The Duet

Chapter 3: September

Chase plopped down on his bed after dinner. His mind was spinning: Why was Alicia suddenly being so friendly to him? Well, friendlier than usual, anyway. Why was she so mean in the first place? He thought about what transpired between them when they walked home together.

Chase and Alicia were walking down the same sidewalk where they rammed into each other. Chase recalled his first day of school from that very moment.

Man, so much has happened in one day. It is getting pretty terrible.

They walked in brief silence until Alicia turned to Chase.

"Hey, leech, who are those guys you always hang out with?" inquired Alicia. "You know...the weird ones?"

"Oh. Those guys are Ethan and Lukas." replied Chase. "I have known them since elementary band. They are really chill people, but can be idiots sometimes."

"Just like you?" asked Alicia.

Chase wanted to respond with a snarky comeback, but he shut his mouth.

They walked in silence for a bit as Alicia whistled happily.

"This is my house. See you tomorrow..." Alicia said as she jogged away.

Chase snapped back to reality. He contemplated what had happened, but couldn't find a hidden meaning to the conversation. Without realizing it, he soon was fast asleep from the exertion of  energy that day. Everyday, the same boring lessons and tests hit Chase like a bag of bricks. As days went on, Chase found the lessons to feel shorter and the tests to be simpler. The next couple of weeks went by like a breeze. As September concluded, Chase tiredly stared out the window.

When will this boredom finally end?

On the last week of September, Chase received his answer. As he ran up to the bulletin board and saw the title at the top: Electives.

Finally! A class I actually want to be in!

Chase scanned the board for the one, special elective. He found it and and quickly scribbled his name on the list.

I am going be a band geek!

Happy to be doing the elective he wanted, he walked in circles practically floating. But It didn't take long for someone to douse his elation.

"Hey, space cadet, whatcha so excited about?" inquired Alicia.

"Huh? Oh! It's just band..." Chase said with a dreamy look in his eye.

"So you have a crush on an elective?" Alicia taunted.

"What? No!" He turned around to hide his embarrassment. "Of course not!"

"Whatever you say band creep. The thing is, I don't know which elective to pick. You wanna help?"

"You could join band." Chase suggested sarcastically. 

"Well, I used to play flute. I was actually pretty good, I think." Alicia hesitantly said. "Hmmmm, I guess I will sign up, and try it out."

Chase watched horror as Alicia borrowed a pen from his backpack, and wrote her name in neat, cursive writing. Chase continued to stare at the name Alicia Kim as she put the pen back into his backpack.

"Now what have I done," he grumbled.

"You helped me." said Alicia, "Good for you!"

After that horrendous moment, Chase couldn't think of anything else. His mind had practically skipped to lunch. As Chase was in line for food, his friend, Lukas showed up.