Stein was nervous. He was going to be with his best friends, Marie and Spirit, for the first time. Well, that was a lie, he had seen them both before, but Marie was always away, and the two boys never got to see her much. But this was going to be the first time in forever that they were all together. Why young Stein was nervous, he didn't know.
It was the middle of school, and Stein walked up to Spirit to see if he was as excited as Stein was.
"Hey, are you excited to see Marie again? It seems like it's been a lifetime."
Spirit turned towards Stien with an excited look, his red hair getting in his face. "Yea! I really wanted to do something special for her, too. Do you have any ideas?"
Stein's face fell slightly as he replied, "No, actually. I wanted to do something too but I haven't even thought of anything for me to do, let alone you."
"Ah, well that's alright. Don't get too upset about it." Spirit rested his hand on Stein's shoulder. "You can always do something with science. You love that, you always have."
"Well of course I do, but Marie doesn't like science like I do. I could dissect something just for the knowledge of it, but she thinks it's gross so it's not like I can so anything with that."
"Well, you'll figure it out, don't get too worked up about it. I'll see you later, Stein"
But Stein knew he would still get worked up about it. He was a bit of a loner, the other kids thought we was a bit of a wierdo so he kept to himself. His only true friends were Spirit and Marie, so he really wanted to make this special for Marie. Especially since whenever he saw her, he always got little butterflies in his stomach that he couldn't explain. He wasn't in love with her, he knew that much becuase he didn't love anyone, but it still gave him a weird feeling that he almost liked. He decided to start writing down things he could do for her.
The list was short and quickly scribbled so he could barely read it. He couldn't come up with any really good ideas, and it bothered him. He crossed out the ones he didn't like and was left with two.
Then it hit him.
He tore out the paper he was already writing on and wrote down the idea on a new piece of paper right as the instructor came intot the classroom. The rest of the children sat down to listen, and Stein had a grin on his face the whole time, waiting until he could get working on the surprise for Marie.
----------
After class, Stein met up with Spirit to talk about what they were going to do for Marie. They had no true reason to do anything, Marie loved their presence more than anything they could give her, but the boys still felt like they should do something special that she wouldn't forget the next day.
"So, old man, what did you come up with?"
Stein rolled his eyes. "Just becuase I have white hair doesnt mean I'm old, Spirit." It was true, Stein was still a teenager and had white hair since he was born. It wasn't too uncommon, but Spirit still made fun of him for it.
"Whatever. My question still stands."
Stein was embarrased to tell other kids near him, so he leaned into Spirit's ear and whispered the idea to him.
"Dude, that's a really good idea! She loves it when you-"
Stein quickly covered Spirit's mouth before he could say anything. "Shhhhh, don't say it. You know I don't like other people hearing what I do. They think I'm wierd enough already."
Stein removed his hand so Spirit could talk again. "Fine. But it's still a really good idea. I think I'm going to draw something for her, it won't be good but she's such a good artist and I think she'll like it if I try to be like her."
