Messier "Social" Circle

It was quite hard to latch off from the confronting conversation at this point, so Alexander could only wait it out until it mellowed.

When it mellows, the opportunity to bail from an upfront and childish love confession should present itself.

The problem with Alexander's confession bailing was that little Drew Barrymore seemed to be quite energized... and excited the more they continued to interact.

She was pretty much the bubbly anti-thesis of every introverted way that Alexander lives by.

-----

She found a new and interesting boy that could very well be rare in her weird life.

From what Drew remembered her day-to-day to be, it was all advertisement, photoshoots, auditions, filming, and... just recently was going to different types of parties.

In those scenarios, she met a lot of people but they seem to come and go as quickly as they met.

It was really rare for Drew to meet someone like the Alex Creed in front of her. He fit most of how she imagined her dreamy prince charming should be... of course, handsome and cool Shinri was a big template to her imagination.

She was not too keen on learning and reading... so a comic book like 'A Mysterious Feeling Called Love' greatly appealed to her. How else could she have remembered the creator of the comic book, Alexander Creed, even though she mostly dismissed the other names in movie scripts?

When meeting a boy being so alike Shinri, Drew had to strike while the door is still open!

Drew would be stupid to pass up on the chance. Her mother was not here yet and she wouldn't be dragged away to whichever photoshoot, audition, or advertisement she is supposed to go to.

"Ehem!" Drew acted as cute as she could. "Alex, you should come to another movie premiere I'm attending next week. That can be our first date."

"Uhm..." Alexander could only answer. "I'm busy on that day."

"Fufu! You can't fool me. I haven't even told you what day it would be." Drew really found it silly that handsome Alex thinks he can escape her. "Besides its summer, isn't it?"

Alexander clicked his tongue and 'touche-d' inwardly at this little gal being clever. Of course, he had his excuse. "Summer school."

"Summer school?" Drew tilted her head. From what she knew of summer school, it's for dumb people who failed or smart kids who want to learn even more. Her prince charming Alex Creed should be on the smart portion and she didn't doubt it much.

"Summer school is no problem though." Drew reasoned as innocently and as impeccably as she can. "Besides, the premiere is around the same time as this premiere."

"Summer school assignments, summer school projects, summer school tests, summer school exams, summer school field trips." Alexander gave out his own undeniable reasoning. Even though these are all unbelievable lies for adults, a kid like Drew should be none the wiser.

She was clever but she shouldn't be clever enough. Surely, this summer school attack would be enough to snuff out the girl's "date" ideas.

When Drew heard about assignments, projects, tests, and exams, she winced from its prospects. She was like any other non-nerdy kid that didn't like going through those things... with the exception of the exciting prospect of summer school field trips of course.

There was only one thing that Drew can comment and that is: "Alex, your summer school is scary!"

Then it hit her... doesn't that mean that her chances of interacting with a boy like Alex would be way too far off into the future?

"This is bad, prince charming Alex" Drew felt downcast. "We should probably make plan Bs now so that we can meet much much more in the future."

Alexander, on the other hand, felt triumphant. This was his chance... his chance to snuff out the girl's over-eagerness and unnatural confession was here.

He already had a lot of excuses in hand. Like being busy with school all year round, migrating to another state, migrating to another country... then to exaggerate some more, migrate to another world!

She may be the girl who kissed E.T. but Alexander could embody M.I.A.s and A.W.O.L.s!

"Well... our plans will probab--" This was all that Alexander could say though.

"What plans?" The old and familiar voice of Old Sullivan cut him off. "Alex, are you sharing company secrets or does it have something to do with Miss Barrymore here?"

Sure enough, the elderly Creed's crafty smile was plastered on his face as he shifted his gaze between the little girls and his grandson. The explicitness of his face was enough to tell people that his old bones were hatching a plot.

"Er..." Just when his victory was at hand, why did his old grandfather have to pop up? Alexander could only rush on before things become unsalvageable. "It's got nothing to do with you, grandpa. I was just about to decline Miss Drew's invitation and whatnots. After all, I'm busy with a lot of things."

As for Drew, she quickly got the handle on who the interrupting old man was and the meaning behind her prince charming's 'busy with a lot of things'.

It meant that the handsome boy was not interested in her Shinri-Hotaru dates at all!

However... Drew knew that she still had a chance! A chance from prince charming's grandpa.

"Actually, Mr. Grandpa... I just want to invite your grandson to another film screening." Drew toned down the romance part and went on with the facts. "Since he's busy with summer school, he said he couldn't make it. The plan Bs are about meeting at another date and making friends."

She knew some of the nuances of adults and how to mingle with them. By toning down her comic book romance fantasy and solidifying it with stable normalcy, none would be the wiser about her true intentions.

Except, Alexander, who knew the shift from "love dates" to "friendly meets". He couldn't interrupt though because... his grandpa and the clever girl probably wouldn't let him.

Drew was quite crafty due to her experiences and she made the best use of them at this moment.

"I'm also busy with a lot of things, so I don't have much people to play with." She craftily said whilst hoping to hook the prince charming's grandpa to her side. "I'm scheduling things and hoping that Alex here would be a playmate of mine. Would that be okay?"

"I see." Old Sullivan was amused at the little girl's antics and shared a look with his grandson. As crafty and wise as he is, he could more or less grasp the underlying meaning of things.

Child star Drew Barrymore wants to make friends with cold Alex but there should be more to it than that. Getting a glimpse of the jealous Milla was enough to tell Sullivan of "young romance".

Of course, there were also the obvious undertones from his grandson. "Busy" and the blatant lie of going to "summer school" is enough to accurately pinpoint Alex's usual way of dealing with things... Disinterest and evasion!

One side wants while the other side has no interest at all... plus there's the third side that is green-eyed through and through.

Old Sullivan noted that he had inadvertently become a deciding factor in things and he can't help but be giddy about it.

He was in a position where he could mess with cold-faced Alex and someone like Old Sullivan wouldn't want to pass up on crafting emotional turmoil for Alex's emotional wellness!

"Let this old man sort everything out for you, little children." Old Sullivan proclaimed before anyone could disagree.

Anyways, Alex would probably be the biggest bummer, so the Old Creed had to act with haste.

"Little Drew, how about we do this?"

------

Before Alexander could give out his opinion... it was too late!

Old Sullivan exchanged elaborate whispers with the doll-dressed Drew Barrymore and by the end of it... both of them seemed to get what they want.

Drew had her date with prince charming while the old grandfather could put color into his grandson's bland proceedings of life.

Even the side-tracked Milla had her own whisper time with her Grandpa Sullivan so that she could be appeased and not be left out.

"See you soon, Alex! Hihi!" Little Drew finally went on back to her mother's premises... with a phone number in hand for her to call on.

"Good riddance." While Milla felt pleased to see her out of the way and to have grandpa on her side. "Did I use that word right? Riddance?"

Anyways... as this all went down... Alexander had no play in his grandfather's whimsy.

What he can be sure of is that things have become much messier in his tiny social circle! If he even has one?