Just Fine (RE-EDITING)

Chapter Eight

He was tired.

Alvin Ackerman, the young genius who had created more than impressive inventions, was tired because he didn't sleep the whole night. He groaned to himself when he realised that he had gotten less than five hours of sleep. His mind just wouldn't shut down most of the time, driving him half mad when he realised that it was already time for school.

He just wanted to curl back in his bed and sleep. But the alarm clock was loud and annoying and as much as it would be enjoyable throwing that piece of useless junk across the room and preferably hitting Max on the head so he would wake up as well, he had to admit that he would be late if he decided he needed another few minutes of sleep.

With that, he begrudgingly had gone into the bathroom, showered and dressed up, all in while ignoring or not bothering how messy his hair was. He couldn't believe that the whole night he had been thinking nothing but that blasted date with Max. As much as it should've bothered Alvin, it instead just created a fluttery feeling at the pit of his stomach. Every time he tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep, he would end up wondering how their date would be.

It was weird for Max to have suggested that. Usually, Max was the type of person who lived to just stay outdoors. And that look in his eyes, they definitely took Alvin by surprise. Even though he had avoided from looking directly into them, he had a glance at those eyes. They were painted with nervousness and with a dash of something else besides of hopefulness. It irked Alvin when he realised that he didn't know what that look meant.

Alvin could always read Max like an open book. That boy had no sense of personal space, no sense of emotion block, in fact, Max was really an outgoing person. Whatever he was feeling, he would show it on his face as if he was trying to advertise it to the world. Alvin always liked that part of him, it eased Alvin's way of trying to get close to him. But just then, he couldn't even figure out what that was about.

Since when had Max gotten so secretive?

Max was also a person who trusted someone very easily. He trusted Alvin the moment he met him and it showed that he didn't have any secrets to hide. So, he let Alvin know whatever he needed to know about Max; about his family, his hometown, his crushes and sometimes, about his fears. And Alvin couldn't help but to ponder about what Max knew about him.

There were some really embarrassing things that Alvin didn't want Max to know but he knew it anyways. And even though this should displease Alvin, he couldn't deny the fact that it felt great to trust someone, knowing he would never betray Alvin.

Back to this thought, this date thing and how Max had acted. It confused and perplexed Alvin. As a scientist, he needed a lot of variables and data before he could make a conclusion but as much as he wanted to do that, he couldn't stop this fluttering nonsense inside of him. It was as if someone had dropped ten jars of butterflies into him. His mind had also taken its own need to drift away into what could happen on the date.

But what could happen on a date with Max Asher anyway?

Alvin had a faint idea of what people did on a date. Mostly grossed him out, especially when he accidentally watched a scene that he wasn't supposed to one day on the television. It scarred him and he definitely didn't think it could get any worse than that. When Abby saw how flustered and awkward Alvin had gotten when he saw that scene, she just explained it was what two people do when they love each other.

Alvin didn't want to know.

Abby and her big mouth.

That was when he was barely even a teen. He barely even knew what a kiss was. But now that he was, he could guess that it made perfect sense. To want to kiss someone you like while on a date. Alvin mentally shuddered when he thought about kissing Max. It was so awkward and weird that Alvin had to get up from his bed and get himself a glass of water. His face felt extremely hot the whole night and finally, Alvin resigned that whatever that was going to happen on that date, well, let it happen.

And that was when he finally got to sleep.

But it was barely enough for him to not yawn every five minutes. Max had shot him an amused look before the snowboarder literally tried to force down a glass of orange juice down Alvin's throat, saying it would freshen himself up. Of course, Alvin didn't like being forced to do anything and immediately slapped away the drink from Max's hands when the snowboarder wouldn't listen to his protests. At the end, the orange juice tipped out from the glass and splashed on Lloyd's face, who was busy reading his newspaper.

Before Lloyd could do anything at all, Max and Alvin had dashed off to school.

School was barely eventful, except when it came to Wendy Chong. She would always come up to him and make some joke about how Alvin was going to "go down" that day before walking away, Alvin mimicking her the best way he could.

So, to say the least, school wasn't very fun.