12 May The Force Be With Us

"Best Friends: They know how crazy you are and yet- they choose to be seen with you in public."

"You and Alex are an exception though." Jeff spoke up, pointing at Alex and I.

"You guys are pretending to be a couple because someone-" He glared at Alex. "- decided to stand up against a bitchy cheerleader - no offence, Mia."

"None taken."

"So...any questions?"

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_Present Day_

Knock! Knock!

"Aw! C'mon!" The students groaned.

"Come in!" I called.

"I wanted to meet Mr. Jake Matthews, is he here?"

I broke into a smile.

"Of course, do you need anything?"

She smiled. "Yeah, maybe I need my so-called boyfriend, back."

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We shook our heads.

"Great, now we need a team name. Hmm, let's see- what do we have here." He turned to us. "Any suggestions?"

"Ask google." Alex scoffed.

"I'm asking Google." Jeff deadpanned.

"Aww, you think I'm Google?" Alex touched her heart.

"You're not?" Before Alex could answer, Jelly cut her off. "Then stop pretending that you know everything."

"Hey, you were supposed to the joker and let Mia handle the bossiness." I said.

"You think I'm bossy?" Mia raised her eyebrows.

"Uh...." What the hell was wrong with me?

"Yeah, maybe you are."

"Alex stop being disrespectful!" Candy scolded.

"It's the plain truth." She stated.

"You don't know why I'm bossy, Alex."

"I don't need to. Besides, I think all of this is crap. I don't need you guys to fight my battles. I can handle my own out there."

"Then why were you here?"

"Because I couldn't say no." She stood up and walked out the door and slammed the door behind her. The room was eerily quiet for a few minutes as if we were mourning someone's death.

Then Jelly broke the silence. "After all I've done...."

"Jeff!" We scolded him in unison.

"W-Was Alex always l-like this?" Emma quietly asked.

"Yeah, she had it rough. She had no one other than herself to fight her battles. When we asked to help, she pushed us away." Candy answered with a sigh.

When we all stared at each other, waiting for her to continue, she spoke. "Alex is um-how do I say it-"

"Rip it off like a band-aid." Jelly suggested.

Candy took a deep breath. "It's not my place to say it but knowing how stubborn-" She spared me a glance. "-you are and how you will not let me keep this secret so...here goes nothing."

The door burst open.

And in came Alex Snow- with a bottle of beer.

Wait- she did under age drinking?

"A-Alex?"

"We thought you left?"

"You changed your mind?"

Alex took a swig from her beer. "Nah, left my cell phone. You guys still listening to this crap?"

We sighed. "Don't push us, Alex."

"You need help."

"No, I don't ." She snapped back.

She was being stubborn, just like I was. Maybe, I could solve this problem.

(Future Alex: And kids, he had a unique way of solving it.)

(Future Jake: I thought I'll be the only one telling you all this story. And no, my way wasn't unique- yours was.)

(Future Alex: Nah....that ain't happening, Ted Mosby)

"What if I strike you a deal?" All eyes were on me.

Alex seemed intrigued. "What deal?"

"Well-" Think, Jake, think. What could possibly rope her into helping us. She was the one with problems, if we gave her a deal worth a lifetime, she may end up staying. Though, kind of ridiculous idea, most of us agreed to do this.

Except Alex.

She needed convincing.

Stubborn little brat!

That applied to you too, Jake!

You gotta point there, brain!

They kept staring at me. "What if - after all of this is over-I give you anything you want."

"Anything?" She raised her eyebrow.

"She's mischievous , don't listen to her!" Jelly dramatically cried out.

"Oh lord! Please save us, for Jake Matthews is about to sign a deal with the devil." Candy cried out too, raising her hands in the air and praying the guy upstairs.

Hey, that rhymed!

"Anything."

What's the worst that could happen?

"Hmm-lemme think." She rubbed her chin with her thumb for a few moments and then her eyes lit up. She snapped her fingers in front of her. "I know just the thing."

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"I , hereby pledge to stick by Alex Snow's side forever- till death do us part- and stand by her and face every problems alongside her and never turn my back on her. No matter who she is or who she was- we do not care. We shall stand by her side, regardless of any reason. For we care for her and only her and not where she hailed from. If one of us breaks the pledge, he/she is allowed to have an early grave dug out. "

"You're seriously making me sign this?" I asked in disbelief.

"Us. She's making us sign this." Candy corrected.

"We warned you about her." Jelly cried.

"Look who didn't listen." Mia mumbled.

Alex shrugged. "Just wanted to be sure."

"How bad is this history of yours?" I asked, exasperated.

"As much as it takes to make them turn against me, looking at me like I'm some sort of dirt, a disgrace to mankind."

"The last part is an exaggeration." Jelly stage-whispered.

He was smacked by Alex.

"OW!"

"Every word I said is true, Jelly !" Alex sneered.

"I'll call you Jelly from now on wards." Candy smirked.

"M-Me too! M-Me too!" Emma jumped from her seat, like a four year old.

Man, how did I even find these kids?

"Aw, c'mon! It's only Jake who gets to call me that!"

"Now, would you tell us?" I asked Alex - as sincerely as possible- after all of us were signing the pledge.

"You can now know that we won't turn our backs on you and if we did, you can dig our graves. Always know, that we're not only doing this for you but for all the other people who suffer but can't raise a voice. We're being the voice of those people.Right?" She looked at us.

We nodded.

"So, ready?" Mia asked.

"Yeah."

"May the force be with us.....!" Jelly cried out.