Crazy. That was her nickname for Ryan. Because he was crazy- a kind she hadn't met before.  She was quite the introvert, and he was...

Annoying.  That's what she had first thought- constantly talking, laughing and cracking jokes. They weren't even that funny! She grumbled. Tom, her high school best friend, thought he was cool. They were roommates and he used to tell her how hilarious Ryan was. This annoyed her even more. She felt like she was losing her best friend to exactly the kind of people they had secretly mocked in high school – the popular jerks.

She first talked to him at Tom's party. Okay, maybe he wasn't that bad. She had thought then. Charming even.

They had become fast friends. Best friends even- the three of them. Inseparable.  She had discovered that Ryan wasn't so different from her after all. They had the same tacky sense of humor, even the same way of thinking although they'd act out differently- she was more sarcastic and he was more lighthearted.  She' d tease him about his 'blonde skanks', and he'd make fun of her  'loser' dates and they'd both tease tom about his long distant relationship.  And then she had found her falling for that charm- the one she thought she was too smart for. Shit. She had thought, and then came a string of distractions- anything to keep herself occupied. But then he had started ruining her dates multiple times. It angered her at first and then she understood it.  A slight hope. That's all. Nothing more. Nothing less.