A/N: This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of MATCH, a new webseries you can catch at match-dot-colaborator-dot-com. It's cool because you can decide what episodes will go to full series just by watching them, and if you write fanfics for the episodes and post them (or a link to them) in the MATCH forums, the creators will read them and decide whether or not to actually put your story in their canon universe. If they do use your story then you get PAID and credited for being a writer, which is freaking awesome. I'd highly recommend if you've ever wanted one of your fanfics to be filmed as part of the canon for a series, you get involved with MATCH and play around in their interactive material section for each episode. It's the first time ever where the audience has a huge say in where the series will go.

"Falscending."

The word spoken into Allie's ear as she stepped out into the hall might have startled her had it not a)come from an increasingly (and somewhat obnoxiously) familiar voice, and b)perplexed her into pondering over its meaning rather than its sudden random utterance. Knowing Daniel, it probably didn't even have a meaning and therefore was not worth the time it would take to think about it.

"Careful," she warned, "your pedestaled image might crumble if the rumormonger elite catches you whispering sweet nothings in my ear."

"So you think what I say is sweet?" Danny smirked.

Allie stopped walking and humored him with a false smile as she turned to face him. "No, I think what you say consists of mostly nothing."

Okay, maybe she felt a little guilty watching that smirk fall right off his face as she continued on with her locker-bound journey. Still, Daniel Harding would not be deterred. He followed her two steps behind, intent on pestering her just like he'd been doing since their fateful meeting at the Principal's office. Why he would so suddenly be fixated on her, a complete nobody, she had no idea. It wasn't like they had anything in common...well, aside from the cutting, but a lot of kids did that. She didn't see any of the others tagging along behind her like a hyperactive, curious canine.

"Rumormongrels," he said in a speculative tone.

She couldn't help the snort that escaped her as she stopped at her locker. "Funny, I was just thinking about dogs."

"Great minds." Danny leaned back against the locker beside hers and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's what they should be called, though, seriously. Rumormongrels. Like stray dogs fighting over a scrap of meat. They'll go after anything that looks juicy."

Allie cocked her head to the side in thought. His observation was clever, she'd give him that, but it missed the mark ever-so-slightly. She'd play along just this once to help him out.

"Fitting, considering the majority of them are the self-proposed queen bees of this school, and I'm sure even you know the term that dog breeders use to classify the females of the species."

This earned her an amused eye roll from her persistent peer. "You can just say 'bitches,' you know. Even geniuses are allowed to curse."

She shook her head. "Vulgarity was invented by people who weren't mature enough to voice their opinions in an intelligent manner."

"Says the twelve-year-old," he huffed. "Who's on the pedestal now, huh?"

"I'm not-" Ugh, this was pointless. She slammed her locker door and began to storm away.

He didn't get it. He would never get it. Arguing with people who were beneath her was...wait. Dammit, now she was acting like she was of higher status than him. And she was cursing, even if only internally. Less then five minutes with Daniel Harding and she could already feel herself transforming into a normal...oh. So that was his game. Again, clever.

She slowed her steps to a crawl, regretting what she was about to do even as she turned around to see Danny still leaning smugly against the lockers. "What does 'false ending' mean?" she asked as if she was merely humoring him.

There. She took the bait and waited, knowing full well this little ploy could only possibly end with her being in a state of frustration for the rest of the day.

Instead of answering right away, he pushed himself upright and closed the distance between them in a casual stroll. "You tell me," he stated cooly.

Yep. Already feeling the frustration.

"False ending," she began in a confident tone, just like taking a turn at the mic during a spelling bee. "A common occurrence during sexual intercourse in which the woman fakes her climax in an often-successful attempt to get the man to leave her alone."

Danny barked out a surprised laugh. "Subtle. I like it. Wasn't exactly what I was going for, but not exactly wrong, either."

"So what's right, genius?" she sighed. This was getting old and there were only three minutes left before they had to get to their next class, his room being nowhere near hers, she realized. He was going to be tardy. Not that he cared. He seemed to enjoy the little delinquencies.

"I think-" he began, "-and don't be mad at me, it's just an observation. I think you fake being condescending to get everyone to leave you alone because you don't think you fit in, but you don't really think you're that much better than anyone else, which is why you're so quick to say you aren't as smart as everyone says you are. You're false condescending. Falscending. It's an adjective."

"I'm surprised you know what an adjective is," she bit out, pushing past him. She knew this had been a bad idea. Who was he to analyze her behavior like that? He was just a dumb jock.

"I thought you'd be surprised that I knew what the word condescending meant," he called after her. "Too dumb, right?"

Again with the mind reading. It was starting to feel uncomfortably creepy. Yet again, it was just the right statement to get her ire to simmer down. She stopped for the third time, but refused to turn around, instead waiting for him to come up beside her.

"Falscending, huh?" she muttered once he was shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "Does that make you falstupid?"

Danny grinned. "I told you before that I was dumb. Doesn't make me stupid." He leaned down to murmur the next part into her ear. "But don't tell the bitches. It'll be better for you if they think you're dumb enough to talk to me instead of me being smart enough to talk to you. It's easier to have them build the pedestal for you instead of doing all the work yourself."

She pulled away from him and glanced around at her fellow students in the hall. They were watching with curious glimpses. One of them actually smiled at her, and not in a mean way for once. Huh. Interesting. Perhaps there was some merit in his words, skewed as the proposed solution to her outcasted predicament was.

"Careful," she warned, "the rumormongrels are already spreading the word about all the sweet nothings you're whispering in my ear."

Danny pouted. "It wasn't nothing. I'm trying to help."

"I know," she replied, shrugging off the conversation with one shoulder as she turned towards her classroom. "It's kind of sweet."

She smiled as she left him standing in the hallway. Maybe Daniel Harding wasn't just a peer, after all. Not quite a friend, though, she wouldn't go there, at least not yet. Verbal sparring partner? Yes. That would suit him. Her, too. That would suit her just fine.

~The End~