Author's Note: Hello everyone...all probably 3 of you still hanging around in this fandom haha. It's been a while! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I have seen that people are actually still leaving reviews on this story and I'm touched that people still actually read it! It's been a wild couple of years and I still remember this show fondly and I know it's been taking a while but I do actually have ideas for where the story will go and I do want to finish it. I'm just not sure how long it will take me. Since I'm getting married this year among other things, I'm pretty busy, but I appreciate everyone that has read this story and supported it and stuck with me! Here's to you guys!

Disclaimer: If the show's not on anymore, do I really still have to keep telling you that I don't own it?

"Ready for the test today?" Ellie asked as she and Melody both got out their science notebooks.

Melody looked over at her friend, terrified. "What test? The test isn't until Wednesday, isn't it!?"

Ellie laughed. "I'm kidding. The test is on Wednesday. The look on your face just now was priceless, though!"

Melody's cheeks pinked as she frowned, totally embarrassed. "Not funny! You're so mean sometimes, Ellie!"

"Someone around here has to keep the gymnastics prodigy humble." Ellie teased.

Melody huffed. "I think I liked it better when you were shy."

"I'm still shy, Melody. Just not with you."

"You're right." Melody nodded. "If you weren't shy you would just talk to Mike from the hockey team instead of pining over him from afar."

Now it was Ellie's turn to blush. "That's not fair! You know he was in a relationship!"

"Was in a relationship. Not is."

"Okay well he broke up with his girlfriend recently. You know that."

"Ellie. They broke up before winter break. For us teenagers that's basically ten years worth of time."

Ellie blushed deeper and tucked her hair behind her ears, something she did when she was nervous or uncomfortable. "It is not that long a time. Today is our first day back after winter break, in case you forgot. Anyway, I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"You can wait for the right moment, or you can make the right moment, Ellie."

"Making a moment isn't how I roll."

Melody sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the ceiling as the bell rang. Melody sat up properly in her chair and flipped open her notebook to a blank page to write the date as the teacher shushed the class.

"Okay everyone!" The teacher waited for the last of the whispers to die down. "I know this is our first day back from winter break, but we need to buckle down now. We still have more than half the year left." The class grumbled. "Well, not to add too much excitement to our first day back, but hopefully gaining a new student will raise your spirits a bit." The teacher joked. Now the teacher truly had their attention.

Melody and Ellie glanced at each other, both curious. Few things garnered lots of interest of teenagers in regards to school, but a new student was high on the list. Is it a boy student of girl student? Are they attractive? Are they nice? Are they a jock or a nerd? It's almost like every clique in the room is pitching a silent vote in hopes the new student is someone to join their lunch table. After a moment new whispers broke out about what they hoped the new student would be.

"I'm so glad I'm not a new student." Ellie shook her head as a shiver ran down her spine. "Walking into a room of people whispering about you like this, no thank you."

"Hm, that almost seems like how it feels like at gymnastics competitions, but at least at competitions people know that I'm a girl and what my name is."

Ellie made a face and shook her head. "That all still sounds like a nightmare."

"Ah, there's your shyness. You found it." Melody grinned.

Ellie nudged her best friend with her elbow. "Now you're being mean."

"Everyone, quiet." The teacher tried to shush again, regretting her decision to tell the class so bluntly. "Quiet down."

A knock at the door had the class instantly quiet and all attention on the classroom door.

"I bet it's a girl." Melody whispered to Ellie, teasingly.

"Quiet. You're being just as bad as everyone else."

Melody raised her brows. "Coming from the girl staring at the door just as intently as the rest of the class," she thought.

The teacher went and opened the door greeting the new student and allowing them to enter the classroom.

The new kid peeked through the door and quickly shuffled in, correcting his stride to seem less nervous as he looked over the sea of expectant eyes.

Melody's brow furrowed at the sight of the brown haired boy she saw at the front of the class. He looked familiar. He did kind of look like that one guy in that magazine she saw, but that was probably coincidence. Her next thought was to realise that her furrowed brows probably looked weird or threatening so she attempted to correct her expression into something more neutral, but as she attempted this the boys gray-blue eyes met hers and she could swear she saw something change on his face for the briefest moment before he quickly blinked and looked back at the teacher. Melody also blinked and promptly found something else to look at.

"This is Drake Hudson." The teacher announced and then addressed Drake. "There's that free seat in the back next to Thomas. It's all yours."

"Thanks." Drake gave the teacher a polite smile and nod, nervously adjusting his backpack straps and quickly making his way to the empty seat.

Ellie looked over at Melody, brow raised as she whispered, "he's cute. You think so."

"It's not that." Melody pursed her lips, thoughtfully. "He looks familiar."

"Oh, did you see him in your dreams?" Ellie grinned.

"You can tease me about thinking boys are cute when you finally talk to Micheal." Melody raised both her brows.

"I'm waiting on the right moment!" Ellie whispered earnestly, hoping Melody would believe her.

"Mhm." Was Melody's response.

The excitement was not long lived while class was in session. Melody was relieved when class was finally over. She quickly packed her stuff up and headed into the hall with Ellie, attempting to glean some of her friend's ability to easily grasp science. Melody felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Drake standing there. Ellie turned as well, noticing Melody had stopped, and her mouth fell open to see the new kid standing there.

Drake smiled sheepishly at Melody. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Melody was also caught off guard, glancing at her friend then looked back at Drake. "Sure." She looked back at Ellie, "I'll see you later."

Ellie raised her brows, about to make a comment but only managed to squeak out, "okay" before hurrying off to her next class.

Melody and Drake moved off to the side near the lockers, trying to be out of the way of all the other students bustling around the halls.

"Have we met before?" Drake asked.

"I...don't think so." Melody shook her head.

"You look really familiar. Have you ever been to Virginia?"

"I can say I've definitely never been to Virginia. I've been to a lot of places, but not there."

"What's your last name?"

Melody blushed a bit. "Lisbon."

Drake thought about that for a moment and then his expression shifted into a smile. "You're a gymnast!"

"Uh...yeah…"

"That's why you look familiar! One of my friends in Virginia is obsessed with sports like gymnastics and she talked about a routine you did at some competition a while ago."

"Oh." Melody smiled, both flattered and a little disappointed there wasn't somehow more to it. "Cool. I didn't realise people that far out knew my name."

"My friend said she is rooting for you to get to the Olympics."

Melody grinned. "Well, I've considered that."

"From the clips she's showed me, you should. Not that I know much about gymnastics. I'm a hockey player, but my friend knows. So if she says you're doing it right, then you must be."

Melody's chest swelled with pride. "Thanks! Anyway...we should go to class. The second bell is going to ring soon."

"Yeah, right! I'll see you around?"

Melody nodded. "Sure." She pointed Drake in the direction of his next class and then headed off to her own.

-Mentalist-

"Hey, Patrick?" Melody said absently as she stared out the window while Jane drove her home from gymnastics practice.

"Yes, Melody?"

"Have I ever met someone named Drake Hudson before?"

Jane's brow furrowed and he glanced over at Melody who still tiredly looked out the car window. "Sounds familiar, I think. Why do you ask?"

"There's a new kid at school. His name is Drake Hudson and he looks kind of familiar. He's from Virginia, apparently."

"Apparently." Jane repeated.

"He told me I looked familiar and then asked if I'd ever been to Virginia, so seems likely that's where he's from."

"What does he look like?"

"Brown hair. Gray eyes. No, wait. Kind of blue, kind of gray eyes? Something like that."

Jane smiled and raised his brows at her. "You think he's cute?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "No, I'm trying to figure out if I really have met him before."

"So, he's not cute."

"Patrick!" Melody groaned, annoyed. "Nevermind. I shouldn't have asked. You're not even being helpful."

"Whoa, hold on. I don't have very much information here." Jane stopped the car at a red light. "So he has brown hair and gray eyes and his name is Drake Hudson. You said he's new at school, so he's in your grade?"

"Yeah."

"Well...I can tell you that you did meet a boy named Drake Hudson. But it was not recently at all."

Melody turned her head to look at Jane, brows furrowed. "Are you teasing me or being serious? How long ago?"

"I'm being completely serious." Jane informed her. "You were four."

Melody's brows shot up. "I was four?"

Jane nodded and eased the car forward when the light went green. The car was silent while Melody pondered the information Jane had told her.

"Where did I meet him?"

"Disneyworld."

Melody closed her eyes and shook her head. "I was with you guys at Disneyworld. It was a family vacation."

"But there was one day where we took you to the Park Day Care."

"I met him there?"

"Yes."

"I don't remember that."

"You were only four. The fact you have memories from it at all is kind of impressive."

"I remember the Dumbo ride and the maze and the ice show. And the ball...oh no."

Jane pulled into the driveway and cut the engine, then turned to look at Melody with concern. "What's wrong?"

"The boy from the day care. I met him again at the ball." Melody looked especially worried when she met Jane's eyes.

"Yes."

Even in the faint light from the streetlamps, Jane saw Melody's face pink. "Oh no." She whispered to herself. "Oh my god, this isn't happening." Then, she undid her seatbelt and grabbed her bag out of the back seat before getting out of the car.

Jane also got out of the car, even more concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Melody was already hurrying to the front door and she turned to look back at him. "No, everything is not okay."

"What's wrong?"

"If he's the boy from Disneyland, that's so embarrassing!"

Jane felt a weight lift from him chest. Teenage embarrassment was what he was hoping for. If this boy was going to pose a threat to Melody there was no way she was going to school tomorrow. "That's not a big problem." Jane tried to soothe. "So he had a crush on you and kissed your cheek. You guys were four. That's in the past."

"He kissed...my cheek?"

Jane frowned. "Well, what do you remember? Did something happen?"

"No." Melody said too quickly.

Jane crossed his arms.

"No." Melody repeated more steadily. "Nothing bad."

"Go on."

Melody's face was almost red now. "Can we at least get inside? It's cold."

"Yes. Teresa can also have her input."

Melody moaned but continued to the front door anyway and hurried inside with Jane.

"Hey, how was gym-" Lisbon's face fell when she saw Melody's expression. "Everything okay?"

"Fine." Melody huffed, stuffing her shoes and coat in the closet and trying to hurry upstairs.

"Uh-uh, not so fast." Jane said.

Melody turned to face her aunt and uncle.

"What are you hiding about this boy?" Jane asked.

"Boy!?"

"Oh my god. It's stupid and just kind of embarrassing. He probably doesn't remember. We kissed, like, barely. At Disneyworld. At the ball. I didn't know if I liked him back. It was super cringey. Our lips probably didn't even actually touch."

"Whoa, whoa!" Lisbon shook her head and held up her hands. "I need you guys to rewind a little bit here. Disneyworld happened eleven years ago. Why are we talking about this now? Where did this boy come from?"

"Virginia, apparently." Melody mumbled.

Lisbon looked at Jane, who tried to look sympathetic for Melody despite being kind of amused. "Teresa, you'll never guess who the new boy at Melody's school is."

Lisbon's eyes widened. "Oh….oh." Lisbon looked back at Melody. "You still recognize him?"

"Well, I thought he looked familiar. This is terrible! Oh my god, you don't get it! He has friends that watch my gymnastics competitions! I have other people that watch those! If he remembers me, what if he remembers and tells someone?"

"Everyone's first kiss is awkward." Lisbon reasoned.

"Yeah, well at least they probably never had to see those people again."

"If it makes you feel any better," Jane put in, "I immediately followed up my first kiss by spilling pop all over the girl."

"Not helping, Patick!" Melody huffed.

"Okay, well." Lisbon took a breath. "Melody, go upstairs and change. Take a little breather. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, and I expect you down here to eat it."

"Okay." Melody grumbled and hurried up the stairs to her room.

"Ah, teenagers." Jane shut the closet door after putting in his shoes and coat, grinning. "The fun never stops for us."

Lisbon sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "It really does not." She looked sideways at Jane and grinned. "Did you really spill pop on the first girl you kissed or did you make that up?"

Jane walked over to where Lisbon stood at the doorway to the kitchen and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I know I seem very smooth now, but I wasn't always like this."

Lisbon snorted. "The funniest part about it is that you think you're smooth now." Lisbon turned and headed into the kitchen.

"Hey." Jane protested as he followed her into the kitchen to help finish dinner, smiling.