Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Five

The next day came quickly for the two love birds. Hazel got up, showered, ate breakfast, and texted with Marcus for an hour, and then started for the pet shelter. Marcus got up, ate, showered, and texted with Hazel for an hour, and then made his way to the pet shelter.

Marcus lived farther from the pet shelter, so he got there before Hazel. While walking to the front door, he saw another boy with Hazel. She was showing him the dogs. As he grew closer, Marcus noticed the boy was Aiden!

He walked in calmly and Hazel was happy to see him and Marcus was happy to see her. Aiden, on the other hand, stood awkwardly between them.

"Hey Marcus, I didn't know you'd come here today."

"Really, and what do you say you are doing here?"

"Oh, so you know my dog Max, the German Shepherd?"

"Yeah, what happened?"

"My dad accidentally left the door open while he was loose and he got run over by a car. I was just telling Hazel the story. It was sad man, it happened last night. My aunt was driving in the driveway and I heard a scream, ran outside, and started to tear up. He was dead, we took him to the pet clinic, but they told us he was gone. We buried him the backyard."

"Man that's sad dude, I hope you feel better."

"Thanks dude, that means a lot since you know how close I was to him. I've had him since I was 10. I remember you used to be scared to death of him. Remember?" Aiden started to tear up and Marcus went up to him to give him a hug.\

"Yeah I remember, I was a little chicken. Do you remember when I stopped going to your house because I was scared. Of course I got over it, but I hope you feel better Aiden. It's so sad to see you like this man."

"I'm fine dude, my dad told me I could come choose a new dog here and I happened to bump into Hazel. She's going to help me choose my dog. I mean, he's not going to be as good as Max, but he'll cheer me up a bit. Do you want to help me choose him too?"

"Sure man, anything for my best bud."

"Okay you two, let's get to it. I know which dogs here are nice and which you want to stay away from. Follow me"

The three amigos had a great time together, they played with the dogs, fed the dogs, and walked the dogs. They had a blast. Soon, 3:30 came and Aiden left. Only Hazel and Marcus were left.

"So how about that lunch invitation?"

"Let's go, what restaurant would you like to go to Hazel?"

"Whichever one you want."

"No, I insist, you choose."

"Fine. let's go to In-N-Out."

"Of course, great choice by the way, anything for her highness. After lunch would you like to go to the movies?"

"Sure, sounds like a date."

They moseyed on to In-N-Out and ate the delicious burgers. They had many conversations, but only one of them was actually important.

"So did you manage to find your lucky pencil the other day, I never asked."

"Yeah, do you want to know why it means so much to me?"

"Only if you want to tell me."

He looked right into her eyes and decided he could trust her with this secret.

"My mom gave it to me, and she's not here with me anymore."

"That's sad, you don't have to go on, we can talk about something else."

"No, it's okay, I trust you Hazel. She died when I was 6 years old. We were very close, but she had cancer. She tried to fight it off, with all of her might, she was a strong person, yet she still died. I was in the hospital with her when she grabbed something out of purse. She said, 'Here, take this pencil Marcus. I might go to sleep for a long time, and I want you to have something to remember me by.' I opened my hand and she gave me a pencil. It is made from pure wood, it's rough just as if it came straight out of the tree. It's basically a writing stick. Then she said, 'Take it my son, I have carved a heart on it. Whenever you hold this pencil, you are holding my heart. Remember that. And if you ever find someone special to give this pencil to, you give it to them. You hear me. I want you to keep this pencil until someone shows you that they can have your heart as you do mine. Never forget that I love you with all of my heart' I nodded and my dad took my hand, his eyes full of tears, and we walked out, leaving my mom in loneliness. I regret leaving her alone to this day because the next morning, I went to the hospital and found her dead. She wasn't breathing. From that day on, I only used that pencil for tests, so all the lead wouldn't run out."

"Wow. That is deep. You didn't have to tell me, but I'm glad you did."

"I'm glad too."

"Well since you told me something personal, I'll tell you something. I only live with my mom. My dad left me when I was 10. We were very close too, he loved me so much. He came home one night, very late, and my mom started yelling at him, she woke me up with all of her yelling. She screamed at him to get out of her life and mine. Her words to him not only hurt him, they hurt me too because that day he packed up his bags and left. I was in my room crying myself a river. My dad came up to me and told me not to worry, that one day he'd come and visit me and take me away from my mom. But he said that he would come when he got back to his feet. I loved him so much. He told me a story, kissed me on the forehead, and gave me a teddy bear that his mother had given him. 'I love you with all of my heart, now don't you forget that. No matter what your mom tells you, just know that I love you. Now you don't trust a thing your mom says about me okay. I'm a good man and I care about you so much. I love you with all my heart my little princess.' Those were the last words I ever heard from him. I just hope he is doing all right. And you know how you write with your pencils during tests only, that's not weird at all. Every Tuesday I go to sleep with the bear my dad gave me, in hopes that one day he'll return."

"That's also sad. You came from a sad childhood, yet I cannot bare to see you cry. I can't even imagine you crying. You are always so happy and cheerful. I'm glad you told me, but I have one last question, why only on Tuesdays?"

"That's the night he left."

"Oh, sorry I asked."

"No, it's fine. I trust you too. Marcus, I feel that I can always count on you."

"I feel the same about you Hazel."

They left In-N-Out holding hands. It soon turned into a long hug when they reached the car. Soon, the couple was on their way to the movies.

Hazel tried paying for her ticket, but Marcus didn't let her in the end. She ended up paying for the popcorn though, she wasn't going to leave him broke. They watched the movie while eating their popcorn and Marcus drove her home after the movie.

"Hey, I had a good time with you today Marcus."

"Same here Hazel."

"We should do this again next Saturday, this time I'll pay for the food. And instead of going to the movies we could go to the park."

"Sounds like a date!"

"Yup, thanks for driving me home, see you Monday!"

"See you, wait Hazel, can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure" He leaned in to whisper something into her ear, but instead he actually leaned in for a kiss. It was Hazel's first kiss. She was surprised he kissed her, but she liked it.

"Umm, see you later, bye Marcus. Thanks for everything." Hazel got out of the car and waved goodbye.

"Bye, I'm glad you had fun today Hazel."

They both went to sleep that night happy about how the day went and excited for their next date. Of course, it was no secret, Hazel told Ellie, and Marcus told Aiden.