The Odds

Chapter Five

ALEX'S POV

Lucy had dinner at my place a few nights after along with my parents and hers. "So, Lucy" mom decided to open up a topic after a few moments of eating in silence. "Anything interesting happened over there?"

Lucy, of course being the polite girl that she is, flashed her most genuine smile and set down her cutlery. "So" she began. "As you know, we were over at Singapore for about six years. There, I got my daily education at an international school which was really great. The facilities there were top notch and the education system too was quite different."

It was then I realised that everyone had stopped eating to listen to Lucy's story (STORY TIME!). I slowly set aside my cutlery and gave full attention toward her. "Really? How so?" mom asked, as intrigued as we all were.

"Well, for instance, the school practices a group-learning system where we were separated into groups and were required to have various discussions regarding a certain topic and we have to do a presentation about it according to our own creativity" she explained. "The main purpose of the system is to encourage the students to stop relying on the teachers too much because, well, sometimes we have to do things on our own."

Mom nodded slightly, murmuring "Interesting" to herself. Dad gave an assuring nod while looking over to mom. "You could probably use that at preschool. Right, hun?" dad suggested. Once again, mom nodded and replied "Yes, it seems like a very good method of learning for the kids."

Then, as if something had just clicked, Lucy said "Oh, you're still teaching at that preschool a couple blocks down, Miss Randall?"

"I'm surprised you remember Lucy."

"Well, they did say I have a good memory."

Mom smiled at her and she returned it with a more sincere one. She turned to me then and flashed me one too. I smiled back and suddenly, something twisted inside me. I didn't know what it was but, it felt....strange and, a bit.....wrong.

It felt as if I'd committed a crime toward a certain someone but I couldn't really pinpoint where my mind was going on the matter. I shook the feeling off and we continued to eat dinner.

After a few minutes of complete silence Lucy suddenly leaned closer to me and whispered, "I think your mom still likes me," and gave me yet again another smile. I raised my brows at her, remarking 'Ya think?' and she just giggled in response which made me roll my eyes.

"I'm pretty sure at this point it's factual, Lucy. Heck, I think it's been a common fact for a few years now."

"You mean decades?" she questioned, her tone playful.

"Exactly my point," I stated as a matter-of-factly and smiled.
~~~~~
"You know, Alex" Lucy started, shifting her gaze from the stars above us towards me. "I actually thought about you a lot when I was there." We'd decided after dinner to admire the stars in my backyard like we used to do a lot when we were kids. And it brought back a lot of memories that made me smile to myself.

"Really?" I replied, hiding the surprise I felt inside. Oh wow, I didn't know she really cared about me like that. It made me feel a bit guilty because unlike her, I rarely thought of her ever since Katy showed up in my life.

Katy, huh? She really was something.

"Yeah" Lucy answered from beside me, "I really did. Because I missed you. A lot."

I closed my eyes for a while, letting Lucy's words sink in. Okay, wow. She really did care. Our friendship really meant a lot to her. "You're making me feel guilty Lucy" I chuckled. Her face scrunched up in confusion and she asked me why.