It was a warm, sunny day, rare for early April. It seemed as if the entire campus was playing frisbee or tanning on the quad. The entire campus except Grace Ashton of course.

With her small, faintly freckled nose stuck inside a tattered copy of The Great Gatsby, Grace walked from her lecture to the library. She was completely absorbed in her book, despite the fact that this was the 10th time she'd read it. She was so absorbed in the book that she didn't see the tall, geeky looking man until she had already walked into him.

"Oh shit!" Grace exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

The man laughed and bent over to pick up Grace's book which she had dropped.

"It's alright," he said, handing the book to Grace, "It was partly my fault."

Grace noticed the book he held in his other hand; old, yellowed pages, leather cover, some language she didn't recognize. She smiled and looked up at him. He was at least a foot and a half taller than her, long brown hair, beautiful brown eyes that she realized later that she may have stared into for just a minute too long...

Then she recognized him, he was the guest speaker she'd just seen, Dr. Something-Or-Other. He looked way too young to be a doctor, he couldn't have been more than two years older than her and she was just about to finish her BA in Criminology.

"Oh, you're the FBI guy, right?" Grace asked nervously.

"Yeah, you were at the lecture?"

"Yeah, you probably didn't see me, I snuck in late." she blushed.

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Why was she blushing? Guys didn't make her blush, she put an end to that years ago.

"So... you like working for the FBI?" she asked, desperately trying to start some kind of pathetic conversation.

"Uh.. yeah, it's pretty rewarding." the young doctor replied.

"So how does one get a job with the FBI?"

"Well, you would have to apply to the academy, but I've never heard of a Canadian movie to the US to join the FBI."

"Well, I'm just exploring my options." Grace said.

"Oh, so you're graduating?"

Grace nodded.

"Why the FBI then? Canada has their own equivalent of it." he enquired.

Grace sighed, she couldn't believe she was about to have this conversation with a complete stranger, especially a complete strange that could make her blush.

"Have you ever just woke up and realized that you need to go somewhere else and just start over?" Grace asked, not expecting a response. "I need a change." she said, shrugging, trying to play it off as if it weren't as disturbed as she believed it had sounded.

"So you do everything in extremes?"

Grace's jaw dropped. "You're profiling me?"

"Am I right?"

Grace's face turned red, this time with anger. "No." she said, storming off towards her dorm.

Grace closed the dorm room door and collapsed on her bed. She tried as hard as she could to hold back the tears, but they broke through her eyelids and she felt she might choke to death.

That'd be a nice way to go, she thought, choke to death in the only place she'd ever felt safe. At least her biographer wouldn't ever know about that disaster of an encounter.

Grace looked at herself in the full-length mirror across the room. She studied her face, blotchy and red from the tears, framed by her long, straight, golden blonde hair. She punched her mirror image in the face.

Why am I such an idiot? She thought. The first time I speak to a guy I have even the slightest interest in in years and I screw it up! I don't deserve to be happy!

She threw herself on the bed again and screamed into her pillow. Mid-scream, the door opened and Grace's roommate, Ainsley walked in.

"Hey honey," Ainsley greeted her cheerfully, "I saw you with that cute doctor guy. Did you get his number?"

Grace cried even harder. "I didn't even get his name!"

Ainsley's smile disappeared. "I'm sorry hun," she said, wrapping her arms around her friend. "Don't worry, there'll be others."

Grace just stared at her. "Ains, come on, you know that's not true."

"Grace Ashton, I have listened to your 'no one will ever want me' bullshit for five years now!" Ainsley said. "Fix your face, we're going to catch him and do this over!"

"Ainsley, please-"

"No! Come on!"

Ainsley grabbed Grace by the wrist and dragged her out of their room. She didn't let go until they reached the parking lot where they saw Dr. Something-Or-Other get in a cab and drive away.

"Oh, Grace, I'm so sorry." Ainsley said, attempting to comfort her friend.

Grace shook her head. "It's alright, Ains, I'm used to this by now. It's just... it's been awhile."