Chapter 10

SURPRISE! The next chapter! This one has been giving me a bit of trouble, I couldn't upload it for some reason, and then I was sick for a number of days. Finally I had to catch up on a bunch of work for three weeks. Oh well, anyway, here it is. I hope the small number of reviews is a direct result of my splitting this part into two chapters, and not an indicator that I've become boring.

Alexander was looking famished by the time we had fully regained our composure.

"I'm hungry." I announced, slightly dishonestly. "I'm going to get something to eat. How about you?"

"Uh, okay." He responded after a pause. I took him to our pantry.

Eventually, we decided to open a packet of chips. I ended up eating most of them, as Alexander didn't eat much food in general.

I continued to show Alexander the rest of my house. We walked to the living room after exploring the objects in storage. Eventually we started up a game on the Xbox. It was enjoyable, but he beat me almost every time. Alexander may not have been a great beast in real life, but in all of my games, he was easily able to either crush my resistance or outperform me, depending on whether we were playing against each other or on a team.

It wasn't long before the sun had disappeared completely. I wanted him to stay longer, but of course that would be rude toward his parents. He was expected back at his own home in just a few minutes.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." I said, standing in the doorway before him.

"Right." He replied. My parents waved to him from further inside the house. I weighed up the best thing to say or do for a few seconds, before pulling him into a hug. He stood paralyzed for a few moments but soon hugged me back. I didn't want to rush anything, for fear of scaring him off, but since he knew how I felt about him, I supposed it wouldn't be too much.

"Bye." I let go of Alexander. He dazedly said 'goodbye' and walked down the path to our gate. Soon he was out of sight. I wandered dreamily back inside. I wished he could have remained longer, but there would be another time for that.

"Alexander seems like a nice enough boy." My mother told me as I sat down on the sofa.

I looked over to my father, who wiped his glasses before agreeing. I was glad that they liked him; I wasn't sure what I'd do if they didn't.

I had a great deal to write in my diary that night. It read:

Today, Alexander came to our house for the afternoon. He was really nice, and Mom and Dad seem to like him.

He accidentally read the last entry in my diary. It was really embarrassing for a while, but then he told me he liked me too! The rest of the day was lots of fun.

I can't wait to see him tomorrow.

The next morning, which was friday, I was ready for school earlier than ever. The sun was just over the horizon when I awoke, and it was still too early to go to school.

I decided to watch the sun slowly traverse its invisible ladder. My mind was continually drawn back to the happenings of the day before. He had actually said that he liked me, a lot. It was painful to wait for the sun to crawl up the sky. At eight o'clock, I walked back to the kitchen to say goodbye to my parents.

"Goodbye Charlotte." My father waved to me.

"See you this afternoon, deary." My mother smiled. I walked out through the door and looked around for Alexander, but I was too early to meet him on my way to school.

The school grounds were mostly empty when I arrived. Hardly anyone was there yet. I strolled to my locker to get my books. Eventually the school bell rang, and I made my way to my homeroom. Alexander had presently sat down in his usual seat. The one next to him was empty, so I sat down in it.

"Hi Alexander." I said.

"Hey, Charlotte." He smiled widely, which made me smile as well.

"How are you?" I inquired.

"I'm great." He replied enthusiastically, "How about you?"

"Me too." I answered him.

"Okay, good morning everyone." Miss Eyre tapped on the interactive board to get our attention, "Let's mark the roll." After we finished the roll, Alexander and I went to our history class.

At morning recess, we both sat at our usual table and ate.

"I've got an appointment with the dentist at lunch." Alexander broke the silence which had fallen over the two of us.

"Really?" I looked up, "So you won't be here?"

"My dad is picking me up at the start of lunch." He nodded. "There will be no point in coming back afterward." I was slightly disappointed.

"Well, I hope you don't have to do anything painful." I said

"As do I." He agreed.

I was hoping that I could coax another 'date' out of him at lunch, perhaps something more romantic, or at least away from people who knew us. After some thought, I decided that I would try to get him to ask me out again before he left.

"So did you like my house?" I asked him. I didn't want to blatantly ask him out myself. It just didn't feel right for me.

"Sure, its really big." He replied.

"So you enjoyed the visit?" I did want to be absolutely certain that he really did want to continue with our relationship.

"Absolutely." He smiled, "I had a great time. Didn't you?"

"Of course." I responded, "I just wanted to know that you did."

We sat in silence for the remaining minutes of our break. The bell rang once more and I walked to class with Alexander. I wanted to grasp his hand, but I didn't have the courage.

At lunchtime, we both trudged out of the classroom in which we had been working.

"See you next week." I said as we reached the gate.

"Bye, Charlotte." He replied and began to walk away. I had one last chance to arrange a second get-together before the weekend.

"Wait." I called to him, "Um, I was thinking that, maybe we could do something together again?" I started to blush.

"I'd love to." He grinned, "What about tomorrow, or Sunday?" I smiled back.

"Saturday would be better." I explained, "So what would you like to do?"

"What about a movie?" He suggested. A little bit unoriginal, but it could be fun.

"Okay. I'll meet you at the theater. When would be a good time?" I asked.

"After lunch some time, maybe two thirty?"

"I can't wait." I smiled. We parted after a slightly awkward silence.

Although I hated to admit it, save Alexander, I had no real social life anymore. I had nothing to do for the rest of my lunch break. I looked around for Sarah.

My eyes fell on Patrick, who had been leaving Alexander and I alone lately; he was otherwise occupied. In his arms was Ebony, but she was no longer the girl whom I had known. Ebony had been slowly changing, presumably because Patrick wanted her to.

I hadn't spoken, or even met with her for a long time. There was no doubt about it; she had become someone else, a rude, lustful, rebellious girl.

I continued to look for Sarah, the only girl with whom I was on friendly terms. She was sitting at a table with some other students, who vaguely disliked me. I didn't want to join them, since they would probably just tease me.

Instead I spent a lonely hour, sitting by myself at a table which had previously been speckled with the excrement of birds, and never cleaned. I half expected a dark cloud to materialize above my head and rain on me. It was a depressing afternoon. I needed to remind myself that I would be with Alexander in just one day. Even so, It was still lonely.

Finally, I arrived at home after a long day. I couldn't wait to tell my parents about our date. I only hoped that they would trust Alexander enough to let me go with him.

"Hello, Mom." I greeted her as I walked in.

"Hello, Charlotte, how was your day?" She asked.

"It was alright." I replied, "Alexander and I arranged to go to a movie tomorrow, after lunch." My mother didn't seem very enthusiastic about it.

"I don't know, Charlotte." My mother sighed, "You don't really know him that well yet."

"Yes I do!" I said, annoyed, "He came here first, and you met him. You said he seemed nice."

"Yes, but Charlotte, I don't want you going places alone." She told me.

"I won't be alone, Alexander will be there with me." I said, crossly. Why couldn't she have just said 'How wonderful, that's great. Have fun.'?

"What I mean is that I don't want you going on a date alone with a boy we hardly know." She didn't seem to be budging from her decision.

"I have to show up, though, he'll be waiting for me." I tried to explain the situation.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte, but if something were to happen to you, I'd die inside."

"Urgh!" I shouted and stormed away into my room. I slammed and locked the door. I couldn't tell him why I wouldn't be there, as I hadn't gotten his phone number. He would arrive at the movie theater and find no one there. He would think I had stood him up! I felt a tear flow down the side of my face.

I fell onto my bed and sobbed into my pillow for a while. He would be so disappointed, and I couldn't do a thing about it. My only hope was that my father would somehow agree to let me go, but deep down I knew he would feel the same way as my mother. I felt completely powerless. My day had turned into a nightmare.

Well, It's taken a long time to get this written and uploaded, but it's here, and I can't wait to hear what you think.

Please review this story, it really helps me to get motivated, and sometimes to improve my writing.

I know it's been over a month since I last updated the story, so I'd like to know if you think I should continue writing this story.

Finally, what do you think of the plot so far? Is it interesting at all, or is there no real reason to keep going? I honestly don't know, so I need the crowd's opinion.

Thank you for sticking with it this far, and I look forward to reading what you have to say.

By the way, you might be seeing Alvin and Brittany soon as well, so if you were looking forward to that, they should be appearing in my story soon.

I wrote the next chapter,
It's quite unmellow,
You've read to the end,
So I'll say Unhello.

Yes, I know that was a terrible poem. :)