After that day, Noah was surprised that he'd actually had more in common with Lizz than he'd ever thought he'd have with a girl, or anybody, to be exact. She liked playing Dragon Assassin, which was one of Noah's favorite online video game, and found out she was the only other person that actually knew the secret to get to level 12 of the game, though, of course, she could never have beaten his high score, anyway, which was something he was proud of. She also liked Kosmic Kaos, which was another favorite of Noah's. Though, Noah wasn't the only one surprised, Lizz had found out he was a huge fan of Panic! At the Disco, which happened to be one of her favorite bands, and let's not forget, they both had the same passionate love for reading, something that was rare for hardly anybody their age.

They were lying down on a hill at a nearby park, not too far from the bookstore. It was only about 7:30-ish at the time, yet, there were already stars in the sky, and Noah was showing off his knowledge of astronomy, pointing at different star constellations. "Look at that one over there," Noah said, pointing to a certain area in the sky.

Lizz looked up, searching until she found what she believed Noah was pointing to. "What's that one called?" she asked, her voice soft, adjusting her body into a more comfortable position on the grass.

"That one's Hercules." Noah said, smiling, then felt his hand brush up against Lizz's, and looked towards her, blushing. "Uh, sorry."

Lizz turned her head to look at him, and smiled, entwining her hand in his, "Don't be." she said, looking at him for a moment, then back up at the sky. Noah was quiet, lowering his eyes, slowly starting to smile, then looked up again.

The next morning, Lizz shivered slightly, starting to wake up, and snuggled closer to whatever she was hugging for warmth, but realized that, she wasn't hugging a thing, she was hugging a person, and opened her eyes slowly, looking to see what it was, and she woke up completely, her eyes widening. Her arms were around someone with a red sweater vest, over a blue collared shirt with a half-sleeved white undershirt. Sure, she was comfortable in that position, and to be honest, she actually kind of… liked it, but she wasn't so sure about how Noah would feel when he woke up. She could barely move, however, and she had no idea if Noah was a light sleeper, or not, and didn't know whether to let go or stay in that position. Her arms were wrapped around him, one arm underneath Noah's sleeping body, and her head lie on his chest. Lizz gulped, starting to hear him wake up, and quickly shut her eyes, pretending to sleep again.

Noah was about to get up, but felt someone's head on his chest, and opened his eyes, and almost gasped when he saw Lizz, but held his breath. Noah was usually smarter than that to have fallen asleep at the park at night, and would have watched the time, so he was confused as to why he had been so distracted and irresponsible, but shook it off, wondering how to confront the sleeping girl on him. He blinked; last time he was in this situation, it was much more awkward, but it was easier to confront. This time he'd fallen asleep with an actual girl, and having no experience, he was stuck on what to do, and he blushed. Should he wake her up, or wait for Lizz to wake up on her own? "Uh…" he started, whispering, "Lizz…?"

Lizz felt relieved, kind of, and she pretended to wake up, and looked up at Noah, "Hmm…?" she muttered, pretending to be confused, then surprised, and both she and Noah sat up, letting go of each other. "Oh my g-… s-sorry." she apologized, though she didn't know why.

"Uh, i-it's okay." Noah nodded, scratching the back of his head, glancing around, awkwardly. It was silent between them for a moment, and they both stood up, wiping off any pieces of grass on their clothing, and Lizz looked up at him for a moment, about to say something, but didn't, feeling herself blush, and looked away, shaking her head.

Noah looked at her, curiously, "What is it?" he asked, half-smiling, raising an eyebrow.

Lizz looked back at him again, "N-Nothing." she assured, fake-smiling.

Noah, though only knowing her for less than twenty-four hours, was already able to tell when she was lying, and when her smiles were genuine or not, and he crossed his arms, looking down at her, knowing that she'd tell him the truth sooner or later, "You're blushing." he pointed out, smiling, "Tell me the truth." he stated, not letting her look away.

Lizz bit her bottom lip, and fixed her eyes carefully on Noah's, not letting him intimidate her, "There's not truth to tell." she shot back, giggling, poking him lightly on the chest, and starting to walk the other way. Noah looked at her direction for a moment, actually impressed that she'd had the guts to try and outsmart him like that, and caught up with her.

"I haven't met anybody like you, at all." he admitted, stuffing his hands in his pockets, looking down, smiling to himself, then looking back at Lizz. They were on the sidewalk now, side by side, walking slowly. It was pretty early, and it was Tuesday morning on summer break, so it seemed odd to see two teenagers alone like that.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Lizz asked with a small laugh, raising an eyebrow, looking to Noah, smiling.

Noah shrugged, "It's a compliment." he admitted, cocking his head to the side, and looking to Lizz again, "It's weird… a year ago, I'd never have thought that I'd have as much in common with a girl as I do with you, at all, or anybody, to be exact. It's actually kind of a… relief. Like, I've never met someone I can actually, you know, talk to. Really talk."

Lizz blushed, then looked to the side, letting out a breath, "That's a lot to say about a person you just met yesterday in a bookstore." she joked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, the corners of her mouth curving up to form a small smile.

"I can figure out a lot about a person quickly, even if I've just met them." Noah breathed, "I don't know, it's kind of like a sixth sense, you know? It's just easy for me to tell."

"But it took you pretty long to figure me out, however." Lizz pointed out, smiling at him again, holding up a finger.

"Well, you're different." Noah explained, shrugging, looking down for a while as he continued walking, then looked to Lizz, and stopped in his tracks, "A good different." Lizz looked at him, blushing once again, but didn't hide it, since it already started to become a habit of hers around him. She was about to say something, when her cell phone rang, and she sighed, slipping the phone out of her pocket, and sliding it open, and answering a call from her friend, Castfire.

"Uh, hey, Cast." she greeted, giving Noah a 'just a second' look, and he nodded in understanding.

"Oh my gosh!" Castfire squealed from the other line, she sounded really excited, but somewhat tired at the same time, like she'd just woken up or something. "Guess what?"

Lizz smiled, looking down, knowing something good must've happened to her friend, "What?" she asked.

"Cody asked me out last night! EEE!" Lizz had to move her cell phone away from her ear for a moment until Castfire had stopped screaming, and she giggled, smiling.

"That's great! I'm so happy for you…" Lizz sighed, and looked up at Noah, who was crossing his arms, raising an eyebrow, the look in his eyes seeming to tease her, so she stuck her tongue out at him, then smiled.

"Thanks! I wanted to tell you right when I woke up. You have to come over later! I need to tell you everything." Lizz was silent on her reply, distracted for a moment, until she heard Castfire say, "Uh, Lizz? Hello, you there?"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah." she said, "Uh, when is 'later' exactly?"

"Like around four. Feel free to come over earlier if you want, but you seriously need to help me out, I'm meeting him at the movies at around six-thirty! I can't believe how excited I am! I swear, my heart is beating like, ten times faster than it usually does."

Lizz looked up at Noah, her hand still on her phone, and she meant to press 'mute' on it to explain to him what was taking so long with the conversation, but accidentally pressed 'speaker' instead, and they both heard Castfire ask, "Hey, can I borrow your 'lucky' bra, though? Wash it first, of course. I mean, a little luck couldn't hurt if I'm going to be going on a date with Cody." Lizz's eyes widened, then she looked up at Noah, who actually started laughing at her.

"You have a 'lucky bra'?" Noah asked, grinning and pointing at Lizz, who blushed and covered the mouthpiece of her phone, even though she knew that Castfire could obviously still hear anyway.

"N-No!" Lizz protested, bringing the phone back up to her mouth so she could talk to her friend again, not caring if Noah was listening this time, "Uh, s-sorry for disappearing, I'm kind of, er, with somebody right now. Heh."

"That voice sounded familiar," Castfire's voice sounded suspicious, "Like, that guy from the show Cody was on, Total Drama Island? The one that you can't shut up about, I mean seriously, he may be smart and cute and all to you, but Cody is ten times better, to be in my opinion." she chuckled, and Lizz gulped, turning the speaker off of the phone, feeling Noah's eyes on her. He was crossing his arms, seeming to enjoy Lizz's embarrassment.

"You do know that you were on speaker, right?" Lizz whisper-snapped, covering the side of her mouth so Noah wouldn't hear.

"Oh, sorry!" Castfire giggled nervously on the other end, "Well, it's not like I would know, anyway!"

"Well, I got to go now, I'll just bring the…" Lizz looked to Noah, then turned back around, whispering, "bra… when I come over. Okay, bye!" she hung up, then stuffed the phone into her pocket, sighing.

Noah didn't laugh, but just smirked at Lizz, "Ah, so you think I'm 'smart' and 'cute'?" he asked, leaning over Lizz, raising his eyebrows, teasingly. "You really are my number one fan, aren't you?"

Lizz gasped at Noah, hitting him lightly on the chest, "Hey!" she squealed, "Even if I thought you were those things, which I'm not saying you are, it wouldn't consider me to be your number one fan." she stated.

"You're avoiding my first question." Noah grinned, starting to walk again, and Lizz shook her head, taking Noah's arm as she walked next to him. Noah was surprised at first, and blushed at the feeling of Lizz hanging onto his arm, but shook it off, deciding to let her, thinking it would be rude to shake her off.

"I'm not avoiding it, I'm simply choosing to not answer it." she laughed, then looked at Noah, noticing the redness in his cheeks, and smiled. "Well, well, well, look who's blushing now."

Noah rolled his eyes, "Please, that doesn't amount to how many times you've blushed around me. Besides, you're the one that's clinging onto me, and not answering my question."

Lizz shook her head, "Fine, you want me to answer?" she asked, sensing the impatience in Noah's behavior. He nodded, chuckling in response. "Okay, to tell you the truth, I think you are really smart. Smartest guy I know, if not the smartest guy ever." she smiled, seeing that Noah was enjoying her compliments, "And, well… to be honest, I happen to think you are very attractive."

Noah smiled, wanting to hear more, being the arrogant boy he was, "Oh?" he leaned down towards Lizz to whisper in her ear, but she turned her head before he said anything, and they slowed down in their pace, stopping in their tracks, their faces inches away from each other's. Lizz couldn't breathe for that moment, then looked away, biting her bottom lip as they started to walk again, and Noah adjusted his voice, gulping, then asked, "So… uh, what is it about me that you fine 'attractive'?" he was teasing, of course, but his voice was full of curiosity, and he expected a descriptive answer from her.

Lizz's eyes widened, not knowing how to word it correctly without making things awkward, "J-Just… things…" she giggled, nervously, scratching the back of her head with her free hand. Noah looked at her, wanting her to continue, and she sighed, looking down, thinking of how to say it, "You're not going to quit until I tell you more, do you?"

"Nope." Noah grinned, proudly.

"Fine." she blinked, then started, "Well, for, uh… some reason, I don't know, something about that look in your eyes and that cute, arrogant, damn why does it have to be so cute, uh, smile of yours that's always on your face is definitely attractive to me…" Noah laughed at her, and Lizz glared, playfully, then continued, "And uh, the way you look at me, and I'll have you know, nobody looks at me like the way you do, at all… it kind of… makes me…" she looked up at Noah to see his reaction, and he looked extremely anxious to hear more, and Lizz stopped walking, stopping him along with her, "You're enjoying this so much, aren't you?" she asked, letting go of his arm and folding hers across her chest.

"Hey, excuse me if you could think of a million things about me that are 'attractive'." Noah laughed, "It's actually quite flattering, so if you'd continue on, that'd be great."

Lizz shook her head, taking his arm and starting to walk again, opening her mouth to continue on, but choked on her words when she saw a familiar speck of green from the corner of her eye, and gasped when she saw Duncan straight ahead, with a certain brunette-haired girl.

"What's wrong?" Noah asked, confused at first, then looked up, seeing Duncan and Courtney, then back at Lizz, who looked like she'd just seen a ghost. "What…scared of Duncan?" Noah chuckled, looking down at Lizz, who had put a tighter grip on his arm.

"N-Not Duncan. It's his new girlfriend that pretty much scares me." Lizz admitted, trying to turn Noah around so they could go the other way, but he wouldn't move.

Noah tried to put together what Lizz was saying. Wait, new girlfriend? He thought, blinking, then he understood, "Oh… wait! Y-You… went out with, him?" Noah blinked, starting to feel a bit jealous, but, let it go, considering if Lizz had gone out with Duncan, it was well over two years ago, considering Total Drama Island was last year, and Duncan had been with Courtney since then.

Lizz sighed, "Let's just go, please?" she pleaded, "She confronted me at school when she found out, and I was scared as hell. You saw her on the island, didn't you? You know what she can do!"

Noah nodded, turning around, but before they could start walking again, they heard Courtney, "Oh, Lizz! Nice to see you." there an obvious hint of fake-enthusiasm in her voice, but Duncan didn't notice, only caring about seeing his current and ex girlfriend in the same place at the same time.

"Uh, h-hey Lizz." Duncan greeted, awkwardly, his arm around Courtney's waist, grinning nervously.

Lizz looked to Noah for help, though neither of them had any idea about what to do, and turned around, Lizz still clinging onto his arm. "H-Hey… guys." she said with a shaky breath, "What a coincidence… seeing you guys here at, uh,"-Lizz took out her phone to check the time- "Ten AM. Duncan, I would've thought that you'd get up at around at least noon."

"Well, I woke him up early." Courtney said before Duncan got a chance to answer, leaning slightly on Duncan, fixing her eyes in a glare at Lizz, who was still holding onto Noah. "Oh, are you two…?" Courtney asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lizz and Noah looked at each other, and Lizz let go, blushing, "No, we, uh, we're just friends." Lizz reassured, glancing over at Noah, who looked slightly disappointed, but nodded in agreement.

"Hm, too bad. You two look like you could make a very cute couple." Courtney smiled, nudging Duncan, "Don't you agree?"

Duncan raised his eyebrows, looking at Lizz, then to Noah, then back to Courtney. He was stuck on whether to agree or not, of course, it would be so awkward to see his former girlfriend with a new guy… much less someone like Noah, but he also felt the need to agree with his current girlfriend, so he just nodded, shrugging. "Y-Yeah, sure, I guess."

Courtney sighed, then looked to Duncan, "You guess?" she asked, blinking.

"Uh, I mean, uh…" Duncan scratched the back of his head, looking for the right words to say, and Courtney interrupted him, rolling her eyes.

"We're just going to go on now, so, nice seeing you!" Courtney fake-giggled, taking Duncan's arm and walking past Noah and Lizz to 'talk' to Duncan.

"I can see why she scares you." Noah nodded, chuckling slightly.

Lizz smiled at Duncan, amused as he looked back at her for help, though she wasn't sure why he was. He'd been avoiding her ever since he'd gotten together with Courtney, and even before that, when she dumped him that long time ago, he'd acted awkward around her, not like how he was around his other ex's. She looked up to Noah, who shrugged at her, not knowing what to do, so Lizz just gave Duncan a look, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'You're on your own', and taking Noah's hand, walking away before Courtney exploded on the green-Mohawk-ed male.

Noah's POV

"So… you and Duncan. That must've been…" I paused, looking for the right word to describe it, "…interesting."

Lizz shrugged, letting go of my hand for a moment, sliding it up my arm, moving behind me, hugging my right arm, leaning her chin on my shoulder as we walked, "Heh, yeah... Not so much." she giggled, and I felt myself blush, and saw that she noticed, again, but saw that her cheeks were turning a light shade of red, too, and she slid one of her hands down my arm again, entwining it with mine once more. "You know if this is making you uncomfortable you could always tell me to let go." she said, pointing out the obvious that I had honestly forgotten about.

I adjusted my voice, nervously, half smiling, "Please, I'm fine." I lied. The feeling of Lizz's breath, so close to my neck, and the way we were holding hands, it was driving me crazy. My stupid hormones were starting to get to me, and that hardly ever happened, I gulped, trying to keep up my composure.

"Okay, whatever you say." Lizz sighed, seemingly satisfied that she'd finally got to me. She allowed me my personal space back, but kept her hand in mine, still walking. "So, do you think your parents are going to be worried when you come home after, well, leaving your house, and not coming back until the next day?"

I shrugged, "They trust me. Besides, they work late shifts anyway, and they have eight other kids, so I'd doubt they'd notice, much less care." I muttered, lowering my eyes at the mere mention of my own parents. I'd hardly spent time with my family, with my siblings being older than me and all, and my parents hardly ever being home, I usually spent time out at that bookstore, keeping to myself. I hated thinking about home, and my family, it just seemed like an unnecessary waste of my time anyway, and I tried to keep it out of my head.

Lizz bit her bottom lip, she hadn't known, of course, but she looked as if she felt bad for bringing it up, and stayed silent for a while as we continued to walk. I noticed, and looked down, "Don't feel bad… it's not your fault or anything." I breathed, "I'm alright, I mean, I like spending time doing my own thing, anyway."

Lizz looked at me, then back down, and stopped walking, "Why don't we make this summer… fun, then? For the both of us." she shrugged, her eyes brightening, "I don't want you to just be stuck alone doing what you always do for these six weeks of summer. And besides, it wouldn't hurt to be spending time with a friend." Lizz took both of my hands, smiling, her eyes seeming to convince me, and I smiled, slightly.

"Spending the summer with a girl I met at a bookstore just hours ago…?" I started, pretending to think, but I nodded anyway, "I guess… it couldn't hurt."

End of POV

"Hey, you have to give me a little more credit, I doubt anybody else who's met you knows as much about you as I do even during the short amount of time I've had to know you." Lizz smiled. Noah shook his head, smiling; this time, a genuine smile, and Lizz could tell by the way his lips curved up softly, and his eyes were calm, and she looked away, feeling herself stare, and blushed. She'd never thought that this would even happen to her. She'd never really been in any serious relationships, long-term ones, yes, but those were always usually full of lust, and because there really was nobody else. The closest thing to a committed and, or, serious relationship she'd had, was, with Duncan. Of course, they'd only acted as though they were best friends, which they were, ever since they'd been two years old, in diapers, and even then they'd caused trouble. But she was feeling something different, and it scared her. The thing was, that she had no clue if Noah felt anything either, after all, she knew he'd met her only the day before.

"Is something wrong?" Noah asked, noticing Lizz had been spacing out.

"N-No. Nothing, just, kind of hungry I guess." Lizz shrugged, half-smiling, and looked around the area, and saw a Denny's just across the street. "Want breakfast?" she asked, a giggle escaping her lips, "My treat. Since I didn't buy a thing at the bookstore, anyway." Noah nodded, "Sure, okay."

When they entered the small Denny's diner, a blonde girl that looked like she was about in her mid-twenties greeted them, "Hi, I'm Ashley. Table for two?" Noah and Lizz nodded; Ashley smiled, picking up two menus and leading them to a booth near one of the big windows of the restaurant. "So, what's the occasion? Anniversary, 'monthaversary', 'weekaversary'?" the blonde asked, grinning as if the words she used actually existed.

Noah glanced to Lizz, rolling his eyes, and chuckling. "Uh, no, actually-"

"Oh! Let me guess, first date?" Ashley interrupted, giving Noah a suggestive look.

"Uh, we're not dating…" Noah explained, sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah… we're just friends…" Lizz said, backing up Noah's statement, her voice soft. The blonde waitress's mouth formed an 'o', and she blushed.

"Oh…" Ashley giggled, scratching the back of her head, "Sorry, then. So, uh, drinks?" she asked, taking out a small notebook and pen from her apron pockets.

"Hot chocolate." Noah and Lizz said in unison, and looked to each other, then away.

"Uh… would you like to share that in one cup or…?" Lizz gave the waitress a dirty look, and the blonde smiled, nervously, "Okay, that's two hot chocolates, coming right up then. I'm just gonna, um, go and rack up your orders now…"

"You go do that." Lizz nodded, fake smiling, and Ashley scurried away.

"Well, uh, that was…" Noah started when the blonde was too far to hear what they were saying, "weird. Did she just tell us that she was watching us?" he chuckled.

Lizz laughed, nodding, "Yeah, that does sound… weird. But, she did seem odd to begin with, didn't she?" she sighed, "I mean, she thought that you, and me, were… you know…"

"I know what…?" Noah asked, smirking.

"That she thought we were- that you and I were-, I-I don't want to say it out loud!"

Noah grinned, "What you were meaning to say, was that she thought you and I, were together? Or, boyfriend and girlfriend, in a relationship, pretty much anything that falls under that category, am I correct?"

Lizz rolled her eyes, learning forward on the table towards Noah, "You're enjoying yourself with this, aren't you?" she asked, lowering her eyes, and smiling.

Noah shrugged, raising an eyebrow and leaning towards Lizz from his side of the table, too, and actually didn't mind the small space, feeling adjusted to it, "Actually, I am. Don't get cocky though, that's my job."

Lizz searched his soft, brown eyes for a moment, then looked away, biting her bottom lip and rolling her eyes again, her cheeks turning red, "It certainly is." she whispered, letting out a nervous sigh. "Why…?"

Noah looked at the brunette girl, confused for a second, "Why, what?" he asked.

"Why are you- why am I…" Lizz started to ask, but was interrupted by the feeling of Ashley's presence again, and she and Noah sank back into their seats, breaking the small space.

Ashley raised her eyebrows at them, "Yeah, there's definitely not anything there between you two…" she muttered to herself, sarcastically as she set down their glasses of hot chocolate.

"What was that?" Lizz asked, crossing her arms, as if she hadn't heard what the blonde waitress had said.

"Oh, nothing." Ashley assured, smiling and changing the subject, "Are you two ready to order?"

Noah and Lizz looked up at each other, and to the unopened menus in front of them, realizing they hadn't decided what they were going to get yet, and quickly took a look into it and scanned the pages. "I, uh, I'll have the All-American Slam." Lizz said, quickly, picking the first thing that caught her eye in the menu when she looked inside.

"I'll have the same." Noah nodded, not bothering to look at whatever looked good to him in the huge selection of choices.

Ashley nodded, "Okay… would you like hash browns or grits with that?"

"Hash browns." Noah answered, and Lizz just nodded to Ashley when she looked to her.

Ashley wrote down the orders, and nodded, confused slightly, "You sure you aren't dating? Because really, the only time a guy orders the same thing as me, is when we're on a date or something-"

"We're not dating!" Noah and Lizz snapped at the waitress, at the same time, causing others sitting at nearby tables and booths to look at them.

Ashley scratched the back of her head with her pencil, and just nodded, "Okay, okay. I'll be back later with your orders then."

Lizz shook her head, covering her eyes with her left hand for a moment, and she and Noah were silent as they were waiting for their food to arrive. Noah felt awkward, wanting to say something, but was unsure of how to word it, and groaned slightly. Suddenly, they a very happy, and, er, hyper looking girl ran up to their booth, and sat next to Lizz, hugging her tightly, causing the brunette to squeal. "Alice?" she choked out.

"Hey Lizz!" she grinned, letting go. Alice was smiling looking really happy, as if something good has just happened. "Oh my gosh, guess what?"

Lizz sighed, "What?"

"DUNCAN FINALLY SAID YES!" the blonde girl practically yelled, causing more people to look at the booth.

Lizz smiled, softly, "T-That's great… but didn't Courtney just dump him…?" She was yet to tell her friend that she had dated Duncan those years ago, but always decided to leave it, considering that it was best to keep in the past and not bring it up.

"Exactly why I asked him when I was walking this morning…!" Alice grinned, leaning back in the red booth seat, and finally noticed Noah, who was looking at the two, confused. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you! Actually, I'm lucky I even found this cheap restaurant."

Lizz slapped her forehead with her palm, shaking her head, then looked up at Noah, "Noah… this is Alice. Alice, this is Noah. The guy who your new boyfriend pantsed on Total Drama Island last year. She's, uh… pretty rich, actually." she said, dryly.

"Oh, I know who he is, you talk about him all the time!" Alice exclaimed, then she looked from Noah to Lizz, and her mouth formed an 'o' as if she had caught on to something, "Oh… were you two- was I- oh, should I leave? Because I mean, I could always go to Duncan's anyway," Alice smiled, already seemingly at ease, getting out of the booth.

"We're not-" Lizz was about to start explaining, but Alice had already reached the exit, and was waving goodbye and giving Lizz a 'thumbs up', before leaving. "I have no idea how she does that…"

"You talk about me… and yet, we met yesterday, but you tell me you're not my number one fan." Noah slowly started to smile, "Ah, I understand now."

Lizz opened her mouth, confused, "I- wh- understand what?"

"You have a crush on me. It's pretty obvious." Noah laughed, a teasing look on his face.

"I-I do not!" Lizz protested, her cheeks instantly turning red, "And since when do you know when a girl likes a guy, anyway?"

"It's simple logic. And to be honest, I suspected it from the moment I saw you looking at me when I went into the bookstore." Noah nodded, leaning back on his seat.

"T-That proves nothing." Lizz stuttered, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "You have to tell me what I do that makes me 'like you', not that I do." She took a quick sip of her hot chocolate, dipping her index finger in the whipped cream, then putting it in her mouth as she raised an eyebrow at Noah.

"You blush practically every minute when we're together." Noah started.

"To my defense, ever since we haven't even separated, so you can't prove that." Lizz pointed out.

"Well you blushed when I said that you had a crush on me, and immediately denied it." Noah shot back, grinning, "And, well, what about what happened outside? That made the waitress think we were dating."

"Alice thought we were dating and I wasn't even doing anything, then." Lizz bit her bottom lip, "And maybe I denied it quickly because you said it as if it were a fact, when it's clearly untrue."

"Clearly?" Noah scoffed, and Lizz nodded. "Well, it's clearly obvious that you're lying. You do too like me."

"Do not!" Lizz giggled, "And besides, why do you insist that I like you so much? Of course you'd have to like me in order to think that I like you, right?"

Noah rolled his eyes, "Hey, don't go pointing your fingers at me, this is about you having a crush on me."

Just as Lizz was about to respond, Ashley came over with their meals, placing their plates of food in front of them. "If there's anything else you need, just, call me over." she smiled, glancing at the two, who looked to each other, blushing. When the blonde waitress left, the two pretended to eat while Ashley served other tables near them. After a while, Noah smiled, and mumbled, "You like me."

"Do not." Lizz whisper-snapped back, blushing as she picked up a small piece of sausage with her fork and placed it in her mouth.

"Prove it." Noah said, using his normal voice again, putting his eating utensils down and looking at Lizz, crossing his arms.

"How?" Lizz asked, still holding her fork, moving it around on her plate, stifling a giggle.

Noah shrugged, "Just prove it."

Lizz raised an eyebrow, putting down her fork as she crossed her arms, sitting up straighter, and got out of her booth seat, and next to Noah on his side. "Okay, do you really want me to prove it?" she asked, giggling slightly. Noah nodded, smirking. Lizz sighed, and scooted closer to the intelligent boy until there was no more room for Noah to move, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned towards him, invading his personal space. "How is this supposed to prove you don't like me?" Noah asked, and Lizz rolled her eyes. "Well, as you can see, I'm not blushing at all, even if I'm this close to you, if I did like you, I wouldn't have the guts to get this close, now would I?" Noah only blinked in response. "Still think I like you?" Lizz asked, this time, so close to him, that Noah could feel her breath on him, and it made his heart race, he nodded, blushing nervously. Lizz smiled, satisfied, and backed away, moving back to her own seat.

Later that day, after the two had finished their breakfast at Denny's, Noah was walking Lizz to Castfire's house after she had called Castfire when she realized her friend already had her 'lucky' bra after borrowing it sometime before. "So, where do you live, anyway?" he asked, trying to strike up conversation, though they were already so close to the house.

"Oh, not too far." Lizz shrugged, looking down and scratching the back of her head, then she looked to Noah, "But if I'm not telling you my address, because well, I've only known you for about twenty-four hours, and I don't know if you'd stalk me or not." she giggled slightly, and Noah smiled at her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'm rubbing off on you, aren't I?"

"Yes, yes you are." Lizz sighed, "But… I don't think I really mind, to be honest." she blinked, continuing to walk, and felt Noah's hand bump into hers, then noticed Noah placing her hand in his, and she blushed. "I see I'm rubbing off on you, too…?"

Noah tilted his head to the side, shrugging slightly, and stopped walking, "I don't really mind." he answered, repeating Lizz's words, and she looked at him, then away, and to the Castfire's house, which they'd just stopped in front of. "Um, th-this is it." she choked out, breaking the short silence. Noah just nodded, walking with her to the front door, and ringing the doorbell. After a while, a brunette girl wearing black-rimmed glasses answered the door, and grinned at Lizz.

"Hey, you're here! Finally. You're what, and hour and a half late?" Castfire laughed, then saw Noah, and glanced down to his and Lizz's hands, "Oh my gosh, Alice wasn't lying…" the corners of the girl's mouth curled up to form an excited smile, "Ooh, you two really are together! Aw, congratulations! I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner!"

Noah looked to Lizz, who looked back at him, then to her friend, "Actually, we're not…" she explained, slowly, half-smiling, "We're just friends, and we've only known each other for a day, to be honest."

Castfire's mouth formed an 'o', "Oh, well… that sucks, I mean, you're the only single one now…" she started, then noticed Lizz was starting to glare at her, and changed the subject, "Anyways, I know you guys aren't together or anything, but uh, I was wondering, if you two could 'double date' with me and Cody?" Lizz opened her mouth to decline, but Noah interrupted, "Uh, sure. Why not?" Lizz looked at the brunette male, surprised, "What?" she asked, in shock.

"Hey, it was your idea to have a fun summer. Maybe pretending to date for the sake of your friend is a…" Noah looked to Castfire, who seemed content about his decision, and back to Lizz, "good, plan."

Lizz sighed, "Fine… but at least let me get dressed first. I know you 'borrowed' some of my clothes last week, so I guess those will do." she walked inside the house, Noah following, and Castfire closed her front door.

"Okay, but I'd watch it, because my room's a little-" Castfire started, but heard Lizz yell, "What the f-!" Castfire sighed, "messy…" she finished, and ran upstairs to her room, where Lizz and Noah were standing, in front of a huge pile of clothes in front of her closet and across the room.

"You didn't show up on time, so I kind of ransacked through my closet…" Castfire explained, giggling nervously. "But your clothes are set up on my bed… I was kind of going to use them as a backup outfit in case I changed my mind later." Lizz walked over to the bed, making her way through the huge pile of clothes scattered across the floor, and picking up the nicely folded clothes placed on Castfire's pillow.

"Well, it's nice to see that you had to decency to make your bed, at least." Lizz commented, sarcastically, unfolding the shirt and shorts Castfire had 'borrowed' from her. Just as she was going to reach the end of her shirt to take it off change into the other one, she glanced at Noah, and realized he was still in the room. "I, uh, I'm just going to go change in your bathroom, heh…" Noah chuckled at her, and she walked out of the room, and into the hall to go to the bathroom.

"Are you sure you guys have only known each other a day?" Castfire asked, raising an eyebrow. Noah nodded, slowly, "Funny, she's loosened up around you quicker than she did around me when I first met her."

Noah was confused, then he started to smile, surprised, "Really? How so?"

"For one thing, she was holding hands with you…?" Castfire pointed out, "I was lucky to get one word out of her mouth the first week I met her."

Noah grinned at the thought of how fast Lizz had eased up to him, and was about to reply with a cocky remark, but was interrupted when Lizz had come back from the bathroom, changed and ready, and he raised his eyebrows, keeping a gaze on her.

Lizz giggled, at Noah's reaction, "What cha' looking at, Noah?" she asked, crossing her arms. Castfire stifled a giggle, walking over next to Lizz. Noah didn't respond, blushing and looking away.

"W-We should, um, get going, now, shouldn't we? It's six and we have to be at the movies at six-thirty." Noah scratched the back of his head, turning around to head out of the room and downstairs to head out.

Lizz looked to Castfire, who shrugged, and they went downstairs, leaving the door one at a time, Castfire leaving last to lock the door before they started to walk to the theater, which was conveniently close by. It was silent for most of the walk, other than Castfire's silent thank yous to Lizz for pretending to date Noah so she wouldn't be so nervous about being on the date alone with Cody. Finally, they reached the front of the cinema, and Castfire spotted her bright-yellow shirted, girl-crazy date, and she pulled Lizz's arm, which surprised her, because she was holding Noah's hand, and he got pulled with her. "He's right there!" Castfire squeaked. Lizz looked to Noah, who was trying to keep himself from laughing, and Lizz let out a giggle. Cody looked up, spotting the three, and grinned, nervously, walking up to Castfire.

"H-Hey!" he greeted, a blush appearing upon his cheeks, his hands behind his back.

"Hi, Cody." Castfire nodded, smiling uncontrollably, letting go of Lizz's arm. "Oh, uh, L-Lizz and Noah are um, double dating with us, if that's okay with you."

Cody looked relieved slightly, and eased up a bit, and smiled, "Of course it's okay! I mean, I-I have no problems with it." When he realized he wouldn't be alone with Castfire, he realized it was a win-lose situation. Upside? He wouldn't feel as nervous with two other people he knew, or, kind of knew, around. Downside, well, not being alone on a date meant: no making out. Which, of course he didn't think would happen, just kind of, well, hoped.

After the group of four had bought their tickets to 'I Love You, Beth Cooper', Cody and Noah were in the arcade area, playing a car racing game against each other, while Castfire and Lizz getting popcorn and soda for the movie.

"Okay, I know I've probably said this loads of times, but, again… thank you, so much, for coming." Castfire said, waiting for the line to move, picking up a packet of skittles. "I mean, Cody and I, we just, clicked right away. It's weird, though, how I got this feeling so quickly. He just understands, you know? Has anything like that ever happened to you?"

Lizz almost choked on her words when Castfire had asked her that question, and she looked away from her friend, scratching the back of her head, "Um…" she glanced towards the arcade area, at Noah, who was trying to look bored when he had beaten Cody, yet again, at their racing game. "I-I don't know…" she lied, looking back to her friend.

"So, you're telling me, that there's absolutely nothing there between you and Noah? Right." Castfire rolled her eyes, sarcastically. Lizz was about to protest, but they'd reached the front of the line already.

"Two medium popcorns and four sodas." Castfire grinned at the female cashier, who looked extremely unhappy and annoyed.

"Coming right up." the blue-haired girl, Gwen, sighed, rolling her eyes, and picking up two popcorn buckets and filling them up, and setting them in front of the two girls. "What kind of soda would you like?"

"Two Cokes." Castfire nodded, and Gwen looked to Lizz.

"Uh, two A&W Root beers." she answered, and Gwen turned around to fill up the four cups of soda. "Sucky job?" she asked as Gwen turned back around to set the drinks on the counter.

"You have no idea." Gwen nodded, "And this stupid polyester uniform, isn't even the worst part." Castfire and Lizz glanced to each other, then looked to Gwen sympathetically. Castfire paid, leaving Gwen a tip, mouthing 'sorry' before turning around to go up to Noah and Cody.

Cody was frustrated, really into the racing game, losing helplessly to Noah, and groaned when he'd lost… again. "Aw, come on! That's the fourth time!" the scrawny male complained. "Ahem…?" Castfire adjusted her voice, stifling a giggle at Cody, who looked up, and nearly fell out of the game booth when he got up to help her carry the popcorn and drinks. Lizz sat next to Noah, setting the popcorn and drinks next to the booth. "You guys go right ahead, text me when the previews start, we'll be there later." Lizz smiled at Castfire, and she nodded slowly, in response, starting on her way to theater seven with Cody, starting to feel nervous again now that she was going to be alone with him, even if it wasn't for so long.

"Mind if I give it a try?" Lizz asked, placing her hands on the wheel and looking towards Noah, giggling playfully.

"Okay, but I should warn you, I'm not going to go easy on you just because we're on a date…" Noah teased, placing two quarters in the slot.

"This is a fake date. We're not actually dating, we're just… pretending to… so Castfire won't be nervous on her date with Cody." Lizz shrugged, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Then why are we leaving them alone?" Noah asked, placing his hands on his wheel too, getting ready to start the game.

Lizz smiled, rolling her eyes, "It's only until I beat you at this game. Which won't take long."

"Au contraire." Noah half-laughed, starting the game, and turning to the screen in front of him, Lizz doing the same. "3, 2, 1... GO." read the screen, and the two stepped on the fake gas pedals, steering and trying to nudge one another to try and mess them up, laughing.

"Oh, you're so going down!" Lizz laughed, trying to steer so her red car could hit Noah's blue one, while bumping his shoulder with hers to try and throw him off. "I highly doubt that," Noah grinned, bumping her back, and chuckling. "Third lap!" they pointed out, at the same time, Noah lowered his eyes, tilting his head to the side, trying to focus. Lizz just laughed, until she noticed that this was their final lap, and Noah's car had gotten ahead of her already. She grunted, surprised, and looked to Noah, trying to think of a way to distract him. "Noah, before I lose… I have something really important to tell you!" she yelled, quickly, unable to think of anything to say, still having had no idea what she'd tell him. Noah was still continuing on, but took his foot off the gas pedal, to look at Lizz, and noticed she had stopped too. Curious as to what she would say to him, he stuttered, "U-Uh, and w-what is that?" Lizz looked at him, trying to keep a straight face, then stepped on her gas pedal, and finished the last lap. "Told you so!" she giggled, "But don't worry, I still love you." Lizz pointed out, poking Noah in the chest, teasingly, before getting up, and picking up the popcorn, and handing Noah his drink so she could pick up hers.

"You cheated." Noah shook his head, now walking with her to theater seven.

"Says the guy who created 'www dot DragonAssasinCheats101 dot com'." Lizz mocked, laughing, continuing to walk. "What did you think I was going to tell you anyway? What, that I would confess my love to you or something?" Lizz sighed, running a hand through one side of her hair, "Looks like my years in drama paid off, haha."

"You are really cocky." Noah rolled his eyes, smiling when they reached the right theater, and opened the door. "And hey, I wouldn't be surprised if you did confess your love to me, anyway."

"Oh, I'm the cocky one, eh?" Lizz giggled, walking in, letting Noah follow her. The last preview was just starting to end, and the lights were starting to dim off. She placed a piece of popcorn in her mouth, before looking around to look at where Cody and Castfire were sitting, and smiled when she saw the pair, walking up the stairs to the middle row, sitting next to Castfire, while Noah sat next to her.

Castfire turned to Lizz. "Where have you been? I sat through those twenty minutes of previews alone with Cody! Do you know how awkward I felt?" she whispered frantically.

"I'm sorry, I was playing that game with Noah and kind of lost track of time…" Lizz explained, shrugging, popping another piece of popcorn into her mouth. "Besides, Cody looks like he's enjoying himself. Now, go turn towards him, it's rude to not pay attention to your date." Castfire glared, but she knew her friend was right, and turned back to Cody, who had built up the courage to pull that cheesy yawning-stretching move, and put his arm around Castfire, who blushed, ecstatically.

Lizz rolled her eyes, and noticed Cody trying to signal Noah something. Noah looked at the boy, confused, and saw that Cody was trying to tell him to pull the same move on Lizz, and Lizz noticed, trying not to giggle. Noah was stuck, not knowing what to do, and Lizz sighed, and whispered, "It's okay." without looking towards him, and Noah smiled, uncontrollably, and stretched his arms out and place his arm around her, keeping his hand on her shoulder. Lizz shook her head, and put her hand on his, pulling him closer, and moving his hand lower onto her arm. "If we want to convince him we're actually dating you need to act like you actually like me, not like we're just friends." Lizz explained, giggling. "When you put your hand on my shoulder, it says friend, when you place it lower like how it is now, it says 'boyfriend'."

Noah looked at her, raising an eyebrow, confused. Noah wasn't the type that usually socialized, much less date anyone, so he pretty much lacked experience when it came to the relationship category, and just nodded as if he understood, and tried to relax his arm. "Okay… we don't need to kiss, though, do we?"

Lizz half-laughed. "Let's just give Cody the impression that this is our first date. Because, to be honest, I'm a strict no-kissing-on-the-first-date kind of person. Most girls are. Of course, unless they really like the guy and they click right away."

Noah swallowed, nodding, and stayed silent, trying to focus on the movie.

"I would like to say here, today, the one thing I will regret, by never saying." Denis, the nerdy, awkward, valedictorian said, standing on the podium. He paused for dramatic effect, looking around, and cautiously, he continued, "I love you, Beth Cooper."

The crowd of graduates all looked to each other, whispering and looking to Beth, and the camera focused on the blonde. She looked up at the boy, shocked as she sat in her seat.

Denis continued, "And yes, when I graduate," he looked towards Beth's older boyfriend, Kevin, intently, "I'm not going to hang around my old high school like some kind of creepy loser who can't get an adult girlfriend." Beth looked to Kevin, nervously, glancing back and forth between him and Denis. "You know who you are." Denis continued again, mouthing 'you' to Kevin, pointing a finger, while the older man glared from his seat.

Lizz giggled, "Who does that guy remind me of?"

Noah turned his head towards Cody's direction, and so did Lizz, and they laughed. Cody looked at them, confused, and they looked away, covering their mouths to muffle their laughter.

After the movie ended, the four had started to leave their row, but stopped when they'd seen Duncan and Alice, coming down the stairs after leaving from the last row. Lizz took Noah's hand, leading him down the stairs at a faster pace before they spotted them, "Hurry." she muttered, keeping a tight grip on the boy's hand. Castfire, unknowingly, waved at Alice, and called her over. Lizz shut her eyes, stopping in her tracks, letting others pass her down the steps, and Noah stopped too, getting confused. Lizz glanced at Alice and Duncan, making sure neither of them saw her yet. Normally, she'd be alright with seeing Duncan and Alice together, because Duncan was going out with Courtney, but now that Courtney dumped him, and they were actually together, she knew that at one point or another, someone would spill that she and Duncan went out, and she didn't want to take any chances in case Duncan had already told her. Sure, it would've been easier if she just flat out told Alice the truth, but, she was used to keeping things bottled up until she was sure she was ready to let it out.

Lizz turned to Noah, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "Keep going in case they didn't see us." Noah nodded, "Uh, alright…" They started down the stairs again, but were interrupted when they heard Cody cheer, "Woo! Way to go, Noah, my man!" Lizz winced, her grip on Noah getting tighter, that he almost jerked his hand away, but he kept calm, and the two turned back around, letting go of each other's hands. "Alice, hey! Oh, we should've triple dated." she smiled, trying to make her enthusiasm seem real.

Alice shrugged, holding Duncan by the wrist, "Eh, I find first dates better alone than with others." she laughed, slightly. Duncan half-smiled, raising an eyebrow at Lizz, who glared at him. Alice then glanced at Noah and Lizz, "Lizz, didn't you and Noah already go on a date this morning?"

"We're not-" Lizz started, but she looked to Cody, then looked to Noah, who chuckled slightly at her. "Actually, this is just the second part of our date, isn't that right… Noahkinz…?" she put a hand on Noah's arm, looking at him intently as if to say, 'You were the one who brought us into this…'.

Noah blushed, but kept cool, responding by putting an arm around Lizz's waist, fake-smiling, "Y-Yeah. Wanted to spend more time with my…" Noah paused, trying to think of a more embarrassing pet name for Lizz, "Kitty." Lizz scrunched her eyebrows, looking at Noah. Kitty? Really? What the hell?

"Kitty… heh, cute. Hey, why didn't we have cute nicknames for each other when we-" Duncan started, but was interrupted when Lizz kicked him. "OW! What the hell was that for?"

Lizz shrugged, faking sympathy, "Oh, my leg was cramping, sorry."

Later, everyone had started walking home after saying their goodbyes, except for Alice and Duncan, who were leaving on Duncan's motorcycle. "Great… now Alice and Duncan think we're dating. You just had to open your big mouth and agree to the whole double-date thing." Lizz groaned, crossing her arms as they were walking to her house.

"Don't bring this down on me, you were the one who hasn't told her yet." Noah protested. "And besides, it's not like I could have predicted that they were going to be there."

Lizz sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked up to see they were in front of her driveway, "Fine…" she stopped, flipping over a stepping stone on her lawn to pick up her spare key. "But we're telling them all the truth. I'm calling Alice when I get inside."

Noah rolled his eyes, nodding. "You go do that."

"And you, mister…" Lizz continued, and Noah groaned, "You have to go tell Cody. Tonight." she started walking towards her front door, and Noah crossed his arms, still standing in the driveway, "Why tonight? Can't I just… I dunno, wait till tomorrow, at least?" Lizz turned around, already at her door, and shook her head. "No. You have to tell him now. I don't want this to have to go on for longer than just tonight."

Noah sighed, about to give up, and he uncrossed his arms, placing his hands on his hips, "Fine."

Lizz smiled, satisfied, "Awesome!" she squealed, walking back up to him, wrapping her arms around the boy, pulling him into an embrace. "Thank you! Okay, now you, go on home now. Call Cody, IM him, something. Just as long as you tell him, I'll be fine." Noah rolled his eyes, his back already turned, and he waved his hand up in the air, signaling Lizz that he would.

When Lizz locked the front door to her house, and headed up to her room, she sighed, plopping down on her bed, crossing her legs as she lie down, and clapped twice so her lights would turn on. "AHH!" she screamed, seeing Duncan sitting on her computer chair, and she rolled of her bed. "Ow…" she muttered, getting up and walking up to the delinquent.

"What are you doing in my house?" she snapped, holding her hands out to the side, glaring at the blue-eyed boy.

Duncan shrugged, "Aw, I thought you'd be happy to see me here, babe."

Lizz shook her head in disgust, "Don't call me that." she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, pushing Duncan off of her chair. Duncan just laughed, pulling her down along with her. "Ow!" she squealed, giggling slightly, then wiped her smile away, "Okay, Mr. Gavin Duncan Jameson… tell me, why the hell you're here already!" Lizz sat up straight, pulling Duncan up forcefully.

Duncan held onto his arm, rubbing it where Lizz pulled him, "Okay, jeez… I came here… because…"

"…because, to be honest, it's totally, completely, messed how you could be okay with going from this-" -Duncan pointed to himself, flashing Lizz a cocky smile, in which she responded by fake gagging- "To… to that nerd! Really, I mean, you'd have to be desperate to move on from me, to him, unless he's like a rebound or something." the delinquent stopped rambling, thinking that he figured it out, "I get it, you're not over me, and you're using the little bookworm as a rebound, huh?" Lizz looked at Duncan, scrunching her eyebrows together and shaking her head, "That's not even close. How could he possibly be a rebound if we've been broken up for over a year now?" she hit him in the back of the head, lightly, but still with enough force. "How in the world did I ever end up with you? I swear if you were still my boyfriend, we wouldn't even be here, we'd be making out in a juvie cell." Lizz paused, realizing something, "And… why are you choosing now, today, to finally start talking to me again? Ever since we broke up you've seriously distant." Duncan shrugged, "Hey, you know how I am with all my ex's." he pointed out. "Yeah, but you promised if we ever did there'd be absolutely no strings attached. Yet, there were. Come on, Duncan, you may be a notorious liar, but I can seriously see through that, and you very well know that." Lizz smiled, knowingly, "What's up with you?" "You know that stupid fight Courtney and I had, the one so bad she dumped me?" Duncan asked, then added, "Oh, and uh, if anyone asks, I'm the one who dumped her." "Yeah… and, in your dreams." Lizz giggled slightly, nodding at him. Duncan opened his mouth to start explaining, blinking, then staring at the floor for a moment, and sighed, shaking his head. "No, never mind." Lizz rolled her eyes, "Duncan you can talk to me. Really. We've known each other since we were in diapers." Lizz tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then messed up Duncan's Mohawk, playfully, giggling as she did so "Now, tell me what's up!" Duncan let out a groan, fixing his hair, then started to tickle Lizz, who squealed, falling backwards, being extremely ticklish, to Duncan's advantage. "T-Tickling…me…." Lizz said between giggles, "Isn't…going…to…stop….me…from asking!" she pushed him off, and pinned him to the ground, catching her breath and giggling once more, "Now, tell me what happened. What's wrong?" Lizz's POV "You really want to know?" I stared into his blue eyes. They were same ones I'd grown up with, and once fell for, not the lady-killer-bad-boy ones I'd seen after we'd broken up. I looked at him sympathetically, and nodded, but didn't get off of him. Duncan, though seemingly uncomfortable, proceeded to explain to me for the next couple of hours, about how he and Courtney had been fighting for a while about the silliest things, worse than when they were on the island. Once, Courtney even ditched him when they were staying too late at one of Geoff's parties…well, whatever Courtney considered 'late', that is. "The impatient little b***h didn't have the decency to call me over or tell me that she wanted to leave," Duncan had said. God, I swear, that chick must be on something, and whatever she's on, must be f-ing good for her to have that much PMS. Oh, and did I mention, Courtney had been suspecting that Duncan was cheating on her with both Alice and myself? The only contact I've ever had with Duncan since he started dating Courtney was whenever he broke into my house (I swear I should have never given him a key to my place when we were going out), and had breakfast with my mom and I on Sunday mornings after passing out on our couch at four in the morning, just hours earlier (Yes, my mom is one of the parents who actually like Duncan). And besides, Luna was the one who'd hit on Duncan, not the other way around. At least, that's what I'd seen and heard, but I can never tell with Duncan. Finally, I sighed, and got off of him, lying next to him on the floor of my room. "You could've came to me before I decided to hate your guts for not talking to me in the first place." I turned my head towards him, and he was laughing at me. I glared, confused, "What's so funny?" I demanded. "You still have the matching tattoos we got after we got bailed out of juvie." Duncan stated, softly, smirking at me. Ugh, I swear, he's the most obnoxious jerk ever. But that's why I love him. Like a brother, of course. I looked down to my left hip where part of my shirt had raised up when I had lie down, I'd gotten a skull tattoo there with script words underneath which had my initials, 'LD,' and half an 'x'. "Well excuse me if it's kind of a hassle to have to get a tattoo removed. I never wanted one there in the first place." I rolled my eyes, "I only got it because of you." Duncan chuckled, "Please, you're lucky that you talked me out of having you get my name. Then, I'd be a part of you for life." "I have a feeling that you're going to be a part of me for life anyways so it wouldn't matter." I pointed out, shaking my head and giggling. We were silent for a moment, then I reached down and lifted up part of Duncan's shirt to see his right hip. I smiled, seeing his tattoo as well. Unconsciously, I touched it. "Wow, still feels the same as when you first got it." I blushed, realizing that it was pretty awkward to touch my ex in that area of his body. Duncan half-laughed, awkwardly, then quickly shook it off, "U-Uh, yeah. I kind of had Ricky do an ink-over so it'd look new a few days ago." he explained. I looked at him weird, Duncan was hardly ever nervous. He was always so loose around me mostly. "Well… I'm just glad you finally started talking to me again." I admitted. "I'll deny ever saying this, and you better be listening because this is the last time I'm ever going to say it… but… I really…" I practically choked on my words, they were going to sound so cheesy, and not talking to Duncan for a long time made it really hard for me to try and open up to him again, "I really missed you. And I will always care about you, Duncan. Not in the way that it sounds, I mean… well, you get it." Duncan just smiled at me, ugh, did I mention how annoying and obnoxious he can be? But I took it as a good sign, and sat up, as did he. "Same here… look, I'm…. I'm sorry that I never took the time to try and talk to you before. I know I don't say it much, or act like it, but I care about you too, okay? I never meant for you to think that, I was, you know, trying to avoid you or be distant or anything." After that, it was silent. I looked at Duncan, and hugged him, tight. The hug didn't feel romantic or anything like that, but I did feel safe, which sounded crazy considering that this was Duncan here, but it did. And we stayed that way for a while, and just nodded at each other when he had to leave. At least, I thought he was going to leave, until he opened the door to my balcony once more, "Oh, uh, you going to Mr. Guitar Dude's party tomorrow night?" he asked. I laughed, crossing my arms. "We just had a total moment, and now you're asking me if I'm going to a party?" I scoffed, and stood up, shrugging, "I was thinking about it. But, it sounds like a plan." Duncan half-smiled at me, and starting climbing down my balcony again, and I watched, sitting on my bed for a moment, then stood up, walking to my balcony, and calling him, "Duncan!" he was already on the ground, and looked up at me in curiosity, raising an eyebrow, and I giggled, "See you tomorrow." He chuckled at me, and replied, "Take care, sweetheart." "Later, Muffin." (AN: I'd just like to say, for the record, there is nothing romantic between Duncan and Lizz. I just wanted to express how close they were. There will be no JuvieShipping/DunLizz in here. So, don't worry about it. Thank you.) I woke up the next morning, feeling like crap. Ugh, I'm so dirty, I swear. I'm still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, my hair is greasy, and my makeup is smudged. Trust me, this is so not a pretty sight to see, in fact, the only people I'd allow to see me right now is Alice and Castfire. But that's only because they won't blackmail me. I walked up to my closet, grabbing my towel, and headed into my bathroom to take a shower. I raised my eyebrow, opening the bathroom door, and I saw a figure behind the shower curtain. A male figure. I set my towel down on the counter, and walked slowly towards the shower, and opened it. "AH!" the boy yelled, quickly grabbing a towel to cover up his… private areas. "What the hell, Lizz?" I gasped. It was Liam. Liam, was my stepbrother. Him, along with my mom and David (my step dad), had been vacationing in Vegas, without me, because I sure as hell didn't want to go there after my last experience in America. "What are you doing back? I thought you, Mom, and David were staying there before the last week of summer." Liam ran a hand through the neon-red section of his dark hair, and shrugged, "They found out I was supposed to go to summer school and sent me back here." I rolled my eyes, I warned him about that. Just as I was about to tell him 'I told you so', he interrupted, "Can you leave, now? I'm kind of in the middle of taking a shower, and I'm pretty sure that my stepsister isn't supposed to be checking me out when I'm just in a towel." I glared, pulling his towel off, and closing the curtain, flushing the toilet on my way out of the bathroom, and smiled when I heard him scream that girly scream of his. I walked to my mom's room, holding my towel, and went into her bathroom. Pfft, it was better than the one I shared with Liam, anyway. I turned the faucet, holding my hand out to the water until it felt warm enough, and I stripped off my clothes, stepping inside. I felt cleaner, refreshed, and way more awake, so I shut my eyes, letting the water run through my hair in peace. Afterwards, I had to worry about something to wear to Trent's party. Trent and I barely talked, and the only time we ever interacted, was when we had to be lab partners in Chemistry, and let me have you know… there's no chemistry between us at all, I'm not saying the guy isn't sweet, but he's pretty… unique. Whatever, at least I got to go to a party anyways. I stood in my closet, looking through everything, and picked up my pink leopard print v-neck sweater. I had gotten a size bigger than I was supposed to, so when I wore it, it looked like a dress. I shrugged, I could just wear a tank top underneath and wear it over by itself. It wasn't like it was that short when I wore it as a dress. I looked at myself in the mirror, tilting my head to the side, and rolled my eyes, I looked fine. End of POV Noah stared at his phone, deciding whether or not to call Lizz, and sighed, stuffing it back in his pocket. "Dude, you've been staring at your phone for over an hour now. Either call who you're going to call or don't. Make up your mind!" Adam, Noah's friend, exclaimed. The two were at an arcade, not too far from the park, and had just finished a game of Rock Band. The brunette looked at his friend, about to reply with a smart comeback, but was interrupted when they heard a certain red-haired girl scream, "BONZAI!" while holding the fake gun for some weird war game, pressing the 'trigger' multiple times. Adam grinned, laughing at Izzy, "That's my girl!" he pointed out to Noah. Noah rolled his eyes, then heard his cell phone ring tone, the Star Wars Theme Song. He opened it, and saw that Lizz had texted him. "want 2 go 2 Trent's prty 2nite w/me?" it said. He smiled, texting back, "sure." Adam looked at him in curiosity, and Noah tried to look bored again, shrugging, "I guess I'm going to a party tonight."

I gasped, hearing something at my balcony… again. It was Duncan. As usual. I've got to go get some curtains. I groan-complained, and rolled my eyes, then glanced at my reflection in the mirror. Whoa. Because I didn't straighten my hair, it was wavier than usual. Like, a Demi-Vanessa crossover; and that's really saying something when I'm using Disney stars as examples. Duncan tapped on my balcony door again, and I giggled at him, finger combing my hair really quickly before opening it for him. "What are you doing here?" I asked, sitting on the edge of my bed, crossing my legs as I leaned back to look at Duncan.

"I…" Duncan started, then looked at me, "wow, haven't seen you get all dolled up in a while. Or… ever." he suddenly looked offended, and lowered his eyes, "Why didn't you ever dress up like that when we were dating?"

Okay… is he serious? "Because we were dating," I rolled my eyes for a 'duh!' affect, getting up and looking at what he was wearing. "Are you seriously going to Trent's party like that?" The juvenile male was wearing the same old t-shirt and shorts he always wore, along with the bright red high-tops.

Duncan shrugged, "Yeah. So?"

"So? Okay, we're going to your house, and I'm going to get you something decent to wear." I rolled my eyes, walking out to my balcony. Luckily, I'd worn short-shorts underneath just in case, so when I had started to climb down, when the hem of my sweater rose up, you wouldn't see my underwear… at least, you wouldn't if I were wearing any.

As I made it into Duncan's house, I got out my key to it; Duncan gave me one when we were…you know; but the front door was already open, and I shrugged, stepping inside. To think, with his parents being in the TPS (Toronto Police Service), it would've been locked. I scurried upstairs, knowing Duncan was close behind, and made it up to his room. Straight down the hall, turn left, and Duncan's room was on the right.

"You still know where my room is?" Duncan groaned, like he was hoping I'd forget.

"How could I possibly forget if I've been here a million times before?" I rolled my eyes, making my way to his closet. Surprisingly, his room had actually been clean, unlike any of the other times I'd seen it. Must've been something to do with his mom. I opened the closet door, and went through the dozens of band t-shirts, and finally found a decent black button up, and I turned to Duncan. "Shirt." I commanded, looking at the delinquent.

"Excuse me?" he asked, confused.

"Shirt, off. Now?" I snapped, "Or do you want me to take it off for you? Because, I really don't want to have to do that." Duncan held his hands up in defense and reached to the bottom of his shirt, pulling it off, over his head, and I handed him the button up as I turned back to the closet, and reached for a pair of dark skinny jeans, and turned back to him.

"I am not taking my pants off in front of you." Duncan pointed at me with one hand, while buttoning the last button on his shirt with the other. I laughed, throwing the jeans at him.

"Just change so you can look decent for the party." I said, heading towards his door, taking out my cell phone to check the time. "Okay, well you go ahead and change, I'm going to meet up with Noah at the arcade… you should go check in with Alice." I raised my eyebrow at Duncan, smiled, then left.

End POV

Lizz walked to the arcade, cell phone in hand, and smiled, spotting Noah playing drums on Rockband. She took a moment to examine what he was wearing: a gray-ish blue v-neck half-sleeved sweater, and… he was, sagging, in skinny jeans? Who would've thought Noah had style? Much less the guts to sag. Lizz smiled, raising her eyebrows in amazement, and relief that she didn't have to look for something for Noah to wear. "Looking good." she complimented, walking up behind him as he finished the song, I'm So Sick by Flyleaf, greet-hugging him from behind.

Noah blushed, smiling, and turned around, "Thanks." he managed, looking at Lizz, "You don't look so bad yourself." he added.

Adam adjusted his voice, scratching the back of his head with one hand, and holding Izzy around her waist with his other. Noah looked to his friend, and stood up, "Uh, Adam, Lizz. Lizz, Adam." he introduced, unsure of what to say exactly. Lizz looked at Adam, like she knew him from somewhere.

"Aren't you in Ms. Nicaragua's art class?" she asked, looking at the brunette.

"Uh, yes…" Adam nodded, confused at first as to where this was going, and then his expression changed as he realized something, "Oh, yeah, we were partners for the pop art project!"

"Yeah! Haha, it was a good idea that we did it on her pet lizard, Fluffaloffagus," Lizz gushed, laughing and smiling, checking the time on her phone again. 7:30, pretty early, but it was late enough for the party to get kind of started. "Hey, we better get to Trent's place soon. Who's our ride?"

Lizz looked at Noah, who looked to Izzy, who looked to Adam, who shrugged, half smiling, "I guess I am…" he groaned slightly, then lead the three to the way of his Ford Mustang, parked in front of the arcade. Adam slid a hand through his hair, getting into the driver's seat, Izzy taking shotgun, and Noah and Lizz taking the backseat together. Music was blasting, but nobody was talking or doing anything, except for Izzy, who stuck her head out the window and howled like a…dog? Lizz sighed, then looked up, noticing that Adam's car had a moon roof. "Hey, uh, Adam. Can you open that moon roof, please?"

Adam nodded, "Uh, sure." he pressed the button, opening it all the way. Lizz smiled and mouthed thanks, unbuckling her seatbelt, starting to get up, until Noah pulled her back down.

"No offense, but are you trying to get arrested?" Noah lowered his eyes at her disapprovingly, crossing his arms after he let go of the girl.

Lizz lowered her eyes, sitting properly, and crossing her legs, "Been there, done that." she said, simply. "Besides, it's not like the cops are around to see me."

"Sure, go ahead and pull a Duncan. Whoopee." Noah rolled his eyes, his voice reeking of sarcasm.

Lizz looked at Noah, about to protest, but he was right…she couldn't risk getting in trouble with the police…again. She buckled her seatbelt again, leaning her head back on the seat, sighing, staying quiet and well behaved the rest of the way until they made it to Trent's place. Trent's house was fairly big, three stories, a pool and bar in the back, along with an indoor hot tub, typical party house. Noah raised his eyebrows at first, "Whoa." he muttered to himself when he saw it, but shook it off, and proceeded to keep a bored expression on his face. One by one, everyone got out of the car. Izzy squealed, then made a head start to the front door, ahead of plenty of other teenagers. "Izzy!" Adam groaned, running after his girlfriend. Lizz opened her mouth to say something to Noah, but was interrupted when she saw Kelli and Melissa scurrying passed them, giggling to each other, and wearing matching black, short-sleeved rag doll hoodies, complete with sewn-on ears on the top.

"Oh my gosh, Kelli… I can't believe we got invited to Trent's party!" Melissa gawked at Trent's house, then looked around at all the people, amazed.

"Isn't Trent like so nice for inviting us?" Kelli grinned, and the two continued on towards the front of the house.

Noah raised an eyebrow, and looked to Lizz, who explained, "That's Melissa and Kelli. Like Katie and Sadie, they're-"-Lizz held up her hands in air quotes- "'BFFFLs'. Except, they're cooler, darker, and well, sane. They only get really annoying like that whenever they get excited."

"Right…" Noah nodded, looking at the two friends, gushing at Trent as he answered greeted them when they entered the party. Lizz took Noah's hand, leading him towards the front door, and giving Trent a smile when they went up to him.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it." Trent grinned, then looked at Noah, surprised, "Noah, man! Fancy seeing you here. Nice to know you came; you never struck me as the 'party' type… well, any who, welcome to the party!" Trent gave Noah a light pat on the back, in to which he responded in a slight nod, and the two headed inside.

Everywhere you looked, you saw teenagers dancing, chatting, drinking, the typical party. The best part about it all, was that Trent's family lived in their own private property, so there were no neighbors to complain about noise, thus no cops to bust them for underage drinking.

Lizz, feeling awkward, not knowing what to do with Noah, lead him outside to the backyard, where the bar was. "I need a drink," she muttered.

"Is it really necessary to get drunk when we just got here?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms as he watched Lizz making herself a 'special' drink, as if she's been doing it her whole life.

Lizz shrugged, taking a big gulp of her drink after she finished stirring it. "It's not unnecessary." she smiled, the alcohol calming her down, slightly. She took Noah's hand again, and they just started walking around, passing couples making out (i.e. Melissa and Geoff), minor cat fights (i.e. Kelli and Heather), and they made it inside, where they spotted Alice and Duncan, grinding to a remixed version of the song 'Rock Your Body' by Justin Timberlake. Lizz raised her eyebrows at the new couple, and shook her head, meeting her drink to her mouth, and finishing the rest, putting the cup down on a nearby table, and turned to Noah, "Wanna dance?" she asked, giggling slightly.

"I… don't dance." Noah said, half-laughing in slight embarrassment, but Lizz took lead him into the middle of the dance floor anyway.

"That doesn't matter, all you have to do is loosen up, and let your body flow with the music." Lizz smiled softly, letting go of Noah, and placing her arms around his neck. "Just relax." she giggled, starting to move along with the song playing. Noah, unsure of what to do, thought back to every novel he's read (including those of which he had to read for English), and movie he'd ever seen, trying to find out what he was supposed to do, and, trying to hide his nervousness, he placed his hands on her waist, trying to listen to the music so he'd relax.

Noah half-smiled, then started to grin, he was actually doing it. "See? Told you." Lizz laughed, then grinned at the brunette male, who blushed, but tried to hide it while he tried to keep a bored expression on his face.

Everything was going good, until they heard a female voice yell from the stairs, "Trent, stop!" Most people turned, and other continued on with what they were doing, but Lizz watched in curiosity and concern. It was Gwen, her eyes filled with tears, but she wasn't crying. She didn't dare cry in public, especially not in front of her peers. "I hate how jealous you've been getting lately! It's getting really immature to be honest, really!" the blue-haired girl's voice cracked.

"Gwen…" Trent started, wanting to reason.

"If you can't handle me having guys as friends, maybe you're not fit enough to be my boyfriend." Gwen swallowed a sob, and shut her eyes tight, sniffling. Gwen was never one to act like this towards a boyfriend before, well, mainly because she's never had one as serious as Trent, but it still scared her. She wiped her eyes, her hands shaking, and she stormed out.

Noah looked at Lizz in confusion when she finally stopped dancing. "Something wrong?" he asked, his voice not full of much concern as he paused to look at her. Lizz didn't answer, and instead made her way up to Trent, who was now sitting at the bottom of his stairway, in shock as to what had just happened.

Lizz stood in front of him, unsure of what to do, and sat next to him. She opened her mouth to say something, then paused, thinking of the right words to say to him, and asked, "A-Are you alright?"

Trent let out a heavy sigh, not being the type to want to bring people down with his misery, "I'll be fine…" he shrugged, sliding a hand through his black hair, then leaning back on the stairs behind him. "Ugh… no I'm not. I was being a jerk to Gwen… just because I was jealous of Reaper and Duncan… and all those other guys Gwen hangs out with."

"You're the first guy I have ever met that has ever admitted their jealousy towards someone else." Lizz half-smiled, then sighed, "You just have to accept the fact that… now that you're back home in Toronto, you can't have Gwen all to yourself like back in Muskoka. I mean, all relationships are hard in the beginning…"

"Except I'm not in a relationship anymore." Trent pointed out.

Lizz looked up at the green-eyed musician, and lowered her eyes, "I have a feeling you two will be back together before you know it. I saw the look on Gwen's face when she du- er… broke up with you. She didn't want it to do it, but she just did because she thought that, it would be easier if she just ended it."

Trent looked at Lizz in consideration, and leaned forward, scratching the back of his head, "I guess…"

"Like you said, you'll be fine. I guarantee it." Lizz offered Trent a smile, which he responded to with a nod and a slight chuckle, and she got up to notice Cody trying to dance, while Castfire giggled in delight and amusement. "I love my friends." she muttered to herself, stumbling slightly as she started walking up to them, her drink finally starting to hit her. Her eyes met with Castfire's, who grinned, then she caught up with Noah, who'd been waiting for her after she randomly left him on the dance floor with random teenagers dancing around him.

"Sorry about that…" Lizz apologized, giggling, then hiccupping. "How 'bout we go somewhere quiet, yeah?" she didn't wait for Noah to respond, and took his hand, leading him towards one of the downstairs rooms.

"Can't live, can't breathe with no air, it's how I feel whenever you ain't there, it's no air, no air…" the music played. Some people stood on the side, not having anyone to dance with to the slow song, and Cody and Castfire looked at each other, just standing and looking to each other as it played, not knowing whether to keep dancing, or not. Cody adjusted his voice, then carefully placed his hands on the low of Castfire's back, and she did the same, wrapping her arms around his neck.

A light shade of red appeared on Cody's cheeks, "Heh… I don't exactly know how to do these kinds of things…" he admitted, in embarrassment. Castfire giggled, and kissed Cody's cheek, "That's alright with me." Cody's face turned redder, and he glanced behind Castfire, catching Noah's eye, and giving the boy a thumbs up as he saw him with Lizz. The brunette-haired boy looked back at him in confusion, and remembered their conversation last night.

Noah yawned, scratching the back of his head as he sat up in bed, his laptop positioned in front of him. He logged into his instant messenger, typing in his username and password. He looked at his buddy list, moving his mouse through the many screen names until he reached Cody's. Noah glanced around, the only other person in the room was one of his older brothers, Nathan, who was fast asleep in the bed across from Noah's side of the room. He focused back on the computer, and IM'd Cody.

Bookworm4065: Hey.

LLCoolC: Hey! What's up, Noah?

Bookworm4056: Uh… just wanted to tell you, Lizz and I, we're not really, uh, dating.

LLCoolC: Ex-squeeze me, dude?

Bookworm4056: We were pretending to date so you and that Castfire girl would be more, err, comfortable. On your date, that is.

LLCoolC: Wow.

Bookworm4056: Yeah.

LLCoolC: I don't get it.

Bookworm4056: What's not to get?

LLCoolC: How you two aren't going out for real, when you like her.

Bookworm4056: What are you talking about? I don't like Lizz!

Noah shut his eyes for a brief moment, "I don't like her." he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "I don't."

LLCoolC: C'mon, man. You totally have a thing for her.

Bookworm4056 is typing…

Bookworm4056 has entered text.

LLCoolC: You can't even think of a reason to deny it.

Bookworm4056 is offline.

Noah exited the instant messenger, and closed his laptop, placing it on his nightstand next to him. He lay back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. He didn't. He couldn't. He refused to.

"Uh, where exactly are we going?" Noah asked, as Lizz checked in several rooms, opening and closing doors, as if she were looking for somewhere specific to go to.

Lizz looked back at the bookworm, and smiled, tilting her head to the side, "Oh, just, uh, somewhere we can be… alone." she shrugged, pulling on his hand to continue looking for another room. Trent's house was pretty big, so many rooms, it'd take forever for Lizz to find out where Dun-, never mind. (AN: Don't kill me yet.) Finally, she opened a door, and gasped, letting go of Noah's hand, her eyes, which were so full of joy, lost their shine, and turned dark. She just stood there for a moment, and Noah looked to see what it was, and spotted Duncan and Alice, making out… on a guest bed. Alice's back was turned from the door, trailing kisses on the delinquent's neck. Duncan could see Noah and Lizz clearly, and raised an eyebrow, winking at the two, but was only able to catch most of Lizz's attention. Lizz lowered her eyes, and closed the door shut again.

"Wrong room." she said, softly.

Noah glared at the shut door, but proceeded to go along with his bored expression, then looked at Lizz, noticing her expression. He sighed, knowingly. He'd known Duncan was her ex. That's all they were, it's not like he cared what history they shared. Or, that's what he told himself. "Um…" Noah started, unsure of what to say, "Are you okay?"

Lizz's eyes shifted over to him, and she half smiled, but it wasn't real. "I'm fine." she lied.

"Right," Noah crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, making Lizz face him. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm serious." Lizz turned around, starting to walk away in a fast pace, feeling angry all of a sudden. "Drop it."

Noah tried to keep up with her, "Tell me!" he insisted, ignoring the fear in the back of his mind that she might punch him, and if she did, she could hit him pretty hard. Lizz just stopped walking, and turned to him. "No." Noah lowered his eyes, and crossed his arms. He let out a sigh, and shook his head, "Fine, whatever. Go ahead, keep it bottled in." Lizz scrunched her eyebrows together, "Stop trying to provoke me! I don't want to talk about it, okay!" she yelled.

"Why not!" Noah's eyes turning into a glare, frustrated, grabbing her arm.

"Just mind your own business, Noah!" Lizz screeched, jerking her arm back. Lowering her eyes, she started to calm down, realizing she was overreacting, "It's nothing, okay?" she sighed. "Really." Noah, who still didn't believe her, decided to drop it, and gave up.

"Fine." He sighed, heavily, pulling the girl into a hug, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. Lizz, not expecting the hug at first, stood there in his arms for a second, and eased in slowly, placing her arms lightly around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder, and Noah pulled her just a little bit closer. The best kind of hug. Lizz bit her lip, shutting her eyes tightly, hoping no tears would form, then pulled away.

"Thanks." she nodded at Noah, her voice soft. "Do you mind if we leave? I'm not exactly in the mood to be at a party right now."

"Uh, sure. I'll just go get Adam…" Noah nodded.

Noah's POV

This girl, by far, is the weirdest, most confusing person I've met. And I don't count Izzy because, well, we all know she's insane. I just don't get her. One minute, she's all happy at the party, then she goes out to help Trent, then takes me along somewhere to be "alone", and once we see Duncan, it's like she just died. She must be on her period. That, or she's bipolar.

I lead the way back where the whole party was just taking place, searching for Adam. It was dark now, so it was pretty hard to see. I glared, and proceeded to make my way through the crowd, looking for him. God, it couldn't be that hard. Where could he possibly be? The whole party was right here! "You see him anywhere?" I asked Lizz. No reply. I looked behind me, where I'd thought she was, and there was nobody in sight.

Damn. That's just great, I had to look for Adam and Lizz.