Fern - Fascination; magic; sincerity

In every high school, there is always a group of people who seem to be keyed into everything. People whose movements are watched, appraised, and tracked by the rest of the school. Not all of them are scheming gossips who trample on others' feelings on their way to the top. Not all of them are jocks who bully freshmen with threats to stuff them into lockers. Some of them don't calculate their way to popularity at all; it's just who they are, and you just know that those people are going places. However they accomplish it, though, this elite group of people rises to the top and keeps everyone enthralled.

Chuck isn't one of them, but he could have been.

Everyone knew and loved Ellie Bartowski; she was smart, she was funny, and she was really, really hot. Everyone also knew that to mess with Chuck was to mess with Ellie, and in that respect, she was also a little scary.

So when Chuck started his first day of his freshman year, he knew he had a chance to be one of "them." As if Ellie wasn't enough of a ticket in, he got paired as a chemistry partner with Jason Peterson, the star freshman who made first string on the Varsity football team. To both their surprise, Chuck and Jason got along extremely well, and before long, the funny Bartowski was mentioned in the popular circles just as much the hot Bartowski.

As great as it was to have a new set of friends, though, Chuck missed being able to talk video games and Dune with Morgan at lunch. Every day, it seemed that he'd spend five minutes scanning the cafeteria for his friend to no avail. Eventually Jason or Ellie would wave him over to come sit with them, and unable to find Morgan anywhere, Chuck would join them with a shrug. It didn't make sense that his best friend since kindergarten had seemingly abandoned him for no apparent reason.

Then one day, Chuck found him when he literally stumbled over Morgan on his way to the restroom.

--

With a crash, Chuck landed in huge potted fern.

"Morgan!" he exclaimed, as he extricated himself from the leafy fronds and dusted his shirt off. " Where have you been, buddy?"

"Just, you know, eating my PB&J."

"I haven't seen you in weeks." Chuck looked around and realized that Morgan was sitting on the floor next to the bathroom, almost completely obscured by the potted plant. "Why were you hiding behind a plant?"

"I don't know, Chuck. Ferns just like me, I guess."

"Ferns like you?"

"Hey, don't knock ferns. At least ferns don't go off and make new friends and be cooler than the rest of us," he said bitterly.

"Morgan..."

"What, Chuck? You're in the in-crowd now. Go sit with your football friends."

"They're just guys I know from Chem class. C'mon, I'll introduce you."

"Don't you get it?" Morgan snapped. "You're in! You can't be seen hanging out with a loser like me! I'll just drag you down."

"You're not a loser, Morgan."

"You belong with them, Chuck. I've seen you. You're smart. Girls laugh with you instead of at you. The guys don't look like they are planning on giving you a super atomic wedgie. You fit. I don't."

Chuck scratched his head and looked thoughtfully at the table where Jason and his friends sat laughing. Then, he turned back and took in the dejected form slouched against the wall. "Well, then I don't want to be in the in-crowd," he declared.

"Don't lie. Everyone wants to be popular in high school."

Chuck shrugged. "I can still be friends with them and friends with you. If they have a problem with it, that's their issue."

Morgan narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"You know, I just got the new THX remastered version of the Star Wars Trilogy."

Morgan hesitated, the promise of lightsabers and the Force almost too much to hope for.

Chuck pressed on. "Wanna watch at my place after school?"

Morgan broke out into a huge smile and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Excellent. I feel the need for some Jedi mind tricks right now. You heard the rumors that George Lucas is going to make Special Editions and release them in the theaters, right? It's going to be amazing. Imagine it: the Millennium Falcon tearing across space, lightsaber battles on the big screen, just like we were intended to see it."

"They're gonna add scenes too. I would love to see more Boba Fett."

"I hear Jabba the Hutt's being added in. And something about Greedo."

"Greedo? What could they possibly do with Greedo?"

"Who knows?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

--

In the end, Chuck goes through high school known as Ellie's little brother. The popular kids acknowledge him and are friendly towards him but he never becomes part of their inner circle.

And really, he's okay with that.

He's still going to do something great with his life. He doesn't know what it is yet, but he knows it's going to be big. Something no one else, not even him, can comprehend yet. And to do it, he's going to have to stand on his own.

Chuck knows this, which is why he won't leave Morgan now. Right now, he's fine just being a regular guy with a true friend he can lean on. He'll save the world later.