Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who is reading/reviewing this story! I hope you all like this chapter!

Song for the chapter: Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding

Anything Could Happen

With Erica's begrudging seal of approval finally obtained, Isaac wasted no time in calling Meredith.

"Hello?" Her voice was sweet and innocent and, at least over the phone, uncannily similar to how Erica's had been before her metamorphosis. She clearly had no idea who was calling.

"Hey, it's me, Isaac," he stated somewhat inelegantly.

"Oh, hi." He could sense her blushing, even through the phone.

"So, I talked to Erica…"

"What'd she say?" The trace of eagerness in her tone definitely did not slip past his notice.

"She said it was fine – so, I was thinking, do you want to do something this week?" He attempted to sound nonchalant, and he thought he succeeded modestly. Isaac was still very new to this whole 'being cool' thing…

There was a short, pensive silence on the other end of the line, but eventually she replied, "I have like an hour between the end of school and dance rehearsal on Monday, do you want to get coffee or something then?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek ruefully and said, "I can't, I always have lacrosse practice right after school… Would you maybe want to grab dinner?"

"Hmm, I don't know. We might have to wait until the weekend then because I don't think my parents will let me go on a date on a school night..."

While this wasn't necessarily a problem for Isaac, he tried to search for an alternative. "I have a game on Wednesday, maybe you could come to that and then we could do something after? That way you could just tell your parents that you're going to the game. I promise I won't take up too much of your time."

He could tell she was smiling when she replied, "Okay, that could work… I'll see you on Wednesday, then?"

"It's a date."

"Okay, cool. Bye!" Poor Meredith was desperate to get off the phone before she could say something to embarrass herself.

Isaac said goodbye and hung up the phone, his hand twitching nervously as he slid it into his pocket. He couldn't help but feel a strange kinship with her, as if there were a possibility that they could grow to understand one another in away that no one else could. He suspected they were both fairly socially inept people, trapped in bodies in situations that forced them to pretend not to be. Their interaction was very stilted at the moment, but he let himself hope that this preliminary awkwardness would dissipate once they were better acquainted.

WEDNESDAY

Meredith had found herself in a bit of a foreign predicament. Given that she attended an all-girls school, it wasn't often that she interacted with boys. That, compounded with her parents' conservative views, left her with little to no experience in anything even mildly romantic. And, as a sixteen-year-old junior in high school, it pained her to admit that this was her first real date. While most of the girls in her class gossiped about milestones like losing their virginity or getting their first boyfriends, Meredith observed silently from behind her books. She dodged any and all questions about her non-existent love life, quickly formulating excuses or – in some cases – lies to throw people off her trail.

Her class was small enough for everyone to know one another and large enough for everyone to have formed cliques. Meredith wasn't in a clique, though. She wasn't popular and she wasn't unpopular, which left her in a small, lonely middle ground that straddled the two. She lived in this strange bubble with only one other girl, Julia Ricci. She had other friends from ballet, but Julia was her best friend and she was the only one that knew anything about her personality. To the other girls, she was just a pretty wallflower.

Julia was the only one who knew about her date with Isaac. In many ways, she was exactly the opposite of Meredith. She was a short, curvy brunette with olive skin and almond-shaped eyes, a testament to her Sicilian heritage. She came from a large family and was consequently very loud, opinionated, and expressive in nearly every matter. Her warm nature and voluptuous figure made her quite popular with the boys, but not so popular with the girls. In fact, it was to combat her promiscuous tendencies that Julia's parents had sent her to St. Beatrice's in the first place. However, despite their vast differences, she and Meredith were extremely close.

So, naturally, Meredith had invited Julia over to her house on Wednesday before the lacrosse game. Although she was a bit of an introvert and didn't like talking about her crushes, she was desperate for advice and she knew Julia would be happy to help her.

"He's gorgeous," she remarked as Meredith showed her a photo of Isaac on Facebook.

"I know," she replied rather sheepishly.

"How'd you meet him again?"

"At a party that my cousin Erica brought me to."

"I can't believe you're going out with your cousin's ex – scandalous."

"I know, but he's super sweet and… I don't know. I feel like it would be a shame not to at least try to see where it goes."

"Hey, no judgment, I'd probably do the same. Too bad all the guys my cousins date are hideous…" Meredith laughed and shoved her lightly, causing her to exclaim, "Hey, I'm just keeping it real."

"What do you think I should wear?" she asked, changing the subject. She opened her closet, revealing a trove of pastel clothing.

Julia stood to examine the materials she was working with, and lamented, "All your stuff is so classy. Here" – she tossed her a pair of dark, well-fitting jeans – "definitely these." After rummaging further through the hangers, she eventually procured a baby blue, empire-waist top. It had a deep scoop neck, which was about the most revealing thing Meredith owned.

The blonde changed and modeled the outfit for her friend. As always, she looked lovely; she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as she watched the other girl's impossibly slim figure do a graceful little twirl. After Julia voiced her approval, Meredith couldn't help but blurt out, "What if he tries to kiss me?"

Julia blinked slowly, taken aback not by the abruptness of the question, but by the fact that it was uttered with such unwarranted terror. "What do you mean?"

"You know I've never kissed anyone before," she clarified, cheeks hot with embarrassment.

Her friend regarded her compassionately and said, "If he's as nice as you say he is, I don't think he's gonna try to French you on the first date – maybe just a little peck. It's pretty self explanatory, really – nothing to worry about."

"I'm so nervous," she confessed.

"I can tell. Seriously, don't be. I'm sure it will go great."

"What if I say something to screw it up?"

"You won't, I promise. Just be yourself." Julia realized that this was about the most clichéd advice she could possibly give, but it was true – Meredith was a kind, sweet girl, and just about anyone would agree. She just had to overcome her shyness, first. "Just make sure to say things to keep the conversation going," she added. "Oh, and if he takes you to dinner, don't just order a salad – guys hate that, it makes you look super high maintenance."

"But what if I really just want a salad?"

Julia gave her an unamused look. "No one wants just a salad."

The blonde sighed deeply and flopped backwards onto her bed. "Okay," she murmured. Turning her head to check the time, she saw that she had to get a move on. "I've gotta go," she told Julia, "Do you want me to drop you off?"

"That'd be good, yeah." While Julia did theoretically have a car at her disposal, it was almost always occupied by one of her two rowdy older brothers, Anthony or Bobby. And with her younger sister, Sara, about to get her license, the Ricci's driveway became a veritable warzone any time one of them needed to go somewhere.

Meredith dropped Julia off at her barely-large-enough-for-six-people-and-a-Golden-Re triever house and headed over to Beacon Hills High. To be painfully honest, she had a fair number of misgivings about attending a public school function. She'd heard stories from the girls at St. Beatrice's, since a few of the more adventurous ones fraternized with Beacon Hills students – the picture they had painted was not entirely favorable and they often complained that the guys were pigs. What's more, despite the fact that her cousin attended Beacon Hills, her parents had always discouraged her from interacting with these kids because they considered the majority of them to be academic underachievers.

Part of the reason that Meredith's parents had chosen to send her to a private school was because the smaller classes allowed her a higher GPA. Their daughter, perfect though she seemed, had one fatal weakness: while she was quite good at memorization and did her work diligently, she did not possess a high level of raw intelligence. This, unfortunately, was evidenced in her SAT scores, which were decidedly average. Nevertheless, the education they afforded her had certainly raised them from what they would have been and improved her chances of attending a respectable university.

While Meredith was not aware of this detail, she was in fact fully aware that she was sheltered. As an only child, her parents both spoiled her and were extremely protective of her. Sometimes she enjoyed being constantly treated like a delicate flower, but others she grew incredibly weary of it. She was not rebellious by any stretch of the imagination, but she had to admit that it felt oddly satisfying to be doing something she knew her parents wouldn't approve of. Plus, she was confident that Isaac didn't fit the uncouth description of a public school student she had been warned about.

When she arrived at the field, she took a seat in the bleachers beside Erica. Her cousin gave her a critical once-over, before remarking, "You look nice."

"Thanks, so do you."

"Are you here to see Isaac?" Her tone was a bit tighter than she'd meant for it to be.

"Yeah…" Meredith clearly hadn't missed the slightly hostile undertones, and kept her own voice airy and melodious. Erica tried not to allow herself to become further perturbed – how could someone be so perfect and ladylike all the time? The girl was like a freaking Disney princess…

Erica was sitting beside several other people that she recognized vaguely from the party, and they were all looking at Meredith with undisguised curiosity. A curly-haired brunette nudged her and whispered, "Who's that?"

"Oh, sorry," stammered Erica. "This is my cousin, Meredith. She goes to St. Beatrice's. I brought her to Isaac's party last weekend, but I don't know if you guys were ever formally introduced. This is Allison, Lydia, Amy, and Derek."

"Hi," she said timidly.

The three girls each offered some manner of greeting, before turning their attention back to the game. The man named Derek didn't say anything, but scrutinized her carefully. This did not go unnoticed by Erica. "That's Isaac's cousin at the end of the bench," she explained quietly once Meredith was seated. "They live together. He's dating the girl next to him."

"Is he in high school?" she questioned in bewilderment. He certainly didn't look like he was in high school…

"No, he graduated a few years ago."

"Oh," was all she said in response. Just several minutes into the experience, and she was already witnessing things that would be chattered about for weeks at St. Beatrice's. No one else seemed to think anything of it.

The game ended with Beacon Hills' victory, and the girls sitting next to her – with the notable exception of Amy – flooded the field. Allison tightly hugged a tan-skinned boy with a crooked jawline, Erica went to Stiles, and Lydia met up with an incredibly attractive blond. Isaac was left standing rather uncomfortably as all his friends were congratulated by their significant others, until he spotted Meredith. Immediately, he broke into a wide grin as she cautiously approached him.

"You came," he stated.

"Yeah, of course!" she said with a smile. "I told you I would, didn't I? Great job out there, by the way."

"Thanks," he said, cheeks flushed from more than just physical exertion. "So, just give me like ten minutes to shower and then we can grab dinner."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Great." Without further ado, he headed back towards the school with the rest of the team.

"We're gonna go," Amy told everyone as Derek stood on the fringes of the group. "See you tomorrow." She turned to Meredith: "It was nice to meet you – we'll probably see each other again at some point." And with that, the two of them were off.

"I still can't believe they're dating," Lydia said conspiratorially once Amy was out of earshot. "Like, how does that even happen? I can't believe she actually managed it."

Allison shrugged lightly. "I don't know. I have to admit, it is weird."

"I think they're cute together," Erica asserted. She didn't know either of them particularly well, but she knew that Stiles and Amy had spent a lot of time together before either started dating anyone. She was already insecure about his feelings towards Lydia, and the last thing she needed was the added stress of worrying about him and Amy, too. The longer she and Derek remained a couple, the better.

They met the boys in the parking lot in front of the school. As the players began to trickle out of the building, the girls Meredith had just been introduced to went their separate ways. Isaac came out last, presumably because he had put far more effort into his appearance than everyone else – he was about to go on a date, after all, unlike the others.

"Do you mind driving?" he asked once he'd emerged, looking quite dashing. "Usually I take my bike, but Derek dropped me off today."

"No problem," she said, leading him to her black VW Jetta. Although she had expected him to be the one to provide the transportation, she supposed it wasn't an issue. She opened the trunk and he deposited his backpack and gym bag inside, hoping that his dirty clothes wouldn't stink up her car too much. Lord knows, Derek complained about it constantly…

Once in the car, he directed her to a cute little bistro in the downtown area. She parallel parked along the street, and soon she was well on her way to her first official date. Isaac opened the door for her as they entered the building and the hostess was kind enough to give them a cozy table by the window. The lights were dim throughout the restaurant and, as a whole, it had a very romantic atmosphere.

The waitress handed them their menus – heeding Julia's words of wisdom, she decided to order a plate of pasta. Isaac, famished from the game, ordered an enormous burger with a bunch of sides.

"So," he said once they were left to their own devices, "tell me about yourself. What do you like, what don't you like? Do you have any siblings? You know, the basics."

"Well, I don't have any siblings unfortunately and my family as a whole is pretty small. In terms of hobbies, ballet is pretty much my life… As far as things I don't like… I don't know, that's a tough one. I hate tomatoes, if that counts. Everyone always thinks it's so weird, but I can't help it."

"How can you not like tomatoes! You ordered pasta with tomato sauce," Isaac pointed out slyly.

"I don't mind the flavor, it's mostly just the texture. Like, I can't have them in salad or anything."

"Huh, that is weird," he admitted.

"What about you, same questions," she pressed flirtatiously. "Any siblings? Likes and dislikes?"

"Let's see… I don't mean to get super heavy super fast, but my family situation is kinda rough, to put it lightly. I don't know if you know about what happened or not, but you might as well hear it from me before someone else tells you… My parents died in the same fire that killed Derek's family seven years ago, and my older brother died in combat in Iraq a couple years later. That's why I live alone with just Derek."

It had crossed Meredith's mind that it was odd that Isaac and his cousin lived alone together, but she could never have guessed the severity of the reason. Isaac's hand was resting on the table and, unthinkingly, Meredith covered it with hers. "I'm so sorry," she said earnestly.

"It's okay," he assured her, staring pointedly at their hands, "it was a long time ago. Likes and dislikes? I really like the outdoors… I hate English class and writing in general."

"How can you hate writing?" she asked, happy to move the conversation away from its tragic beginnings. She tried to subtly remove her hand from his, shocked that she'd gotten so carried away in her sympathy.

Without missing a beat, he replied, "I dunno, I just do. Just like some people hate math because the numbers don't make sense, writing doesn't make sense to me."

Meredith took a sip of her water to avoid immediately replying because she didn't really know what to say to keep the conversation burning. Eventually, she managed, "So, do you have any plans for next year?"

Isaac smiled knowingly and said, "For college, you mean?"

"Yeah – I mean, it's totally okay if you don't, I was just wondering…"

To her surprise, he laughed and replied, "Yeah, I do – I'm probably going to try to go to UCSD or another university in California. I definitely don't want to leave the state."

"UC San Diego is a good school," she observed.

"I know, that's why I'm keeping my options open," he joked. "My grades are only okay."

"That's fine, though, I'm sure you'll like wherever you end up," she said sagaciously.

He nodded, acknowledging that she was most likely correct. The rest of the dinner passed in a similar fashion, and by the end she was conversing fairly comfortably with him. All in all, they hit it off.

When she dropped him off at his house, Isaac wasn't sure what his next move should be. Since she'd been the one to drive, the whole walk-her-to-the-doorstep-and-give-her-a-kiss thing wasn't really feasible. So, he settled for a winning smile.

"Thanks so much for driving," he said.

"It was no problem," she replied breathily. He really wanted to kiss her, and she looked like she wanted him to, but he knew he shouldn't.

"I'll talk to you later this week – maybe we can do something this weekend."

"That'd be great." Oh crap. She was staring at his lips…

"Okay, so see you later." Panicking, he wrenched the door open and stumbled out. He stood on the curb and waved at her as she drove away, but not before removing his belongings from the trunk. As he watched her car disappear into the night, he mentally kicked himself. You should have kissed her. He knew he should have. But maybe this was better. He didn't want to come on too strong – he didn't want to scare her off. Even he could tell that she was vastly inexperienced (not that he was an expert, but, well, he'd dated Erica…).

Little did he know, though, Meredith spent the remainder of her drive home wondering what she had done wrong. She'd been so ready for her first kiss, and then… nothing. She couldn't help but doubt that he was going to contact her again because she had clearly done something to put him off. Feeling irrationally upset, she cranked the radio up to quell her disappointment.

Author's Note: LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK GUYZ