Alex took a plate out of the cabinet and piled the brownies onto it. She briefly thought about frosting, but she didn't want to use up the stuff that belonged to Kyle's aunt, so she let it go.

It wasn't hard to find the living room, but once she got there it felt a little strange to be sitting down on someone's couch to watch a movie. She moved somewhat awkwardly to sit next to him, back straight and the plate held carefully on her lap, automatically defaulting to the etiquette that had been drilled into her as a child. She had to remind herself to relax, lean back and cross her legs, and then she picked up a brownie and offered the plate to him.

"Here. Slightly underdone, but not," she pointed out with a touch of pride, "on fire."