I was woken up by the sound of the engine starting. Looking out the windshield I could see that the snow had stopped and the fog had cleared.

Sitting up, I rebuckled myself and looked over at Seth. "Just so we're clear, none of this ever took place. We got back to the rez before the storm hit. Agreed?"

Seth just looked smug. I rolled my eyes and resolved to some day control the weather.

Twenty minutes of somewhat awkward silence later we pulled into my driveway. I unbuckled and ran to the porch trying to spend as little time in the snow as was possible. Seth followed at a slightly more dignified pace.

We stood on the porch for a moment, as we both tried to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. I took the plunge. "Do you want to come inside?"

"Nahh, I'd better get home. Mom's probably getting concerned."

"Oh, ok. Well I'll see you later…" I trailed off as I pulled out my keys. The time for the whole goodnight kiss business had somewhat passed. I just wanted to get the whole debacle over with.

"Jimmy."

I lifted my head, and he kissed me. The kiss was soft but sweet and in my opinion over way too soon.

"I'll see you later." Seth said grinning widely as he walked back to his truck.

I, also grinning, shook my head and opened the door, taking off my shoes and walking into the front room where I kept my cello. I needed to think about stuff, and I did that best while jamming to some classical metal. Specifically Apocalyptica, although Within Temptation would do in a pinch. Only I wasn't the only one in the house.

"Generally, when you go on a first date, you get home the same night." Said Brady in a mighty disapproving manner. "Just putting it out there."

"How did you guys even get in here?" Colin had an equally disapproving look in his eyes.

"The spare key was hidden in the knothole of that oak in the front yard the last time you lived here as well."

That figured. "So you came here to lecture me on chastity?" An unexpected offence was generally the best defence.

"There was an early blizzard and we knew you were home on your own. The power cut out, and we wanted to check that you were ok."

That was nice of them.

"Only we managed to get to your house before you did. Explain that to us, seeing as we left home about an hour ago."

I sat down. "We got caught in the blizzard, so we pulled over and waited it out."

"Translation: you spent the night in his truck."

"Nothing happened. And there was plenty of opportunity." That kiss had opened my eyes to just how many opportunities there had been. I had to respect Seth for not taking any of them. Because following that kiss, I might just have been up for some of them.

"Well that's a relief."

"Get out, you overbearing asses. I have things to do which don't involve getting the third degree from you two." It was then that I realised that Anne-Sophie was probably more than interested in what had transpired. That was bound to be an interesting conversation.

By Monday morning, the snow had melted and the sky was clear blue for once, although I didn't have any hope it would stay that way. This was the pacific coast after all. I got out of the truck just as we pulled into the school grounds because I saw a girl wandering around, absolutely lost. That or she was on a fruity cocktail of hallucinogens, but on the offchance she was sober, it looked as if she needed some help.

"Hey there." I walked over to her. "Are you lost? You seem to be wandering about a touch helplessly."

"Oh thank god." she smiled. "I was so totally lost. Do you know where the office is?"

"I'll take you. Although I have to say that the chances of me finding you out of the whole student body… I've only been here a couple of weeks. I'm Jimmy by the way."

"Nice name. I'm Cassidi. Cassidi Lane, late of New York."

"James Carter, late of here by way of Qatar."

"Wow. Nice name."

"It is, isn't it."

We both tried to keep a straight face, but first I snorted, then she snorted, and we basically cracked up.

"Qatar?" she asked.

"Parents."

"The same parents who named you after a male president?"

"Actually, mom named me after my dad. He died before I was born."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I never knew him. it's just less weird when people know who I'm actually named after."

"Allow me to rephrase. Your dad's name was Jimmy Carter."

"You can't change your parents."

"Don't I know it. I could still be in Manhattan, interning at the UN, misusing my UN Id to get perks around the place…" she looked off into the middle distance and sighed.

"There's some thriving natural industry around here." I said trying to put a positive spin on things. "There's oysters… and onions… and Forks calls itself the logging capital of america…"

Cassidi just looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"Who am I kidding. I've got nothing." I admitted, then asked "Was it like Gossip Girl in Manhattan?"

"For some of my school friends yes, although since I spent all my spare time interning, it was more like Mad Men but with slightly less sexual harassment."

"Sweet."

"And now I'm here."

"Buck up. At least you're not at Forks high."

We arrived at the office where Cassidi's paperwork was dispatched with the same almost soviet efficiency as mine. Also a sophomore, she was in my American history and pre-calculus classes. I was rather chuffed I was no longer the new kid. Hopefully now at least some of my novelty would fade. As I led the way to her locker, Holly appeared out of nowhere as only seemingly she could.

"Pep rally this afternoon, Jimmy. Try not to let the boys freak you out too much." She turned to Cassidi. "Hello friend of Jimmy. You wouldn't happen to be a cheerleader, would you?"

"Volleyball."

"Pity." Remarked Holly before disappearing just as swiftly as she had materialised.

"Who was that?" asked Cassidi.

"Holly. Cheerleading captain."

"So are you a cheerleader?" she asked as we reached her locker.

"As if. I'm a footballer."

"You're shitting me."

"I shit you not, Cassidi—"

"Cass."

"I shit you not, Cass. I am the kicker for the mighty Olympic peninsula wolves."

"Well that's one instance when your name would come in handy."

"Totally. In uniform, all sweaty and covered in mud, no-one can tell the difference."

We then walked onto my locker. Cass' had opened without incident, the lucky child. Waiting at my locker was Andrew.

"Prez, with James in absentia due to a virus of undisclosed origin, by the power vested in me by him over the phone, I hereby bestow upon you your letterman jacket. Wear it this afternoon at the pep rally. And who's your friend?"

"This is Cassidi. She's new. She doesn't need you hitting on her on her first day. Now scuttle along, my flying monkey. Surely you have other places to be."

He walked off and Cass headed off to find a bathroom, leaving me to fight the daily battle that was using my locker. I was just slamming it shut when Seth appeared.

"Hey Jimmy."

"I hope your mom chewed you out like nothing else when you got home. Colin and Brady were in my house, waiting to ambush me. That was not a pleasant position to be in."

"Sorry about that. If it makes you feel better I got the lecture of a lifetime about responsibility from mom and that was before Leah got started on me. Believe me when I say we will never again get stuck in a blizzard."

"All things considered, I did have fun. You're surprisingly comfortable." I said over my shoulder as I headed off to french.

"Oh come on, Jimmy. You can't drop that on me now. How am I going to concentrate all day after that?"

I walked back, grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "I guess you're just going to have to learn to think about something else for once." I could totally get used to this kind of thing.

At lunch, Cass held her own admirably with Colin and Brady as I pumped Seth for information as to what a pep rally was and what it entailed. As it turned out, it was nowhere near as bad as expected. Because I had some terrifying outcomes flying around my head.

All in all, Monday was a good day. Mom even managed to find me a cello teacher in Forks, as well as a trailer for my bike which could carry the cello. Apparently she'd contacted an old friend from high school who was now in the custom motorcycle business, they'd met up for coffee to swap stories of how difficult their kids were, then one thing had led to another ending with me being able to get myself around with a giant carbon-fibre lump of a case. All in all, a good day.

Tuesday was not. As I walked past Coach's office on my way to dump my practice gear in the cheerleader's changeroom, Coach Smith called me in.

"What's up, coach?" I asked as I sat down in the chair he indicated.

"We have a problem, Jimmy."

"Sir?" he stood up and closed the door.

"When you first started training, you were 135 and I expressed the opinion that you could benefit from bulking up a little. In the three weeks you've been training, you're down to 125, and that concerns me, especially considering how hard you've been training."

I could see where he was going, but I couldn't for the life of me work out why he was going there. "What are you saying, Coach? Am I benched for Friday?"

At that moment, Coach stood up and called Seth in as well.

"What's up, coach?" he asked.

"Clearwater, in the leadup to Friday's game, you are going to be sticking to Carter like white on rice. You will follow her everywhere, and if she's doing anything other than what I've set out here," he passed Seth a piece of paper, "you tell me. Also, you need to make sure she's eating everything on this piece of paper." He passed another piece of paper over to Seth. He then turned to me. "If you do what I've set out here, you can play on Friday. I'll be speaking with your parents, and you'll have an appointment with the guidance councillor."

Oh hell no. He so did not go there. "Coach, with all due respect, if I was one of the boys, you wouldn't be doing all this."

"You're absolutely right. If you were one of the boys, you'd be benched indefinitiely, pending outside psychiatric review."

This was not happening to me. "Coach. I do not have an eating disorder. This is ridiculous."

"I'm not going to take that risk with you, Carter. You're one of the most gifted players I've coached, and unless I'm sure you're not going to be hurting yourself, you're not going to be playing."

I was about to say something when I was cut off.

"This is not negotiable, Carter."

"Coach!"

"Prove me wrong." He said before turning back to Seth. "Like white on rice, Clearwater. Training and class are the only times you're off duty. I want you watching like a hawk, because I'm not letting Carter play unless you tell me she won't be endangering herself." He turned back to me. "I'll see you at training. Don't screw this up for yourself."

I stood up, picked up my bag and left as quickly as I could, heading for the weights room as angry tears started falling. Dropping my stuff against a wall, I went straight to one of the punching bags to work on some of the anger I currently had directed against Coach Smith. What was irritating me was the fact that I was shaking so hard I could barely get a decent punch in.

Soon enough, the white to my rice turned up to cut short my venting. With impressive agility (not to mention strength – I punch hard) he managed to wrap his hands around my fists to keep me off the punching bag. By then of course I was also shaking so hard I could barely stay upright, so at least he was keeping me on my feet. I was just so pissed off that I'd inadvertently managed to screw up football. So I did what seemed to me to be the logical thing to do and tried to extricate my hands from Seth's. My hands were starting to sting from where I'd been attacking the bag.

"Jimmy! Come on, Jimmy, look at me." I stopped struggling and focussed on his face which was right in front of mine. "Calm down. You need to calm down. Just take a deep breath."

The shaking was starting to get worse, to the extent where Seth was actually actively holding me upright, and taking a deep breath wasn't helping, which was beginning to freak me out. "Come on, Jimmy. Just calm down. Focus. Breathe in. Now breathe out. And in." It wasn't helping.

"What is wrong with me?" I managed to rattle out after much effort.

"Nothing. It's ok. It's ok." He murmured over and over as he wrapped his arms tightly around me, more or less absorbing the mysterious shaking.

Eventually, the shaking stopped, but I was too rattled (for lack of a better word) to head to my locker, so I just stood in his arms for a bit.

"How are your hands?" he eventually asked.

"They'll heal." I drew a shaky breath and examined the damage. My knuckles were lightly shredded, but I wasn't bleeding, so it wasn't an issue.

"So what had you that mad?" he asked, loosening his hold.

I sat down, pulling my knees up under my chin. Seth sat down next to me. "You know how everyone has something, that something which makes everything else make sense, that one thing that always makes you happy?"

Seth's eyes were locked on mine. He nodded.

"Well for me, that was rugby. Football is the next best thing, and the only reason I'm not spending my afternoons web chatting with my ruggers buddies, reminiscing about the good old days. I know it's not the same thing, but it's giving me enough continuity to get through this shitty transition. And now I've managed to screw it up without even doing anything wrong."

"If it's any consolation, I believe you. If you can get through this week, the heat'll probably be off. And when did you learn to punch like that? You've got some force to your tininess."

"I picked up some skills while I was away." I leaned against him. "Thanks for helping me keep my head." I stood up and then offered a hand to pull him up. "Now show me those pieces of paper Coach gave you." He obliged, I read them. Holy shit. "Holy shit! This is like twice what I'm eating at the moment. How the hell does he expect me to manage all this?"

"At least he's giving you a chance. I've seen him bench guys for no reason whatsoever. Let's get to class before he sees you in here. Come on."

Lunchtime played out rather like this:

Seth: Hey guys. You know all the rumours that were floating around about coach's daughter?

Colin: The one who went to rehab?

Brady: I thought it was a secret pregnancy.

Seth and Colin: Really, Brady? Really? A secret pregnancy?

Brady: That's what I heard.

Seth: Back on topic, I'm pretty sure the rehab stories were true.

Colin and Brady: Yes?

Seth: Coach thinks Jim might have an eating disorder.

Seth, Colin and Brady: *much hilarity*

Seth (cont.): I have to stick to her all week to make sure she's behaving herself, and she has to talk to the guidance councillor and Coach is calling her parents.

Seth, Colin and Brady: *more hilarity*

Seth (cont.): Nahh, but seriously. He's given me this massive set of instructions and guidelines and such. I am then to report to him as to whether Jimmy has been following these directives, otherwise she's benched.

Seth, Colin and Brady: *hilarity cont.*

Me: *rolls eyes and begins chowing down* Dickheads.

They were a sensitive bunch, they were. Cass, who had by some work of the heavens already been conscripted onto the varsity Volleyball team (although in all likelihood, Holly had mentioned that there was a new player at the school and things had went from there) and was thus bonding with her team, leaving me all alone to deal with the cloud of adolescent idiot surrounding me.

Yippee.