Chapter 24: Realize (23)

Dedicated to browneyedkiddo because she cheered me up on Twitter the other day. Your tweet was really kind. :)

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A couple of days have passed since the Sky Deviants' gig.

Maxine was sound asleep in her room when her dream was disturbed by Alex’s screaming outside her room.

“What's the matter?” groaned Maxine groggily. She got up from the bed and went to the living room to see what the commotion was all about.

Natalie was lining up suitcases at the center of the room. When she looked up, she saw Maxine standing in front of her still in pajamas.

“Mom, what's going on?” asked Maxine.

“Oh!” gasped Natalie. “Sweetie, I'm so sorry. I forgot to inform you.”

Maxine frowned in confusion. “Inform me about what?”

“We’re going to Seattle for the Holidays,” answered Natalie casually. “Our flight is today. Your things are already packed, so all you need to do is take a shower and get dressed. We’re leaving in about . . .” She paused to look at her watch, “an hour. I was just about to wake you.”

Maxine's eyes widened. Well, that was surely a lot to take in. But either she was used to her mother's surprises or she was too sleepy to care.

“Do we have relatives in Seattle?” she asked her mother, rubbing her eyes as she turned to walk back to her room.

“The Samuels have.”

All the sleepiness Maxine felt left her. She sharply turned to her Mom, thinking she might have heard wrong. No, she was certain she heard wrong.

“We’ve been invited to spend the Holidays there with them,” said Natalie a-matter-of-factly, when she noticed Maxine's questionable look.

“And you didn't bother to tell me sooner?” asked Maxine incredulously.

Natalie indignantly looked at Maxine. “Why, I didn't think it would be such a big deal. I thought you and Todd are getting on well.”

That's an overstatement, thought Maxine.

She sighed and returned to her room. As she was taking a shower, her mother’s words replayed over and over again in her head.

“The Samuels have . . . We’ve been invited to spend the Holidays there with them . . . I thought you and Todd are getting on well.”

It was quite a scary thought if you think about the fact that it meant she was going to spend the entire vacation with Todd Samuels. Part of her seemed happy, though.

Now that she thought about it, she was really happy. She actually found herself looking forward to the trip.Imagine, she was going to spend the whole vacation with Todd . . . without anyone from the gang . . . without anyone from school.

Just like the time when they went to the Empire State Building together. And the time when he rescued her in Brooklyn. Also, that time afterward when they were in the car and he gave her flowers . . . and he smiled.

Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, just thinking about his breathtaking smile. Knowing that somehow, she was the reason for it . . .

She leaned on the bathroom sink for support, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. She noticed herself panting and sweating.

No . . . No way . . . Absolutely no . . .

But yes.

She finally got it. It slowly popped into her head, like pieces of puzzle that were finally coming together.

She liked Todd. She liked him so much that simply seeing him smile made her happy, blissful even. And just thinking about how much she felt for him made her panic.

How was that possible? She argued with Todd a lot. They bickered, teased, and insulted each other that it completely didn’t make any sense if she fell for him.

Oh, no. She didn’t just like Todd anymore. 'Like' was such a light word to describe what she was feeling for him. It was more than light.

She was falling for him.

Krrrrring . . .

Maxine jumped in startle. She immediately pulled on her robes and got out of the bathroom. She grabbed her phone and saw who was calling.

It was Kim.

As soon as she answered, Kim greeted, “Bonjour, Maxine! I’m spending the Holidays with Brian’s family. Our parents are absolutely overjoyed about the fact the Brian and I are together again. C’est formidable d’être à nouveau ici. . .”

“Uh, Kim?” asked Maxine. “What's with the French?”

“We’re in France right now. Which reminds me — Brian told me that the Samuels and Fergusons are gonna spend the Holidays in Seattle? That’s half the planet away from where I am.” She laughed. “Ça va?”

Maxine wasn't very good in French, but she knew enough to know that what Kim meant was 'How are you?' in English.

“Tout va bien.”

“All good, eh? I'm not quite sure if you're being sarcastic or just a really bad liar. I take the latter. What's going on, Maxine?”

“Nothing, really.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” said Kim. “That sounded like something.”

“Well . . .” said Maxine quietly. She took a deep breath and sat down on her bed. “I need to tell you something, Kim. Promise me you won't laugh.”

“Okay, I promise.”

Maxine paused. “I think . . . I think I’m falling for Todd.”

There was silence.

Then, Maxine realized what she just said.

“Oh, golly,” she said, her voice full of panic. “I said it out loud. Now it’s really going to happen. I just don't believe it. Of all the people for me to have this kind of feelings to, did it have to be Todd? I've disliked him for so long that I don't know how this happened. I really don't.”

Kim laughed. “Love is easy to mistake for loathing.”

“I'm pretty much sure I can differentiate the two.”

“And yet you only realized today how you truly felt about your mortal frenemy.”

“T – Todd's different,” mumbled Maxine.

“I know,” said Kim, sounding like she was smiling. “You’ve liked him for a long time now. I think it’s good that you’ve finally realized it.”

“You’ve known, and you didn’t tell me?” whined Maxine.

“If I told you, would you believe me?”

“Yes,” Maxine lied. She would definitely not believe Kim.

“Yeah, right,” snorted Kim. “You’re really a bad liar, Maxine Ferguson. Isn’t it much better if you found out about it by yourself?”

Now that Maxine thought about it . . . Kim was right.

“Don't panic,” added Kim. “Just go with the flow. You’ll see — Oh, dear. I have to go — Au revoir!”

With the last word, Kim hung up.

Maxine leaned her back on the bed and repeated what Kim told her last.

“Just go with the flow,” she muttered, as she gazed up at the ceiling. Todd's face flooded her mind, making her groan. “How am I supposed to do that?”

An hour later, both families were in the limousine on their way to the airport – except for Mr. Samuels that would follow them straight to Seattle after work.

Todd had his headphones on, without a care in the world. Alex, on the other hand, fell asleep from exhaustion of being excited that morning.

With nothing to do, Maxine listened to Natalie and Janice's conversation.

“It’s just lovely there, Natalie,” said Janice dreamily.

“Do you always go there?” asked Natalie.

Janice nodded. “Yes, almost every summer when Todd was still in grade school.” She paused and glanced briefly at her son that had his eyes closed. “Speaking of Todd, he found his first love in Seattle.”

Maxine blinked. Todd's first love?! He'd been in love? She couldn't believe what she just heard.

Todd Samuels? It was just impossible. And yet . . . probable. He was a guy, after all. Maybe she was just so used seeing him treat girls like they weren't there that she didn't consider the thought that he could have been once be in love.

“The girl was just so beautiful,” continued Janice. “Her name was Margaret Islestorm — if I do remember correctly. Unfortunately, a day came when they took separate paths.”

I wonder who broke up with whom, thought Maxine.

“I don’t really know why he broke up with her,” said Janice.

Ah, so it was him, thought Maxine. That didn't seem to relieve her, though. But they broke up. They wouldn’t go back to being together again, would they?

“But since then, we never went there anymore.”

“Did you force him to come with us, then?” asked Natalie.

“Goodness, no!” replied Janice quickly. “Of course, not. You know that I cannot persuade that child into something he doesn’t want to do. When I told him we would spend the Holidays there with you, he merely agreed.”

“He agreed?” said Natalie incredulously.

Janice smiled. “It shocked me, too. For the past years, he complained and protested against it. Then out of the blue, he agrees. I wonder why . . .”

As Janice said the last words, her eyes wandered pointedly to Maxine. A smile formed at her lips. Maxine smiled back and quickly looked away.

Who was she kidding? Of course, Todd and the girl could be together again. Their feelings might even go back immediately once when they arrive there. She would just have to face it, then.

They arrived at the airport with their first class tickets on their hands. They went through the censors and finally got into the airplane.

Surprisingly for Maxine, the ticket was next to Todd’s; she was by the window and Todd was next to her.

“Calm down,” said Maxine quietly to herself. “Just act normal and go with the flow.”

“What are you muttering about?” asked Todd.

“What are you talking about?” asked Maxine innocently.

“Don’t act stupid because you already are.”

She glared at him. “Don’t act like you know everything because you don’t.”

“And what is it that I don’t know?” queried Todd, turning to her.

She almost said the words before she could stop herself. “My fee —” But then she caught herself and fake coughed, realizing what she was about to say.

“Your fee . . . ?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, no.” She rapidly shook her head. “What I meant was, my feet. You don’t know anything about my feet, do you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Now, you’re talking nonsense.”

It looks like it’s going to be easy acting normal after all, thought Maxine.

Remembering Todd’s past in Seattle, she smiled at him.

“Todd, why don’t you date girls? Don’t you like that kind of girl?” she asked, pointing at the sexy stewardess that passed them.

Todd barely looked at her.

“Idiot. Of course, not. First of all, she’s too old for me. Second, she may be attractive to an ordinary guy’s eyes but if you haven't noticed yet, I don't belong in that category.”

“Arrogant,” she pouted, but then quickly grinned when she saw a baby faced girl. “What about her?”

He barely looked at the girl again when he glared at Maxine.

“Would you stop it? It’s annoying.”

“I was just asking.”

“Well, your questions are too dull for me to answer,” he said, turning his attention to his PSP.

“Not as dull as your answers are to my questions,” she muttered.

Todd ignored her. He continued to focus on what he was playing.

The flight was short than what Maxine expected. Only a couple of hours passed and they were already at Seattle.

They exited the plane and retrieved their bags. In no time, they were walking toward a person who was waving very happily at them. As they neared, Maxine noticed that the person waving was soaked. It seemed that it was raining outside.

She cursed quietly. She forgot to bring out her coat from her baggage. It was at the very bottom of her suitcase, too.

She sighed, knowing she has no choice but to rummage it. She stopped walking and knelt down, laying her suitcase on the floor.

That was when a big warm fresh-scented coat dropped over her head, covering her face. She removed it from her and held it. As she stared, it dawned on her that it looked really familiar.

“Use it,” said someone from behind her.

When she looked over her shoulder, she was startled to see Todd.

“It’s going to be cold outside,” he added, walking past her. “You don’t want to freeze to death, do you?”

So it was his. That was why it looked so familiar to Maxine.

“How about you, won’t you be cold?” she asked him.

“Don’t mind me,” he replied, without look back. “I’ll survive.”

“Thanks,” she managed to say quietly. She put on his coat and immediately, her nose was filled with Todd's scent. Somehow, she felt at home and secured.

She pulled herself out of her thinking and followed the others.

Janice embraced the person that was waving at them a while ago.

He was young; sixteen or seventeen years old. He looked almost exactly like Todd. The difference was his hair was much longer than Todd’s, while his facial expression was cheery and enthused.

Janice introduced each and every one of them.

Maxine wasn't sure but she could swear that when Janice introduced her, the person eyed Maxine curiously. It was like she was a unique toy that he was carefully examining.

He only looked away when Janice mentioned Todd’s name. He stared at Todd somewhat guiltily. Todd didn't to have heard for he was looking at the television nearby.

“Todd, dear,” said Janice a little louder, calling his attention.

Todd reluctantly looked at her, knowing what she was about to say.

“Don’t you remember James, your cousin?” she said, gesturing her hand to the person next to her.

Oh, they’re cousins, thought Maxine. Figures.

Todd's eyes coldly landed on James. He didn't say anything. Even though James was smiling at Todd, Todd didn't return the smile. It was almost like he was seeing nothing.

Todd looked at his mother. “I don’t remember him at all.”

Janice raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything by it.

“Well, just follow us from behind so you can both catch up.”

Janice and Natalie walked ahead, with Alex in tow. While Maxine decided to busy herself by arranging the playlists on her iPod, with Todd and James following behind her.

“So how is my favorite cousin?” asked James, grinning at Todd. “Did you miss me?”

Todd looked at James with every sign of dislike.

“Why would I miss someone like you?”

“Ouch!” exclaimed James, pounding his fist to his heart. Just as quickly, the mock hurt was replaced by a cocky grin. “Well, I missed you.”

“Wow. That really made me happy,” said Todd with heavy sarcasm.

“Strike two, bro.”

“Don’t call me ‘bro.’ I’m an only child.”

“Strike three!”

Todd sighed. “You never change.”

“Never will,” grinned James.

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Cliffhanger! Hahaha! :P

What do you think of James and Todd's relationship? I have to say, Todd was rude to him, wasn't he? Well, I wonder what you think about that... Oh, Maxine finally realized!! Whoop! Did you see that coming?! Tell me!! :D

Note: Next chapter, we will find out more about Todd's first love... ;)

Upload: I upload on weekends. ^_^ (I know I said I'll upload two chapters, but this is all I can upload for now. Better than nothing, eh?)

Please Comment and Vote -- if you like, which I'm hoping you DO!! ^_^