I've had the worst writer's block. So I wrote this to try and fix it. I have no idea what I was doing. I just sat down and typed crap. The fact that this particular crap has a plot of some kind is amazing. Hopefully that's a good sign.

The first time, Finn honestly didn't think anything of it. Bonnibel had never been one of those people who hung around after school. Sure she was a brainiac and often participated in after school activities, but on a Friday, when there was nothing for her to be doing; no extra-curricular commitments, no debating meeting in the library, not even practice for the cheer squad (apparently they weren't cheerleaders, not that he understands the difference).

The point is, he didn't really consider it a big deal when she couldn't be found. Not the first time. She had to pick her brother up from the junior school and take him home every afternoon, so it made sense that she'd be gone at her earliest convenience. And really, what right did he have to hope she'd hang around until after training for him? None.

So he wasn't concerned or anything. He wasn't. Not until he found her car parked in the lot with her brother perched on the boot, legs swinging.

"Hey, Finn!" the boy called enthusiastically, waving massively. "How was training?"

"Hot," Finn grumbled back. "I'm pretty sure they deliberately schedule sessions on the hottest days of the year."

"Aw. Do you need a drink? I have water in my bag."

He stopped by Bonnie's car and ruffled Robert's hair. "Thanks, buddy, but no. I've consumed about as much water as I can stomach. Gonna go get a Coke from the vending machine. You want one?"

"No thanks. It's bad for my enamel."

Only a Bennet would use that logic, but sure. Finn rolled his eyes, dropping his bag by the car and heading for the vending machine in the administration building of the school. It was there so the teachers could keep an eye on things. Not that there were any teachers hanging around this late, but whatever. What did he know?

Once his drink had been procured, he wandered back to Robert, deciding it would probably be for the best if he waited with the kid. Robert was only nine; he shouldn't really be by himself. Besides, Rob was cool. For a midget, at least.

"So what'd you do in class today, shorty?" Finn asked, cracking his bottle.

"We're learning division now," Robert chirped way too excitedly. Maths should not ever be discussed in that kind of tone. "Long division, specifically. I hope we get to do decimals soon. Oh and negatives…" His face contorted then into a strangely joyful expression and Finn knew something particularly nasty was coming. "Irrational numbers."

Finn waved a hand in the air above him with a whistle. "That's over my head, squirt," he laughed. "Mathematics is not my forte."

"No, but you do like hugging other guys and rolling around on the ground with them," Robert teased, smiling his adorable smile. It was scary how the dimples made him look just like his sister.

He rolled his eyes at the boy. "Where's Bonnie at, anyway? Why're you just sitting here?"

"Oh, she's always half an hour late on a Friday," Robert mentioned like it was nothing. "She has a thing. Won't tell me what it is, though."

Finn blinked. A thing? A mysterious… thing. Every Friday. That didn't sound like Bonnibel.

Unfortunately, his brother pulled up at just that moment to take him home. He hesitated only a moment before heaving his bag up onto his shoulder and trotting off, sparing a wave for Robert as he went. Unusually, he didn't hear a single word Jake said on the way home. He was too busy contemplating what Bonnie's thing could be.

"Sorry, Finn, not today," Bonnibel sighed, ducking out of the library. "I'm swamped this afternoon."

His shoulders slumped. "Not even for five minutes after school?"

She paused, looking very frazzled. Abnormally so. Her eyes searched his face for something and she exhaled again, shuffling the books in her arms. "I have a debate meeting after school today and an… engagement after that. Do you have practice today?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You know that." Finn had to bite down on the desire to ask what her 'engagement' was. It wouldn't be polite to snoop.

Still fiddling with her books, she glanced away. "Football practice finishes around the same time as debating," she mused. "You can meet me outside the library and you'll have two minutes to talk maths in my ear until I get to my other thing."

"Can I call you tonight?"

She shook her head, her feet moving erratically too, now. He frowned.

"What about on the weekend?"

"I'm sorry, Finn," she mumbled, backing away. "I have a lot on my plate. Ask Rosie, she can help you."

He opened his mouth to argue but she was already gone. His brow furrowed again. Yeah, no… something fishy was going on here.

Most of his afternoon classes actually disappeared into thinking far too deeply on the whole weirdness of Bonnie's behaviour. Even though he really should've been paying attention in maths. And probably in history too. He was more engrossed in what he'd decided was a mystery.

"Jake," he murmured to his brother quietly during the tail end of their last lesson. "Have you noticed anything off about Bonnie lately?"

"Nah, man," Jake replied. "Why?"

"She just seemed really distracted today and last Friday. It's strange."

"Maybe she wants you to stop hitting on her. She's too nice to say something outright."

Finn felt his face go bright red. "I do not hit on her."

"You do, bro. All the time. You should either ask her out or leave her alone."

His pen bumped the edge of the table as his bobbed it nervously between his fingers. "Like she'd ever go out with me," he scoffed, hoping his uncertainty wouldn't show through.

"You'll never know if you don't ask."

"Do you think she would?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

Finn blinked. "Really?"

Jake shrugged. "Sure. I think secretly Rosie wants you to ask her out. She thinks you're adorable."

"Dude, no. Don't say that," Finn whined, pressing his face into the desk. "I can't be adorable. Girls don't want adorable. They want smoking hot."

Jake stuffed his knuckles into his mouth to stifle the guffaw that nearly burst forth. "Well," he opined, deadpan, when he'd gained control of himself. "You are the star football player on the team, and you're what… nearly six foot, right? Blonde hair, broad shoulders, how could she not swoon?"

"Okay, first; that's gross. You're my brother. Don't ever talk about me like that again," Finn told him flatly. "And second… does that mean I qualify as hot?"

Again, Jake had to choke his laughter. "Sure, bro. Go for it."

"I'd have to get to speak to me again first," Finn pointed out. "Do you wanna help me scope it out?"

"What?" Jake's eyes shot wide open. "Like… spy on Bonnibel Bennet? Are you crazy?"

"No."

"But… she's like the Golden Child," Jake protested. "She's an angel, a saint, a workaholic and a straight A student who participates in every facet of school life. She's the kind, well loved, beautiful idol of everyone on campus. And you," he jabbed Finn in the chest, "want to spy on her?"

"Yes."

"Alright, let's do it. When do we start?"

"This afternoon."

Jake's face cracked into a massive grin. "Can we dress up as ninjas?"

Jake had been disappointed they didn't have ninja costumes but that would probably have given them away. Finn didn't want to be caught he wanted to find out what it was that Bonnie was apparently trying to keep under wraps. And… it wasn't like he was expecting anything sinister was happening here. No. That would not fall into the scope of Things That Bonnibel Does.

This was the girl who'd gone out of her way to befriend that strange musician chick who does all the lighting and audio set-up for performances in the hall. The one with the ear piercings Finn was pretty sure broke at least a dozen school rules and he was pretty sure she had a tattoo somewhere as well. But she played in the school band and Bonnie needed to be friends with everyone so… that had happened.

This was the girl who did after school tutoring sessions with kids who struggled in their various classes. Often the teachers couldn't commit to these things, but Bonnie had organised a full on study group involving a weird mish-mash of kids in various grades. She'd done it without expecting anything; it was just because she could.

This was the girl who worked at her parents' store on the weekends to earn her allowance because she felt bad being handed free stuff. This was the girl who did tertiary level classes over the holidays because she liked to keep her mind active. The girl who makes spreadsheets for things and on Sunday afternoons she'd stop by the school's admin to help with the filing since the lady in charge was old and couldn't get the boxes down from the top shelf.

No. There wouldn't be anything dubious going on here. No sir. Not with Bonnie involved.

So he wasn't particularly apprehensive after training as he followed her to the technology block that was pressed up against the music room. He rattled off a few questions on his maths homework that had made no sense and let her help him through them. Somehow, when Bonnibel explained things, it made so much more sense than when teachers did it. So much so, that by the time they'd stopped outside the first door on the second floor, he was pretty convinced all the confusion had been some creation of his subconscious.

"Thanks, Bonnie," he breathed, grinning. "That does seem a lot easier than I thought."

"Yeah, no worries."

"Um…" he hummed, rolling back onto his heels. "Why are you here?"

"I have to do some printing," she informed him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Robert has chess practice this afternoon so I thought I'd do it now while he's busy."

Finn's mouth made a little 'o' but he didn't make any move to leave.

"You should go, Finn," she prompted and he smiled vaguely.

"Or I could keep you company while you do it," he suggested. "It sounds pretty boring."

"I'll be fine. And you shouldn't keep Jake waiting on you. Rosie said she was going to drag him to a movie this afternoon."

Everything was logical. It made sense. Finn almost couldn't understand his suspicions that something was wrong. Almost.

"Sure, maybe I'll tag along with them." He spun, heading towards the stairs with a wave. "See you later. Have fun with the printer."

"Bye, Finn."

He stopped halfway down the staircase though, Jake frowning at him (probably having heard the thing about the movie). Crouched down low on the steps, Finn peered around the corner. The door to the room was closed, Bonnie evidently inside already. But no light had flickered on. Was that weird?

"I could be going to a movie with my girlfriend," Jake hissed. "You know… sitting in the back row in a dark theatre? Instead I'm lying on a staircase with my psycho paranoid brother. Can we go?"

"Not until I find out what's gotten Bonnie so weird."

"She's not weird, man," Jake huffed. "That was a perfectly ordinary conversation with her you just had. Nothing strange or questionable. Just Bonnie being Bonnie."

"But there's something she's not telling us, Jake," he maintained. "What does she do every afternoon? Where does she spend her Saturdays?"

"I assume she spends them at her house," Jake replied drolly.

Finn shook his head. "I went around there on the weekend to see if she'd help me with my homework, but her mum said she was at a friend's place. Rosie was with you and Louise was at a party out at Melissa's. And I mean, I know she's popular and all that, but who else would she visit on a weekend and spend all day with?"

Jake opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Frowned. "You're going mental," he finally offered. "You are reading into this way too much. It's like you're a jealous boyfriend, only without the title of boyfriend."

"I asked her out," Finn blurted before Jake could say any more.

"What? When?"

"After the football game two weeks ago," he confessed. "I thought… maybe. I'd scored the winning points, right? That'd be the best time to ask a girl out."

"What'd she say?"

"She said no."

Jake threw his hands up. "Then why did we even have this conversation earlier?"

"I needed a pep talk, I think."

"You reckon she's been acting weird since, yeah?"

"She's been acting unusually for a while; it just became more obvious after that."

Jake sighed. "Then let's go see what her problem is."

He crawled up onto the landing in a crouch, crab-walking across the floor to the door, keeping low so he couldn't be seen through the window. With a short puff of breath, Finn followed. He left his hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn it. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure he really did want to know.

Jake ribbed him and – very cautiously – he straightened. And blinked. There was a light on, over the desks on the far side of the room, turned down low. Sitting with her back against the wall was Bonnie, her bag beside her, books strewn across the floor. With her was the bizarre chick with the piercings and maybe-tattoos. She had a guitar and was wearing this smile that made Finn's heart hurt.

Even as he watched, the girl said something and Bonnie burst out laughing. Their knees brushed as Bonnibel turned to prod the girl in her shoulder which only made her smile widen. Guitar Girl was smiling at Bonnie in a way that made Finn feel like he was intruding on something. It was… not the kind of smile Bonnie gave him.

"What's she doing?" Jake whispered.

"Helping the chick who does the sound for assembly with her homework," Finn mumbled. "Looks like they're enjoying themselves."

"See?" Jake replied in a hushed version of a yell. "Nothing to worry about. Let's go see a movie."

It wasn't worrying the first time. Or really the second. But Finn kept his eyes peeled for the girl with the piercings. According to Louise (who knew everything) her name was Marceline. She wasn't a new student; she was just very good at going unnoticed.

Unnoticed – that is – except for Bonnibel.

Finn was paying attention the third time. When he was walking to a class with Bonnibel and Marceline crossed their paths. He was ready for it. He noticed. The little way they looked at each other, the way Bonnie smiled at the murmured 'hello' from the other girl.

That wasn't weird behaviour. People greet each other all the time. It was a perfectly normal thing to do.

He thought it would be, but it wasn't even weird when Marceline joined them for lunch.

It wasn't even weird when that became a regular thing.

The fact that in the span of a few weeks, Marceline had become a fixture in their little circle (albeit a socially awkward and quiet fixture) wasn't surprising. Not when Bonnie had gone out of her way to become friends with her.

Nothing changed, as he'd kind of expected it to. Louise gossiped about other people, but apparently there wasn't much by way of 'dirt' to be had on Marceline. She kept to herself, kept away from the dramas of high school. She was smart like that.

She didn't intrude, didn't make fuss, didn't get between anyone. It was like she wasn't even there. Or it would've been like that if Finn hadn't been paying attention to her.

He was still mostly convinced that there was something wrong. He just couldn't place it.

On the fourth occasion, it was unremarkable.

"Hey, Bonnie," Finn called, hurrying over to her as she pinned a flier to the notice board. It was a funny coincidence that the flier was exactly the thing he wanted to talk to her about.

"Finn," she replied, smiling. "How are you?"

"Good. Can I ask a question?"

"Go for it."

He sucked in a deep breath and on exhalation garbled, "Doyouwanttogototheseniordancewithme?"

Bonnie blinked. "Try again in English?" But her dimpled smile flashed so it wasn't offensive. Just cute.

After another calming breath, he tried again. "Do you want to go to the senior dance with me?"

Her face crumpled. "Uh… no. Sorry, Finn." Bonnie's eyes flicked behind him, something changing in them. The green flashed from the dull of telling him 'no' to something else. He noticed.

"Oh." He scuffed a shoe on the tiles. "That's… That's okay. Just wanted to ask."

Someone punched his shoulder and he turned then, seeing Marceline as she wandered past. "Sup, Finn?" she asked, throwing a smile his way and then a completely different one at Bonnie. He decided then that when she grinned at him, it was blunt and when she turned it on Bonnibel it… it softened.

"Yeah… good," he mumbled, rubbing his shoulder. The way Bonnie looked back at Marceline was exactly the same kind of soft as the other girl's smile. That was noteworthy too, he thought. "Just… going. See you around."

Of course there was a fifth time somewhere between that incident and the dance, but he wasn't sure he could recall it. Not enough for it to really count. It probably wasn't important. It might've been a text message Bonnie had received that lit her face up like Times Square on New Years' Eve. It might've been her replying to that message within five seconds. It might've been the way she made time on her hectic schedule to do stuff with whoever that person was.

It might've been any number of things.

But the dance was definitely a thing that counted in Finn's head.

And it was definitely a thing because Bonnie came alone. Or at least, she turned up by herself. She spent the evening wearing a beautiful green dress that would've been gaudy on anyone else, but on her just somehow turned her into a Disney princess. With her hair done up in a pile of curls, falling free in a tumble of auburn the longer the night wore on.

The 'thing' status of the evening was solidified when Marceline (who had so generously volunteered to do the sound for the whole night) stepped down from her little booth at around ten. She wasn't dressed to the nines like everyone else. But even Finn had to admit she looked nice in her crisp white shirt, black satin vest and black jeans. He had to admit that because it was blatantly obvious and should be classified more as a fact than an opinion.

Anyway, the point is that she made the 'thing' proper by beaming at Bonnie and whirling her onto the dance floor. Even that wasn't really unusual. Girls danced with each other all the time. Before that, Bonnie had danced with Rosie and Louise too. It was a girl thing.

Except that maybe it wasn't in that particular instance.

Actually, it definitely wasn't. He just didn't know it at the time. It took another two weeks and the beginning of exam block before he realised that.

Exam block was pertinent to his discovery because classes were disrupted. Students who had no exams didn't go in to school. Students who had two exams – one in the morning and one in the afternoon – got to chill during the middle of the day. Classes were put on hold so that the exams could be focused on.

And this meant that Finn was free to wander the school grounds in his downtime. Just like he was doing while he waited for Jake's geography exam to let out. He meandered through the school, wondering if the football game that weekend would be a good end to exams or a tragedy.

Consequently, when he found himself standing outside the empty music building staring at his reflection in the glass he wasn't really paying attention to anything else. Not until movement inside caught his gaze and snapped him back to reality. He leaned forward, almost pressing his nose to the glass trying to see who it was.

And then he went bright red.

The first few times it wasn't weird. Maybe it was worth making a note of, maybe it was a little out of character. Maybe it was just unexpected.

But realising maybe studying hadn't been all that high on Marceline's List of Things to do with Bonnibel Bennet wasn't one Finn had ever wanted to find out.

Catching Bonnie pressed against a piano glued to Marceline's mouth was absolutely not something he needed to see.

Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to look at either of them the same way again.