Part Seven

A cold, crisp Saturday not long after Halloween, the Moloney Girl's soccer team had their first home game. Since they were neighbors with the goalie, a sassy Irish girl named Geraldine, Parker, Lee, and Julie had promised to attend the home opener.

Lee was seriously regretting this promise as she shivered into a cup of hot chocolate from the Dunkin Donuts down the road from the field. The only thing that made it better was the giant basketball player whose arms were wrapped around her.

She had gotten out of her chair and off her crutches just after the dance, and she was bursting with pent-up energy. She wished for a second that she played soccer, so she could go run around on the field.

Then again, she thought as one of the Moloney players got taken out by one of the Penn State players, That looked like it hurt.

Dwayne pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. "I bet that smarts," he commented. Next to him, Parker was bouncing up and down to keep warm, and Julie was sipping an extra-large french vanilla coffee with thick blue mittens on.

"Who's winning, anyway?" Kenny asked, offering Parker one of the hot chocolates he was carrying. He didn't notice her hesitate before accepting it gratefully.

In the last week or so she had tried to spend less time around him while she sorted through her guilt over what had transpired Halloween night. Averman had cornered her in the dining hall one morning, and they had a long heart-to-heart over pancakes and coffee. He told her how happy Ken had been the morning after the dance and how he had confided to his roommates that he had been thinking about that girl, and how dismayed he had been when he couldn't find the mystery dancer any time they went to the dining hall.

Somehow, he hadn't seen any of the pictures that Mara had taken before they went to the dance. She had been sure they were on Facebook, but she knew Kenny rarely checked it, unless he was procrastinating for something.

Averman had an inkling that Parker liked Kenny, but wanted her to admit it on her own terms and tell him that it was her that had been kissing him that night. If that meant prodding her in that direction, that was fine by him. He thought that they would make a great couple, but he wondered what Kenny would say when he put two and two together. He had already made a comment about how he hadn't seen Parker at the dance at all, even though he knew she went.

"It looks like the Strikers are winning, 2-1," Parker said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

Kenny looked at her interestedly. "The Strikers, huh?" he said, thinking about it. "Not bad. What did the softball team go with, anyway?"

Parker grimaced as she burnt the tip of her tongue. "Um, we wound up going with Marauders… shit, this sucks!"

Kenny's face fell. He ran his spare hand through his hair, ruffling the back up. "Sorry about that."

Parker frowned. "No. Not the hot chocolate. I burnt my tongue." She stuck out her tongue. "Thee?"

He laughed. "Sucks to be you."

Parker scowled at him, then turned her attention to the field. One of the Moloney girls was on a breakaway towards the Penn State goal. She veered to the left, and kicked, scoring a third goal for the Strikers.

The crowd cheered as a horn blasted and the team exchanged high-fives before getting back in position.

"We're going for a walk," Jared said as he and Lee walked by. "Possibly back up to Ashe." They left, walking briskly.

"Hmmm," Julie said, a twinkle in her eye. "Wonder what they're getting up to."

Parker snickered.

Dwayne turned to them. "Guys," he started, adjusting his cowboy hat, "I'm gunna go grab a program. Y'all want one?"

Parker shook her head. "Nah, I'm good." She grinned at the Texan. "I'll sneak a peek at yours," she winked.

Dwayne flushed pink.

"Don't tease the Cowboy," Julie said, not taking her eyes off the game. "He's easily embarrassed."

As soon as Dwayne was out of earshot, Kenny turned to Parker again. "So, where've you been this week?"

She looked at him, her heart thumping a little quicker. He noticed.

"You missed Mario Night," he continued, giving her a mock glare. "Fulton and Portman crushed me and Russ, and Aves had to do commentating."

She smiled weakly. The thought of Averman as announcer actually was pretty funny. "Lots of homework, I guess. I had a paper in history and a lab due in marine bio."

"And I know how you procrastinate."

"Not as bad as you!"

"Pssh," Kenny scoffed. "A little solitaire, an hour on Facebook, check your email, write a sentence or two, check Facebook again…"

Parker had no witty reply to that. After all, it was pretty true. The only thing that could make her get down to business was a kick-ass iTunes playlist and some headphones.

"You remember we have that group project for anthro coming up, right? I was talking to Oppenheim and he said we're in a group with your softball friend and Averman," Kenny said.

Parker groaned.

"Why such a long face?" Averman said, his ginger curls stuffed into a blue hat with a pompom on top. His glasses were foggy. "What, you afraid that we're going to have to graph our findings by chiseling tally marks on a rock?" He ruffled Parker's hair.

They laughed.


Dwayne leafed through the program, sidestepping little clusters of shivering students and families. He knew that the girls knew the goalie, and he thought he had ecology with one of the two playing defense.

He narrowly missed a pair of older men wrapped in Moloney scarves, and side-stepped into a girl walking the other way.

They landed on the cold ground in a heap, Dwayne's hat and program and her earmuffs going flying.

"Sorry!" the girl cried. She got up from where she had fallen on his shoulder.

"I'm sure it was my fault, ma'am," Dwayne said earnestly, dusting off his hat and plonking it down over his ears again. "Aww, you ripped your jeans!" He looked up at her. "I am so, so sorry!"

The girl looked at him, then looked down. Her jeans were indeed ripped in the knee. Her pink Converse sneakers were streaked with dirt and dew.

"I hate to break it to you, Texas," she said with a smile, "But you didn't do that. The nice people at Abercrombie did."

Dwayne blinked. "Oh," he said, his ears flushing pink. He'd heard of Abercrombie. You didn't go to boarding school without encountering some mention of what most people in his neighborhood deemed high-end fashion.

The girl smiled, flashing a set of colorful braces. "You're cute. Where are you from?"

"Austin, Texas," Dwayne mumbled.

"Long way from home, huh?" she mused. She stuck out her hand. "Kim Springer. Philly, born and raised."

"Dwayne Robertson," he replied.

"Want to watch the rest of the game with me, Dwayne?" she asked, her dark brown bangs falling in her eyes.

The boy smiled. "I'd love to."


"Look at that!" Parker interrupted Averman and Kenny's heated argument on who was a better Bond to point down the field line to where Dwayne was huddled with a short dark-haired girl.

"Awww," Averman chuckled, "Robertson's roped himself a filly!"

Julie looked at her teammate. "Who uses the word 'filly' anymore?" she asked snidely.

Averman held up his hands. "Dwayne!"

Julie nodded. "Fair enough." She peered at them. "I think that girl lives with Geraldine."

"Your neighbor?" Kenny asked. "Is she nice?"

"Is she hot?" Averman interrupted.

The girls stared at him.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I'm a guy. I don't have a girlfriend. I think about these things!"

Julie chose to ignore him. "She is nice," she said. "I think her name's Kim."

"I don't know if I've met this one," Parker said. "He's got her laughing, that's a good sign!"

"A very good sign," Averman agreed. "Unless she's laughing at him."

The girls and Kenny stared at him.

"Tough crowd," Averman whispered to himself.


"Want to come over later and pretend to read the chapters for anthro while we actually watch the Indiana Jones marathon on USA?" Kenny asked Parker as the crowd dispersed after the Strikers' win.

"We'll see," Parker said lamely. At his confused look, she said, "I've got a ton of other work to do this weekend, plus weight training with Suze."

"Okay," Kenny said lightly. "No pressure."

"Cool. Maybe I'll see you at dinner," Parker said. She checked her watch. "I've gotta go." She sped off before he could answer.

"That was weird," Kenny said quietly to Averman.

"Is something going on between you two?" Julie asked suddenly. Her blue eyes narrowed. "You guys haven't been hanging out nearly as much lately." She noticed Averman's wide eyes. "What's with you, Curly?"

He looked properly affronted. "I can't help it if my hair is more interesting than yours, Cat Lady," he said testily.

"Never mind that," Julie said. She elbowed Ken. "What gives, Wu?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I didn't even see her at the dance. Suddenly practices and papers and homework are getting in the way of regular hang-out time." He paused. "Like Mario Night!" His eyes were wide. "She's NEVER missed Mario Night!"

Julie pursed her lips. She had no idea what was going on with her roommate, but she knew that Averman did. And the redhead wasn't sharing details. She made a mental note to corner her friend later, when no one else was around. For now, though… she gave the Asian boy a reassuring smile. "I'm sure some of this stuff just came up, and it'll pass."

"I hope so," Kenny grumbled. "This sucks."


Dinner that night was a stifled affair.

Adam was irritated at Charlie for not doing his laundry for so long that he had found a pair of his boxer shorts in his backpack.

Charlie was wondering how Fulton and Portman got away with half the shit they did.

Julie was wracking her brain and trying to figure out why things were weird between Kenny and Parker.

Connie and Guy were having a moment- Guy had stupidly asked why Connie wore the cherry ChapStick instead of the grape that she knew he liked, and Connie was stabbing noodles like they were the enemy.

Ken was mopey- Parker hadn't come by, and hadn't answered his text about dinner.

Mara and Lee were arguing with Goldberg about pizza toppings.

Jared was mad at Russ and Dom for resorting to having 'alone time' in the bathroom, and being so loud that the girls who lived next to the bathrooms complained so he had to document them.

Russ and Dom were mad at the girls for making Jared interrupt them.

Averman had spilled coffee down his front. He was mad at the cup.

Charlie lifted his head and looked around. "Where's the Cowboy?"

"With that girl he met today at the soccer game," Averman said moodily, mopping at his sweatshirt with water from Goldberg's glass. Goldberg stopped and glared at him.

"What girl?" Charlie perked up.

"Our neighbor's roommate," Julie explained.

"Name? Sport? Is she hot?" Charlie was suddenly all ears. If only his professors could get this level of attentiveness out of him during class time.

Julie glared at him. "Down, Chuck. Kim Springer. Golf. I guess."

Charlie nodded and waited for her to continue. "And?"

Julie leveled him with a stare. "And what, precisely?"

The table got quiet.

Adam spoke up. "So help me God, Charlie, if you are waiting for her rating I will disown you and sic Connie on you at practice on Monday."

"Rating?" Connie asked, her voice dangerously level.

Charlie looked back and forth between his glowering roommate and his oldest friend, who was glaring daggers at him. He put on what he hoped was a charismatic smile. "I mean… it gives me a framework, you know?"

"Explain yourself, Spazway," Connie said. "NOW."

"Well, a 1 is ridiculously ugly. A 5 is like, average, kinda plain, the best is a 10, but those only exist in fairy tales or when you're drunk… not that I've been that drunk, Cons, honest… but to give you an idea, Linda was a 7ish." Charlie babbled.

Connie propped her head on her hands. "Oh?" she feigned interest. "How would you rate me or Jules?"

"Thin ice, Conway," Jared warned.

"Or Lee, Dom, Parker, or Mara?" Julie piped up, her expression mirroring Connie's.

Charlie looked around at the varying levels of angry women, and the mostly sympathetic looks from the guys. "Um… do I have to answer?"

"If you value your life, you will," Julie said through clenched teeth.

He thought about it for a moment, then took one of Connie's hands and one of Julie's hands. "Ladies," he said gravely, "I would by lying out my ass if I didn't say that I have the extremely good fortune to be in the presence of Moloney's only perfect 10s." To punctuate his sad-ass attempt to apologize, he flashed a questioning smile.

"Nice save, Conway," Averman breathed.

Adam stared incredulously as the girls settled back down in their seats, apparently satisfied. "Seriously?!"


"You seem quiet today," Suze said during bicep curls. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Try a dollar," Parker grunted, bangs falling out of her headband. She pushed against the bar. "Inflation, you know?"

"Seriously, though," Suze laughed. "What's going on?"

"Ugh," Parker sighed. "So, you know how Julie, Connie, and I were the PowerPuff Girls for Halloween?"

"Best costume ever," Suze nodded. "I saw a picture on Facebook."

"Well," Parker continued, "I ran into Kenny and Averman, and Kenny didn't recognize me, cos I was in my Buttercup wig and wearing, y'know, a metric shitton of makeup. Averman was being a buttmunch and refusing to talk because he was a mime, so he starts signing to me-"

"Wait," Suze said slowly, "Signing? As in sign language?"

"Yeah. He starts signing to have a little fun and pretend like I don't know him, thinking we'd run into Connie and Julie later…"

"Oh shit. This can't end well."

"So I'm acting all coy and stupid girly, and we start dancing, and then we're grinding and I feel his mouth on my neck and you know how much I like him anyway, and then he tries to walk me back to my room, but obviously that can't happen-"

"-Because then he'd figure out it was you and that would be weird," Suze finished.

Parker nodded. "Exactly. So I walk him to his room, and then all of a sudden we're kissing and I want him so much, but if he knew it was me he would be so grossed out." She sat up. "So I winked and I left. We haven't really hung out since then."

"Damn." Suze shook her head. "That's a whole lot of drama, mama. How do you know he'd be grossed out?"

Parker gaped at her. "Um, cos we're like, best friends!" She and Suze switched places. "He was going to drive home with me for Thanksgiving cos San Francisco is too far away." She lifted the weights. "Now I dunno what's going to happen."

"Well, I think you should talk to him," Suze said gently. "I think he likes you, but that's just me. Don't ignore him, he'll totally think he did something wrong."

"Ohhh, he's already down that road," Parker grumbled. "He was all nice today at the soccer game and brought me hot chocolate, and then after he asked if I wanted to not do homework and watch the Indiana Jones marathon, and I blew him off."

Suze looked at her pityingly. "Eeesh."

Later, when they were heading back to their rooms, Suze paused on the sidewalk. "Good luck," she said, offering her fist. "Text me if you need some hide out time."

Parker bumped her teammate's fist gratefully. "Thanks," she said.

Suze hadn't gotten ten feet away when she received a text.

Wallowy dinner of pizza and milkshakes? –P

She laughed, and turned around. "You're on."


Kenny huffed, and slammed his economics book shut. "Whoever thought that being an accountant's son would come in handy was an asshole."

Averman tsked from his side of the room. "Such language!" he said in a high-pitched voice. "Why, in my day, sonny…" He dodged the aforementioned book, which knocked into his desk organizer and sent pens flying. "Ooooh," he said, "Low blow."

Kenny glared at him.

Averman gestured to the contents of his desktop. "No, seriously. If it had been higher, it would've hit my lamp."

Kenny sighed, and opened his anthropology book. He started scribbling notes irritably.

"I thought we were going to wait for Parker for that assignment," Averman said slowly, watching his roommate.

Kenny looked up, expression murderous. "Do you see her here?" he snapped, gesturing to the empty room. "No? Has she texted either of us? No? Okay then."

Averman surveyed his roommate over his glasses. He may have jokes that had poor timing, but Averman possessed an innate knack for reading situations and emotions. He would bet his favorite Star Wars shirt that Kenny was upset that Parker had suddenly disappeared from their life.

"You okay, dude?" he asked hesitantly. He braced himself for another book launch.

"I'm fine," Kenny said shortly. He turned away from Averman, and stared at his book. He sat up straighter, and turned around. "What the fuck happened?"

"What the fuck happened where?" Averman asked. In his experience, it was better for him to let Kenny open up on his own rather than prod him.

"Parker!" His roommate all but howled. "I don't know what I did, or what happened, but now it's like we're not even friends anymore! She never comes to dinner with us, she barely talked to me at the soccer game, even when I remembered that she liked mint hot chocolate, and she missed Mario Night!"

Averman blinked. "When did this start?"

"I dunno!" Kenny threw up his hands. "We were fine, we had a system! We survived that fucking hike with Jared. She showed me how to iron and I helped her back up her computer a couple weekends ago, I thought I'd see her at the Halloween Dance, because she and Connie and Julie were constantly yammering about…" He paused. His eyes widened, and his face drained.

"Yammering about…" Averman coaxed, waving his hands.

"Group… costumes…" Kenny said, horrified. He threw an accusing finger at his roommate. "YOU KNEW!"

Averman recoiled. He wondered how much room was under his desk in case he needed to hide.

"YOU DID!" Kenny yelled again. He knocked his chair over as he stood up. "You knew that it was her, and that's why you were signing! How come you didn't tell me?" He sank down on the floor. "Oh God."

"Oh God what?" Averman asked, tentatively sitting back up on his chair.

Kenny was sitting with his head in his hands. "After… when she walked me back here… we were kissing. Oh God. No wonder she's been avoiding me…"

"Dude!" Averman crowed with glee. "You kissed PARKER!" He cackled. "Wait til Julie finds out!"

"Oh God…" Kenny repeated.

"So," Averman said conversationally. "You and Parker. Cute." He clapped his hands. "Wait til Charlie finds out!"

Kenny groaned. "What do I do, Aves?"

Averman looked at his roommate and immediately dropped the smile that was creasing his face. "I'd talk to her," he said seriously. When Kenny started to protest, he held up his hands firmly. "I know it sounds like its going to suck, but honestly, we know how much you like her, and how much you like hanging out with her. We all like hanging out with her. She's pretty cool. But she probably has some feelings of her own that she's sorting through, you know? And I think for you guys to sit down and talk would help that."

Kenny was silent for a couple of long minutes. "You all know?" he asked weakly. "It's that bad?"

Averman smiled sadly. "I'm pretty sure that even Oppenheim knows."

"That's pretty fucking bad, dude."


Dwayne pulled away from Kim to come up for air. The two had found Ashe's laundry room empty and promptly made efficient use of the worn couch. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been kissed like that.

Actually, he could.

Summer, junior year of high school, spent back in Texas. The beautiful redheaded, freckle-faced girl on the farm next door, Rose, had taken him for a tumble in the farm's hayloft a couple of times before deciding that he was too docile for her wild ways. He had been so embarrassed that she dumped him that none of the Ducks knew she existed.

"Are you sure we should be doin' this?" Dwayne sputtered, sitting up and looking at the dark-haired beauty in his lap.

"Why not?" Kim smiled sweetly.

"I dunno," Dwayne said lamely. "We don't really know each other, and-"

"I thought we did this," Kim said, her gray eyes twinkling. She pointed at herself. "Kim Springer. Philly. Golf…" She racked her brain for other facts that he might want to know. "Divorced parents. Mother in Greece, last I heard. Workaholic doctor father. Lawyer older brother. Old grumpy cat named Rufus. Third floor apartment." She paused, and, judging by the interested look on the Texan's face, he wanted her to continue. So she did. "Um…I love the color yellow, I only own these pink sneakers because my brother got them for me- I hate pink. I'm a physical therapy major. I like ACDC and Aerosmith. I love pizza but hate tomatoes…" She smiled. "Your turn."

"Dwayne," he said. "Austin, Texas. Mom and Pop run the farm. My sister works the rodeo circuit. Couple hundred head of cattle, thirty-six horses, couple a dogs, buncha barn cats. I like the color green. I like mashed potatoes and gravy. I'm studyin' agriculture and business management." He looked at her seriously. "I'm kind of borin', to tell the truth."

Kim traced the pattern on his blue flannel shirt. "How did you get into hockey?"

"Mostly cos Mom and Pop wanted me to do somethin' fun while Carlie was off ridin'," Dwayne said. "I never dreamed I'd do all this and get here with hockey."

"Do all what?" Kim was puzzled.

"Well," Dwayne said, "First I was with a kid's team in Texas. Then I got recruited to join this team from Minnesota goin' to the Junior Goodwill Games. I spent a month in LA trainin' with the team before we started playin' in the big ole tournament, and the year after, we were all offered scholarships to go to this big private school in Minnesota."

"The Ducks?" Kim asked, her eyebrows raised.

"All of 'em came here when we were accepted 'cept Luis, who went to cookin' school," he said.

Truth was, he missed Luis. The Spanish boy's smooth way of talking, his carefree attitude, and his to die for brownies were things he brought to round out the Ducks. They all missed him, in little ways. The girls missed him telling them what looked best on them, and being able to go to him with relationship advice. The shyer boys missed hearing about his numerous conquests and his pep talks. Adam missed his speed on the ice, the freak. Charlie missed him for his willingness to wield a paintball gun with ease. Of course.

Without him, they were still a Flying V…

…But without all the parts, the Ducks were open to manipulation. Not the bad kind, but the kind where the current shape could be molded into something new and different.

Now Kim. She was different. She didn't seem to mind that he wore a cowboy hat, or said 'ma'am' a lot, like most of the girls at Eden Hall.

"Well, cowboy Dwayne," the aforementioned girl said, "Want to go rustle up some dessert? I know a diner downtown that has some pretty awesome pie."

He slipped his hand into hers. "Lead the way, m'lady."


Oppenheim was grating on his nerves.

Averman was generally a pretty easy-going individual. He was patient when customers sneered at his bow tie and red curls that summer he worked at the movie theater. He listened to his sister Sarah when she was telling him about kindergarten, even if he was hung over and bleary-eyed. He played chess in the evenings on Sunday with old Mrs. Swan, for God's sake, and she could stare at that board for hours.

Oppenheim and his stupid projects, on the other hand, could be shoved somewhere that sun refused to shine on most occasions.

The rest of the class started moving around, which jolted Averman out of his seething mind-funk. He blinked at Kenny. "Dude, what's going on? Wait, is he letting class out early?" he breathed in anticipation.

Kenny stared at him. "Uh, no. We're working on our project."

"What project?"

"Seriously?" Suze said, sliding into the seat next to him, draping her dark denim jacket across the back of her chair. She tapped her pencil against the desk. Her dark brown hair was in a braid, and Averman was shocked to see her in something other than athletic clothes. Going to a school for athletes guaranteed that half the population wore yoga pants at one point or another, which was always welcome in his book, but there was something oddly special about glimpsing his friends in what the rest of society would deem 'real clothes.' The coral jersey dress she wore hugged her ample curves in all the right ways, and her makeup was subtle and flawless.

Suze was hot.

Averman turned to Kenny to diffuse the sudden, crushing awkwardness he was feeling at the moment, but his comment fell short. Of course! He did a mental head-slap. He remembered signing up for topics for this project a couple of weeks ago. He and Kenny had suggested that Parker and Suze work with them. Duh.

Parker had sat on Kenny's other side. She, too, had foregone her usual uniform of sports t-shirt and hoodie with jeans, and was wearing a pretty white and red striped tank top under a black sweater, and navy blue tab trousers. Averman squinted, and smiled to himself- he had detected a hint of mascara.

The redhead shook his head and struggled to bring himself back to the matter at hand. What was WITH him getting lost in his own head?

"So, where are we with this?" There. That sounded important.

Parker stared at him. "Well, since we've picked the topic already, we're just about… well, that's all we have."

"Can we refresh my memory on what that is, again?" Averman asked weakly.

Kenny elbowed him. "Dude," he said exasperatedly. "We're doing Moloney versus professional sporting event attendance, and whether there should be an attendance support rule. Is this ringing ANY bells?"

Suze watched with amusement.

Averman grinned. "You know," he said, pointing a finger, "That does sound vaguely familiar, now that you have it all out there."

Parker was frantically writing in her notebook as this little interlude was going on. Kenny looked over her shoulder but couldn't make anything out. Damn her tiny handwriting. His confusion grew considerably when she started drawing lines all intersecting on the page.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes, all curiously.

Parker scowled. "Uh, what does it look like, genius? I'm making a mock-up of a survey… it seems like the best way to collect the most data."

Kenny blinked. "Oh. Right. Yeah, that's… that's a good idea."

"I thought so," Parker replied primly, crossing her arms across her chest. She looked over at Averman and Suze. "Want to conduct surveys in shifts during the brunch rush tomorrow?"

Averman and Kenny looked at each other. "Shifts?" Averman repeated, pushing his glasses up his nose. "What if we just did an hour or so and went to brunch together to discuss the findings?"

Parker huffed. "I guess," she said finally.

Suze leaned back and caught her friend's eye behind Kenny's back. She shot the outfielder a look that said, 'Dude, what the hell?' Out loud, the peacemaking brunette smiled and said, "Okay, so, want to meet outside the dining hall around 11?"

"Sounds good," Kenny said. He shoved his papers into his notebook. "Anything else?"

"Nope," Suze said, gathering her binder and pens and shoving them into her JanSport. "Oppenheim just needs us to check in with him before we go."

"Oh goody," Averman muttered, his frown matching Parker's.


"You okay?" Averman asked half an hour later, outside the atrium to Ashe Dormitory. He motioned to a bench. Kenny had split up from them a while ago to go back to their room to print a paper, leaving Averman with a pissed-off Parker.

"No," mumbled Parker. She stuffed her hands in her sweater pockets grumpily.

"Could've fooled me," Averman said, a little more snippy than he had meant to.

Parker stared up at him, her green eyes wounded. "Next week's Thanksgiving," she said in a small voice.

Averman tried to wrap his head around that one. Thanksgiving. Delicious food. Football, which wasn't as awesome as hockey, but people crashed into each other, so that was okay. Pie. Seeing his parents and sister, and their hamster, Tolkien. Hanging with the Ducks at the diner while the rest of the world was out Black Friday shopping.

He nudged her with his shoulder. "You got me, kid," he said. "What gives?"

Parker bit her lip. "Well, I told Kenny he could come home with me, you know, cos a ticket to San Fran is expensive and Christmas is soon anyway, and Rhode Island isn't that far away and I was driving home anyway..." She paused and shrugged a few times. "It's gunna be weird, you know?"

Averman sighed. "You guys are friends, though," he said quietly. "It won't be weird."

Parker shrugged again. "It might be."

"Just… I dunno, put on the Spice Girls and rock out, get some coffee," Averman suggested. "Act like nothing's changed since you kissed, and maybe it will work out, if you don't want to talk to him about it." He paused. "Is this why you were mad in Oppenheim's class?"

Parker nodded. "He's kind of being weird. I don't want weird. I want normal."

"Well, what if weird is your new normal?" Averman asked. He shrugged. "I didn't see anything out of the ordinary today, but I do know he's noticed that you've been blowing him off recently…"

Parker sighed. "I guess." She gave him a look. "What kind of awful person doesn't want to hang out with their best friend?"

Averman smiled pityingly. "Awww," he said, drawing her into a hug, "You're not an awful person. You guys will figure this out."

Her response was muffled against his Doctor Who t-shirt. "Thanks, Aves."

He smiled over the top of her hair. "No problem. C'mon. Let's go find some coffee. I need a jolt before my lab."


Russ and Dom had a routine down on Saturday mornings. Usually, since they'd spent the night in one room or the other together, they swung by the other room for a change of clothes. After brunch, they went downtown to get coffee or ice cream, depending on their moods, and concluded with homework punctuated by some fairly long makeout sessions.

Today was no different. Since Russ was long-overdue for some serious laundry, all he had to wear was an old, faded t-shirt from the Junior Goodwill Games and the pair of jeans he'd put on the day before. Not ideal, but not awful, either.

Dom, on the other hand, had taken advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to put on a dress she'd gotten in Jamaica- oranges, teals, deep blues, and yellows, with a halter neck and sandals. Her braids clinked as she moved.

When they rounded the corner to the dining hall, they were surprised to see Dom's roommate, Parker, holding a clipboard and harassing total strangers.

"What is she doing?" Russ whispered to Dom as they got closer.

"Damned if I know," was her puzzled response. The swimmer assessed the situation before her. Parker was usually fairly normal, mood-wise, and was prone to mood swings, just like everyone else. Today, though, she seemed abnormally perky, and that alone was cause for question in Dom's book.

That, and she was wearing a skirt.

It was a denim skirt over black leggings, to be fair, but she'd lived with Parker for the past three months, and in those three months she'd seen the softball player wear a skirt once. ONCE. She noted with some satisfaction that the short blonde was also wearing a shirt Dom herself had helped her pick out- a Blondie concert t-shirt- and a pink cardigan with black glittery flats.

Russ elbowed her. "Uh, what's Kenny wearing?"

Her gaze cut to the tall Asian, standing several feet away from her roommate. He was, oddly enough, dressed similarly. His red sweater looked like an old man's, but his inner nerd peeked through when she spied a Pikachu shirt underneath.

"His jeans look fantastic," she murmured.

Russ looked at her in mock outrage. "Are you checkin' out the Little Bash Brother? What is this world coming to?"

Dom pointed. "You have to admit, his ass was MADE for American Eagle jeans."

Russ shuddered. "Whatever, babe. I'd prefer your eyes to be on my ass, but if you wanna creep on skinny little Ken, be my guest."

Dom swatted his arm playfully. "Baby," she cooed, "You know I'm your girl." She gave him a quick peck on the lips, and then smiled. "Let's go see what he's up to."

Kenny smiled when he saw them approach. His eyes crinkled in the cutest way. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he said, "Hey guys! Want to give me a few minutes for a survey we're doing?"

"Aww, man! Do we have to?" Russ complained. He patted his belly jokingly. "I'm hungry!"

"Just a few seconds? Please? For science's sake?"

Russ huffed. "Fine." He waved at his friend. "Hit me."

Kenny started reading off his clipboard, and in a few minutes, his friends were on their way again. He, Parker, and Averman continued in this vein for another hour or so, pausing their polite interruptions only for when Portman and Fulton skateboarded by and grabbed Averman's clipboard away from him, cackling hysterically.

The three chased after the two Bash Brothers, but to no avail.

"It's no use," Averman panted as they skated out of sight. "It's a sign. Let's eat."


Averman flipped his computer off. He had been working on the same lab report for hours, ever since he had left the dining hall. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Who really cared about the life cycle of mealworms, anyway?

Across the room, Dwayne was napping in his desk chair. He didn't understand how the Texan could slouch in the hard-backed wooden chair so easily, and prop his feet up on the desk without falling over. Averman figured if he'd tried that, he'd be in a heap underneath his desk. Kenny was at his desk, his earbuds in and the sound of frantically typing fingers kept the room from being completely silent.

Music. That could help. Averman opened his iTunes, and scrolled down thoughtfully. When Aerosmith started to play, his shoulders relaxed a little. Enough for him to return to his lab report, at least.

A few minutes later, his mind began to wander again. His thoughts turned to Thanksgiving. Since Moloney was in Pennsylvania, a trip to Minnesota was far enough away to be an adventure, but close enough to do for a week. Thankfully Banks had a car, a gas-guzzling SUV type that Averman couldn't stand but it was a ride, so, why look a gift-Banksie in the mouth, right? He figured the same rang true for the other Minnesota Ducks. It would be nice to have the old crew together for a little while.

Most of the old Ducks lived around Minneapolis, so Averman figured the ones hitching rides in the Banksiemobile would be him, Charlie, Goldberg, Fulton, Guy, and Connie. As for the rest of the Ducks, he knew Julie was going to Connie's for Thanksgiving, so that made eight in the Banksiemobile.

He relished the thought of the moment when Banks discovered that one person was minus a seatbelt. What a mother hen. Maybe he'd have his camera ready.

Portman had already booked a flight to Chicago. Russ was spending Thanksgiving with Dominique and her family, all of whom were flying into Philadelphia for the week from Jamaica. Dwayne had cousins in Cleveland. Kenny was going home with Parker to some rinkydink Rhode Island town.

Speaking of rinkydink Rhode Island towns…

He turned around in his chair to survey the back of his roommate's head. He wondered if the impending trip north was as stressful to the Little Bash Brother as it seemed to be to the softball player. He knew they hadn't talked about anything, since a quick text to Kenny the night before, when the RAs had held their 'closing for break' meeting and were discussing the timeframe for people to be out of the halls by, revealed that he had no idea when they were setting off.

He took out a notebook and carefully tore a piece of paper out, taking great pains to stick to the perforated lines. He hated the frillies. He crumpled the paper unceremoniously and lobbed it across the room at Kenny's head.

He missed.

He did, however, catch Kenny's attention. The Asian boy yanked his earbuds out and whirled around. "Dude!" he said. "What?"

Averman gave him a cheeky, dimpled smile. "I'm sick of lab reports. Let's go do something."

Kenny glared at him. "I need to finish this paper on third-world economics," he said grumpily. "It's due tomorrow."

Averman stood up and stretched, his Iron Man shirt riding up over his pale stomach. Kenny tossed the paper ball back at his roommate, hitting him in the belly button. "You're a douche. Let's get coffee!"

"I am NOT going to get coffee," Kenny replied sulkily, settling back down in his seat and turning his attention back to his computer screen.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Get that, it'll be something to do," Kenny said over his shoulder.

Averman made a face at him.

"Saw that."

"Well, la de da!" Averman stuck his tongue out for good measure before flinging open the door. "Hey, Parker!"

Kenny whirled around again, a brief look of panic on his usually calm face. Sure enough, the blonde outfielder was making herself comfortable in Russ' desk chair. He took in her braided hair (he knew from endless afternoons of homework and tv marathons that she was awful at braiding and usually conned Julie or Connie into braiding it for her) and her red Special Olympics t-shirt, her Moloney softball hoodie casually slung over an arm. He chided himself immediately for taking such an inventory of her appearance.

Don't be a creep, he told himself. To make up for it, he did the dude nod. "S'up, Parker?"

She gave him a confused look. "Well, I swung by 'cos I know that the beginning of the week is usually cray-cray for you, and wanted to know when you wanted to leave."

Kenny stared at her. "Leave?"

"You know… for Rhode Island? Thanksgiving? We can leave either Friday or Saturday, based on what you've got going on," she said patiently.

Kenny picked up his iPhone. "Uh… I have a meeting with coach on Wednesday, but then I've got no classes after that. Economics was canceled Thursday, so… yeah." He looked up. "What's your schedule like?"

"About the same," Parker replied. "I have Brit Lit Friday morning, but that's it." She flipped through her phone. "We could leave after that? It goes til 10."

Kenny nodded. "Sounds good," he said evenly. Truth was, he was excited to be spending time one on one with her in her hometown. Her older sister Randall was flying home from an archaeological dig site in Arizona, and the three of them had signed up ages ago to do the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

Averman watched this exchange carefully from his corner of the room. He had been feeding information to Charlie for ages- the captain was notorious for having endless amounts of gossip on his friends that had come in handy from time to time. After all, he was the one who helped Guy and Connie get together back in the Junior Goodwill Games day. However, Charlie hadn't been around much- between Adam's psychotic gym schedule for the two of them and trying to keep up with Linda, who was his on-again, off-again girlfriend studying pre-law at Harvard.

Being in the car with Charlie was going to prove entertaining, to say the least- last he'd heard from Guy, Linda had thrown a hissy fit when Charlie had texted her a good luck message in the middle of one of her midterms and gotten her exam taken away, so they were off-again, which meant at least one ridiculous story.

"So…" Parker said, trailing off awkwardly. She peered across the room at Kenny's computer screen. "Whatcha workin' on?"

"Economics paper," Kenny made a face. He and Parker had bonded early on at a group outing to Paulo's over their mutual dislike for math of any kind- they had over-paid their share of the bill by at least fifteen dollars apiece, much to the delight of Russ and Charlie. Ever since, they would come up with reasons to ask the two of them to add or subtract something for them.

Once, Russ had even filmed one of these moments on his iPhone. Two glorious minutes of Parker trying to figure out what 20 percent off of a shirt was at the sports store in the mall nearby had found their way to the internet, and according to Russ, had gotten hits from as far away as Thailand.

Parker crinkled her nose in disgust. Kenny's heart skipped a beat. That face was one of his favorites. "Ew," she said. "Dude, why are you working on that without coffee?"

"My point exactly!" Averman crowed, thrusting an angry finger at the Asian boy. "See?"

"I just want to get it done," Kenny said, glaring at his roommate.

"You sure?" Parker asked. Then, in a sing-song voice, "You suuuuure you don't want some nice cofffffffeee?"

She knew she had hit home with her friend. It was common knowledge that coffee helped any situation. Parker herself made sure that her travel mug was filled before going to her own remedial math class. She also knew for a fact that, despite his typical geeky boy exterior, he couldn't resist hazelnut coffee with an extra shot of espresso.

Such a manly drink.

A few minutes later, the three of them were walking downtown towards the local coffee shop, Java Joe's, which had proven to be a popular haunt with Moloney students. A redheaded girl Kenny recognized from his economics class was busy typing away on a computer at a table next to the window. As they got closer, she looked up. She waved.

"Ooooh, Kenn-ay!" Averman cackled. "Little Redheaded Girl for Charlie Brown, in the window!" He paused. "Though, come to think of it, are there any Asians in the Peanuts world?"

Kenny forced a smile, and waved back quickly. "Shut up, Averman."

Averman held the door open for Parker, and then slid in front of Kenny, sticking his tongue out as he shut the door in Kenny's face.

Parker snickered when Kenny wrenched the door open again. The girl by the window was watching closely, and seemed amused. For a second Parker was convinced that she was seconds away from coming up to them. As if.

She positioned herself so she was standing in front of Kenny. She could still see that redhead if she looked past his elbow. She smiled up at him.

"So," she said, "I can't wait for you to meet my family on Friday." Her words carried across the room, which wasn't all that big a feat, considering that the shop was small and it was mostly quiet, save for the oldies music playing on the ancient, dusty stereo behind the counter.

The redhead totally overheard- she immediately sat up straight and stared at Parker. Her glare was unmistakably aimed at the softball player. Parker smiled sweetly.

"Me too," Kenny said. "You said your sister was coming home, too, right?"

"Yep," she replied. "We're doing the Turkey Trot together, remember?" The Turkey Trot was a Little Compton tradition. She couldn't remember a Thanksgiving where her family hadn't run the race. There were pictures in the family albums where she and Randall were in a wagon, their race numbers pinned to their matching pullovers, for crying out loud.

Kenny smiled. "Right." He leaned down to whisper, "I'm totally going to kick your ass."

Parker snuck a peek at the girl in the window. She looked furious. Later, when they were texting, Averman would tell her that it had appeared that Kenny had kissed her. Satisfied, Parker turned around and gave her order to the bored kid behind the counter.

The boys walked Parker back to Ashe, promising to text later for dinner. She waltzed inside, feeling both vindicated that she had staked her claim, so to speak, and a little guilty, because, well, she and Kenny weren't together in any sense of the word. Deciding to take the elevator for once, she sipped her coffee contentedly.

She walked down the hall, smiling or waving to her neighbors. She stopped in her doorway.

"Uh… what happened?" On one of the beanbag chairs, Lee sat sniffling, Julie and Connie on either side, comforting her. Mara looked on awkwardly. It wasn't until she spoke that Parker realized that Dominique was in the room.

"Parker… Andrea was just here." Her eyes were solemn and red, as if she had also been crying. "The school board has scheduled a meeting with Jared to discuss his expulsion."

"What?! Why?" Parker was confused.

"According to the report that was filed, he's been fired from Residence Life and may be expelled based on how he placed residents in jeopardy on the hike," Dominique said. "He was asked to move into a student room across campus until then."


A/N: Hey guys. I've started writing in a notebook every day, and have the next several chapters outlined. Hopefully it won't take nearly as long for the next update. No promises, obviously, but at LEAST by the end of August. Hopefully. As always, read and review, cos I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions! Over and out! ~Flyinghawk