Chapter 7: ALEX

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Charlotte Cane

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The moment I saw him, my cheeks turned into blooming, searing red tomatoes.

Alex Trebek.

He was the only person in the school that it would take him one word to captivate and steal everyone's attention. Captain of the football team. Junior Varsity Player. Celebrity-like face. Bright blazing lush green eyes. Perfectly tossed, dirty blond hair. Chiseled Jaw. Incredible Smile. The Mayor's Son. Megan's boyfriend.

Alex, to everyone in the school, was not just the most popular guy in school, he was the school's designated king, and his queen Megan Warren.

My mouth hung open, eyes ballooning.

So if there was one person I'd expect to be in the dank, slightly smelly, girl's bathroom, it would not be Alex Trebeck, the King of Lakeland High.

Alex standing at one bathroom sink away from me. He hardly seemed to pay me any attention as he texted away on his phone with a grin. Even though I was a short distance away from him, I could still see the whites of his perfectly aligned teeth and sun beam grin. He chuckled and grew his smile as he further absorbed himself into his texting.

"U-u-u." I struggled to find my voice. "U-h, A-Alex?"

"Huh?" In a slow reluctant tug of his head upwards from his phone, he turned to me.

"Uh?" My voice sunk into a wispy whisper. "Y-you're in the girls' bathroom." With my eyes low, I took hesitancy peaks between him and the tiled bathroom floors.

His eyes landed back on his phone screen. "Me?" he said with a snicker and a neat little grin.

"Y-Yeah." I gulped, my eyes jumping around doing somersaults.

He looked up from his phone and stared at me. "Actually, I think you're in the boy's bathroom."

"Wh... what?" My eyes grew to saucers.

"Yeah," he said, in a matter-of-factly tone.

I carefully surveyed my surroundings. The walls were a grimy, ashy, muted blue graffitied with curse words and scribbles I'd never seen before. The tiny square tiled floors were scuffed and and abused, the school janitors couldn't have mopped since months ago----and that's a rare occasion for the girl's bathroom. The stalls were also different; they were a navy blue the same color as walls, which was unlike the salmon pink of the girl's bathroom. In fact, everything was different, it was dirtier than the girls' bathroom ever was. And if the powerful stench of sweat and body spray was any indication, I should have known that by all accounts I was certainly not in the girl's bathroom.

"Oh my God." I drenched my broken whisper in horror.

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Alex snorted, his stare murdering me. He probably thinks I'm an idiot. A moron. A clown.

My face was bathing in heat, and I could feel my heart beating in my throat. I was ready to implode into a nervous wreck or disappear and fade into the oblivion of embarrassment. "I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I'm so stupid. I'm utterly stupid.

Torn and blushing pink and, I was quick to move on my unsteady feet towards the exit.

"Hold on." The sound of Alex's deep, coarse voice rooted me in place.

With my heart hammering, I turned to face him. "Y-yeah?" My voice was so quiet, perhaps even a mouse would struggle to hear it.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and rotated from facing the mirror to face me directly. For a moment, he looked me up and down before giving his head a little tilt. "You." He pointed his finger at me. "You're…" He lingered on his words as he seemingly thought contemplative.

For what felt like an eternity, the suspense of his stare and the anticipation of his words wilted down at whatever sanity was keeping me standing.

"Hold on, hold on," he said to himself, still heavily thinking. "Wait a second, I got it!" A little lightbulb went off in his head. "You're Char, right?"

"Char?" For some reason, a twinge of disappointment stunned me.

In our small town of Lakeland, Missouri, we have a total population that's just under 10,000 residents. My family moved here when I was 14, and I've been going to the same high school with most of the same people since middle school. People here work, marry, live, and die here. Mostly everyone knows the names and faces of complete strangers. That's probably why since middle school, I've known who Alex Trebek is, and the entire Trebeck family is. I've seen his name and face for years, and we've been in almost the same classes since 9th grade.

This is our last year, and he only remembers the nickname Megan gave me.

I don't know why that makes me feel a certain way, or feel so hurt.

"It's Charlotte," I mumbled.

"Charlotte, right." He nodded.

There was a pause of awkward silence.

"Um." I kept my eyes low. "W-well," I stuttered, unable to find the strength in my weak voice. "If that's all, I should probably go. I'll get in trouble if I stay in here any longer so---."

The sound of a bathroom stall swinging open interrupted me.

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