Chapter 121: Argument (2)

[Edward POV]

Thrown into the dim lighted, closed space instrument closet, Alex automatically made self-hug gestures as if she was prey waiting for the ruthless predator to devour her.

"Wh-What made you so mad?" She asked warily as she tried to scour for the way out, but as I stood in the middle of the passage, she couldn't reach the door without going through me.

"Why are you protecting yourself like that? I'm not going to molest you." I said with a face full of disbelief.

"WHY!? BECAUSE I HAVE NO BOOBS TO-" She retorted immediately and stopped halfway, face filled with embarrassment as she had revealed one of her insecurities.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll grow when you're older…No. I know that for sure… This isn't about that, and you know it." I said sternly as I glared at her. She shrunk back and gulped her saliva in fear as she studied my face.

She pretended not to know and said, "I don't understand what you want… It is all so sudden…."

I replied mockingly, "Is it though? Or did I finally have it up to here with your shitty behaviour." I let the words sink in, as she fell into contemplation, I added sarcastically, "Yeah…that's tough… I'm sure somebody out there feels sorry for you. It's not me though. I'm here to beat some sense into you."

"I'll call the cops!"

"They'll be too late if you do. So tell me Alex…why are you avoiding me?" I confronted her as I took one step ahead. She took one step backwards as she nervously lowered her head and brushed her stray hair behind her ears. The whole closet fell silent for a while as I waited for her answer.

"I…I'm sorry." Alex muttered, eyes full of tears. "Can you let it go now?? Don't try to find out why? I…I really don't want…you to know about it."

I was a bit taken aback, but then, I shook my head. "No."

She said venomously as she held back her tears, "WHY? So you can 'DR PHIL' me? So That I'll just be one of your 'projects'?"

"Still, not even close, the reason is actually very very simple. I'm surprised you didn't see it." I replied casually, which took Alex by surprise.

"Huh?" She exclaimed, confused.

"I will just tell you. The reason I'm pulling you here, inside the room, is because…I'm…your friend." I replied with a smile. "And besides, we only have one week left to spend together. After that, it will be a whole year before I can enjoy my school life with you again."

Alex wiped her nose as she said meekly, "Really? You enjoy being friends with me?"

"Of course."

"Then that's all the more reason I can't tell you about it." She added.

"So…the reason you're so irritable and utterly insufferable…has something to do with me?"

She rolled her eyes and said, "Don't pretend you haven't figured it out 'Sherlock'. Knowing you, you actually have everything figured out already. Otherwise, you wouldn't have pulled me in here."

"No, I really don't have the slightest clue what's going on. I wasn't actually planning to do this until it was already too late, but your words really hurt me, so I wanted to make you suffer a bit."

"Huh? What words?" Alex said with her eyes darting everywhere, feeling a pang of guilt in her heart as she didn't mean to actually hurt me. It was just her self-defence mechanism that made her act out.

Yes, when she said that I had a 'God-given talent' before, the memory of my mother saying the same thing and leaving me forever surfaced inside my mind. The feeling was extremely uncomfortable, and I may have overreacted a bit mindlessly.

"Not the time. We can revisit that after we settle this. Otherwise, for our last week together, we will keep being awkward with each other, reserved and keeping secrets instead of outgoing and free, always pulling ourselves back when having fun, and honestly, I don't want that to happen. That's why, I'm going to give you an ultimatum."

"NO!" Alex protested but I ignored her and continued. "I will give you…as many chances as I can as I take a step forward before I fully pin you to the end of the closet."

Alex turned back to see it, and realized that she wouldn't have that many chances.

"So you will literally back me against the wall?" Alex said.

"Smart girl." I muttered with an unconscious seductive grin. Alex suddenly gasped and blushed a little before she shook her head and said, "Well… What will happen when we get to the end?"

I laughed and said, "A massage." Her eyes widened, and her face paled. I continued in a teasing manner, "Your sister told me you hated it when I massaged your palm before-"

"No I didn't!" Alex snapped suddenly, which confused me a bit.

[Alex's commentary]

"No…no no no no no no…I really can't let him do that. What if I pee again? And this time…in front of him. If that happens..I will literally kill myself." Alex said in a horrified manner, but her cheeks had a little red tinge from her hidden expectation about the whole thing.

The thought of him pinning her up against the wall, 'massaging' a part of her body until she 'peed' again, had caused Alex's sanity to be divided, and she had fallen into a dilemma at this moment. Alex fanned her cheeks as she said, "I definitely can't let that happen."

[Commentary ends]

"I really don't want to do this." Alex said whiningly.

"Yet. You're still here. If you really wanted to go out, you could just use your 3 years of judo training and fling me over, but you don't. So…I guess there is a part of you that wants to work this out too. No one wants to prolong their own misery, or am I wrong?" I asked with a sly grin as I took my first step. "Also, you lost your first chance."

"Wait-wait-wait-" Alex tried to buy some time, but I shook my head and instigated her, "You called me someone with 'God-given talent'. Why am I the target for your anger?"

"No. It's not you-"

"Then who? Is it your mother?" I asked as I took another step.

"I didn't even reply yet?!" She retorted angrily. "I am taking a step forward every 15 seconds. You really don't have much time Alex. Are you sure you want to waste it with useless arguments?"

"URGH!" Alex groaned loud and slightly raised her chin up to match her eyes to mine as I walked closer towards her.

[General POV]

Outside the room, a few kids were pinning their ears to the storage room door, trying to figure out what was happening in the room.

"Can you hear anything?" Jenna asked Elsa with an anxious voice.

"No. I can nearly hear the occasional raised voice, but I can't hear anything else." Elsa confessed.

"We need a glass cup." Enid said as she tried to make a medium with her hand, but failed.

"Enid. You…aren't you mad?" Elsa asked carefully.

"I'm more inclined towards the feeling of concern in this situation. Why?" Enid asked curiously. Jenna and Elsa shared a glace with each other, and then they both looked at Enid again.

Jenna asked, "Isn't Alex your…girlfriend? Aren't you mad Ed is-"

"WHAT?!" Enid interjected as she felt that she had heard something wrong. She picked her ears and asked, "Can you run that by me again?"

"Isn't Alex your girlfriend-"

"WHAT!?"Enid was flabbergasted once more, her brain short circuited from the shock she was feeling.

Jacob, Abraham, and Finneas however, had no interest in what was happening beside them as they were focusing on the PS2.

As Jacob and Finneas were playing a game against one another, a suspicious looking blondie was peeking through the gaps of the music room door, trying to find out the whereabouts of her 'friend' .

"Hmm? Where is he?" Taylor muttered. But then, a slender hand suddenly grabbed Taylor's shoulder, making her startled. She turned back quickly, and saw a stern looking, beautiful teacher staring at her.

"You're…not a student from this school right? Can I see your visitor's pass?" Mrs Henderson asked with a stoic face.

"Well. I guess I'm caught." Taylor said with a smile as she took off her sunglasses to show her face to the teacher. Expecting that she would be lenient with her, Taylor said, "I'm just here to meet-"

"Do. You. Have your visitor's pass?" Mrs Henderson asked again.

Taylor was stumped and her brain short circuited. It was quite a rare occasion for her to have someone ignore her reputation and treat her as an ordinary human, so her brain didn't know what to do at this moment as she was currently by herself.

"I…I don't unders-"

"You need to register first before entering the school. Please come with me and sort this out." Mrs Henderson said before she pulled Taylor to the teacher's office.

As if she was turning into a student again, Taylor whined as she was dragged away, "NOOOOO!!!"

…

[Edward POV]

Although I could hear some chatter coming out from behind the door, I ignored them all and was giving all of my focus to Alex right now. As I took another step, she was flustered and shouted, "Okay! Stop! I'll tell you. It's becauseeeeeeeeeeee..."

"Becauseeeeeeeeeeeeeee….." I mimicked her as she trailed off.

"Becauseeeeee….(Sigh) I don't know. I guess, my mother's reaction towards my achievement irked me-"

"No that's not it." I interjected. Alex was surprised and she said, "YES- That is totally it-"

"Your mother has always told you, since you were little, that 'Approval comes from within'. (Canon stuff) Also, despite the fact that your mom's reaction was repulsive, I don't think you actually care about that right? You just need someone to dump all of the feelings onto, and she's an easy target.

Besides, you did hint at the possibility of my involvement being a factor. So if you wanna make a believable excuse, maybe include my name somewhere in your story."

"Shut up! Stop being right all the time. It's making me sick!" Alex scowled hard before she shrunk backwards as I took another step ahead. Her back suddenly hits the end of the wall, which was a tuba rack and a marching drum rack. One of the drum sticks rolled to the edge of the rack, and knocked Alex in the head as it fell.

"OWW!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her sore temple.

"One last step." I said, making her ignore the pain and glared at me instead. Before I could step on the ground, she said defensively, "OKAY! IT WAS MY OWN ISSUE! ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW?!"

"Not until I hear the whole thing." I said with a smile as I patted her head. However, as I waited for Alex to continue, she kept her silence and was gripping the edge of her shirt while looking down on the floor, desperately wishing for her 'torture' to be over.

I sighed and stopped myself from blocking her exit and walked to her side instead with my back leaned against the wall. She peeked at my face, expecting that I would be mad at her, but instead, found me with a smile.

"You may find it difficult to tell me what you're feeling. I understand. It's uncomfortable being the only one put on the spot, especially when you don't like what you're feeling right now. So, I will take an example for a red-headed woman I know, and give you an out so that you won't feel terrible… alone."

"Which red-head? I don't think I know a red-head hanging out around you." Alex asked puzzledly.

I rolled my eyes at her and said, "Cause that's what's important right now. By the way, it's Lily Aldrin."

"From How I Met Your Mother? THE SITCOM!?" Alex exclaimed in disbelief. I nodded after chuckling a bit and took a deep breath. Alex also turned serious, and she glanced at my face as I spoke.

"Well. I struggle with the idea of how replaceable I am… to some people. To some people I am just a lesson, or a distant memory, or how we used to be, or a stranger that turns into a lover for a while, but is doomed to become a stranger once more." I confessed without any lies in my words.

"I struggle with the very idea of happiness, when I'm finally happy with life, somehow something always comes around and takes that happiness away, and I'm left alone again. I… over think, and it destroys me inside. Do you think that I am being unfair to those around me when I think like this?" I asked her as we locked eyes.

"How long have you felt this way?" Alex asked.

"For as long as I could remember." I replied.

Alex shed a tear, and her chin quivered before she let out her own deepest insecurity.

"I…I threw away the competition medal."

I widened my eyes, but I didn't say anything and let her continue.

"I felt like…I didn't really deserve it…that…I…didn't actually do anything remotely significant at the event. In the first match, you carried the whole team. And again in the final match, even though I fought with my all against the other team… I was useless right? We were still going to win anyway since you solved the golden snitch."

Her voice cracked and she started sobbing, " So what reason did I have to be happy about getting the medal? I had done nothing…nothing at all. And…it was making me resent you a little… even though I know I was the one who convinced you to join the team… I just couldn't- I couldn't forget that fact, and everytime I saw that medal, it was as if it was mocking me, telling me… 'I am..not good enough.'"

"You're-"

"Stop. Don't try to cheer me up with fake words. It took you 2 MONTHS to win the state competition. I worked for YEARS! I gave my everything studying. But…How…How did you catch up to me?!" She gripped my shirt, and asked me angrily. She then realised what she was doing, and then released me, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." I said while patting her head gently. "It's okay."

"Shut up! It's not. I… I just don't know what to do." Alex said while wiping her tears as she tried to cheer herself up again. "Tell me what to do." She said as she looked into my eyes again.

I smiled and said, "To be honest, your logic is quite flawed. You were the one who contributed the most during the competition, you just didn't see that."

"Huh? How-"

"First of all, you carried the team till the semi-finals. Without your effort, the team wouldn't even have had a shot at the competition."

"There's also Sanjay-"

"Don't say that dummy's name. Also, you're the one who provided me with the most research materials for the competition. Without that, even I would have been dumbfounded and left struggling to answer the simplest of questions."

"Yeah right." Alex scoffed.

"It's true. My knowledge was very much limited to the sciences, I only expanded on it because of your urging, before that had you asked me about history, art, or even literature, I wouldn't have a clue what to say because I had never read up about those topics before…You know, outside of the mandatory High School curriculum." I said honestly.

"And, there is something else you should know."

"What?" She asked, intrigued.

"Well…you see how I always mention I have a good memory?" I asked while scratching my cheek.

She rolled her eyes and asked with a tiny smile breaking out on her face, "Are you changing your tactics to shameless bragging?"

"No, I'm not." I replied with a laugh before I turned serious again. "Just… would you please keep this a secret?" I said.

She gave me her pinky finger, and I laughed at the childish gesture before I followed her lead and copied her action as we pinky promised. "I will." She shook our interlocked fingers up and down before sealing the deal.

Then, I whispered to her about my eidetic memory. About how I could remember everything ever since I was 1 years old.

"Wait! That doesn't make sense. Sometimes you do forget stuff though." She asked with a confused face.

"Sometimes I just pretend I do in order to get over an awkward situation. Some other times, the info takes a little longer to pop up, so it just seems like I didn't remember from the beginning." I explained.

"And you're not wrong about the God-given talent. I do have one. But you are the one who carved the opportunity for me to use it. So part of the credit is on you." I said.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't conceal the smile on her face. She tried to cover it up again and said, "Okay. I will admit that getting it all out makes me feel much better now."

I nodded with her and said, "That's true."

She then gave me a hug and said, "Thank you for not giving up on me. I'm not sensitive about this matter so I cannot help you solve your problem. But if you ever need to talk about something, you can come to me."

"And that's also a promise." She added as she released me. I smiled and wiped her teary eyes with my fingers and asked, "Do you still resent me now?"

"Are you kidding me? You have an eidetic memory, but it's not like you're a full blown genius. I can catch up to you. I really believe I can now that I know what I'm fighting against."

"The Pritchett's competitive gene is really strong huh. Your Grandpa and your Mother would be proud of you." I joked.

[Alex POV]

I don't have a tragic backstory.

I didn't come from nothing.

I came from a family that has loved me from day one, one that has been able to provide me with everything I need.

I have a roof over my head and food on the table. Sure my parents are flawed, but who's not?

There are no excuses for me not to excel. There are no limitations. No walls I need to break down. Everything was always well within my reach, but I felt like there was chasm separating us.

I am…Not a genius.

I cannot make a groundbreaking discovery yet.

I cannot suddenly have a moment of enlightenment when an apple falls on my head, and turn that into something that etches my name into the world's history books forever. When an apple falls on my head, all I get is pain.

I am NOT a superstar! NOT a magazine worthy of 'Incredible human being'. And for that I felt that I would never do anything! People with incredible backstories change the world! and…I …I just couldn't.

However, as I stood inside the room and talked with Edward, he told me something.

"You know something wonderful about science?" He asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Science is compounding knowledge."

"Huh?"

"Every mind-shattering discovery, every awe-inspiring invention, every laborious calculation about the universe…none of it would even be here if it weren't for the efforts of the previous generations. Many of which had seen their names disappear from the annals of history."

"But even then, even after their discoveries and names had lost importance, the proof of their life still lingers on."

"How?" I asked, my eyes wide in anticipation.

"Every time someone opens their book and learns, they are carrying out the will of the previous generation, and within them is the possibility… A potential…for them to increase our understanding of our own world, always carrying on said vestiges that made what they do possible. And, if we just keep doing this over and over, one day, we will definitely reach the stars."

He spoke with his eyes glittering, as if he had seen the magnificence of humanity. He spoke with utmost trust in his voice, and his smile fascinated me. He made me feel as if I was one of those pioneers, as we built the path for humanity to reach the stars together.

"So, don't burn yourself out. Get some rest. There is an interesting future ahead of us, and I want us BOTH to be there to witness it." He said. I laughed a bit and said, "That seems optimistic. And also naive."

He then laughed out loud. But he stopped as he didn't expect me to say my next words, "But…I'm in."

"In?"

I turned to him with a grin on my face and said, "I couldn't let you hog all of the work right? Especially if we truly want to see the stars."

"Wait. I didn't say it was going to be me who would-"

"NO EXCUSES!" I shouted at him as I ran to the door. He tried to grab me, but I managed to slip past him. He laughed in disbelief as I opened the door and said, "Don't you dare leave me alone and just focus on your career. You made me have a new ambition, so take responsibility for it!"

I knew I was being selfish, but hey, I had just become a teenager. There surely had to be some leniency for people like me. I may not have come from misery, and I may not have been a superstar, but I will make sure…that in this lifetime…Humanity will be able to reach the stars.

"Laughable dream…but…I'm excited for it." I mumbled to myself.

…

[Edward POV]

After Alex opened the door, Enid, Jenna and Elsa, all fell into the room as they were trying to eavesdrop on our conversation. They all immediately scampered and hurriedly stood up from the ground before Enid took the lead and carefully asked, "Have-Have you guys worked things out?"

Alex proudly said, "Yes!" I just nodded in disbelief from afar before walking out of the closet.

Jenna however couldn't hold herself back as she shamelessly asked, "Did you get spanked?"

"Huh?"Alex was confused by the questioning.

I felt a bit tired and excused myself from the conversation, telling them that I had to go to the men's room. I returned to the hallway in front of the music classroom after only 5 minutes, and I was surprised to see a familiar face standing in front of the door.

"Taylor. What are you doing here?" I said as she ran and gave me a hug the moment she saw me. She kissed my cheek in a friendly manner and said, "I missed you."

"Wait. Visitor's pass? You actually went to register?" I asked in confusion as I saw the tag on her neck. She rolled her eyes and said, "I don't want to talk about that nightmare. Anyway, can we go somewhere more…private?"

She glanced around, and although there were only a few kids walking around as they needed to decorate the school, she still felt a little self-conscious and intimidated by their predatory stares as they were trying to figure out who she was.

"Okay. We can go get some ice-cream. Let me get my bag." I said in a casual manner before walking to the door.

"Wait, the teacher is letting you leave early?" She asked in disbelief. "That demon-like teacher?" She mumbled incomprehensibly.

I nodded, but with confusion in my face as I wondered why she was asking that question and explained, "Class is already over. I just need to inform a teacher, let them know I'm leaving. Besides, Pepper will vouch for me if the need ever arises so it's not that hard for me to leave…Is everything okay? Why is your face so pale?"

Taylor suddenly gazed into my eyes. She gulped a few times, making me think that something had gone wrong.

"Ed…I'm…Late." She said while holding her stomach and I just froze.