Story: Middle Part 13
[[Continuity Note: What follows is filler, to show what happens after Alf has his first magical lesson, and to document the deepening of his relationship with Jessica, and to further highlight the separation between Alf and Damien.]]
After that first lesson, Alf found using his magical orb (which he'd secretly nicknamed Fla... Alf backwards) a great help. It told him that the information that it carried had been derived from the Aldus family library, and that it magically updated when someone added a book, or note to the library. When Alf had asked about the different voices it carried, it stated that the voice was portrayed by the author of whoever had written the text. Of course Alf then went on to ask about whose voice it carried otherwise, and it was Aliana's, though Alf had already guessed that.
He was so absorbed in what it told him that he found himself staying up long past his bedtime just listening to it, and asking it questions. It was through experimentation that he discovered that it could also record anything he said, though he had to be careful with that function as he discovered no way to delete what he'd recorded, so if anyone asked it what Alf had said that time it would be sure to repeat it in Alf's tone of voice. He discovered that not everything it said was in fact fact, as some of the tomes in the Aldus family library were magical novels, written by a devoted legion of authors throughout the ages.
He discovered that it also kept note of the last questions that it was asked, and also that he had no idea how to delete that, either. He didn't particularly want some sensitive questions like "Is anyone reading my mind right now?" to be discoverable by anyone who happened upon the orb. It was times like these that he wished the orb came with instructions. Finally he had the thought to ask the orb about deleting things... and it gladly told him how. It would be a long time before Alf stopped inwardly kicking himself for not asking it what to do in the first place.
The orb was his new best friend. He liked it even better than Google. He was sure to not actually say this out loud as he didn't want his computer, or Google itself to hear him say it. He was certain that there were a multitude of technical things that the orb did not know that Google would... he was certain because he'd tried asking it about processor speeds and the answer was only a "Would you like to insert a new article on 'processor speeds'?" where 'processor speeds' had been played back to him in the voice he'd asked the question in.
Speaking of new best friends, Alf and Jessica were on much better terms these days. He'd grown to tolerate her useless off topic natterings, and she'd grown to well, acknowledge that he existed. Their relationship was rather strange, they would sit together at lunch times, then Alf would begin a conversation. By the time Jessica got her opening to speak, she'd begin talking about something only related to what Alf stated in the mysterious workings of her mind. Alf wondered if it was because she was so unused to having normal conversations with people her age. Even her multitude of cousins didn't seem to be able to understand what went on in her mind.
The curiousness of their conversation really increased when Alf took his turn. He'd continue on the first topic, almost as though Jessica had not spoken, but seemed to be taking into account the various things she'd said that weren't related. In that, the two of them were a perfect match. They seemed to understand each other, despite whatever words they were actually saying.
"Do you think the Nintendo Wii is really going to be better than the PlayStation 3?" Alf asked Jessica.
She looked back at him a moment. "Well, the last time my cousin Gabriela went apple picking with her mother, the grower let her take home some apple seeds. Of course she planted them in our backyard and the trees are still growing. So we don't know if they're red apples or green apples."
"Yeah, I see what you're saying. I guess we aren't going to know until next year when the PS3 comes out. Until them I'm still going to get the best use out of my PS2."
"Yeah," Jessica agreed. "I like using Granny Smiths when I make apple pies, but some people like using red ones better, even though they're kind of sweet. They like that you can just eat the red ones as well, so it's not as specialised. But I really like eating Granny Smiths raw anyway, even if they are kind of sour. Don't you reckon they taste just as good?"
But before Alf could continue expounding upon the benefits of purchasing new PS2 games when PS3 versions would be coming out soon, he noticed Damien seemingly coming towards them. His dialogue died upon his lips as he wondered if his ex-best friend was finally going to apologise to him.
Jessica, decided not to intrude upon his moment, idly opening a notebook and beginning to scratch idly in the corner.
Alf looked at him with a small amount of regret. As much as he wanted his best friend back, it probably wasn't right of him to have one who didn't know anything about magic at all, now. And he had Jessica, even if she was a rather spacey girl. At least she was intelligent, and funny even though most of the time she didn't know that she was being funny. Not to mention Damien had been truly evil to him, calling him a liar, and then telling the entire school that he was one. It wasn't something Alf could forgive at the moment, even if the rumours had died down and all they really gossiped about was whether Hannah Frost had lost her virginity like she had claimed in the girls' bathroom one morning.
Damien looked up and saw him looking at him. He seemed to stop himself from taking a step further, then walked away.
Alf looked down in regret. Maybe his ex-best friend hadn't wanted to apologise after all. He put the headphones of his mp3 player on, then drowned himself in the haunted tones of Evanescence.
Jessica sat beside him, wishing there was some way to make it better.
[[End scene.]]
posted by Cedric @ 4:26 pm
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