Author's Notes:

2003 was the year for fluff pieces, obviosuly. I just wanted to expore a possible scenario for how Marty and Jennifer met.

Disclaimer: I do not own the canon characters. And, yes, sounding like a broken record does get old. :)

Boy Meets Girl

Hill Valley, California

Saturday, July 26, 1986

11:30 p.m.

Jennifer watched as Marty backed his truck out of her driveway. They had just enjoyed a movie date followed by a pizza dinner. It wasn't much, but the content of the date was not what pleased Jennifer. They could go to a dumpsite for all she cared. She just liked spending time with Marty. She watched as Marty's truck disappeared around the turn at the end of her street, then turned and went inside.

She found her mother sitting in the living room watching television. They chatted for a while about Jennifer's date and life in general. Finally, Jennifer excused herself to go to bed.

As she lay in bed, she thought about her relationship with Marty. She considered herself lucky for having met someone that loved her so much and was so loyal to her. Lucky, was the word for it. She remembered the night that she first met him and shuddered at the possibility of what could have happened if she stayed home that night.

Hill Valley, California

Saturday, September 4, 1982

7:30 p.m.

The freshman class was starting to arrive for the annual Welcome Back Dance. Jennifer Parker walked in slowly and nervously looked around the garishly decorated gymnasium. She was new at this school; her dad had recently been transferred from Washington state on business matters. She only knew her classmates from the class roll calls, but not one of them had gone out of their way to speak to her yet.

She stood nervously by the wall as some of her classmates began to dance. "Oh, why did Mom make me come to this thing?" she asked herself. If she'd had her way about the matter, she would have holed up in her room for the night. However, her parents thought that the dance might be a great way to make friends with some of her peers. However, as she noticed the weird looks that some of these people were giving her, she wondered if she would want any of them for friends. Then she noticed that she wasn't the only wallflower.

Marty McFly hated these functions. He figured that if he could not be playing his guitar that there was no point in showing up. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his neatly combed hair.

"Why does Mom always insist that I come to these things?" he wondered. He always ended up watching as his friends danced with the girls and he always felt left out. All of the time he was told that size didn't matter, but it always seemed to be a factor at a school dance. He quickly figured out that the girls did not want to dance with someone they were eye-level with. The guy always had to be taller. That singled him out immediately. Then he would spend three hours with his back to a wall while everyone else had fun.

As Marty surveyed the perimeter of the room, he realized that there was one other soul who shared his plight. He didn't know her name, but he recognized her from a couple of his classes. He had heard through the grapevine that she was new.

"She's pretty, that's for sure," Marty thought as he looked at her. The girl looked up and caught his gaze. She immediately looked away. Marty frowned in disappointment.

Jennifer wanted to leave the dance so badly. She hated being left out of the fun. Everyone else was on the dance floor and she wanted to be out there with them, but it was no fun alone. She soon realized that she was being stared at and she looked around to see that she was not the only one being left out. He was standing by the adjacent wall. She recognized him from a couple of her classes. In the week since they had started school he hadn't been on time once. It was hard to forget someone like that.

She looked away from him and back to the people on the floor. She wasn't in the mood to be around anyone right now, much less meet anyone. She didn't anyone approach her until the person spoke.

"You look like you're having about as much fun as I am," said a male voice.

Jennifer spun around, startled, to find herself face-to-face with the young man who had been looking at her. She regained her composure as she spoke.

"I don't want to be here. My mother made me come," Jennifer replied.

"Me too," Marty said. "My name's Marty McFly. What's yours?"

Jennifer smiled shyly. "Jennifer Parker," she replied softly.

"I guess I would know that if I was on time for roll call," Marty quipped. Jennifer laughed. "I keep forgetting where my classes are."

"Me too," Jennifer said. "This school is a lot bigger than my old one."

"Where did you go to school before?" Marty asked.

"Eddleton Junior High. It's in Groveland, Washington," Jennifer replied. She smiled wistfully at the memory.

Marty saw the look on her face. "It must be hard being the new kid," he said sympathetically.

"It is," Jennifer said sadly as she gazed at the kids on the dance floor. "I really miss my old friends." She looked at Marty who gazed back at her with a sad look of his own and felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry on your shoulder," she stammered.

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind," Marty replied as he smiled shyly at her. Jennifer returned the smile.

"So how come a nice guy like you is sitting on the sidelines tonight?" she asked.

The smile disappeared from Marty's face as he looked at the crowd. "Sometimes being the short kid leaves you out of the fun," he said softly. He looked back at Jennifer and blushed. "Oh great, now I'm crying on your shoulder," he said.

"Now we're even," Jennifer replied. The more she looked at him, the more she noticed how cute he was. Marty caught her looking at him and smiled another shy smile.

"She's real easy to talk to, Marty thought as he looked at Jennifer. He wanted to ask her to dance more than anything, but he was afraid of her saying no."

"Would you like to dance, Marty?" Jennifer asked.

It was Marty's turn to be surprised. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course," Jennifer replied.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing and talking. Almost too quickly, it was time to go. Neither Jennifer nor Marty wanted to leave.

"I had a good time," Jennifer said.

"Me, too," Marty replied. He was suddenly very nervous, though he didn't quite know why.

"Would you like to go out some time?" Jennifer asked.

"Sure," Marty stammered. This was a first for him. No girl had ever asked him out before. He was usually the one who did the asking and even that didn't have the best success rate.

"When?" Jennifer asked.

"I don't know. Probably next weekend," Marty replied. "My parents don't like me staying up on school nights."

"Same here," Jennifer said. She looked at her watch. "My dad's probably waiting. I've gotta go." She turned and started to leave.

"Jennifer!" Marty called out. Jennifer stopped and turned around. "I'll see you in school on Monday!"

Jennifer grinned and turned again to leave. Marty watched her leave and thought that this could be the start of a good thing.

As Jennifer sat in her parents' car, she couldn't help but beam. Her father noticed her upbeat attitude and smiled.

"So, Little Miss Contrary, I take it that you had a good time tonight after all," he said.

"The best, Dad," Jennifer said.

"Now, aren't you glad you came?" her father said. "You wouldn't have been this happy sitting in your room all evening."

"Yes, I'm glad I came," she replied. "Now let me tell you about Marty…"

Hill Valley, California

Sunday, July 27, 1986

1:00 p.m.

Jennifer smiled warmly at the memory as she lay in her bed. She found that she was too wired to sleep and she decided to call Marty. She dialed Marty's number in the hope that he hadn't yet gone to bed himself. Marty answered on the third ring.

"Hello," he said.

"Still up I see," Jennifer greeted.

"The night's still young," Marty replied. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you," Jennifer replied.

THE END

c. 2003