"So, when did you arrive?" Rick asked.

"Saturday. You?"

"The same. But I didn't see you at meals or anything – and I know I would have noticed you."

Kate felt her cheeks redden slightly. She let her wavy brown hair tumble round her face to hide her blush, and answered.

"I didn't go to them. I brought some food with me – and I wasn't that hungry for English food."

Rick smiled. "It's not that bad. You get used to it, and there's always some kind of choice. It's a shame you didn't go – I might have had someone to sit with if you had."

"I'm sorry. If I'd known you were there, I might have gone."

Kate loved the way he was looking at her. She'd had boyfriends before – but moving around so much had meant she hadn't had any long term relationships. This time it was different – her mother had signed a two year contract, partly because she wanted Kate to do her final exams when she was settled in one place.

Rick was looking at her like guys did when they wanted, badly, to ask you out. She wondered if he could tell from the way she looked at him that she was desperate for him to ask. She didn't know what it was – she'd only known him five minutes. He was nice, good looking, and seemed smart and funny. And he was from New York – she could be with him without feeling like an outsider. She looked at his face; his strong jaw; his baby blue eyes-

"Take a picture if you want – it'll last longer," he laughed. Kate cringed – he had caught her looking. But he didn't seem like he wanted her to be embarrassed.

"If you want me to," she answered coyly. She might be in a country far from home – but she needed to stop being such a coward. Rick winked at her – she felt her stomach do a backflip.

The door beside them opened, and a young-ish man came out into the corridor.

"You two must be Richard and Katherine. I'm Mr Johnson, the headmaster here. I'm glad you two seem to have started talking already – why don't you both come into my office?"

They got up and followed him into a beautifully decorated room, complete with leather covered chairs and a fireplace. Mr Johnson sat on one side of the desk, and they sat on the other. Kate sat up straight – contrasting with Rick, who slumped against his chair, drumming his fingers on the side of it. When he saw her looking, he winked at her again.

Mr Johnson turned out to be quite friendly – he said they should wear the uniform, to help them fit in, but he found some weekend activities that they were interested in, to help them meet people. Kate agreed to go to the dance club, which met some afternoons as well. Rick was more reluctant to join anything, but he eventually admitted he liked to go running, and they both liked music and film. Their headmaster thought it would be a good idea to get them back in class, so after a quick tour of the building, he sent them back to their rooms to get changed, and said he wanted them in class after the morning break.

"That actually wasn't so bad," Kate said to Rick as they were walking to the common room. Rick looked at her sideways.

"I should have known you'd be into all that extra curricular stuff. More school – seriously? I mean, he seemed okay, but look at us. We're in the school uniform, in the geeky clubs. Proper goodie-goodies already."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Dance isn't geeky. And I'm pretty sure I'm stuck here for the next two years – I don't like the uniform, but I don't want to be an outsider."

Rick realised he'd been a bit judgemental. But he didn't want to back down right away. He thought she was right – but he wasn't ready to be so adaptable, and he didn't want to agree to fit in so soon. Fitting in hadn't ever worked out for him so well, anyway. He preferred writing, or being cheeky – or running, but not in a club.

"No, it's not. I'm sorry – it's your call, Kate." He smiled at her, and she stopped looking mad, so he figured they'd be okay. That would've been smart – losing the only friend he'd managed to make in his first three days after just half an hour. He was still a bit worried, if he was honest with himself. It wouldn't take her long to make friends with some of the girls here, if she wanted to. And some of the guys – she looked amazing, even in the hideous school uniform.

"What do you have after the break?" she asked.

He checked his timetable. He had English. This would be good – they'd be studying some book he'd have read years ago, reading far too much into every sentence... He wasn't a published writer, yet, but he felt the pain of being second guessed all the same. Kate had English too – they were in the same class. They were both in Modern Studies as well, and she had Psychology while he had History. Then after Lunch they had 'free' – for studying, Mr Johnson had said, but they didn't have anything to study yet. The curfew for their year was 10pm – they were allowed out when they wanted before that as long as they signed out.

It didn't take too long for lunch to arrive – Kate even got talking to a girl in psychology – Lauren. She was invited to sit with Lauren's gang at lunch, and she brought Rick along too. The food wasn't as bad as she'd expected – English people knew how to make a pretty good Cesear salad. She watched Rick – there were some guys in Lauren's group, but he wasn't really talking much. Mostly he was just watching her. She wished he'd try a little harder – it wasn't easy for her to smile along while they talked about some English TV show she'd never heard of, or looked completely blank when she said her favourite actress was Stana Katic. But she did it, because it would be worth it in the long run, and because they seemed like nice people.

Maybe Rick just wasn't forward thinking enough. Maybe he was too preoccupied. Kate felt a bit sorry for him. Being lonely sucked. When they were done eating, she made an excuse to Lauren, and signed out with Rick. The girls had told her there was a bus stop just down the road, and they managed to get into town without too much confusion. The winding country roads, and driving on the wrong side of them, made Kate feel pretty weird, but she chatted to Rick, which was fun. As soon as they were on their own, he became his outgoing, amusing self. She wondered why he'd changed before, but she didn't want to ask when she'd only known him for half a day.

The shops in the nearest town weren't bad. Rick bought her a coffee. English money looked so bizarre – all different shapes and sizes – and the bills were all different colours. He insisted on paying, and she let him because he looked like he was having a bad day, and thought maybe it would cheer him up to feel manly or something.

She sipped her grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla, and watched Rick stir yet another sweet 'n lo into his black americano.

"So, you seem to have made friends," he said with a fake smile.

"I'm doing my best. One of the girls in the group we sat with does dance as well – it'll be nice to at least know someone's name. It was Shannon – the redhead."

Rick pretended to look happy for her. He wanted to be happy. But deep down, he just felt jealous, and not just of the friends – he was also jealous of her, for having the ability to make them so quickly. Kate saw right through him.

"Don't be jealous Rick, it doesn't look good on you. You aren't so bad – Lauren thought you were really funny, when you did speak. They're more open minded than I thought they would be – you might be surprised if you got to know them."

"You're acting like you know them. Kate, you ate one meal with them."

"If you're going to be like that, I hardly know you any better."

Rick could have kicked himself. They were practically fighting. And he liked her so much.

"I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm sick of this. Sick of moving around, sick of new places. I haven't been in one place more than six months since I was seven!"

Kate had been getting ready to get mad at him, but all her anger evaporated. She put her hand on his without really thinking about it, and caught his eye sympathetically.

"I know the feeling. But it might be okay. My Mom says I should look at this like a chance for a new start."

"Another new start – I've had so many-"

Kate squeezed his hand. "I know. But there's no point moping about something we can't change. Try to look for the silver lining."

Rick smiled for real. "I don't have to look for it. She's sitting right in front of me, holding my hand."

Kate sighed, but smiled. "There are going to be way more good things here than just me. Give it a chance."

Rick grinned. "I'm not saying there won't be. But you'll be the best one."

Thanks for reading, please continue doing so and please, please review with your thoughts. Love and hugs, Z xxx