At the Start

Chapter Six

The final bell sounded loudly through the halls. Sidney sighed in relief and darted from her seat. Once she was out of the door, she ran into a warm body. Equally warm hands fell around her waist to keep her steady. Her heart jumped as she realized the feel of those hands was familiar. Her eyes traced a path up his chest to his face. Billy Loomis' concerned brown eyes stared up at him.

"What's wrong, Sid?" Billy asked. His ton was just as concerned as his gaze. She was so tempted to tell him everything right there in the middle of the hall. She was tempted to tell him that she was tired of the "jilted" girls glaring at her and tired of the cruel whispers and speculations on how she had captured his attentions. Sidney simply shook her head and grabbed his hand in her own.

"I'll tell you later," Sidney mumbled as she began to pull him along. Stu and a fuming Tatum joined them once they reached the middle of the hall. One look at Tatum and Sidney knew that she had heard them too.

"Hey," Stu said, "do you guys want to have a study day today? I really need help…" He whined convincingly. Sidney smiled. She recognized this action. Stu had been doing this act for years. When Sidney had been having a bad day, Stu would arrange for Casey, Joey, Tatum, and herself to meet either at his house for a "study night." They would spend a good portion of the day watching movies and drinking Coke. Then, they would get around to their homework. Sidney would get all it done in the time it took the others to reach fifty percent and then they would copy hers.

"Sure," Billy drawled. He was confused. He had a class or two with Stu; he always seemed to grasp the material even when others were struggling. He looked toward Sidney. She wore a soft smile as did Tatum. He tilted his head.

The others waited patiently for Stu to unlock the front door. Stu fought off a sigh at the emptiness of his home. His parents were always working; they would come home late and go straight to bed. The only friend they knew of was Sidney. The smile came back to his face at the thought of her. They had been friends since they were children.

"Freak!" A child declared as he shoved the young Stu Macher into a mud puddle. He had been talking to him about horror movies. He had thought that the other boy was interested, but he had only horrified him. Now, he was covered in mud from head to toe. He shook some the mud off of his hands pointlessly. A small gasp escaped his lips as the child's foot caught him in between the ribs. He fell back into the mud and curled inward against the assault. Then, the bully was off of him and in the mud next to him. Stu slowly uncurled for his ball to see a young girl standing with her hands on her hips in front of them.

"Bullying isn't nice," she said. The bully glared up at her.

"I'm covered in mud!" He protested. "And you pushed me!"

"Yeah, well, he is too. Consider it even punishment!" With that statement, the young girl held her out for him. He took it and allowed her to pull him up.

"Mud's cold, isn't it?" Stu commented. The young girl giggled.

"Come on before he gets over his shock!" She said, pulling at his hand. Stu looked at the hand then back at the girl that was pulling him even as he followed her.

"I'm Stu," he introduced himself as they ran. The young girl in blue stopped once they were safe in her house.

"I'm Sidney," she said.

"Thanks for you know…" Stu said, shrugging slightly. His cheeks were tinted pink. Sidney smiled and patted him on the head despite the height difference. He was embarrassed about having been saved by a girl.

"You're welcome."

He was pulled from his memory by the sound of Sidney setting out glasses in the kitchen. He still hovered at the open doorway. Billy sat on one of the bar stools along with Tatum. She was the first to notice him moving. Her brown eyes lit up.

"Hey! He's back! We kept trying to get your attention, but you wouldn't budge!" Tatum exclaimed. Stu furrowed his eyebrows at a sudden pain in his shoulder. He rubbed it with a small frown and looked toward the small band of people.

"Why is my arm hurting?" He asked. Billy smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry," Billy mumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck. Stu grinned widely.

"Return the favor?" Stu suggested. Billy shrugged while Tatum and Sidney rolled their eyes. Tatum swung off of the bar stool and began to help Sidney with the drinks. Sometimes, Stu found it odd how at home those girls were in his house. He shook his head away from them and turned his attention back to Billy. He pulled his fist back and socked his new-found friend in the shoulder as hard as he could. Billy didn't even flinch. Stu blinked while Sidney and Tatum stilled. "Dude, did that not hurt?" Stu asked, truly curious and mildly offended. Billy raised his eyebrows.

"It was supposed to?" He asked. Stu's mouth fell open while Sidney and Tatum fell into waves of laughter.

"Naw," Stu recovered with a small jerk of his head. "It wasn't supposed to hurt…" As Stu turned his back, Billy gave a small, almost inaudible chuckle. His smile stilled on his face as his eyes caught Sidney's dancing brown. Billy decided that seeing her laugh like that made lying worth it. "Come on! Let's get a movie started!" Stu called from his living room.

"Coming!" Tatum yelled as she gathered up the already filled glasses and darted toward the living room. Sidney smiled softly at her friend's retreating form. She shook her head and poured Coke into the two remaining glasses. The ice cracked harshly in the silence.

"So, what happened today?" Billy asked. Sidney looked away from the cracking ice. She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ah, some of the girls were making comments…" She explained evasively. Billy tilted his head. Sidney bit into her lip and looked back at the glasses. "Come on," she said with fake cheer, "we better get in there before Stu comes after us." Billy watched her walk around the island with her glass in hand. A small frown tugged at his lips as she disappeared into the living room. He grabbed his drink and followed after her.

When he entered, Sidney had already picked out a movie and was putting it in the player. He sat down on the unoccupied couch. Stu sat on the loveseat with Tatum snuggled at his side. Things between the two seemed slightly tense, but it wasn't Billy's concern. Sidney was. He looked over at her as the couch sank underneath her weight. She smiled slightly at him.

Guilt gnawed at Sidney's conscience. She felt horrible for evading his question, but she didn't want him to see her as well or to think that the girls' rude, mean comments were his fault. Still, she thought as she glanced at Billy, she didn't feel right keeping something-no matter how small-from him. Sidney sighed softly and grabbed the hand that rested against his thigh. He glanced over at her. His eyes showed his shock. A smile graced his lips and lit his brown eyes attractively. Sidney's breath stilled softly in her chest. She returned his smile softly. He flipped his palm and laced their fingers together. Sidney surprised him by curling her legs beside her and snuggling into his side. Billy's smile widened. His eyes brightened drastically at the action. Warm feelings spread throughout his body at the feel of her snuggled so closely next to her. He looked down at the hands that rested on his thigh. Her hand was so much smaller than his, but he did not doubt the power she had behind them. A loud explosion brought him back to the television screen. He was surprised to see that the movie Sidney had picked wasn't a romance or anything of the kind. It was an action movie. His respect for his girl only grew more and more by the minute. He smiled softly. He liked the sound of Sidney being his. He squeezed her hand softly.

Sidney pulled her eyes away from the screen to Billy. He was looking at the screen with a small smile on his lips. Her heart skipped softly. She squeezed his hand back just as gently. Both of the teens were unaware of Tatum's and Stu's eyes on them. Tatum's own smile was as soft as Billy's had been. She blinked in surprise as Stu looked over at her. She smiled. A small blush tainted her white complexion. He smiled back then looked back toward the movie. Her heart fell slightly. They hadn't talked really since Casey had found out about them.

Stu grabbed her hand as she walked away from her car. Half of the students were already inside. Tatum's eyes widened slightly.

"Stu!" She hissed, "Let go! I'll be late!" Stu smiled softly and tugged her.

"No, you won't," Stu reassured softly. He wrapped an arm loosely around her waist and pulled her close. Tatum's heart pounded heavier at the look in his eyes. Those brown orbs were dark and intense as they stared at her. He tilted her head upward with his fingertip and kissed her gently on the lips. Tatum couldn't stop herself she melted into him.

"What is going on here?!" Casey demanded. Tatum and Stu jerked away from one another. Tatum stumbled against Stu's vehicle while his back met the SUV behind him. Casey's eyes were filled with angry tears.

"Ah, um…" Stu stumbled over his words. "Casey…ah…" Tatum rolled her eyes. Underneath Casey's gaze, Stu had lost his nerve. He wasn't sure how to do this without hurting her. Although, he doubted that he would hurt her at all. He had seen that she truly didn't care for his feelings. Tatum stood away from his car and turned toward the fuming blonde.

"He's not stupid, Casey," Tatum said. Her hands were on her hips. "He knows that you flirt with other boys behind his back! He knows that you are unfaithful!"

"Oh! And you will be?" Casey returned with a snort. Stu looked in between the one time friends with wide eyes. He was unsure of what to do. He wanted to stop them before something unfixable, unforgivable happened.

"Of course. Unlike you, I actually care for Stu! He's sweet. He's funny," she ticked off these things on her fingertips. Her eyes never left Casey's body, her movements. She wanted to be ready if Casey decided to lunge for her. "And he's a lot more thoughtful than you bothered to learn!" A small growl escaped Casey's lips.

"Maybe because you never gave me a chance before you stole him!" Casey yelled.

"He was already gone!" Tatum returned just as loud. Stu looked frantically back and forth between them now as Casey stepped forward. Stu easily inserted his small frame between them. His hand touched each of their shoulders.

"Get your hands off of me!" Casey snarled. She slapped away Stu's hand. Tatum's body tensed at the hurt recoil his body did. Just as Tatum moved to run around him, Casey turned on her heel and stomped off. Stu still had one of his arms around Tatum. He turned to her once Casey was out of eyesight. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well, that didn't go as planned…" Tatum mumbled.

Tatum bowed her head and nibbled her bottom lip. She truly hoped that she hadn't ruined what they were building by not letting him stand up for himself. She jumped as a warm, large hand fell onto her smaller one. She looked over to see Stu still staring at the television, but his hand was covering hers. She smiled happily and laced her fingers with his. Maybe, just maybe, they had a shot.

(a/n: To make up for my long absence in updating this story, I give you a video: www . youtube watch?v=h_rHQCtP1cU )