Disclaimer: I STILL don't own what Louis Sachar does. Amazing...

Author's Note: This is kind of like chapter 35 of Pride ad Prejudice. I've reread it about five times now, so it was hard to avoid. Heh. I have the urge to make Ricky's last name Darcy...

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Chapter 4

"She had turned away; but on hearing herself called, though in a voice that proved it to be Mr Darcy, she moved again towards the gate. He had by that time reached it also, and, holding out a letter, which she instinctively took, said, with a look of haughty composure, 'I have been walking in the grove some time in hope of meeting you. Will you do me the honour of reading me that letter?'"-Pride and Prejudice (chapter 35, as my note up there would suggest...)

It took a few moments for Ricky to realize that the person running towards him was Nora. After all, she was that last person he had expected to see outside. He had thought that, other than school and going to the library, she never left home. But who else would be holding a book as though their life depended on it? And who else would have 'Pride and Prejudice' of all the books to choose from?

He watched as she came closer, looking confused, as though she wasn't sure what sort of emotion her face should be showing.

"Oh, um, hey, yeah.... I saw you out my window, because I, well, live over there," she pointed at a house not to far away. "I wanted to give you this," she pulled an envelope out of her pocket and shoved it into his hands. Ricky put it into his pocket and waited for her to speak. She didn't. There was a long silence, until she said,

"Hey, um, well, what does... Well, I was wondering and, uh, um... what is... uh... What is Ricky short for?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Richard."

"Oh, that's very... uh.... nice." She took a few steps sideways, as if trying to escape, but then stopped and started giggling. "You... you know what.... what's short.... for Richard, don't you?" she gasped, trying to stop herself from laughing any harder.

"Ricky?" Well, it was kind of obvious, wasn't it?

"Yeah, but.... there's also..." she managed to stop laughing. "Dick."

Ricky felt himself shaking, not unlike just before he had punched Keith Barrenger. But he couldn't hit a girl. "Don't call me that again."

"Sorry, sorry..." she lost her ability to speak like a normal person and went back to adding 'um' and 'uh' after every few words. "I, um, have to go now, so, yeah, well, bye..." she grinned again and added, "Dickie." Without hesitating, she rose up on tiptoe and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Her eyes became wide. "Oh, I'm sorry, I seemed to have, uh, you know, well, um, collided with your face. Well, I have to, um, go now so, yeah, bye!" And with that, she ran. Ricky didn't bother looking where she went. He lifted his hand and touched his cheek where she had kissed him. No, she hadn't kissed him, she had just collided with his-- hey! He was about a foot taller than her! How could that have been an accident?

It wasn't an accident, he told himself. It wasn't an accident. She had meant to kiss him. Because that was what had happened. She had kissed him.

When that had sunk in, Ricky turned slowly around and walked. He wasn't sure where he was walking. A few minutes later, he was still deep in thought, but was pulled out of those thoughts by walking straight into a door. He must have walked home. Still not quite paying attention, he unlocked the door and walked inside. So... Nora had kissed him. His mouth was halfway through forming a smile when it became a frown. That was a bad thing. Yes, he decided, it was a bad thing. A very bad thing. Girls had cooties and that sort of stuff. Kissing was not good.

Well, maybe it was good. It had felt nice when Nora kissed him. No, wait, it didn't. It had been awful. He never wanted to repeat the process again.

But he did.

No, he didn't.

Yes, he did.

No, he didn't.

Yes, he did.

No, he didn't infinity. Ha. Stupid voices. He hadn't liked it at all, and that was that.

With that arguement settled, he ripped open the envolope and, heading up to his room, read the letter with his door locked.

*Dear Ricky,

I am sorry that I accused you of taking my book. It was stupid,*

What stood out the most to him was that her writing was disgustingly neat and formal. He silently promised never to allow his handwriting to become like that.

*but I had to come up with an excuse. You see, my parents found out that I was meeting you at the library and they freaked out. I am not allowed to spend any of my free time with the opposite sex anymore. Not that I ever was.

I guess they have a reason to be so protective. Really, you didn't need any extra help, did you? I knew that you could do perfectly well on that test, which you did, and yet I offered to spend an entire afternoon reviewing math.

That is truly why I am angry with you. I am not particularly fond of boys, but you still manage to disrupt my thoughts. I couldn't think about anything else. Imagine trying to think about... I don't know, whatever you males like. Well, just imagine that you're daydreaming or whatever, and then you start thinking of me. And you can't stop. That would get quite annoying, wouldn't it?

Well, now you understand. At least, I hope you do.

Sincerly,
Nora Jones

P.S. If you know of any method of getting out of my mind, please let me know.*

Ricky's eyes scanned the paper, but he only remembered one sentence. It seemed to him that Nora had underlined that sentence, because he read it over and over again.

You see, my parents found out I was meeting you at the library and they freaked out...

He ripped the letter in half, as though that would make him forget about it. But it didn't. Her parents knew he had acute paranoia. That was why they wanted Nora to stay away from him.

But he didn't care. After all, she was just a girl. And he really didn't care that she had kissed him.

The voice that had told him this so strongly before now seemed tired and weak, as if begging him to believe it instead of forcing him to. He didn't care. She was just a girl. He didn't like her or anything. He didn't like her at all.

... Right?

Ricky ripped both pieces of paper in half again and threw them out. He needed to relax. There was only one thing he could think of doing. He opened his underwear drawer and took out a pack of cigarettes he had stolen from his father. His dad hadn't noticed, or just didn't mention it.

Silently, he slipped outside, lit a cigarette, and took a long drag on it. He had started smoking a few months ago, hoping it would make him popular. It hadn't worked, and now he was addicted. But it calmed him down, and that was all he needed at the moment.

He exhaled and looked up at the sky. It was getting late, but you couldn't tell because of the storm clouds. The entire sky seemed grey, although, had it been clear, it would soon be dark blue. He took another drag on his cigarette and felt something brush against his leg. His cat, named Cat (Ricky had never been very imaginative), purred as he put out the cigarette and stroked her fur. A raindrop landed on her nose and she jumped, surprised by what had just happened.

Ricky laughed softly as picked up Cat and crept back inside, just as the rain started falling.

~*~

Author's Note: I want to think you reviewers. I simply adore you. If you hadn't noticed. Here's some shout outs or whatever you people call them:

drowchild- Thanks for your reviews! They make me happy! Very happy! They(your reviews) are backwards-speaking! (It's a compliment...) Notice the exclamation marks! For spending your free (any maybe not-so-free) time on my story, I am giving you X-Ray's shovel!

X-Ray: Hey! I liked that shovel!

Totoro-Crazed- Hi, Grace. You're the strangest teacher I've ever been reviewed by! For spending YOUR free (any maybe-not-so free) time on my story, I am giving you Zero.

Zero: Meep... **poof!** ("Meep... **poof**" belongs to Grace!)

Aw, fictional characters tend to spontaneously combust a lot around me. Oh well, you can have my sanity (yes, I STILL have it, even though I've sold it to you about five times) FOR FREE! Feel free to do what you want with it. Zig says it's fun to burn sanity. I wouldn't know. You're the pyro.

Shae Elven Heart: Peaches and onions to you, too! I WOULD give you chicken, but there's my vegetarianism issue thingy. Although it might make you hyper, I just can't give you the flesh of some innocent little bird. So, I'll give you X's glasses, instead!

X-Ray: Why're you taking everything from me? I need those glasses!

Because. And I'll get you some new ones **takes Harry Potter's glasses and gives them to X-Ray**

X-Ray: Whoa. Nice glasses.

Harry Potter: HEY! Those are min--**gets thwacked by me**

I never did like that Potter kid. He takes all the attention away from Remus! My loooooove...

Remus: Uh, what about Zigzag?

He's off burning what once was my sanity with Grace.

Remus: OK... BYE! **spontaneously combusts**'

Aw... Oh, well. There's another chapter to write. And I shall write it!