The library was it's usual quiet as Faye and Gordie poured over books for their reports. Faye dramatically sighed as she sank into her seat. Gordie smiled and rolled her eyes. He was obviously more enthused than she was. "Its not that bad," he whispered. She stuck her tongue out and straightened up. She held up her copy of, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and wiggled her eyebrows. Gordie silently chuckled and said, "Mhmm, Mrs. Higgins would love that." Sighing, she held up a copy of Vladimir Nabokov's, "Lolita." Gordie rolled his eyes and smiled as he redirected his eyes to his copy of, "Catcher in the Rye." "You're gonna get an F," he breathed. "Hey!" She whispered louder than she meant. "She said ANY book." She smiled defiantly and flipped through the pages. Furrowing her brows after skimming a few pages, she chuckled to herself. "Maybe not," she whispered. Finally, she decided on her first pick. Mrs. Higgins can just deal, she thought to herself.

The bell rang out and she hastily shoved her things in her bag before returning to rejects to the return bin. She glanced at her schedule as she made a turn for P.E. class; dreading the hell that was to come. Rounding the corner she ran hard into her inquisitive admirer from math. "Careful my lovely little loon might hurt yourself…again," he said touching her face and disappearing into the crowd. "What the hell was that? What did he say?" Gordie said with a tightened jaw.

"He told me to be careful. I bumped into him. He…He called me a lovely loon," she said speeding up.

Gordie grabbed her wrist and said, "Does Chris know he's bugging you?"

Jerking away she nodded. "Yeah, he said that he probably doesn't mean anything by bothering me." She awkwardly shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I know what people say about me sometimes. It'll die down." She tore off through the crowd and into the locker rooms.

Her P.E. uniform hung menacingly in her locker. With 3 minutes to spare, she threw it on without much though. The junior class had P.E. together. Boys on one side of the field. Girls on the other. It was particularly painful. Girls worked on calisthenics while boys ran laps and played sports.

Grace wasn't exactly Faye's thing. As a kid, her mother put her in girls softball. She doesn't recall hitting a single ball. Her mother would watch her stumble down the field awkwardly. After every game, her mother would take her out for ice-cream anyways. "It's your willingness to try that counts," her mother would always say.

Faye stole glances at Chris as he ran around the track. "Pay attention Miss Langdon!" Faye shook her head and copied the coach's moves. As she twisted her hips she caught another glance. His shaggy locks bounced in his eyes and he pulled his signature move. Shoving his hair out of his eyes. He was so handsome. His eyes met hers and she was greeted with a smile.

"What a dork," Teddy said nodding his head towards Faye. She was doing jumping jacks a moment out of sync with other girls. Chris smiled and nodded. He found her little quirks so endearing. "I'll just consider the source," Chris said with a laugh.

It wasn't the little quirks that he was afraid of. Rather, it's what she said at the hospital. Chris always handled things with a "fix it," attitude. It's not that he wants to fix her. He just wants to help.

"Alright fella's! Walk it out!" The coaches voice boomed.
Panting, Chris slowed his pace to a brisk walk. "Hey Chris?" Gordie said trailing behind.

"Yeah man, what's up?"

"Something weird happened in English today."

Chris slowed down a bit and cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, how so?"

"That Oscar kid said something weird when Faye bumped into him. Said she needed to be more careful. Implied she was pretty."

Chris gripped Gordie's arm and gave him a hard stare. "Did he touch her?"

"I mean, he touched her face a little."

Chris shook his head and sped up. "You sure you guys aren't over thinking it?"

"Yeah Chris," Gordie said with a slight edge. "Not everything can be in her head. I think this guys a real creep."

"Hey man, I didn-"

"All I'm saying, is that when Denny died, I was treated like a mental patient all year. It's enough to really drive you crazy," Gordie said as he kicked up the gravel. "There's shit people in the world. We of all people should know that."

Chris stared towards Faye's direction.

Gordie spoke again, this time softer. "Ya know, you tell her that people aren't going to look at her short comings first. But isn't that what your doing? Not trying to rank on you man but-"

Chris cut him of with the raise of a hand. "No, no. You're right. She's a great girl. She's funny. Smart. Real knock out. I guess… What she said just got to me. Guess I'm just scared of not being able to protect her. Or fix stuff."

"She's not a house, Chris," Gordie said with a hearty laugh. "You can't just fix her up. Sometimes you have to love people through all the shit. I mean, would we like Teddy if he wasn't him?"

Chris looked at Teddy chasing Vern in the distance. "Stop it, you jerk!" Vern whined.

Nodding his head, he groans. "You're right. I've been at this all wrong."

"It's alright, man, " Gordie said bumping into Chris. "What're you gonna do about Oscar?"

Looking around the track he spotted Oscar. He watched his eyes land on Faye. His jaw tightened and he looked at Faye. "I'll take care of it."