"Sam." Janet groans. "You're such a dork."

"What?"

"The shirt? Really?"

Sam looks down at her green t-shirt, emblazoned in white with a single Greek letter. "It's March 14, Janet. I have to wear it."

"You really don't."

"Everyone in the lab is wearing them today. Professor Landry said he's bringing in pie for lunch."

Janet folds her arms, eyeing her roommate skeptically. "You're a hopeless nerd."

"Remind me what you're studying again?"

Janet scowls. "Just because I'm pre-med doesn't mean I have to wear nerdy shirts. I happen to have fashion sense. And a life."

"And I have my pi shirt, and I'm going to school." Sam slings her bag over her shoulder and picks up her textbooks. "See you later."

Spring has hit the campus in a riot of green grass and bright flowers. Sam and Janet live near the university; it's less than a mile to the physics building, and the labs are right nearby, so Sam walks every day, rain or shine. It's certainly cheaper than buying a parking pass.

As she walks into the lab, she smiles. Everyone, from Rodney to Radek, is wearing a Pi Day t-shirt.

These really are her people.

After a long day of TA work and dodging Rodney McKay's awkward advances, Sam finally packs up her things to leave. On her way home that afternoon, she hears multiple calls of "Hey, Pi Day!" and "Happy Pi Day!" from people she doesn't know across campus. It's reassuring to know her t-shirt is popular, Janet's opinion notwithstanding.

Of course, that might just mean everyone's as dorky as she is.

Sam finally turns onto the last block before her apartment. She's absorbed with searching her pockets – where did she put her keys, again? – so when one more person walking past quietly says "Happy Pi Day," she offers an absent smile and murmurs "Thanks, same to you" without really looking up.

Sam finally digs out her key as she crosses the parking lot.

That'll show Janet. People do like this shirt.

[two months later]

The week after classes end, Sam's at home visiting her parents when the phone rings. Her mother picks it up. "Hello?" After a moment, she hands it over to Sam. "It's for you, sweetie."

"Hello?"

"Sam! Hey. It's Janet."

"What's up?"

"We got a note under our door."

"From the landlord?"

Janet laughs. "No. Definitely not the landlord. Hang on, I'll read it to you." Sam hears a rustle of paper. "Okay. It says 'I remember saying Happy Pi Day to a girl wearing a pi shirt on March 14. I've seen you walking this way since then, and I'm pretty sure you live in this building. If you want to get coffee or see a movie or something, I'd really like to meet you.'"

Sam lets out a short laugh, her heart pounding. "Are you serious?"

"I remember you saying someone wished you Happy Pi Day on the next block up," Janet points out. "This guy's definitely talking about you."

"Wow."

"Also, I talked to Carolyn and Claire and Daniel and T and the guys upstairs. Every one of them got this note under their doors, too."

"All of them?" There are twelve units in their building.

"Every apartment in the building. He went to every apartment in the building to find you."

Sam flushes. "I – don't know what to say."

"Well, if you want to answer him, he put down his address. Looks like he lives in the building next to ours."

Makes sense. Their apartment is one in a long row of graduate student buildings. "What's his name?"

"It's just signed 'J.'"

"You don't think it's Rodney McKay, do you?"

"I doubt it." Janet huffs. "This is something he'd do, though."

Sam grimaces. "Better not be."

"Well, it's up to you. How long are you home?"

"I'll be back next week."

"Okay. If you want me to pass along your answer, just tell me what to write, and I'll drop it off for him." Janet sounds delighted. "Oh, this is better than television. That stupid shirt might actually work for you."

"Janet!"

It's a warm, cloudy day, two weeks later, when Sam walks into the coffeeshop at the student union. She and Janet have been cleaning the apartment all morning. It was as much to burn off nervous energy as anything else. Janet, of course, is excited by the entire thing. Okay. So when you marry him, I get to be your maid of honor.

But when Sam had innocently suggested that she might just wear her Pi Day shirt again, Janet had put her foot down. For God's sake, Sam. He already knows you're a nerd. Let's not make it seem like you only own one shirt.

Once she was showered and made up and her outfit passed the Janet fashion test, Sam set out for the coffeeshop.

She's jittery, so she arrives twenty minutes early. Once she has her latte, she finds a seat by the window and pulls out a book. She's not really reading; it's more just something to do, rather than stare at everyone who walks in and wonder which one might be the mysterious J.

The downside, of course, is that she has ample time to wonder about just how this might go wrong.

He's not an axe murderer, is he? She doesn't know that he's not an axe murderer. Sure, they're meeting in a public place in daytime. But maybe that's just to lull her into a false sense of –

"Excuse me?"

She looks up to find a young man standing in front of her table. He's tall, lean. Tan skin, sandy hair, bright brown eyes. A lopsided little smile.

"Pi Girl?"

She lets out a long breath. So this is J. "Hi."

Oh no.

He's really, really, really cute.

"Mind if I sit?"

"Course not."

He settles in the chair across from her, setting down the books he's carrying. Aviation Technology. A Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautics. The Pilot's Manual. And sitting atop those, a worn paperback copy of Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders.

Okay. So maybe she's not the only nerd on campus.

He sits back in his chair, watching her with those perceptive eyes. "I'm Jack."

"I'm Sam."

"Nice to finally meet you, Sam." He smiles at her, and despite herself, Sam can feel heat rising in her cheeks. There's something irresistible about him, like his smile is catching, and she has the sinking feeling that Janet was right, this whole time.

"So was it really the pi shirt?"

"Kind of." He chuckles. "I'd seen you before. And I thought – you're cute, and you seem nice, and judging by the books you're always carrying, you're smart. So why not go for it?"

Sam can feel the blush still warming her cheeks. She's not used to guys talking to her this way. "You think you'll like me when you get to know me?"

"Are you kidding? You wear nerd shirts, and you took the chance to actually meet me." He grins. "I adore you already."