Author's Note: So I watched yesterday's episode, "Colin Number Two" and I felt so bad for Colin. My God, that boy is having a rough time...it was weird that Ephram was helping him study and in my story Alex was helping him study. Just to declare it right now, I don't read spoilers for Everwood, so any coinciding info or something like that is pure coincidence. Okay, thanks for the reviews, they mean SO much to me. Hope you enjoy!
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"Amy, hey," Colin said as he opened the door. She looked beautiful in a sky blue sweater and black pants. "You look really nice," he complimented. He could see how he used to like or love this girl. He had heard she was absolutely amazing, if only he could remember. She always seemed so reserved around him now, as though she didn't know what to say.
"Thanks, Colin. Bright and my parents are in the car," she said.
"Oh, okay," Colin said. Mrs. Hart can out of the living room just then. "Mom, I'm leaving now," Colin said.
Mrs. Hart smiled, the two of them together brought back so many happy memories for her. "Have fun," she said. Colin gave her a kiss on the cheek and left. He really liked his mom, she was a nice lady. He desperately wanted to remember more of her too.
"Hi, Colin," Dr. Abbott greeted from the driver's seat once Colin and Amy were settled in the car. "We figured we'd go to Gino Chang's, it was your favorite restaurant. Maybe it will spark a memory," he added casually.
Once again that suffocating feeling crept into his system. Why did everyday, every outing, every minute have to be an exercise to see if he could remember something? He wondered if the pressure to remember his previous self kept him from remembering.
Minutes later they were at their table, reading the menu. The place was fairly crowded.
"I'm going to have the orange chicken," Dr. Abbott said, closing his menu.
"You always get that, dear," Mrs. Abbott said. "Don't you want to try something new?"
"Rose, I enjoy the orange chicken. It's flavoring is very constant and delicious."
"Fine dear. I'm getting the linguini with clam sauce. What are you getting, kids?" she asked her children and Colin.
"Spaghetti and meatballs," Bright said.
"Vegetable lasagna," Amy replied.
"Chicken lo mein," Colin said.
The Abbotts looked at him strangely.
"Did I do something?" Colin asked carefully.
"No, nothing," Mrs. Abbott said, giving him an encouraging smile.
"It's just that you always ordered the sweet and sour pork," Bright explained, disappointed. "It was your favorite."
Colin didn't know how to reply.
"It's okay, order whatever you would like," Dr. Abbott said as the waiter approached them.
Colin looked at Amy, who gave him a small smile though she looked like she was going to cry. Had that been some sort of test that he failed miserably? Were they all hoping he would remember what he always ordered before?
Eventually, the food came. Colin really enjoyed the chicken lo mein. He would try the sweet and sour pork next time. Dr. Abbott's orange chicken came last, and Dr. Abbott looked at it as though it were crawling with maggots.
"This is not orange chicken! Gino! Gino!" Dr. Abbott cried.
"Yes, Dr. Abbott, how can I help you?" Gino asked with an Italian accent.
"What is this? This is not orange chicken," Dr. Abbott stated, annoyed.
Gino frowned. "I'm sorry, our usually chef isn't here today."
"Bring out your chef. I want to speak to him and describe exactly how I want my dinner prepared," Dr. Abbott ordered.
"Of course," Gino replied.
Colin didn't see the big deal. The orange chicken smelled great.
"Excuse me, Dr. Abbott?" a familiar voice asked, Colin looked up and almost choked on his noodles.
Alex looked at him and her eyes widened in surprise. She quickly recovered and refocused her attention to Dr. Abbott.
Dr. Abbott looked at the teenage girl. "If you want an appointment, come by my office during the morning. Don't interrupt my family's dinner," he said dismissively.
"I don't need a doctor. I cooked the orange chicken for you, sir," Alex said as respectively as possible. The man was miserable. She would remember to go to Dr. Brown for all medical needs.
Dr. Abbott looked at her in disbelief, as did Colin and the rest of the Abbotts. "Are you old enough to even drive?" Dr. Abbot asked.
"I don't see the relevance of that, sir," Alex replied anxiously.
"It's just that I'm so surprised Gino would let a teenager cook. There must be safety rules and..."
"Sir, as you can see, it's quite busy here. I'm the only one cooking the Chinese food today. I must get back," Alex said politely but earnestly.
"Yes, well, this is not orange chicken," Dr. Abbott stated arrogantly.
"Yes, it is," Alex replied.
"No, this is light orange and the batter is all wrong. It's supposed to be a dark red color."
Colin found it rather amusing that Dr. Abbott would be telling an Asian person what was and was not Chinese food.
"Have you tried it?" Alex asked.
"No, you expect me to try this?" Dr. Abbott asked, rather shocked.
"Sir, this is how my mom cooks it. Please try it. If you don't like it, then I will make you that Americanized version of it with that red, caramelized sauce and everything," Alex said quickly.
Dr. Abbott looked at her tentatively. He took his chopsticks and tried a bite of the chicken, chewing slowly. Everyone awaited his verdict.
"This is very good," he said, surprised.
Alex grinned and looked at Colin, who smiled back at her. This wasn't missed by Bright.
"I'm glad you like it. Will that be all, Dr. Abbott?" Alex asked politely.
"Yes, yes, this is excellent. I apologize. Rose, kids, you must try some of this," he said placing some of all their plates. Colin chuckled lightly as he ate the chicken. It was very good.
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The next day Colin walked into history class and saw Alex reading a book. When she wasn't doodling, she was reading.
"Thanks for the noodles," he said, sitting in his seat.
Alex smirked. "Anytime, you guys paid for it," she replied, not taking her eyes off the book.
"Was that why you rushed out of the library yesterday?" Colin asked. He wanted to know why she had been cooking his dinner last night, not that he minded at all.
Alex closed the book, realizing that Colin wanted answers, although she wasn't sure she wanted to give them to him. "Yeah. I work at the restaurant from five to eight every weekday. I usually work as the hostess or a waitress or I just prepare the food in the kitchen, but yesterday we had no one cooking the Chinese food. So, I had to do it. And believe me, it's not fun," she said, showing her hands and arms which were spotted with burns and blisters.
"Ouch..." Colin said, making a painful face.
"Yup, hot oil for three hours would do that to ya," she said, smiling.
"So, why do you work there?" Colin asked, but before Alex could answer, the teacher came in demanding silence. Their conversation would have to resume later.
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"Thanks, Bright, Amy," Colin said, getting out of the truck.
"See you tomorrow, bro," Bright said from the driver's seat. Amy waved.
Colin went into his house, dropped off his bag, and went out again. His parents weren't home from work yet. It was cool and a little damp outside, but the sun was shining, which made him happy. As he walked along the street, he tried to remember something, anything from his past. Occasionally he would get a flash of something, and he'd tell his parents. They would smile encouragingly, hoping that one day they would have all of their son back. But wasn't this Colin their son too?
Colin knew this was hard on all the people around him. He knew that they wanted him back. He wanted himself back. It had been over a month since his departure from the hospital, and he could remember nothing very substantial from his past so far. Was he a good person? Amy said everyone loved him, but that didn't mean that he loved himself. If he was hanging out with the likes of Charlie and Kayla, he wasn't very sure about the merits of his personal character. But he could change that. He could be somebody now, instead of trying to be someone else he couldn't remember.
"Hey, there," a voice said, stirring him from his thoughts.
Colin looked up. It was Alex. She had apparently been walking around the town too.
"Awfully cold for you to be taking a walk, being from L.A. and all," Colin teased.
"It's not that cold. But did you know that Los Angeles is dealing with a heat spell now? Eighty degree weather in January!" she said enviously. "It's probably forty something here."
Colin smiled. Although he originally wanted to know Alex because she was new, he was thankful that they had become friends. Though he knew barely anything about her past, he felt like he was closer to her than these other people he apparently had known since childhood. With Alex, there were no expectations.
"Can I walk with you?" Alex asked. Colin was surprised, he didn't expect her to be that bold, considering all the talk around school regarding her. Even though Colin tried to stop majority of it, people loved to gossip, especially at the new girl's expense.
"Of course. I was going to ask you that," Colin replied truthfully.
They walked in silence for a while, looking at the modest houses and trees that lined the sidewalk.
"So, you never answered my question. Why do you work at Gino Chang's place?" Colin asked.
"Oh, right. He's my mom's cousin, I'm living with him and his wife right now. I have to earn my keep by working there," she replied.
She didn't move here with her parents? That was odd. Then again, Colin should have realized this, considering there was no welcome party or committee or anything when she arrived here.
"Where are your parents?" Colin asked carefully. He prayed she didn't say dead.
"Back in L.A. They shipped me out here after I got into some trouble," she replied, tensing ever so slightly as she remembered what happened.
"Can I ask what happened?" Colin asked, curious.
Alex stopped walking and looked at him, studied him. She never really looked at him before, but he was quite handsome. She could understand why he had been so popular, well, why he was so popular. Could she trust him? She might as well try.
"I got expelled from school," she said.
"Woow...why?" Colin replied. He didn't understand, Alex was a smart girl and she didn't seem like a person would could spray paint the walls or something like that.
"I changed my friends' grades in chemistry class. Towards the end of the semester, a lot of them realized that they were failing, so they asked me to change the grades so that they would get D's on the report cards. I was the teacher's TA and had access to the grades. I didn't want to do it, but you know, peer pressure and everything, so I did. It was stupid, and I got caught. I felt so bad cuz the teacher had trusted me. So anyway, I was expelled from the school because that was a serious offense," she explained.
"Geez, that's harsh," Colin commented.
"Oh, it gets better," Alex said sarcastically. "So anyway, my parents were pissed, grounded me forever. I got so upset cuz I knew what I did was wrong and I knew that I should be punished, but I was getting extreme cabin fever being locked up in my room. So, I snuck out, went to party one of my friends was having, and I hooked up with this guy I barely knew. The party was crashed by my friend's parents, who just so happen to be friends with my parents. They told my parents about how I was making out with this guy and now my parents thought that I was sexually active! To top it off, there was booze and pot at the party, though I didn't touch any of it, but they also thought that I was a drunkard and pothead. They were really scared, cuz here was their Ivy-League-bound daughter screwing up her life in a matter of a few weeks. So, they decided that L.A. wasn't good for me and moved me here, purposely here, cuz it was the most remote place they had family," she finished, frustrated, annoyed, and relieved to have gotten all of that off her chest.
Colin looked at her, unable to believe here was a girl who was labeled at "BAD" when all she had ever been to him and everyone else she met was nice.
"Damn...that really sucks..." Colin trailed off, unable to say anything else.
"Yeah, it does. So, now you know my story," she said, looking at him. "I think it's your turn to share."
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