Lessons Learned I

After getting out of the library after school, I headed outside on the campus lawn of Seattle University to see a familiar face.

I raised my eyebrow and ran over to Alex. He looked blackish as if he had bruises all over his body. "Um...Alex...are you okay?"

He slowly looked at me and smiled weakly. "Yeah. How's your day been?" He limped a little closer to me.

"Um...okay..." I looked down at his legs, then back up at him. "Why are you limping?"

"I kinda fell into the fountain..."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "How on Earth did you manage to do that?"

"Skateboarding," he said, looking embarrassed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you skateboard?"

"Um...since never." He smiled a little.

I laughed a little. "So...how did this happen?" I asked, looking at his bruises.

"Um...Lee was filming me trying to skateboard and I somehow got rolling down the hill and couldn't stop... I now have detention for two weeks because of crashing into that fountain."

My mouth dropped. "Detention?!"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Um..." I mumbled. "I have a question. Why were you skateboarding in the first place? I mean...you didn't know how, did you?"

"N-No..." He paused for quite a while before sighing and looking back up at me. "I thought I could impress you if I knew how to skateboard like those other guys can." Upon finishing his sentence, he turned really red.

I gave him a soft look. "You did that to impress me?" I asked, smiling.

He nodded. "Yeah, um..." he said, embarrassed.

I smiled a little more. "Aw, Alex, you know you don't have to do that to impress me. I already like you just as you are. I mean, you're my best friend," I said.

He looked down -- I think his eyes got a tad wet. "Yeah, what was I thinking..."

I pulled him into a hug. "You're the sweetest guy on the face of the planet..." I whispered in his ear.

He hugged me tightly. "You're the greatest girl I know."

I smiled and kissed his cheek, then pulled away from him. "You impress me by just being yourself," I said in a low voice.

He smiled weakly, then looked down at the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah..."

I pressed my lips together before smiling a little at him.

"Two weeks of detention, huh?" I smiled a little.

He sighed. "Yup. Me and my stupidity."

I laughed a little. "Nah, you just wanted to experiment and come out of your shell. Nothing wrong with that," I assured with a smile.

"Yeah...sure..."

I leaned forward again and hugged him. "Thank you, Alex. That was really sweet..."

"Yeah...don't mention it..." He patted my back, seemingly hurt.

...what did I say?