He strode up to her during a break between classes. She was perched on a bench, with a lunchbox open on her lap, halfway through a sandwich. There were crumbs on her skirt, he noticed. She tossed down a bit of crust to a passing squirrel.

She was wearing that cardigan again today: clean white, with black Greek symbols embroidered at the breast pocket: Beta Sigma Phi.

"Hey," he said, stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets. She glared and flipped her metal lunch pail shut, ready to flee.

"No, just wait!" he said, hand landing unconsciously on her arm. Her skin was warm, and he tried to ignore it.

"I just…" he sighed, releasing her, dragging that hand through his hair. "I just wanted to apologize for being so rude. I'm…well…" He shrugged.

"Nosy?"

"Yeah…and…"

"Impudent?"

"What?"

She continued. "Ignorant?"

"Hey!" he said, folding his arms across his chest, and for the first time he saw her smile.

Her smile was lovely. Her teeth were perfect, set in two neat white rows behind pretty pink lips. She laughed a little, ducking her head to toss more of her crust down. "Teasing," she said.

He pointed into her lunch box. "Is that…Are those clementines?"

She nodded, plucking them from the napkin they were wrapped in and offering him one of the round orange fruits.

He pointed to the unoccupied side of her bench. "Can I sit here?"

She nodded, still smiling.

They both munched quietly, watching people pass. She spoke first, surprising him.

"Aren't you in graduate school?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Electrical Engineering." It was weird. He could count on one hand the names of people on this campus who he actually knew, though everyone seemed to know exactly who he was.

"Oh. That's really interesting. So you're developing those computer things…?" she asked, almost hesitantly. "It all sounds very Nineteen-Eighty-Four if you ask me."

He chuckled. "No. Robots. Which I guess are more from the Twilight Zone," he jabbed back at her pop culture reference.

"Whoa, you like the Twilight Zone?" she said, turning to him, all smiles.

And he couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah. Its pretty cool." He popped a slice of citrus into his mouth.

"I love it. But my boyfriend hates it." She threw a cracker at another passing squirrel, grimacing now. "Says its stupid."

Boyfriend? Well…if he was saying anything about this girl was stupid, he was obviously an idiot.

"Its definitely not stupid. But my dad says the same thing."

They grew quiet again. He finished his clementine, looking down at the peel clutched in his hands. This was remarkably easy. Talking. Enjoying himself. She seemed to genuinely care, and she wasn't as stuck up as he had presumed. Maybe a little entitled, but what sorority girl wasn't? He didn't really have room to talk in that department either. Their shared love of sci-fi had gained her several brownie points, and maybe his original assumptions of this girl had been incorrect.

Had he just made a friend?

"What are you studying?" he asked. He supposed friends were supposed to reciprocate questions.

"Business."

He chuckled to himself, trying to hide it behind his hand. He'd been right.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Oh nothing," he said, smirking. "And its your first year here, huh?"

She nodded. "I only just turned seventeen."

"Oh well we're the same age."

She grinned. "Except you're about three times as far along in school." She laughed and he joined her. Her laugh was beautiful, breathy, but full.

She moved next to him, gathering the bits of her lunch and tossing them back inside her lunch pail. "Sorry to run, but I've got to go to class. It was nice talking with you."

"Yeah, you too." He nodded.

She stood, gracefully smoothing her skirt. "Um…" she turned to face him, walking backwards a few steps. The wind tousled her bangs. "We should watch the Twilight Zone sometime. The new season starts in January."

"Yeah, sure," he answered.

She blushed, but Tony decided to blame it on the bitter wind that was picking up this early December morning. She waved and hurried away, her skirt fluttering behind, lunch box clattering metal against metal.

He watched her walk, waiting until she was too far away to see.

His first friend.

It had only taken five years.

-O-O-O-

When he exited the engineering building after his final lab that afternoon, a familiar brunette bounded up to his side.

"Hi Tony!" she said excitedly.

"Hey Maya. Haven't seen you around," he said passively, glancing up to calculate the quickest detour back to his dorm room.

She pressed her coke bottle glasses higher up on her nose. "I've kind of been hiding out in the greenhouse all week. The ficus, the one that we've been working on? Its finally regenerating. You should come check it out."

He nearly corrected her on the 'we' part. He'd only helped her to stabilize the serum, and that was months ago when she'd developed the first formula.

"Well that's great, Maya," he said, stopping to face her. "I'll come by and check it out sometime."

"Really?" she said, looking entirely too enthusiastic. It almost made him laugh.

"Sure. I'll bring Professor Higgins along," he lied.

"Oh that'd be fantastic!" she practically squealed.

"Yeah. Only so I can be there when he tells you how stupid and incomplete your idea was in the first place, and how pointless this serum is since you've only developed it to work on garden species."

Maya floundered. "But you helped me…And its only just a test formulation. The fern families are most perceptive to…"

He cut her off. "Its lame. No one wants ferns that magically grow back." He wiggled his fingers comically. "Try big crops like corn or wheat, then you might actually have something. Plants are boring. Have fun."

He turned away from her, continuing alone down the length of the courtyard for his dormitory. Maya Hansen was an annoying freshman undergrad with underdeveloped ideas. She was smart, Tony would admit, and her ideas had the potential to be something great if she'd just go the extra mile. In science, there wasn't any room for mediocrity. Not to mention, she followed him like a sick puppy. He could barely get out of the science wing without her tracking him down to press a notebook of new calculations into his face and ask for his help on her latest experiment.

He'd told her at first that botany wasn't his thing, though he probably could've managed just fine. But she'd insisted, so he gave in. Just once. And she was hooked. He hadn't been able to get her off his trail since.

Maybe he wasn't in the position to deny himself friends, but when they were annoying, runny-nosed nerds like Maya, he could stand to go without.

-O-O-O-

Pepper slid the door shut to her room, letting out a heavy sigh. Her brain buzzed with math formulas and theories, ready to get started on her assignments for statistics, but before she could drop her book bag near her bed, she noticed her roommate at her desk, her head in her hands,

"Maya?" she asked softly.

The girl only sniffled.

Maya had been hard to get along with at first. The girl was odd, and different. And Pepper knew it had been hard for her to fit in among anyone else other than her friends in her botany classes. Pepper had would the transition to college fairly easy, but then Pepper wasn't the one that had placed a box planter of mysterious—and often questionable—looking experimental plants now growing out of their dorm room window.

Pepper placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey. Is everything ok?"

Maya nodded, lifting her head and wiping her eyes beneath her glasses. "I'm fine."

Pepper smiled kindly. "You don't look fine."

Maya just sighed and stood, going to her plants in the window. She lifted the small water can there and began to sprinkle the odd sludge-green colored twigs.

"Hey," Pepper said, watching her roommate sulk her way across their window sill, watering the helpless earthy little creatures she had planted there. "If anyone said anything stupid, you should just know that they're wrong."

Maya glanced up, pausing in her work. "What do you mean?"

The red-head shrugged one shoulder. "Well…you're great, Maya. You're smart. And you're a really devoted student, and you love what you do. I don't think anyone else has the right to tell you any different. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Maya sniffled again. "Elanor Roosevelt said that."

Pepper nodded. "She sure did. A woman. Standing up for herself. Because she was bold enough to make a difference. And you'll make a difference, Maya. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Maya looked teary all over again. "Thanks, Pepper. You're sweet."

Pepper smiled warmly, reaching over to pat the girl's shoulder. "Speaking of all of that, there's a rally for equality going on in Boston next weekend. I'm going. You're welcome to attend with me if you'd like."

But Maya shook her head, looking back to her plants. "No. That's all you, Pepper. You're the big feminist. I prefer to agree silently."

Pepper scoffed. "Its absolutely atrocious how they treat people. Not just us women. But all minorities. That's what we're protesting, not just women's rights. Did you know that several universities denied African Americans the right to join fraternities and sororities? And when they tried to establish their own, the universities refused to recognize the chapters? I mean….Its ridiculous! They're oppressing us. Only white men with the biggest sticks have any opinions, and even then they quarrel with one another. Its disgusting…all this violence just because people want to express their opinions."

"You're really brave for all of this, Pepper. What does Aldrich think of all this?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Aldrich has given up on trying to get me to see his ways on this issue. Besides, he has other things to worry about these days."

"What do you mean?" Maya asked, returning to her desk and opening the nearest textbook.

She sighed and leaned back on her bed, looking up at the photograph of the two of them she had pinned to the wall. "He got drafted," she admitted, finally able to say the actual words.

Maya gasped. "Oh, Pepper. I'm so sorry."

"He'll be fine," she said assuredly. "I know he will."

-O-O-O-

Psycho. It had a ring to it he supposed. If only he didn't have to go alone. He considered asking some of the guys from the mechanics lab, but they never agreed to go anywhere with him. He'd given up on that long ago.

He waited in line at the box office, people milling around him, the air abuzz with excitement and tension at this new, racy release.

His mother definitely wouldn't approve of him paying to see this movie, but he was always a Hitchcock fan and wouldn't miss it, even if he had no one to accompany him.

His thoughts helplessly drifted to her. The red head. Pepper. He could've asked her, but then that wasn't very appropriate. She had a boyfriend, and it would seem unfitting.

As if on cue, a familiar laughter sounded behind him. That high, flitty laughter.

He turned, seeing her several people back. She was bent backwards, away from the handsome blonde trying to peck her cheek. She giggled again and swatted him away playfully.

Tony lifted a hand to wave. "Hey. Hey Pepper!" he called over the din of the crowd, reaching back to grab her attention.

"Oh!" she said, bending her head away from the man, facing him. "Hi Tony!" She smiled sweetly.

He vaguely heard the blonde man ask her how she knew him, but he'd stopped listening. He turned forward in line to purchase his ticket before slipping inside. He tried to lose himself in the midst of the crowd, to avoid the darling couple that had been behind him. But a tap on his shoulder made him turn.

"Hi," she said softly, cheeks aglow. "Are you here by yourself? Well…" she hesitated, gesturing to the blonde man behind her, gripping possessively onto her hand. "I wanted to ask if you'd like to sit with us?"

"Um…"

No.

"Sure. Thanks," he agreed stupidly, and followed behind them.

When they arrived in the theatre, the man helped Pepper shed her coat, and she finally introduced him. "Tony, this is Aldrich. And Aldrich this is Tony."

The man regarded him a moment and nodded briefly, turning away.

Pepper sat, and turned to speak to Aldrich, all but ignoring Tony's presence now.

He'd give her the benefit of the doubt. This had obviously been a date.

Tony sat beside her, feeling suddenly intensely awkward. He stared ahead, fingers clenching around the cold metal armrests that separated their chairs. He contemplated moving. Apologizing and shifting to sit nearer to the back, where he'd be away from all the romantic bile glaring him directly in the face.

But before he could speak, she turned to him. "You scared?" she asked.

His smile quirked up one corner of his mouth. "Please," he scoffed. "You?"

"No. I love Hitchcock films."

He felt his eyes grow wide. "Really?"

She nodded, but Aldrich tapped her shoulder and just like that she was gone again, back in hushed whispers with her slime ball boyfriend.

Ok, maybe slime ball was harsh. At least right now. He'd probably live up to the name later, Tony assumed as the lights dimmed and the crowd hushed.

The news reel played first, showing scenes of soldiers at work, tanks and convoys rumbled over the lush rice fields, stirring dust and destruction in their wake. Tony felt like a goldfish in a bowl when his father appeared on screen, shaking hands with President Eisenhower.

He peeked over at the couple next to him. Pepper's eyes looked bleary, like they had the night she'd crashed into him. The blue-grey light of the screen illuminated the glimmer of moisture in her eyes. Their hands were intertwined, and Pepper had leaned her head against his shoulder.

Now he really wanted to move.

But he stayed.

Why did he stay…?

Pepper seemed somewhat comfortable through the movie, jumping several times, always clinging onto Aldrich's arm, who looked thoroughly repulsed by every minute of the bloody, nude-y, psychotic thriller.

At the rumored shower scene, he felt Pepper's little hand move over his. At first he turned, glancing at her, surprised. But she was enthralled with the happenings on-screen, her lips parted in shock and anticipation.

She squeezed tighter, jumping when the slasher barged in. At the poor woman's screams, she bent towards him, clinging to his hand, ducking her head towards his. She peeked out of one eye, and he laughed at that.

When the horror was over, she smiled and leaned close to his ear. "That was so scary…but great."

He laughed again, quietly. He didn't miss Aldrich's glare at them from across the row.

-O-O-O-

"That was horrible. And repulsive."

"It was awesome," she said, all smiles, thrill buzzing through her.

"I'll never understand your fixation on slasher flicks and that weird science fiction stuff. It makes my stomach churn."

"Aw, Allie. Don't be so squeamish," she teased, reaching over to squeeze his rib cage, but he grabbed her wrist, one hand still on the steering wheel.

She gasped, tugging away from his grip, rubbing at her arm. "Excuse you!" she said offended.

The car sped faster, and she was thrown back into her seat.

"I really don't appreciate you being all over that Stark guy."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. He's my friend."

"Yeah," Aldrich said, swallowing. "Well he seems like he wants to be a little more than friends."

"You're being ridiculous," she said, turning away from him to look out the window.

He slammed the breaks in front of her dormitory. "Don't you dare…"

She lurched forward with the motion, but turned to glare at him. "No, Aldrich. Don't you dare. Don't you dare raise your voice at me, or grab me like that ever again. You're being absurd and you know it. He's a friend, and he's a nice guy. So get over it."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry," he breathed quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Her eyes flickered to his free hand, resting on the white leather seats. She took It in her own. "We only have a few more weeks together, Allie. I want them to mean something. So…" She bent across the car to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for a lovely date, and thanks for dinner. I'll see you soon."

She rose from the car.

As soon as the door clicked shut and she hurried up the stairs of her building, her stomach dropped. She felt sick. Her wrist still throbbed, but faintly. A reminder of what had transpired, and what she'd let him get away with, with only a slap on the hand.

She just wanted to ignore it. She just wanted to get through the last few weeks, and be able to kiss him goodbye at the train station. She didn't want to think that anything might be wrong. That there might be any reasons to stop and think twice about what she was getting herself into.

-O-O-O-

AN: I don't really know what possessed me to put Aldrich and Maya in this story, but you guys seem to like it and I have plans hehehehe. So reviews are WONDERFUL and I love every one of them. I wish I could reply to more. You guys are great. I hope you enjoyed.