"I'm surprised you asked me to meet you."

"Daniel, I'm sorry," I say, walking towards him. "It's just, there are a lot of things going on—"

"And I'm not your priority, I understand."

"No, it's not like that."

He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Annalise, it's alright. I can accept the truth. Though it hurts, it's much better than the lie."

"I'm not—"

He puts his hands on my shoulder and kisses me on my forehead. I just stare at him, tongue tied.

"I already told you before that when the time comes you don't have use for me anymore, I will still be here for you," Daniel says, staring deeply into my eyes. "That's a promise forever. You can let me go but I will still be available for you. Just one call from you, I'll come running back."

I blink rapidly to stop the tears that want to fall from my eyes. "I'm sorry," I murmur.

He lifts my chin, and for a second I thought I'll have my first kiss. Instead, Daniel pulls me toward him and envelops me in a warm embrace.

I'm supposed to interrogate him, but in the end, he comforted me and pours his love for me.

What can I do? I can't resist him, especially when he's being like this.

So instead of questioning him, I just spend a quality time with him. He's kind of sulky and I don't want him to feel neglected.

I'm just going to ask him when he's in a good mood. It's kind of weird because I just made him, but now it's as if he has a mind of his own. He decides his own actions, like he's alive.

Beep. Beep.

I open my eyes because of the ringing of my phone.

I should have put it on silent mode so that it didn't have the opportunity to stop me from talking and spending time with Daniel.

Opening my phone, I'm greeted by a new text from Caleb. It says:

Come down. I'm outside your house.

Is he kidding?

I check the time; it's already quarter to six. I didn't notice the time because I'm having a good time with Daniel.

Why does Caleb always ruin the moment?

I get up from my bed grudgingly and make my way downstairs. He should have a good reason for asking me to meet him.

"Hi," Caleb says as soon as I open the door. "Want to watch a movie?"

"Is that why you're here?" I ask incredulously, "to ask me if I want to watch a movie?!"

"Yes, in our house. Alex is already setting it up."

I can't believe it. He interrupted my supposed date with Daniel 'cause he wants to watch a movie with me.

"Okay, fine," I relent. It's not as if I can still go back and continue my daydream.

I walk inside the house, get my spare key, and lock the door behind me. Margarett told me that she'll work late in her office.

I follow Caleb in their house and find Alex sitting on the couch, in front of their flat screen television.

"What took you so long?" he asks in his usual bored tone.

"Stop complaining, we're here already," Caleb says. "Just play the movie."

"What are we going to watch?" I ask, plopping down beside Alex.

He grins mischievously and says, "Are you scared of Horror movies?"

I scoff. If he thinks he can scare me, he's wrong. "I'm not," I say confidently. "Play it on."

I don't want to look afraid, but really, every time the zombies appear, I want to hide behind my hands. This film is gruesome. It makes me want to turn it off and just go to bed.

It shouldn't be a surprised that we're watching a zombie apocalypse because Caleb has a fascination with them nowadays.

My heart pounds in my chest as the remaining survivors run away from the zombies. I didn't even notice that I'm gripping the edge of my seat. Fortunately, Caleb and Alex are too focused on the film to see my bewildered expression.

The movie is almost finished; there are only few remaining zombies. We're at the climax, when we hear a screeching noise outside the house.

My heart automatically leaps to my throat.

This is the disadvantage of watching a horror movie. Just a sound, you'll be afraid, thinking that the monsters from the movies will go and hunt you.

We all look at one another.

No doubt, I look scared. Caleb and Alex are both grinning, as if they can't wait to fight off zombies.

Guys are so weird.

There's that screeching again.

"What is that?" I whisper.

"Maybe it's just a cat," Caleb says.

"Do you have a cat?"

"None."

My breathing comes in ragged breaths. I've never been scared in my entire life.

"Come on," Alex says, "zombies aren't real."

We forget the movie we're watching and focus our attention on the sound outside.

If I'm not looking, I won't see the doorknob turning.

"Look," I whisper, pointing.

When the door opens, I scream, close my eyes, and put my hands over my face.

I can hear Caleb and Alex's laughter, and then a female's voice asking what happened.

"Not afraid, huh?" Alex says between laughs.

I'm so embarrassed; I want to vanish in this moment.

Sighing, I finally open my eyes and see a woman standing in front of me. She's holding a paper bag, and on the space beside her, there's a grocery bag with the contents rolling off the floor.

"Hi, Mom," Caleb says.

"What happened?" she asks as she starts picking up the groceries. "I heard a scream."

I bite my lip.

"We're watching Dawn of the Dead," Caleb explains, helping his mom put the goods in the bag.

"Mom," says Alex, "This is Annalise."

"Hello," I say shyly. It's my first time to meet Mrs. Vandom. I hope I don't look too pale from watching a suspense film.

Their mom is good looking; it's not surprising considering her sons are handsome. She has blondish-brown hair and blue eyes.

"Annalise," Mrs. Vandom says, "I've heard so much about you."

What's that supposed to mean?

"I'm glad we finally met," she says, smiling. She goes to where I am and gives me a hug. "You're having dinner with us, right?"

I glance at Caleb; he nods at me.

"Okay," I say.

Mrs. Vandom smiles.

She's cool and elegant at the same time. Like, she can carry herself.

"I'll just prepare our dinner," she says.

"Do you need help?"

She shakes her head. "Thanks for your offer, dear. Just have fun and play with these kids while I cook."

"We're not kids," Alex grumbles.

Mrs. Vandom laughs and makes her way to the kitchen.

"So, you finally met our mom," Caleb says.

"Yeah." After a long time.

When I glance at the screen, I see the ending credits of the film. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"We didn't get to see the ending," Caleb complains.

"You can still watch it another time," Alex says.

I agree with him.

"Come on," Alex says, pulling me with him, "I'll show you my room."

"He's showing off," Caleb says, "he just finished cleaning his room. He won't let you come inside if it's messy."

I raise my eyebrow. Does that mean Alex wants to impress me?

"Ignore Caleb," Alex says. Is it just me, or is he really blushing?

I walk inside the room. Actually it feels awkward because it's my fist time to enter a guy's room. It's not like I have reasons before.

For a guy's room, I'm quite impressed with how Alex's came out.

It's far bigger than my room, and there are more furniture inside.

Actually, the first thought that came to my mind is I'm in the ocean.

The walls are painted blue, and the ceiling is a painting of white clouds.

His bed is a pirate ship, or to be précised, a boat. His chairs are shaped like sea creatures; there's a shark, an octopus, and a fish that looks like Nemo.

Cool, huh?

I go to the bookshelf on the corner. I didn't know that Alex read novels. His collection includes William Shakespeare, James Patterson, and Rick Riordan. There are also stand alone novels such as Tuesdays with Morrie, The Little Prince, and Catcher in the Rye.

I'm about to look at the other side of the room when something catches my attention.

It's a braided bracelet at the top of his drawer.

Suddenly, because of a single object, I'm a child all over again.

"Are you sure you want to give this to him?" Sister Mary asks.

"Yes," I say wholeheartedly, without hesitation. "I want to give him a part of me so that he can bring it wherever he goes."

Sister Mary smiles. "Okay, then."

I received this bracelet from Sister Agatha when I was eight years old. She told me it was for good luck. I will give it to Alex as a birthday gift so that he can always carry a lucky charm. Though he doesn't believe in it, I wish the magic will still work.

The bracelet is braided with nylon. It doesn't look girly, which is good because if it is, he will never wear it. Also, with the help of Sister Mary, I attached a cube with a letter A on the center.

I hope he'll like it.

Thump.

I dropped the bracelet from my shaking hands.

Am I dreaming?

Or is it real that Alex Vandom is my best friend?

*****

I'm sorry for the late update. It's short, I know, but I hope you liked it! :) Are you surprised? What do you think? I've been waiting for a long time to post this. Finally! \o/

The song is Sound of Fire by This Century.

Thank you! =)