As the trio make their way over to Mr. Lou's studio, Alpha decides it's time for another one of his mental journal entries, this time mainly focusing on Stephanie Connors.
"So, Stephanie Connors want to become involved with Chandler but more than just friends.", said Alpha although the concept of love and relationships is new to him, he can't understand whether it's a good thing or a bad thing for either Mac or Stephanie.
"I need to learn more about what it means to be in a relationship before passing on any advice….plus, I don't think Chandler will be of any help either.", said Alpha as he tries to figure out a way to learn this without making Mac aware of what he's up to.
For the rest of the trip to the studio, Alpha tries his best to come up with ideas without having Mac become aware but to no avail….then he notices that they have finally arrived at the studio.
As the trio walk into the studio, they notice that there is a class going on at the moment although Luis does notice them walk in and begins to approach them.
"Keep going everyone, you're almost done for the day.", shouted Luis as he walked around his students, who were doing simple training drills, as he approached Mac and the others.
"Chandler, my boy!!! How are you doing today?", said Luis as he pulled Mac in for a hug, which he found to be odd but then Luis began to whisper into his ear….
"Alpha, I hope that you're doing good as well?", whispered Luis so that Lucky couldn't hear which Mac now understood why he hugged him, so in a fashion to answer for both himself and Alpha, Mac used a simple but clever way of wording….
"Doing good, Mr. Lou….doing good.", said Mac after being released from the warm embrace that Luis gave him, which Luis nodded his head and understood….then he switched his focus over to Lucky.
"Ah Lucille, how have you been doing lately?", asked Luis as he only reached out for a handshake only because he wasn't well acquainted with her as he is with Mac.
"I'm doing good, Mr. Lou….how about you?", said Lucky as she reached out and returned the handshake.
"Just keeping busy with the studio, having a lot of students can be tiresome.", said Luis, then he turns around back towards his students for a moment….
"Alright everyone, that's enough for today so go get cleaned up and I'll see everyone again next week.", shouted Luis, which then his students turned towards him and bowed then headed straight for the locker room.
Luis bowed back to his students then turned his attention to JR as he was the last person to greet….
"James, how have you been doing? Keeping out of trouble, I hope?", asked Luis which slightly confused JR for a moment, but then Luis quickly whispered to him….
"We'll talk in a moment.", whispered Luis, which JR nodded his head but still gave him an answer….
"I've been doing good and yes, I've been keeping out of trouble so please don't worry about me too much.", said JR as to not draw suspicion from Lucky seeing as he had some sort of idea what Luis wanted to talk to him about.
"Good, very good….anyways, Chandler go get changed and warm up for your training.", said Luis which Mac then entered the locker room to change.
"Lucille, if you'd like please have a seat, I need to talk to James in my office for just a moment.", said Luis which caught Lucky off guard for a moment as to why they needed to talk alone, but she wasn't about to argue with Luis.
Lucky goes and takes a seat while JR and Luis head up to his office, then Mac comes out of the locker room shortly thereafter and sees Lucky sitting all by herself.
"Hey Lucky, where's JR and Mr. Lou?", asked Mac which Lucky simply just responded by pointing up at Luis' office and he notices them inside through the window.
"Huh, guess they needed to talk.", said Mac so without any further delay he begins to do stretches and warms up for his training session with Luis.
Focus is then quickly shifted over to Luis and JR just after they entered the office….
"Please James, have a seat….I think you know what we have to talk about.", said Luis as he pointed to the chair in front of his desk and indicated for JR to sit.
"Yeah I kinda had the feeling it must be either Lucky or Alpha.", said JR as he took a seat, then watching Luis walk around his desk to sit in his chair.
"Both actually, but let's start with Alpha….", Luis began to say, then looks out the window and notices that Mac had walked out of the locker room already and was looking at him.
"….but let's be quick about this.", said Luis seeing as he needed to go back down and begin training with Mac.
"So how's Chandler and Alpha been doing? I'm hoping that the two of you haven't exposed Alpha to the world?", asked Luis only to hope that JR wasn't going to give him some sort of sarcastic response.
"No, not at all….we've been watching what we say and do while at school and only talk about Alpha when either we're alone or at his apartment.", said JR which made Luis happy that he got a straight answer.
"Good, so what about Lucille?", asked Luis.
"She doesn't know….yet, but it has been tough because she did see the video of the pillar of light from that night.", said JR which surprises Luis only for a moment.
"Well, unfortunately that can't be helped seeing as it has been all over the internet….I just hope that it doesn't help The Order track Alpha any faster.", said Luis with slight disappointment in his voice.
"Mac and I are doing our best to make sure Lucky doesn't become aware of Alpha, but she's smart and will eventually figure it out on her own.", said JR knowing all too well how good Lucky can figure things out.
"I mean, just before we came here today, Lucky knew that the pillar of light happened close to Mac's apartment and asked us if we saw anything from that night.", said JR.
"And?", asked Luis as he wondered how they played it off.
"We played dumb, told her that we were just too busy playing video games to even notice, which she bought but who knows for how long.", said JR which slightly relieved Luis but he was still worried, he had to make sure that the less people that know about Alpha, the better.
Then a knock on the door is heard….
"Who is it?", yelled Luis as he got up from his chair.
"It's Mac, I'm all done warming up.", yelled Mac through the door, then Luis opened the door.
"Okay, head back down, I'm just about done.", said Luis which Mac nodded his head and went back downstairs, then Luis quickly turned back to JR.
"We'll continue this conversation another time, but for now continue to keep Lucille in the dark even if she decides to investigate herself, both you and Chandler continue to play dumb.", said Luis, then he indicates JR to head downstairs which he does and sits next to Lucky.
As Luis also exits the office and heads over to Mac to begin the training session, Lucky becomes curious and strikes up a conversation with JR….
"So, what did you and Mr. Lou talk about?", asked Lucky as she wondered what was so important between a high school student and martial arts master, JR hesitated for a moment but then came up with something really quick.
"Oh nothing, Mr. Lou just wanted to know if I was still interested in learning some basic self-defense.", said JR hoping that Lucky would buy into the idea that he was interested in learning martial arts.
"Since when were you interested in learning martial arts?", asked Lucky as she became confused with the idea that JR wanted to learn some sort of self-defense.
"Oh for a while now, just didn't want to tell you or Mac yet cause I was still making my mind up.", said JR as he looked at Lucky who seemed to be buying his story.
"Wait….so Mac doesn't know either?", questioned Lucky.
"Nope, not yet and I'd like to keep it that way if possible.", said JR but of course unknown to him, one of Mac's other latent abilities was staring to awaken which was kind of like long distance hearing and it threw Mac off guard during his training with Luis as he heard everything JR and Lucky were talking about.
That small distraction got his ass kicked by Luis which surprised him….
"You alright Chandler? That move has never gotten you before.", said Luis, but while Mac was still on the ground, he indicated to Luis to come closer which he didn't fall for.
"Damn it, old man….", Mac began to say as he got up and looked at JR and Lucky who were a good distance away, so he thought it would be safe to say something but quietly.
"….I think I just got another ability.", whispered Mac as Luis now understood why he wanted him to get closer while he was on the ground, so Luis indicated to continue training but they whispered between each other.
"What do you mean, "You think"?", asked Luis.
"Well you see how far away JR and Lucky are?", said Mac, then Luis took a quick look and acknowledged with Mac.
"I was able to hear their entire conversation from here very clearly like if they stood right next to us.", said Mac which surprised Luis.
"Huh, it seems that you have acquired the ability to hear things at great distances.", said Luis, then Mac thought of something similar.
"You mean like that same ability from that one superhero….ah, what was his name?", questioned Mac but Luis quickly interrupted him.
"Yes, yes….that same one, but there might some differences so who knows.", said Luis which made Mac think what kind of differences could there be for long distance hearing.
The rest of the training session goes by without any more interruptions as Mac and Luis finish up for the day, then Mac heads back into the locker room to get cleaned up while JR and Lucky wait for him by the door.
The trio soon leaves the studio after saying their goodbyes to Luis, then they all head to their own homes and relax for the weekend, except Mac now has to learn from Alpha more about what this super hearing can do.
The rest of September goes by rather quickly for everyone as nothing exciting seems to happen, even with The Order out and about looking for clues from the night that the pillar of light shot into the sky, but it was all dead end after dead end for them.
As for Mac and company, their school life continued with the mid semester exam quickly approaching in the middle of October, so they've been studying a lot over the last couple of weeks even with Mac's training as well.
Mac managed to learn the in's and outs of his new super hearing ability rather quickly thanks to Alpha which Mac also found out that whenever he awakens a new ability, Alpha immediately learns everything there is to know like downloading a file.
So for Mac, the best he could figure out when it comes to learning new abilities, it just depends on the condition or situation that he's in which in turn could possibly awaken an ability, but this hasn't been the case as of late cause he hasn't awakened any other abilities since he got his super hearing.
Then there's Stephanie Connors….after what happened in the café that one fateful Friday, she has been avoiding Mac like the plague only to buy time as she thought of a way to fix things between them, but unbeknownst to her Mac was becoming worried about her especially after talking with JR about what he told her….
Flashback to Mid-September….
Mac and JR were hanging out one day after school at Mac's apartment, Lucky couldn't be there because of her parents so this gave Mac a chance to talk with JR about certain things….
"By the way JR, whatever did you say to Connors that day after I left?", asked Mac which caught JR by surprise as he had completely forgotten about that day entirely.
"Damn dude, give me a sec to remember….it has been a good moment.", said JR as he mentally goes back to that day and remembers everything he told her.
"So do you want the short or long version?", asked JR.
"The short version, please.", said Mac as he didn't want all the detail but just the key points.
"Okay, well I told her that we were aware about her stalking you….", JR began to say which instantly irritated Mac.
"Really dude….whatever, keep going.", said Mac.
"….she tried to play dumb about it, but it didn't work, then I basically told her about how you hate the spotlight and that pretty much shut her down.", said JR which slightly concerned Mac.
"What do you mean that it, "shut her down"?", asked Mac.
"Well after I told her that you hate being the center of attention, she quickly knew the mistake she made because I saw her attitude change completely.", said JR which made some sense to Mac as to why over the last couple of weeks, he would see her in passing and not bother to look at Mac.
Knowing that Stephanie had a crush on him was one thing, but for this news to affect her this much just made Mac worry about her well-being, so for the next couple of weeks Mac tried to talk to her in between classes or at lunch, but to no avail.
Present Day….
Mac was becoming tired of all this running around with Stephanie as all he wanted to do was talk with her and clear things up, but she kept on avoiding him every day at school until Mac decided to come up with a solid plan and knew when was the best time to catch her….alone.
It was another typical Friday at school as the day had just finished but Mac knew that the student council would be having a meeting for the school's upcoming Halloween Dance, so he told JR and Lucky that he was going to stay late after school and to not wait for him.
Mac also called Luis to tell him that he might be late for training but that he'll still make it, which Luis wasn't happy about but decided to let it slide for now since he's been doing well over the last few weeks.
Mac headed towards the student council room just after the meeting had started and waited outside a few feet away for them to finish, knowing Stephanie's routine she has always been the last one out of these meetings so he was going to take the chance after all the student council members had left.
The meeting took about an hour but during that time, Mac and Alpha had a conversation….
"You must be really worried about her if you're going this far just to talk with her.", said Alpha as he finally decided to bring it up with Mac after noticing how he's been acting these last couple of weeks trying to get Stephanie's attention.
"Don't get the wrong idea Alpha, I just don't want her feeling like she owes me an apology for not knowing about my personality.", said Mac, but Alpha knew that wasn't the case since he has been able to notice Mac's feelings for Stephanie slowly change for the better, though he wasn't going to tell him that just yet.
"If you say so, I just hope that you know what you're doing.", said Alpha, shortly after the door to the student council room opened and the members began to exit and just like Mac predicted, Stephanie was the last one as she was still inside the room.
Once Mac knew that the coast was clear, he approached the room, stepped inside and closed the door behind him which startled Stephanie as she looked at Mac's direction….
"Jesus Mac, you scared me.", said Stephanie as she picked up a stack of papers that she dropped.
"We need to talk.", said Mac with a certain kind of tone that made him sound almost strict and serious, but it didn't bother Stephanie at all.
"Can we talk some other time, not really in the mood right now.", said Stephanie which only irritated Mac as he's been trying to talk to her for the last couple of weeks.
"Well when are you in the mood, huh? I've been trying to talk to you over the last 2 weeks but you just keep ignoring me.", said Mac but it didn't seem to matter to Stephanie at all, not until he brought up the conversation she had with JR.
"Are you still bothered by what JR told you that day in the café after I walked out?", asked Mac which now caught Stephanie's attention as she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Mac.
Stephanie took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh as she knew that this day would eventually come and she would have to face her fears and talk with Mac about what she learned from that day in the café.
"Listen Mac, I know that I overstepped some boundaries on that day and even before when I called you out to come to this very room that we're in now….", Stephanie began to say very nervously so she took a seat and continued.
"….and had I known about your personal feelings, then I would've never done the things that I did to cause you such problems and made you uncomfortable.", said Stephanie as she looked at Mac, waiting for some kind of response.
"Connors….no, Stephanie….not everyone knows about my personality except for JR and Lucky since I grew up with them, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to make new friends and share with them about who I really am.", said Mac as he tries his best to calm Stephanie down.
"The reason JR told you those things about me was because we both know that you like me for more than just my status or money, and to be honest with you ever since I started high school I've had my eye on you.", said Mac which completely caught Stephanie by surprise as she always had thought he never noticed her.
"Wait, you mean to say that you like me?", questioned Stephanie as she was very confused by what Mac said.
"Yes I do, but because of who I am and who I'm meant to be, it was impossible for me to even try and get into a relationship so I kind of gave up but never forgotten about you.", said Mac as he scratched the back of his head without trying to sound too nervous.
"Look Stephanie, I want you to understand that while I want to try to be in a relationship, I can't because of how much unwanted attention I'm going to get.", said Mac which made Stephanie happy and sad at the same time, but she understood his feelings as well.
"But that doesn't mean we can start off as friends and go from there. Who knows, maybe later down the road I'll be open to making our relationship more public.", said Mac with a smile across his face which brought joy to Stephanie's eyes.
"That means a lot to me….and thank you, for being honest with me.", said Stephanie which Mac just nodded his head and smiled.
"Oh, by the way….it might take some convincing with Lucky accepting you as a friend, but JR should be cool with it. I'll talk with Lucky and ask her to give you a chance.", said Mac as a heads up mainly because he knows how Lucky feels about Stephanie.
"That's fine, I believe that we can make it work.", said Stephanie with confidence in her voice.
"Well I'm glad that we finally got to talk, but I'm late for something so I have to go.", said Mac as he opens the door, but before he could walk out, Stephanie walks up behind him and gives Mac a hug.
"Thanks again.", said Stephanie as she embraced Mac which he just grabs her hand and turns to face her….
"Of course.", acknowledged Mac, then Stephanie let's go of him.
"Oh, one more thing….there isn't a chance that you'll be going to the Halloween dance this year?", asked Stephanie, which she is met with an annoyed look from Mac.
"Goodbye Stephanie.", said Mac with slight irritation in his voice as he walks out of the room and starts to head to the studio for his training session with Luis.
Meanwhile, Stephanie stays back in the room to finish cleaning up, but she just can't help and continue to think about what happened….the fact that Mac has had feelings for her since the start of high school. She soon snapped out of it and finished cleaning, then went home.
After that day when he finally opened up to Stephanie, Mac has been feeling a bit different that even Alpha has picked up on it as well and one day while relaxing at his apartment, Mac was looking for some advice.
"Hey Alpha, what do you know about love?", asked Mac, the question itself surprised Alpha knowing all too well that he had no idea or experience on the matter.
"Mac, I don't believe that I have the answer for you, but maybe you should talk with your parents about it.", said Alpha which worries Mac because he was hoping to not talk with them about this subject.
"What about Mr. Lou?", asked Mac but as soon as he asked that specific question Alpha burst into laughter.
"Yo, what's so damn funny?", questioned Mac wondering why Alpha was laughing so much, then after about a minute of laughter Alpha calmed down.
"I'm sorry, but Luis is the last person who is qualified to give you any love advice.", said Alpha with so much cheerfulness that he couldn't help but to laugh again.
With Alpha just continuously laughing inside his head, Mac had no other choice but to talk with his parents about love which he never thought would be something he'd do so soon.
On the weekend that the school was having the Halloween dance, Mac took the opportunity and instead went to go see his parents at the office but made sure to tell JR and Lucky where he was going.
Once Mac arrived at the building, he went up to the top floor and straight into his father's office first which surprised Crispin but he was glad to see him.
"Chandler, my boy, this is a surprise….why didn't you tell me that you were coming over?", asked Crispin as he wondered what was going on with his son.
"Shall I call your mother in here?", asked Crispin but Mac shook his head.
"No dad, there's something that I want to talk about with you first, if that's okay with you.", said Mac which Crispin understood thinking that it might be something that can only be discussed between father and son.
"Sure, what's on your mind son?", asked Crispin.
"Well….ugh, why do I feel embarrassed asking you about this?", questioned Mac as he paced around his father's office, then Crispin got up from behind his desk and walked up to Mac, grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him down.
"Relax son, what seems to be troubling you?", asked Crispin worrying that Mac might be in trouble.
Mac took a deep breath in and gave a heavy sigh which helped calm his nerves a bit, now he was ready to ask the question that has been on his mind this entire time.
"Dad, what does it mean to fall in love?", asked Mac, Crispin stood there for a moment as he processed a question that he never thought his own son would ask him, almost to the point of passing out so instead he walked back around his desk and sat down in his chair in disbelief.
Mac looked at how his father was reacting to the question that he asked him and thought that he might've broken him, then Crispin snapped out of whatever daze he was in.
"Wow….I never thought I'd see the day that my own son would ask about love.", said Crispin as he was still in disbelief.
"What brought this on all of a sudden? Is there someone that you like?", asked Crispin as his demeanor completely changes to someone who is digging up some juicy gossip, which doesn't go unnoticed by Mac.
"Dammit dad, I'm being serious….I came to you first because I thought it would be weird asking mom about this.", said Mac which he then notice his father go back to his usual self.
"Why do you think it would be weird asking your mother? Honestly, women have a better understanding of love than men do.", said Crispin, so before he would give Mac a proper answer, he called Samantha on phone and asked her to come to his office which of course Mac wasn't too happy about.
"No dad, I told you….", Mac began to say but was interrupted by his father before he could finish, then his mother walks into the office, she sees Mac and becomes overjoyed that he came by to visit.
"Hey mom….", said Mac nervously.
"Oh my boy, it's good of you to visit us….come here.", said Samantha as she pulled Mac in for a motherly hug, but he was none to pleasant about the moment.
"Why are you here? Didn't you have that Halloween dance at school today?", asked Samantha, she knew all too well that it would be good for Mac to attend these school events every so often but for Mac, he didn't really like going because its always a couples thing….which of course, didn't apply to him.
"Didn't feel like going, plus wanted to come by and ask dad something which we sorted out, so I'll just be going home now.", said Mac very quickly as he had hoped to get out of there before his mom knew anything, but just as he was leaving, his father grabbed onto Mac's collar and held him back which made him fall back into the chair.
"Don't try and avoid what you actually came here for.", said Crispin with a mixture of concern and strictness in his voice, then Mac looks at him with annoyance.
"Don't give me that look either, now tell your mother why you came or I'll do it for you.", said Crispin, then Mac gave a heavy sigh knowing that he was out of options even though he continued to try and avoid the inevitable.
"What it is Chandler? You know you can tell me anything that you told your father, you don't have to be embarrassed about it.", said Samantha as she was concerned about what Mac was trying to hide.
Mac continued to stall and avoid saying anything but Crispin was becoming slightly impatient so he took the next step for his son.
"Samantha, what Chandler asked me and is trying to avoid asking you is….", Crispin began to say but was stopped by Mac as he grabbed his arm….
"I'll ask her.", said Mac quietly and nervously, so Crispin stopped saying anything else.
Mac took a few more moments to himself only because he was feeling the pressure but knew that if he wanted to know about love, then he'd have to ask his mother about it eventually.
Then he finally asked it….
"Mom….what does it mean to fall in love with someone?", asked Mac.
To Be Continued....