Note: Sorry, it's not a very good chapter but I didn't want yall to wait too long.

blue-skies-green-eyes: That's what I thought originally! but then something I read said they were brown... ahh, oh well. I'll leave them brown and gorgeous. Thank you anyway(:

Blond Dude 42: Right, sorry about that! I meant to mention it in the 3rd chapter but I completely spaced.

awsomosityrox: The only Latin I know consists of terms based on rhetoric and logic like "ad hominem" and such hahhah. So you are probably right about the title of the 2nd chapter because these titles are Latin phrases I looked up. After all, it is the internet xD I am much better in Spanish if that counts!

I own nothing except the products of my imagination and review, review, review please! :)

Chapter Five – De Nihilo Nihil (Nothing Comes From Nothing)

-Addie-

"Addie! Alex! Are you ready yet?"

I stuck my head outside my bedroom door and yelled, "One second!" Then I hopped over as fast as I could towards my closet and grabbed my Bryant High School Eagles Swimming shirt, yanking it on. With one last look in the mirror, I hurried downstairs to find my mom and Alex waiting for me. Alex was wearing the same shirt as me. It was a good thing Dad had lent it to him; otherwise people would peg him as a supporter of "the other guys." At our swim meets, if you weren't wearing red, gold, or anything Eagles related, you were automatically an enemy. It was no exception tonight because we were swimming against Cleveland High School, our rival. This was our last meet and our school was determined to make it to the state championship.

"Thank God it's Friday," I mumbled as we left the house. During the swim season, every Friday was a meet and ever since the gas station incident, I'd had to suffer sitting like a lump potato through the last two, cheering my team on and wishing I could hop into the pool with them. This was Alex's first time and I'd reassured him that he picked a good time to come considering who we were up against.

Today was the Friday after he and Ben first arrived, which was on Monday. He and I had grown used to each other and I always made sure the bathroom was unoccupied before going in. We weren't exactly the best of friends but we didn't act awkwardly around each other anymore. One time we had worked on homework together for a few hours and I'd realized he was smarter than he let people see. That gave me the impression that he was sometimes a secluded person and honestly, it made me relieved to know he wasn't out there always interacting with people.

At school, students had also finally gotten used to the idea of him being around. A few girls, like Arianna, still couldn't keep their eyes off him but it certainly wasn't as bad as it was the first day. I was still bombarded with questions about what Alex did at home and what kind of boxers he wore. At least Noelle Stacy wasn't asking me to swipe his body wash anymore. Whenever that girl was around, I felt ridiculously clean compared to her reputation.

"Have fun and be safe," Mom called while Alex and I got out of the car. Be safe? That was a first; she had never said that to me unless it was an assignment I was going on. I looked back to say something funny when I caught her meeting Alex's eyes. Something besides a look was exchanged between them and I was about to ask when someone grabbed my arm.

"You're here!" Kylie was jumping up and down in excitement. Like me, she was decked out in Eagles gear. "Now hurry up! I already saved us some spots." And with that the three of us pushed through the growing crowd of spectators towards the pool. Everywhere we looked was red and gold and the occasional green or white of Cleveland High. Some people bore face paint and others, like a few senior boys, had gone all out and decorated their bodies, wearing nothing more than shorts. Inside the pool building the school spirit was more prominent; no matter what side you were on (red and gold or green and white) there were banners and posters screaming support for the teams. This was how excited we could get for swimming.

Our high school was one of the lucky few that had an Olympic-size pool. Eight lanes of cold, chlorinated water stretched fifty meters before us, split halfway down the middle by a metal barrier to hold events on one side and diving on the other. As usual, I found the sudden urge to dive in, breaking that line between air and water, and swim with the rest of the swimmers that were doing warm-ups. I took a deep breath of the heavy, warm air that stank of chlorine and sighed.

"You miss it, don't you?" Alex asked me as Kylie pushed our way through the top of the bleachers. She'd gotten us seats smack dab in the middle, knowing I'd need to see everything. I had told her before that I was willing to climb to the top despite my crutches.

I smiled. "Of course. It's practically the only sport offered in school that I can actually do." I sat down between the walkway and Alex, occupying the spot in front of me with my leg.

He raised his brows in surprise. "Not even soccer? Or gymnastics?" He'd probably expected me to be sportier.

Laughing, I shook my head. "I'm alright in soccer but I'm not that flexible either. What about you?"

"Soccer? I love it. Gymnastics? Never tried and never will."

Our laughter was interrupted by the announcement of the first event and I craned my neck to get a good look. I watched my friends milling about, wearing those big fuzzy jackets that were designed to keep our muscles warm and either racing to get their event cards or lining up behind the starting blocks for the first medley.

"What are they doing?" Alex asked, gazing at the swimmers on the blocks. I'd forgotten he didn't know too much about how the meets worked.

After grabbing an event card from Kylie, I proceeded to explain to him who swam what and how events were categorized. Between live heats and exhibition heats, the former were counted for points while exhibition heats depended on times. I swam in both types because not only did I want to win, but I wanted to knock off even a few tenths of a second from my best times. I pointed out to Alex certain swimmers who were good at different strokes while throwing in a cheer here and there. It wasn't until I was getting to explain the order of medleys when I noticed him staring at me.

"What?" I managed to ask, willing my cheeks to stop heating up.

"Nothing," he answered, smiling quickly. "I just don't think I've ever seen anyone get so excited about things like this."

I suddenly realized what he meant. "Was I talking too much? I'm sorry, it's just that there's so much to these events… I'll quit talking—" Why did I always blabber and stutter whenever I did something wrong around him?

He chuckled. "No, it's fine. I don't think you're talking too much. But I did mean what I said about never meeting anyone like you." I thought I saw something flicker across his eyes but before I could comprehend it, the people around us were screaming and cheering. He looked away from me as I opened my mouth to speak so I had no choice but to do the same.

I looked towards the pool and saw that one of the events had finished. Even though I didn't know which one it was, I clapped and hollered anyway. I turned back to Alex but he wasn't looking at me. In fact, by the way he was in deep conversation with Kylie and glancing at the iPhone in his hand, it seemed that he had forgotten about me.

Two hours, one Sprite, one Fanta, four bags of Doritos and a lot of screaming later, I was leaving the girls' locker room, having stopped by to congratulate my friends. Bryant High School had won the meet by just a few points and the mixed spirits of exultation, disappointment, and a dash of good sportsmanship surrounded the pool area.

"So how was your first experience at one of our high school's minor sporting events?" I asked Alex as I made my way towards him and Kylie.

"Minor? You mean this is nothing compared to your major sports?"

Kylie scoffed. "You see these people totally painted or dressed in red and gold? Yeah, you should see one of our football games."

"People get into fights and make bets all the time," I added with a shrug.

Alex nodded his head at something behind me. "They look like they're making a bet."

Kylie and I turned to see what he was looking at, then looked at each other and burst out laughing. I was the first one to recover so I said, "The two guys trying to look discreet as they exchange money on school property with all these people around? Alex, what they're doing is probably dope-related." I grinned as he gave a dismissive shrug.

My cell phone rang and I had to take a moment to compose myself before answering. "Hullo?"

"Addie? It's Mom."

"Oh hey, Mom! You should've been here, the meet was amazing!" I grinned at Alex and Kylie. "Our new diver, the freshman, was actually really good. He's improved a lot since last week—"

"That's great, hon. Listen, I'm going to be a little late picking you up, okay? Don't get a ride from anyone else, just wait for me." There was something to her tone, a little edge that was between firmness and irritation. "Wait for me, alright?"

I frowned and could feel Alex watching me. "Okay, will do." After hanging up, I explained to him what was going on. "I don't really feel like hanging around here though. I need to sit or walk, not stand."

After Kylie said goodbye and left us, we decided to go to the playground that was just down the street. There were still tons of red- and gold-clad spectators wandering around and chattering about the meet. I could've been mingling with them but I wanted to visit the swings my dad used to always push me on. Besides, I knew that the weird conversation with Mom wouldn't cease to distract me from anything else.

"Are you sure you want to walk all the way over there?" Alex asked as he walked beside me. I could see that he was unsure about the pace we were going at but I had learned to move quickly with the crutches. When he saw the look I gave him he just smirked.

It was silent for a little while. The weather had decided to be ambiguous today and was alternating between cloudy and sunny, depending on what part of the sidewalk you were on. At the moment the sun was halfway behind a massive cloud, shedding its light on both our blond heads. It was only the end of April but I was suddenly longing for a weekend at Virginia Beach.

"So what doyou like to do? Other than swimming."

"Well…" I bit my lip, knowing that revealing too much about myself would lead to the most untouchable subject I had locked away in my head. "I draw sometimes. I'm not very good but when I'm bored it's a good distraction."

"But not anymore."

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

Alex gazed around at the trees, their branches rustling with his hair in the light breeze. "I haven't seen any of your art in your room. Not from the one time I was in there anyway." He looked at me, the expression on his face incomprehensible.

I didn't know how he had made such an observation from when I'd asked him to retrieve a ruler for me the night we studied together, but I guess it shouldn't have surprised me. "And you? What do you do in your free time?" We had arrived at the playground, which turned out to be deserted, and I leaned on one crutch, waiting for a reply.

Suddenly something bright green shot out of nowhere and ran between Alex and me, catching both of us off guard. "Whoa!" Alex exclaimed, reaching out to grab what appeared to be a kid. "Slow down there, buddy, you might… Hey, are you okay?"

"Riley?" I recognized the seven-year-old in the green soccer jersey. He lived on my street and I often went over to his house to return the soccer ball that continually ended up on our lawn. The big blue eyes that were usually mischievous and playful were brimming with tears he was trying to hold back. He had always been the kid trying to prove everyone that he was tough enough to handle himself. "Riley, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered stubbornly, ducking out of Alex's grip.

"Hey kid!" We turned to see three boys, probably a year or two younger than us, sauntering down the sidewalk towards us. I knew right away that they were bullies… I hated bullies. I'd had to deal with a couple of them when other smaller kids came to me knowing what I could do with my hands and feet or whatever materials were lying around.

It didn't matter that they were wearing backwards baseball caps and one of them was on a skateboard. They might've come off as typical teenage boys but by the way they were snickering and grinning like idiots, it was obvious they were troublemakers. The thought of them pestering Riley made me clench my fists. "Kid, you forgot your toy!"

"I don't want it," Riley began but something was flung towards his feet. It appeared to be a red Power Ranger and it was headless.

"You might wanna find its head," the guy called. They were just yards in front of us now and it was clear that they didn't care about the audience they had.

"Leave him alone, you jerk." I wanted to say something much more vulgar but not with Riley around.

The one who had spoken eyed me up and down, a nasty smirk on his face. "What are you, his mother? You look a little young." His eyes flickered towards Alex. "Is he the baby daddy?"

It took everything not to launch myself at him. "You're disgusting. I swear, I'm going to—"

He feigned a yawn. "Sorry sweetheart, but it looks like you can't do anything. Not with that leg."

I was about to threaten him again when a cool voice said, "But I can." I looked over to see that Alex had stepped in front of Riley almost protectively and was staring down the boys.

The guy looked at him for a second before he and his friends broke down in fits of laughter. He pretended to wipe away tears from his eyes. "That's funny, man, real funny. You think you're tough, huh? There's advantage in numbers, y'know."

I coughed and I could see the corner of Alex's mouth lift. We both knew that that statement wasn't always true. "You're going to apologize to Riley and hand over some money to pay for that toy. Got that?"

This time the bullies were glaring at him. They didn't like being bossed around. "Hell no. It's not our fault he bought a cheap, fake toy."

"The only thing around here that's cheap and fake is your toughness and thinking you're bad-asses. Come on, Alex, they're not worth our time." I'd had enough of them. Maybe when I had my cast off I was going to find a way to finally stop their bullying. I remembered the last time I'd used a guy's Taser against him and returned it to the owner—his police officer father.

"Do I have to treat you like little children and count to three?" Alex's voice was deadly calm. "Give the kid a couple bucks and we can go our separate ways."

"Alex, I don't think—"

The middle guy (by now I was assuming he was the leader) chortled and stepped forward until he was standing two feet from Alex. "It's not going to go your way, man."

"One…" Alex stood there, still keeping his eyes him. "Two…"

"Come on, Keenan, let's go," one of the other two said. They were shifting uncomfortably as if they were sensing something bad was going to happen.

"Three."

Keenan held out his arms in a "Come at me, bro" kind of way and when Alex didn't attack him, he turned around. "See? I told you—" His boastful words were cut off by a kind of squeak.

I gaped at the picture before me. In a split second Alex had covered the distance between him and Keenan and now held him in a painful position: Keenan was on his knees with one of his arms twisted backward by Alex, whose hand was against Keenan's back. I knew that if Alex made one small move, he'd do extreme damage to the guy's shoulder.

"What are you waiting for?" Keenan wheezed, his eyes looking towards his friends desperately. After breaking from their stupor, they fumbled in their pockets and tossed several bills towards Alex who shook his head.

"Give it to Riley." Once they did as they were told, Alex released Keenan, shoving him a little roughly away from him. "If I ever hear about or see your stupid antics, I'll snap your shoulder for sure."

And with that, the three boys hurriedly walked away, Keenan rubbing his shoulder and waving away his friends' concern. I stared after them for a while before turning to face Alex. He wore a bemused look though he must've known what I was thinking. "You would've done the same," he said, not at all sounding defensive. I didn't say anything, knowing he was right.

"You alright there, Riley?" He reached out to touch the little boy's shoulder. Riley was clutching the money in one hand, the Power Ranger in the other. He had been staring at them and when Alex spoke, he looked up at him with wide eyes.

"How'd you do that?" From the way his gaze kept switching back and forth between the toy and Alex, it was evident he was fascinated but freaked out at the same time.

Alex just laughed and I couldn't help but smile at him and the bewildered seven-year-old. "No worries, Riley. Let's just get you home."