A/N: Wow. Where the heck did June go? D: I could have sworn it was just beginning… Anyways, sorry for the late update. I've been having a lot of issues editing this chapter, and it hasn't really helped that my life is crazy right now. I graduated high school, had to deal with all of the parties and announcements and blah blah blah, got a job, began to clean my room, got my classes for September all set up… It's been a nightmare really. I'd by lying if I said I was totally pleased with how this came out, but I really don't think I can delay posting it for much longer. So here- have some chapter three.

Oh, and thank you so much for all of the reviews and alerts and favorites! Getting those just makes my world go round! 8D

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Oh, isn't this amazing?

It's my favorite part because you'll see

Here's where she meets Prince Charming

But she won't discover that it's him, 'til chapter three

(From "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast)

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CHAPTER THREE: Won't Discover That It's Him

I was right in thinking that Tina would be on my case like peanut butter on the roof of a mouth. She wouldn't shut up about him- how good looking he was, and how he seemed 'soooooo nice,' and wasn't he just the sweetest thing with all of those sideways glances? And how long had I been keeping him from her anyways and blah blah blah.

I won't bore you with the details, I'm sure you get the picture. I eventually got her off my back for the most part, telling her that he had just started coming the other day and for some reason liked to talk to me. It was no big deal, and he was not my secret boyfriend and in truth I found his odd desire to come see me a little creepy.

She of course thought it was sweet and romantic, and she got that steely look in her eye that meant only one thing for me: Trouble with a capitol T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Pool. Only this was way worse then any River City trouble with traveling salesmen, my friends. This was far, far worse.

I was supposed to have Thursday off, and felt relieved at the thought of a day to myself. Sleep in, watch some movies, maybe get a little bit of knitting done for my cousins's birthday present-hat-lump-thing… It was gonna be a good day.

That is, until my boss called me and said that Tina had called in sick and needed me to fill in for her.

Tina hasn't been sick since she was 9 and got a cold that lasted a grand total of two days.

The traitor.

She was only doing this because she wanted me to talk to Collin. I think she thought that he was attracted to me or something. HA! As if. I'd come to the conclusion the night before that my previous thoughts of him maybe liking me were silly and nothing more then wishful thinking. Because even though he was weird, the thought of someone liking me was… Kinda nice. But in any case, I was stuck talking to him. That is, assuming he came.

So I went to work, only to find that Wendy had decided that I would be on register today, and that she would be shelving books and the like.

Double traitor. She was also friends with Tina, and I knew it wouldn't take much for Tina to talk Wendy into her fiendish plan. Oh was I ever going to get them back!

I spent most of the dull, slow morning planning my revenge, occasionally doing my job whenever someone actually came up to the counter. Most of my plans involved a squirt gun, telemarketers, and Silly-Stringing the inside of Tina's car. Yeah, it was a pretty good plan.

Halfway through a new plot involving rabid squirrel monkeys I saw him come in and ducked my head, hoping he wouldn't notice me and that he'd look for me in the aisles. Wendy was in the back room, so she couldn't do anything like tell him where I was. Maybe I'd get lucky.

Or maybe he'd walk right over here and start talking to me.

Tina was a dead woman walking.

"Hi!" he said, far too cheery for a Thursday morning. How early had he gotten up anyways? I mean, it wasn't like the reservation was just around the corner or anything. He had to have gotten up early to get here, and since he was alone, it was probably by bus which takes forever and a half. And it was only 10:30. In the morning. If I had my way, I would still be asleep right now. Not to mention I wasn't feeling that great. I didn't have time for breakfast this morning (thank you so much, Tina), and my body doesn't handle a lack of meals well. I don't eat a whole lot, so that's probably why I get into such a funk whenever I skimp out.

"Hey," I muttered, not looking him in the eye. He furrowed his brows, looking worried.

"Is something the matter?" he asked. He seemed… Genuinely concerned for me. And oddly able to tell that I wasn't feeling well after just a moment. It was kinda nice. I just shrugged in answer.

"I'm okay," I said, still muttering more then talking. I was surprised though- my face wasn't heating up from my blush like it usually did. Only the tips of my ears felt warm. Maybe I was getting used to him? Could that happen? I'd never hung around a guy long enough to find out. I shuddered. I didn't want to get used to this weirdo!

Well apparently he took my shudder for a shiver, because he put his hand on my forehead, checking for a temperature. Not that he could tell- his hand was so hot! He must have been the one running a fever- there's no way that was natural. My blush flared up again. So much for getting used to him. He reluctantly pulled his hand away.

"You don't feel like you have a fever. Are you cold? I have a jacket you could borrow." He said this all in a rush, still sounding really worried. Like he really cared.

But why? He barely knew me.

I shook my head. "It's nothing. Just hungry." He nodded at me, looking a bit relieved, but still mostly worried.

"If you want, I could go grab you something to eat. I saw a bakery around the corner; I could snag you a doughnut or something. Or there was 7/11, so I could get you some poptarts, or granola bars, or-" I held up a hand to stop his tirade.

"It's no big deal, really. My lunch break is in a little while anyways." If 2 and a half hours counted as a little while.

He actually looked mad now. "It is a big deal. It's not healthy to skip meals. I'll go pick something up for you." The look in his eyes told me it would be a bad idea to say no, so I nodded.

"Just a glazed doughnut would be fine," I told him. "And some milk." I reached into my wallet to give him some money, wondering why on earth I was doing this, why I was letting him get me food, why I would trust him with my precious Abraham Lincoln- but Collin was already out the door. Huh. He sure does move fast.

No one else was in the store, so I had a little bit of time to think about some things. Like, what the heck was up with that Collin kid. It wasn't exactly like there was much else to do. Plus, his actions confused me and I wanted to figure him out. So I drew up some mental facts to try and help make things clear to myself.

He had come to see me for the past three days in a row

He liked to stare at me

May or may not have creeper/stalker tendencies

He wasn't much of a reader (judging from the fact that he didn't have a favorite genre)

He enjoyed running to the store to buy people food

Tina seemed to like him, and she had good taste

I frowned. Maybe… Maybe I was over reacting. Maybe he wasn't a creeper all. I mean… Maybe he just wanted to be my friend. Now that I was really considering it, he hadn't done anything wrong at all, besides that first intense stare-a-thon which had freaked me out. Huh.

It was a strange realization, that. But I'd always been pretty good at figuring out when I was overreacting to someone. You know, once I was done overreacting.

He only was gone for a couple minutes when he came jogging back in, a white paper bag in his hand. Grinning, he plopped it down on the counter in front of me. My blush came in full force right now.

"You didn't have to do that you know," I mumbled, torn between thinking it was sweet and a little too over protective of a total stranger. I tried to hand him the fiver to pay him back but he wouldn't take it.

"No, I didn't have to. But I wanted to." He shook his head fervently when I tried yet again to shove the money into his hand. "It's on me." He stepped back from the counter a little so I couldn't make him take it.

I scowled, finally relenting and started to put the money away. Then, right when he was off his guard and had stepped towards me again, I leaned forward across the counter and shoved the money into his front pocket. Ha! Take that!

I was smirking at him, arms crossed over my chest, feeling smug for besting him when I realized that I'd just shoved money into a guy's pant's pocket. What was he, a stripper? (Of course, he probably wouldn't be wearing pants if he was a stripper.) I think I could have beaten a tomato in a redness contest. Where had that bold move come from?

Collin didn't seem pleased, but was obviously resigned to my giving him the money. "Are you going to eat or not?" he asked. Oh! Right. Foodage.

I opened up the bag to find three doughnuts and two cartons of milk. Obviously he had issues in math class. Maybe he looked so old because he was held back? I snickered at that thought, amused by the idea even if I knew it wasn't true.

Collin took my snicker the wrong way though.

"Is something wrong? Do you not like it?" and back with the worry face.

"No, just something I was thinking about." I pulled out the doughnut and bit into it, trying to suppress a moan of happiness. Best. Doughnut. Ever.

My expression was probably visible on my face, since Collin grinned at me. He leaned forward so his elbows were on the counter and his head in his hands. I didn't really think much about that though, being far more concerned with eating. I finished off the first doughnut and realized that I was glad he had gotten more then one. I polished off the second one as well before downing one of the small milk cartons to parch my now dry mouth. I almost didn't bother with the napkin, but I figured it'd be just a little weird to wipe my mouth with the back of my hand with a guy standing RIGHT THERE.

Speaking of right there… I finally realized just how close to me Collin was. If either of us leaned much farther forward we would knock our foreheads together. Which says a lot for how far forward he was leaning, and just how freaking short I am. Sure, my head was higher then his when he was bent over, but not by much. He is a giant, and I am a midget. A teeny tiny midgit.

I reached into the bag for the third and final doughnut. I'd like to say that I only decided to share with Collin because I was full. That I still thought he was creepy, and weird, and his behavior was mucho strange. I'd like to say that. But I couldn't.

He was kind of growing on me. Yay, self awareness?

I ripped the doughnut into two pieces and handed him the much bigger piece. What? I'm not Mother Theresa. I'm still hungry! And I did give him about 90% of the doughnut anyways.

"Here. You bought it, you should have some." I said, smiling at him just a little. Itty bit. Teeny tiny. Flea sized smile. (Because I'm so sure you'll believe that).

Collin looked like he wanted to protest, but I knew as well as he did that it was hard for any boy to resist food. He took it and shoved the whole thing into his mouth, his cheeks filling out to look like a puffer fish. I tried not to laugh, I really did, but it was really funny! I laughed so hard I had to grab my sides because they hurt so much. Over reactive laughter? Probably. But I tend to find a lot of stuff really funny, even if it wasn't funny at all.

He tried to look stern, but even he ended up grinning, while trying to chew and not open his mouth at the same time, which only made me laugh harder. Maybe that was his intent. I don't know. Probably was.

After a minute he finally swallowed and my laughter died down. I opened up the second milk carton and offered it to him, but he declined with a shake of his head. Shrugging, I took a sip.

I know, I know. What the heck is up with this total 180 on perception? Well let's see how well you can dislike a guy when he buys you two extra doughnuts you didn't even know you wanted. Yeah, I was still wary of him, but I figured giving him a chance would be okay.

But maybe, I thought as Collin crumpled up the bag for me and threw it into the trash can by the door, maybe it was something more. I couldn't not like him, now that I'd given him a minute's worth of a chance. Now that my guard was down and I was mostly letting go of my creeper-perception of him. I didn't know why he had suddenly decided to be friendly to a total stranger, but did there need to be a reason? Was there ever? Maybe he could be my first ever guy friend. That'd be cool.

Yeah… Cool.