Blackout + 1
Alex saw her walk into the school and quickly went to see her. "MARIA!" he called loudly. He pushed through the masses of students, excusing himself as he went. She stopped walking the second she heard her name being called. When she saw him, she smiled.
"Hey!" she said as he got to her side.
"Hey, how are you?" he asked.
"Good... nervous..."
"I meant, how's your ankle doing?" he clarified.
"Oh," she laughed, "It's much better, thank you."
"What'd your mother say when you limped in?" Maria laughed again.
"Well, she was already worried, 'cause of the storm... and then when she saw how I was walking, she just... screamed! 'Maria! What did you do?'" Alex laughed.
"What'd you tell her?"
"I said that I fell and it would be fine in the morning."
"And what did she say?"
"She didn't say anything. She took me to the hospital."
"And then..."
"And the doctor told her the same thing. My ankle was and is fine."
"Well, that's great," said Alex.
"Yep. Long live Amy DeLuca our 'savior'," she said with a grin. Alex burst into laughter and Maria was soon to follow. They continued this way down the hall.
"Hey, I was thinking about something," started Alex.
"What?"
"Well... I was wondering if you'd like to study with me tomorrow. For Friday's exam... make it less boring." She thought for a few seconds.
"O... okay. Sure. Where do you want to do this?"
"My place or yours, I guess."
"We'll do this at your house. I'll come around ten tomorrow morning, how's that?"
"Great, that's perfect."
"Alright. Come on, we should get in there if we don't want to be late."
"Wouldn't want that," he said.
Blackout + 2
Alex waited impatiently. He must have looked outside that window about twenty times before he realized it. He sat down and slowly breathed in and out. He'd never felt so nervous like this before... at least not because of Maria. It had always been very easy with her... before. But ever since that blackout, he'd started feeling differently.
He heard the doorbell and all but ran to answer. He opened the door and there she was... just amazing as usual, and that time, Alex felt out of breath for just a moment. They went to sit, and after a short and awkward conversation, they began to study.
He could barely concentrate, feeling her next to him. She was so absorbed in her studying... she couldn't see how he would sometimes look to the side, to her, attempting to go unnoticed, of course.
It was so hard no to say anything. And since he had no way to know for sure if she was feeling the same way he was... He knew that there had definitely been something going on between them, he was sure she was aware of it.
The only thing was he couldn't tell just WHAT had happened back there. Yet there he was... with one of his best friends... and he was sweating like crazy. He felt so ridiculous that he had fallen victim to that 'dating your best friend' deal... Well, they weren't dating... but he wanted to.
His thoughts stopped abruptly. He'd admitted it. He wanted to date her. Would she say yes if he did? Or would she think he was joking? They studied for about two hours, and finally, she said she had to get home.
He led her to the door. She asked him if they could do this again, to study for their last final, which would be on the following Tuesday. So he said he'd be at her house on Saturday after lunch. Maybe he'd pull himself together and ask her out.
Blackout + 4
She sat in the living room, fidgeting. She couldn't explain what was going on, really. Ever since the blackout, she felt very strange around Alex. She had this pinching feeling in her stomach whenever she was near him. He was her friend... but she was feeling the way she would near a person she'd like to... go out with on a date...
That was what scared her the most... she didn't try to ignore it though. She had to find out if he felt the same way about her. She could swear she'd seen him look her way many times two days before, on their previous study session.
Finally, he arrived. They sat and studied. It was beginning to get complicated to concentrate on her book now... This was just crazy. She had to say something...
"Alex..." she started.
"Maria," he said at the same time. The two laughed shortly.
"Look... this is ridiculous. I know what's going on, and so do you, right?"
"Right..." he said slowly.
"We have to stop acting like we don't know, so... what do we do?"
"I think we should try... to go out... on a date..." He could hardly believe he'd said it. Maria was speechless. She quickly came back to reality. It WAS what she wanted.
"Okay... next weekend?"
"Sounds good to me," he said.
"Great..." The two sat in silence for some time. Eventually, Alex cleared his throat and they returned to the books in front of them. There was still very much awkwardness in the room...
About an hour later, Maria's mom came back as Alex was leaving. She saw the look the two exchanged, but remained quiet.
Blackout + 7
Alex and Maria met up in front of the school. "Hi," they both said.
"Can't wait to be done here today. The year has been too long... summer will be nice," said Maria as they walked in. Over the last few days, they'd managed to push away the awkwardness and it was much better now. They were talking like before, but with an added bonus.
"Listen, I..." started Alex.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know, the last week has been very interesting. Except we haven't really talked to any of the others. And I think they'll catch on to what's going on between us, here... so we should tell them," said Alex.
"Okay..."
"Unless you don't want to. It's okay, really."
"No, no, I do want to tell them," she said, taking Alex's hand into her own, "We can even tell them today if you'd like."
"Okay... good... Let's go see if we can find them..." The two walked as one, still hand in hand. They talked about many things when finally, they spotted two of their 'friends'... "Alright then, Max and Tess will be first, I guess," said Alex. They took in many breaths and finally started walking in the direction Max and Tess were heading.
Both Alex and Maria were getting more and more nervous as they went along, sometimes squeezing the other's hand for support. They were all heading for a kind of opening on the outside school grounds. Max and Tess were coming up from the path to Alex and Maria's left.
The two were completely concentrated on what they would say once they came face to face with them. They really had no idea of what they would do. They only hoped it would go smoothly.
They came up to the open space and stood frozen in place when they saw...
Alex saw her walk into the school and quickly went to see her. "MARIA!" he called loudly. He pushed through the masses of students, excusing himself as he went. She stopped walking the second she heard her name being called. When she saw him, she smiled.
"Hey!" she said as he got to her side.
"Hey, how are you?" he asked.
"Good... nervous..."
"I meant, how's your ankle doing?" he clarified.
"Oh," she laughed, "It's much better, thank you."
"What'd your mother say when you limped in?" Maria laughed again.
"Well, she was already worried, 'cause of the storm... and then when she saw how I was walking, she just... screamed! 'Maria! What did you do?'" Alex laughed.
"What'd you tell her?"
"I said that I fell and it would be fine in the morning."
"And what did she say?"
"She didn't say anything. She took me to the hospital."
"And then..."
"And the doctor told her the same thing. My ankle was and is fine."
"Well, that's great," said Alex.
"Yep. Long live Amy DeLuca our 'savior'," she said with a grin. Alex burst into laughter and Maria was soon to follow. They continued this way down the hall.
"Hey, I was thinking about something," started Alex.
"What?"
"Well... I was wondering if you'd like to study with me tomorrow. For Friday's exam... make it less boring." She thought for a few seconds.
"O... okay. Sure. Where do you want to do this?"
"My place or yours, I guess."
"We'll do this at your house. I'll come around ten tomorrow morning, how's that?"
"Great, that's perfect."
"Alright. Come on, we should get in there if we don't want to be late."
"Wouldn't want that," he said.
Blackout + 2
Alex waited impatiently. He must have looked outside that window about twenty times before he realized it. He sat down and slowly breathed in and out. He'd never felt so nervous like this before... at least not because of Maria. It had always been very easy with her... before. But ever since that blackout, he'd started feeling differently.
He heard the doorbell and all but ran to answer. He opened the door and there she was... just amazing as usual, and that time, Alex felt out of breath for just a moment. They went to sit, and after a short and awkward conversation, they began to study.
He could barely concentrate, feeling her next to him. She was so absorbed in her studying... she couldn't see how he would sometimes look to the side, to her, attempting to go unnoticed, of course.
It was so hard no to say anything. And since he had no way to know for sure if she was feeling the same way he was... He knew that there had definitely been something going on between them, he was sure she was aware of it.
The only thing was he couldn't tell just WHAT had happened back there. Yet there he was... with one of his best friends... and he was sweating like crazy. He felt so ridiculous that he had fallen victim to that 'dating your best friend' deal... Well, they weren't dating... but he wanted to.
His thoughts stopped abruptly. He'd admitted it. He wanted to date her. Would she say yes if he did? Or would she think he was joking? They studied for about two hours, and finally, she said she had to get home.
He led her to the door. She asked him if they could do this again, to study for their last final, which would be on the following Tuesday. So he said he'd be at her house on Saturday after lunch. Maybe he'd pull himself together and ask her out.
Blackout + 4
She sat in the living room, fidgeting. She couldn't explain what was going on, really. Ever since the blackout, she felt very strange around Alex. She had this pinching feeling in her stomach whenever she was near him. He was her friend... but she was feeling the way she would near a person she'd like to... go out with on a date...
That was what scared her the most... she didn't try to ignore it though. She had to find out if he felt the same way about her. She could swear she'd seen him look her way many times two days before, on their previous study session.
Finally, he arrived. They sat and studied. It was beginning to get complicated to concentrate on her book now... This was just crazy. She had to say something...
"Alex..." she started.
"Maria," he said at the same time. The two laughed shortly.
"Look... this is ridiculous. I know what's going on, and so do you, right?"
"Right..." he said slowly.
"We have to stop acting like we don't know, so... what do we do?"
"I think we should try... to go out... on a date..." He could hardly believe he'd said it. Maria was speechless. She quickly came back to reality. It WAS what she wanted.
"Okay... next weekend?"
"Sounds good to me," he said.
"Great..." The two sat in silence for some time. Eventually, Alex cleared his throat and they returned to the books in front of them. There was still very much awkwardness in the room...
About an hour later, Maria's mom came back as Alex was leaving. She saw the look the two exchanged, but remained quiet.
Blackout + 7
Alex and Maria met up in front of the school. "Hi," they both said.
"Can't wait to be done here today. The year has been too long... summer will be nice," said Maria as they walked in. Over the last few days, they'd managed to push away the awkwardness and it was much better now. They were talking like before, but with an added bonus.
"Listen, I..." started Alex.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know, the last week has been very interesting. Except we haven't really talked to any of the others. And I think they'll catch on to what's going on between us, here... so we should tell them," said Alex.
"Okay..."
"Unless you don't want to. It's okay, really."
"No, no, I do want to tell them," she said, taking Alex's hand into her own, "We can even tell them today if you'd like."
"Okay... good... Let's go see if we can find them..." The two walked as one, still hand in hand. They talked about many things when finally, they spotted two of their 'friends'... "Alright then, Max and Tess will be first, I guess," said Alex. They took in many breaths and finally started walking in the direction Max and Tess were heading.
Both Alex and Maria were getting more and more nervous as they went along, sometimes squeezing the other's hand for support. They were all heading for a kind of opening on the outside school grounds. Max and Tess were coming up from the path to Alex and Maria's left.
The two were completely concentrated on what they would say once they came face to face with them. They really had no idea of what they would do. They only hoped it would go smoothly.
They came up to the open space and stood frozen in place when they saw...