Piper June.

Piper sat down at the library table again, sighing quietly. She hadn’t seen him all day, and she was sure that if he was in school that day, he would have at least said hi. She wanted to be angry. Furious, even. He probably thought she didn't have a life and that she just had all the time in the world to sit there and wait for him. She knew she probably wouldn't be able to stay angry with him because he was too charmingly disarming and he totally knew it. Huffing, she gathered her belongings. She was going to leave because he probably wasn't even going to show up. Again. She had better things to do than to wait for him to stand her up.

She bumped into him on her way out, looking at him, doe-eyed. Ezra smiled and set his own belongings down on the table as she watched him, books to her chest. She sat down too, looking down.

“Hi, June.” She did her best not to stare or even gawk at him, but she couldn't help herself. She kind of liked seeing him, sort of. He looked different today. Brighter, somehow. It made her face flush.

“H-Hey, Ezra,” she managed to stutter out.

“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling out his chemistry notes.

“Yeah, I-I’m fine. You, um, you look different.”

“Oh,” he laughed, touching his hair. “Yeah, well...I got bored yesterday.” He grinned, flashing Piper his dimples.

He had woken up late and didn't know what to do. Rose and Charlie were at work. Eliza had somehow gotten to school. Quinn was probably at school too because of Jude, his little girlfriend and Piper's best friend. He didn't plan on going to school. He'd probably get a detention and that was something he definitely wasn't in the mood for. So he went to the Walgreen's two blocks from his house to buy a magazine and rent a movie, and while he was there picked up a box of hair dye. He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged.

“You look nice.”

“Yeah?” Piper nodded. "What did you do yesterday?"

“Nothing much." She shrugged. "Let’s get a start, yeah?” she asked, desperate to shift the focus from herself. The hour passed by almost too quickly, and soon, Piper found herself getting her things together again. She went outside, expecting to see Jude's car waiting patiently in the parking lot. Much to her surprise, she was missing. That was weird. She usually let Piper know if she couldn't pick her up or something. Those days, Olivia gave her a ride or she hailed a cab. She frowned. Maybe Jude was late or something. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called her.

"Hello?" Jude giggled. Piper frowned even more. "Quinn, stop!"

Ah. That explained everything. She was with Quinn. Again. Piper rolled her eyes. She was happy for Jude, really. She just didn't see why Jude suddenly had to spend pretty much every waking moment with Quinn, a boy she wouldn't have given the time of day two weeks ago.

“Jude, where are you?” she asked quietly, struggling to hold her phone and books. She leaned against the railing as it started to snow.

“I'm at the park with Quinn." She paused, sighing. "You had tutoring today, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but don't worry. I'll find my way home. I'll take the train or something. Catch you later.”

She didn't like the train, cramped and damp with all those people and all that noise. And it was so dirty and just weird. She tried to avoid it if she could help it. And it wasn't like Jude's house was that far anyway. She didn't mind walking, even if it was snowing a little more than she would like.

“No, I can—”

“Don't worry about it! It's okay, Jude. I'll figure it out. Enjoy your date,” she said with a soft smile.

“It’s not a date!”

“Yeah, okay,”

Piper hung up and stuffed her phone in her pocket, huffing slightly to herself. She couldn’t hold it against Jude—Quinn liked her and for all she knew, Jude probably liked him back—but that didn’t mean that she was happy about walking home all by herself. It was only a twenty minute walk, but it was cold and snowing and she had all those books. Who was she to stop Jude from branching out and exploring something new? She shrugged and started walking down the steps.

“Uh, June?” Ezra asked quietly, looking at Piper. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything but, er… I could walk you home…? If you’d like me to, that is.”

“O-Okay?”

Ezra Finnely was walking her home. She smiled a little, struggling to beat the blush on her face when he asked if she needed help carrying her books. She shook her head, holding them to her chest tightly.

“Do you mind?” he asked Piper as he pulled a cigarette out from his back pocket and a gray lighter. “It’s a terrible habit, I know, but… oh well.” She shrugged, not wanting to tell him what to do. It was his body, after all. Piper watched as he lit up and took a breath, flicking it on the side walk. Everything Ezra did left her kind of dazed. The girl was hooked. “So... how was your day yesterday?” he asked, yanking her out of her thoughts.

“What?”

“How was your day? I want to know. Any adventures?” Piper laughed quietly, shaking her head.

“Uh, no. Not really. I mean, sort of but not really. It's not a big deal.”

Piper didn’t know how she would explain Mathletes to Ezra, or if she even wanted to. What would he say to her? What would he think? He would think that she was even more socially awkward than before, and would probably think she was some sort of freak who dedicated her life to her studies, she figured. Wasn't she, though? She liked math. It was one of the few things she was actually good at.

“Sort of?”

“I got called to Mrs. Clearwater’s office yesterday.”

“Ooh, little June got in trouble yesterday? What'd you do?”

“What?” She glanced up at him. His eyes were so pretty, light blue with thick dark eyelashes. It wasn't fair. He was so damn handsome and charming and just Ezra. “No. I don't ever do anything.”

“I've noticed,” he said simply, laughing. She shrugged. He must have thought she was just some silly little girl. She didn't understand why his opinion meant anything at all to her. They were barely friends, if that. “Well what happened? She doesn't call people down to her office for no reason.”

“I made Mathletes,” she mumbled quietly, looking down and kicking some gravel out of her way gently. "It's kind of a big deal."

“Isn't that a good thing?” he asked, unsure of what exactly Mathletes was. Whatever it was, she didn't seem thrilled.

“It depends. I guess it could be,” she shrugged, holding her books to her chest.

“What is it?”

“It’s like… um… it’s a sort of math competition? Sort of?”

“Then it’s a good thing,” he concluded, laughing. “I thought you liked math?”

“I do. It makes sense to me, I don't know,” she explained. “I know it sounds stupid, but it just... does, I guess. I don't know how to explain it.” She shrugged, glancing at a street sign. Only three more blocks until she was home, she noted. Thank goodness.

“It doesn’t sound stupid. I mean, everybody has something they’re good at. You deserved to be recognized for it like everyone else is. Like, the football team has their games and stuff, so why shouldn’t you? I’m sure you’ll do great.” He stomped on his cigarette, snuffing it out. He popped a mint into his mouth, offering one to Piper. She smiled and took it. It was sweet.

“I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not though,” she said, cheeking the mint awkward. “I don’t know if I should. It’s just…”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” he asked.

She could lose.

Granted, the odds of that happening were pretty slim, but still. She didn't want to risk it. But she didn’t say that out loud because she didn’t want to risk sounding like a pessimist—even if she considered herself a realist. Ezra was an optimist. She could tell that he was the kind of person who hoped for good things to always happen in a world where they seldom did. She didn't like pessimists either, because they thought that nothing good ever happened. Piper didn't believe either one of those. Piper just saw things as they were.

She sighed, biting her lip.

“I don’t know? I could… I don’t know. I just don’t know if I want to do it or not this year. I mean, I don't think Jude's coming because, you know, she's busy with Quinn all the time now. And my parents are probably going to be busy so they won't go either. What's the point? It's just for fun anyway.” She shrugged flippantly, looking down at the snow and gravel beneath her feet. "It's no big deal."

“When is it?”

“Why?” she asked, looking at him as they crossed the street. Jude's house was only a few doors down.

“’Cause I want to know.”

“Why?”

“Maybe I'll show up. Don't you want me to come?” She tried to play it off and be cool and aloof, like Maggie.

“It’s on Saturday morning at school. It's really early and boring. You don’t have to go. You're probably going to be busy anyway. I’ll be fine,” she chuckled. “And this is me.” She nodded her head towards Jude’s off white home, slightly relieved to see Jude’s car in the driveway.

Meanwhile, in the Presley residence, Jude was working diligently on putting makeup on her neck to hide incriminating love bites left by Quinn before her aunt came home. She was working so hard that at first, she didn’t hear the laughter outside. But when she did, she set down her compact to peek through the thick living room curtains. She saw Piper, much to her surprise, standing outside of her house with Ezra. He was obviously saying something to make her laugh, or at least to put such a potent smile on her face.

As happy as it made her to see that Piper was happy, it also made her think. What would a guy like Ezra want with someone like Piper? It didn’t make sense to her. She continued to watch, trying to remain hidden, starting to think. Jude watched as he hugged her. Was Piper blushing? She wanted to hear what they were saying. None of it made any sense.

It wasn’t that Piper wasn’t a nice girl—she just wasn’t Ezra’s type.

The wind started to pick up, making Piper’s hair blow around her face slightly. Ezra said something which made Piper look down and smile a little. Was she laughing? Jude wasn’t sure. She kept watching as he tucked a piece or two of hair behind her ear and hugged her again. They said their goodbyes and Piper started walking up the porch steps, making Jude turn around and pretend she wasn’t doing a single thing.

He was acting suspicious.

What if he liked Piper? And why? Like mentioned before, she wasn’t the type of girl that he’d normally go for. What was she supposed to say? ‘Piper, don’t get too close to Ezra because you’re not his type’? What kind of friend would that make her? But what friend would she be if she didn’t at least say something to her about Ezra? She couldn’t ponder the subject further, however, because Piper came in, face flush as she set her things down.

Things definitely weren’t adding up.



Ezra smelled like cologne and fabric softener and home, whatever home was. He made her feel all soft and warm and tingly. She smiled. Piper walked inside Jude's house with her books held to her chest, cheeks still pink. She wasn't sure if it was because it was freezing outside, or because of Ezra.

“Hey, Piper,” Jude greeted shiftily, looking at Piper cautiously. Piper set her books down on the coffee table and sat on the love seat, sighing quietly. “Are you alright?” Piper glanced at Jude, patting her face with her cold hands.

“Am I?” she replied, sounding as if she was coming out of a daze.

“Just a bit. You okay there?”

“I'm fine. Ezra’s coming to Mathletes. Maybe? And I should probably start getting my stuff together ’cause my parents are coming home soon,” she said as she stood up and walked up the stairs to Jude’s room.

“What?!” Jude exclaimed, following Piper. “Are you serious?” She stood in the doorway and watched her friend, scowling.

“Yes,” she said quietly as she sat on Jude's floor, trying to get her stuff together. It was just going to get under her skin if she didn't find it. She didn't want to talk about Ezra going to Mathletes, that would just fluster her more and make her too nervous. So instead she started packing her things in her duffel bag.

“Piper, focus. He’s going to Mathletes?”

“I am focused,” she said as she pulled the sock that was hiding underneath Jude’s vanity counter. She was always focused. She had to be. Piper sat up, picking herself up off the floor as she tucked the sock in her bag. “He might go.”

“Why?”

“’Cause he wants to…? I don't know. I'm not a mind reader.” Jude frowned. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. Need some help?” Piper shrugged, brushing off Jude’s odd attitude. What was up with her lately?

“Knock yourself out.”

Piper didn’t really understand why Jude was acting so strangely. Jude usually encouraged anything having to do with Ezra and her. She ignored it as Jude helped her carry the rest of her belongings home. Maybe she was just having a bad day. They said their goodbyes at her door and went their separate ways.

Olivia was in the kitchen when Piper walked in, head in the fridge.

“Hey, sweetie!” she exclaimed, flashing a bright smile. Piper murmured a response, wondering why Olivia was in such a good mood. "Did you have a good weekend?"

“Yeah. I'm just going to go put my things away,” Piper said quietly, walking up the stairs.

"Okay. Dinner will be done soon," Olivia replied, turning back to the pots and pans on the stove.

It wasn’t that Piper didn't like Olivia. It was just that she tried too hard to get Piper to like her and she didn't know why. Her father had already married her so what was the point in winning Piper's love too? Piper didn't have a big reason to not like her, except for the fact that she was trying to replace to replace her mother and took advantage of her pregnancy hormones to be kind of rude on occasion.

She walked up the stairs slowly, because she knew how much her father hated loud noises—unless he was the reason behind them, of course. She left her bag on her bed and her books on her desk, deciding that she could put them away later.

After she took a quick shower and changed into something more comfortable, she started working on her homework. Her thoughts kept wandering to Ezra. He was something else, definitely. What was it? She shut her Spanish book with a sigh, unable to focus on possessive verbs any longer. Piper ran a hand through her hair and pulled it up into a messy bun. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was time for dinner. She stood up and walked out, shutting it behind her.

Olivia was in the living room with her basket of nail polish, a stack of magazines, some candy, and a bunch of old 80s movies. Piper suppressed a groan. It was girls' night, something that Olivia had been doing every couple of weeks since she married Piper's dad. It was kind of annoying, but still kind of sweet, so she never had the heart to tell Olivia no.

“Paul’s doing something in the city, Piper. He’s not going to be back until late tonight, it’s a girls' night in!” Olivia exclaimed cheerily. "We can paint our nails and do our hair and talk, just you and me. What do you say?"

“That’s great.” Piper poured herself a glass of water, looking out the window above the sink. Their backyard was dying because of the cold, but she knew that in the summer it was green and vibrant. It was one of her favorite places to go when the weather allowed it.

Her bones yearned for the looseness of summer.

“Loosen up, Piper. You seem so tense,” Olivia laughed, putting the broom away.

“Sorry,” she apologized, trying to relax. She couldn't stop thinking about Ezra.

“I ordered takeout, hope you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine,” she murmured quietly.

“It should be here soon. Why don't you go wash up while I get everything ready?”

She nodded, walking towards the sink. While she washed her hands, the delivery guy came. Olivia ordered Chinese food, like she always did. Piper wiped her hands on her pants as she walked into the living room. Olivia was in her pajamas. She had a little table in front of her set up with different boxes and sauce packets. Piper noted that there was a similar one in from of the recliner, waiting for her.

“Don’t just stand there, silly! Sit. Your food's gonna get cold,” Olivia urged with a mouthful of food, pointing to the armchair with her chopsticks. Piper took a seat, opening her box warily. She poked at her veggie rice, murmuring a soft thank you. “So,” Olivia started, slurping some noodles, “how’s school going?”

Piper had no idea how her father could give up on someone like her mother for someone like Olivia. Olivia was messy and untidy, loud and boisterous, almost obnoxious. She had an excuse, sort of—she was pregnant, after all. Her mother was neat and artistic, innovative and a beautiful human being.

It didn't make any sense.

“I made Mathletes.”

“That’s wonderful! Wait ’til your father hears.”

“He's going to be so excited,” she said a little flatly, poking at her food.

“When is it?”

“Saturday, I think. I don’t know.” She shrugged. She hoped Olivia didn't get the bright idea to show up.

“Oh, that’s too bad, I have a seminar on Saturday morning. I'd go if I could, though. I'm sorry, sweetheart.” Olivia frowned, popping a wonton into her mouth.

“It’s okay.” Piper shrugged. "You don't have to come."

“We’ll work something out, okay? I'll try to see what I can do." Piper watched the film, hoping Olivia would drop it. She did. The problem was what she wanted to talk about next. "Anyway, speaking of school... who was the kid you were with today?”

“Her name’s Jude. You know that. She lives right next door. That's where I spent the weekend, remember? She comes over a lot...?” She stuffed some rice into her mouth, hoping to avoid answer her step mother’s nosy questions.

“No. Of course I know who Jude is. I mean, earlier today. You were outside with him.” Piper looked at Olivia with a small frown, raising an eyebrow. She chewed and swallowed slowly, trying to stall. Piper stabbed a piece of broccoli with her chopsticks, popping them into her mouth. “Is he your boyfriend or something?” Piper almost choked on her food. “Easy, Piper. Relax,” Olivia coaxed, leaning over and patting her shoulder. "Breathe."

“Are you crazy? He’s just a friend.”

“Really?" Piper nodded vehemently, biting her lip. He wasn't her boyfriend. He was barely her friend. She hoped Olivia didn't tell her dad. "You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"He’s pretty cute. You don't like him?”

One of the things that Piper disliked about Olivia was that she was only twenty-six, whilst her father was in his late thirties. She resented having to call someone who could be her older sister (her parents were married fresh out of high school) mom and mother. Kathleen wouldn’t have stood for that.

“What? No. I'm almost positive he has a girlfriend.” She didn’t really want to talk about Ezra with her step mother. It was kind of embarrassing.

At least she didn't tell her dad.

Ezra walked Piper home almost every single day after that, mostly because Quinn was keeping her pretty busy. Piper didn't mind for once. Sometimes Olivia would ask about him and Piper would avoid her questions and father's questioning glances. Piper couldn’t really help but to start liking him anymore than she already did—though there wasn’t really much of a way that she’d ever admit that to Jude.

This was the beginning of change. Piper knew that and it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. She didn’t know how, but she knew it was change, hopefully for the better.