Happily, the day was expiring at a much quicker rate and I find myself in the Activities Office again. Maybe now I'll get to see that letter. I have to do my duties first and for some reason, there are more things to do than usual, but finally, I'm done and pull the note from my pocket.

It took forever to figure out how to open the darn thing. My perception is off today. Twice I nearly walked into an open locker door and three times I bumped into another student. I would have steamrolled over Mrs. Paradise, my history teacher, had Tyler not pulled out of the way. 

I smooth out the note and spread it before me.

Dear Finn,

Thank you for saying what you did.

The Eight Ball was a gift and means more to me than perhaps it should.

You said you were "Plagued with the worries of disappointment and disapproval."

Personally, I think it would be nice to have someone care enough about you that you have the need to worry, but that's just me.

I liked your sailboat.

You seem to be "fishing" for something.

Do you even know what it is?

And if you caught it would you recognize it as what you wanted or

would you just be happy with the catch and throw it back?

Curious,

Brynn Shelby

Was I fishing for something? I hadn't really thought about it until she brought it up. So, I guess my first answer would be, no. Perhaps I am but I don't know what it is I am fishing for. Truthfully, I chose the sailboat because it was the easiest of the folded pieces in the book to duplicate but she believes it to be some strange metaphor. It explains why she folded hers into a fish.

She'd probably be disappointed to know I'm not that deep. In fact, I'm rather shallow. Not Jessica's kind of shallow, I just tend to keep my feelings apparently where everyone can read me like a book, no hidden agenda, that's me. I'm not a hard guy to "figure out." Perhaps, I should try to be a little more mysterious like Brynn.

"There you are?" my mom says to me as she comes into the Activities Office holding boxes of cupcakes, and some posters tucked under her arm.

I quickly throw my book bag over Brynn's letter. Why? No, idea, it just felt like the right thing to do.

"Let me get those for you?" I take the cupcakes from her. 

"I need you to do me a favor and hang these posters up by the tables I set up this morning in the cafeteria before your next class starts."

Mom hands me the posters, and they're awesome. The picture is of a profile of a woman whose long hair is flowing out behind her and the hair morphs into butterflies that are breaking away to form the word HOPE.

"Wow!"

My Mom comes and stands next to me. "I know right."

That's when I notice it. Small and in the right-hand corner is her signature but just her first name, Brynn. I blink in case my tired mind is playing a trick on me but it really is there, hidden among the butterflies.

"Brynn did these?" I ask my Mom, still unable to take my eyes away from the drawing.

"I told you yesterday she is a brilliant artist. She came in early to help me calibrate the printer. That machine is a monster and I can never get it to print the colors the way that I want. Turns out, Brynn is a wizard when it comes to that kind of stuff."

So, that's where you ran off to. Suddenly my good mood comes surging back. Coincidence? I think not.

"I'll go right now," I snatch the roll of tape behind the counter. "I'll come back for the cupcakes at lunch if that's okay?"

"Sure, I've got to make today's announcements. You need to make it fast. I don't want you late for your next class."

"Got it." I pack up my belongings, grab the tape and poster and jog to the cafeteria. It's deserted. The first lunch period won't be for another half hour.

I get the posters up behind the table with the pink table clothes my mom set up for the bake sale. Standing back I observed my handiwork.

"I think that one needs to go a little to the left."

Nearly jumping out of my skin, I turn to see Brynn standing behind me. "Were you a ninja in a past life?" I press my hand against my heart willing it to slow down. 

She laughs and the sound of it is better than her smile in evoking that warm feeling that courses throughout my entire body.

"How do you know I'm not still a ninja? I could be you know. Lucky for you I haven't been contracted to kill you. So you're safe, for now." She points back to the poster. "Seriously though, a little to left with that one."

Running over behind the tables I carry out her request...well actually demand. "Better?" I inquire before pressing the poster against the wall.

"Yep, that'll do it," she replies.

Joining her again on the other side we both stand back and look at the posters.

"They're pretty awesome, but I'm sure you know that already," I say looking down at her.

"Why would I?" she asked seriously, craning her neck to look up at me.

"Seriously?" I'm stunned that no one has told her yet. I know my Mom would have said something.

She just shrugs. "Glad you like them."

"Not that I'm complaining but what brings you to the cafeteria? Aren't you supposed to be in a homeroom somewhere?" I inquire.

She's smiling again. I can't help but wonder if it is because she finds me amusing or do I somehow make her happy. I really hope it's the latter.

"Like you, I don't do homeroom. I spend the time in the Yearbook Office over there." She points to the office, which I'm already aware of, located behind her.

"Yearbook? You're on the yearbook committee?"

She chuckles. "And here I thought you were an observant one? Yearbook photographer, Brynn Shelby." She holds out her hand for me to shake, having made her introduction.

The yearbook is just one of the many extracurricular activities I participate in. How have I not noticed her before? Taking her tiny hand in mine I say, "Finn Nash, Yearbook Editor. Nice to meet you."

"I know." She is openly laughing at me now. 

"I didn't," I like the feel of her hand in mine.

"I know that, too. It's okay." She pulls me down closer to her in order to whisper, "Most people don't know I exist."

She's really close to me now, I can smell the shampoo or soap she uses, it has a fruity scent to it. Man, those brown eyes up close are pretty amazing.

"It's probably a good thing," I whisper back, "you being a ninja and all."

She chuckles and it sounds throaty this close. Now my heart is beating fast for a completely different reason.

"Careful, Finn Nash. I'm starting to like you," she warns.

It was a strange warning. I was about to ask if that would be a bad thing when the bell rang. "Shoot." I still have to get the tape back to the activities office and then go to my next class. I ran around the table to grab the tape and my backpack from the floor.

"What class do you have next?" I ask in the hopes that maybe if she is going my way, we can walk together but get no response. I look up past the table I was kneeling behind to put the tape in my bag and that fast she was gone.

She keeps disappearing. Well, one mystery is solved. Brynn is a little ninja.