Odd.

2.2 After School

"Where are you going?"

He turned his head, finding Pete coming up beside him as they sifted through the crowded halls. He fixed the strap of his bag and shrugged.

"I'm meeting someone."

"Ooh, does CJ have a girlfriend?" He turned to look at Dax who always seemed to appear out of nowhere with excessive knowledge of the existing conversation.

He rolled his eyes as Pete snickered. "No," he said. "I don't."

"Then what's this little meet up about? Who you meetin'? Where you goin'? Can I come?" Dax asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Dude, you really need to get a life," Pete said as he shook his head. Copeland added his agreement and Dax rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'll catch you guys later." Dax turned and left, heading to Mrs. Lorcht's room for anime club.

Pete laughed. "He's too easy."

"Agreed."

They exited the main doors and his eyes immediately began to scan the many faces of his peers for the right one, for hers. After a moment he spotted her under the oak tree, just like she said, with sunglasses on and a half-empty mason jar in hand.

"You meetin' Minx?" Pete asked as they made their way over to her—well Copeland was going to meet her, Pete was just following.

Copeland raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"

Pete nodded. "Yeah, we've got three classes together. I didn't know you had the hots for her."

"It's not like that," he muttered as they stepped under the shade of the oak tree and came to a stop in front of Minx.

Pete glanced over at her and nodded before looking back at Copeland. "I'll see you later CJ," he said and gave a small wave before disappearing into the parking lot.

Minx turned to him. "CJ?" she asked.

"Nickname," he said.

"What does the J stand for?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. My parents just really wanted my middle name to start with a J but couldn't figure out what name, so they just stuck with the letter. My name is literally Copeland J. Period. Nicholson."

Minx grinned. "That's actually pretty cool. You can pick out your own middle name then. Well, within the parameters of the J, but still."

He nodded and smiled. "Almost free range."

"Almost," she said before glancing down at her feet and then looking back up at him. "We should get going before it starts."

"Before what starts?"

She smiled again and tapped her lips with her finger. "You'll see," she sang before leading the way to her pale yellow Jeep.