Legend

Sixteen

SIXTEEN

WHEN IT WAS DINNERTIME, Zxander and I sat at the table, as usual, and ate up our food. I had looked at the code– actually, stared and stared at it, trying to find out what it was, but with no success.

Zxander and I sat in silence, eating, both of us lost in thought. Then I remembered something. “Zxander,” I said. “Is there a guy in your grade with the last name Hunter?”

“Umm…” He thought for a while. “Yes, a guy called Nick Hunter. But I think I only take one or two classes with him.” He looked up at me. “Why?”

As I met his gaze, I looked down. “Nothing.”

He looked at me with a hint of disbelief. “I don’t think so. What is it?” He pressed. After my silence, and a bit of thinking, he said, “Is it about that boy in your grade… what’s his name? Hunter… Justin Hunter!”

I looked up at him in surprise. I had never told him that. I wondered how he knew. As if he read my mind, he said, smirking, “Wondering how I know? Isn’t it a bit obvious? That time Amandla came over for dinner, you two were whispering about him. Don’t think I didn’t hear.”

That was two years ago! How did he remember? I thought. Maybe he’s so overprotective that he wanted to interrupt his sister’s love life? No. Zxander didn’t seem like that kind of person. “How do you remember?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Despite his trying to hide it, I saw a faint blush coming. “I… I don’t know… I just…”

“Eavesdropper!” I accused. Then another possibility hit me. A mischievous smile crept onto my face. “Hang on, how come you seem to remember everything from that night? Actually, from all the times that Amandla came over for dinner?” As he somewhat guiltily looked down, I pressed on. “So you’re talking about my crush… how about yours?”

The thought was pretty funny, though I didn’t want to ruin the moment by bursting out laughing. I reached over the table and lifted Zxander’s chin, which was previously pointing down. I saw his cheeks redden even more. “You like her, don’t you?”

When met with silence, I released my grasp on Zxander’s chin and sat back down, trying my best to stay serious.

After a while, Zxander said, “Krissy, please.” As he looked up and I saw his beet red face, I practically had to swallow down my laugh. “Please don’t tell her.”

I finished the last few bites of my dinner, almost choking on my held-in laughter. I stood up and said, “I’m done with dinner.”

“But, Kris – ”

Ignoring him, I managed to bring my plates to the kitchen, go into my room, close and lock the door, before I jumped into my bed and laughed furiously into my pillow.

I couldn’t believe it. Amandla first hinted it, and now Zxander has those feelings too?  Firstly, the idea was illogically funny. But Zxander’s reaction, Amandla’s reaction: the beet red blush, the stuttering words… made it even funnier.

Surprisingly, all this fun had to come when I least needed to be distracted by it.

That thought brought me to the code in the book again. I pulled the book out and flipped to the page with the still unsolved code. I had tried many possibilities.

Pass: 49… maybe alphabets? The fourth alphabet… D, the ninth alphabet… I. 51. E… A… Di-ea? Di-ea made no sense.  Or, it could be Pass Di-ea? Nope. I couldn’t think of anything else.

Giving up, and thinking I could think about it tomorrow, I copied the code on a piece of paper and slipped it into my bag. I closed the book and put it back.