Hey everybody, this is probably my quickest update ever, but I wanted it up before the weekend. Thankyou everybody who reviewed and sent their love, me and my family needed it. We all really appreciate it, it means a lot to us.

Well on that cheery note, here's chapter 17! Hope you guys like this one, I really enjoyed writing it XD

Chapter 17 – Piper Scores Big

I absentmindedly stirred my soda with my bendy straw and stared out of the cafeteria window. A week had passed since the show and I was still feeling down.

Ravess had gloated all week long about her stupid blue ribbon. She brought it everywhere – to lunch, to class – even to practice. Dove was excited about her wins, too, even though she downplayed it for my benefit. Starling did her best to cheer me up. She'd even gotten permission from Mr Moss to make chocolate-chip pancakes this morning, since it was a Saturday. At least Parent's Weekend was a week away – thinking about showing Dad around campus gave me so something to focus on.

I had to focus all of my energy on practicing for the advanced team testing before Easter break.

"Hey, Piper." Aerrow slid into the empty seat next to me. He looked cuter than the last time I saw him – if that was even possible.

"Hey, Aerrow. Aren't we lucky that we got Titanic for our homework assignment?"

"Absolutely. Especially since the other movie goes forever." He said.

We were trying to figure out who had seen the most classic movies. Aerrow had sworn he was the winner, but I had won when he admitted that he'd never seen The Sound of Music. Aerrow stole a barbeque chip off my plate.

"I'm having some trouble with my paper, though."

"Really?" I asked. "If you want any help…"

"You wouldn't mind?" Aerrow had no trace of a smile on his face. "I kind of suck at papers."

"I could read what you have and give you some pointers," I offered, trying to stay calm.

"That would be great!" a smile lit his face like a candle.

"And, uh," his voice cracked. "Maybe if you're not too busy now, and you probably are, we could go get some ice cream. Or something. If you want."

Colour crept into my face. I fumbled around in my pocket for my lip gloss and tried not to make eye contact. Say something. "Sure," I said, between deep breaths.

We left the cafeteria and headed for the ice cream shop near the Media Centre.

"Have you tried their recommended ice cream yet?" Aerrow asked, looking at me as we ignored the "stay off the grass" signs and took a shortcut over the springy lawn.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Oh you have to try it." His green eyes gleamed in the light. "It's mint chocolate chip with popping candy and added golden caramel drizzle. It might sound a bit strange, but it's really good."

"Ok, I'll try it." I said, hoping I sounded adventurous.

When we reached the ice cream shop, we stepped up to the counter.

"Two cones from your recommended menu, please. Make sure to put lots of drizzle." Aerrow said to the server.

A few minutes later, we got our cones. "Cheers," he said, tapping his cone to mine. I took a tiny bite.

"Wow, this is really good!" I said.

"Yeah, it just sounds gross," Aerrow said, smiling. We left the shop and walked past the library. Soon, we ended up past the History building and our cones were long gone. Neither of us had said a word for a few minutes. I pulled my sweater over my chilly fingers, trying to think of something interesting to talk about.

"Well," I said. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Anytime." Aerrow concentrated on his hands. "Do you want to come with me to the Media Centre? We could play on the Wii or something."

After my loss at the show, I probably should have been at the Lab practicing, but taking a break for an hour was probably okay.

"Sure," I said, finally.

"Ever played before?" our arms bumped together when I stepped on an uneven part of the sidewalk.

"Nope, you'll have to teach me." I said.

The video game room was empty. "Is Super Smash Brothers Brawl okay?" Aerrow asked.

"Sure, whatever you want." I tried to figure out where to sit. Do I plop down on the floor with a pillow? Or perch on the couch with one leg crossed like Starling does? Aerrow put the disc into the console and sat cross legged on the floor. I sat a couple of feet away from him and mirrored his casual posture.

He handed me a white Wii remote. "I'll teach you." He leaned over, so I could smell his sweet, minty breath, and arranged my fingers on the remote. My cheeks burned. He was actually touching me! He was touching my fingers! No more hand washing. Ever. An endless row of exclamation marks shot through my brain.

Aerrow turned on the TV and the game started. "First, pick a character," he said. Aerrow chose a setting for us to play. "Okay, your goal is to knock me off the screen. Got it?"

I looked over at him and, for a second, our eyes met. The game clock counted down and on "Go!" we started to battle. Pressing every button, I managed to manoeuvre Yoshi around the screen and tried to look as if I knew what I was doing. I glanced at Aerrow. It seemed like he didn't care if I was a good player or not. He just wanted to have fun.

With me.

After a while, we took a break to give our fingers a rest. He handed me a slip of folded notebook paper.

I opened it. SkyKnight14. "What's this?" I asked.

"It's my IM name," he said. "So… maybe we can chat sometime."

"Cool," I said.

!

I tore off a strip of paper from his note, wrote CrystalGirl and handed it to him. "That's mine."

An hour later, practically floating, I headed for the exit and dialled Starling.

I squealed into the phone.

"Oh, my Gods, tell me!" Starling shrieked.

"It was amazing. We had ice cream and played video games."

"You're so lucky," Starling said with a sigh. "See you in a bit." I disconnected the call.

I stared at my fingers, half expecting them to glow or show some sign that Aerrow had touched them. I went back to the dorms, waiting the whole way for my hands to glow.

XD XD XD XD

Did you like it? Do you? Do you? Do you? DO YOU?!

I hope you did. Please let me know in a review! Next chapter is part 1 of the Parents Weekend. It seems like it's too long for just one chapter, so I'm going to break it up into parts. Shouldn't be too long until next update, so you all then my lovelies!

~LouiLuvr