"You're joking, right? The Vietnamese chick with glasses? The one who rarely talks? THAT'S WHO DID ME IN?!" Alex questions.
"You know her?" Ronnie asked.
"Of course I do! How could I not?!"
"I mean you didn't recognize her at all in class or at the park," Ronnie remarks.
"Okay fair," Alex sighs.
"Wait wait, slow down guys," Marcus says as he then asks, "How do you know Elizabeth again?"
Marcus, Ronnie, & Alex are all sitting at a booth inside 'Burrito Bistro'. Alex has a burrito in hand as he begins to describe his history with Elizabeth.
"Well we were both in several clubs together in middle school," Alex explains before listing them off, "Chess Club, Basket Weaving Club, Vegetable Cart Construction & Racing Club – you know all the normal ones."
"Uh huh," Ronnie sassily remarks.
"What?" Alex questions.
"Nothing nothing," Ronnie insists, "It's just something I didn't expect from you."
"Well anyways," Alex continues, "We didn't really chat much but I thought we were on good terms! Her mom still talks to my mom – I have no idea why she'd be mad at me!"
"Well, did you do anything that may have upset her?" Marcus questions.
"No I would never-" Alex begins to say before really thinking about it.
Back at the start of the seventh grade, Alex & Elizabeth were together in a chess club, playing a game against each other.
"Damn you're good at this," Alex admits as he tries to find a way out of check.
"Thank you," Elizabeth remarks, "You know you're not bad at this yourself-"
However before the game can continue, another middle schooler slams his hand down on the board, sending the pieces to the ground.
"Hey punk you're Alex right?" The student remarks, "I bet you're not as strong as me!"
"Oh yeah?" Alex smirks before shoving the chess board out of the way, "LET'S SEE ABOUT THAT!"
A beat of sweat drips down Alex's forehead as he thinks of another memory.
Back in eighth grade, Alex & Elizabeth are at a basket weaving club meeting when another kid comes up to challenge Alex. Without hesitation, Alex takes the basket he and Elizabeth were weaving and chucks it at the guy's face.
Another beat of sweat drips down Alex's face.
Towards the end of middle school, Elizabeth is at a vegetable cart construction club meeting. While she's making her cart, Alex is fighting yet another student for entertainment. Eventually, Alex delivers an uppercut sending the student stumbling back and falling down….falling down onto Elizabeth's just-finished vegetable cart.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she hates me," Alex groans.
As they're talking somebody enters Burrito Bistro.
"If she hated you I don't think she'd ask for our help," Ronnie remarks.
As they're talking, the new patron is seated at a nearby table by the waiter Mesto-Presto.
"If anything I think she sees you as a friend," Marcus remarks.
Hearing that, Alex slams his hands onto the table as he loudly exclaims, "Of course, she has no friends! You're a genius bub!"
"No that's not what I-" Marcus begins to say before stopping in horror.
Ronnie & Alex slowly follow his gaze before they see that the patron sitting at the table is Elizabeth Moore.
They stare at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth stares at them.
They stare at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth stares at them.
Eventually, Mesto-Presto walks over with some chips and salsa for Elizabeth.
"Hi there, I hope you're enjoying yourself, do you want anything to drink?-" Mesto begins to ask.
Though before Mesto can finish, Elizabeth makes a beeline to the exit of the restaurant. As she leaves, Alex slams his head into his hands.
"Well if she didn't hate you before," Ronnie begins to say.
"Dude just shut up," Alex groans, "Let me wallow in my miseries for a bit."
As Alex begins to ponder these thoughts, Ronnie reaches over the table to flick Alex's forehead. Alex turns to Ronnie and begins to fume.
"What was that for?!" Alex asked.
"Just trying to knock some sense into you, sounded like you were busy focusing on stuff you couldn't change. Instead of worrying about that, how about just trying to do the best you can do is try and make an effort now," Ronnie explains.
"Oh...thanks I guess," Alex says as he calms down, "Though how am I gonna even talk to her now?"
"Well you can just say sorry," Marcus suggests.
Ronnie & Alex turn toward Marcus and look at him as if he was the smartest person in the room.
"There's no way you didn't think of that before, right?" Marcus questions.
________________________________
The next day, Elizabeth Moore is walking through the halls. She makes sure to avoid all of the people walking passed when she bumps into Marcus. The two spin around and look at one another.
"Oh hey nice running into you," Marcus remarks.
Elizabeth, without saying a word, quickly scurries away from Ronnie. Before he knows it, she's lost in the crowd.
"Well, guess it's not just Alex she doesn't want to talk to," Marcus sighs.
____________________________________
In math class, Elizabeth is trying to take some notes on the math slide when a piece of paper is tossed onto her desk, she turns to see that it was Alex who tossed it at her. Alex motions for her to read what's on the paper. Elizabeth, instead of following his instructions, tosses the paper in the garbage. Alex goes to try and write another note but the bell rings and Elizabeth quickly leaves the class.
With the bell ringing out, Alex looks at the note he was writing which just contained two words.
"I'm Sorry."
_________________________
In the cafeteria, Elizabeth is eating her lunch all by herself when Ronnie sits down at the table.
"Man, I didn't think I'd find an empty table so late into lunch," Ronnie sighs as he begins to eat.
Realizing that he hasn't seen her, Elizabeth quickly sides underneath the lunch table. She tries to roll away but her feet end up hitting one of the seats, causing a loud noise.
"What the?" Ronnie questions as he looks underneath the table, "What are you doing down there?"
Flushed with embarrassment Elizabeth rolls away faster from Ronnie. Ronnie watches her roll away not knowing if he should be impressed at the speed of her rolling or confused
_________________________
"So yeah I don't think she's quite a fan of us," Ronnie admits while sitting at a desk.
He along with Alex & Marcus are sitting in Mister Amnestor's classroom for their club meeting. The only other student there is X Locke, who's taking yet another test.
"Hey if you wanna talk to a chick you gotta do it right," X Locke encourages, "Try communicating via a written letter delivered by carrier pigeon. That'll woo her for sure."
"This ain't about romance you prude," Alex grunts.
"Okay sheesh," X sighs as he goes back to his test, "But you'd be surprised how often it works, just as long as the birdie doesn't send the letter into a lake."
Seeing as no paranormal investigating is being done, the club ends earlier than expected, as Ronnie goes to open the door he thinks.
"I think it's clear she just wants to be left alone," Ronnie admits, "So how about we just do that."
Alex & Marcus nod in agreement as they exit the classroom and into the hallway, only to see Elizabeth Moore walking down the hall carrying a recently woven basket. The two groups are silent as they then begin to walk down the hall.
They both go in the same direction to the front of the school and then out into the front courtyard. As Elizabeth is about to rush away from the group, they all suddenly hear-
"Oh is that Alex I see?" Someone calls out.
Elizabeth puts her hand over her face in embarrassment as the rest of the group looks over to the source of the noise. They see that it's a middle-aged woman parked on the street in a red minivan. The minivan is decorated with several stickers on the rear windshield window including a 'Proud Mother of Three' sticker & a 'HONK if a child falls out' sticker.
"You know her?" Ronnie asks Alex.
"Yeah, she's Elizabeth's mom," Alex whispers back before loudly saying, "Aye Lizzy's Mom! Nice to see you."
"How are you doing sugar plum?" Elizabeth's Mom questions.
"Uh good," Alex responds.
"Y'know our Eli hasn't brought you up recently," Elizabeth's Mom says, "I was worried she'd stop being friends with a good kid like yourself."
"Uhhh yep, we're still best of friends! Two peas of a pod," Alex awkwardly chuckles, "Right Lizzy?"
Elizabeth, caught off guard, comes up with, "Uh huh, totally. Super close."
"Aw and you have some new friends too, why didn't you tell me Eli?" Elizabeth's Mom questions as she sees Marcus & Ronnie.
Marcus and Ronnie look at each other and then at Elizabeth.
"Yep we're all best of friends," Elizabeth says as she rushes to the car, "Now can we go now mom? I didn't get a chance to eat today and I'm starving."
"Okay," Elizabeth's Mom says before a light bulb goes off in her mind, "Hey I know! I bet your friends are hungry too, let's invite them over to dinner!"
Elizabeth looks back at Alex, Ronnie, & Marcus who are all standing there awkwardly.
"Sorry but I got a basketball game," Alex comes up with an excuse.
"Yeah I think my mom was making me dinner already," Ronnie adds.
"I need to go to the dentist- or something, I don't know," Marcus sighs.
"See Mom, they're all busy, maybe some other time," Elizabeth says.
Elizabeth's Mom glares at her daughter.
"Mom please," Elizabeth begs.
Elizabeth's Mom glares deeper at her daughter.
"Pretty please?" Elizabeth asks desperately.
Elizabeth's Mom glares even deeper at her daughter.
"Fine," Elizabeth groans in utter defeat.
______________________________
That night, Elizabeth stands as she stands in her family's apartment by the front door. Standing beside her are Ronnie Everst, Alex Smith, & Marcus Veridan. Elizabeth's parents and two younger siblings are waving the high schoolers over to sit at their dining room table.
"This is gonna be a long night isn't it?" Elizabeth asks.
"Yep," Ronnie, Marcus, and Alex agree.
See You Next Chapter!~