One

Matt was being a dick. Not that she would vocalize this to anybody, but he was becoming somebody new. It was as if Matt had gone through a personality revolution… and at times she wanted to break up with him, but the bastard had her heart. She loved Matthew Saracen and she was willing to do practically anything for him. She fancied herself Juliet in the Shakespearean drama that was their lives. Matt was her Romeo, even if this football thing was sort of turning him into a different guy. People change, but she could change too, right?

She knew she was sort of overreacting about Matt changing. It just really pissed her off that everybody in this town was so obsessed with football. It was just a game. She had to admit, she liked watching the super bowl, but she didn't live football, though she came close, what with her dad.

But she was going to try. And in the end she was sure that was what counted, putting a little effort into it. It wasn't that bad anyway, he spent tons of time with her, and was the nicest guy on the team by far.

Julie liked school, obviously, but her favourite class by far was English. Normally she sat next to Lois and her beloved boyfriend, Matt, who annexed himself between her and Landry. They took up an entire table center stage. It was ideal.

When she saw the new seating plan, what with the fab four broken up, she was saddened. Then, came the A-Bomb. She was to sit next to Tim Riggins

She believed everything she'd heard about him. Really, she was quite impressionable. Or, another might say, gullible. She'd even believed the rumour that he was a scientologist. She'd never seen him around her church. He also knew he stole Jason Street's girlfriend. What a dick.

A month or so ticked by on the old calendar, days passed and sitting next to him wasn't so bad. They even partnered up together on numerous small assignments. They made a good team, she wasn't afraid to boss him, and he wasn't afraid to listen. Still, she wouldn't consider herself Tim Riggins' friend. Far from it. She was an introvert of the highest order, and she had a high expectation of friends.

One day that fall really stood out, and that was the day, in November when Matt told her he loved her. He didn't pick a very romantic setting, really, he had selected the hall in between third period English and the her fourth class econ, which she had with none of her friends he pulled her into a very un-Matt-like kiss in them middle of the hall. She had a look of utter bemusement on her face. She didn't really like being the center of attention, and she already had to be dating a football player, and then she had to have a dad who was the head coach. She was already involved with a lot of gossip.

Then he pulled away from her and muttered the three little words that made her so happy. So fulfilled. So… happy to be alive. You wouldn't think that hearing I Love You could sound so good, but it made her feel appreciated and of course she reciprocated with a, "I love you too," and a kiss.

She didn't really tell anybody but when she got home, but her mother and father looked at her differently. It was if they didn't suppose that their daughter had kissed a boy or something until the hallway thing.

"Julie, phone for you." her mom said. Julie grabbed the phone and it was, surprise, surprise, Lois. Her only girl friend at her new school.

"Ju-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… I heard Matt dropped the L-Boooomb!" Lois said all giddy and happy for her. But wasn't it Lois who thought that Matt was bad news from the beginning?

Julie laughed slightly on the phone, her parents exchanging weird looks, probably because Lois talked so loud her father, who was half-way across the room, could hear every word. She didn't get what was so bad about love, her parents were obviously deranged. "Yeah." she said, deciding to avoid the party-poopers and head into her bedroom.

"Oh. My. God. This. Is. So. Great."

Julie found it odd that Lois went from all squeaky to one-word sentences, but it was something she'd decided to live with when she'd befriended Lois. "I know." she had to smile, her best friend did have a way of making her feel… important. A feeling she rarely got elsewhere…

The phone call faded into the night, and she was glad she didn't have to put up with any "You don't know what love is!!" lectures with her over-protective parents.

Another week passed before anything worth writing home about happened to Julie Taylor. It was in Mr. H's class. Riggins, out of the blue, said. "I'm failing."

The truth was, Julie and Tim might sit together, but they didn't talk much, so this struck Julie as odd.

"Ok."

He gave her a look that said, no, little missy, it's not okay, and for that one moment she thought she could love Tim Riggins, but, alas, it passed. "I want you to help me."

"Help you what?"

He didn't even answer.

"You need pointers on football?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, what?"

He finally answered, "Write a essay."

Oh, he wanted her to tutor him. Like her parents would let her. Like she wanted too. But… she kind of felt needed, and that felt nice. It was satisfying. She gave a smile, a weirdly real one, and said, "When?"

He told her that he had a week to do it. She nodded vigilantly and they set a date, actually, two dates. The first one was next Saturday, which was game-day.

The rest of the day was pretty boring, but it passed fairly quickly. The week passed with the same quickness. She met him at the library, well, to be fair, she got their first. She'd talked to Mr. H and he'd given her the topic. It was so simple she'd laughed. Write a series of paragraphs on your favourite animal.

He was, surprisingly, on time. Right on the dot. And he seemed surprised she was there early.