1-'my, my, you're so popular!'

By his seventeenth birthday, Gabriel Adams Junior has decided that he frowns far too often. He's also decided that he is a cynic, because he hates his parents for giving him such an unoriginal name; he hates his brother for being a genius; above all, he hates that he has lived in Minnesota for a month and has yet to enjoy one thing about the place.
And then he meets Hemera O'Mally, a self-labeled optimist. At first, naturally, he hates her. Then one day she inquires, "Do you skate?" to which he responds, "You mean, like, on roller blades?" and she proceeds to clarify, "No, I mean on ice."