Thanks Theodore." Simon was distracted by Jillian stopping to smell a flower.

'Can a rose smell the beauty of a rose?' he wondered. His daydream was rudely interrupted by Alvin pushed him towards her, saying he wanted to see what Simon was doing wrong. This did not encourage Simon who continued to protest until he stumbled and fell into Jillian, knocking them both to the ground. A scent of crushed flowers assailed him.

"Er… Hi Jillian. Please accept my humble apologies." Even he could hear how lame that sounded. He helped her up, hoping she wouldn't notice he'd accidentally crushed the flowers she'd been holding. Not exactly the memorable meeting he'd envisaged.

"Perhaps you'd like to go to the Bohemian exhibit at the museum?" he asked hopefully.

"Thanks but I'm busy," she apologised. "Bye now." He watched her walk away.

"I can see the problem Simon." His hope rose. "You're dull." His hope fell. "But I'll fix you up so Jillian will be begging to go out with you." Simon didn't have the will to object, he just followed his brothers home, idly picking bits of crushed flowers off his jersey. He cradled the pieces in his hand and held them to his nose like a rare posy. He could still smell her intoxicating scent.

"Hi Simon." Jeanette waved shyly at him. He looked up startled. Alvin and Theodore were already chatting with Brittany and Eleanor.

"Hi Jeanette." He smiled.

"Were you going to the Bohemian exhibit?" He shook his head.

"No. I… no."

"Oh." There was a pause. She opened her mouth to say something else but Alvin began pulling Simon away.

"Sorry Britt but I'm very busy. Aren't we Simon?" Brittany looked suspicious.

"Huh? Oh yeah," Simon agreed. "Bye Jeanette," he called as Alvin led him away.