Author's Note: Hey everyone. Here is chapter four.
I quite like this chapter. I think it's one of my favourites in this fic so far because... Well, I kinda like messing with Michael and I'm reading book 8 and he's kinda frustrating me as he has been for last couple of books so... I'm torturing him just a little bit (holds up thumb and finger about an inch apart), see just a little bit.
Anyway, please enjoy.

Chapter Four

I don't think I've ever seen him look so pathetic as he did when he came into Trig today, like he had received a blow from a basketball, only to his stomach instead of to the head. He looked white in the face and frustrated about something.

"What's the matter? You get rejected by a girl or something?" I had noticed (I had left Study Hall early to get a drink) that the freakishly tall girl, Mia had basically flown out of the G&T room the moment the bell rang.

He didn't say anything in return, didn't even look at me, simply flopped into his chair, crossed his arms against the top of his desk before thumping his head down on top of them.

The nerd was depressed!

That was something new!

And he stayed in that depressed state all through class, not even raising his head to answer questions like he usually did in that bored, know-it-all tone that he has.

After class I went up to him.

He just looked at me with the same expression that he's worn for the last four years when we've met face to face, the 'why the hell are you in my way' expression like he is better than me or something.

Which he isn't, it's not his name that the school and all the girls with it scream out during a match. It's not him who is idolised and loved by everyone. He is just some know-it-all nerd.

"What?" he asked in a tired sort of reigned way. Like he's bored, like he isn't impressed or at awed that I was speaking to him. My like for him went down several more notches.

"You looked depressed," I said as I leant against the doorframe, blocking his way out. Patterson had already left.

"And you care because…" he stared at me as he drawled that out.

"No reason really, just wondering if it was something to do with that freakishly tall freshman." His eyes flashed and narrowed and I knew. I knew and yeah, he had it bad. He had it bad for the freakishly tall freshman. HA!

"Leave her alone." He said in this sort of quiet voice. He actually looked kind of menacing.

"Why? She's cute?" that sent him reeling a little. He blinked at me for a moment before scowling.

"I was actually thinking of asking her out." This was fun, messing with him like this. He actually looked like he had been winded all over again by a basketball, his face losing all colour as his dark eyes searched my face.

"Leave her alone." He said again. He looked extremely pissed which for usually calm and reserved Michael Moscovitz, is rather impressive. I should be given a medal for getting him this pissed off. "She's not some play thing like your little Weinberger follower. She's a human being, so just stay the hell away from her." and with that he shoved past me with a great deal more force than an average nerd had any right to possess.

I watched him stalk down the hall, though he did slow down for a moment. Huh?

I stepped out of the classroom into the corridor and immediately saw why. The freshman girl, who is now so obvious the girl Moscovitz has the hots for, had just walked past him and given him a small smile and shy sort of wave before walking off to her next class, with Moscovitz watching her go.

God, he really does have it bad! And for a freak too!

He might be a nerd but I know several of Lana's cheerleader friends would actually be quite happy to date him and not be embarrassed to be seen out in public with him.

I don't understand it personally myself. All I see is a nerd; a tall and ok, I admit, not exactly the most stereotypical looking nerd, but he is still a nerd nonetheless!

When the end of the day rolled around, Moscovitz seemed to be in a better mood.

When I arrived at my locker, he was already standing there talking to the freakishly tall freshman Mia (her locker really is right beside mine!) about the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

You know, despite the fact they were talking about a TV show, a good one at that, their conversation was actually quite deep and they were quite serious about what they were saying. Further proof that they are both freaks and nerds!

It's a TV show! It is to be enjoyed ,not to have every single little detail of it psychoanalysed, but then what can you expected from the son of two psychoanalysts and the daughter of… actually I have no idea what her parents do.

Granted I didn't know who the hell she was before a couple of days ago.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and looked over my shoulder to see if Lana was doing that neck blowing thing she does sometimes.

I was met with another pair of extremely intense brown eyes that were eyeing me with a great deal of dislike. The eyes belonged to the pug faced girl who had told Lana to go curl up and die.

She was also I'm guessing Michael's little sister, because as she pushed past me she said in this high-pitch voice that Moscovitz needed to tell 'Mom' and 'Dad' that she would be late home tonight. Moscovitz just looked at her and said, "You're not going to give this a rest are you?" in this sort of tired way.

"No. I will not stand by and allow racism…" Michael just threw up his hands and said fine, but she owed him. She just kicked him in the shins for that and completely ignored the tall kid's failed attempt at saying 'Hi Lilly, bye Lilly' as she stalked off.

"Just ignore her, Thermopolis. She'll get over. She's just being her usual opinionated self. You know, that she can't admit to being wrong, what ever would her devoted fans think if she ever did?" he smiled in this sort of reassuring way at the tall kid who gave this little sigh and nodded.

"Yeah, I know." She agreed in this sort of small voice.

"Anyway," Moscovitz started. He looked and sounded nervous. Maybe he was going to ask her out. "Listen, about Saturday…"

"I gotta go." She squeaked, slamming her locker shut, as she looked at something that was happening behind Moscovitz.

A tall, sort of burly kind of guy was walking down the hall, straight for us, his eyes on the tall kid, motioning with his hand for her to get a move on.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She squeaked to Moscovitz as she bolted around him and belted down the hall to the burly guy's side.

Moscovitz just looked after her with his mouth hanging slightly open, before he smacked his head back against the lockers that were behind him.

Actually this was almost revenge enough for the basketball, seeing him like this.

"Well, that went well." I snorted at him. He just glanced side ways at me and muttered, "fuck you."

"Do you always call her by her last name? Because seriously dude, that's not exactly spelling out that you like her. She's probably thinks that you call her that because you can just barely tolerate her." he, for a moment, looked completely horrified before he regained some control of his face enough to scowl at me.

"She's my sister's best friend." He said in a slow, even voice. "Leave her alone." And with that he left.

Author's Note: As you probably read, I added my own little Mia/Michael moment near the end there that doesn't happen in the book, but I wanted Josh to see them interacting and for him to see Michael, once again, unintionally (On Mia's part because she doesn't know he's actually trying to ask her out) being rejected by Mia and for him to discover before the whole princess exposure thing that her locker is beside his and yeah.
Chapter Five will most likely be posted tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.