Notes: Today I told him! I just outright said it straight to his face. I can't believe I did it. Oh, I bet you're waiting for his reaction right? Well, he didn't say 'yes' and he didn't say 'no'. Instead, he asked me to the Snowball Dance this weekend. I guess that counts as a 'yes' right? I think I confused him at first, because it took him a couple of seconds to ask. Maybe he was just shocked…I don't know. Anyway, he did offer to pay for both tickets. I've been kinda hyper ever since. I kinda scared some of my friends. So, if there's not an update on Saturday, you'll know why. I'll be spending most of the day getting ready, you know hair and all that stuff? I'm not too thrilled with getting dressed up, but this is my very first High School dance and my first time to have a guy ask me.

Oh yeah, yesterday, I accidentally punched a kid! We were in karate. I was sparring against him. My karate teacher told me to hit him in the head. Instead, I ended up hitting him in the eye! I can't count the number of times I apologized. We were both wearing karate gear too, which luckily is supposed to minimize the impact. But he did have to stop for a second, it was kinda evident that it hurt! I have a few more karate stories, but won't get into details on those.

In theatre, we're telling stories from our life until age 5. Let me tell ya, my life is so boring compared to theirs. After hearing their stories, I dread going tomorrow to have them sleep through my first five years.

Shout-Outs:

Jocelyn Padoga – A mutual understanding of boys? Is that possible?

Scamley Elliot – Hey, you never know. I get inspired by all sorts of things. My song 'Don't Wanna Be Shy' was inspired by a comment by Moonlights Sundance when she said she wished to not be shy for a day for a question in 'Across the Line of Time'.

GeometryGal – Yes, I saw you! You were kinda hard to miss. ; ) Sorry the update took forever.

Scout73 – Hey, I got your e-mail. I made a quick decision and made your character a worker at Tibby's. She works in the kitchen. I hope you don't mind. She plays a pretty important part, as you will soon see.

Don't You Give Up Yet

We walked along in silence for a while. It made me a little uncomfortable, because it only reminded me why we were here in the first place. I waited for him to say something. I wasn't going to bring it up unless I had to.

He looked over at me, like he didn't know what to say first. We stopped inside an alley for a minute. Seeing that no one else was around, he leaned against the wall and turned to me, "So…" he said, "We need to talk."

"I already knew that," I told him sarcastically before realizing what I was saying. I immediately felt guilty, because he looked hurt for a moment. I guess I should have explained to him that I wasn't a very patient person and small talk made me nervous, "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said, "I guess I should just say it." At these words, I froze. He should just say what? Now seriously, what did I do wrong this time? I dared not look him in the eyes, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to look away. The air was filled with discomfort and nervousness.

"Say what," I prompted slowly, not really wanting to say it but knowing that someone had to. I studied the intriguing laces on my shoes and followed their journey through the various holes on the sides. I hoped that the heavy silence would be broken soon, it only made me feel more uneasy.

"That I…" he trailed off, staring at me in confusion, "I think you look familiar." Okay, that wasn't what I expected. I gave him a strange look.

"You have known me for a few days," I pointed out, "Could that have something to do with it?"

"No, it's like I recognize you from before that," he answered, still looking at me closely. I took a small step back, making my discomfort obvious.

Wait, I thought, is he talking about our collision? The weeks ago that I had run into him and had been knocked to the ground? Does he recognize me from that? But he barely glanced in my direction.

"Alaska," a voice called. I went to the opening of the alley. Looking out, I saw Snow walking in my direction.

"What," I called out, annoyed at the disturbance. I wasn't mad at her, she just had bad timing, incredibly bad timing. I really wanted to know what Mush had to say.

"It's almost two," she called back. I suddenly remembered that we had promised Medda we'd be back by two to practice some more for our show. While I knew that it was important, I mentally kicked myself for agreeing to those terms.

I turned back to Mush, "I gotta go," I said quickly, "I'm really sorry about this."

"Where are ya going," he asked.

"Medda's," I answered, "I have something to do."

"See ya tomorrow," he questioned as I started to leave the alley. Great, now I felt terrible for leaving. I nodded quickly before racing down the street.

"So, what did she say," Blink asked as Mush rejoined the group.

"About the locket," Mush questioned and his friend nodded, "I didn't mention it."

"Why not," Sparks turned to him, "Don't you want to know if it belongs to her?" Mush shrugged in reply.

"Does it really matter," he asked her, "I mean, it would be nice to know, but I'm not going to force her to tell me."

"Are you ever going to ask," Dutchy asked, joining the conversation.

"I don't know," Mush answered, then paused, "It was weird, she looked so familiar." Everyone glanced at him in confusion, "Not from a few days ago. It's more like before that."

"How are you guys doing," a new voice said. The small group turned to find the source of the voice. Nellie Harris, or Scout, was standing there. She had medium blonde hair, blue-green eyes and freckles. She was 15. Scout rarely had time to hang out since getting a job in Tibby's back in the kitchen so she took any chance she could to catch up with her friends. Everyone briefed her on the recent events. Scout listened in patient silence until they were done.

"We still don't know if it belongs to her," Sparks finished.

"I've missed a lot," Scout remarked, "What does she look like?" Blink quickly gave her Alaska's description.

"She sound familiar," he asked.

"Wait, is she the girl who ran into the kitchen the other day," Scout asked, looking at everyone.

"What are you talking about," Mush asked.

"Some girl came running into the kitchen a few nights ago. She had been running from something, because she almost slammed the door behind her." Scout stopped upon seeing the shocks expressions on everyone's faces, "What?"

"We did lose her near Tibby's," Swifty pointed out.

"True," Itey commented from his booth, "It was just down the street from here that we lost track of her."

"Guys," Jack said, standing up, "I think we might be getting closer to the answer."