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In Which it is the Last Day of School and

Brambles Reads the Bible

"It doesn't feel like the last day," commented Juliet. "You know what I mean?"

"I hear you," said Blaise.

"Yup," said Maggie.

"You're right," I said.

"Does it matter? No school for a full three months! " exclaimed Stanley. "After this, we get to hit the beach, the pool, go to bed late and get up late, not worry about homework... I can't wait!"

"Well, you certainly are enthusiastic," remarked Juliet.

"What can I say? Love summer!" he replied.

I giggled gently. "I prefer spring. But I do like the summer. I can't wait to show- I mean go to the beach!"

"Ah... So we'll be seeing each other very soon," said Blaise. "When are you going?"

"In a couple of days, hopefully."

"That's nice," he said, smiling brightly.

Stanley, Juliet, and Maggie gave each other meaningful looks. Juliet cleared her throat. "I gotta go the bathroom," she announced, getting up.

"Me too," said Maggie.

"I have to go too,"said Stanly. Before he got up, he leaned in and whispered something to Blaise. Blaise's eyes widened and he looked like he was about to smack his friend, only to realize that he was already half-way to the bathroom. Maggie and Juliet had also left, leaving me and Blaise alone.

Blaise started to blush. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Uh... No... Yes... No... Maybe?" He sighed and ruffled his hair. "I don't know."

It was this simple act, him just ruffling his hair, that made my heart stop for a second. He looked so adorable! My face went hot and I looked away, suddenly feeling very shy. "Make up your mind already, Blaise."

"Does sorta count?"

I burst out laughing. "Oh, Blaise... Pft..."

"So... That's a yes... Right?"

"Yup. What's wrong?"

Blaise looked at me worriedly. "Well... I just don't know how to say it..."

I blinked. "It can't be too hard. Just tell me what's on your mind."

Blaise shook his head. "It's much more complicated."

"How?"

"It... It just is."

"Why?"

The blush was spreading all over his face. "Because..."

"Because?"

He bit his lip. "Because..."

"Because?"

"Because I really, really like you!" he exploded.

I blinked. "Well, we're friends."

Blaise looked deflated. "Yeah. That's true. Friends." he sighed. "Just friends."

"Why are you so upset all of a sudden? Is there something wrong with being friends with me?"

"No! That's not what I meant at all! It's just that..." he sighed. "I'm too scared."

"Uh?"

"It's nothing, Stace. Don't worry about it," he said, sighing.

Something was bothering him and I wanted to help, but it was obvious that he didn't wanted to talk about it. What is it that he can't tell me? "Uh... Okay," I said.

After this was a long and awkward silence. Neither of us could quite really face the other. I tried to talk, but my voice got caught in my throat. The same thing happened to Blaise. Finally, I gave up trying to talk because it was futile. But, Blaise seemed pretty persistent. Finally he managed to say, "How are Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight?"

"Oh, they're doing fine. Though, they've pretty competitive."

"Why?"

"Oh, they made a bet."

"What's the bet?"

"That Brambleclaw can do better than Squirrelflight and vice versa."

Blaise whistled. "For how long have they been doing this?"

"Four days."

"Wow. Who is winning right now?"

"I think Squirrelflight."

Blaise sighed. "Poor Brambleclaw. He doesn't stand a chance against her."

I giggled. "Probably, but he's doing it."

That's when Stanley, Maggie, and Juliet returned from the bathroom. "So, what happened here?" asked Juliet.

"Oh, we just talked," I said.

"About?" she pressed.

"Not what you three wanted us to talk about," muttered Blaise under his breath. Juliet caught this and frowned.

''Sometimes, Stacey. Sometimes,'' said Juliet.

Dear Lord, what did I do? What did they wanted Blaise and I to talk about?

Sometimes, I feel so clueless.

Maggie shook her head. Juliet sighed. Stanley was giving Blaise that look in which you knew there would a huge lecture once they were alone. Blaise sighed. "I don't know why you guys try. It won't work."

"What won't work?" I asked.

Everyone at the table was silent. Juliet stared at her sandwich, poking it. Stanly started to nibble on his chips. Maggie sipped her Snapple. Blaise just stared at his food, not even bothering to even attempt to eat it. Finally he got up and said, "I'll be going to the bathroom now." I watched him as he walked away.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Juliet face-palmed. "Honestly, Stacey. Don't you notice what Blaise feels about you?"

"Of course. He likes me as a friend."

Stanley whistled. "Wow, Stacey. Wow."

Maggie winced. "No, Stacey. That's not true. That hasn't been true since at least the fourth grade."

"What do you mean?"

"Blaise has liked more than a friend for years now. He's been keeping it bottled up because he's scared of you rejecting him," said Maggie.

"That's not true," I said, trying to convince them and myself.

"Oh, it's true," said Stanley grimly.

"It can't be. If he did, wouldn't he have told me by now?"

"Maybe he has, Stacey. But, you just haven't seen it," said Maggie.

"I would thought that since it's the last day of school he would have put some more effort into it," said Juliet.

"I'm going to go and check on him," announced Stanly.

Everyone nodded numbly. For some odd reason, my heart was heavy in my chest. I felt like I done something wrong, like I had missed some important detail. But, why did I feel this way? It made no sense.

The bell rang and Maggie, Juliet, and I ran up the stairs. It felt weird without Blaise. He would always go, "Stampede!" and run away like he was being chased by a monster.

Since it was the last day of school, the only thing you really was that subject's textbook. And you only needed it because you had to return the book. Standing there without Blaise felt lonely. As everyone passed me by, I was looking for Blaise's familiar curly hair. But, I didn't see him until most of the people had arrived. He had a distant and sad look in his eyes. This made my heart twist. "Blaise? Blaise? Blaise?" I waved my hand over face.

He smiled sadly. "Sorry 'bout that. I was just off in my own little world."

"Blaise, you know you can tell me anything."

He smiled. "I know that, Stace. I know." He placed his hand on my cheek. "I know that." My heart literally stopped. Butterflies started to fly around in my stomach. I met his eyes and for the the first time ever I actually noticed just what a pretty blue eyes he had. A sudden shyness overcame me and I looked at the ground. Blaise took one of his fingers and used it to gently tip my chin up. "Don't look like that, Stace. "

I did my best to smile. "I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be," he said, putting an arm around me and and pulling me close to him. I don't think he realized the my head ended up exactly where his heart was. I could feel it beating against his chest, a comforting and soothing sound. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the warmth of his embrace.

Suddenly, he let go off me. I was about to ask him why when I noticed the teacher walking up to us. My face went hot. What would have happened of the teacher had seen that? Next to her was no one else than Zachary. He's still a bit of a nuisance, but he has given up trying to get close enough to kiss me. He's been satisfying himself with just flirting.

Blaise hates him. Every time Zachary showed up, Blaise would slit his eyes and move closer to me. I think Zachary notices this because he tries to flirt with me the most when Blaise is around. I don't understand why gets Blaise gets so heated up about that, but I would be lying if I said I was glad he got that way. I don't like it when Zachary flirts with me. But, if it was Blaise flirting with me...

Dear God, what am I thinking?

"Alright, everyone in the classroom. " We all went inside and sat down in our desks. We handed in our textbooks. The teacher stood up in front of us. She sighed. "I can't believe it that it's actually the end of the year. You were a wonderful class. I hope you do well next year." It was plainly obvious that she was taking our leaving hard. "So, what do you guys want to do since this is the last day?"

"Killer!" exclaimed best friends Jessica and Daniella.

''Alright, then. Who wants to play killer?''

Almost everyone raised their hand. ''I guess that settles it. Everyone, heads down. I'll know if you are peeking.'' This was true. Last time someone tried to pull one over her, she made sure the guy didn't play the game for a pretty long time.

Everyone put their heads down. ''Remember that you are hit if I tap you on your head.'' I heard her footsteps go around the room, occasionally stopping. After a while, she finally said, ''Heads up.''

I lifted my head and got out of my seat. I walked over to Blaise and whispered, ''Is it you?''

He shook his head. ''You?''

''No, it's not me.'' I looked around, looking for anyone or anything suspicious.

Suddenly, someone started to gag himself. We all stared at him as he sank to floor. ''I've been kill! Avenge me, brethren!'' he wailed, hitting the floor and sticking his tongue out in the universal I'm-dead look.

Everyone burst into hysterics. Blaise grinned. ''I should so totally do that when I die.''

I giggled. ''Oh, Blaise.''

He gave me a sly look and giggled even more. How could Maggie, Juliet, and Stanley ever think that Blaise had special feelings for me? I've known him since the second grade and he's only shown friendship since then. It's only been this year that he's started to act strangely. Like blushing. The blushing and stuttering around me is something that's only popped up this year. If what they say is true, any special feelings would have started this year.

Dear Lord, how did that pop up?

A couple of other people died, accusations were thrown, and we were down to the last ten people standing. You could feel the tension and pressure coming off of us. My eyes darted around wildly, trying to figure out who the killer was. ''Stacey is the killer!'' accused one of the boys.

''Nope,'' I replied.

''Dammit,'' he said, sitting down.

Nine left. Everyone was looking at each other nervously, half-expecting to die. Because it was inevitable, I met Zachary's eyes. For a split second, he winked at me. Was he trying to flirt with me? No, the teacher was watching us. If I knew anything about him it's that he'll never try to flirt with a girl in front of a teacher. Which means... I'm dead.

I'm not one to be dramatic when I die. I just sit down and say, ''I'm dead.''

''It's Zachary,'' says Blaise immediately.

Zachary puts his hands up. ''He got me.''

''Alright, everyone, back to your seats. Remember, heads down and now peeking.''

This process happened for quite a while.

I noticed that Blaise always had his eye on Zachary, as though daring him to prove that he was the killer. After the first round, Zachary was never the killer. But, he always ended up being in the one of the last people standing. Well, if the killer was a girl. It seems that most girls are smitten with him.

After ten rounds, we all decided it we should do something else. After a vote, we started playing Seven Up. After we got bored of that game, most people just started to talk. I'm not much of a talker, so I just took out a book and started to read. It was them that Zachary approached me. ''What are you reading?''

''A Walk to Remember,'' I said, not looking up from my book.

''Didn't they make a movie out of that?''

I nodded, hoping that he would go away. This guy was a more pain in the neck than Avalon was. After a couple of moments, I sensed him get sit down next to me. He scotched in closer. I felt his breathing against my neck. Part of me wanted to just run away and scream. But, another part of me kept me glued to the seat, trying to concentrate on the book. I was at the part in which Landon asks Jaime to come to homecoming with him when Zachary put his arm around me. My reflexes kicked in. I closed my book and smacked him with it.

"Ouch!" he said, retreating his arm. "What was that for?"

"Because I don't want you to hit on me," I replied. I turned back to reading my book. I think he took the hint because he got up and found someone else to flirt with. I didn't care. There were plenty of other girls that would just die at him flirting with them. Really.

The problem is that Zachary is very, very, very good looking. Sexy, I guess. I don't talk how-a-boy-looks-like, so I'm taking a wild guess here. But, I'm not very attracted to him.

I sense that someone has sat next to me. I was about to whack Zachary again when I heard, "A Walk to Remember, uh? My mom loves that book. Is it any good?"

"It's amazing. But, I don't think that you'd like it too much. It's a love story. "

Blaise nodded slowly. "Well, how about I read it with you?"

"Sure. I have no problem with that."

He smiled brightly. He moved the chair in closer so that he could read. He leaned a little on me so that he had a good view of the book. After a little bit he said, "I really admire Landon."

"Why?"

"Because he got the nerve to ask out a girl."

"You admire that?" He nodded. "Why?"

"Well... I'm in love with this one girl and everyone keeps telling me to ask her out. Being friends is just fine and I don't want to ask more than that. But, I'm not exactly satisfied with the whole 'friends' thing. I want her to understand my feelings for her. But, I'm too scared to do it."

Some emotion that I have never felt before bubbled up inside of me. Who was this girl that Blaise liked? Why did he like her? "Really, who is it?"

Blaise opened his mouth and was about to say something when someone cleared his throat. I looked up to see Zachary. He was tapping his foot and glaring at Blaise. "Uh... That's my seat."

"Oh? Really? Where are your official papers saying that this is your seat?"

Zachary slit his eyes. "Get up."

"Uh... No."

"Get up."

"No."

Zachary and Blaise started to have what I assumed to be a staring contest. While they did that, I kept on reading the book. Finally, the bell rang and I got up to leave the classroom. I looked at them and saw that they were still staring at each other. Dear God, had they been staring at each other for the past 10 minutes? "Uh... Bell rang?" I said. They both looked at me, then back at each other.

"Better be careful, Donner."

"It's you that should be careful, Anderson."

Blaise got up and walked to me. "C'mon, Stace," he said, looking straight at Zachary.

Zachary raised his eyebrow. "Watch the fights you pick up, Donner." Blaise slitted his eyes but said nothing.

Dear Lord, what's going on? I sighed loudly and walked away from the both of them. Boys. Honestly. I went to my locker and took out all the other books I needed to give back to the teachers. I had already taken all the notebooks and binders. So, the only thing I had left were the textbooks. As I took the books out, I got the feeling someone was watching me. I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing out of he usual. My heart started pounding as I ran quickly to the next class.

The rest of the day was on huge blur. Well, to me at least. As I sat one the bus, I did recall a couple of things. Turns out that a bunch of guys got the nerve to ask their crushes to go out with them. The majority got accepted. Another thing was that a couple of boys pulled a prank on a teacher and she gave them extra work to do over the summer. I'm glad I'm not one of them. Also, my English teacher pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to work with someone on the Shakespeare thing. I had told him that I was prefer to do it alone. And guess what? He told me that I would extra credit for doing it alone!

I watched as the scenery passed by. I wouldn't be going back here for at least three months. Something about this made me sad. I don't personally hate school. I just don't like the drama that comes out of there. Maybe that person didn't say hello to you because they didn't see you.

I watched as my siblings got into the bus. Krista started talking with her friends, Casey started to use her phone and Jacob took a nap. I smiled. Yup, these were my siblings.

"Thank you. Have a good summer!" I said the bus driver as I got out.

"You too," he said.

Casey and Krista were so excited, they ran all the way home screaming, "NO MORE SCHOOL! NO MORE SCHOOL!"

I giggled at the sight.

As I got to the house, I heard my name. I turned around and saw that our next door neighbor was standing there. "What's up with your siblings?" he asked.

"Oh, just excited," I said.

He smiled. "Oh, cool. You done too?" I nodded and he sighed. "Man, I wish I could say the same. My school isn't going to end until Tuesday."

"Oh, that sucks."

"It does," he agreed, running his hand through his dirty blonde hair.

I smiled sweetly, "Well, I wish you luck, then."

"Thanks."

I walked up to the door and unlocked it. "Oh~. Stacey, looks like you're getting all the boys," said Krista.

"Oh, be quiet. It was just a simple neighborly conversation."

She raised her eyebrows. "Like your conversations with Blaise?"

"Sure."

Krista rolled her eye and walked inside. "I'm calling Florence!" she announced.

"I'm going to watch TV," said Casey, going to the TV.

"Looks like everyone is busy," said Squirrel, climbing down the stairs. "Welcome back."

"Thank you, Squirrelflight," said Jacob. "Where is Brambleclaw?"

"Bathroom."

Jacob nodded and started a conversation with her. Since there really anything else left to do, I went to the kitchen and made snacks for everyone. Once they were done, I put them on a platter and placed it on the table. Almost immediately, everyone was there, taking one for themselves and then disappearing. It was amazing, really.

Well, Bramble lingered around, so asked him about what happened while we were gone. "Not much, really. Squirrelflight was really sleepy."

"Really? That's odd."

He shrugged. "I guess."

"How is the whole relationship thing going on?"

Bramble started to blush like crazy. "Oh... Rivals."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... Maybe... Yes..." he sighed. "No, no really. I have no clue."

"You should ask her."

"I suppose..." he looked at the ground. "Can I... Can I tell you something?"

I nodded. "Shoot."

He sighed. "Whenever it deals with her, it's complicated. No matter what we do, it's like there is a hidden message behind it. It's been like that since the beginning." He looked at the ground. "Sometimes, I don't understand what's the hidden message and I end up hurting her. I don't want to keep on doing that mistake anymore."

"You're telling me this because...?"

"I want you teach me about this God person. Maybe he can help me."

"You want to become Catholic?"

"No! I just want to learn about Him."

"Why?"

"Well, you look up to Him and look at you. You're as sweet as a flower."

"Thank you... I guess?" I put my snack down. "So, you think God can help you with this?" He nodded. "Uh... Well... I guess it's worth a shot." As far as I'm concerned, there are no chapters in the Bible that can help you specifically with girl problems. We both went upstairs and I took out a Bible and handed it to him. "I'm not exactly sure if there is anything that can help you."

I don't know why, but I blurted out, "What do you believe in, Brambleclaw?"

"Uh?"

"You have something like God back at home?"

He looked at the Bible. "Well, I believe in that my ancestors in a place called StarClan are equivalent to God."

StarClan... What an amazing name! "Really? What do they teach you?"

"How to be good warriors. Another thing that might be a lot like it is the Warrior Code."

"What does that do?"

"It's the rules, basically."

"Oh... A cat version of the Ten Commandments."

He shrugged. "I guess. Thanks for the book. "

"No problem. Have fun reading the Bible."

Dear Lord, that was one weird conversation.

As much as I loved God, I've never personally read the Bible. I have looked at a couple of stories that interested me, like the one about Judith. But, other than that, I haven't really read the Bible.

I went on the computer and started to look up things about Shakespeare. Might as well start now. The project looked long and hard. A hour passed when Brambles burst into my room. He handed me the Bible. "Here."

"Are you done?"

"No... It's just that I read something... Well... Weird."

"You were probably reading the Old Testament."

"How do you know that?"

"The Old Testament is known to have weird things. Here," I flipped through the Bible until I reached on of my favorite stories. "Read this."

He reluctantly took the book. He sat down on my bed and started to read. While he did that, I did more research on Shakespeare. As famous as the guy was, not much is actually known about it. He disappeared from history a couple of times and not too much is known about his personal life. I looked at the form I was supposed to fill out and sighed. I would have to do some really intense searching.

A part of me wished that Avalon was here. She could have been such a huge help. I started to fill out the form with the information that I had found so far. "Stacey?"

I looked up. "Yes?"

"I don't understand how David beats Goliath with just a rock. I mean, Goliath is so much bigger and stronger than him! And he has more equipment than he does."

"Well, David won because God was on his side. God does not look at your outside appearance, rather he looks at your heart. God is all about mercy, forgiveness, love, and goodness."

"Uh.. Now I see why you turned out the way you are," He looked at the Bible. "Does your God listen to you?"

I blinked. "Yes. He has."

"How do you know? You've never seen God."

I shrugged. "I don't need God to show himself as a solid thing. I see him differently."

"How do you see him?"

"I see him every time someone does something kind."

He looked at the Bible, biting his lip. "Does your God ever talk about unfaithfulness?"

"Yes, he does." I racked my brains, trying to remember which books talked about that. "Uh... Check out Hosea. I think there is something there."

He nodded and flipped to that part of the Bible. This happened a couple of times. He would ask me a question about the story; I would answer as truthfully as I could; He would stare at the book and then ask me another question; I would do my best to try and direct him in the right direction.

After a while, he handed me the Bible. "Have you found what you needed?"

"No. But, I learned the answer to something else."

"Really? What is that?"

He winked at me. "You'll see."

I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing. Sometimes, you have to allow others to have secrets.

This chapter has a bit of background. While I was writting it, I was reading the Bible ( I was curious.) and A Walk to Remember. Right now, I'm reading The Last Song. Nicholas Sparks really is a genius. :3

Anyways, I have decided upon something; I have decided to answer questions! :D If something isn't clear to you, or you're just curious, or something, something, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, you know. You can either PM the questions or just put it in a review. I really don't have a preference. :3

So, that's about it, I think. G'Bye!