Ash wiped clean the table in front of her, keeping her eyes trained on her task while her ears were trained on the table to her left. The two girls at the table, Claire and Lauren, had their heads close together in a conspiratorial way.

A moment before, Claire had dropped the volume of her voice and Lauren had followed suit. This didn't surprise Ash. Claire was the dominant one in the friendship and clearly sought control in a situation.

For Lauren's part, she almost seemed happy going along with whatever Claire said. There had only been one time in the last hour that Ash had noticed Lauren hesitate in her complete agreement with Claire.

Claire had been yakking on about how their friend Charlotte really needed to 'just get over her ex already'. A small crease had formed between Lauren's eyes for a moment and Ash could tell Lauren held some form of sympathy for Charlotte and the break-up she was going through. But all it had taken was one look from Claire and Lauren had fallen back into line.

Ash finished wiping the table and looked up in time to catch Claire moving her eyes in the direction of a table across the coffee shop. Like Lauren, Ash followed the obvious eye-movement across the room to a boy sitting at a table by the window. His head was bent over a table scattered with textbooks and papers. Ash smiled to herself as she moved onto the next table. Of course, a boy was the reason for the dispute in the girl's conversation.

Since Claire and Lauren had entered the coffee shop an hour before, their conversation had revolved around boys. The boys they were dating, the boys they wanted to be dating, the boys they had dumped, the boys who had dumped them, the boys their friends were dating, and the boys they wished their friends weren't dating.

They had spoken loud like entitled coffee shop patrons and had all but asked Ash to listen in. She had willingly obliged. It was early afternoon, the lunch rush was done and she had nothing to do. It had been a cherry on top that their conversation was about boys.

Ash had learned nothing revealed people quite like talking about the opposite sex and all the entanglements that brought. Their conversation had allowed Ash to determine their friendship dynamic and learn that both girls were willing to lie to inflate their desirability. Ash had rested against the back counter and listened in until they dropped their voices and forced her out from behind the counter.

With Claire and Lauren's eyes on the boy, Ash had a chance to observe them without being noticed. Claire had dropped her head down so she was gazing upwards at the boy while she fidgeted with her hair. Lauren was fixing the collar of her shirt, bringing attention to her neck, and her cheeks had a pink tint to them. All these were signs the girls were interested in this boy.

"You are not?" Lauren hissed, pulling Ash's attention back to their words.

"Watch me," Claire said boldly, pushing her shoulders back as she stood and strutted across the coffee shop. Lauren stood and watched in disbelief as Claire came to a stop in front of the boy's table.

Ash paused cleaning a table as she watched along with Lauren. The boy didn't seem to notice someone had approached his table. Claire waited another long moment before clearing her throat to gain the boy's attention.

The boy slowly lifted his gaze. Claire tilted her head and Ash moved to a table on the other side of the coffee shop so she could see Claire's face. Annoyance was tucked into the corner of Claire's mouth but she tried to hide it with a bright smile.

Claire and the boy started a back-n-forth and Ash watched the corner of Claire's mouth display her shifting feelings. Annoyance moved to hopefulness then enthusiasm then confusion then frustration. Ash was only half-listening to what they were saying as she watched Claire's quickly moving emotions until something the boy said made her ears perk up.

"Well, Professor Huxley has a thing about attendance in his classes," the boy said.

She looked at the boy closer. She had several classes with Professor Huxley. Was this boy in one of them? He didn't look familiar but upon closer examination, it became clear that that didn't mean much.   

His appearance, his posture, and his clothes only revealed he was a student. But that was all Ash was able to glean from his appearance. There was nothing remarkable or distinctive about him. She now suspected he had only gained Claire and Lauren's attention because he was the only male in the coffee shop.

"Come on," Claire said dropping her voice low and leaning slightly forward.

The smile the boy gave her was the perfect balance of regretful but resigned.

"I can't," he said as he looked at his watch. "In fact, I should go. Professor Huxley doesn't like late students either."

The statement made Ash freeze. The boy was lying. Professor Huxley didn't have any more classes for the rest of the day. Claire ceased to exist as Ash turned all her deductive skills on the boy.

She wasn't fascinated by him telling a lie but rather by the fact that he had spoken the words like they were truth. The only reason Ash knew he was lying was because she knew Professor Huxley's schedule. Ash was good at spotting a lie, but it seemed that this boy was better at telling one.

Claire returned to her table and the awaiting Lauren as the boy began to pack up his things. Ash returned to wiping down the table as she watched him. But she learned nothing. He so perfectly emulated the stereotypical student it was as if he was playing the role. Ash wondered what would happen if she poked a hole in his character.

He was just placing his last book into his backpack when she approached his table.

"All done?" she asked, motioning to the empty coffee cup on his table.

"Yes, thank you," he said. His voice was even and without any sort of accent.

Ash nodded and grabbed his cup. She started to leave but turned back as she said, "By the way," she dropped her voice a notch lower, "your lie would be more believable if Professor Huxley had more classes today. I would check his schedule so your lie is more convincing next time."

She winked like she was passing along some friendly advice instead of accusing him of lying and assuming that he would do it again.

There wasn't a single hesitation in the boy's actions as he zipped his backpack and looked up, directly meeting her eyes.

"Thanks for the advice," he said calmly as he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

Ash watched him leave, gobsmacked. Her accusation should have been enough to gain a reaction. Instead, the boy had given her absolutely nothing. Her brain began to whir with fascination as she watched him disappear into the crowd walking on the sidewalk.

*****

The next day, Ash was the first student to arrive at Professor Huxley's Behavioral Neuroscience class. She moved halfway up the stadium seating and found a spot that gave her a clear view of both doors leading into the lecture hall. If the boy from the coffee shop was in this class, she wanted to know.

He arrived fifteen minutes later.

Ash watched him carefully as he entered the classroom. She looked for anything that could tell her more about who he was. He took even strides. His shoulders were a little wider than average, which could reveal he was prone to working out, but the size of his arms didn't confirm that observation. His clothes were basic colors without any signifying logos and did nothing to show his income status.

As he walked along the front row he nodded at a few fellow students. His expression was friendly but the nods seemed more like a social custom rather than him connecting with friends.

Ash's gaze turned more focused as she narrowed her search to the little things, how he styled his black hair, her brain desperate to gather something that would start to reveal who this person was. But she was quickly out of time as he climbed the stairs to the back of the lecture hall and disappeared out of her line of sight

For the next hour, Ash fought to stay focused on the lecture while her brain continued to work out the problem that was this boy. By the time the class was over she felt like she had failed in both cases.

She hadn't taken in anything from the lecture and didn't have any new idea on how to figure out more about the boy. The fact that she couldn't deduce anything told her something but she wasn't sure what.

"Hey, Cafe Girl," someone said.

Ash's thoughts came to a dead halt when she turned and saw the boy from the cafe. He was right there, a few steps above her and he had recognized her.

"A nickname." She grabbed onto the first piece of data that told her something about this boy. "Nicknames produce a sense of familiarity and camaraderie. They are good at putting people at ease and making them feel special." She tilted her head to the side as she studied him. "Your use of a nickname would suggest you want me to feel one or both of those things."

Like the day before, Ash's words didn't cause any type of response. The boy just looked at her, his hands in his pocket like he was at complete ease.

Ash tried a second attempt. "If we are using nicknames in this friendship I think the obvious one for you is Liar." She smiled like they were already sharing an inside joke. "Don't you think it fits?"

He shrugged. "I've had worse," he said as he continued down the stairs.

Ash grabbed the rest of her things and hurried after him, unwilling to let this conversation end.

"Do you lie often?" she questioned as they reached the door and she followed him out. "Most people average two or fewer lies per day. Did you hit your average quota yesterday?"

He didn't miss a step as he headed down the hallway and Ash fell right alongside him.

"I usually only lie when it comes to customers," she admitted watching his face for reactions as much as she could manage while also walking. "I work in the coffee shop that you were in yesterday if you didn't catch that."

He looked at her like it was the first time he was aware she had followed him. It only lasted a moment before he looked forward again as he pushed open the door that led out onto the quad.

"The lies are really only white lies," she said, changing her strategy. How would he react to rambling? "I'll tell customers 'no problem' when they spill their drink and I have to clean it up. But that's an interesting lie, isn't it? I say the words even though they can see the exact amount of 'problem' their spill has caused me as I clean the floor.

"I also pretend not to recognize the customer who comes back for their third Frappuccino of the day. I learned that one the hard way. It turns out someone who drinks three caramel Frappuccinos a day doesn't actually want their barista to note the fact. For my part, I was only offering an interesting fact about the correlation between sugar and obesity."

This earned Ash another look and for the briefest moment, she thought she saw a flash of humor in his eyes. But then he turned away and she wasn't sure if she had seen it or if she had imagined it.

"You don't say much," she said, jumping into her next strategy. "Which I don't mind. Typically, I like to keep personal information to myself. I think this stems from the fact that I grew up under an abusive alcoholic father."

Finally, Ash got some sort of reaction as the boy came to a sudden stop. Her hopes lifted for a moment as she watched for a look in his eyes or a twist of his lips that would reveal why he had stopped but all she got was the action. His expression revealed nothing.

She silently cursed the non-reactionary boy as she dropped her gaze. She had just used her best ammunition and it had given her nothing.

"Your statement would be more believable if you didn't follow it with a piece of deeply personal information," the boy said. "I would think about that so you sound more convincing next time."

Ash's smile was involuntary as she recognized the very phrases she had used the day before when critiquing his lie. She looked back at the boy and to her deepest surprise found that she could see a touch of something he was trying to suppress in the way his mouth was set.

A happy laugh escaped from her mouth as a giddy feeling overtook her. He hadn't given her much but it was something.

A small, questioning crease formed between the boy's eyes and she happily supplied an answer.

"This is fun," she said, her smile still stretching across her face. She hadn't met anyone who had taken so much work to read and it was absolutely thrilling. "Thank you."

Humor flashed across the boy's face for a moment and then it was gone.

"Bye, Cafe Girl," he said as he turned and walked away.

**********************************************************************

AH! *clamps hand over mouth as I curl into a ball of giddiness*

ARE YOU READY! *holds mouth again, takes a breath and lets go*

Sorry, my excitement is threatening to escape and overwhelm you, I will try to keep it contained.

Really quick, if you have anything you'd like to say, say it now because I'm taking over. 🗯💬💭🔥

You're done, good. OH MY GOSH! *paces with happy little steps*

First chapter! Ah! And we met him! I mean we met Ash and boy, I love that girl but I'm talking about him! 🙊🙈

Oh jeez I feel like that friend who lent you a book and wants to spoil it but won't but is having a hard time not spoiling it!

As you know (or might not since you skipped my first author's note) this is my sister's book and I AM SO EXCITED SHE LET ME SHARE IT WITH YOU! AHHHHHH!!

Sorry. But you know how you like Donovan (A Secret Service) I like Mystery Boy just that much! I don't know if it's because I get to experience seeing him as a reader and not a writer like I do with Donovan. But Ah! *let's out giddy wiggle* I'm so excited for what's to come!!

Okay! We have so much coming our way!! So buckle, bunny! It's going to be...

Before you go: What are your top five favorite male love interests?

Now vote, comment, follow!