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Chapter 3: You on Sugar High?

Two voices.

He stopped walking.

Hushed whispers.

His eyebrow raised.

His name being mentioned.

He clenched his fist and strode forward.

"What the heck are you two talking about?"

A sheepish Fred and Alex looked at Conner, who had just barged into their conversation. Their expressions turned slightly guilty, before they immediately covered it up.

"Nothing," Alex and Fred answered in unison.

Obviously, Conner didn't believe them.

"You two have been talking behind my back for days already! You guys are suspicious! Just what are you talking about?" the boy exclaimed.

Fred looked nervously at Alex, but fortunately for him, she had a backup plan.

"Oh, I was teaching Freddie," Alex said innocently.

"About what?" Conner interrogated, determined to get to the bottom of that.

"Science," Alex answered.

Fred's weak spot was indeed Science, and the boy was both surprised and amazed that Alex had managed to remember not only her brother's weak subjects, but also his friend's.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Fred piped up. "After all, Alex's really good in a lot of subjects, so I wanted to ask her about them."

"So what's with all the whispering?" Conner wasn't giving up so easily.

"She doesn't want everyone to know, because she doesn't want to organize a tutoring class." This time, Fred took the lead, smoothly continuing Alex's lie.

"All that whispering around me, then?"

Alex and Fred shared a nervous glance. "Uh, I thought you might be one of those 'other people' who might bombard me with questions," Alex offered.

Conner looked like he was about to fire some more questions, as his sister and best friend waited with bated breath for his next move.

"Seems funny that you don't teach me, Alex," Conner directed that at his sister. Alex sighed in relief internally, glad that the topic had been changed.

"Well, I will, if you ask me. You need to realize that you need to improve your grades, instead of me taking care of you all the time," Alex replied, pushing her headband back to keep her hair from her face.

"Okay," Conner still looked slightly suspicious of them, but let it go. "You guys are weird."

After the boy went away, Fred hissed to Alex, "He's the one who's weird."

Alex had to agree. After his Kahoot game victory, Conner had been super hyper, yet it seemed like he was in a dreamlike daze. Sometimes he could hardly stay still, and because of the size of their rental house, Conner couldn't exactly use up his excess energy in the house. He offered to buy groceries as an excuse to go out, and Alex accompanied him, partly because she thought he might get into trouble, and partly because she wanted to know the cause for his over excitement.

Fred passed Alex a folder with sheets of paper in it. "That's my observation for Maths today. I'll do the next one after this lunch break," he told her.

"Thanks," Alex took it and swept an eye over its contents.

"It's been a week, and we still haven't figured something out," Fred muttered, afraid that their efforts might be in vain.

"Don't worry," Alex said, positive. "Maybe something will come to our minds later."

"I hope so, Alex."

With his hands in his pockets, Conner strode out, while a furious rant began in his mind.

Why do they hide from me? Conner thought, the chatter of his fellow students becoming white noise as his footsteps thudded forward. It's so strange.

Little did he know, at least three people thought Conner himself was behaving in a strange way. Bree had been doing some observations of her own, although unlike Alex, she wasn't so hardcore and didn't write everything down.

Conner's inner ranting gradually skidded to a stop. Conner, who felt like he needed to blow off some steam, itched for something he could talk angrily about. However, every time he tried to make himself angry, something else popped into his mind.

Something that had been appearing in his mind quite frequently.

The memory of him hi-fiving Bree came back to his mind's eye, and Conner felt his lips quirk up automatically. A small bud of happiness blossomed in his chest.

For some reason, it felt like their high five was imprinted in his hand. Conner thought it was like one of those pillows where you push your hand in it and the shape of your hand remains. He hummed happily and shoved his hands in his pockets.

However, Conner was also mystified at the fact that certain memory kept coming back. He shook his head, trying to clear away the fuzziness in his heart.

Not to mention, the problem with Alex and Fred was rather bothering Conner. As they were his two closest friends in the school, Conner somehow felt like he was being left out by their chit chat. And he didn't like that.

Conner had a lot of friends. Despite that, he could grow attached to those closest to him. Both Fred and Alex had been with been Conner for most of his life, and Conner didn't want to let them go.

And he also was a bit annoyed about Fred moving closer to Alex. The "protective brother" part of Conner began to emerge. He knew it was inevitable that boys would soon go after his gorgeous, smart sister, and by the time that happened, Conner hoped he would have grown a ton muscles and looked really threatening.

"Rwarrrr," Tough Conner would say, flexing his impressive muscles.

"Eeep!" Random-boy-that-should-go-away would say, cowering in a corner. "I- I just want to ask if-"

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Tough Conner would roar, a mean glint in his eye as his body magically increased in size and height-

A flash of familiar blonde hair.

Blinking, Conner was broken out of his fantasy of his future self, as something else grabbed his attention.

"Hey!" Bree cried crossly, reaching for her beanie which was held in her taller friend's hand. "Give that back!"

"Geez, you're so attached to your beanie," the friend teased, watching in amusement as Bree hoped around desperately, ponytail swishing. "I wonder what'll happen if I throw it away-"

In a second, Bree's entire demeanor changed, and her friends all felt the cold vibe that radiated off her. A icy glint appeared in her brown eyes, and she lifted her head to directly stare at her friend.

Oh, crap, Danielle thought, although she was rather enjoying the spectacle. Bree's gone into the assassin mode.

Bree gave a chilling laugh, as the corners of her lips quirked up to form a smirk. "Oh, you'll dare to do that?" she asked dangerously.

"Umm…"

Bree took a step closer, the same unwavering look in her eyes. "Just for your information, I read quite a lot of murder mysteries…" she trailed off. Her eyes darkened and a gust of wind blew past, strands of her hair fluttering, and (in Conner's opinion) that made her look like a badass movie heroine.

Meanwhile, Conner stood there, dumbfounded. He couldn't move, let only speak. The only thing going on in his mind was she's so cool oh my gosh she is so cool Bree Campbell is the coolest person ever way cooler than I'll ever be ahhh.

"Okay fine! Have your beanie!" With an exasperated sigh, the purple beanie was tossed back to Bree. Bree grinned and fixed it on her head. She became cheerful again, all traces of her previous anger gone.

"What is it with you and your hat?" Danielle sighed, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt.

"It's like the thing going on between you and Freddie," the Tall Girl teased (Conner didn't know her name). "Looove."

Conner was still stupefied when somebody suddenly smacked his back, followed by a loud "dude!". The boy didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

"Hey, Freddie," Conner greeted in a neutral tone.

"Hey," Fred said, as the girls (save for Bree and Danielle) gasped and gestured at him. Danielle ducked behind Bree in an attempt to shield herself. Bree sighed internally but obliged.

"Don't call me Freddie, okay?" The blond spun to them and said. "I know you all love me (the girls squealed while Conner made a loud vomiting noise) but that's a nickname for close friends and family only. Kay?"

"What do you mean by 'close friends'?" a girl asked curiously.

Fred jabbed a finger at Conner, finger poking at his forehead. Conner tried to take his arm away half-heartedly, but gave up, knowing Fred wouldn't let go. "This idiot right here is an example."

An idiot all right, Bree thought, seeing that Conner's expression had turned weird again. She shot him a brief look, but he seemed determined to avoid her eyes.

Bree theorized that Conner was hiding something, and he knew she was onto something, so he tried even harder to hide whatever from her. After all, he seemed to trip over himself and smash into walls when she was around, which meant he was nervous around her, which meant he was hiding something from her.

And Bree knew deep down the "thing" he was hiding probably related to the "vibe" he gave off.

Conner gulped when he saw Bree looking at him. His body suddenly became stiff and he somehow pried Fred's arm away.

Her eyes are like lasers, piercing through me and making my insides burn with weird alien heat-

"Ouch!" Conner muttered lowly when Fred slapped his side. He knew he should be used to Fred's antics after having known him for years, but still, it did hurt.

"Is our next lesson gym?" Fred asked his friend. Conner was still momentarily shocked and surprised that Bree had been staring at him, and something warm bubbled from the pit of his stomach, making him want to leap and yell.

"Dude!" Fred exclaimed again, elbowing his gut. "I asked you a question!"

"Oh, yeah." Conner stammered. "I, umm, yeah, it is gym," he answered weakly. Everyone stared at Conner oddly. Bree raised an eyebrow.

"See ya lovely ladies later!" Fred waved and dragged Conner away. The boy blinked, heart filled with mixed feelings.

He didn't know why, but he was happy when he saw Bree looking at him. She noticed him and he liked it. Conner felt a sudden urge to dance and waved his hands wildly in the air like some madman.

Conner had been always amused yet a bit annoyed by Fred's flirting. He would laugh and facepalm, but suddenly, he didn't like his flirting. It wasn't even funny anymore. In fact, Conner was moderately pissed off by his friend trying to attract those girls' attention.

But Bree didn't seem to care for Fred, so that was a good thing, right?

Wait.

When did he start to care about what Bree thought of Fred?

Conner scrunched his eyebrows, thinking. After a considerate amount of time, he came to the conclusion that:

1. He did not like Fred flirting with Bree

2. Bree was not affected by Fred, and that made him happy

3. He also felt happy when Bree looked at him

He and Fred reached the locker room and prepared themselves for the next lesson. Conner absentmindedly changed, and suddenly, the memory of hi-fiving Bree came into his mind again. The boy felt a rush of heat zoom to his face, and when he was distracted, he slipped and crashed on the floor. The other boys laughed at his clumsiness and Conner pulled himself up, wondering why was that certain memory stuck in his head.

However, the pain from when he fell down didn't take away the giddiness from the memory.

Footsteps pounded loudly as a bunch of seventh grade kids ran laps around the gym. A few were lagging behind, and the teacher ushered them to catch up with the others.

Fred, who was considered one of the more athletic ones in his class, was somewhere near the lead. He took a quick glance back, expecting his bud Conner to be at around the back, but to his immense surprise, Conner looked like he was gradually moving forward in the line of people.

Fred spun back and focused on running, breathing heavily.

Unlike Fred, Conner wasn't entirely thinking of running. He was thinking again and again about that hi-five, how badass and cool Bree was, and how she made him very happy when she smiled. Unconsciously, the boy ran faster and faster, motivated.

Conner had a vague idea why he felt so pumped up at that day (the reason was Bree, Bree and Bree). However, Fred had no idea, and was mystified by Conner's sudden increase in physical ability.

"Dude, you okay?" Fred asked after they had finished running. He was concerned yet suspicious of Conner at the same time.

Conner took a huge gulp of cool water then answered, "Yeah. Why did you ask?"

"You ran really fast just now. Like, faster than usual. What did you eat?"

"Hmm," Conner said, pondering.

Crap! Fred thought. I was joking! He's actually going to think of an answer?

"I ate a bar of chocolate before the lesson," Conner replied long last.

"So, you-" Fred began but was cut off by the teacher's whistle. The boy ran a hand through his hair, dissapointed that he didn't get to ask more. Doing "research" had made him incredibly aware of Conner's tiny actions. At first, Alex wrote long paragraphs with analyzations of about everything Conner did, with reference to websites and books about human psychology. Fred was so stunned and scared by Alex. He couldn't get why Alex could treat everything like a school project. With his short reports, Fred felt like he wasn't doing anything, so he tried to be more like Alex.

Conner had never felt so hyper during gym. At a basketball game, he leapt and ran with all his might, which was unusual for a couch potato like him.

"Awww no!" Conner cried when the other team scored. "That was still a good shot though!"

A few other people looked strangely at Conner. Conner wasn't known for being a fan of sports, so they thought it was slightly weird that the boy was so animated.

Fred was running around the court, ball in his possession, a few other people chasing him. He noticed that his best friend seemed to be really energized.

"Conner!" Fred yelled, to signal for his teammate. He tossed the ball, hoping Conner "butterfingers" Bailey could catch it.

Normally, Fred would've passed the ball to someone else, but Conner was the nearest to the basket. There were also a few players trying to tackle Fred, so he had to get rid of the ball.

"Okay!" Conner cried determinedly, and magically caught the ball. His temporary triumph faded when he realized this was the first time he had ever caught a ball.

"What do I do?" Conner muttered under his breath, and started to panic. He could see the guys that had been around Fred was running to where he was.

"Ah, to hell with it all!" Conner cried and frantically moved towards the basket. Fred ran and tried to shield Conner from the other players.

"Shoot!" Fred yelled. "SHOOT!"

"I'm trying!" Conner hollered back, attempting to find an opening. Finally, he raised his hands and gave the ball a push.

All eyes were on that single ball as it soared from the air and landed on the rim, and it bounced off and fell.

Oh, Fred and Conner's team thought, disappointed.

Oh! The opposing team screamed internally, delighted.

Despite that Conner had not scored the goal, he played with much more passion than he used to. The boy bounded up and down excitedly, and yelled random things whenever his team scored. Fred wasn't sure if Conner knew anything about basketball, but appreciated his enthusiasm anyways.

"Umm, Conner seems livelier than usual today," a boy nudged Fred.

"I know right," Fred mused in agreement. He wrinkled his nose. "He's been acting strange for a while…"

While Conner and Fred had their gym lesson, Bree was in her Social Studies class. Bree was pretty good at that subject, but decided to not to pay full attention during that lesson, because Bree wanted to think about Conner first. That boy was more interesting than the subject.

However, after twenty minutes of half-heartedly copying notes, intense thinking and analyzation, Bree still had no idea why Conner gave out those weird vibes. She chewed on her lip, eyes staring blankly at the blackboard as she thought.

"Class, I'm going to give you back the pop quiz you did the other day," the teacher announced. "A lot of you did well, and there are two people who got full marks."

Half of the class immediately turned to Bree and the other half turned to Alex. In their elementary schools, Alex was well known for being the most academically talented student in their year (contrary to her brother), and while Bree was pretty good in most of her subjects, she had a particularly good grasp on Social Studies. Bree bit her lip but smiled politely. Alex was a bit uncomfortable with people's stares on her, and gave an embarrassed smile.

The two girls went out to get their scripts. Alex quickly got hers and scampered back to her seat in a hurry to avoid attention. Bree, however, nearly mistook Alex for Conner, and her heart began to pump, internally scolding herself for such a silly mistake.

I mean, Conner and Alex are twins, so they kind of look alike, but still they aren't hard to tell apart! Bree yelled at herself as she took her script. Geez, I like to observe people, but if I can't even tell the difference between a boy twin and a girl twin-

Bree stopped walking, but she quickly realized her mistake and continued to walk. In her mind, a new path concerning Conner's mysterious aura opened up. Head bursting with possibilities, Bree sat down in a considerably happier mood.

What if it's not just Conner? It's also about his sister? Bree thought, trying to focus on all of her new ideas at once, and her heart pumped with the excitement. I probably thought Alex was Conner because of the strange "aura" that I thought was unique to Conner, but what if his sister has that thing too? I mean, they're pretty close.

The Conner Bailey mystery had just evolved into the Bailey Twins Mystery, Bree declared. Conner seemed more open than Alex, so he would be more likely to reveal something. It would be easier to find out what was happening through observing Conner, but perhaps also observing Alex could provide more evidence.

Alex was in her seat when she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. Puzzled, the girl looked up, but her classmates were all focused on their work. Alex gave a shrug, and returned to what she had been doing. I'm just hypersensitive because I've been noticing everything Conner does.

"Hey Conner, you on sugar high?"

"Huh?" Conner spun to look at Fred, who had directed that question at him with a serious expression.

"No!" Conner laughed incredulously. "Where did that come from?"

"You're really hyper, and I know you have a sweet tooth. Maybe you have been intaking too much sugar. You can barely stop moving."

"Come on, I haven't been eating too much candy," Conner said.

Fred shoved his hands in his jean pockets and looked around nonchalantly, seeing some girls walk past.

Conner recognized a certain blonde head, and unexplainably, he began to speak faster.

"I mean," Conner gave a laugh that sounded forced to his ears. "H-how CAN I eat THAT much?" His heart speeded up and he began to stress on certain words without knowing why, but somehow Conner felt like he should act dramatic.

"Dude, I'll get diabetes!" Conner clapped a hand on Fred's shoulder and knocked his knuckles on Fred's head lightly. "Maybe you need to get YOUR brain checked."

"... Okay…" Fred said. He suddenly had a vague feeling that Conner had been more expressive just now. . He pushed Conner away from him, saying, "Dude, you stink. Get off."

When Bree vanished from sight, Conner felt his heart rate return to normal, but he was still slightly puzzled on why he felt the need to be overly dramatic. His feet tapped an erratic rhythm as he thought, and Fred raised an eyebrow. How can he have that excess amount of energy after gym?

Seriously though, people only act dramatic when they want someone to notice them… and I don't think I don't anyone to notice me? Conner mused. I mean… I kind of like it when Bree looks in my direction, but that's just weird. Really weird.

"Ugh, it's your starry gaze again," Fred groaned out loud.

Conner didn't reply and he bit his lower lip to suppress a smile. Maybe Fred's right. I'm really hyper and idiotic these days. Must be the candy.

However, as he pondered, the pleasant and bubbly feeling that flowed through his body definitely did not come from sugar.

The image of a certain blonde girl came to Conner's mind, and he blushed, cheeks glowing. Humming a lighthearted tune to himself, the boy skipped all the way home, ignoring the weird look Fred was giving him.

Oh, it came from something sweeter.

A/N: SORRY GUYS IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A MONTH! Schoolwork has caught up (sadly), and this might be the last update of 2017 because December is going to be filled with a hell lot of prep for exams. So I won't have that much time and energy to write. Sorry again!

XD Conner is so oblivious it hurts. And I'm surprised that quite a few of you reacted to the "dude" thing. Now I'm making Fred say "dude" at least once per chapter he appears in :P

This is kinda a filler chap, because this one and the last one were supposed to be one chapter but I split it. Things will become more interesting next chapter :D

Thanks for your patience and lovely reviews! *sends virtual hug* You guys are awesome!

MeMyselfAndI, just to let you know, I'm honestly not a fan of Character X OC (of course there are exceptions but few). I can't reveal every ship that will happen, though. Other than Conner and Bree, there miiiiight be some minor development of other ships. Might. ;)

Your support motivates me! Thanks! And please do review if you have the time!

1/12/2017