Chapter 4

   I woke the next day to the sound of Alexander working away outside. I realized I had overslept and hurried outside to help Alexander. He seemed a bit tense when I got outside.
   "Good morning," he said.
   "Thank you for letting me sleep, Alexander. How long have you been working out here on your own?" I asked.
   "I think it's been about half an hour. I figured you would come out here soon enough." He smiled and he seemed comfortable again. That reassured me, but Melinda drifted back into my mind.
   'Stop!' I told myself. 'If you keep thinking of Melinda, you'll drive yourself crazy. There's no point in worrying. Everything will resolve itself.' My words of wisdom did little to console me, though.
   We worked the rest of the day, and we went to Alexander's house afterwards rather than mine. The change was nice.
   He lived with his family in a medium sized home. His room was in the basement and had its own entry in the back of the house. His two sisters, one older and one younger, frequently came in to the house through his room just to irk him, though. That was why I wasn't surprised his sisters were sitting on his sofa when we came in his door.
   "Welcome in, Alexander," Linda, his older sister, said regally as we approached them. His younger sister, Diana, just smiled. She didn't usually say much. She just loved the idea of being with someone older and, in Diana's opinion, cooler.
   "Get out," Alexander said flatly.
   "We just wanted to say hi," Linda said with a smirk. They got up and left.
   "They don't usually leave that easily," I said.
   "I'm sure they did something," Alexander said. He suddenly seemed very tired. There didn't seem to be very much in between emotions or feelings with Alexander. He was either very tired, full of energy, ecstatic, or joyless.He never seemed to feel neutral.
   We said good bye and I went home. I was glad he hadn't mentioned Melinda at all that day, although I did enough worrying about her to make up for it. I started hoping she wasn't actually a problem. That was before the big incident that would change my life as I knew it, though.

Chapter 3 part 2

Alexander looked at me once again. "What is on your mind?" he asked.
   "Well..." I started hesitantly. "I was wondering... if you are seeing someone."
   He smiled. "I'm seeing you right now," he said jokingly. I forced a smile.
  "No, I mean, like, dating."
   "I'm dating you, silly goose," he said. Again, I forced a smile. He could tell I wasn't enjoying this experience now. "Why are you wondering?" Alexander said, and this time he was the one searching my face for clues.
    I didn't want to answer. I wished I had never even brought the subject up. I should have left well enough alone. I said, "The other day, you called me Melinda. You had been particularly... I don't know how to put it. You just hadn't been yourself that day. And you didn't really go back to being yourself. And that made me worried. Because I love you. And I need you." By then I was in tears. He had his arms wrapped around me.
   "Don't worry, dear Hazel. I am not seeing Melinda. We were working on a project together. You know she has a way with carving wood. I just wanted some help making you this figurine."
   He pulled a little sheep out from behind his back. It looked exactly as my father had described it and as I had described it to Alexander. I looked up at his face and smiled, but saw his eyes darting around nervously. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't already been on the lookout, but something told me he wasn't telling me the whole truth about Melinda.
   I took the sheep and put it on the counter. "Thank you," I said.
   He went to his house to sleep that night, leaving me to my own devices to endlessly worry about Melinda. I needed to find out what was going on.