Chapter 4.

Talk To the Girl

The next morning Link awoke to the ring of his alarm clock sounding in his ear. He turned it off and closed his eyes for a second, "today's the day." Link sighed and then hopped out of bed. He grabbed his shirt and got dressed. He was wearing some baggy dark-colored jeans, with the long sleeved button-up shirt he had picked out earlier. Link rolled up the sleeves to his elbows and only buttoned it up ¾ of the way up his chest.. Then he slipped on his skate shoes and grabbed his backpack. He flung it over his shoulder and gave a quick goodbye kiss to his mom.

"Love you Mom!" he hollered as he dashed out the door.

"Love you too!"

Link through his bag in the car and jumped in. He sped off down the road going over in his head what he was going to say to Malon.

"Why is everything so damn frustrating!" he mumbled to himself.

He drove up to the school, put on his backpack, and took one last look in his mirror, "Show time!" then he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, "okay" he breathed. He hopped out of his car and ran up the steps to the door. He opened it slowly and gingerly walked inside. He stuck his hands deep inside his pockets.

"Be confident and Charming. Be confident and Charming!" he said to himself repeatedly.

"God!" he slapped himself on the forehead, "what is wrong with me, I can do better than this!" Suddenly he bumped into someone, "hey sorry Zel..."but he started as he realized that this wasn't Zelda. The girl turned around and Link's eyes widened,

"Malon?" he said weakly.

Malon nodded, "that's right, now what do you want?" she snapped rudely.

Link gradually felt his stupid cocky pride taking over him and all nervousness was gone, 'great' he thought. Then he stared her in the eyes, "I told you I would find you!" he said smirking.

Malon only shook her head, "Well Congratulations!" she said mockingly.

Link raised an eyebrow, "a little feisty aren't we?" then he stepped closer to her, "I can change that"

Malon rolled her eyes, "whatever!" then she pushed past him and joined her friends, leaving Link standing there watching her go.

"Damnit! I said the wrong Thing!"

Zelda chuckled and then walked over to him. "yeah you think?"

Link shook his head, "I can't ever seem to say the right thing to her."

She nodded, "yep! you should have just simply said hello!"

"but she's being so difficult!" Link stammered.

Zelda smiled, "don't worry keep trying, and besides your going to get another chance when you see her after school today!" she sighed, "and remember, don't rush into things, just take it slow, say hi and then ask her whats up."

Link nodded, "okay I got it!" then he gave her a quick hug, "thanks Zel!"

She shrugged, "okay, okay now go to class!"

"Alright see you later!" he hollered as he took off down the hall.

All during class that day he was sweating and was experiencing butterflies in his stomach. Link was dreading what he was going to do after school, 'maybe I should just forget it, I'll talk to her some other time!" He shook his head, "wait, no I have to do it today, I have to!"

The end of the day came all too quickly for Link though, and as he sat in his last class he was beginning to have his first case of self-doubt. 'I just know it's gonna turn out horrible, I just know it!' then he frowned "what is it about me she doesn't like?" he searched his mind frantically for an answer, "well lets see, I have perfect hair! I'm popular, everyone says I'm hot, I have a pretty good personality, and I'm not weird or anything!" he shrugged, "I just don't understand it!"

"RINNNNGG!" he suddenly jumped as he heard the bell ring signaling the end of class. He sighed, "well here goes!" Then he dashed out of class, and made a quick stop in the bathroom to look in the mirror. He straightened his shirt and ran a hand through his hair, "This is it." then after taking a deep breath, he ran outside to the football field.

It was a perfect day. Not too hot not too cold, and there was a nice breeze blowing through the air, 'wonderful' Link thought smiling.

Once he reached the field, he searched the stadiums for Malon. He grinned as he spotted her sitting on the far side of the field, with her back turned towards him. He timidly walked over and stopped right behind her. 'just say hello, just say hello.' He repeated in his head. He was breathing heavily and uncontrollably. "Malon?"

She turned and rolled her eyes, "oh it's you" she drawled.

Link cocked his head to the side, "ummm, yeah, i..it's me"

Malon narrowed her eyes, "well, what do you want?"

Link smiled, "Hi!"

She huffed in annoyance, "is that all you came here for? to say Hi?" then she turned around with her back towards him once again.

Link sighed wearily and sat down next to her, this was not turning out as he had hoped, "well actually I was just wondering how you were doing."

Malon smirked, "well actually I was doing great until you came along!"

Link lowered his eyes as he felt his heart drop, 'I'm being confident and charming, what more does she want?' He couldn't handle it, he had to know why she was so indifferent to him all the time. He suddenly shot up from the seat, which seemed to surprise her and she turned to face him, "Are you leaving?" she crossed her arms, "Cause if you did that would be great!"

Link sighed, "WHY THE HELL DO YOU DESPISE ME SO MUCH?" he shouted. "WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU?" he caught his breath as he realized how enraged she looked as she stood up to face him, her eyes filled with fire. "Do you really wanna know why?" he nodded, "yeah I do." "well then I'll tell you!"

Malon put her hands on her hips, and Link crossed his arms across his chest, "I'm waiting."

"Well it's because your ARROGANT, YOUR CONCEITED, YOUR A JERK, YOUR COCKY, YOU THINK YOUR MR. PERFECT, AND YOU ASSUME THAT EVERYONES JUST GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU." She sighed, "you think your better than everyone else Link."

Link's jaw dropped in shock and surprise, "what?" he mouthed weakly.

"You heard me." She snapped.

Link looked down at the ground, "oh." He said shakily, then looked up at her and smiled slightly, "sorry."

He thought he saw a slight flicker of concern pass in her eyes that quickly disappeared, but she lowered her voice and seemed to calm down a bit, "people like you fail to see what really matters."

"Oh? And what is that?" Link rolled his eyes.

"Looks, and money, and popularity are not what's important."

He blinked in disbelief, "then what is?"

She sighed, "kindness, honesty, selflessness. It's what's inside the person that counts."

Link thought about what she had just said for a moment and then let his hands hang at his sides, "really?" He whispered.

She nodded, "yes, really."

Link looked her in the eyes, "Fine, I get it".

Malon shook her head and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry Link, but I know what you're trying to do, I know your trying to get me to like you." Then she opened them and stared him in the eyes, "But I don't know you, and I'm sure that you don't really know me. I'm also pretty certain that your only going after me for my looks." She sighed and turned to leave, "goodbye Link, thanks for going through the trouble of coming over here to talk to me."

Then she picked up her books and left a thunderstruck Link standing on the bleachers all alone. He watched her walk away out of sight, and then released the breath he had been holding for so long. He kicked a nearby bench and then collapsed down on it in despair.

He put his face in his hands and took in a shaky breath, "how could I have been so stupid." He murmured to himself.

Link had finally realized what he had been blind to see his whole life. He had ignored what his mother had been trying to teach him all these years, and now it had just been thrown in his face. He understood now that looks and popularity really didn't matter as he had thought. It had gotten him everything else he had ever wanted, but it couldn't get him her. She was the one person that Link felt he truly loved for what was inside and not just for looks. He liked her attitude; she was strong in what she believed in and stood up for herself. He liked everything about her.

Link looked up at the sky and noticed the dark storm clouds overhead. He sighed, and then blinked as the rain cam pouring down on his face. A tear formed in the corner of his eye and joined the rain as it slowly fell down his cheek.

"I though I was everything…" he looked down at his hands, "and now I realize that I'm nothing." He closed his eyes and listened to the winds howl, the pouring rain, and the occasional sound of thunder in the distance. "I need you Malon." He whispered.

He opened his eyes slowly as he thought of something, "I have to prove to her that I can change." He jumped to his feet, "Change who I used to be." then Link looked over in the direction that she had been sitting in and whispered, "I will change for you."