Author's Note: Thank you for all your support. I hope you enjoy the story!! Please review!
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"Today, class, we'll be discussing the draft. As you all should know, President Bush is mobilizing troops to the Middle East in preparation for war with Iraq. In the worse case scenario that the war lasts a long time, the United States would implement the draft. All men eighteen or older would have to apply to the draft and if necessary, be drafted into the military for war. The draft was used in the Civil War, which we just studied a few weeks ago. So, what do you all think?" the history teacher asked. Mrs. Evans! That was her name! Colin was happy that he finally remembered what Amy had told him the first day back from school, he was too embarrassed to ask anyone her name.
No one seemed to want to participate in class that day.
"The young men in this room will be eligible for the draft in one or two years, being sixteen and seventeen years old right now, so, what do you all think?"
"I think it's cool, women love men in uniform," Charlie said. The class erupted in laughter, all except Alex. She remained silent and doodled on her notebook.
"Yeah, and I mean, there's a lot of honor. Fighting for your country and all..." a girl added.
"I think the draft is a good idea. If a man lives in the country, he should be willing to fight for it and the causes it believes in," Bright said logically. The class mumbled in agreement. Colin was impressed, Bright seemed rather intelligent.
"Which is what?" Alex asked. The attention turned to her in surprise. She had been in their class for two weeks, but this was the first time she had spoken. Granted she talked with Colin occasionally, but never did she address the whole class.
"What are you talking about?" Bright responded as though Alex was wasting his time.
"What are the causes we are fighting for in the Middle East?"
"Iraq has nuclear weapons, those are bad," Bright responded. His tone of voice was one someone would use to a three year old.
"Actually, that hasn't been proven yet. North Korea, however, admits that they are very close to having nuclear weapons...why aren't we waging war against them?" Alex replied.
Bright didn't answer.
"Does that mean that you don't support the President?" Charlie asked.
"Yes," Alex replied confidently.
"We got a Benedict Arnold, here," Bright said. The class laughed at Alex.
"Just because I don't agree with the President doesn't mean I'm a traitor. Until Bush gives a substantiated explanation as to why we will be going to war with Iraq, I don't agree with war and I don't want a draft to be implemented. People die in a war, gruesome, painful deaths. And I don't think people should be forced to die for a cause that isn't even explained. Think about it Bright, in a year, you could be in uniform, you could be in Iraq. There is no glory in getting yourself blown up because you stepped on a landmine. And what would you have died for? Because Bush thinks there are nuclear weapons there? No, there must be proof," Alex replied passionately.
The class was silent. Some agreed with Alex, others thought she was too opinionated for her own good. Colin thought she was quite eloquent and snuck a peak in her direction. She resumed her doodling on her notebook, as though she had said nothing at all.
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"Can you believe what she said in history class today? Unbelievable," Charlie said to his friends during lunch. Bright and Colin were silent.
"Hey, Amy, I think I know what her nickname should be," Kayla said.
"What?" Amy asked.
"Kat! She's just like Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You. Overly opinionated and a heinous bitch," Kayla said happily, priding herself on her creativity.
Colin frowned, he didn't like Kayla either.
"That's really smart, Kayla," Bright said.
"So, what do you think?" Kayla asked Amy.
"Um, I don't think that's too cool," Amy replied unenthusiastically. She didn't know the girl, but she felt sort of bad that all these people gave her a hard time. She also felt bad that she wasn't too fond of the girl when she didn't even know her.
"I agree," Colin said.
"Then you think of a name for her, Colin," Kayla replied haughtily.
"Alex seems to do her just fine," Colin replied, annoyed.
"Boring..." Kayla said, getting up from the lunch table and heading over to Alex's table. She seemed to be having fun talking to Wendell and Ephram again. She laughed a lot and so did Ephram and Wendell. Colin grew slightly jealous. Amy felt a little miffed as well that another girl had captured Ephram's attention.
"Hey, Kat," Kayla said, stopping at the table.
"Excuse me?" Alex asked.
"Your name is Kat," Kayla stated.
"No, it's Alex. Do I know you?"
"Bye, Kat," Kayla said, walking away.
Alex turned to Wendell and Ephram. "That was really weird..."
"I guess Kat is your nickname," Wendell commented.
"Huh?"
"Every person has a nickname, it's a stupid tradition the kids in the school made," Ephram explained.
"Once again, people here have too much time on their hands..." Alex said, throwing away her unfinished lunch as the bell rang.
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Why wouldn't her locker open? It opened all other times, it was a good locker. C'mon...she thought, trying to make it open. She banged it hard with her fist and tried again. It popped open. "There," she said to herself, satisfied.
"Easy, you don't wanna end up like me, broken appendage and all..." Colin said as he approached her.
She smiled. "So, tell me something, what's up with this Kat business?" The whispers and sneers had subsided over the two weeks, so Colin must have been a man of his word. But this Kat thing was rather irritating. People had been greeting her as "Kat" as she walked down the halls, sharing some inside joke she didn't understand.
"Oh, that..." Colin deadpanned.
"Care to elaborate?" Alex asked.
"Ever seen Ten Things I Hate About You?" Colin asked.
Alex thought about the reference for a moment and then smiled. "I get it," she said to him.
"And your happy about this?" Colin asked, confused.
"Well, why not? Kat was the main character, inspired by Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, right? Julia Stiles was great, intelligent, witty..." Alex said aloud.
"Kayla was going for the over-opinionated heinous bitch reference," Colin explained.
Alex was quiet for a while, her eyes grew sad, then she shrugged. "That's fine," she said casually, as she closed her locker. She saw Ephram approaching them. "Ephram, guess what?" she said, feigning happiness.
"What?" he asked, nodding hello to Colin while he spoke.
"The Kat reference that ditzy girl made in the cafeteria...she was talking about Julia Stiles for Ten Things I Hate About You," Alex explained, rather happily.
Ephram looked at her quizzically. "I don't think that was intended as a compliment, Alex."
"Oh, I know that, and that's fine, but I'll take it as a compliment. Hey, what's your nickname?" she asked Ephram. Colin was intrigued too.
"Oh, Ham," he said.
"Ham? Like in Green Eggs and Ham?" Alex asked.
"No, Hamlet."
"Oh...tortured soul...I like it," Alex commented.
"Yeah, Amy thought it suited me perfectly," Ephram replied.
"Amy?" Colin asked casually.
Ephram realized his slip-up too late. "Uh, yeah..."
"I thought you weren't tight with her much," Colin said. He wasn't upset, just confused.
"Oh, uh, I'm not. She was, you know, just being nice to the new kid," he lied.
Colin nodded. "That's cool," he said. "Hey, are you going to study for the English test tomorrow?" he asked Alex.
"Yeah, I was going to go to the library right now," she replied.
"Can I join you? I really need an 'A' on this test, seeing how I've missed majority of this semester already," Colin said.
Alex hesitated but said, "Sure."
"Great, I'll meet you at the library. I'm gonna tell Bright and Amy not to wait for me, I'll catch you later Ephram," Colin said, walking out of the school.
Once Colin was out of earshot, Alex turned to Ephram, "She was just being nice to the new kid?" she repeated incredulously.
Ephram shrugged, he didn't like remembering how Amy was before Colin woke up.
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"Bright, Amy, you guys can go on without me. I'm gonna study in the library for the English test tomorrow," Colin said.
"You sure?" Bright asked, surprised.
"Yeah, thanks though. I'll be cool here," Colin said.
"Okay," Bright said skeptically. "But we'll see you for dinner, right?"
"Yeah, totally," Colin replied, looking forward to dinner with the Abbotts.
"Bye, Colin," Amy said.
"Later."
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After an hour and a half of quizzing each other on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Colin and Alex grew tired of studying.
"I think you'll do fine on the test tomorrow," Alex said confidently.
"Thanks to you," Colin said. Alex blushed slightly.
The silence that ensued was comfortable, but Colin wanted to know more about her. "So, how do you like it here?" he asked.
Alex shrugged. "I like L.A. more. Too cold, too small, too meddlesome here. What about you? Do you like it here?"
Colin was surprised about the question. No one had ever bothered to ask him how he felt about anything. Except Ephram, they were all busy telling him how he used to be before the accident, trying to rejuvenate his memory to no avail.
"The adults here treat me like a charity case. Some talk slowly as if I'm deaf. I know they mean well, but it's real annoying. The kids try to make me remember stuff I said or did before, but I can't. 'Hey, Colin, remember the time you smooth-talked your way out of detention with Evans?' Well, no, I don't remember," Colin finished bitterly.
Alex wasn't exactly sure how to reply to this, she was surprised that Colin confided in her so much.
Colin immediately felt uncomfortable. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laid that stuff on you, that was really selfish, especially since you have you're own problems to deal with and..." Colin rambled.
"Colin!" Alex said, grabbing his hand and trying to make him shut up. Colin stopped talking. "I, I just don't know how to respond to what you said. I can't say, 'Yeah man, I know just how you feel' cuz I don't know what you're going through. But don't worry about dumping your feelings on me, I'm cool with that," Alex explained, her hand still on his. They both noticed this at the same time and broke apart, blushing.
Colin was so happy that she didn't get freaked out by his sudden burst of frustration. It felt really good to let it out.
"Um, what time is it?" Alex asked, looking around for a clock.
"Almost five," Colin answered.
"Shit!" Alex cussed, gathering her stuff quickly into her backpack. "I'm so late! My parents are going to get so pissed if they find out..." she trailed off.
"What? Can I help?" Colin asked, handing her jacket to her, completely confused.
"No, I just gotta run. So sorry for bailing on you like this. I really had fun studying and talking. Um...I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she ran out of the library.
Colin let out a sigh. Alex was a weird one, but in a good way...a really good way. The Abbotts would be picking him up for dinner at his house in two hours. He still needed to shower and get ready. He picked up his backpack and walked out of the library, smiling.