For once in her life, Taylor Townsend was running late. Her biology lab had gone on longer than normal and Taylor found herself entering the restaurant a good ten minutes later than planned. Pausing by the hostess station, her eyes glanced around the restaurant, searching for Seth's curly head.

"May I help you miss?" The hostess sounded annoyed that Taylor had dared seek out seating for herself.

"I'm looking for some friends—tall and skinny guy and a skinny, funky looking blonde girl?" The hostess shrugged her shoulders and suggested Taylor look around some.

"Hey Taylor—we were wondering about you." Anna had spotted Taylor from their corner booth—she must have completely overlooked her two friends. "What kept you?"

"Lab."

"Oh yea tell me about it—bio lab kicked my ass last year." Anna Stern had been the first person Seth had introduced Taylor when she had arrived in Newport; she was a junior at Brown, studying English and popular culture; Taylor and Anna had hit it off instantly and they become two of Seth's best friends.

"Sorry I'm late." Seth smiled away her apology, and continued on with his day's adventures. "What happened?"

"Oh professor Stephens didn't like the work I was doing for the drafting project—he thought it liked imagination."

"But I thought you told me he loved it!" Professor Stephens was not the easiest man to please, and Seth again told Taylor it was so.

"He did love it yesterday—he told me I was going someone good with it"

"What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing—just doing what I'm doing until he loves it again." Anna and Taylor both laughed and told Seth that Brown had hardly complicated at all compared to RISD. They fell into an easy conversation and Taylor, as she looked at Anna and then Seth, was pleased that she had fallen into such a good and comfortable routine.

It was a month into the school year and Taylor was going well at school and had began to put together a nice little group of friends; certainly Paris and her year at the Sorbonne had helped her mature because now she saw herself as a well spoken, smart, funny and easy person to get along with. True she did obsess and worry about things obsessively from time to time, but the crazy girl she had been two, even one year ago, was being replaced.

"Oh Taylor I forgot to tell you that I talked to Atwood today."

"What's new with him?" She found now that she could talk about Ryan without blushing or any undo anxiety.

"Not much—busy with school; he's coming down next weekend with Sadie." Seth and Anna watched as a flicker of pain and concern passed over Taylor's face. It was one thing to talk about him; it was another to see him, which she would undoubtedly do. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine—thanks." The waitress handed Taylor a menu and she busied herself looking for something to eat while Anna and Seth talked. "How long is he staying for?" The nachos sounded good—and while she was at it—so did some cheese fries.

"From Thursday to Monday—they have a break or something." Seth eyed Taylor closely. "You cool with him coming?"

"Of course—I mean, he's over me and I'm over him—it can't be that awkward right. Plus, he's coming to see you so I wouldn't want to put a damper in anyone's plans."

"Plus if it gets weird you'll have me as moral support." Anna laid a hand on Taylor's arm and smiled at the girl affectionately. Anna liked Taylor a lot; they had a lot to talk about in regards of comic books, Asian cinema and literature.

"Thanks." Taylor flagged over the waitress and placed her order and then settled back into her seat; the information that she was going to be seeing Ryan again continued to sink into my mind and imagination. She had hardly seen him at all that summer—maybe twice—and both times had been awkward. Slowly, as the summer and fall progressed, Taylor had found herself thinking about him less and less and noticing other guys more and more. "Sadie's nice?"

"Yeah she was pretty cool—very much the anti-Marissa."

"Ryan must be happy then."

"He sounds happy yeah." If Taylor was ever destined to hate Sadie, her journey

would not be starting that day; no one that could make Ryan happy could be hated in Taylor's eyes, even if she did steal away her love. "How about you Taylor—any guys on the horizon?"

"There's a couple of cute guys in my Arabic class but I don't know—I haven't really thought about it." Truth be told, she had been asked out once or twice, but she had said no—was she using her break up with Ryan as an excuse not to get hurt again?

"We should all go out to The Old Fisherman when they get here—maybe find some worth sea men." Anna laughed at her own little pun but Taylor liked the idea; they were both single and attractive young women, and if Ryan was going to be showing off Sadie, then Taylor should find herself a man as well. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to try and get a guy just so she could show Ryan that she was over him, but the more Anna talked about getting dolled up and painting the town red, the better the idea sounded.

"You in Seth? We can find you some wild Brown girls." Anna was determined to find Seth a girl; she herself was not interested in dating him—she knew how hung up he still was on Summer—but she hoped that another girl would turn his head and eventually make him forgot the dark haired beauty that had broken his heart.

"I don't know—maybe." He looked so sad and confused about the prospect of seeing another girl that Taylor's heart swooned. If he wasn't the ex-boyfriend of her good friend Summer, and if he wasn't the best friend of the man she had once loved to distraction, she would have considered titling her cap at him herself. As it was, she reached over and squeezed his hand in sympathy.

"It gets easier." She had assured him that many times before, but lately his eyes betrayed a loss of hope. "It will never go away completely but it gets easier."

Taylor's nachos arrived and as she daintily took one, she noticed Seth eyeing her with affection and gratitude.