Chapter 3 – Double Trouble

            "Oh my gosh.  That is absolutely beautiful!" shouted Reggie.  Upon walking in to the Shore Shack, she noticed the little red package sitting on one of the tables.  Seeing that it was addressed to her, she had thought, "Maybe this is another package from my secret admirer."  However, upon opening the card, she was completely shocked to discover that the handwriting on this note was entirely different.  She thought it could still be the same person, but that was pretty unlikely.  Turning to the box, she opened it and found a thoughtfully-chosen charm bracelet with four charms that reflected her favorite sports activities: a skateboard, a surfboard, a hockey stick, and a volleyball.  As for the note, the contents said:

                        Roses are red, violets are blue

                        The sunset is beautiful, and so are you.

                        I've always looked up to you as my hero.  You are one of the strongest people I know, especially since you are surrounded by males and have few females to turn to.  I will be there for you as long as I am around here, even though I am a guy.  I love you so much, I would do anything for you, even harm myself to save you.  You will always have a place in my heart.

                        Love,

                       

Your Masked Lover (Zorro)

            As she was finishing her card, Twister and Sam entered and stood beside Otto.  They had seen each other while exiting their houses to go to the Shack and decided to walk together, each unaware of what the other had done.  When they saw the confused and somewhat disturbed face of Otto, they couldn't help but ask "What's eating you, O-Man?"

            "Dude, I think someone's stalking my sister," Otto replied.

            "What do you mean?" Sam questioned curiously.

            Otto then explained everything Reggie had told him (as well as Ray and Tito) about the letter in the mail.  Then she had discovered this package.

            Sam and Twister then stared at Reggie both with faces that resembled a cross between guilt and concern.  Of course, neither noticed the face of the other, but they both knew they had competition as neither one had hid two gifts for Reggie.  The question was: Who is the other boy?

            Reggie turned around and saw the faces of the three boys.  Thinking that the boys might be playing a trick on her, she smiled and questioned, "OK you goobers.  Why do you guys look like you're hiding something?"

            Otto replied, "Me?  Come on, sis.  Why would I do something like this?  I just don't like the looks of this."

            Twister added, "Uh.  Yeah.  We were just, uh, curious!  Hey, it's not every day you get something like that," as he pointed to the bracelet.

            Sam, after hesitating for a few seconds, asked to see both notes.  Reggie happily complied.  Sam examined the handwriting and said "Besides, Reg.  There's no way these notes could be ours.  None of us write like that."

            Reggie looked at the notes.  Sam was right.  She had seen the handwriting of all three boys and she knew that nobody had handwriting like that on the notes.  The notes looked too professional to be crafted by the hands of Otto and, especially, Twister.  Even Sam couldn't forge such handwriting.

            "Wow, Reggie.  What do you think you are going to do?" Twister asked nervously.

            "Not much I can do," Reggie replied.  "I've only received one thing from each guy.  I guess I have to wait until something more, if anything, happens.  Besides, I don't know who these two guys are."

            "Right you are," Sam replied with a little more certainty.

            "Uh, guys," Ray interjected.  "I know this Secret Santa stuff is keeping you busy, but do you mind giving us a hand since we're supposed to be decorating?"

            "Secret Santa," thought Reggie.  "Well, I guess Santa Claus now has an equal somewhere out there."  Whoever these guys were, they had her attention and she thought they were sweet with their messages and gifts.  She would love to meet them, but it would involve some detective work.  As to the possibility that she would have to choose one over the other (if it came to that point), she knew she would have to wait to see the true identities of Zorro and Romeo.

            "Coming, Raymundo!" she replied enthusiastically. 

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A/N: Sorry this chapter is short.  I keep just producing these rather quickly.  This one was based on the cover art for the actual RP book "Reggie's Secret Admirer" (of course, with a few changes).  I have more school work to do so I will probably take my time on the next chapters but they'll be up soon enough.

In the meantime, here's a trivia question that relates to something in the story:

True or False: A skiing spot named Mount Baldy really exists.

The answer will be revealed at the beginning of the next chapter.