December 23rd, 1987 — Salem, MA
8:41 PM, EST

Robbo's friend Keith was an overly confident, cocky, short blonde boy that flirted with all the girls. He was the kind of person that was sweet to adults and a jerk to everyone else, because he hadn't matured since high school.

Shelby was NOT a fan.

Robbo had lead her into Keith's home, a large two story house that was about 10 minutes across town from the Everetts. They went into the basement, where music was blasting from giant speakers and the air smelled like pure vodka.

She slipped her hand into Robbo's, feeling a little nervous about being at the party. He turned towards her and flashed a smile, and then continued leading her into the room. A group of girls was gathered around the speakers, dancing wildly. Three boys sat in front of the keg, as if guarding it. Robbo was leading her towards the back of the room, where a group of people sat in laughter.

"Robbo!" The boy Shelby would come to know as Keith stood up, his arms open as she and Robbo walked over towards them.

Rob gave him a quick hug, then slipped his hand back into Shelby's. "Hey, Keith. This is Shelby." He said, introducing the redhead at his side.

Shelby gave a hesitant smile. She wasn't really one that felt comfortable at parties, unless Tony was by her side.

"Hi, Shelby." Keith looked the girl up and down with a sly smile on his face and nodded at Robbo approvingly. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No, you can't." Shelby replied, staring back at the boy with the same intensity he was as he checked her out.

He raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Robbo. "Okay, then. Rob?"

"No," Robbo said, jingling his keys. "I'm driving."

"Well, then." Keith grinned at Shelby again. He had a smug, slimy, lizard-like grin that made Shelby want to pop him one in the jaw. "Why can't you drink then, little lady?"

Shelby scoffed. "I don't want to, thank you."

"Jeez, Robbo. Where'd you dig this one out of? What, are you some Harvard snob he met down in Boston?"

Ahh, yes. Harvard. People often thought she was in Boston to go to school at Harvard, not MIT, since she was, as Keith had put it, a "little lady".

"Hey, dude?" Robbo stood tall, looking at his friend. "Shut up. I met Shelby at MIT. She an engineer, just like me."

Well, not just like Robbo, Shelby thought to herself. She was Electrical, he was Mechanical, but ... nevertheless, she was glad he had stood up for her.

Keith clapped and hooted loudly. "Well, the little lady's an engineer! What do you engineer, little lady? Tampon strings?"

"Not exactly." Shelby replied. "Things far more complicated than your small brain could comprehend, I'm sure."

"Oh, she's a talker, this one. Jesus, Robbo, never thought you'd be the type! I bet she's a feminist, too, hey?" Keith proclaimed.

Robbo snorted and rolled his eyes. "Glad to see you haven't changed at all, Keith." He looked at Shelby. "Come on, let's get out of here." He said, yanking on her hand as he started walking away.

Shelby stood firm, yanking Robbo back as she stared up at Keith. "I am a feminist, actually. People should be. I have every right to be an engineer and speak my mind, same as Robbo."

"Do you, though, little lady?" Keith said with a grin.

"I would rather you didn't call me little lady." Shelby replied as she let go of Robbo's hand and rolled up the sleeves on her sweater. "You know, I heard that men that belittle women are usually compensating for something." She stated.

"Oh yeah?" The ignoramus laughed. "Like what?"

"Well, for you ..." Shelby scanned him quickly before taking a swing at him. "I'd say the lack of a brain and a small penis." She replied as her fist connected with his jaw.

She was making a habit of putting men like this in their place. She rather enjoyed it.

December 23rd, 1987 — Salem, MA
9:01 PM, EST

Robbo was in complete awe. He had just watched Shelby suckerpunch his douchewad of a friend, and he loved every second of it.

He had never wanted to kiss a girl so bad before.

He looked over at the redhead as he drove them back to his house, a smile on his face as he noticed the way she had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey, Shelby, I'm sorry about Keith. He's a douche." Robbo stated.

"He is a douche." Shelby repeated in agreement. "But you have nothing to be sorry for, Robbo. It wasn't you."

Rob smirked some. "That was frickin' awesome, though. The way you knocked him on his ass like that."

A flicker of a smile appeared on Shelby's face as she stared ahead of her, clearly satisfied with her actions. "That was pretty sweet, wasn't it?" She said, the grin finally popping out in its full on beautiful force.

"The sweetest." He said in agreement.

Robbo felt his stomach flutter as Shelby smiled. The redhead's smile could light up the world, he was sure of it. It lit up his world, anyway. He was falling fast, and falling hard.

"Hey, Robbo, can we get ice cream?" Shelby asked, looking over at the boy with a hopeful smile on her face.

Robbo laughed. "Ice cream? On a night like this?"

"Yes, ice cream, on a night like this." Shelby glanced out her window as they drove, noticing that tiny snowflakes were beginning to make their way down from the sky. Not so many as to make a mess, but just enough to make things pretty outside.

"Okay." Rob grinned. "Ice cream on a night like this."

It was late, but thankfully the little shake shop downtown was still open. Robbo pulled his car up alongside the shop's curb and the two hopped out. Shelby was right — ice cream sounded like a great idea.

The door jingled as the pair walked inside, causing the bored teen at the counter to look up in surprise. It was probably rather strange to see people coming inside to get ice cream after 9 pm on a December night.

"How can I help you?" The teen asked as Shelby leaned up against the glass case that held numerous flavors of ice cream.

"Can I get a scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone, please?" The redhead asked with a grin.

The boy simply nodded and began to scoop the ice cream as he looked over at Robbo. "You?"

"Double scoop of rocky road in a waffle cone." Robbo answered. His choice of ice cream had not changed since he was five years old.

After they both got their cones, Robbo paid and they walked back outside. As he was about to get back into the car, he noticed Shelby was standing still, smiling up into the snowy moonlight.

"Shelbs? Everything okay?" He asked as he watched her.

The redhead smiled at him, looking purely content for the first time in a long time. "Everything is perfect." She replied. "I'm going to miss the snow. It doesn't snow in Florida." She stated.

Robbo chuckled as he walked back over to her. "No, it doesn't."

Shelby studied her ice cream for a few moments before saying, "Thanks for everything, Robbo. The ice cream, picking me up, bringing me into your home ..." Her eyes drifted over to the brown haired boy. "I really appreciate it."

He simply nodded at her with a smile. "Well, I mean, of course."

She smiled again and continued walking, her hand gripping her ice cream cone.

"Where are you going?" Robbo asked with a laugh as he raced to catch up with her.

"I don't know." Shelby replied. "I've never been here before. I just want to walk, in the snow, eating my ice cream."

"You're going to get hypothermia." Robbo teased as he walked beside her. "I mean, I could always keep you warm." He joked.

Shelby scoffed and ignored his comment, walking faster so that she was walking in front of him.

"Shelby?" Robbo piped up as he finished his ice cream. "Can I tell you something?"

Shelby laughed. "Surely you of all people wouldn't need to ask before saying something."

"You're beautiful." He blurted, watching as snowflakes floated down onto her bright red locks. She was beautiful, and brilliant, and hilarious. She was so many things.

Shelby's face flushed as she took in Robbo's complement. "Thank you." She murmured softly, looking up at him as he finally caught up with her.

He smiled and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers in a kiss he'd been waiting for since what felt like eternity.