Chapter 14

Hello again, and I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. I know, it's been months, but I really have had a busy life lately. I enjoyed reading your reviews for the last chapter, you people seemed to enjoy it more than the ones before, so read on.

I had awoken early, and found some board games stashed away in one of our spare rooms. We could play Monopoly or Scrabble, or both. I didn't want to be bothered with school, I just wanted to skip straight to Alexanders visit.

I found him on my way to school, and caught up to him.

"Hi, Alexander." I greeted him.

"Hi, Charlotte." He replied, "I can go to your house this afternoon."

"Great!" I smiled at him. We soon reached school. It would be a long day.

"Hey, nerd-face!" I groaned, knowing what was coming next. Patrick walked toward us.

"What do you want?" I inquired accusingly. He ignored me.

"What you got us for lunch today?" All his friends snickered behind him. Patrick lunged out and grabbed Alexander's backpack. He unzipped it and turned it on its side. Countless papers came rushing out, along with a lunch box and bottle of water.

"Hey!" I yelled, "Stop it!" Patrick just chuckled and continued. I jumped forward and gave him a shove in the back. He was repelled a few steps, and then turned around.

"You're lucky I don't hit girls, or you'd be dead meat." He said, scowling at me. Suddenly, the bell rang for us to go inside, and he left with his friends, but not without a sneering look.

"Alexander, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah." He frowned in frustration as he picked up his belongings and placed them back in his backpack.

"Here, let me help." I bent down and picked up a few pages.

"Thanks, Charlotte." He stood up and looked around,"Great; now we're late to class."

"I just hate that Patrick." I complained to Alexander. "I wish he would just move to a different school."

"Ah, wouldn't that be nice, a school with no bullies." He said cynically. I sighed and we walked to class.

During the morning recess, I found Sarah. She was eating alone, so I decided I'd keep her company.

"Hey, Sarah." I sat beside her.

"Hi, Charlotte." She ate some of her food.

"So, how's it going?" I asked.

"I'm okay." She replied, simply. There was a pause as I thought of something more to say. I quickly realized that I really didn't know much about my friends at all. I had never visited any of them in their homes, and they usually didn't talk very much about their lives outside of school.

"Do you know where Ebony is?" I queried.

"Nope." She wasn't in a very talkative mood.

"Okay." I walked over to Alexander's table.

"Sarah doesn't look very happy, does she?" I looked over at her. She fiddled with her food.

"No, not really." He replied, after turning to look as well.

"I don't know what's wrong, but she doesn't seem to want to tell me." I explained, "She never really tells me anything about her life."

"Well, I'm not in on the secrets either." He ate the last of his food.

"Alexander, I don't really know much about what you do either." I told him.

"Well, yesterday I wrote an interpreter for 'Ook!'." We walked to the bin and threw away our wrappers.

"Ook. Ook?" I looked at him, puzzled.

"Yes, 'Ook!'. It's an esoteric programming language." He explained.

"I see." I hesitated to ask him, not wanting to sound ignorant, but decided he probably didn't expect me to know what it was. "So what's an esoteric programming language?"

"A language that wasn't designed to be useful, and in this case, usable." He defined. I nodded. Presently, we were interrupted by the bell ringing.

In my lunch break, I noticed Ebony walking somewhere, so I joined her.

"Hi, Ebony." I caught up to her.

"Hi." She said, "How are you?"

"I'm good." I said, "So what's going on between Patrick-"

"Ssh!" She turned abruptly and hushed me, "Nothing, don't even say his name."

"Okay." I said quietly. I watched her as she continued walking, before turning and walking back to my table. Neither of my friends seemed to want me around; only Alexander stayed with me.

I didn't really want to worry myself about the reason for this. I just wanted school to be over, so that Alexander could come to my house.

It wasn't long before it was.

"Hello, Alexander." My mother greeted him warmly, as we walked into the living room.

"He-Hello, Mrs. Seville." Alexander half-waved awkwardly to her.

"Please, just call me Jeanette." She smiled to him, "So, Alexander, what do you like doing after school?" I looked at him.

"Well, um, I program." He wiped his glasses.

"On the computer?" My father had presently entered the room.

"Yeah." Alexander affirmed succinctly. There was a pause.

"Well, why don't you two go to Charlotte's room, and we'll make dinner for you, okay?" My father suggested. We nodded and walked upstairs.

"Alexander?" I said after we had gotten to my room.

"Yes?" He acknowledged.

"I... I feel like I don't know much about you." I said cautiously, not wanting sound overly obsessed.

"What do you want to know?" He asked.

"Well, what's your favorite color, for instance?" I inquired.

"My favorite color is radio." He replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Well, radio waves are electromagnetic radiation, just like any other colored light, and radio is my favorite color." He explained. I chuckled slightly.

"Okay, so what's your favorite food?"

"I'd have to say lasagne." He answered, "How about you?"

"I like ice cream the best." I said thoughtfully. It was classic, but true.

"How would you describe me?" I asked, hoping not to sound egotistical or self-centered. Alexander blushed.

"Uh, well, you're very nice." He squinted his eyes, "You're considerate, at least of me. You, you know, didn't judge me by my appearance."

"Your appearance is fine." I said, surprised, "Why would you think that?" He blushed even more.

"Thanks, but most people say I look like a nerd." He looked down.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked rhetorically.

"Well, girls don't like nerds." Alexander stated.

"I'm a girl," I looked at him, "and I like you." He returned my gaze.

"I, uh, like you too." He said. My heart skipped a beat. He had said this before, but I never became accustomed to it.

"Well, I like you," I took his hand, smiling at him. I could feel his heart beating faster, just by touching his palm, "And even more." Alexander said nothing for a few seconds.

"Me too, uh..." He said, his face reddening even more. "I like you... more, as well." His mouth slowly curved up into a smile.

I leaned closer to him. I could tell he didn't want to kiss me yet, but I leaned forward anyway. Alexander's head reflexively moved to the side and I settled for an extended hug. I could feel his heart pounding, and mine as well. In this moment, I felt how I imagined heaven could feel. I wanted to stay in his arms for eternity.

I could feel his sincerity, that I could trust him not to disappoint me, trust him to remain connected to me. Even if there were little chance of us staying together until we could get married, I knew that we would never part because he had wronged me.

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I think this marks the official beginning of a new romance. :)

I really hope that this chapter was to your liking, believable and above all else; somewhat uplifting.

I would really appreciate if you would review my story, with any creative criticism. It really keeps me writing. Were it not for you, I would have abandoned my sequel, but now I've rediscovered my inspiration for it.

Thank you so much for waiting this long, and not forgetting about my story.

As always,

Unhello.