The reality of the situation finally hit Alexa when she was seated in a dark corner of a small restaurant. She'd never been a person who was good at small talk, and here she was sitting across from someone she barely knew. Conversation, her side of it, was growing thin. He seemed to be able to talk for days.

Alexa fidgeted in her chair, and she heard him stop. "Hey. You okay?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, realizing that somewhere along the way she'd stopped paying attention to him, and she blushed, embarrassed at ignoring him. "I'm so sorry, I just... this is a little new to me...." She couldn't meet his eyes, finding herself staring at the table cloth.

He reached slowly across the table and touched her hand. "If you want to just end this now, go home or whatever, that's okay. I was kind of pushy."

Alexa looked up, trying to read what he was thinking in his eyes. He'd tucked his sunglasses in his pocket when they'd sat down, so she could actually see his eyes. They were deep, and she was intrigued by the many layers she saw in them. She bit her lip, deciding what she should say, or do. "No, this is all my fault. It's just..." Alexa took a deep breath, and turned her hand, to keep his there. His touch was calming. "I haven't done the dating thing in a while, I just haven't had the time, and for it to begin again with someone as famous as you are is a bit, um, overwhelming." Her gaze shifted around, taking in tiny details about his facial expression.

He sighed, not looking at her. "The fame is all bullshit. I'm still just Alex to my mom, my friends, anybody who matters. Plain ordinary me."

Alexa tried, but she just couldn't contain the giggles that rose at him calling himself plain and ordinary. She bit her lip, when he looked at her.

"What?"

She covered her mouth for a second, before stopping the giggles long enough to speak. "Ordinary? You?" She giggled again.

AJ half-shrugged, and grinned, seeing her point. "Okay, okay. So I'm a freak."

"That's the understatement of the year." Alexa grinned.

"Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh."

"You said it, not me." Alexa suddenly realized how comfortable she was with the conversation. And she didn't even know how it happened. It was as if they'd made some kind of connection. Unconsciously, she sighed.

"What?"

Alexa tilted her head, and sighed again. "This is nice." Then smiled at AJ's confused look.

"What's nice? Making fun of me is nice?"

Alexa giggled when he tried to pout. "That so does not work for you. I just meant, this is comfortable. It's nice."

AJ still looked confused, "Okay..."

"It's a good thing, really. Thank you, for pestering me." Alexa was being sincere. She was glad she'd been forced into this.

"It's a talent." AJ smirked. "I've been told I'm good at pestering."

Alexa thought, and then nodded her head. "I can attest to that." A wadded napkin flew at her and she ducked. "Hey, didn't anybody teach you any manners?"

The gravelly laugh, "Nope. Part of being a freak."

�1997 - 2002 [email protected], Intelexual productions