Chapter 2: Way to go Introductions...

It was the first day of a grand opening at a restaurant called Robin's Wieners. Both Carly and I were extremely excited to be getting a fast food restaurant close to our apartments. When you didn't have a license it was always good to have things within walking distance, and since neither of us had a car it would be the perfect option to go to, besides the Groovy Smoothie from across the school. I told her about it when we were on our way to homeroom and I suggested that we should go at night, so we could let the lines die down from the grand opening. After some convincing (like saying that I was going to pay for her and stuff) she finally agreed.

"So then, I'll pick you up around eight?" I asked slyly. Carly rolled her eyes and smiled, making my stomach do a flip.

"Freddie, you live right across from me. Just come over when you're ready and we'll go together." And with that, my spirits were lifted as she walked into our homeroom with me right behind her.

The rest of the day was a blur. All I could think about was my date later in the afternoon with Carly. I daydreamed about sharing a hotdog together, and ending the night with a goodnight kiss. My first kiss ever. Then we would be a couple, and all those sayings about me being gay or people thinking that I was a confused transgender would be put to rest. I would have a girlfriend and she wouldn't be just any girlfriend. She would be the girl of my dreams, as well as the most prettiest and most popular girl in school. It was no joke; she really was the best girl in our entire school. And with that type of reputation she had to be dating the best guy in school, which in a sense could be me. I was okay looking, and I knew my way around a computer, but the advantage I had over every guy in my school was that I was like her best friend. You know what they say: first best friends and them something more. I couldn't wait for that 'something more' part to get here and fast.

I wasted no time. As soon as I got home I showered, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair. Twice. I picked out my favorite blue striped collar shirt. It made what I had of my muscles (which wasn't much) stand out, especially when I would roll up the sleeves. I calculated everything from the style of my clothes, to the smell of cologne. I wanted everything to be perfect for our first date. I checked myself in the mirror and saw that there was nothing more I could do to look good. At least, in my head I looked good. I looked less like a dork, and more like a regular guy. Mission accomplished. I walked into the living room and lunged out the door before my mom would tell me anything.

Apparently what I thought was a date and what Carly thought to be a date were two completely different things. When I stepped out of my apartment I came across giggles and constant talking. It was all of Carly's school friends, the Clique of the high school at Ridgeway High. In other words, they were the popular group that any girl would want to join. They consisted of cheerleaders and dated all the jocks that would like to pick on me. Needless to say I was not on good terms with them. They all took one look at me and turned back around, resuming their idle chit chat. I was used to to their indifference, because they would always do that, but Carly, the good friend that she is, would pull away from the group and always spend time with me. I broke away from their excited shrieks and managed to open the door to Carly's apartment and slip right in. When I went in I saw Spencer lounging on the couch, watching an episode of Girly Cow with a bucket of buterrific popcorn on his lap.

"Hey Spence." I said with a little sigh. "Carly ready?"

"Almost dude. Going down to Robin's Wieners eh?" He asked. I nodded as I swiped a handful of popcorn and ate it. It was delicious, full of bad calories, the one enemy that my mom would always fight with me on. I would always get my fix on junk food here with the Shays. "You think they have a compact hot dog? Like one you can squirt into your mouth?" He looked at me, making me choke on the popcorn that was getting stuck in my gullet. I coughed it back up and gave him a look that said what the hell?

"What do you mean with that?"

"Just a thought but I was hoping if you guys could bring me one squirtable hotdog on your way back, seeing as how you two are going together." He said. After a while he looked at me with a straight face and asked, "You two are going on a date?" The tiny pout of my lips told him no, much to my displeasure. "Oh well. Don't worry dude she'll come around." He always said that. By now I was just waiting for the eventual part to get here already.

"Hmph. Yeah right." I snorted but still remained hopeful. As I kept watching Girly Cow on the television, I heard Carly come down the stairs. I turned around and had to catch my breath. She was wearing a bright yellow floral print dress that reached all the way down to her knees. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and she was wearing a perfume that smelled like a sunflower garden. If I hadn't had more constraint I would have had my jaw fall flat on the floor in amazement to how beautiful she looked and how wonderful she smelled. She in turn, failed to notice how I was drooling over her.

"Hey Freddie. You ready to go?" she asked me. I shook my head to knock some sense into me and nodded in her direction, standing up with a big smile on my face. When we said our goodbye to Spencer she opened the door and she submerged herself into the center of the group of girls that were waiting for her outside her door. Then we were off.

Walking with the 'Clique' as they liked to be called was making me feel like a girl myself. Just an out of place one. So I straggled a little bit behind them, to show that I was still part of the group, but at the same time I was claiming my own independence from them. If any of the guys saw that I was hanging out with only girls, that whole baby Benson name calling would come back with a vengeance. Which is just what I needed at a moment in high school. More ammo to continue their name-calling.

When the group of girls and I arrived at the restaurant the lines were still outside. I groaned in aggravation as I lined up by myself as all the girls stayed to the side, continuing to catch up on their gossip (Carly convinced me that it would be better to just have one order for all of us, and I was of course the obvious choice). All different types of people were there: quiet ones, loud ones, jocks, Goths; I even saw a group of Catholic schoolgirls. All in line to try out the delicious wieners that Robin supplied. It seemed that the line was moving progressively slow, and even more so when the girls that were surrounding Carly were keeping me out of the loop. I could tell that Carly was not to pleased with the idea, but still she stayed with the girls as they talked about everything: the hottest boys in school, the class clowns, and when they went onto the nerd category, the only nerd they could think of was me. I tried acting nonchalantly as they continued their dissection of me. But it was hard not to pay attention as they kept saying that my clothes, hair, even personality screamed nerd. I wanted to say that I was proud to be one, because that meant that one day they would work for me (my own joke to myself but it was actually to just comfort myself) but around the same time I felt a wave of air brush past me. I turned around I saw blonde curls and a faint smell of sea salt. Which was weird, because I didn't remember seeing curls that were blonde in front of me, and the last time I smelled sea salt was when I went to beach with my mom. She didn't let me go into the water, but I was close enough to smell the salty air that sprouted from the sea.

"Uh, excuse me?" I poked her shoulder. She turned around and I came into contact with bright blue eyes that made me stagger back a little bit. They were so pretty, and at the same time intimidating. I put my focus away from them and observed other aspects of her face. Her skin looked tan but not the kind of tan that looks cancerous; it was a pretty shade that made her red cheeks stand out in a way that was interesting to say the least. And her lips were a bit chapped but full and plump. I hated to admit it but she was a pretty blonde. Probably as pretty as Carly.

"What do you want you nub?" she told me, a little annoyance in her tone. Suddenly, the attraction that I had for her dropped from my shoulder, and I was more offended than attracted to her. Who the hell does she think she is?

"You just cut in front of us." I told her as I motioned to the girls on the side that were away from the line. She scoffed right at me and turned back around. I found it astounding that she simply brushed me off like I was nothing. I gotta admit it did make me feel like nothing. Like for once I was not the dork that everyone labeled me as. I was a nobody in her eyes. I made her turn around again, by placing my hand on her shoulder and turning her around by force.

"Look guy, I have been waiting here for a good long time so buzz off or else." She warned me.

"Or else what?" I challenged her. The look she gave me back actually made me step back a little. She looked like she was ready to attack, and not hold anything back. The coolness that I acquired faded quickly into her confident smile that she gave me, telling her that I was not going to bug her again. Which was the exact opposite of what I was going to do. I don't know why but she seemed…interesting. She may be able to break my arm in an instant, but something told me that she wouldn't ever go that far. She was more like a scared little girl than a tough thug. And more than anything she looked like she was going to be somebody worth noticing. And being that I was standing alone while Carly and the popular crowd were in their own little world, I figured what the heck. It was never a bad thing to make new friends.

"So you aint leaving are ya?" I asked her again. I wanted her to continue talking to me. I could tell by the way she leaned away from me she wasn't interested in holding a conversation. But I was by myself and she was too, what more could I do? What more could we do?

"Nope. Now can I wait in line in peace you dork?" She told me over her shoulder, not bothering to look in my direction. I was trying to figure out why I wanted to keep talking to her. She was insulting me, calling me names, being extremely rude, and not really bothering to make much of a conversation. She was pulling me in to something I could not put my finger on. She was drawing me into her without even taking a second glance in my direction.

"Freddie, still no luck with the line huh?" Carly came by my side, a good distance from me but enough to know we were close friends. I looked over to the girl who was in front of me, showing no interest to my chat with the girl that could ask me to do anything. I'm pretty sure she could see that I was willing to do just about anything for Carly just by the way she was looking at me. That's if she ever turned around and saw us talking. "We were thinking of probably going down to the Groovy Smoothie instead. Less of a line you know?" she suggested. For some weird reason my gaze went up to the blonde girl again. I didn't want to leave on bad terms, even though she looked like she wanted to punch my guts and leave her alone. But I couldn't. "Freddie?" Carly's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Yeah…" I said, ready to break out of the ridiculously long line and go along with Carly and all those girls. I forgot about that tiny detail. Me and all those girls that don't know me, don't care to know me, don't want to know me, all because I was a nerd. "Um, actually Carly, you guys go ahead, and if the line goes by faster I'll call you guys back." I explained. She simply shrugged and went off with the rest of the Clique to the Groovy Smoothie.

"Poor whipped Freddifer." I heard that blonde speak again. The way she came up with a nickname so quick made me feel closer than ever, but it still made me feel like I knew nothing about her.

"You know I could come up with a nickname for you too if I could catch your name." I said hotly. She turned around at that, and again her blue eyes shone with an intensity that made me look away. I didn't like the way she could stare straight at me and make me feel uneasy and flattered all at the same time.

"Good luck with that Fredweird." She said. By the corner of my eye I could tell she was smiling. Smiling because she knew my name and I didn't. She had an advantage that I only wished I knew.

"Samantha!" I heard a voice call from the back of the line. I turned and saw another girl, just as beautiful as the blonde, but with dark brunette hair that reached all the way to her waist and misty green eyes that sparkled even in the dark. "Thank goodness." She sighed, grabbing the blonde's arm delicately. "I went all over looking for you to tell you that Mark is coming, looking for you."

"Okay Marina chill dude. I'll be going I guess." She reassured the girl she called Marina. Marina in turn sighed with relief as she saw that she was going to come peacefully without force. She broke away from the line and I felt a bit sad that she was leaving me here alone. What's worse; she was leaving without saying goodbye.

"See you around Samantha?" I blurted out, covering my mouth only a second later. It wasn't her that turned around, but Marina, her eyes not having the same effect on me like her friend did but all the same making me turn my head away from her gaze. I saw how she quickly turned to Samantha, a look of discouragement plastered all over her pretty round face. She came up to me and punched me square in the chest, making me convulse on the floor before her. I didn't know she had that much strength!

"My name is Sam." She said and walked away with her friend telling her something discreetly.

A/N: Chapter 2 done. More to come by the end of the week! Leave me a little review telling me what you thought! :)