Feliz Día de San Valentín! I hope you know what that means. So, this chapter is a bit more serious than what I normally write. I hope you like it!
Our day in town was the best so far. Rex and I did practically everything. It helped a lot that that was the day that the May festival was in town.
Rex was surprised that I had never been to a festival before. I flushed, and hastily covered it up, saying something about my parents being over protective. Thankfully, he was preoccupied by the smell of food. Our stomachs growled in unison. We looked at each other, laughed, and went to go buy some food.
As we went to get our food, I kept hearing a lot of whispering about Rex and I. For some reason, everyone thought I was his girlfriend. No way! Rex was my friend, no nothing else. I'm glad Rex didn't hear it, though. It was already embarrassing to hear people talk about us that way.
We stayed out until around midnight, watching fireworks, when Six busted us and took us back to Providence.
On the way to Providence, I started thinking about something. Even though we have only known each other for an estimate of 2 weeks, we've pretty much become best friends. That was pretty fast, even for me.
I instantly felt bad. Normally, best friends can tell each other every thing, and not get judged. However, there would always be that one thing that I would have to forever hold from him. No one, not even Rex, can be allowed to know my secret.
Rex must have seen the look on my face, because he asked me what the problem was.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just spacing," I said, a little flustered. He seemed to buy the story, looking over and saying something to Bobo.
I sighed, and leaned my head on Rex's shoulder. He seemed surprised, and I saw Six raise an eyebrow at me, but I was too tired to care about anything as trivial as embarrassment. He relaxed, and we rode that way the rest of the way home.
Isn't it strange, that I have only stayed at Providence for a few weeks, yet already I am calling it my home? It's as if the family that I have back in Texas never existed, yet I can remember them. Will things be normal again when I go back to my family? Or will Providence be my true home after this?
It's weird how my mind thinks the strangest things? I mean, why would cold, heartless Providence be like home to me? Home is where my family is, where my friends are, where my life is. How could Providence trump that?
I looked over at Rex, who was about to fall asleep. Then again, Six and Holiday were like my parents. They almost did better than my real parents anyways. Rex was my best friend, and Providence was becoming my life.
Providence doesn't expect me to fit into a stereotype, like they do in the regular world. I'm not a popular kid, I'm not a nerd, I'm not a crazy EVO, I'm just Courtney.
If only I could tell them, I thought as I fell asleep. Then I wouldn't have to hide anymore.
I woke up the next morning in my bed. I fumbled up, embarrassed to have fallen asleep on the ship, and on Rex, even. But instead of seeing an angry Six leaning over us, I saw the bedroom, with Rex in his bed, snoring very gently. I laughed a little because his snores sounded like a cat purring.
Reece raised her head, and moved her way up the bed, pushing her head underneath my hand.
Why were you gone for so long? You didn't get back until very late. She sounded a little hurt.
"Sorry, I went to a spring festival with Rex. We stayed to watch the fireworks," I told her, feeling a bit confused. Reece was acting a lot like my mom. "How did I get into bed, anyway?" We both knew that even if my subconscious had decided to take a stroll, I would have landed flat on my face.
Rex carried you in and laid you on your bed. He also made sure that you had blankets, she told me, any and all traces of mom out of her.
I blushed, embarrassed that he had carried me and put me into bed. I looked over at him. He was still sleeping. I smiled, and turned to Reece.
"So, do you like it here?" Last night's questions were still running through my mind.
Yeah, no body cares if I go running through the jungle, but they still take care of me. Why do you ask? She tilted her head, giving me a strange look.
"No reason, I was just wondering," I said, a little too quickly. She looked at me, questioning in her eyes.
Do you like it here? If you do, then maybe we should stay here.
"No, when the time comes, we really should go home. I'm just wondering if you liked staying here," I said, hoping I didn't sound unsure. She gave me a look, and I pretty much melted.
"The thing is, this place is starting to feel more like home than are place back in Texas. Shouldn't I feel at home with my family, instead of with a bunch of people that I only met a few weeks ago?" I snuggled into her fur, wrapping my arms around her.
I'm sure you'll start thinking like normal again once we go back home. She snuggled into me, putting her head on my pillow. I got out of bed, gave her pat, and started getting ready for the day. It's a good thing Rex has his own bathroom, because this arrangement would not have lasted as long as it has if he hadn't.
I went down to the cafeteria to get some breakfast, and then headed to the lab for some testing. Dr. Holiday said she wanted to do some tests on me, to tell how my limbs are healing. I just hope I can get my better leg out of this cast soon, so I won't have to worry about injuring it further trying to walk around using crutches.
"Well, your legs are healing just fine," she told me after the tests. "Listen, I'm going to give you a few exercises you can do to get used to using your leg again. I want you to do these exercise everyday, got it?" She sounded a lot like a person I know very well. I chuckled. Dr. Holiday certainly can fill the mother requirements, firm but caring.
After the testing, I worked in the lab for a while. I took a look at some of Rex's biometric readings, but I didn't like what I was seeing. They were bouncing all over the place, from almost flat lining, to full capacity. But the weird thing is, when I called Dr. Holiday over to take a look at them, she didn't seem to act like it was a problem. She just gave me a strange look, and turned back to her computer. When I asked her what was going on, she answered me plain and simple.
"Since Rex's nanites are linked with his emotions, his biometrics tend to go crazy during times of high emotion, such as when he's really mad at someone, or any other extreme emotions." She looked at me again.
"Okay, what's with all the weird looks! You're looking at me as if I just sprouted wings!" I exclaimed, wanting some answers. I turned, trying to look at my back. "I didn't sprout wings, did I?"
"Okay, I won't be coy with you. I can see that you and Rex are growing very close, and it's only been two weeks. Now, I can see why you have bonded so well, seeing as you two are the only teenagers in Providence," she told me, a look of complete professionalism on her face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I said, cutting her off. "I do not like Rex in the way that you're implying! We're just becoming great friends, nothing more." How could she think that! There is no way that Rex and I would ever be like that! We were friends, nothing else.
Yet, there was that little voice inside me saying, Would it really be so bad? My sane side would immediately retort, Yes, it would! The little battle inside my head went on as I worked in the lab with Dr. Holiday.
After working for almost the entire day, I went out to the Petting Zoo to see if I could find Reece. We hadn't walked together for a while. I kind of missed it.
I didn't find Reece, but I did find Rex tearing through the Petting Zoo with what looked like a jet pack. He looked down, smiled at me, and slowly descended, landing in the grass.
"How's it goin'?" he asked, smirking. "I don't normally see you out here."
"Well, I decided to walk around out here, see if I could find Reece," I said, flustered as the things Dr. Holiday had said earlier ran through my mind.
"Well, why don't we find something else to do? Not that there is much to do around here. The only thing I can think about doing is escaping again, and they normally seal off the exits for a few days after each attempt," he said, scratching his head.
"Why don't we just head back to the room or something? Maybe we can find a movie to watch," I felt kind of tired from the work out I gave my brain earlier.
"Sure thing, that sounds like fun. Do you want to go back the normal way, or the fun way?" he said, giving me a devious grin. I grinned back.
"What do you think?" He nodded, and made the Rex Ride. As normal, I climbed onto the back and held on as we raced through the Petting Zoo. It didn't take long for us to make it to the front door.
We walked down the hall, talking the entire way. However, I couldn't help but notice the weird looks people kept giving us. I was almost ready to go up in their faces and say, "There is nothing going on! Now get that through your thick skulls!"
But, being the person that I am, I settled with giving them looks back. Two can play at that game.
When we got to the room, I started looking through his collection of movies and channels to find one I hadn't seen yet, while he went down to the kitchen to try and get us some popcorn. I found a movie I'd wanted to see for a while and popped it into the DVD player.
Rex came back with a bag of popcorn and a few sodas just as I put the movie in. During the entire movie we sat on the floor. It would have been easier to sit on the beds, but when you watch a movie with someone, you aren't on separate sides of the room. Besides, this way you could see the movie better.
After about a half hour into the movie, I was starting to get fidgety, so I turned over and lay down on my stomach to watch the movie. Amused, Rex did it too. We just lay there, watching the movie with rapt interest. It wasn't until the credits started rolling that I realized we had slowly moved closer and closer together to the point we were smack next to each other. You wouldn't have been able to fit a piece of paper between us, we were so close.
I blushed, and get up, stammering about how we should probably get ready for bed. He agreed, and walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later, we were ready for bed, talking about the movie we had seen.
It wasn't long before Six came in to turn out the lights.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" he turned to me. Was it just me, or did his impervious armor crack, just a little?
"I don't really know," I said, plating my face down in my pillow. I didn't hear anything, but I could just picture Rex smirking at me.
Six left the room, and I heard Rex fall asleep. I fell asleep not long after, thinking about what Dr. Holiday had said. My normal side and my rational side argued back and forth in my dreams all night.
So, there's the new chapter! This was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I looked at my stats. Over 1,500 hits! You guys make me so happy! Reviews!
TheKeeperofKingdomHearts1- Yeah, the storied are easier to read if the romance is gradual.
So, there's the chapter. And in case you didn't understand what I said earlier, Happy Valentine's Day!