Just something I found in an old notebook, almost exactly a year old. I have a lot of these little bitty stories here and there. If you like these let me know, and if you like them enough that you want it continued let me know. Maybe it would make me finish one of them. thanks for reading! (Even looking really!)

It was always the tiniest of trifles that turned out to be the biggest of problems. Like a leaky water fountain. It doesn't seem to be a big deal, but after being in class for an hour and a half the little drops have added up to be a big puddle.

Class is dismissed, a minute late. People quickly going through the hallways. And my feet find the shiny, slick puddle on the floor. They find it and decide not to splash but to slide. My feet slip out from under me, going forward as I fall backwards, knowing I'll be landing in this puddle.

But in that moment of falling someone decided to be there. They were there, behind me, to grab me as I fell. They must have been close, because they caught me so soon, and somehow I hadn't known they were there.

His arms under my shoulders, his hands in an embarrassing position as he kept me from falling into water. He lifted me back up to my feet and then quickly let me go. I noticed in his absence how warm he had been.

I quickly turned around to see who had saved me from embarrassment and saw my rescuer. He was someone who I wanted to be get to know but never thought I would get to. My face was burning red, probably from the tips of my ears to down my neck. As I tried to say thank you he asked where I was headed.

"I'm heading to the park to study, unless it's chilly, then I'll go to the library. Where are you going?"

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea. Are you studying with anyone?"

"Uh, no. Do you want to tag along?"

"Yeah, that'd be great! If you don't mind I mean."

"Not at all," I looked down at the puddle as we began walking side by side to leave the building, "Thanks for catching me."

"No problemo."

"But really, it would have sucked to fall into that puddle, and been extremely embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than being caught?"

"Of course!"

"You're welcome, so are you embarrassed easily? Because you're still super red."

"Ah…no, yes, and thanks for pointing that out," as I blushed more.

"No reason to be embarrassed by it, it looks good on you. The blush I mean."

I looked up at him to glare at him, because he was smirking. "So, do you like Dr. Jones' class?"

"I like it well enough; when I took it two years ago he offered an extra credit weekend trip, I wish he still did."

"Are his tests hard?"

"No, why?"

"Why are YOU retaking it then?"

"I'm not, I'm his TA," he looked at me with a strange expression.

"Oh, I didn't know. I thought you were just a student."

"No, I'm a Grad student, going on two years now."

"Huh…I totally thought you were an Undergrad student like me. So are you just a TA in our other shared classes?"

"No, I'm taking them as a Grad student, so I have more homework."

"Lucky you. So, I'm thinking it's a bit too chilly to go to the park."

"I'd agree with you there, I like the cold but not to sit out in it all still and study."

I smiled at him because I felt the same way about the cold. "Well if we go to the library you have to promise me something."

He looks at me in a side-long glance, "Alright," he says all drawn out.

"You can't tell anyone about the study spot we use. It's a secret spot that no one else uses; so it's always empty and quiet for me to study or read, or write."

"Sounds cool, like a secret lair. I'll keep your secret. You write?"

"Write?" I hadn't meant to say that.

"Yeah, you said you write."

"Oh, yeah I write little stories when I have a chance or when one is really on my mind."

"Neat. You ever let anyone read them?" he asked while glancing at me again.

I smiled back at him and said, "Sometimes – depends on the story, and the person."

We had arrived at the library. When we entered I led him to my secret lair as he had called it. We turned to the left and went all the way down the stairs, two flights down, to the basement. Down here were old maps and geological documents, some old statues, and other things no one bothered with anymore.

It smelled like old books, that faint vanilla scent, and had a slight chill to the air. I led him to the far right, to a small corner nook area. Here was my 'secret lair'. A blue denim love seat that I always sat in because it was very soft and comfortable. Catty-corner to it was a dark green, high-backed sofa that one could sink deeply into. Then across from the sofa was an old dark brown leather sofa, but it was probably too cool in the slight chill. In the center was a small wooden table that looked as if it should be in a living room, not a library.

"Here it is! My secret lair of study and mayhem," I said as I fell upon my blue denim love seat.

He was smiling at me as he asked, "Oh mayhem too now?"

"Oh absolutely! I plan all sorts of mayhem down here – pranks, jokes, stories, and many other trades."

"I didn't even know this place was down here," he said while settling into the green sofa.

I laughed, "That's kind of the point of a secret lair."

"Well yeah, but I mean I didn't realize this floor was here, or accessible. I thought it was just storage or something we weren't allowed to go to. It's not even labeled on the floor chart, they left it blank."

"Yep, all the more reason to use it as a secret lair!" I was laying down on the love seat with my feet towards him so I could look at him. But then I thought about what I might look like so I sat back up. "Though it does seem to be used for a lot of storage, hopefully with the furniture here it means were allowed to be here."

He didn't look even a little unsettled at the idea of being here when it might not be allowed. "But if I haven't been caught or even seen after all this time, I don't think I ever will be."

"Well I like it. I may have to sneak down here from now on to study."

"Only if you know the secret password."

"Password? I didn't hear you say one when we came in."

"I don't have to say it, because it's my secret lair. So, password?"

He sat there, thinking about it for a while, and then he smiled and looked me right in the eyes.

"Mischief Managed?"

I was shocked into silence. He had guessed the phrase I was thinking of on the first try. Maybe the little trifle today wouldn't be a problem after all?

"How did you do that?"

His smile was huge, "It wasn't that hard when I realized you were a fan of Harry Potter and it was currently on your mind, plus it went with the ideas of mayhem and pranks and jokes."

"How would you know it was on my mind? I didn't mention it."

"You had the Deathly Hallows drawn on the top of your page in class, and little footprints with trails around the border of your notes. So, Mischief Managed made the most sense."

"What exactly were you doing looking at my notes?"

"Uh, well…" he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"And for that matter, when I almost fell you caught me so quickly you had to have been less than a foot behind me or something, and watching carefully to know I needed catching. Why?"

He cleared his throat for a second, sat up a little straighter, "I was paying attention in class because you sit right in front of me and to the left while I'm in the very back of the classroom. And, well, I was close and paying attention because I was just about to tap you on the shoulder and ask you if you wanted to go get a coffee or something. Instead you slipped and we ended up here."

"Oh." I hadn't expected that. I don't know what I had expected but it hadn't been that. I was looking downwards, nervously interlocking my fingers trying to think of something to say. "Well that sounds like fun," I finally said, looking back up with a small sideways smile.

"Yeah?" I nodded my head in reply. "Cool, you want to study some and then go or go now?"

"Let's go now since we haven't even taken out any of our notebooks."

"Okie dokie."