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Aldys sat at her room at the dorm at Northwestern University. She probably wouldn't have been here today if it hadn't been for a new friend she acquired last spring, Josie Geller. Okay, so maybe she would have managed to get here on her own, after all, Josie was the only one who topped her grades, but Josie had given her the guts to take the final step. And after her covers were blown she had written a letter of recommendation for Aldys, ensuring her acceptance to her dream school.
Josie had changed everyone's lives in ways Aldys had never thought possible. Particularly not Gibby, Kristen and Kirsten. That first day, she had swirled into their classes dressed all in white. The white outfit caused her to be the laughing stock of the cool gang. Aldys knew very well what that was like. But Josie had risen above it in an amazingly short period of time. She drifted off into her memories�
"Aldys, do you want to help me with these boxes? It will probably take the entire first period, but Ms. Knox said that it was okay. Actually it's helping her as well."
Aldys didn't need to think it over a second. Sure she loved school, but Ms. Knox' first periods were always a tad on the boring side. The rest of her lessons were ok, but that one really stank.
"I'll help you." Moving those boxes was heavy work, but the regular workouts had helped keeping her in an excellent shape. Nobody at school knew about those times that she spent practicing. For them she was just Alpo the geek. For Finnigan and the other guys she played with she was Al. Plain old Al, who had been playing sports with the guys since, well, practically forever.
The fact was that it took more than just first period to finish moving the boxes. But actually Aldys kind of liked it. When she had finished she had to hurry to get to the next period in time. She made it. It was English one of her many favorite classes.
Aldys immediately noticed the shy girl sitting next to her. And she noticed her even more when she explained the word pastoral. She knew within herself that she never could have done that, and without bragging she knew that she was the student at school with most A's in English. She definitely wanted to get to know this Josie person more.
Her shot came at the end of the day. When Aldys came out after a meeting with the school paper she saw Josie standing there. Searching frantically for something. Aldys guessed it had to be her car. The cool ones did that to everyone new. What a way to welcome somebody to South Glen High. She had to do something to reassure her. So she walked up to her.
"They do it to all the new kids." With that she turned up and saw a window filled with the snobs. She was surprised to find out that it really hurt to see Guy among them. She had to get away. "Do you want to go to Nana's with me, to grab something to eat?"
Josie nodded.
After they had settled down at the cozy place bearing the name "Nana's", Josie looked thoughtful for a moment, then she asked Aldys what she wanted to be and what her dreams and ambitions for the future where. Aldys could barely control herself when she replied. There were so many things she wanted to do and it seemed like it couldn't get fast enough out of her mouth. It was kind of strange but there was something about Josie that made the words want to run out of everybody she met. Aldys couldn't quite figure out what exactly but she liked the idea of having Josie as a friend.
After that moment at Nana's, it seemed like they bonded. It felt to Aldys like they bonded even more when Josie's father called in the middle of their conversation. It was kind of nice to know that she wasn't the only one who had an over-protective father. Her father had been like that ever since her mother died when Aldys' younger sister was just a year old. He seemed to think he had to be both father and mother to his girls. Well, he had done a pretty good job; she had to admit that, even if his over protectiveness was troublesome. And after bonding with Josie, it felt natural to help her with her car.
When they stood there at the football field, in the middle of the marching band, Aldys couldn't help but to wonder about Josie. She dressed like a wealthy kid, had her own mobile phone and all. And she drove around in a junker. If it had been pink, Aldys would have nicknamed it "The Pink Clinker" like the car one of her great aunts drove. Aldys had a secret love for classic cars, but this one wasn't a classic she would be caught dead in.
"I think they recalled these cars in 1973."
She thought she saw Josie blush. Nah, probably just her own overactive imagination.
The time that followed after that was one of the best in her short life. Aldys had been popular among her own kind, but there were no one who she felt close to. When Josie came along and spread her smile and knowledge at South Glen, Aldys knew that she had found the one who the "nerds" had been lacking when they needed to make their case known at the school. She also knew that her life had been enriched by having Josie there. All of a sudden she had a friend to hang with after school. They baby-sat her younger sister Tyke together, they did homework together, asked for extra homework together. Aldys couldn't quite grasp it, then, but it seemed to her like Josie always did the extra homework from Mr. Coulson more carefully than all the extra work from the other teachers.
One night it all changed, the good times went away. And it was her secret crush who managed to ruin things. Josie and Aldys had been baby-sitting Tyke, they had been at the local hamburger place and picked up milkshakes and sundaes. Just returning to Aldys' house they had to drive past the local "Cool" hangout. The place she had wanted to hang out at when she was little, where she really wanted to be right now.
Unfortunately just in front of "The Court" there were traffic lights, and at that time, it was red. And Aldys were forced to stop.