Piper June.

“I can't believe you!” Jude exclaimed, livid. Magdalyne was sprawled across the backseat, face near the window for fresh air. “Are you losing it? I can't believe -”

“What?” Magdalyne asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes with a thin hand. “What's goin' on?”

“Why don't you tell her what you did, Piper June?”

There was a reason why Piper didn't like telling Jude things. Jude was great at keeping secrets, sometimes, but then there came moments where she blew it all out of proportion and embarrassed Piper, making her feel bad. Piper was sure she didn't do it on purpose, but it still didn't change how much it annoyed her or made her feel uncomfortable.

“What’d ya do, huh?” Maggie asked, laughing. "You cut class or somethin'?"

“No,” Piper said, laughing as her cheeks started to bloom pink. "I, er, um... sort kissed Ezra?"

“What?!” Maggie stuck her head between Piper and Jude, mouth hanging wide open. "No you didn't! Seriously? Was it good? I mean, I've heard but - "

“What? Who cares if it was good? You kissed Ezra Finnely!”

“And?” Piper asked, shaking her head. “I don't see what the problem is. I don't even know why I told you.”

“I don't know why you kissed him.”

"Well, you're the one who's sleeping with his best friend so I don't see what the difference is."

"Quinn's not like Ezra. Ezra's stoned all the time - "

"And so is Quinn."

"No he's not. You don't even know him!"

(Jude thought Quinn was special.)

"And you don't know Ezra!"

"Well, I know you're not his type!" Jude exclaimed, glaring at Piper as they came to a stop at a traffic light.

Maggie and Piper looked at Jude, surprised. Jude wasn't the kind of person to lash out, much less at Piper, or say something so hurtful.

It wasn't like Piper was stupid and couldn't tell what kind of guy Ezra was. Ezra was the boy with the nice smile and nice hair and charming personality who had pretty much every girl but Jude falling at his feet, and he was okay with it. And she knew that he could probably do better and that there wasn't much of a reason for him to be interested in her, but she had entertained a semblance of a hope that he might have liked her, or something. Hearing Jude say that Piper wasn't his type all but shattered whatever shred of hope Piper had left.

"PJ, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it," she apologized softly, biting her lip.

It was that night, at that very moment, that Piper June decided that she'd prove everyone wrong. She'd prove Jude and Quinn and all their friends wrong. She'd become whoever Ezra's type was, but to do that, she'd need to enlist the help of the girl who was trying not to throw up as she panted next to the window in the backseat.

"It's okay," Piper said, trying to steel herself. "There's nothing to be mad about."



Magdalyne sat in Piper's bedroom, frowning at her as she lit a cigarette.

"You want me to do what?" she asked, hints of disbelief in her voice as she took Piper in, watching as the big wooly white sweater hung off her shoulders, old jeans and mismatching socks covered her up. (Piper was a wreck.)

"I wanna be like you," she confessed, pushing some of her hair behind her ears. "I wanna look like you."

"What?"

"I know that - I mean - I know everyone thinks that I'm just some stupid little girl and - "

"No one thinks you're stupid, Piper. Is this about what Jude said last night? Don't listen to her. She's just mad that her boyfriend's not as cute as Ezra." Piper laughed bashfully, pushing some of her blonde hair behind her ear. "So, how was it? The kiss, I mean."

"It was, er... it was good, I guess? It was just a kiss." Piper blushed and Maggie grinned at her, wriggling her eyebrows. She flicked her cigarette out the window, sighing.

"So you want me to do what, exactly?"

“I need you to help Ezra notice me,” she mumbled, glancing at Maggie. “I mean, I know I should just be me but he doesn't like girls like me, and I know that, you know, 'cause he can have any girl he wants, so I wanna be extra-special so he wants me and not anyone else.”

Magdalyne pinches the bridge of her nose with her free hand, her wavy hair starting to fall loose from her messy bun. This could backfire terribly - but it could also put Jude in her place and knock her off that damn high horse she was riding all the time. And that was the only reason why she looked up and nodded as she said, “I'd love to help you, darling.”



That week, instead of going to school every morning with Jude, Maggie and Piper took the train. They talked about how to be subtle, how to be coy, and how to flirt (which were apparently three different things). They shared a cup of stark black coffee as they discussed the best strategy to get Ezra to notice Piper (though it really wasn't like she needed any more noticing). They talked about the kinds of girls she needed to start being friends with and talking to - Tess, Annie, and Claire, the most popular juniors and all close friends of Ezra - and how to impress each one of them. Tess, Annie, and Claire were kind of protective over him, just because they had all grown up together and he was like that with all three of them too. They didn't like the girls he dated usually, and they really didn't like Jenny.

Piper would spend her afternoons with her chair right next to Ezra's, biting her lip the way Maggie taught her and brushing her chest against his arm and back lightly. Her only issue was Jenny, a girl who apparently really liked Ezra (but it seemed like he didn't like her because he usually ignored all her advances) and wouldn't leave him alone.

Piper felt like she was ready to make a move, almost.

Almost.

It was only the beginning.



"I mean, it's not like he likes her, right?" Jude asked Quinn, looking down at him. He sighed, his brown hair falling into his eyes as he lowered his head a little. "Right? She's not his type and he's like, too busy snorting coke and stuff to even notice so I mean - "

"I don't really - jeez, Judy - I - I don't think this is really - oh, oh - oh!" He sighed and Jude rolled her eyes as he rested his head in the crook of her neck. "As I was saying," he continued, slightly out of breath, "I don't really wanna talk about my best friend and that troll doll while I'm tryin' to screw your brains out, Jude. I don't know. Kinda kills the mood, you feel me?"

"We're in the back of your car," Jude said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Romantic, I know." He grinned at her, kissing her cheek sloppily. "And what does it even matter if he likes her or not anyway?"

"Piper's not a troll doll."

"She kind of looks like one and - " Jude elbowed Quinn in the ribs tiredly, yawning. "Hey, hey, be gentle." Jude frowned as he moved her hair out of her face. "Whatever Ezra does is Ezra's business. And Piper's grown, anyway. Leave her alone."

"She's my best friend and - "

"Ezra's my bro, and you don't see me deep in all his business, do you? Leave them be. It'll work itself out. It's like some stupid middle school crush or something," Quinn said as he started pulling his underwear on. "Now, c'mon. Get dressed, baby. I've got a coupon for a dinner for two at the Red Lobster and they close in, like, a half hour."



Ezra stared at his father and Rose, glaring a little as he sighed heavily. Eliza was over the moon. Of course she was. He wouldn't want to be stuck alone with his dad and Rose either.

"What do you mean, I'm not going?"

"We're spending Thanksgiving as a family this year. Together," Charlie said simply, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You're not going. Rose's parents are flying all the way from Texas to see you guys."

"We're not a family!" Ezra exclaimed, bewildered. "We're like the farthest thing from one, actually. Me and 'Liza? Sure. But us and Suzy freaking Homemaker over here? Yeah, no. I'm going and you can't stop me."

Ezra had spent the holidays with his mother's family for about as long as he could remember. He loved his grandparents and his aunts and cousins and everyone else. He felt like he fit, and it made him feel a little closer to his mom for the first time all year. Ezra wasn't going to let Charlie's stupid girlfriend ruin that.

"Well, I can and I am. And besides, a ticket to California twice a year isn't cheap, you know? Especially during this time of year. You're stayin' here and that's that."

Ezra huffed and threw his fork and knife onto his plate, rolling his eyes.

"May I be excused?"

"Sure, honey. Take some time to yourself," Rose said sweetly, smiling at him. Ezra held his tongue and went into the living room, grabbing his coat, hat, and the car keys.

"I'll be back whenever!" he called out, shutting the door behind him. He sat in the cold car, waiting for it to heat up. As he watched the windshield wipers brush the blanket of snow away, he pulled out his phone and thought about who he could call. He could call Quinn, but he was probably with the blood sucking leech he called a girlfriend, so that wouldn't work. Or maybe Clark, but he was probably with Maggie, and he hated being a third wheel around those two.

And then it hit him, and he smiled as he called her and she picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey. You busy?"

"Ezra?" She paused, hesitant. "Uh... no, not really. Why? What's going on?"

"How about I take you out, Piper? Let's get dinner and see what happens."

He would hate himself for this in the morning, but for right now, he just wanted to sink and bury himself in her sweet smiles and gentle hugs and baby pink blushes.