Knowing Me, Knowing You

I Wonder (Departure)

"Why do you like cat socks so much?" Dante asked as he, Regina, and Carter all walked towards the music hallway.

"Because I love cats, and I love warm, comfy socks," Regina smiled cheekily.

"Tell him how much you paid for them," Carter smirked.

"I don't want to," she pouted.

"No, tell me," Dante pleaded excitedly.

"Twenty dollars," she grumbled.

"Do you even have a job?"

"Not right now. I'm just really good at saving during the time when I do have a job."

"Clearly, since you spent twenty dollars on one pair of cat socks."

"Don't judge me." Regina smiled at her boots with her cat socks poking out. "I think they make me look cute."

"You're always cute, honey," Carter winked.

Regina linked her arm in Carter's and giggled. "Thank you. At least someone appreciates them."

"For twenty dollars, I'd appreciate them."

Regina punched Dante's shoulder and shoved him towards the cafeteria next to the music hallway. "We'll meet you in there."

"And you'll give me actual notes this time, right?"

"No," Dante said, and Regina pushed him into the cafeteria.

With the Solo and Ensemble concert quickly approaching, Carter decided to spend every lunch period in the practice rooms, working on her solo. She had to make sure it was good enough for her to stand on the stage, look chipper, and sing well. The last note was still kicking her ass, but she knew with enough practice and useful feedback, she'd be great.

As fun as it was to sing in front of her friends, Carter did enjoy taking a few moments to herself to sing alone and work on the song by herself. It was more comforting that way. It allowed her to take a deep breath and sing without judgement so when she does sing in front of her friends, she'll be warmed up and ready.

Halfway through her song, she noticed a figure lingering outside the room. She glanced over, half expecting to see her teacher or her friends waiting for her to unlock the door. Instead, Xander stood outside, watching her with a smile.

Anxiety punched her in the gut, and she giggled nervously as she waved at him. Was this it? Was he going to flirt? Was he going to ask her out? She knew he eventually would, unless she wasn't actually his next conquest. It was weird to think about possibly being his next conquest. Nothing about her seemed like Xander's type, and it wasn't like he was going to change his type just because she was also an ABBA fan. It wasn't possible. Was it?

Xander pointed at the door and quirked an eyebrow. She reached out and opened the door, and he quickly shuffled inside. "Hey," he softly said. "Sorry if I'm bothering you."

"Did you need something?"

"Not...particularly." Quickly glancing around the small practice room, he sat down next to her on the piano bench. Swinging his legs around to face the piano, he planted his hands in his lap and smiled at her. "Is this weird?"

"Little bit."

"Sorry," he exhaled. "I'm a little nervous."

"Why?"

"Because...I'm talking to you."

Carter snorted and quickly covered her mouth and let out a fake cough.

"I mean it. No one else likes ABBA, and...I have so many questions."

"Like?"

"You said Me and I was your favorite song, and that's by Frida. What's your favorite Agnetha song?"

Carter smiled. "Lay All Your Love On Me. What's your favorite Frida song?"

"Knowing Me, Knowing You."

"The breakup song?" she snickered. "Should have known."

"But isn't it a nice break up song?" he pondered. "I mean, she's saying that what happened may have been bad, but it was still good getting to be with them while she could. Now is just the time to make a healthy decision."

"Is that what you tell yourself every time you break up with a girl?" she smirked.

Xander shrugged. "Honestly, yeah. I thought I liked them, but then it doesn't go very well, so I make the wise decision to break up with them. But what we had was fun while it lasted." He smirked. "I was glad they got to know me while I got to know them."

"Did they really get to know you?" she asked.

"You're being real picky right now," he chuckled humorlessly.

"I didn't mean it as a bad thing, just...how much can you really get to know about a person in two weeks? If you're just going off two weeks of talking, are you really getting to know them enough to make a valid decision?" She looked at him. "Not that I'm saying you didn't have reasons for breaking up with them or anything, but do you really think you two got to know each other while you did?"

As Xander stared blankly at the piano, Carter chastised herself for saying too much. After years of hearing rumors about Xander, she wound up having a lot of questions. Their conversation allowed her to ask them, but as soon as she said it, she knew it would have been better if she didn't. They weren't friends, just friendly. And those weren't the sort of questions meant to be asked between people who were just friendly.

"Maybe not," he finally said. Staring up at Carter, he smiled dejectedly. "Maybe I did make some quick judgements, but when you know they're not the right person, why try and make it work when it won't?"

Carter pondered it for a moment. "I guess you're right." Sliding her hands between her knees, she asked, "And you knew it in only two weeks?"

"It's not the same for every girl. Sometimes we just want to have some fun, sometimes we just don't want to be alone, so we both agree to be together for two weeks. It's a mutual thing. But then there are the girls I like, but I just couldn't see us being anything more than what we already were after two weeks."

"So you saw them as friends?"

Xander blinked. "What?"

"You know, a friend," she mocked. "Don't tell me you don't have any girls who are just friends."

Did he have any female friends? He had Missy. They had always been able to confide in one another about a multitude of secrets, but he didn't think people who were just friends were supposed to have sex. They may have been friends with benefits for a while, but now he had to separate himself from him as he worked to get over his crush on him. But once he did, would they ever be able to be just friends?

Xander's only other friends were on the boy's swim team. The girls he spent time with were meant to be romantic, and when he realized it wouldn't work between them, he cut ties. He didn't want to lead them on, and since it seemed that the only girls who wanted to talk to him wanted to go out with him, he didn't have any.

"Oh, God, you don't, do you?"

Xander stared at his lap. He looked up as he felt Carter punch his shoulder lightly. "Don't worry. You've got me, Chiquitita."

A grin stretched across Xander's face as he heard that. Someone he knew who just wanted to be his friend. Someone who was just looking forward to talking about ABBA music and talking as friends did. It was exactly what he needed.

"Well, Tiger, if we're going to be friends, I guess that means I should give you my number, huh?"

Cackling, Carter nodded and pulled out her phone. After exchanging numbers, Xander stood up and stared out the window. Regina and Dante leaned against the wall and smirked at them, wiggling their fingers once Carter noticed them.

"Sorry, they're going to help me practice."

"No problem. I'll see you later," he said as he opened the door.

He nodded to the two as he walked past them, and they quickly entered the room. "What the hell happened?" Dante exclaimed.

"Nothing," Carter smirked as she began to play the intro to her solo. "We just talked."

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