He's the song in the car I keep singin'

Don't know why I do

Emerson

A note to whoever cares: if you ever feel the insane need to torture your child in the worst way possible, just randomly decide to pick up and move across the country three-quarters of the way through their sophomore year in high school. All of my life I've lived in a tiny town in Connecticut, I've gone to the same school with the same group of thirty kids since preschool, I've had the same best friend since I knew what the words 'best friend' meant, and I've never known anything different.

Naturally, words like SHOCKED and DISSAPOINTED only begin to describe the emotions that waved over me when my parents announced that they'd decided to haul us to Malibu, California.

"Come on, Em," my mother had said, giving me a 'Crate & Barrel' worthy smile, though I knew she was just as upset as I was. "A change of pace will be nice."

"Nice?" I had asked. "Malibu is a place you go on vacation, Mom. Let's take a spring break trip instead."

"This job is a great opportunity," my dad said, and I knew the decision had been made. "You're going to love it there."

I hate it here.

I've been attending Seaview High School for a grand total of thirteen days and I've already deemed it number one on my "Top Ten Places I Hate" list. People were already set in their groups of friends and refused to be nice to me or even notice me no matter how friendly I was to them.

As the end of the day bell rings, I stuff my books in my locker and run to the parking lot, eager to escape.

I'm almost to my car when I'm knocked to the ground. "Ouch!" I exclaim, groaning as I see my books fly across the parking lot.

"Oh my God, I am so-"

A boy with shaggy brown hair snaps up and turns around and reaches his hand out toward me. "Hey," he says.

I take his hand and stand up, brushing my pants off. This is the last thing I needed today. I swear to myself that I won't let him see me cry. "Hi," I say, flashing him a half-hearted smile.

He bends down and quickly gathers my books for me, placing them in my hands. "I'm, uh, really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," I say, concentrating on how quickly I can get out of there. All I have to do is accept his apology and we'll go back to me being invisible. "I'm fine. See you around." I push past him and make a run for my car.

"Wait!" I hear him call and for a moment I think he's talking to someone else, but then he's walking next to me. "Are you new here?"

I'm shocked. He's initiating conversation?

I give him a sideways glance. He's cute… really cute and I've seen him around; he's one of the most popular kids at Seaview.

And he's talking to me.

"Yeah," I say, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. "I just moved here this week."

I'm expecting him to say something like 'Cool, see you later!' or 'I'm going to go find my hot friends now!' but he doesn't. Instead he smiles, a genuine smile, "Wow, in the middle of the spring? That sucks."

"Yeah," I say, excited that he cares. "It does." I stop walking and stick out my hand. "I'm Emerson, by the way."

He grins and shakes my hand. "Oliver. Oliver Oken."

I grin back, happy to have met a friend. "Nice to meet you, Oliver Oken."

Oliver

"Wish me luck!" I call to Lilly, a grin spread across my face as I push my way through the crowd. After what seems like an eternity, I spy Emerson sitting on the kitchen counter, glancing around the crowded room nervously.

I jog toward her. "Hey," I say, sliding onto the counter next to her.

She grins. "Hello."

"Are you having an amazing time or what?" I grin.

She laughs. "Um… I don't really know anyone except you… and Lilly, I guess."

"You're definitely going to make friends quick, Emerson," I say, toying with how I want to ask her out.

"I don't know," she says nervously. "I mean I was here for almost three weeks before I met you. I'm not sure I'm so likeable."

My jaw drops. "You're totally likeable!"

"Oliver, you'd probably be nice to a rock if it looked lonely!"

"I'm not sure whether I should take that as an insult or a compliment."

She blushes. "A compliment, definitely," she says quietly.

"Emerson," I say, "You're gorgeous." Her cheeks turn even pinker. "You're nice, funny, and you seem pretty smart. I'm lucky I befriended you first!"

She giggles. "Thanks," she says softly, watching her feet dangle. "I'm glad you met me first, too."

"Now hopefully," I say, sliding off of the counter and moving in front of her, "I'm the first guy here to ask you to dinner. Or at least the first guy you say yes to."

She looks up at me and I smile. "Are you asking me on a date?" she asks.

I nod.

"Are you sure?"

I laugh and nod again.

"I would love to!"

I grin. "Hopefully," I say, "You love this, too." And before I can convince myself that it's a bad idea, my lips have landed on hers.

Lilly

I'm not sure how long I've been sitting here.

Honestly, it feels like it's been days, but I'm pretty sure it's only been half an hour.

"Hey babe," I hear. I look up and my eyes meet Quinn's, the senior who Oliver and I talked to earlier. He raises his eyebrows at me. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," I respond, perhaps a little too harshly.

Quinn throws his hands into the air. "Whoa," he says. "Sorry. You guys have a fight or something?"

"No," I say, wiping my eyes hastily and standing up. "I just… He's just my friend. We've been best friends since kindergarten."

"So you and Oken definitely aren't together?" he asks, sidling closer to me.

"No," I say. "Definitely not."

Quinn places his hand on my shoulder and the alcohol on his breath is so strong that I shudder. "Good," he whispers, as if he's trying to be sexy, "Because you are so. Hot."

"Um, thanks?" I say, cringing again as he takes a deep breath.

"Go out with me sometime," he says, caressing my cheek.

Ew.

"Um, I…"

I glance in at Oliver and Emerson laughing and talking, her hand on his arm.

"I'd love to."

A/N: Here's an update before I leave! It'll be awhile before I get to update again, but if you leave me lots and lots of reviews while I'm gone I'll be motivated to update sooner when I get back. A huge thanks to my reviewers: ALLY146, AshleyZac4Life, jileyfan, lilerin91, siriuslysirius, simplypink, iloveneds, Madeline, zaphyrai, ForeverPalz, Kurtle, nazgurl92, amythestpony, Arigo, Nakima-chan, Spencer-Sweetie, Valx3, and heterogeneous-girl. Thanks so much! I love you all!

(Just to let you know, in case I haven't said it, I want the characters (Lilly, Oliver, Emerson, Miley) to be sophomores. Also, I hope you don't hate Emerson! That's why I gave you some of her point of view, I want her to be liked!)