Chapter 7 – The Date
A few days later, Alex got a phone call from someone. He wondered why he had a phone in the first place.
"Hello?" he said, seeing the number didn't have a name.
"Um…hey Alex. It's Rachel." Alex's face suddenly lit up, as a huge grin appeared.
"Uh, you around tonight?" she asked nervously. Alex remembered Margaret's words.
'You have a great opportunity get a relationship started.'
"Yeah, I'm not doing anything, why?" He knew what she was about to say.
"Cool! So, do you wanna go out somewhere? Like, dinner or a movie?" Alex considered this for a moment. He'd never been on a date before, and didn't know what to do. He spoke back into the phone.
"Uh, you wanna see a movie? On me?"
"Sure! Sounds great! I'll come round to you at 7:00. See you then!" And the phone hung up. Alex was half excited, half nervous. He couldn't decide whether to panic or to be calm. At that moment, Max walked into the room with a towel round his waist.
"We're out of Body Wash again! Alex, I told you to get some!" But then Alex started shaking Max wildly in a nervous fit.
"Dude, you so gotta help me right now, oh god please I need some advice!"
"Okay dude! Calm down! Now, what is it?" Alex still didn't calm down.
"Rachel just phoned up and asked me to go to the cinema with her and I said its on me which is okay but I have never been on a date before and…!" Alex stumbled back with a red mark on his cheek. Max had slapped him across the face.
"Thanks, I needed that." Alex had started to calm down a bit.
"Well Alex, I think you need to talk to Mordecai. He's been on quite a few dates with Margaret, and he may know a few things."
"Hmm…that idea's not half bad. Thanks Max!" With that, Alex walked out of the apartment.
A FEW HOURS LATER…
There was a knock on the door at around 7:00pm. Alex went to open it, and saw Rachel standing there. She was dressed in casual clothes, just like him.
"Hey." She said.
"Hi." Alex replied.
"So, yeah, I got some tickets to a movie. Sorry I didn't check with you first."
"Don't worry, it's cool. So what did you want to see?" Rachel started to look a tad nervous.
"Um…do you like scary movies?" Alex's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! I love them!"
"Great! Because I got tickets to see Zombocalypse 2: The Return in 3D!
"Wait, what age is it?" Alex asked. This would be a problem. If it was rated 18+ ('R' for Americans.) then they would have to get an adult to go with them.
"Surprisingly enough, it's rated 15+ (PG-13), so we can get in to it, because we're both 15. Come on, let's go." And they walked out.
TWO HOURS LATER…
"I had a really good time Alex." Rachel said to him, as he dropped her off at her house.
"Yeah, me too. Listen, this may be embarrassing, but that's my first date ever." Rachel giggled quietly.
"Well, you did a really good job at it. I guess I'll see you back at school. See ya." But before she left, she pecked Alex on the cheek, then waved goodbye. Alex suddenly felt relaxed. That was his first kiss, and it really wouldn't be the last.
AT MORDECAI'S HOUSE…
Alex had come to Mordecai's house to tell him how his date went. But when he got there, all the lights were off. There was no-one around. Alex put his hand against one of the bulbs.
"Ice-cold." He said. "These must have been turned off hours ago." He walked into the kitchen and turned the lights on. On the table was a sheet of paper which had scrawled handwriting on it. Alex read the paper out loud.
"Tell me what this code means, and you'll see your sister again. Slasher." The code read:
'00 11 00 01 00 10 01 11 10 10 00 01 10 11 01 11 00 11'
Alex read the code over and over again, knowing he had seen it somewhere before. Then he realized a terrible thought.
"Oh my god. How did he get this? One thing's for sure, I can't let him use that code again…"
