Happy Friday =)
Hope all of you have a lovely weekend! I'll be spending mine preparing for midterms...

Again, anything that I have mentioned in this story that exists in reality is not mine, no matter how much I'd like to think it is.

Now please, grab a cookie, sit back, and enjoy.

•••••

I could tell that she took pure delight in keeping an air of mystery.

After I asked who she was, her eyes widened, startled by both my question and our close proximity.

She tried to cover up for her slip-up, by shrugging and muttering, "What does it matter?" She'd quickly sunk back in her seat and taken a long sip of her water. I rested my head against the back of the booth, matching her position.

"It doesn't," I agreed, "but a guy can't help but be curious."

She chuckled, amused by something unbeknownst to me. "Patience is a virtue."

"Twenty Questions?" I implored.

She eyed me for a second. "Five. No personal ones allowed, and I'm allowed to refuse to answer. Oh, and I get to ask you too."

"Deal." I said, already having a question in mind. "What was your first impression of me?"

She blinked, taken aback once more. I really enjoyed surprising her.

"Smooth." She blurted out.

I coughed on my coffee, and promptly cleared my throat. "Care to elaborate?"

She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, her lips twitching in what I thought was a hint of a smile. "Well, the way you handled the situation, I guess. I mean I'm willing to bet that you don't have strangers silence you before dragging you into a classroom on a daily bases. You didn't even appear shocked, and you played it off like it was nothing – something I wasn't expecting."

I chuckled, "Well your actions weren't exactly expected either." A blush covered her gorgeous face, causing me to smirk.

"Well Mr. Goldsworthy, I do believe it's my turn."

I gulped, anxiously awaiting her question. "English major, Brown University, why?"

"You know I really love your ability to combine two different questions into one. Very sneaky Edwards."

She grinned, clearly waiting for my answer.

"As for the major, writing is my escape; a way to let it all out, build my own world, create a work of art. Whatever I want, under my control. It's really quite unfair how wonderful it is. Brown was simple. I wanted it to be far, but not too far, away, the United States seemed like the perfect choice. Liberal arts was always for me, and Brown was my top choice. I applied early, and got in with a full scholarship, and here we are now."

She'd listened intently, genuinely interested, throughout my entire rant.

"So where are you from, then?" She ventured.

"Are you sure you want to make that your second question, Clare?"

"What? Oh come on!" She cried.

"You made the rules, not me!" I replied, grinning.

She scowled at me, and I raised my eyebrows in response.

•••••

"I know, I know. It was a really stupid mistake." I tried to justify, blushing scarlet. Eli was laughing so hard that he was about to fall out of his seat. "Eli!" I cried, swatting at his arm, "Stop!"

"Okay, Okay." He said, gasping for breath, "I just can't believe you did that."

"Yeah it wasn't my finest moment." I murmured when he finally composed himself. "Alright, final question."

He got to ask the last one, because he'd insisted that mine was another one. Smart-Ass.

He took a deep breath. "Clare Edwards," he spoke, "Will you go out with me?"

Not exactly the question I was anticipating.

I looked at him. He was waiting, staring straight into my eyes. That was hardly fair! His eyes were so mesmerizing, how could I say no? So I didn't.

"Uh, y-yeah, sure." I stammered.

Smooth, Clare, really smooth. I'd have to take some tips from him.

"Great, I'll walk you back." He stated. Something about the way he didn't ask, just presumed, made me grin.

"Lead the way."

The walk back to the dorms was quiet, the two of us slightly embarrassed. We talked occasionally, but mostly enjoyed each other's presence. At some point I'd started to shiver and I soon felt the presences of his leather jacket over my shoulders. I'd thanked him and received an adorable smile in return.

When we arrived at my building, I'd started to shrug the jacket off, but he placed his hands on my shoulders. "Keep it, you might need it if you get cold again. I'll see you in English." With a quick kiss on my cheek, he was gone.

I watched him walk away for a few seconds before heading up to my room. The instant I opened the door, a high-pitched shriek filled the room, scaring me to death. Suddenly I was being dragged by my wrist and forced onto the couch.

"Tell me everything!" Alli squealed, plopping down on the chair across from me.

"What do you want to know?" I stalled.

"Every little detail! What's his name? How did you meet? When did you meet? Where did you meet? Does he go to school here? What's his major? Is he even in college? Oh my god! How old is he? Are you dating an older man, Clare? Are you even dating? Please tell me your dating! He so wants to date you. I can tell by the way he was staring at you, and that was only after five seconds of glancing at him! When do I get to meet him? Does he have a bro—"

"Alli!" I shrieked.

She grinned sheepishly. "Well?"

•••••

"Wait a second. So for the past three years you've been in and out of therapy because you haven't been able to get over your dead ex-girlfriend. You've tried drinking, smoking, and cutting but they all made it worse. You lost interest and with that your friends, so you accepted this and distanced yourself further. You put all your energy into your writing and earned a full scholarship to this school. Out of the blue, this girl, whom you've only met twice, has captured your full attention and you've never, ever felt happier in your life."

"Well when you put it that way, I sound like a mental case. But, yeah, that's pretty much it."

Adam stared at me, dumbfounded. I stared back, allowing him to process.

"What's her name anyway?"

"Clare," I said, grinning, "Clare Edwards."

Adam eyes bulged before he broke into hysterics. "Y-y-you d-dating C-Clare E-Edwards?" He cried in between laughs, "Y-yeah right. V-very funny, E-Eli."

"Want to let me in on the joke?" I questioned as his laughter died down.

He quickly composed himself. "Are you serious? You don't know?"

"Uh, not really." I sighed.

He sprinted out of the room, returning moments later with his laptop. He practically landed on my lap trying to jump onto the couch next to me. I watched carefully as he yanked it open and furiously typed Clare Edwards into the Google search bar.

A thousand pictures of her appeared before my eyes. There she was in a skimpy, almost see through dress on a red carpet at premier of the latest Bond film. Another showed her leaving a restaurant in a knee length black dress and dark red lipstick, surrounded by bodyguards. There was one of her walking the sunny streets of California, toting at least five different shopping bags. Someone had even caught her in the passenger seat of a silver Cadillac with her hand out, as if to prevent the photographer from seeing her face.

Who was this girl?

•••••

I would love you a gazillion times more if you reviewed!