They walked in amicable silence until everyone at the school was out of earshot. Peter glanced at Carrie, she still looked a bit shaken, she had her hands deep in her pockets and had a faraway look in her eyes. She noticed him looking at her and he smiled, she smiled back. She felt safe.

"You know, you should do that as often as you can." he added with a grin

"Do what?" Carrie asked a bit confused

"Smile." he said wincing a bit as the Sun high in the sky was shining right in his eyes

Carrie started to feel a bit of warmth in her cheeks "You're the first person who has ever said anything nice to me." and at that moment Carrie honestly just forgot everyone at Ewen even existed

The new boy grinned back at her and the grin suddenly fell as realization hit him "Wait. By first person, you don't mean here.. at school. You mean ever. As in, as long as you've been alive?"

"Yeah.." she said and she hid her face behind her golden locks

Peter just stammered, he didn't know what to say. They hadn't been walking long, about 3 minutes when they rounded a corner at the end of the street and across the road were the main gates of Wormsloe Park, as the sign on top of a stone arch indicated. The place looked unkept to say the least.

She was about to step off the sidewalk when Peter gently held her by the shoulder as a maniac drove by, kicking up dry leaves and dust, swirling it on the road behind him.

"You okay?" he asked a bit worried, looking her in the eyes "You really shouldn't walk into traffic you know." trying to lift her spirits

She could for the first time in her life hear genuine concern in someone's voice for her. Carrie didn't know what to say.

She was very shy and timid, Peter observed, he slowly removed his hand from her shoulder, where he remembered that moron squeezed it "Oh, I'm sorry! Does it still hurt?"

"A bit." she admitted, and then saw the look on his face "But it's okay! You didn't hurt me." he relaxed a bit, they crossed the street and went into the park, the place was huge, and a bit creepy, but she liked coming here after school, the one place where no one bothered her and she could have a little free time to herself.

"Wow!" the small word brought her back to the present "This place is pretty cool." he added as he gazed in every direction, up at the massive oak and elm trees, the park seemed to go on and on.

"It's my place." she said at a barely audible level and she already had his full attention "I like to come here. To think. Be alone."

He smiled in understanding "I got something similar back home. An abandoned warehouse at the docks. It's peaceful."

She looked at him and smiled, that's when she noticed he was still carrying her backpack. "Oh, you don't have to carry that, it's fine!" she tried to take it from him

"Oh no, no, no! Not before I have a look at your shoulder."

She looked as if she was about to hide in her shell at that.

"Or not!" he quickly added "Just, just don't use your right to carry it." and he slowly handed it back to her.

"Thanks." she said, he nodded "For everything, for you know, back at the school."

"Glad I was there, but I should have been there sooner" he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders "I couldn't stop him from hurting you the first time. I'm sorry." he added, his head hanging a bit.

"You have nothing to be sorry about!" she stated passionately "I'm the one who should be sorry for dragging you into this mess, now everyone is going to be picking on you as well."

"What? Seriously?!" he asked, laughing a bit "Do you think I care about those idiots? If I had the choice of doing it all over again I certainly would. Every time. You know why?"

She was gazing at him and her eyebrows were a bit furrowed.

"Because it was the right thing to do."

They came to a small clearing that had an old carved bench, the grass around it was getting tall as the park didn't have a caretaker. They had a bit of shade from the hot Sun. He crossed his legs underneath him and dropped his backpack and his skateboard on the ground, she sat down next to him and that was the moment when the uncomfortable silence decided to rear its ugly head. Carrie moved her hair behind her ear and she noticed that Peter was smiling at her.

"What?"

"I'll never understand how girls can get away with that." at her expression he continued "Placing your hair behind your ear, it's just so, so... adorable." he blurted it out.

Now she was really starting to feel warmer, and not because of the Sun "This was a good idea. I think a day without seeing everyone at school will do us both good."

"Even if it's my first day here."

"You're skipping class on your first day because of me?" she asked and could barely hide her small smile

"Wouldn't have it any other way." he stated with fake smugness in his voice that earned him a warm laugh

"Arghh.." he winced a bit "This is what I hate about Autumn, in the mornings and at night you're freezing your butt off, but during the day you could get a tan!"

She laughed even harder now. He certainly wasn't like anyone she's ever met, ever. "Wh-where are you from?" she suddenly asked after a few moments

"Oh, uh, New York. City. Queens, actually." he smiled

Her eyes lit up a bit, ever since she was small she'd dreamt of traveling, and from the pictures, documentaries and few movies about the city that she saw at school she thought that New York was very beautiful.

"I would love to see it someday." she admitted

"It's worth it for the food alone." he laughed, she smiled "Oh, it's my thing, I throw out jokes and witty banter with no control. Most of it ain't that good, but I'm working on my material!"

She laughed even harder now. She couldn't believe it, she had just made a friend. Her first friend.