Chapter Four - Nobles and Starships

"No, my father is the noble, and it's called anime-like animation but without the-'ation'." He chuckled.

The young girl was still in awe and didn't even care what anime was. All she thought of was how the nobility could have shaped his character, like his composure, charm, and attention, to insignificant detail. There's more to Klaus than what meets the eye and the more Samantha knew, the more interested she got.

"The bloody British and their anime, huh?" She muttered.

"In the peerage, my father is Lord Augustus Muller, the Viscount Mayway, and I'm his firstborn son. So yeah, in the future, I'll inherit his title." He said sheepishly.

"Did he just feel shy telling me that?" She thought. The sight of this boosted her ego and another aspect of Samantha's surfaced.

"It's just a courtesy title, so we could move here when my father's company moved its headquarters to Belmont, Ohio. Though part of the reason I joined him was that I have an interest in the engineering programs in the US. It's easier to join western universities if you're taking western curriculums."

"Wow… that was interesting." She said.

"Oh? Have I pickled your fancy Samantha?" He said with sharp eyes and a smile that could melt an ice cap.

"Hmph! No," she muttered, flushed.

Samantha's childishness amused Klaus very much that he smiled and stared at her. And as she failed to keep eye contact during that silence, his sadist smile sprung out just like Mr. Collins. Who knew that her math teachers and Klaus shared a wicked sense of humor?

"Here you go, kids." The server placed the milkshakes in the center, with two straws in each glass.

"Why are there two straws in each glass?" Klaus asked.

"Just in case y'all want to taste each at the same time." The server said was a sweet smile.

The two teenagers looked at each other in awe. That was a strange thing to do because they could have simply transferred straws between glasses. They laughed it off, and this helped Samantha relax and demolish her milkshake. She drank it like a brain freeze was a myth that only affected those that believed it was real.

"What? I love milkshakes." She murmured.

"No criticism from me." He said as he smiled and stirred his glass.

Samantha rolled her eyes. "So you want to do engineering? Which kind?"

"Aeronautical and astronautical engineering." He replied.

"Aero-what now?"

"Basically engineering of vehicles that move through atmospheres and the vacuum of space."

Samantha leaned forward. "So you want to make planes and spaceships?"

"Yes, and to go to outer space as well. And yourself? What do you want to do after you graduate?" He asked enthusiastically.

She sipped. "Well… I want to study the earth and planetary sciences and also go into space." As she spoke, she realized she shared her most private desire with a boy who she only started talking to yesterday. She felt like a thick cloud shrouding her mind felt a little lighter, and the revelation gave Samantha momentary vertigo.

Klaus noticed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay... Just a little lightheaded. I think I need to go home now. It's getting late." She replied.

Klaus just nodded and immediately went to pay the bill and walked Samantha out of the diner and back home. The twilight air and silence from the walk made Samantha feel a little better. Klaus walked her to the porch, ready to be greeted by Samantha's mom, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was hiding behind, waiting to see if their movie date ended in a kiss, or maybe she was just cooking dinner. Klaus was curious to know what the energetic doctor was up to.

"Feeling any better?" He asked.

"Yeah. I think the brain freeze went into effect pretty late." She forced a smile.

"You have a strange body, Diaz. I think the better word would be bizarre." He chuckled.

"There you go again, calling me by my last name. I hear it enough, as is with my parents being called Doctor Diaz-Duo."

He laughed a little loud. "I'm sorry. Blame the Japanese anime. They call people by their last names as a sign of respect."

"Oh really? So you respect me?" She asked.

"I'm finding it hard not to, Samantha." He said with a warm smile. His eyes, this time, were more gentle and sincere, yet still focused on Samantha. What did he see she didn't realise?

"May I have your number? We need to finish our discussion from the diner." He continued as he pulled out his phone.

Yesterday, Klaus was just a stranger who needed help with his dog, and today he is the first boy to ever plainly ask her for her number. Most guys would write their numbers on cards and slide them into her locker so that they could hook up or they would make grand gestures in school for everyone to see, so she gets pressured into a girlfriend proposal. No one ever calmly asked for her number to just talk more. No one wanted to know Samantha on the inside.

"Um okay." She grabbed the phone and put in her number. "Just text me and I'll save yours."

"I'll call you." He replied.

"But my number can get really busy with calls, you know." She lied.

"I can wait for you to be done and try after." He smiled.

"Bloody British." She thought.

His charm seemed to get more and more intense the more they talked. Their encounter with her parents was the only time he had flustered. On this day, he was completely in his element, like an athlete on form in a competition.

He looked at the number. "I'll call you as soon as I'm done with dinner."

Klaus leaned towards her with one arm to hug Samantha, but no sooner had he reached out than she started walking to her front door, embarrassed.

"You are one weird girl, Samantha. I like that." He smiled and waved goodbye to her as he walked back in the direction they came.

Samantha walked through the door and quickly headed for her room, ignoring her mom's questioning stare. She closed the door and stood for about a minute, star struck.

"What just happened?" She asked herself.

She heard her phone vibrate on the table on the side of the bed. She reached for it and it was a message from an unknown number. Is this Klaus or just her service provider spamming her again?

"Thought it would be easier if I just texted you so that you save the number first. Klaus ;-)" The message wrote.

Samantha flushed. She didn't expect him to reach out so soon with a text message. She thought he would call after an hour when she pulled herself together. Her phone vibrated again, and it was another message from Klaus.

"By the way, you are free for a swim next week?" He wrote.