I knew from the first moment I saw him, my life would be changed forever. This was the moment I had been waiting for my whole life. The moment described in all of the books I’d learned to enjoy so much... but to me, it was just a moment. The moment I gave up and peed down the stairs. It felt like victory.

Woah woah woah woah woah! Woah. Slow your roll there, friend. You have not been waiting for some guy your whole life! You are a strong independent woman! You don’t need a guy to be complete! Especially not his scrawny pale ass. ALso why are you peeing down the stairs? You’re a grown woman. Stop this.

“Okay, well, I think that one’s cute.” Annelise pointed towards a lanky, blonde-haired teenager coming out of Anthropologie.

“I think you’re delusional.” Jo rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her milkshake.

“Hey, what kind did you get?” Annelise asked, reaching towards Jo’s cup.

“None of your business.” Jo smirked and held the cup out of Annelise’s reach, looking like she was trying to imitate the circle of life scene from the Lion King.

“Hey, I bought it, that automatically makes it my business,” she pouted. “I mean, indirectly of course.”

“Fine. It’s chocolate, would you like some?” Jo responded, bringing the cup down to its original place in space.

Annelise nodded, distracted by the cup in front of her. Jo hadn’t put a lid on it… big mistake. She proceeded to stick her finger in the cup, swiping a large portion of ice cream. “Yum,” she said, sensually licking the ice cream. Jo wasn’t as amused.

“There is this wonderful invention called a straw. You should give it a try sometime.” Jo scowled and turned away. That was when she noticed a skinny kid with messy brown hair, a long black coat and eyes staring directly at them. More specifically, at Annelise.

“I think you got creepy-man’s attention.” Jo added when the kid continued to stare. Jo flipped him off and he finally had the decency to look away.

“Aw, come on, you didn’t have to do that!” Annelise whined from her awkward position of practically sitting on top of Jo, still looking at the boy. Jo gave her a sideways glance, holding up her milkshake cup and smirking.

“Revenge is best served cold.”

“You’re a dork,” Annelise said, stealing another portion of ice cream. “But I’m the one with the delicious milkshake now, am I not?”

“If you keep eating ice cream like that, tall dark and creepy may have an embarrassing situation in his pants.” Jo said, glaring at the boy who had resumed his staring. He made his way over to them, slouching with his hands in his pockets.

“Greetings and salutations. That milkshake looks pretty good. Almost as good as you.” He said winking at a giggling Annelise.

Jo rolled her eyes. “Gag. Who the hell are you? Please leave.”

“Sorry about her,” Annelise giggled, pushing Jo playfully. Jo pushed her back reflexively, almost causing Annelise to fall off the bench. “It’s all with love,” Annelise said through clenched teeth, whapping Jo in the back of the head.

“So what’s your name, perv?” Jo asked mystery boy who apparently was not leaving.The boy laughed, running his hand through his hair. Annelise blushed, while Jo simultaneously gagged.

“I’m Carson,” he said, “Carson…” to Annelise, “Nightingale.”

“Fucking kill me now,” Jo said, looking up at the ceiling. “End my suffering.”

“Annelise,” she responded, ignoring Jo’s repulsed convulsions.

After a second of silence, she blurted out again, “Nice jacket, and stuff!” Carson awkwardly smiled and put his hands back in his pockets.

“Thanks. Um, is there something wrong with your friend?” he asked as Jo continued to smack her head with her palm. He cringed, thinking there may be a nasty bruise there tomorrow morning.

“I have a theory that she’s allergic to anything besides the demise of humankind,” Annelise sighed jokingly. “Including flirting.”

“That seems rather serious,” Carson commented, smirking a little.

“UUUGGGHHHH!!!” Jo groaned from the tile floor of the mall just as a friendly neighborhood rent-a-cop decided to stroll by.

“Is she okay?” The man resembling Paul Blart asked.

“She’s allergic to flirtatious human interaction,” Carson said smoothly.

“Keep it clean, kids,” the man replied gruffly before leaving.

Annelise smiled, strangely amused by this interesting stranger. He wasn’t quite stalker-ish like Jo had said. He was… charming. Annelise found him charming. Jo found him repulsive.

“I think I saw you in school, actually,” Carson said, snapping her out of her daze.

“I mean, it's not every year we get a transfer to our little dump,” she replied, “you've probably seen a lot of us by now.”

Carson smiled a little. “Only ones I think are worth noticing.”

Annelise blushed furiously, looking down at the floor quickly. She didn't say anything back as she grinned dumbly.

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” Jo suddenly groaned from her reclaimed spot on the mall bench. She put both her hands on Annelise’s back and pushed, hard enough for her to nearly trip into Carson. “Just get some already!” Jo stood up and lifted her purse over her shoulder. “I need to go work on the completion of my death ray,” she said, rolling her eyes before laughing and walking away. Jo was an evil mastermind. At least, in her own mind. Poor Annelise was left red faced and awkwardly stumbling over apologies as Carson looked shocked at the events that just transpired.

“Um,” she stuttered, messing with her hair absentmindedly. “So how do you like the school so far?”

“I’m enjoying it,” he said with a grin. “Of course, the name was a bit unsettling at first.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s a little weird,” she giggled.