Okay, so I had started writing this story before Cory and the House came out, and I decided I didn't really want to add that in, but I will add it in. But not much. Just a few characters. Oh, and I did forget about Stanley but I will be bringing him in to this chapter. It seems like there's a lot going on right now, but I'm trying to somehow mesh it all together. Thanks for being patient.

What's wrong with me? Cory thought with a plastic coffee cup cuddled in his hand. I used to be such a lady's man. Or maybe, that was what I thought. I don't understand! I didn't move too fast with Hannah. In fact, I was trying to take it slow. Is that why she left? It couldn't be. I didn't take her out. I was lazy. I'm such a jerk. "What wrong with me?" he mumbled to himself aloud. He tossed his cup in the trash can and missed.

"You're self-centered, obnoxious, and greedy," a response came to the question he. I know that shrill voice. It's so familiar and I can't even put my finger on it, Cory puzzled.

He spun around in his chair and saw a girl with black springy hair and dark skin. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Do I know you?"

She smiled. "Oh, you know me. Candace. Washington Prep?"

"Oh my gosh, Candy?" Cory asked and exclaimed at the same time. She nodded. "What are you doing in San Francisco?" he asked.

She giggled a little bit, "Well I went to Yale for two years to study politics at its finest. I couldn't take it though. I wasn't the best and it drove me crazy! My only option was transferring to a nobody school, and I felt so ashamed to go back to Washington as a Yale dropout."

"So you came to University of San Fran?" he asked, putting the pieces together.

She nodded and smiled, "Yep, I've been attending for about half of a semester. Then I realized that maybe you had come here too, since you know, you came from San Francisco."

"You found me," Cory chuckled.

"How have you been, Cory?"

He looked down at his empty, warm hands. He had nothing anymore. His heart had been crushed too many times. First by Meena and Newt, then Candy, and then Hannah. He hadn't been in too many relationships, but he had seen them all crash and burn. His senior year of high school, Cory had decided to pick things up with Candy again, but it ended as she headed off for Yale, and he went to his nobody school. She had also been in love with another guy, and he was attending Yale with her. After his recent breakup with Hannah, Cory realized that the best he could do was just stay single for the rest of his life. "I've been punched in the face a few times by life, but I think I'll be able to punch it back someday. How have you been?"

Her face turned thoughtful. "You remember Ricky, the boy I liked? He left me for a senior in freshman year and ended up dropping out of school to marry that tramp. Since then, I've been dating around, but I never really found someone."

"Well that's awful. Yeah, I had a girlfriend I met the first week of school here, and she ended up leaving just the other day," he sighed.

"That's horrible! I'm sorry, Cory. What ever happened to Newt and Meena?"

He scowled. They betrayed me, he thought in his head. "They went to NYU. They came out here a few months ago to tell me that they had been dating and now they were engaged."

"Ouch," Candy said sympathetically. "Didn't you have like a huge crush on Meena?" He nodded. She changed the subject, "Wow, I haven't met hardly anyone since I've been here. People aren't too friendly here are they?"

He laughed a little bit. "Not as friendly as you, Candy."

"Oh by the way," she added nervously, "I kinda go by Candace now. It sounds more professional, you know?"

He nodded. "Well, Candace," putting emphasis on her new name, "Would you like to hang out with me and some guys tonight? We're going to the football game and I think it would be a great idea if you got into the social scene."

She agreed and the two separated until that evening.

"C'mon Stanley!" a muscular young man called out from the fifty yard line. "We're getting ready to run our drills!"

Stanley, handsome and studly, carried his helmet under his arm and trotted onto the field in glory. Football practice is what made him the center of attention. He was glorious, powerful, and most importantly, popular. All the ladies loved him, the guys were jealous of him, and the teachers gave him great grades knowing that without him, the football team would be nothing. Ah yes, being senior quarterback was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Who are we?" a wide receiver shouted, pumping up the team.

"BAYSIDE!" the team answered in a triumphant scream.

They all dashed into their positions, Stanley being almost the center. All eyes were on him, and he absolutely loved it. Cheerleaders were practicing on the sidelines, in their short skirts and watching Stanley perform. He was the actor and his audience loved him.

"Blue, 42, set… HIKE!" he shouted. The ball was tossed to him and he threw it out to the open man sprinting down the field. One beautiful throw and a couple of yards later, the boys screamed touchdown and the touchdown-scorer did his dance. Although the other guy had scored, Stanley stood in the center of the field, taking a bow and waving to the girls.

Practice was over. He took off his sweaty helmet to reveal a glistening, wet head. He flashed his white teeth and winked at the cheerleaders, who had not lost any pep during their long practice. Just as he was about to jog into the building and change from his grass and dirt stained clothes, he heard a whistle and whisper, "Stanley!" He looked around, and finally he saw a group of guys under the bleachers beckoning to him.

"Wanna join us?" they asked, tossing their eyebrows up and down.

"Ya know," he nervously laughed, "I'd love to, but I don't like men like that." He started to turn away, when the group snickered and pulled him back.

"No not that, dude. Ben just turned eighteen and got us all some cigarettes. Try one, I promise you won't get addicted," one of the blonde kids asked.

"Nah, come on. You know that stuff ain't good for your sports and sure as heck ain't good for your lungs. Y'all know those are cancer sticks, right?" he kinda laughed.

"Not if you only have one," one of the guys who had already popped a cigarette in his mouth said carelessly.

He looked around nervously. "Okay, only one. But only because I know you guys will be making fun of me forever." With that, Stanley snatched a cigarette from the paper box, and glanced at the surgeon general's warning. Surgeon General's Warning: Smoking cigarettes may cause shortness of breath and deterioration of the lungs. He disregarded the warning and placed the cigarette in his mouth. He took the bright red lighter and lit it. Smoke puffed out of his mouth and he stared at the small piece of paper, dangerous and yet so tiny. Something sunk inside his stomach. It tasted gross, and he knew he shouldn't be doing it. But he couldn't be made fun of for not taking the chance.

The cigarette was finished and he threw it in the dirt. He took his expensive football cleat and ground it into the small diminished paper. "Are you happy now?" he asked his peers, and stormed off into the locker room, not even looking back at all the smoke that had clouded his thoughts for the brief minutes he had hid behind the bleachers.

"How's future Mrs. Thomas feeling today?" Eddie asked as he threw a pillow gently her way.

"I have a headache," she whined. "I had way too much fancy champagne and wine last night."

He chuckled, "I'll say. You shoulda seen my bill."

She smiled, "Same old Eddie."

"Um, uh, Alexis, are you going to, uh, break up with your, uh, friend?" he asked nervously, so he wouldn't provoke her.

She nodded, still rubbing her temples. "He's a loser anyways. He wants to move to France and have two children: a boy named Pierre and a girl named Lucia. Did I mention he told me this on our first date?"

"And you still didn't break up with him?"

"Well, I did tell you of my experiment. Oh crap! She sat up straight in bed, forgetting her headache and her boyfriend. My dad."

"What about your dad?" Eddie asked, confused.

Alexis looked at Eddie and sighed, "My dad is very formal, being of the military and such. He told me that when I got engaged, he wanted the man to ask him first. We have to go to L.A."

"But, that would mean I would have to propose to you all over again."

"Exactly. Can you afford the ring right now? That would really impress him."

Eddie murmured, "Yes, but it won't be the one you want. How bout I get a fakey for now, and buy you the real one as soon as I get the money?"

She smiled. "I love you, Eddie."

"I love you too," Eddie said in return. Wow that feels great to say now.

So Eddie and Alexis took a couple days of vacation time from work, packed up their small car with a few days' worth of clothes, filled the gas tank, and headed south down the crowded California highway that very day, to meet the man that could change everything they had planned.

I should be updating soon, because ideas are just flowing through me. And I don't much care if nobody's reading this, but I just like to feel the accomplishment of getting it done. If you're reading this, please review. It only takes like 30 seconds.