A/N: Again, thanks for all the reviews. I realize I never mentioned that if you read my stories, Home and 13, there are some little tie-ins to this story. I'm not just saying that so you read them, there actually are. Check it out if you want, don't if you don't, if you already have, fantastic. Anyway, Enjoy!


Chapter 2

After that night, Abby found herself spending more and more of her time with Kuki and Rachel. She was surprised to figure out that they made her happier than hanging out in the dark room did. They could make her smile. Kuki's cheerfulness and Rachel's empathy became things that Abby couldn't get through the day without.

But she still hadn't talked to Hoagie Gilligan. Sure, Kuki had bothered her about it. Incessantly. The Asian girl had taken to inviting Wally Beatles to eat with them every day at lunch. Wally would sit and talk about his plans with Hoagie, while Kuki smiled a slightly crazed smile at Abby and nodded her head occasionally.

Abby didn't care what Kuki thought really. What in the world would she say to him anyway? People didn't just walk up to other people and go, "Hey! By the way, I have this odd sensation where I feel like I know you." Abby shook her head at the thought. Yeah, that probably was relatively how Wally and Kuki's first conversation started, but Abby wasn't like them. She didn't do things that didn't make sense.

Abby thought about this as she made her way through the hall in her white pants and blue tank top. Her long, dark braid swung across her back with every step. "Hey, wait up a sec!" Abby stopped. That voice was so familiar, like she used to know the face that belonged with it. She turned. It was him, Hoagie Gilligan, with his goggles pushed up onto his forehead like always and a slightly embarrassed grin on his face. He scratched the back of his head, making the auburn hair stand up even more. "Its, uh, Abigail, right?"

"Sure." She brushed off this question, wanting to ask one of her own. "Tell me, did Kuki put you up to this, boy?"

A look of confusion showed on Hoagie's face. "Kuki? Like Kuki Sanban, Wally's girlfriend? No, at least, not that I know of."

"What'd you wanna tell me?" Abby was embarrassed that she had rushed to that conclusion. Hoagie was a smart kid and they probably took some of the same classes. He must need help or something.

"Oh, well…here's the thing, Abby, sometimes I feel like…I don't know. Um, is there anything…There's just this thing…" Hoagie trailed off, looking visibly more embarrassed.

Abby didn't know if she was just hearing what she wanted to hear, or if Hoagie was saying what she thought he was saying. She stared at him a hand placed on one of her slender hips.

He took a deep breath. "Have you ever felt like you know someone you don't?"

Abby looked directly into his eyes, cool blue pools that were oh so familiar. "Maybe."

"You're my maybe."

"What? That don't even make sense," Abby crowed at the boy's comment. Her fingers itched to pull the red hat off her head and give him a smack with it.

"I was going for something a lot cooler there. What I'm trying to say, Abigail, is that every time I look at you, I remember pieces of a childhood that otherwise I have no memory of. Which is absolutely insane. I see the most amazing, impossible things when I look in your eyes," Hoagie explained. "And I was wondering if maybe something like that happens with you?"

Abby stared at the boy with hope in his eyes who stood before her. What could she say? She could lie, she could tell the truth. But in that moment, Abby couldn't say much of anything. Everything she had wished for since the moment she laid eyes on Hoagie had just happened. And Abby realized she was afraid. The word tasted strange to her, as if she had never before used it. Of course, everyone is afraid of something when they are young, right? Abby wasn't so sure. There was a vision she had of a young girl with a red hat and blue shirt that always spoke her mind. A girl who was confident, sarcastic, and sly. A girl whose best friend wore a pair of goggles with yellow tinted lenses. A girl whose name was also Abigail Lincoln.

And that Abigail Lincoln had nothing to be afraid of.

"Yeah," Abby replied. She tilted her chin upward to look Hoagie in the eyes again beneath the rim of her cap. "Yeah it does."

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," Hoagie smiled, "shall we?"

He offered his hand to Abby. She looked around her to discover the once full hallways had emptied themselves without her realizing. His hand was frozen in the air, waiting for hers to join it.

"Abby says why not." The third person had slipped out, but Abby found that with Hoagie beside her and her hand wrapped safely in his, she couldn't care any less.


A/N: This has turned in to the most unrealistic thing I have ever written. That's probably what I get for trying to write a plot. Haha