Author's note: Happy Birthday Denise! This chapter's for you!




Michael looks up in annoyance, irritated at being interrupted. His irritation only grows when the object of his annoyance turns out to be none other than Amy, stomping towards him, from the administration door, with an impatient expression on her face.

Despite her relatively short height, (she was five foot two at most,) Amy had an imposing stance about her that vaguely reminded one of a tiger, or some other form of a vicious animal. This was more than apparent as she briskly walked towards Michael and Sydney with an angry and determined air.

"Michael! THERE you are! I've been waiting for you in the office for like, ever! You're supposed to be meeting with the princi-" Amy's icy blue eyes narrow as she cuts herself off. She's obviously spotted Sydney, and seems to be less than happy about it. "What is SHE doing here?" Amy spits out the words at Michael, but her cold glare is obviously directed at Sydney.

Michael watches, slightly astonished, as Amy continues to stare down Sydney, taken aback with the intensity of Amy's hateful gaze. 'Wow. I've never realized how much she looks like a bulldog until now…' he thinks.

Michael decides that he needs to do something before this escalates into an explosive situation, and quickly stands up, smoothly moving himself between his angry cousin, and the startled Sydney, blocking them from each other's view.

"Amy, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were waiting," Michael tries to dissuade his cousin's attention from Sydney, with no avail. Amy, despite her obviously shorter height, (Michael was about an even six feet, so he towered over his cousin,) is trying to see around him, hopping on one foot, and more than slightly resembling a chicken.

Unable to get his cousin's attention, Michael finally grabs her by the shoulders and forces her to look at him.

Amy scowls at him, but acquiesces. "Michael." She states loudly. "You're supposed to meeting the principal right now. He wants to talk to your classes, and your transfer grades, and you're LATE." Amy snaps the last word directly into Michael's face, causing him to lean back slightly.

'Wow. Forget bulldog. Try pit bull.' Michael cocks his head at his cousin, and tells her soothingly, "I'm sorry. I got a bit lost, and Sydney," he gestures at Sydney, who's still looking slightly frightened of Amy, "She helped me find my way here."

He smiles at Sydney, trying to alleviate the tension, but Sydney proceeds to look down at her hands instead.

"Listen, Amy. Why don't you tell the principal that I'll be right there? I'll meet you inside, okay?" Michael gently shoves his cousin towards the administration office.

When Amy opens her mouth to protest, Michael holds up a finger to her, green eyes flashing and silently warning her to not say anything but to keep walking instead.

Amy makes a slight huffing sound, but proceeds to stalk back towards the administration office, noticeably letting the door slam behind her.

Michael turns towards Sydney, who's still looking down at her hands.

"Are you okay?" He sits down next to her on the bench, and prods her gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine. She just…startled me." She looks up and smiles at him.

Michael pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket, along with a pen. "Well, I have to go…but before I do, here's my number. Give me a call sometime, okay? I'd like it if we could get together and hang out. " He scribbles a few numbers down, and hands the slip of paper to Sydney. "I could help you with your French."

She takes the paper from him, and nods towards the door. "Go, you're late already. And believe me, you don't want to upset the principal."

Michael stands up, dusts off his pants and coat again, and walk towards the door, but not before pausing to smile and wiggle his fingers at Sydney in a slight wave.

She smiles back, her fingers still curled around the slip of paper. As he steps into the office, her hands tighten around the scrap, and she slowly crumbles it in her hand.

She stands up from the bench, sighing, but walks towards the trash can near the bench and tosses the crumbled sliver into the basket.

Pausing for a moment to look at the office door, Sydney sighs sadly before stepping out into the sun, steps echoing slightly on the dewy grass.