Hello everybody! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! You guys are so great! :D
I loved writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well! Lots of suspicious stuff . . . I will say this, don't be too quick to judge April. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve yet! Don't go assuming things about her before you know all the facts. Her past might surprise you!
April: Yeah, everybody! Yeesh, you all think I'm evil or something! Hmm, maybe I am. I don't know. *evil laugh* Well, we'll see, won't we? Daphrose doesn't own Lab Rats, just me and anything else you don't recognize. On with the story!
* * * Chapter 8: Strange Behavior * * *
Chase was standing at his locker chatting with his siblings before school on Monday when April walked up to them. "Hey Daven-Dooleys!" she said. There was an exchange of greetings and Chase gave April a quick peek on the cheek.
"You look tired," Bree observed.
"Yeah," April said with a yawn. "I was up all night studying." Then suddenly all the color drained from her face like she had just come to a horrible realization. "I . . . was up . . . all night . . . studying . . ." she repeated slowly.
"Is something wrong?" Chase asked worriedly.
"Huh?" April said, turning to look at him. She plastered a fake smile on her face. "Uh, no, no, nothing's wrong! Absolutely nothing is wrong. W-why would say that?"
"You're acting a little funny," Chase said.
"Uh, well, you know, when I'm tired I . . . I have a hard time paying attention and . . . I'm fine. I-I'll be fine."
"Right," Chase said slowly.
The bell rang, signaling the start of classes for the day. Leo and Adam proceeded to race each other to class and Bree went after them. Chase shut his locker and looked over at his girlfriend. Chase noticed April biting her lip and tears spring into her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?" Chase asked her.
"I'm fine," she said as the bell stopped. "I've got to get to class. Bye!" April ran off quickly, leaving Chase a little confused. And he hated being confused.
Later that morning Chase was sitting in trigonometry class. April was sitting a few seats ahead of him on the right. Their teacher, Mr. Wilson, was writing out some problems on the board.
"Alright, April," Mr. Wilson said. April's head jerked up. "Can you solve this problem for me?" He pointed to the board.
"Um," April said slowly. "T-the one on the board?"
"Yes please," the teacher replied.
April squinted and tilted her head a little. Her mouth opened as if to answer, but she quickly shut it. "Um . . ." April said slowly.
"Ms. Henderson, are you having difficulty seeing the problem?" Mr. Wilson asked in a slightly worried tone.
"No sir!" April said, rubbing her eyes. "I've just . . . got something in my eye, is all. Allergy season . . . and stuff."
"Alright," Mr. Wilson said slowly. April shrunk back from the weird looks the class was giving her. "Mr. Davenport, would you please answer the problem?" Chase answered the problem with ease. But his thoughts were on April. Was she alright?
After class Chase decided to confront her about it. "What happened?" he asked as they walked out together into the hallway.
"What do you mean?" she said nervously. Chase gave her a look.
"You know what I mean. Why couldn't you answer the question earlier?"
"Oh, that. It was just a g-something in my eye."
"You've been acting strange all day."
"I'm just tired. Just please drop it, alright Chase?" April asked.
"Okay, okay!" Chase said. As he said this, he turned to his backpack for a second and started to look though it, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. When Chase glanced back up, April was nowhere to be seen.
"April?" Chase called. Then to himself he murmured, "How could she have disappeared so quickly?"
On her way to lunch Bree decided to head to the bathroom. As she was about to push the door open, however, she heard something. Her mouth fell open in shock. It almost sounded as if someone had said, "Glitch machine." But that couldn't be!
Pushing the door open slowly, Bree looked around. To her surprise she saw April huddled up against the wall. Her head was on her knees and her legs were drawn to her chest. As Bree entered April looked up and scrambled to her feet.
"Bree!" April exclaimed, wiping her eyes as if she had been crying.
"What . . . why . . ." Bree spluttered.
"Um, I was just . . . resting," April said hesitantly. "Uh, I've gotta go. Bye!" April charged out of the bathroom.
Bree hurried out as well, but not to pursue April. No, she needed to find her brother. She found Chase at his locker and quickly said, "Chase, we need to have a talk right now."
"Whoa, Bree, slow down," Chase said. "What do we need to talk about?"
"April," Bree said. Chase raised an eyebrow. "Chase, when I was about to go into the bathroom I thought heard someone say, 'Glitch machine.'"
"What?" Chase exclaimed. "Are you sure you weren't just hearing things? And what does that have to do with April?"
"I guess it's possible that I imagined it, but I doubt it. I'm very sure of what I heard. And when I went into the bathroom I saw April curled up on the floor. She was the only one in there. Chase, she's been acting really strange. She's one of my best friends and I know you love her, but I can't help but think about what Mr. Davenport said!"
Chase was silent for a moment. "I'll talk to her."
"And?" Bree prodded.
"Well that depends on how our talk goes, I guess," Chase sighed. "If I think I can't trust her . . ." He trailed off.
"Okay," Bree said sadly. "But . . . exercise good judgment, okay?"
"What, are you saying I don't?"
"No. I'm just saying that it's easy for people to be blinded by love."
"Hey April," Chase said. April nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned from her locker to face him.
"Hi Chase," she said with a nervous smile.
"Look, April," Chase said slowly. "You've been acting really strange today. And I just . . . well, I'm not so sure if I can trust you anymore."
April frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you disappeared when I was talking to you, you couldn't answer the question in math, and you've been avoiding me and my questions all day."
"Okay, I'm sorry," she said. "But why is all that making it so hard for you to trust me?"
"It's just . . . I've had people hurt me – and my family – before. People that I trusted at first. I really want to trust you April, more than anything. But it seems like you've got so many secrets."
April held up her hand and motioned for him to stop. Then she said, "Chase, look, I know you can't exactly trust me right now. I know that what I'm doing and saying might be a little suspicious. But please, I need you to trust me.
"There are things I can't tell you right now. It's for your own good! If you care about yourself, about me, about your family, then you won't push it. I know it seems kinda suspicious. But I assure you that I would never hurt you. Everything will make sense someday, but right now I just need your trust."
"That's hard to do when you have so many secrets."
"I know," April sighed. "But it's not like I'm the only one."
"What do you mean . . .?"
"You look me in the eye and tell me that you don't have secrets either, Chase Davenport. You tell me that I know every little thing about you, heck, even every big thing!" Chase immediately thought of his bionics and was silent. April took his silence as an answer.
"That's what I thought," she said quietly. "Look, I promise I won't hurt you. I promise that someday everything will make sense. I just need you to trust me now, Chase. If I lose your trust then we both lose a whole lot more."
Chase leaned in and gave April a quick kiss on the lips. "I trust you," he murmured.
"Thank you," she murmured back. Then she smiled. "Why don't we talk some more over a dinner? You could meet me at work once my shift's done today, around six thirty. Sound good?"
"Sounds great!" Chase said. "See you then!" Chase walked away. He loved April so much. He wanted to trust her so bad. But would that wind up being a mistake? He certainly hoped not.
Chase wrinkled his nose and tried to hold back a sneeze. Man, he really hated flowers. Well, not the flowers themselves, but what they did to his bionics. Sometimes super-senses could be a real pain in the neck. But Bree had told him that girls love flowers. So he had grabbed some on his way to meet April.
The bell above the door gave a ring as he entered the bookstore. April glanced up with a smile on her face. "Hey Chase!" she called. She slid a book onto the bookshelf and walked over.
"Are you still working?" Chase asked.
"Nah. My shift ended five minutes ago. But I love hanging out here anyway. Plus I was waiting for you."
"Well, I've got something for you," Chase said, holding up the bouquet of red and gold flowers. April stared at them like they were about to lash out and bite her.
"Oh!" April said, her face full of apprehension. "Um, thanks Chase." Her nose began to wrinkle up and her breathing became labored. "But, um, I'm allergic to flowers."
"Allergic?" Chase repeated.
"Yeah. Um, could you . . . could you get them out of here? I can't breathe."
"Oh!" Chase said, grasping what was happening. He quickly ran outside and threw the flowers in the trashcan. When he came back in the store April was pressing her hand to her nose as if trying to suppress a sneeze.
"I'm so sorry," Chase said, handing her a tissue from off the counter.
"It's alright," she said, accepting the tissue gratefully. "I really do appreciate the thought. But no more flowers, okay?"
"Sure. Anything else I need to know? Are you allergic to chocolate too?"
April laughed. "No, thankfully not!" she said.
"Alright," Chase said with a shrug. "Well, where would you like to go to dinner?"
"There's a place that just opened called Purple Parrot. It's literally right around the corner. They've got burgers, steak, your average restaurant stuff.
"Ooh, I love steak!" Chase exclaimed. He offered April a hand. "Shall we?"
"We shall," April said with a smile.
The two of them walked out of the store and around the corner to the restaurant. They got a table and ordered their food. As they waited for it to come, they began to talk. At first the two of them talked about normal things: schoolwork, teachers, the weather, recent major scientific breakthroughs, etc. But soon Chase decided to ask April what was really on his mind.
"You told me earlier that everything you do will make sense 'someday,'" Chase said "So when will this magical day be?"
April stared into her glass of water. "When the time is right," she replied.
"Great, real helpful," Chase said sarcastically. "And when exactly will the time be right?"
"I'm not sure yet," April replied slowly. "Soon, I think."
"I don't get why you can't tell me now."
"Because I don't want to drag into something you're not prepared for. Something I'm not prepared for. Chase, I told you before, I need to just trust me right now. If I tell you now people might be hurt. I have to wait for the right moment before it's safe."
The waitress came and set down their meals. April murmured a, "Thank you," before turning back to Chase. "Let's just drop it right now and eat, okay?"
"Okay," Chase said. They talked about many more things over dinner, but Chase was still thinking about all that she had told him. She had secrets that could hurt people . . . that could hurt him? He wanted to trust her so bad. But was Bree right? Was he simply being blinded by love?
As they left the restaurant later that night, April pulled Chase in for a kiss. "I love you," she whispered in his ear. "And I trust you, even if you have secrets. Please trust me too."
"I'll try," he whispered back. In spite of himself, Chase couldn't help but smile. In his eyes April was so beautiful and perfect. She was sweet and kind and smart. Even if she had secrets, he was head over heels for her. Chase decided in that moment to trust her. Despite every warning Mr. Davenport had given him, Chase was still going to trust April. He loved her, after all.
Whee! So much talk about trust and secrets! Do you think you know why April did all those things? Do you believe her when she says she won't hurt Chase? Do you think Chase can really trust her, or is he being blinded by love? Don't forget to review and let me know! Please review, guys! You truly do inspire me! See you on Saturday for Chapter 9: No More Secrets.
(By the way, if you think I'm exaggerating April's allergies . . . I'm not. -_- It's truly horrible, trust me on that.)
