Disclaimer: I do not own Ned's though how I wish I did.

Author's Notes: I am somewhat disappointed with the readership that this story has received. Considerably less readers and reviewers.. What I don't understand is why people put it on their author alerts and story alerts, but refuse to say a word whether it sucks or rocks. Please.. even a word will help me. Personally, I'm beginning to believe this was a mistake. Remember you must have read Reunions before this. Or at the same time.

"Leave me alone!" Moze screamed at Ned with every ounce of strength in her body. Her shoes squeak on the floor in the high school. It was 11th grade; December and the weather was cold and chilled you to the bone. Moze wraps her arms around her in an attempt to be warm.

"...I don't understand" Ned gulped back "Please just let me explain.."

"What" Moze spun around on her heel. "What on earth could you say to me." She growled quietly. "Are you just trying to make me cry?"

"No." Ned slowed his pace and shuffles his feet miserably. "I'm sorry."

"Bullshit" Moze eschewed him and turns to the left and stared off. "You're only sorry after the fact? After you mess up? After you realize you've got nothing to lose?"

"Okay. Got me there" Ned stepped closer to her. "I could tell you what happened"

"But then you'd have to kill me?" Moze narrowed her eyes. But the expression that her eyes had were jovial slightly. "I think I already know."

"Maybe not" Ned leaned even closer to her... so close that she can feel his breath on her cheek. "I might want to keep you around"

"Not on your life, Mr. Bigby" Moze glanced up at hims gamely. "I'm not a pet"

"Oh never" Ned leaned towards her with his lips slightly puckered. Ready to kiss her.

"I can't" Moze pushed him and scampered away, leaving Ned standing there in the hallway watching her go.

Moze scrambles into Mrs. Carlson's Pre Calc class, thirty seconds before the bell goes off, signaling lateness. She shakes her head slightly. That dream in the hallway.. it could have happened 10 minutes ago.. it felt so real...

"30 seconds and you would have been late" Mrs. Carlson peers over the top of her glasses at Moze.

"But I wasn't" Moze says cheerfully.

Mrs. Carlson just glared at her.

Moze walks confidently over to her desk and sits down, carefully arranging her stuff on her desk. She looks ahead two rows and one column over to see the back of Ned's brown mop of hair. It looks so softShe thinks. I wonder if it still is. She shakes her head vigorously.

Class begin, and Moze finds herself barely paying attention to the lecture. Her right hand takes notes in an uncharacteristically neat print. Suddenly, about 20 minutes into the 45 minute minute period, Mrs. Carlson stops her monotonous lecture on their topic of the day. She looks at Ned with an exasperated glance.

She takes a yardstick off of her desk and taps it in her hand a moment before slamming it down on his desk. "Mr. Bigby!" Mrs. Carlson furiously says "If you didn't fall asleep on a daily basis, and paid attention once in a blue moon, you might have even half a chance of passing this quarter!"

Ned sleepily looks up at Mrs. Carlson and regurgitates the usual apology and assertion that it will never happen again.

"I should hope not" Mrs. Carlson sharply remarks. "Mr. Bigby, shape up, or I'll have you thrown out"

Ned goes silent and just stares at the blackboard for the rest of the period. When the period ends, he scrambles out of the classroom with Lisa Zemo at his heels. Moze carefully gathers her stuff and almost makes it out of the door. Mrs. Carlson grabs her shoulder.

"Jennifer, we need to talk"

"Yes.." Moze looks at her straight in the eyes. Rat Face

Mrs. Carlson unlocks her top drawer and takes out a stack of papers. "Miss Mosley, your first test paper in this class was exceptional" She takes the first paper off the top, showing a 100 written on the top. "Now ordinarily, its not that exceptional because it's the beginning of the year, and many people do well..."

Way to demean my accomplishment.

Mrs. Carlson hands her another paper off of the stack. "But this proves that you've got a handle of the material thus far.." Moze gasps at a quiz with 100 ; her name printed on it. Mrs. C takes them both back and shows Moze another one with the name blocked. "Your other classmates did not fare so well" The paper has a 15 written on it in angry red ink.

Moze raises an eyebrow "What are you getting at here"

"How do you feel about...tutoring?" Mrs Carlson taps her claw like nails on the fake wood desk "Helping students..."

Well, I feel like if I say no, you'll claw my eyes out with those freakishly long nails. Moze thinks with a frightened look.

"Well?"

"I'll do it" Moze says impulsively, without thinking for once in a long time what the 10s would think. "What period do I have to do it?"

"Well, you should be free third, right?" Mrs. Carlson studies Moze's schedule. "Third period study hall in the auditorium?"

"Yeah"

Mrs. Carlson hands Moze a slip of paper with her assignment written on it. "Thanks so much, Jennifer. You start on Friday"

"Okay" Moze heads to her next period, thankfully lunch, because the late bell rang a long time ago. As she walks down the hallway, she asks herself in her head Why even go to the cafeteria?

Moze turns to the left into a glass door labeled Library. When she gets inside the library, she sits down on one of the comfortable chairs, stuffs the note with her assignment for tutoring in the front pouch of her backpack. She unzips another pouch, pulls out a granola bar and takes a bite out of it as she reads a book.

-db-

"We're kidnapping you" Missy claps Moze on the shoulder.

Moze slams her locker loudly with a bang. " It depends. To where? I hear Aruba is nice this time of year"

"Ha Ha" Missy rolls her eyes. "Daddy's charge card could do that. But no"

"You really think you're funny, aren't you?" Lexy wrinkles her nose. "Jen, you're not funny"

"Ah, I think the problem is that you just don't get it" Moze wryly smiles. Though you probably would get it if you hadn't fried your brain with all those prescription drugs you keep stealing from your mom.

"We heard about your...er... problem" Lexy smiles fakely. "We are here to help you get acclimated to the dating world once more"

"Oh please" Moze smirks at Missy and Lexy. "How much can it change in the 3 month hiatus I took?" Moze picks up her backpack and heads for the nearby side entrance leading outside. She shoves the door like it has done her a personal wrong.

"Well, the way you shoved that door, it looks like you have issues" Missy picks at her cuticle as she walks outside. "And guys don't like issues. You have to hide them"

"Like I'm so not taking advice from you" Moze says. Because you act like a skank to get guys.

"And it looks like you're not happy with the idea" Lexy accuses.

"No, seriously, it's great" Moze nods insincerely. "Nothing better than having my deranged friends match me up with a guy" Well, except for the whole having Ned stuck in my head and having to tutor someone. That's so much better.

"Great" Lexy smiles brightly.

"Could you three go any slower!" Suzie yells indigently as she sticks her head out of the SUV's window.

"Whatever" Moze laughs dryly. She speeds up her pace, opens the shotgun door and climbs in. She plops down on the seat. "Mine!"

"Mosley, you're so weird" Missy says as she and Lexy climb in the backseat.

As soon as Suzie pulls out of her parking spot, she begins speaking. "Everyone, we need to make Jennifer into a guy's perfect girl for her reunion date"

"Why do we all have to do it" Bitsy grumbles. "I have got better things to do than make Jenny look hot"

Like make out with someone else's boyfriend, Bits?

"Guys..." Suzie sighs. "We should help each other when we need it"

"What are we, the Brady Bunch" Bitsy rolls her eyes.

"You know what she needs?" Lexy laughs hysterically from the back of the car. "She needs have..."

"Lexy" Jilly sternly yet patiently interrupts "Not now, okay?"

"Okay" Alexandria says quietly.

Alexandria Alicia Poison was one of the few people who couldn't get along with Moze. Perhaps it was because she was perpetually under the influence of something (Moze strongly suspected) or because Moze's somewhat recent ascent to popularity had bumped her down a notch or two. Whatever the case, Lexy's unnaturally green eyes were always a little foggy, and she always hated Moze. Those two things were constant.

Suzie pulls in front of Lexy's expensive apartment building and unlocks the car door. Lexy climbs out shakily, and staggers to the building.

"Lex?" Suzie calls after her "Are you going to be okay?"

"Mhmm" Lexy slurs as she walks shakily to the apartment building's front door.

"She's going to end up just like her mum" Bitsy murmurs as the car lurches away.

"Be nice" Moze hears herself saying.

Bitsy just nods in response. The car returns to it's usual noise, this time about what Moze is going to wear, what shoes she's going, the manicure colors...

"Purple" Suzie says. "I know she likes red better, but purple will make her hair sparkle.."

"Not the mall. No way.." Moze hears someone say. She only starts getting little bits of the conversation.

"Strappy or not?"

"Hair up or down?"

"Down..."

Moze feels herself spacing out. Pretty soon, Suzie is pulling into the driveway of her house.

"Moze?" Suzie shakes her as they come to a stop "You have to get out now"

"I know" Moze nods vaguely.

"Okay, Jennifer, I realize you probably weren't paying attention to anything on this ride. But..I think you're listening now" She grits her teeth. "But you have to go along with this. I'm fairly sure you hate the idea..."

"No" Moze cheerily "I really don't mind. I know they have the best intentions"

"Sure they do" Suzie purses her lips. "Naive, aren't you"

"Okay...?" She gets out of the car and waves goodbye, not knowing exactly what to say. The SUV drives away in a cloud of exhaust.

Suddenly, she hears footsteps and turns around.

"Hey Moze" Ned says quietly. He widely grins and leans a little on the top points in the dividing fence that existed between their yard now. Moze noted the fact that he looks nervous.

He looks like a maniac Moze thinks Maybe he's just nervous. "Oh. you" She gets a little closer to the fence and answers as disdainfully as could be possible. "Ned." Crapcrapcrap I did not mean to sound that mean...

"Yeah" Ned replies eagerly, like a little sweet little dog.

The look she's giving him is one of disdain. She can feel it on her face. And it makes her extremely unhappy. But it's the only way she can keep up the illusion. And I really want to know why all of a sudden he's trying to talk to me again right when he's popping up in every daydream I have. Maybe he's psychic or something

"Are.. Are you going to the reunion?"

"Yes" She starts to walk to the door. "With my boyfriend" Moze emphasizes a little too loudly She goes in her door and slams it to the outdoors, and to Ned. What the heck are you doing! The little voice screams in her head as she leans against the door. He's not your boyfriend!!!

Moze sighs. "I am so screwed up"She runs up the stairs leading to her room and throws her backpack to the floor. She hums in spite of of her...encounter a few moments ago. Moze dances around with a big grin as she puts her stuff away...something she hasn't done since her and Ned had that..skirmish back in 10th grade.

-db-

It had been a Saturday, and Ned's mom had made them Mexican food before dashing off to work again. So it had been just her and Ned quietly munching on the tacos, nachos, and hot sauce, just enjoying each other's company. That had been about an hour ago, and they were watching a movie.

"Moze?" Ned's voice was quiet

"What?"

Ned's stomach gurgled and he raced to the bathroom. "I think I have the runs" He gasped through the crack in the bathroom. Moze sat on the other side.

"Ned." Moze stared at the ceiling. "Are you okay in there?"

"No.." She heard another gurgle and a sigh.

Moze waited another few moments. But Ned did not come out of the bathroom, presumably not for a long time.

"I'm going to go, then, okay?" Moze started to stand up. "Ned, I'll see you tomorrow"

"Wait, don't go!" Ned moaned. "I need someone in my last few moments of life!"

"You're not going to die" Moze scoffed.

"It feels like it" Ned coughed. "What will it take you to stay?"

"I don't know" Moze sat by the door. "I guess I'm just loyal, because I'm going to stay" She sat by the door and smiled. "So...Ned...tell me something I don't know about you."

"You're taking advantage of my situation"

"Am I?" Moze smirked "Maybe"

Well, review. Or else I might go with my first instinct and just delete this story...It's kinda irrelevant, isn't it?