Author's Note: We meet Willage! And yo-yo lover!


Michael reaches over and takes Sydney by the hand, slightly pulling her along.

He's wanted to introduce Sydney to his newfound friends for weeks- now that he's actually found her; he wants to hurry along the meeting.

Her hand is loosely encased in his, but as they near the table Sydney slightly tightens her grip.

Michael can tell she's nervous, and smiles at her, trying to alleviate her nervousness. 'She's so cute when she's nervous.' He thinks, smiling at her fondly, green eyes amused.

Although he'd never admit it, Michael's thrilled that he managed to spot Sydney as he was on his way out of the building.

He's thought a lot about Sydney since their chance encounter weeks ago. Although he's embarrassed to acknowledge it, he feels a comfort in her presence that he normally doesn't feel with anyone else.

He blinks and slightly shakes his head. 'Whoa. Try not to get too corny or anything, Michael.'

He had given her his number, in the hopes that she would eventually call him, and they would get to know each other better.

Unfortunately, Sydney had never called him, and Michael's hope had died down after a couple of weeks.

With no explanation or any sightings of her at school, he had just assumed that she was either a) Avoiding him because she had had no interest in him, or b) She was avoiding him because of Amy.

But now, he knows the truth-that she had lost the number- he feels better about the situation again.

~*~


At the table, a lanky blonde-haired boy and slightly stocky dark-haired boy sit waiting, with their lunches spread out all over the table.

Michael pausing to pull Sydney along, calls out "Hey!" and both boys turn to look at him, grinning as they see him.

"Mike! Mikey!" The dark-haired boy stands up and clasps hands with Michael. "How's it going, man? We were wondering where you were!"

Michael grins back at him. "I ran into Sydney here, while I was getting my paper from Oudega." He gestures at Sydney who's looking at the dark-haired boy with an amused smirk.

Michael lets go of Sydney's hand and nods. "Sydney, I'd like you to meet Eric Weiss."

Eric grins at Sydney, and reaches out and grabs her right hand. "Enchanté." He kisses her hand with a flourish, grinning at her cheekily as he backs away from her hand.

Michael and the blonde-haired boy both groan, and Eric turns to look at them. "What?"

The blonde-haired boy, who's wearing wire-rimmed glasses, shakes his head at Eric. "Dude. That was…that was…" He shakes his head again. "That was *bad*."

Eric looks at the blonde-haired boy innocently. "What? If it can work for Mikey here," Eric tips his head at Michael, who's trying hard to laugh, "I'm sure it can work for me, right?"

The blonde-haired boy laughs. "See, with Mike, it works, because he's actually charming about it. With you…" he trails off and laughs, "It's not exactly working."

Michael laughs along with him. "Sydney, I'd like you to meet William Tippin."

The blonde-haired reaches over and shakes Sydney's hand. "Hi! Nice to meet you!"

Eric, looking slightly huffy, noticeably ignores Michael and Will, and turns to Sydney. "So, Sydney. Syd. Sydette. Sit and have a seat. Talk to us. Tell us about any painful and dark secrets you may have."