I combined a scene from Kingdom Keepers III with the feel I got from the song "The Story of Us" by Taylor Swift, then added Brittany and Alvin's names in! xD

Hope you like... (:

"Hey, Alvin!"

Brittany was waiting for Alvin at the front school gate, waving him over. He jogged a little to catch up to her. "Hey!" he said. "What's up?"

"I need a ride," she said. "Eleanor's sick, so she never came to school, and Jeanette got checked out early to get braces on her bottom teeth." She looked at her phone. "They're probably still there. Can I get a ride with you?"

"Uh...sure," Alvin said, leading her over to the bike racks. Brittany followed. Alvin gestured for her to sit on the seat. Brittany hesitated.

"I could sit on the bar, you know," she said. "It would be faster."

Alvin's throat tightened. If she sat on the bike's top bar, it was going to get cozy—real cozy. "What about your bag?" he asked, looking for an excuse to prevent this from happening.

"I can put it with yours. Unless you don't want me to..."

Trapped. "No, that's okay. Sure, I guess." He held the bike for her, steadying it. She slipped onto the bar, waiting for Alvin to mount the saddle. He'd never done this before, and it suddenly felt like she was sitting in his lap. Her left shoulder touched his chest, and her long hair tickled his chin.

"I've got a better idea," he said, their faces nearly touching. "Why don't you take the saddle?"

"I'm good here," she said.

"No...I think it would be safer with you on the seat. I can stand on the pedals."

A moment later, they were gliding down the street, Brittany's hands clutching Alvin's waist for support, Alvin trying to be suave with his bike direction. Brittany kept Alvin busy with her talking.

"So, Patricia's having a party."

"I've heard."

"Are you going?"

He paused. "Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on who else goes. I mean, I won't go if no one I know goes."

"I'm going."

He smiled a little. "Maybe I will go, then."

There was a comfortable silence, and then Brittany added, "She likes you."

"Who?"

"Patricia."

He laughed. "I know."

"You do?" Brittany was momentarily shocked, and then realized that Patricia was so moony over him, how could he have not noticed? "Do you...you know...?"

He chuckled again. "Actually, no. I don't like her back. I mean, she's really pretty, and athletic, and smart. But not really my kind of girl."

"So you prefer ugly and out-of-shape and stupid?"

Alvin laughed. Brittany hadn't meant this as a joke, but when she saw his level of laughter, she joined in a little.

"And besides," he said, "Johnny loves her."

"No way!"

"Way."

"I'll make sure to update Patricia with that piece of info."

O-0-o-0-o

A little while later, Alvin turned down a street.

"Um, Alvin?"

"Hm?"

"You were supposed to take me home."

"Let's just hang out here for a bit," he said.

"Um, okay."

He locked his bike up outside Yogurt Island and they went inside and shared a large cup. They met Johnny there, and Brittany couldn't stop thinking about how much le liked Patricia. She would randomly burst into fits of laughter.

"What?" Johnny asked after the third time.

"Johnny li..." was all she managed to get out before laughing again.

Alvin finally got the joke and burst into laughter, making a noise with his lips and squirting frozen yogurt over the table before throwing his head back and laughing. What made it funny was that Johnny didn't have a clue what they were talking about and had a bewildered look on his face the whole time, openly showing that he thought they were both nuts.

O-0-o-0-o

Once they finally left, it was near six o'clock, and the sun had pretty much gone down, the sky turning pink around the mountains in the distance.

"I really like seeing the sunset," Brittany commented from her perch on the handlebars, winning the disagreement on their way out of the yogurt place.

"Sure," Alvin mumbled.

"I mean, I know thinking the sunset is pretty is a really sappy thing to think, but I mean, it's just so romantic." She paused. "I'm a hopeless romantic. I love all those chick-flicks and sad moments that define relationships. Love it. I always will."

Another silence. Alvin was really uncomfortable in this one, afraid that, by standing up on the pedals (which is his casual way to ride), he would get to close to Brittany's face and his heart would implode. So he pedaled the normal way, his butt on the seat, struggling to keep up a constant rate.

They stopped at the last intersection before the neighborhoods, Brittany hopping off the front and walking with Alvin across the street. No one had talked in a while.

When they were moving again, Brittany asked, "What's wrong, Alvin? You haven't spoken in a while."

"I'm just tired."

"It's only six."

"I get tired early."

"You weren't tired two seconds ago at Yogurt Island."

"The ice cream hyped me up," he said. "But it's worn off..."

Brittany unexpectedly hopped off the front of the bike and spun around, stopping Alvin from moving.

"What's this all about?" he asked; he had not seen this coming.

"Whoops," she said unconvincingly, "I accidentally fell off the bike."

"What kind of lie is that?"

"The kind you're giving me."

Alvin didn't get it.

"Tell me what's really going on. I know you're not silent because you're tired. In fact, I know you're not tired at all."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, yes I do! Now tell me what's up."

She stared at him, waiting, and secretly hoping. She awaited a specific answer. He sighed, looking down. Then he looked up. "You make me nervous."

Now Brittany was confused. "Huh?"

"I didn't want you to sit on the bars because...I...was nervous."

"That I'd fall?"

"No."

More silence. Alvin continued to look down. Brittany slowly smiled as she realized what he'd just implied. She hopped back on the bars. "Come on; it's getting late," she said, pretending nothing had just gone on.

Alvin was eager to forget this whole business as well. He moved fast, going up the hill, standing on the pedals. Brittany laughed as the wind whipped her hair behind her, and she closed her eyes. When she finally felt the bike slow down, she opened her eyes, and her smiled disappeared a little. They were in front of the Seville residence.

"Um, Alvin," she said, "I think you forgot to drop me off at my house."

He smiled. "Whoops."

Hee-hee!

Just so you know, the ending isn't supposed to be creepy; he just wanted to hang out with her a little more.

I really like this story! Probably one of my favorites :D

WOOP WOOP!