Lily walked into school on the first day of her sophomore year of high school. She sat down in the auditorium. She looked around and was disappointed to see that none of her friends were there. She always got to school earlier than any of them did.

Lily had been best friends with Ryan since elementary school. She looked off in the distance disappointed. The bell rang and she went out to her locker to get her things for the day. As she closed it, the guy at the locker next to her spoke up.

"Hey Lily!" he said. She smiled and waved at him. Kai was pretty good friends with Ryan as they were both on the JV ultimate frisbee team. She'd bumped into him a couple of times and always thought he was a pretty cool guy.

"Hey Kai! Good summer?" she asked. He smiled and shook his head.

The bell rang indicating that they should head to homeroom.

Lily started to walk and noticed that Kai was going in the same direction.

"Ms. Hudson for homeroom?" she asked.

Kai let out a chuckle. "Yup."

They both walked in. Kai waved to two other kids and indicated for Lily to follow. They walked over and Kai introduced them.

"Lily, this is Sadie and Isaac... Sadie and Isaac, this is Lily," he said, "Welcome to the nerdiest bunch on campus."

She giggled and raised an eyebrow, "I dunno, that's a tough spot to hold. Ever played this game Settlers of Catan?"

The group looked at her blankly.

"It’s a strategy game. Guess that title could be up for debate huh?" she said. They all laughed and just like that she was welcomed into the group.

As it turned out, Sadie and Isaac were also pretty cool. Clearly the three of them were a real close-knit group. The bell rang for first period and they all split off.

Come lunch she had grabbed her usual spot with Ryan and his friends. As she was sitting down, Sam Cook was telling a tale of male intrigue. Lily was really the only girl of the group, and tended to tune out during Sam's retelling of his misadventures. He was always kind of a jackass but she tolerated him simply because she didn’t want to make drama. She had never understood why Ryan hung out with him though.

"Lily, nice of you to join us," said Ryan. She smiled and sat down next to him. They chatted about this and that until lunch ended and they headed off to class.

Lily settled into her routine at school. Kai and friends in the morning, Ryan and pals at lunch. It was a nice balance, and she was happy to put some distance between her and Sam. Still, she tended to hang out at Ryan's over the weekends.

Eventually Kai had forced her into sharing her board games with their small group. It was fun. Lily relished smashing them, but she knew it wouldn't be too long before they could hold their own.

Tennis started up shortly into school, taking her attention away from most things except for schoolwork. Halloween came around and she was happy to see Kai, Sadie, and Isaac were all invited to Ryan's yearly party. Apparently, Isaac helped Ryan with homework every once in a while. The three of them were all dressed in Hogwarts uniforms, sporting the yellow and red of Gryffindors.

Lily was herself wearing a princess peach outfit as Ryan and his friends had all decided to be Mario characters that year. She waved as they came and walked over to them.

"Nice costumes guys!" she said to them.

"Thanks!" they said practically in unison.

"Yours looks really good too," said Isaac. She flashed him a smile.

The night was thoroughly enjoyable. It was the perfect mix between both groups of her friends. After most people had left, it was just Ryan, Lily, Sam, and two other guys.

Ryan pulled out some vodka he'd had stashed away and passed it around. Lily passed it right by, earning snickering remarks from Sam. The guys clearly let loose more than the alcohol allowed, becoming rambunctious and ridiculous. Lily just enjoyed sitting back and watching the events unfurl. The guys had begun arm wrestling, Ryan having struck out very early on. He sat next to Lily, and she figured he had mostly sobered up. The two watched as it came down to the final contenders.

Lily rolled her eyes at the display of "manhood" that was happening in front of her. She leaned into Ryan commenting, "Will the pissing contest never end?"

He laughed, "Well, none of them can seem to land any girls so I guess this is all they've got."

Lily snorted in laughter, "Well none of them are all that appealing, so that would make sense..."

Ryan smiled, "You know... I bet you're the hottest one here," he said, slurring his words. She could smell the vodka on his breath and while he had sobered up compared to earlier, he was still quite intoxicated.

The contest concluded (Lily was happy to see Sam had lost quickly and was pretending not to pout off to the side), and she walked upstairs to head home. She lived a few houses down the street.

Ryan walked her up from the basement to the front door. He was shaky as he made it up, relying on Lily or the railing for support.

"Hey, thanks for coming," he said, "Wouldn't be a party without yeah..."

She smiled, "Thanks."

Then he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She was beaming now and nearly sprinted home. She laid on her bed thinking about the events that had transpired. She'd always been really close to Ryan and once she thought about it, she figured that she did have a crush on him. It took her a while to go to sleep.

At school the next day, everything seemed to return to normal. There was no mention of Ryan's kiss and it was clear that Ryan didn't remember most of the events that happened that night. Lily was disappointed but went on as usual.

November shot by and December had hit. The talk of the school was the upcoming winter dance. Lily had made her own mind up to ask Ryan, out after much deliberation. She figured that even if he didn't remember kissing her, there had to be something there.

She made her way over to him while he was at his locker. She gathered up all her courage.

"Hey, Ryan!"

"Hey."

"So I was wondering if... you'd like to accompany me to the winter dance?"

His eyes went wide and he pulled me a little aside.

"Lily, I... uh... I'm going with Jesse."

Regret and pain hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh..." was all Lily could muster.

"Lily... I... Sorry..." Ryan forced out.

The bell rang for us to go to homeroom.

"I... guess I'll see you around," she said. Lily didn't let him respond before quickly walking off. She made her way into homeroom and sat down looking straight forward. She did her best at holding back tears, unaware if it was because of the rejection or just the swell of emotions in general. Sadie, Isaac, and Kai took notice. They all comforted her as she continued to hold back tears.

She went to the dance without a date, but alongside the three musketeers. Kai and Isaac both joked around that the other never found a date. Sadie was with a guy, but she was clearly not as into it as he was.

Lily found that she surprisingly had a very enjoyable time. It was fun to just let loose. She looked over at Ryan and he was clearly having fun with Jesse. Most of Lily was happy for him, and it made things better to see that Sam was alone off in a corner. Lily danced and headed home, happy.

Lily drifted apart from Ryan and his group over the winter break. Once school started up again in January, she was beginning to hang out with the nerds full-time. They were a fun-loving bunch and lacked the negativity and more annoying traits of the all-male group she'd been around before. She and Sadie really began to bond as well. They texted back and forth daily.

After some prying on Sadie's part, Lily revealed what went down between her and Ryan.

"If he's too dumb to see how amazing you are, then he's not worth it," she texted Lily.

"I guess..." Lily texted back.

"Seriously! You're super clever, crazy pretty, and fun to be around. Dude’s gotta be blind, deaf, and stupid to turn you down." Lily knew it was all angled at getting her to feel better, but it felt really nice. No one had ever really complimented her like that before. She was quickly starting to consider Sadie one of her best friends, if not more than that.

Classes continued on. It began that Lily, Sadie, Kai, and Isaac would all head to Isaac's and play games every Friday. As Lily predicted, it wasn't long before she was overtaken in both skill and number of games. Isaac began to really stack up on both.

Once or twice she thought she caught him starring at her, but he was so quick to look away, she could never quite tell. Fortunately, Sadie had answers.

"Hey, what's up with Isaac?" Lily asked.

"You serious?" Sadie texted back.

"Um... Yes."

Lily could imagine the laughing that was happening on the other end.

Eventually, Sadie replied, "He's clearly got a thing for you."

Lily was shocked. She'd always considered him a friend. A close friend, and a nice one, but mostly just a friend.

"Are you for real?" Lily texted.

"Don't believe me? Just look for it."

There was a bit of a pause as Lily thought things through.

"I can get him to back off." Sadie texted, unsure of what Lily was thinking.

Then Lily responded, "Ehh... Let him try."

Finals began to hit hard and everything got put on the back burner. Lily finished up and was ready for the full force of summer. She hung out with the gang nearly every day. They played games, sometimes locking themselves away for days at a time. Upon further inspection, it was obvious that Isaac was into her, and she was slowly warming up to the idea herself.

Ryan tried to make contact over the summer, and while Lily was cordial she made it clear that she wanted to keep her distance. He was polite and respected her wishes.

One night after games, the group was slowly heading home. Kai headed back first. Sadie looked at Lily wide-eyed and motioned over at Isaac. Lily gave her a small smile and a very subtle nod. Sadie smiled back and said goodnight.

Lily stuck behind and talked with Isaac for another couple of hours. They talked about all sorts of things: games, movies, friends. It wasn't until very late that she made her way home.

Summer drew to a close. Sadie had been texting Lily non-stop about when they figured Isaac would try and make things official. The night before classes approached and the four of them went out to eat. After they had finished eating, Isaac revealed a small bouquet of flowers and asked Lily to go out with him. It was a thoroughly over-the-top gesture, but Lily appreciated it. She eyed Lily and Kai smiling, knowing they had been in on it. The two of them simply smiled and shrugged.

Lily rolled her eyes and hugged Isaac. There was a small bit of clapping from the other people at the restaurant that made her blush, but it made Isaac blush even more.

The first week of school zipped by in anticipation of the following Friday. Isaac showed up to her house and took her on the promised first date. He was nerdy and bumbling as ever, but Lily only found that more appealing.

He had decided to take her to a nearby restaurant that also had a large variety of board games. They played a two-player game, and she smoked him. It was mostly not any different from their normal game sessions except for the lack of Sadie and Kai, and the increased level of flirtiness.

The finished up late in the evening and he took her back to her house. They had an awkward hug as he dropped her off, and she crashed inside. She hadn't felt happier in a long time.

Lily was somewhat worried about how the new relationship might change the group dynamic, but everything seemed to continue as smoothly as ever. One evening, they all decided to go to the local fair. While it wasn't exactly an official date, Lily and Isaac did tend to get extremely coupley. During one of the more intense rides, Lily had grabbed Isaac's hand. This had apparently broken the ice and they continued to hold hands most of the night. She heard Kai and Sadie occasionally giggling and scoffing behind them, but she didn't pay it any mind.

The fair closed at 10:00 and they all headed back. Sadie had gotten her driver's license before the rest of the group and dropped them each off. When Lily got out, Isaac followed her for a moment.

"Well... uh... Bye, I guess..." Isaac said.

Lily rolled her eyes and said, “Come here.” Then she leaned in kissed him. With this being one of her first kisses, she missed a bit, and hit his nose. Isaac quickly caught what was going on, corrected course, and returned the kiss. It was quick, but both of them were smiling. Sadie honked the horn behind them, causing the two of them to burst into giggles. Lily waved as Isaac got back in the car.

Another few months went by and the winter dance was again upon them. Even though it was a given, Lily decided to turn the tables and made an ordeal out of asking Isaac to the dance. He was clearly surprised and a bit flustered when he gleefully agreed. The four of them happily danced throughout the night. At one point, Ryan and Jesse came over. They swapped partners with Lily and Isaac for a bit and as Lily had a dance with Ryan.

"I'm really happy that you and Isaac clicked," he said genuinely, "He's a good guy."

Lily smiled, looking over at him, "He is."

The dance concluded and Ryan made a large event out of bowing and returning her to Isaac. Jesse, Isaac, and Lily all cracked up at the silly move and Ryan shrugged knowing it was a joke. At the end of the night, Lily drove Isaac back, as he had neglected to begin driving.

They were joking about nothing in particular. At one point Lily shot Isaac a look and pulled off to a small overlook at the side of the road. She looked over at Isaac and kissed him. They'd shared a few kisses since the fair, but nothing more than a few seconds.

After the kiss, Isaac leaned in for a second one. Before long they had moved to the backseat. After a bit, they realized that they were expected back and Lily dropped Isaac off. They kissed goodbye and she drove home with a wide smile on her face.

Winter holidays eeked by and finally, school started up again. Make-out sessions like what had happened the night of the dance became all too common. Everything was like a CW television show, it felt so perfect. Come the spring dance, they had both decided it was time to go all the way. Each of them went through excessive labors to make sure the other was entirely comfortable, and they both spent the night at Isaac's house while his parents were on a trip to New York.

Summer rolled around and the gang was happy and content. Lily couldn't figure anything would ever interrupt the way that their life was in those moments. Senior year was quickly arriving and she prepped for the first day of school. What could go wrong?