Chp 44 : Feelings?

"No, they won't, apparently," Jessica told him a piece of bad news.

"Damn fkin Mars!" After he said the bad words, he was forced to put a dollar in the swear jar by everyone else. In the meantime, he was in the orphanage celebrating Christmas with his family like he used to do.

It has been a few days since the audition, from the last talk they have a few days ago, Jessica and Nancy tried to talk with the chairman of Mars, the distributor of Skittles in the USA.

Unfortunately, most of the shares were held by their families and their backer, so Al couldn't buy any form of shares whatever the price he offered.

No infinite stocks of Skittles then, so his attention now turned into Burger King's shares held by Pillsbury Company, he likes cheeseburgers, and to become one of the owners satisfied him very much.

As usual, the Christmas party was held in the orphanage by inviting some guests like Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving, Jodie Foster, etc.

One surprise came from Steven, he said that Amy had been pregnant for 3 months. That news surprised Al because Steven never told him beforehand, the last time they met them, Amy's belly wasn't big yet.

So Steven proposed to her and Amy accepted his proposal. The wedding would be held in January next year.

Robert Zemeckis also came with some information about <Back to the Future>. The post-production has been completed and would be screened on summer files. Al as the main actor would definitely come to the premiere held in TCL Chinese Theatre.

There was also an event held by Hollywood High School. The event called talent show that would be held on 26th December, one day after Christmas.

Mrs. K as his guardian received a registration form from school and secretly put Al's name on it.

Al was stunned after he received sudden news from her and Mrs. K just said this, "It's a tradition for any orphanage members who have grown up and go to High School that they must follow school's events such as stage plays, etc."

Oh, he knew he was pranked by Mrs. K after saw Mary's expression.

He tried to protest her and Mary was just laughing at him. But suddenly Mrs. K took photos of Mary, doing a stage play when she was in high school.

Everyone tried to see it then they laughed after saw it. It was Mary's turn now to be embarrassed, their mighty big sis Mary was so nerdy when she was in high school and also so cute when she was wearing princess's dress from Shakespeare's plays.

So Al decided that if he wanted to fulfill Mrs. K's wish, then he would play big, really big.

Al now is one of the popular guys in his high school after he took down Billy and defied Principal William.

Especially at the gym period when he accidentally pulled off his shirts to wipe off his sweats, the girls who saw it almost passed out from blood loss.

It's no wonder he could take down a big person like Billy, sometimes he was asked by everyone in school if he used kung fu like Bruce Lee when he fought Billy.

He just said it was Bartitsu, an England's martial arts that were popularized by Sherlock Holmes novel. Although it was not an effective martial art, he could use it to the Holmes level in the movies in terms of the precisions.

Not only Bartitsu, he also learned Krav Maga style from his homeland in mother's side, Bajiquan because he liked style from Old Man Li Shuwen (If you know the reference LB3), and Silat who he mastered in his old life.

Any martial arts in the US was called "kung fu" by these peoples because of Bruce Lee's popularity, although it began to deteriorate now because karate was popularized by <Karate Kid> film.

Even sometimes some guys from school still asked him to teach them the "kung fu" moves he used on Billy which he really told them again that it was Bartitsu.

He wasn't really into Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or Jet Li's kung fu because mostly it only for performance, well maybe he would need it in the future for his action movies.

Many freshman girls also developed a crush on him and he received many flirting attempts from them. He was also invited to their parties, but he politely rejected them all.

Anyway, on 26th December in the school assembly hall. News that Al was going to perform in the talent show in school was spreading.

The talent show mc is the girl who Max had a crush on, Anna Betty. This would be trouble because one of his member in this performance was also Max himself, Al hoped this guy was not getting any diarrhea on stage.

Max and Anthony turned out also good at playing musical instruments.

He also asked for some help from River who currently has free time. He is really good at electric guitars, well in the future he would create a rock band but too bad the album would never be released because of his death.

"Now for the next performance by Edward, Max, Anthony, and... River."

They got on stage and took their instrument, Anthony went into drums, Max to keyboard, River to guitar and the last one was Al went to get a..... violin?

On the audience seat, Mrs. K was holding a camcorder and sat with Mary, Jodie, and the kids. Steven Spielberg with Amy Irving also came over, they won't miss their Godson first High School's performance.

The audiences were confused, first, they wore a vintage costume and masquerade mask and they thought Alphonse was going to sing but then he surprises them by taking a violin?

Then the soft violin string was heard through the assembly hall. Damn Al! If you are going to perform classic music, why you brought a literal band to the stage, did he want to prank them?

But the audience was shocked again by River's guitar and then the bands start their fast tempo song.

(Phantom of the Opera by Lindsey Stirling)

The combination of classic and rock made the audience speechless, they never heard a classic song moreover combined with rocks.

In the last minutes of Al's solo play, the audience refreshed with the violin tune.

Their performance finally finished and the assembly hall filled with cheers and applause.

Moments passed and they took first place in that talent show, total annihilation to other participants. Who asked them to perform first in those events, it made the other contestants were not confident to perform.

"How did all of you do that? It is amazing." Mrs. K hugged Al and praised them for their performance.

"Big bro is really good at violin, he always played me a song before we go to sleep," Drew added.

"Before 'we' go to sleep? Ooohhh E.D. here turns out to be a pedo....." Robin teased Al.

But Al immediately stopped her from saying anything further and said, "Stop it, Robbie! Don't use any adult words if children are here! Do you remember the last time you did it? So keep it on PG level." Suddenly everyone remembered how battered they were when trying to explain E.D. words to children.

After they were having a nice chat, everyone dispersed. Al then went to the schoolyard alone to take his bike but suddenly he saw Ione approached him alone.

"Ed, I mean Al can we talk?" Ione said, because sometimes it was confusing between using Al and Ed, they agreed to call Ed while in school and Al outside of it or when they are alone, except for Robin. She kept calling him E.D. on any occasion.

"Of course, What's the matter Ione? And where's Robin? It's rare to see you without her."

"She went home a minute ago, I'll call a taxi later." Then she became nervous all of sudden.

'Oh no, don't tell me' he thought but he quickly banished his thought, there's no way that happened right? "Do you have something to say Ione, don't worry I won't bite?" He joked.

Heard Al made a joke, her nervousness disappeared, she took a deep breath and finally said, "I like you, Al, I like you from the first day we met."

'Oh Shit.' He was right. Then Al was stunned for a second, he collected his mind and finally said, "Ione... I, thank you, Ione I also like you but..."

She heard "but" words and immediately interjects him "Is it Robin?" She then closed her eyes. She knew it was meant to be failed but she felt that she must do it.

After she saw him on stage today, she fell more deeply for him and her ache in her heart would keep raged if she doesn't confess now.

"No, Robin and I are best friends. I like you Ione but also as a friend, I don't want to break our friendship. So, I'm sorry Ione I can't return your feeling." He finally said it with a heavy voice.

She felt down because her confession was rejected then she closed her eyes again and wiped some tears that fell to her cheeks.

She fell into trance suddenly and then she realized something.

She really likes being with him even as a friend. Just being near him made her enjoyed her high school life, her only friends were only Robin since she was a child. Maybe also because Al was the first male friend she had in her life that she felt like this.

She then opened her eyes and saw Al started to talk some gibberish words and funny things, maybe he did this to cheer her up or just to escape his guilt.

Finally, Ione said, "It's fine Al, I like you. I don't want to keep it within my heart for who knows how long. It's okay if you can't return it." Saw her sad, Al then approached her and held her shoulder with his hands to console her.

"So, we are still friends?" Ione asked with doubt.

"Of course, why wouldn't we. I like spending time with you... uh as a friend! With all of you I meant."

Then they both started to stare at each other eyes. She suddenly entrapped in his eyes and unconsciously said, "Can I kiss you, Al?"

She snapped and realized what she had just said, "No sorry Al, I didn't mean to say it. It's a joke, that's right, a joke."

Al also surprised after hearing what she said but he suddenly had an idea to tease her and said, "You sure it's a joke? You got a chance to steal a superstar's first kiss."

"First kiss? I thought you have done it in film before?" Ione asked confusedly.

"Almost, but the director found it inappropriate for 14 years old to kiss an adult so, my lips are still virgin." He then covered his lip with both of his hands and stretched it from side to side.

"Okay, so this is going to be a kiss of friendship then?" She said and crossed her arms to her chest.

He also crossed his arms, smirked, and said, "Say what you want but yes, this will be our kiss of friendship." Now both of them are laughing.

Then suddenly, Al approached Ione and then kissed her lip, Ione was surprised and her brain was short-circuited but then she decided ignored it, she felt his lip was touching hers and a sweet taste and electric feelings ran through her lip.

Al also felt her soft lip and tasted a sweet feeling into his. 'So this is how her lips felt, it's soft and addicting.' Well, he died young in his life, so suck it, readers!

Both of them closed their eyes and savored every moment of it. Al would never be her boyfriend due to their friendship so he hoped this gift will satisfy her, he only hoped that he won't be slapped after force-kissing her.

Ione also knew he could never really be hers, so she was happy to get a parting gift. She promised that she would continue to become his best friend.

The kiss they did were the pure ones, without any addition in it and after the kiss has ended, they stared at each other again and laughed.

"It's amazing.", "It is great." They spoke at the same time. They both then walked together to the school's terrace and sit on it in comfortable silence.

The night has become darker and Al finally said something to Ione, "So, you want to hop on to my bike? I could take you home, saving you from taxi fares."

"Okay, but usually girls prefer the one with engines on it."

"They never see Alphonse Brandt then, does word environmentalist sounds sexy to girls?"

"Maybe." He always has a way to make everyone smile.

Then she hopped onto Al's back saddle and they rode through the streets to her house. She hugged Al from behind, placed her head into his back, and smiled.

Again, this could be a good romantic film scene if only...

-------------

The year 1985 is coming and Al has celebrated it again with his families and friends.

The wedding of Steven and Amy was held in Jewish tradition.

He said congratulatory words for his Godfather and Steven looked good in his suit, Al even made a joke about Amy being too good for him, Steven just laughed at his God son's joke. Amy also looked beautiful in her wedding dress and has made sure that it would hide her baby bumps.

Drew and the girls from the orphanage also have become flower girls and looked so cute in their white frilly dress.

Many of Hollywood's important people appeared at this wedding. One of them was Frank Price, the President of the Universal MCA group.

He said he really liked his short film and also have watched <Back To The Future> footage and he really liked it. He was sure with Alphonse as the main lead, the box office would be good.

Al's friends also came by the invitation from Steven. Steven always met them when they were hanging out in the orphanage although their interaction just greetings only.

The last event of Al and Ione strengthen their friendship and luckily their attitude when they met were not that awkward. Although sometimes they blushed when they remembered something from that event.

The only one who saw through this was Robin and she knew something was going on between them.

Robin swore that she would found out whatever they were hiding from her.

To Be Continued...

(A/N: Sorry for the cheesy romance scene, but I had to do it for practice or I'll be stuck in a well forever. Al and Ione will continue to be the best friends, the kiss just a parting symbol as they won't become a couple)