NEW COVER OF REALIZE!!! I'm actually proud of it this time. :)

I honestly think you guys will like this chapter.. ;)

HAPPY READING!!!

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For Thanksgiving, the families of Brian and Kim planned to have dinner together. Todd and Maxine's mothers planned to have dinner together, as well. And as per usual, Peter invited Karl to their house in New Jersey for the vacation. But this year, Peter was planning to invite Jen to come with them . . .

It was the last day before vacation. It was Peter's last chance to invite her. She was walking down the corridor, while he ran to catch up with her.

“Hi – Jen,” he panted, when he finally caught up with her. He took deep breaths to catch his breath. When his breathing was even, he asked, “Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?”

But Jen stayed quiet. She just stared at Peter with her expressionless face.

“Okay . . . Um . . . Would you like to spend Thanksgiving with me in New Jersey?” he tried again. “We're not the only ones going. Karl'll be there.”

She tilted her head.

He smiled. “Please?”

Slowly, Jen smiled back. “Okay. That's not a bad idea.”

Peter couldn't believe what he just heard. “Did you just say 'Okay'?” he made sure.

“Yes,” she nodded.

He literally jumped for joy, all coolness gone. He genuinely looked happy that it was hard to imagine him as the known playboy of the school.

He almost hopped as he went to the Sky Studio.

☺ ♪ ☺ ♫ ☺ ♪ ☺

“When are you going to tell Jen? No, wait . . . When are you going to tell Peter?”

Maxine and Karl were the only ones who were in the Sky Studio. They were waiting for the others to arrive for practice, when Maxine couldn't take but ask Karl at last about the thing that kept the gang on edge lately.

Karl smiled and laughed once. When he saw that Maxine was serious, he quickly turned solemn as he asked Maxine, “How'd you know?”

“Kim noticed it. Actually, the gang noticed it,” she answered, shrugging. “Well, except for Peter.”

He sighed. “Look, I don't wanna lose my friendship with Peter.” He looked down at his feet and said, “He’s already like a brother to me.”

“If you don't want to lose your friendship, you better tell him. Before he finds out himself,” she warned.

Just then, Todd came in. He kept his cool and calm expression as he sat beside Karl, who was sitting at the edge of the platform, while Maxine was sitting behind Karl.

“I overheard your conversation,” said Todd tonelessly. “Peter is not the kind of guy that keeps grudges on people. And you know that,” he added directly to Karl. “Most of the time, he understands others. And most especially, he understands you.” He paused to look at Karl. He gave out a warm smile and quoted, “'Friendship is the wine of life.'”

Karl looked curiously at Todd and Maxine.

“You know, sometimes I just wonder why the two of you always fight and argue when you make a compatible couple. I'm not kidding,” he said, as he gave the slightest smile.

Todd and Maxine simply stared at Karl for a minute, and then went on with what they were doing. Maxine continued drawing, while Todd arranged the drum set.

“Come on!” Karl laughed. “Fine. Ignore what I said. But it's much easier admitting than denying it to yourself, you know.”

A moment later, Brian entered the Studio. He wore the biggest and weirdest grin. He threw his bag at the corner, pulled a chair, and sat. Everyone looked at him and waited for him to tell why he was smiling like that.

“Why didn't you tell us, Maxine?” asked Brian, still wearing the biggest and weirdest grin.

“Tell you what?” asked Maxine, very confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You have a date with Josh this lunch, right?” he inquired; still not getting rid of the biggest and weirdest grin on his face.

“Okay, your smile's really creeping the hell out of me – including your news,” said Karl, making a face.

Todd didn't say a word. He was calm as always. But he thought that Brian's grin was indeed, creepy. And he couldn't get rid of the fact that he got a feeling of being pissed off about Brian's news.

Brian glanced at Todd. Obviously, only he could sense that what he just announced bothered Todd more than he let on.

Maxine closed her mouth that involuntarily opened in shock.

“Where did you – So what? It's just lunch,” she muttered.

“I know it is. But you –”

“Great news! Big news!” interrupted Peter, as he walked in. “Jen accepted the invitation to be with me on Thanksgiving!” He smiled so broadly that it reached his ears.

Todd, Maxine, and Brian glanced briefly at Karl who was – forcefully – smiling to show his best friend that he was happy for him.

Karl wanted to be happy for Peter. Really, he did. But no matter how he told his heart and mind to be happy, he just couldn't. He planned on telling Peter that day about what he felt for Jen. But now, he didn't want to ruin the smiling face of his best friend. He decided to just tell Peter some other day. It didn't have to be now, right?

“What a very nice Thanksgiving would it be with my best friend and the one I'm falling for!” declared Peter, as he plugged in his electric guitar on the amplifier.

“Falling for?!” demanded Todd, Maxine, and Brian incredulously.

Peter then told them how he'd been falling for Jen. The gang inwardly knew to themselves how it was going to be hard for Karl. Especially to Peter, when he finally found out. They hoped it wouldn't ruin their friendship.

Lunch time: Kim, Karl, and Peter were at their usual spot. They were watching Maxine and Josh, three tables far from them, happily having a conversation.

“What's happening?” queried Brian, sitting beside Kim.

“You're alone?” asked Kim, obviously looking for Todd.

Brian nodded. “Todd said he's coming later,” he said. And then, he added in a whisper, “I knew he would act differently when I mentioned this to him.”

“Look! There's Todd!” exclaimed Karl, pointing at a tall, handsome figure from afar.

Brian, Kim, Karl, and Peter watched Todd as he loaded his plate with food. Todd looked the same, as usual. But Kim could feel something was about to happen. She took out her Chanel wallet, pulled a hundred dollar bill, and slapped it on the table.

Brian, Karl, and Peter stared at her.

“Here's a bet,” started Kim, “Todd’s gonna interrupt Josh and Maxine's conversation.”

“You're on!” said Peter, placing five twenty dollars on the table. “Todd's never gonna do that.”

“I'm with Kim,” shrugged Brian, pulling out a hundred dollar from his pocket.

“Me too,” said Karl, putting one hundred dollars on the table. He turned to Peter and added, “Sorry, man.”

They turned their eyes toward the Food Table and intently watched Todd's every move.

Todd grabbed two apples from the fruit corner, and then went to the dessert corner. He was far from the table where Josh and Maxine were sitting. He moved with his normal cool that for a moment, Kim feared that she might be wrong on her bet.

But then . . .

With his back turned to Josh, Todd threw an apple over his shoulder. The apple landed exactly on top of Josh's head.

Brian, Kim, Karl, and Peter, who were watching Todd's actions, laughed hard yet quietly. Karl clutched his stomach in silent laughter, while Kim pressed her lips to stop herself from laughing loudly.

The moment Josh turned to see who threw an apple at him was the exact moment Todd turned around. Josh cocked his head and stood up. He walked toward Todd, while Todd walked toward him.

“Did you just throw an apple at me?” asked Josh through gritted teeth, when they were face to face.

Todd looked at him calmly. “Do I look like someone who will throw an apple at you?” He didn't wait for Josh's reply. He continued walking toward the gang, who were clearly watching the incident.

“Why the heck did I do that?” murmured Todd to himself.

Brian, Kim, and Karl grinned as they collected their money from winning the bet. Todd joined them, slightly smiling.

“Do you like Maxine?” Peter demanded to Todd, a bit irritated about losing.

Todd snorted. “No,” he answered. “No,” he repeated in a different tone. “No,” he repeated again in a different tone than before. Then he turned serious and said for the last time, “No way.”

“Dude, didn't that just make it more obvious?” commented Karl.

Brian and Kim nodded.

Todd rolled his eyes and refused to answer anymore.

. . .

In the meantime, Maxine saw the gang at their usual spot, grinning. Something was happening. She was sure of it. And she was absolutely curious to know. So she apologized to Josh and quickly went to the gang's table. Once curiosity hit her, she wouldn't stop. She felt like Pandora sometimes because of it.

“What's going on?” she asked curiously. She bent forward to see a good look on them.

“Nothing,” answered Brian, Kim, and Karl innocently in unison.

“You guys are so obvious!” laughed Peter.

“You couldn't be cool, dude,” scolded Brian.

“Oops, sorry,” said Peter sheepishly.

Maxine grew more curious by the minute.

“Come on! What is going on?” asked Maxine eagerly. “You're hiding something. I can feel it.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Kim told Maxine.

“Yes, but satisfaction brought it back,” backfired Maxine, remembering the line from a movie somewhere.

Todd couldn't help not to say anything.

“It's nothing, okay? If we were hiding something, why shouldn't we tell you?” he piped in with an unreadable face. He wasn't looking at Maxine. “Besides, why don't you go back to your date? He must be really mad I threw an apple at him. It must have hit him hard.” With that, he stood up and kept his hands in his pockets. He turned to Maxine. “Have fun,” he told her, smiling. Then, he started walking away. “I'll be at the Studio,” he added to the gang, over his shoulder.

It took the gang by surprise, the way Todd acted. For the first time, Maxine looked at Todd's eyes with such difference. His eyes were sad.

Handsome features with sad eyes? Maxine felt she was going to melt. She suddenly felt that she had to do something.

It was dismissal time.

After seeing Todd's eyes, Maxine felt something unrecognizable. She felt as though she was sad herself. She knew, deep down inside of her, that she didn't want to see Todd's eyes sad again.

Why was this happening to her? She couldn't understand this . . . this . . . feeling.

Maxine wasn't clearly thinking when she decided to talk to Josh. She just wanted to follow what her guts were telling her. She didn't know why she was going to do what she was about to do. She just felt that this was the right thing. Why was it the right thing to do? She did not know.

Right now, she waited for Josh outside the covered court. She didn't know how she was going to do it. The door of the covered court suddenly burst open. A lot of High School boys in their jerseys went out. Most of them were seniors, and several of them were her fellow juniors. They were staring at Maxine as they walked. Some of her fellow juniors waved at her. She didn't know what else to do so she returned the wave.

When they were almost out of sight, Josh finally came outside; he was very surprised to see Maxine.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“I – uh – need to tell you something,” she said quietly.

“Shoot.”

She inhaled. She had to do it. She had to follow what her instincts was telling her. She had never been sure of anything in her entire life.

Hopefully, though, she was on the right direction.

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So you liked this chappie, didn't you? Well, I sure hope so because I really enjoyed this one. And if you liked this chapter, then I promise you, you will love some of the chapters in the future. I am absolutely sure of it. Hehe.. Tell me what you think!! :D

Note: What do you think will Maxine say to Josh? And what was your reaction when Todd threw at apple at Josh? Hahaha! That was fun.. XD

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