Disclaimer: Still don't own him. It's not like it's exactly on my to-do list.

Author's Note: WOOHOO! BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM! FWEEE! Sorry. Very obsessed with 'Bend it Like Beckham'. Yeah. But you knew that already. Well, sorry for the delay (Sort of delay. I used to be updating almost every day, so I guess it counts as a delay.). I've been obsessing over 'Bend it Like Beckham'. Oh, yeah, and Anne's supposed to be annoying. Just in case you were wondering.

~*~

Chapter 9

'Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match

Find me a find, catch me a catch,'-'Matchmaker, Matchmaker' from 'Fiddler on the Roof'

The morning was almost completely uneventful. Ricky was sitting on the couch, watching TV (a habit he couldn't get out of), when someone pressed their face up against the living room window. Count on Anne to do that, and let the doorbell be. He sighed, turned off the TV, and gave her a look to make her stop tapping against the window. She was annoying enough getting attention the normal way.

He opened the door and she zipped in, apparently unaware of the fact that he would like nothing better than to strangle her. Of course, he couldn't do that. He'd get in trouble and people would really think he lost it. So he'd have to make do with his fantasies.

"Hey, dude," Anne said a little breathlessly, as though she was excited for some reason. Well, why wouldn't she be? She seemed to be proud of her irritating personality. "Let's get started, shall we?" And she stomped out the door. Ricky sighed again, pulled on his sneakers, and followed her, cursing under his breath and calling Anne every name and any name there was.

"Okay, so you like Nora, right?"

Ricky said something that sounded as though he had answered, but it cam out all muffled. Anne took it as a 'yes'.

"Alright, let's see. You've got to tell her at one point," she ignored Ricky's protests. "D'you know what she likes?"

"Books?"

Anne was delighted with this answer. "Exactly. She likes books. As long as you know what she likes, you're onto a pretty good start." She paused, then continued. "Now, don't just come out and tell her you like her, you have be really slow and make sure SHE likes YOU."

. "And where'd you get the idea I like her? Did you just assume that- "

"Nope. You said it yourself, yesterday," Anne pushed her glasses up a bit on her nose. "Back to what I was saying. You have to make sure she likes you, so be really nice to her. If I know Nora, and I do, she likes boys who are kind, polite, and considerate... You know." She took a deep breath and stopped walking. "Whatever you do, stay away from her looks. Don't mention them. Don't tell her she's pretty. She'll go bonkers and accuse you of only liking her because she's attractive or whatever. And if you tell her she's not, then she'll accuse you of being rude. That's the biggest problem with Nora, trust me. She'll eat you alive if you so much as tell her that her hair is shiny."

Ricky wasn't quite sure about why he was listening. It sounded as though girls, or at least this girl in particular, were one of the hardest things to understand.

"That's about all you have to stay away from. Keep in mind that Nora likes things to be old-fashioned, so you'll probably have to recite poetry or something. She'll like that."

"She likes poetry?"

"She should."

"Oh..." Ricky shrugged. "I thought she liked 'Pride and Prejudice'."

A look crossed Anne's face. She stared at him, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "Yeah, she does... I've got an idea." She looked around, as though people might be listening, and then whispered something in Ricky's ear. His eyes became wide and he shook his head violently from side to side.

"No way. I am no dressing up like Mr What's-his-name."

"Darcy. His name is Mr Darcy."

"Well, I'm not dressing up like Mr Darcy." Ricky crossed his arms over his chest. "I simply am not."

"Fine, do that, but unless you've got a brilliant idea-"

"I do!" He didn't really, but he'd do anything to get her to leave him alone.

"Oh, really? What is it?"

"It's a surprise." Ricky couldn't help grinning at his own brilliance. Well, it wasn't really brilliance, but you know what I mean.

"Well, that's nice."

"Yes, yes it is." He took a few steps away from her. "I'll be going back now."

"And watch more TV? Nope, sorry," Anne said. "Nora hates television. You're going to have to limit your viewing time or you'll become a couch potato and Nora'll never get off your back."

"Fine, I'll go read a book or something."

"Thank you," she seemed very pleased with herself. "See you later!"

Hope not, Ricky thought as he ran back home.

~*~

"He likes you."

Nora looked up from her book ('Jane Eyre'), and gave Anne a 'do-not- disturb-me-while-I'm-reading' look. Anne shrugged it off.

"Well, he does. I just thought I'd inform you."

"Thank you." She looked down at her book and didn't look up again.

"Maybe you should let him know you like him."

"Hmmm..." She was still absorbed in her book, but kept listening. "How would I do that?"

"Well, maybe you should tell him he... has nice eyes?"

"He has eyes, I have eyes, we all have eyes, Anne."

"Yeah, but his are special!"

"I see," Nora turned a page. "How so?"

"Well, they're mismatched." Nora seemed mildly interested, but kept reading. "He's got one blue and one green."

"If you pay that much attention to details like that, maybe you're the one who likes him." She considered closing her book to make her message clearer.

"I don't! I'm just saying that you should tell him he has pretty eyes. That's all."

"Did it ever occur to you that I DON'T like him?"

"Well, then why do you smile every time he walks in a room, or sort of run short of breath when you talk to him? It's very obvious, you know. Oh, right, and you DID just say you do."

"Ah. That would explain it."

"Yes, it would. Now you go tell him you like his eyes or I'll show him your baby pictures. More specifically, the ones where you're-"

"Alright, alright!" She closed her book so quickly that a small cloud of dust rose from it. Without waiting, she pulled on her shoes and put her house key around her neck. Just as she opened the door, she hesitated and turned back to Anne. "What if I don't like his eyes? What if I think they're just ordinary, ugly, eyes?"

Anne raised her eyebrows and said, "You do?" She waited for the desired effect to take place.

"Oh, right." A look of realization came across Nora's face as she fiddled with the string around her neck that the key was hanging on. She waited a few moments in silence, looking from Anne, to outside. Suddenly, Nora ran out the door in quite a hurry.

So... what was she going to do? Oh, right. She had to tell Ricky that he had nice eyes. She could do that, right?

Although Nora wasn't voicing any of these thoughts, she looked frantic.

She sighed, shaking her head. "This is going to be interesting."