Disclaimer: Out of funny disclaimers, but I doubt anyone actually reads this.

Author's Note: I swore in the last chapter(and in this one, a bit). I feel dirty... **washes out keyboard with soap** Bad me! **thwacks self**

~*~

Chapter 6

'In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.'-- Coco Chanel

So, he liked her. He had concluded that much. It was a disturbing thought, really, but Ricky didn't let it bother him too much.

Several days later, he ventured out of his room where he spent most of his time, and went to McDonald's. His mother had gone out and he wasn't that great at cooking, so he had decided to get a hamburger for lunch.

Ricky chewed quickly, not enjoying his burger in the least. It had way too much ketchup and pickles, but not enough tomatoes. He had always liked tomatoes, but for some reason hated ketchup. It was just one of those odd little quirks he had. Just as he finished, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and saw a girl wearing glasses, a bandana, and a huge grin.

"Hi there, my name's Anne! My friend over there knows you," she pointed to a large, hardcover book that someone was sitting behind. "Or someone who looks just like you. Ever had Timbits? They're really good. D'you like Harry Potter, I like Harry Potter. What hand do you write with? I like cheese. I'm a lefty, did you know that?" It all sounded like one word. He simply stared at her, and when he didn't reply, she just said, "Well, you know, that's OK. You should really try poutine sometime. 'Tis a Canadian food, you know." And skipped off to where the hardcover(which was called 'A Walk to Remember') was.

To avoid further conversation--well, not technically conversation-- with the girl,-- what had she said her name was? Oh, right, Anne-- he threw out the paper his burger had been wrapped in and left the restaurant.

Unfortunately for him, he ran right into Keith Barrenger. What a wonderful day this had been.

"Hey, I heard you were going out with that nerd, Loony!" Keith said, using his favourite name for Ricky, Loony. A girl wearing a revealing top and tight, flared jeans giggled. Obviously, she was Keith's current girlfriend.

"Dude," said a female voice, "I am sooooo not going out with him." Ricky turned around to see the girl who had talked to him only a few minutes earlier, Anne. Standing next to her, slightly hiding behind her, was Nora. Of course. Who else would read in a McDonald's? "Considering that, by 'nerd', you meant me."

Keith stared at her. "What the hell?"

"Don't use bad language, dude," she shook her head. "There's little children around. And, yes, I said that I am not dating this dude. Although, I believe that by 'nerd' you were actually referring to my friend here, but I am the one who has reached nerdom. She's just a bookworm. Bit of a brainiac, too." She seemed to notice that no one had any idea of what she had just said. "Okay, okay... So that your miniscule brains can comprehend the opinions I have just voiced, I will say it very slowly, in very small words. I--am--a--nerd. I--am--not--going--out--with--him. My--friend--the-- 'nerd'--is--not--either." She made exaggerated gestures with her hands as she spoke.

"What're you talking about, you b--"

"I told you already, dude, cut back on the profanity!" She sighed. "C'mon, Ricky, we don't want your IQ to slip because of hanging around with beings of such little intelligence." She walked off, ignoring the fact that Keith and his girlfriend were calling her every name known to man(and woman).

Ricky followed her, wondering how she knew his name, walking just a little behind Nora who offered him a shy, almost apologetic, smile.

"Sorry," she whispered, Anne was just out of earshot. "She's visiting from Canada for the summer, and she likes to --er-- just be a good person, I guess. I had told her about you, and so she, uh, just went bonkers over there. Sorry."

"It's okay," he shrugged, looking down and not meeting her eyes. Which was hard, because when he looked down, he usually was looking her right in the eye. That was one of the many problems with being tall.

"You can just go now, if you want. She's been talking about bugging you all of tomorrow, anyway."

"Why tomorrow?"

"It's... well... you'll just have to see for yourself."

"Hey, dude," it was Anne, again, "Did you know that we met in a bookstore? I was going to get Kenneth Oppel's autograph--he wrote those Silverwing books-- in a Chapters in Toronto, and I bumped into Nora. Literally. I tripped over her and stepped on her book." Anne was grinning, a faraway look on her face, as though she was reliving the memory.

"Well, Anne, Ricky has to go now," Nora said quickly. Ricky nodded almost violently.

"Yeah, I have to go right now, so I'll see you later, bye!" And he dashed off, not wanting to spend that much more time with Anne.

As he locked the door behind him, breathing heavily from running so fast, Ricky wondered why he didn't know any normal girls.

But, then again, he wasn't sure that there was such a thing as 'normal girls'. They were all pretty strange to him.