author's notes: this is just an extra chapter i wrote because you guys seemed to be baffled by the whole turtle thing in the last chapter. thanks for your reviews, everyone, and i hope you enjoy this!

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Chad checked his watch before slamming his locker door shut. The hallways were quickly emptying; classes were over for the day, and he had already told Coach Wetterhan that he'd be missing practice that afternoon. Cree had called a Teen Meeting after school, and Chad hoped that maybe if he hurried, he'd be able to walk to her house with her.

He slammed the locker shut.

"Hi, Chad."

He jumped slightly and turned to see Cree. How long had she been standing on the other side of his locker door?

She laughed. "Did I scare you?"

"No…well, sort of," he admitted. "Actually, I was just thinking about going to find you."

"Mission accomplished. What were you going to do next?"

"Um, ask you if you wanted to walk home together," he said, attempting to sound offhanded.

"I was just about to suggest that myself."

He smiled at her—But not too much! his brain warned—as he shouldered his backpack. The twenty pounds of textbooks felt much lighter than usual.

A few steps out of the school, Cree said, "Oh! Before I forget—here." She handed him a small, decorated gift bag.

He took it and stared. "What's this?"

"Think of it as a late birthday present."

"My birthday's in three weeks."

"Oh…I knew that…I meant--think of it as an early birthday present," she grinned embarrassedly.

He stared at the bag. It felt silly accepting presents from Cree. "Thanks," he said, feeling his face grow red. He held it in front of him as if it were something very precious, fragile, and possibly dangerous.

"Well? Open it!"

"Oh—right." Chad rooted around inside the bag and felt something fuzzy within the folds of tissue paper, grasped it, and pulled it out. He stared at it inquiringly. It was a small, stuffed turtle.

"Huh…thank you," he said, smiling to hide his confusion.

"When I saw it the other day, it reminded me of you." She beamed at him.

"Because…I live in a shell?" he asked slowly.

"No," she slapped his arm in mock reproach, "because of that discussion we had. You know, the one about turtles." She watched him expectantly.

Chad stared at her for a full three seconds before the penny dropped. "Oh…that turtle." He looked at the plush toy in his hand. He didn't know whether to laugh…or kiss her. He laughed. "Thank you. He's really cute."

"And look, he's got a name." She pointed to the tag. "Speedy."

"Of course," he said, but he was gazing at her and not the tag.

When Cree looked up at him he turned his head and laughed again.

"And…?" she asked pointedly.

"And what?"

"Where's my turtle?" she demanded.

"I…there is no turtle. There was never any turtle. It was hypothetical."

She pouted skeptically at him. "Then…what was that whole conversation about, anyways?"

"I told you; it was a what-if question."

"What kind of hypothetical question is that? 'What would you do if I gave you a turtle?' And here I was expecting a live reptile…."

"I never said that," he denied, trying to hide his mirth. "The turtle was only an example; the real question was what if I gave you—" He stopped suddenly, his face turning pink.

"What? What if you gave me what?"

"Nothing. It was a silly question anyways."

Cree frowned at him. "Don't make me beat it out of you."

"Nothing doing," he said, smiling up at the sky. "I'm taking it to my grave."

She glared for a moment, as if considering her next move. Finally she said, "You're no fun. Gimme my turtle back."

She grabbed for it, but Chad held it up high.

"No way. You gave it to me, it's mine."

"Meanie." She scowled.

Chad dangled the turtle tauntingly over Cree's head, knowing full well that she could easily kick him in the stomach and take it from him. He felt ridiculously happy.

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author's notes: what? you didn't think i'd actually explain what Chad meant, did you? XD Cree's still confused, but unlike her, you can go back and re-read the last chapter. if you're still baffled, i'd recommend reading the part right before the turtle is even mentioned.
and by the way, this chapter's title was inspired by Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard. only the title, mind you, not at all the story!