Alex stared at the textbook without really it. Brian was on a date with
his girlfriend and Jason and Monica weren't home. He finished his
homework hours ago and was now left with nothing to do. He was bored.
Sighing, he turned on the TV and started started flipping through the
channels. He stopped on a channel that showed a man and woman talking.
The man's cell phone rang and he pulled it out. It rang again. Alex
stared at the TV until he realized that it was his own phone that was
ringing. Quickly getting up, he hurried to the phone and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey. Long time, no call." Said a familiar voice.
"Brandon!" Alex happily exclaimed. "How are you?"
"Doing well. And you?" Alex sighed and laid down on his bed.
"Okay, I guess. It's different without you around. By the way, I found
a new roommate."
"Really? Who?"
"Brian. I told you a little about him. He plays football."
"Oh yeah. How are Jason and Monica?"
"They're okay. I haven't seen much of them lately. I think Monica's avoiding
me and Jason's avoiding all of us." Brandon frowned.
"That's odd..."
"It is. But I'm sure it'll blow over and things will be back to normal.
How's it going over there?" Alex asked.
"Strange." Alex waited for a minute.
"Is that all you're going to say?"
"There's not much else to say, Tracy is having a baby, I still haven't
seen Kurt and Mark has been cutting a few classes."
"Okay. What about your roommate...Isaac, right?" Brandon sighed.
"Isaac's the weirdest of them all. Sometimes he wakes me up in the middle
of the night just to recite some poetry. And It's always the same thing.
You know Robert Frost, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.' That's the one
he recites."
Alex looked back to the TV again. The woman was now crying about something
while the man was looking through the fridge.
"Maybe he really likes poetry?" Brandon grunted.
"Maybe. Anyway, I called to discuss holiday plans. I'll be coming back
to town for Christmas and staying with my Grandparents. I can't come for
Thanksgiving through." Alex grinned.
"No problem. We'll be happy to see you whenever you can make. As for
Thanksgiving...Well, we'll think some something." Brandon smiled.
"Well," Brandon started, "I guess that's it. Talk to you later, bud."
"Later." Alex said, then hung up. He sighed, then turned off the TV.
He didn't feel like watching anything anymore.
*************************************************
The next weekend, Alex was alone again. He turned on the TV and started
watching Jonny Bravo. He turned it off when someone knocked on the door.
He stared in shock after he opened it and saw who was standing on the other
side.
"Brandon!"
"Surprise!" Brandon exclaimed. He waited a minute while Alex kept staring at him.
"Um, are you going to let me in or are you going to stare at me all day?"
Alex broke out of his shock and stepped aside.
"How...What are...why?" Alex mumbled as he shut the door after Brandon.
"I had no classes this weekend and I haven't seen you for a while so
I decided to drop by." Brandon looked around the room. "That's not a
problem, is it?"
"No!" Alex shook his head. "No, it isn't. In fact I was just looking forward
to spending the weekend alone again. It's great that you stopped by!"
Brandon grinned.
"Heh. Thanks. So how is everyone doing? I already visited my grandparents but I
haven't seen Jason or Monica."
"They're fine." Alex replied. "Monica stopped by last night and dropped
off some cookies she made. We talked for a little while but she left as
soon as Brian got back. I don't think she likes him much."
Brandon shrugged.
"Anyway, what do you want to do?" Alex shrugged and laid down on his bed.
He turned on the TV again. Now Ed, Edd, and Eddy was showing. Brandon shook
his head.
"I certainly don't want to watch this stupid show." Alex blinked at him.
"What? What do you have against cartoons? They're funny!" Brandon sat on
the bed next to Alex.
"I don't have anything against cartoons. I like cartoons, just not this
one. It's as stupid as Spongebob Squarepants." Brandon said.
"Sponge-who what?" Brandon laughed at Alex's clueless expression.
"Nevermind. Give me the remote." Brandon snatched the remote before Alex
could protest. Brandon flipped through the channels in search of something
worth watching.
"So, how are things going with you?" Alex asked after a minute.
"Fine, I guess. Isaac woke me up again last night and this time he
quoted Shakespeare. He's insane." Brandon replied. He flipped through a few
more channels before turning off the TV.
"There's nothing to watch. How about visit Jason and Monica?"
Alex shook his head and sat up.
"Monica's visiting some relatives and Jason said he would be out of town
today. I know! We could go to the library!" Brandon raised his eyebrow
and stared at him with a questioning look. Alex chuckled.
"I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. I heard that the
librarian has a new pretty assistant." Brandon nodded.
"Well, let's go then."
****************************************
"I thought so." Brandon blurted as Alex looked through various
textbooks and encyclopedias.
"What?" Alex asked distractedly while thumbing through a book.
"You're here looking at all these wonderful books, which you said you
didn't want to do, while we haven't even seen this pretty new assistant
you mentioned." Brandon answered with a smirk. Alex put the book back
and stared at his friend.
"What are you suggesting? I know she's here. I've seen her!" Several other
library patrons turned around and shushed at him. Alex blushed and
waved apologetically. He turned back to Brandon.
"So," Brandon started, "You've seen her?"
"Yes...there she is." Alex pointed down the row where a girl was putting
away books. She was wearing a purple shirt with a panda on the front and
blue low-rider jeans. Her light brown hair was tied back with a black
scrunchie and flowed to the small of her back.
"You were right." Brandon said, "She is pretty." He looked at Alex.
"So what are you going to do?"
Alex went back to reading books.
"I'm going to stay here."
Brandon snorts.
"Really." Alex said. "Well, I don't know what to say. I don't even
know her name."
Brandon rolled his eyes and walked down the aisle to talk to her.
"Brandon! What are you doing?" Alex hissed but remained where he was.
"Hello," Brandon said to the girl. "Are you the new assistant here?"
She smiled at him.
"Yes, I am. Can I help you?"
"I don't need any help right now, but can I have your name if I do?"
"Jennifer."
Brandon smiled and nodded.
"Thank you."
He turned back to join Alex, who was blushing again.
"Her name is Jennifer."
"Thank you. I could have found that out on my own."
"As if you would ever talk to her."
Alex frowned.
"I would!"
"You would?"
Alex nodded impatiently.
"Yes!"
"Perfect." Brandon grinned. He grabbed Alex's arm and pulled over
to where Jennifer was working.
"Jennifer," Brandon said, "My friend would like to talk to you."
She turned to them and looked at Alex.
"Yes?"
"Um, do you know that Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills
of Wyoming and North Dakota?"
Brandon blinked while Jennifer looked confused.
"Yes." She responded. Alex nodded.
"Good, because a lot of people don't know that." He blushed
and walked away to where he was standing before.