CHAPTER 3

2 weeks had passed since Alex and Harper had talked on chatnet, and in those 2 weeks Alex never saw Harper apart from in class, and even then she never got the chance to talk to her. Between classes Harper would run off, and she never answered her phone anymore.

Alex stood outside History class, looking defeated. The bell rang for her to go in, and as soon as she sat down, in came Harper, who barely looked at Alex and sat 3 desks away from her. As the teacher started to drone on, Alex pulled out a piece of paper and wrote "u mad at me? U know I was just kidding" she folded it over and asked the kid next to her to pass it on to Harper.

Before she knew it, a note got passed back:

"I'm not mad, and I know!"

Alex scribbled back "then why have u been avoiding me?"

Again, a note got passed back.

"Ill tell you tonite, on chatnet"

Alex turned around and gave a small smile and nodded her head towards Harper. 'This is it,' she thought, 'tonight, when Harper tells me why she was avoiding me, I'll tell her how I feel.'

-----

-- CHATNET --

Harper Finkle has signed online.

Alex R: Hey good lookin'

Harper F: Hey Alex

Alex R: U gonna explain why u were ignoring me?

Harper F: I think I like girls.

Harper F: Thats why I freaked when u joked that I fancied u

Alex stared at the screen, repeating the words Harper had just said to her. 'I think I like girls.' She smiled, 'This is it,' she thought, 'Harper... I love you' but as she typed the words, a notification came up on the screen.

"YOUR INTERNET HAS DISCONNECTED. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SERVICE PROVIDER TO FIND OUT MORE"

"What?!" She yelled at the screen, "No! You son of a b-"

"Alex!" Justin nodded disapprovingly as he walked in to the room, "What have we told you about your swearing!"

"Just shut up."

"What's up with you, sour-faced Sally?"

"For your information, the only reason she's sour-faced is because she's addicted to Acid Pops," Alex Scoffed, "Besides - nothing's wrong, just the stupid Internet cut out!"

"Why is that a big of a deal, you only use the Internet to find lame pranks."

"They're not lame, and I use the Internet for other things too." Alex stormed out the room, searching for her phone.

------

"Mom, do I really need to go to school today?" Alex groaned, hoping to not face Harper. 'My second fight with Harper in little than a month,' she thought.

"Sweetie, you have to go. You have that big Spanish test today!"

"Even more reason," she scoffed. "Seriously - you know I'm not good at Spanish!"

"You'll do fine, after all you do come from Latina heritage," Theresa smiled "Now go or you'll be late! Bueno suerte!"

Alex gasped, "Well Bueno suerte back at you!" she yelled as she was heading out the door.

"No, no sweetie, it means Good luck!" but by then, Alex was already gone.

------

Alex had barely got into the school when she heard someone shout her name. She turned round looking for a person to match the voice, and the first thing she noticed about them was their crazy watermelon hair band. "Harper," she grinned. "Listen, about last night, I didn't sign off cos I was mad or anything. Our internet-"

"You don't need to explain. Justin told me!"

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah! He was using your phone when I texted you to see if you were okay and why you went off chatnet and he'd told me the internet disconnected!"

"He did?" Alex smiled, 'Damn, he can be useful sometimes. Though why the hell was he using my phone,' she thought. 'I'll need to get back at him.' Alex linked her arm through Harpers and they walked to class together, passing the Janitor, who gave them a slight nod and curious look.