Push and pull

[Otto's POV]

That evening, Otto saw Alex talking to Thomas. Thomas looked like he was reluctant to be in Alex's presence, but all in all the conversation looked friendly enough, so she went over to stand with them.

"Give me your contact info," she heard Thomas say as both boys grabbed for their phones. "I'll send you the address of the club. Next practice is on Friday. I'll let the teacher know you're interested."

"Thanks," Alex said as he smiled gratefully. "Much appreciated."

"No problem. It would be in the interest of our club if we could convince you to join in competitions too," Thomas said.

"Let's first see how it goes," Alex laughed. "I'm out of practice after all."

"You're going to take up judo again?" she asked as both boys hadn't acknowledged her presence after a while.

"Oh, hey Otto," Alex said. "Yeah, I will. The whole relapsing thing had made me realize that I've been slacking off. So it's time to pick up the pace a little."

Otto cautiously glanced in Thomas' direction. She thought Alex had wanted to keep the whole thing a secret, but he was talking about it now as if it was nothing.

"I knew about it," Thomas said as if he'd read her mind. "Mom has been complaining about it for days. Saying things like; how dare that stupid idiot just dump his work onto me?!"

Alex pulled up his nose and hissed. "My apologies for all the difficulties I've caused."

"Yeah, you have," Thomas said dryly. "But I'm glad you got over it though. Life has become much more interesting since you moved here."

"Dear God," Alex complained. "It really must have been bad if you're going cheesy on me."

This made Thomas laugh. It had been a while since she'd seen him smile. It brought back warm memories.

"Anyway, I'm going home. See you later," Thomas said. They both said their goodbyes and watched as he left.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked. "You've been quiet."

"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong, really," she said and doubted as she thought of how to continue. "It's just that… I don't know! I have this strange feeling that you're leaving me behind."

"Leaving you behind?!" Alex asked surprised. "Why would you say that? I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, maybe not leaving, but things are definitely changing," Otto said. "Ever since the whole near death experience, you've been acting strange. First you're really weak, then you miraculously recover, than you're falling asleep in broad-daylight and now you're going to judo-practice? Your train of thoughts and actions elude me, as if I'm missing something."

"I would never leave you behind," Alex said so seriously it made her blush.

"But you're right," he continued. "I have been keeping things from you because I'm afraid you'll think I'm crazy. Heck, you might even cast me out."

"You're afraid to tell me?" she asked, his words hurt more than she thought they would. She'd felt that they'd become really close. What could possibly be so horrible that he couldn't tell her? "Alex, we're friends! Why would I think you're crazy or cast you out?"

"So you say, but I'm pretty sure you considered Thomas a friend once too."

"Thomas? What does Thomas-" Otto said, but Alex interrupted her.

"I'm just saying that you've cast him out before and you'd do it again if you had to," Alex said, looking her straight in the eyes and challenged her to deny it. "I'll tell you once I'm ready."

Otto was going to complain some more, but didn't as Jessy was suddenly standing next to them. She was standing there; her thumbs looped through the loops of her backpack and wiggling from her heels to her toes and back, a sheepish expression plastered on her face. They both stared at her in confusion.

"I was going to eavesdrop on you from behind that trashcan over there, but I couldn't understand a word so I decided to come over," she said. "Now, would you please start over from the top?"

Alex and Otto exchanged an incredulous glance. It was Alex who started laughing first, but Otto was a close second. She was laughing, but their conversation still weighed heavy on her mind.

"There you guys are! I've been looking all over for you!" Jasper yelled as he spotted them from a distance, smartphone in hand.

"Do you guys wanna do something together?" he asked as he ran over, tripped over his own feet and clumsily dropped his phone to the ground. They all watched as the device hit the ground and saw the screen crack. Jessy gasped.

"Oh no!" Jasper complained. "My phone?! Damn it! And I'd finally saved up enough money to buy myself a laptop too. Bye, bye money."

Otto noticed Alex staring at the device funnily. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he asked; "Can I take a closer look?"

"Sure," Jasper said as he handed it over. "But I don't think there's anything you can do though."

He hadn't finished his words or a mad grin appeared on Alex's face.

"Want to see a magic trick?" he asked. They all blinked at him in surprise.

"Hu?" Jasper asked in confusion.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Alex said theatrically and held the cracked smartphone out for all of them to see.

"Now you see the cracks," he said as he positioned his free hand at the bottom of the screen and slowly started moving it upwards, temporarily hiding it from view. While he did so, Otto could feel every nerve in her system hum. "And now you don't."

When he showed the device to all of them again, the screen was unblemished. Not a scratch to be seen.

"Woow!" they simultaneously yelled out in amazement.

"That's amazing! How did you do that?!" Jessy yelled.

"A magician never reveals his secrets!" Alex said theatrically.

"Oh my God! Seriously! You're a lifesaver! Truly amazing! Thank you so much!" Jasper guffawed gratefully.

"Tell me how you did it!" Jessy commanded in a threatening way. "I won't be able to sleep if you don't!"

"Oh, come on you guys," Alex said with a slight frown. "You mean you really didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Jasper asked confused.

"It's the screen protector. I just removed it," Alex said as he waved the broken screen protector in front of their eyes as proof.

Jessy doubled over laughing.

"You had me there!" she said between laughs. "You had me fooled!"

"There was a screen protector?" Jasper asked confused. "When did that happen?"

"Well, then you're lucky there was," Alex replied sternly. "And you'd better put a new one on too."

"I will! I will!" Jasper said overjoyed. "You know what? I'm buying everyone waffles! Just because I'm so happy! Come you guys!"

So Jasper took the lead and the others fell into step behind him. Jessy walked next to Jasper and Alex walked next to her.

"I don't know how you did it, but I don't believe there was a screen protector," Otto said when she was sure Jessy and Jasper weren't listening. This caused Alex to search her face cautiously, but didn't say anything. "I'm pretty sure it's one of those things you can't tell me. So I'll wait patiently until you do."