Emotions of love

I hate you. I love you

Sheila and Peter figured that this was there cue to go, so they left but stayed close in case trouble struck up.

Alina still stared curiously at Jack. Why had he sheltered her from the freezing water? Normally, he couldn't stand her, could he? She felt her heartbeat rising in speed. Her blood pulsed through her veins with such a euphoric rush that she doubted she had ever felt such relieve.

Jack got himself together. He tried to control his breathing, but he was still breathing heavily. "Alina... I know we didn't have a great start. I know you probably hate me, but..." his words drowned, when Alina pulled him down into a sweet gentle kiss.

When they pulled away, Jack stared confused at Alina. "I love you, too," she smiled. She knew she did. Although she had done everything possible to avoid those feelings.

A broad smile spread across Jack's face. "I love you, Alina..." he said still not believing that she had confessed to him.

Alina started giggling. "I hate you. I love you. It's amazing how one feeling turns into another. You're mine now. And I'll never let go," she confided in him while touching his hair, making it messy.

Jack was touched by her words. They were like sweet music to his ears. He pulled her into a heartfelt hug. He would never leave her. Not in his good will...

When Sheila and Peter had become aware that Jack and Alina were making up, they left hand in hand with big smiles om their faces. They were back. Away from the complicatedness and back into the impulse-driven relationship that they had treasured so much.

"What are the chances that those two will become just as annoying being together than being after each other?" Sheila asked teasingly.

"Don't even make me think about it. I know Jack, he's a good guy. He cares for Alina and would never bring any harm to her. You know Alina and although she can have a big mouth at times, she's not all that scary. They are a good match. Bringing out the best and the worst in each other," Peter said having thought about it.

"I know. They are not boring lovebirds like you and me," Sheila teased him.

"Boring? Who are you calling boring?" Peter said in a deviously playful tone.

Sheila started running with Peter chasing after her. They both laughed till their hearts contented.

Later that day, Jack asked Alina out to dinner. It wasn't some fancy restaurant. It was an ordinary pizza hut. Alina had dressed up in a nice sky-blue dress with a pink ribbon around the waist. She wore flats and had her hair loose. Jack had just thrown on a pair of jeans of a white t-shirt with two single red and green stripes across the chest. It looked a little like the Italian flag if it was tilted.

To Alina's surprise he had booked a table and the waiter even gave them menu-cards. Alina looked around. It was cozy, yes. It was over the top, no. It was nice, yes. It was comfy, yes. It was actually quite nice, considering where they were.

"So... A little odd place to go on a first date," Alina said.

Jack smiled into the menu. "As I recall, we already had our first date. This would be our second, but out first date where we are alone," he said.

Alina had almost forgotten the double date. How could she forget? It had been a disaster.

"Hopefully, it goes better then," she said nervously.

Jack put down his menu-card. "Are you nervous?" he asked very straight-forward.

Alina glanced at him. "Considering our previous history, shouldn't you be?" she replied. They'd had a bumpy start. That's for sure.

"Not, if there's no reason to be nervous. We have already established our love-hate-relationship, so there's pretty much nothing that could annoy us enough for us to decide to call it quits again. Besides, we just got together. You have to give it at least a try," Jack explained sounding almost reasonable.

"Well, it's not because I want or am expecting big fancy restaurants, but why a pizza hut?" she wanted to know.

Jack smiled, but he was serious in his words. "Because if we can survive how the other person eats, then we should be fine. No one can look good eating pizza or burger. It's way to messy and greasy. Besides, we might as well just establish our weird habits now." His eyes sparkled with wonder.

It was not the answer that Alina had expected, but it was good anyway.

They both ordered. Alina a burger and Jack a burger. They planned on splitting it, so that they could taste it all. It actually went really well. They laughed and smiled. Had fun. Told each other stories about their lives before meeting each other. It was quite nice.

Alina found that she understood Jack a whole lot better. He'd been in a lot of fights when he was in high school. He'd stopped that coming to the university, but he was still a rude brute at times. He tried working on it. That was probably also the reason for their initial confrontation.

James understood that Alina had always been living in the shadows of her bubbly friend, Sheila. That was why she was shy and insecure at times, and at others, really head-on, game strong. He was surprised to know that she had a little flirt at a summer camp. It hadn't been serious and never became anything.

As they talked, they found that they'd had a very different upbringing. Alina's had been safe, yet with a whole lot of family drama. She had an unfortunate relationship with her father. She rarely visited her mother although she was all alone and only had her own mother. Jack's life hadn't been easy either. He didn't have many friends growing up, he was bullied and eventually learned not to put up with it but to fight back. Their lives had shaped them into the people they were, sitting across each other. It could be fate that they met... or pure coincidence...