All Is "fair" in Love.

"I know this is sudden and I know I have only been here for the last two months... But... would You go out with me?"

"huh"? "wait.. no... what"???

Eating lunch, indulging in the few minutes of peace that Alex routinely enjoys by himself tucked away in the forest behind the school gym. Alex did not expect to be found so easily as he had always been a semi professional in the art of reclusive activities. And as such, he is always keenly aware that anyone who also ventures outside for lunch enjoys the sun in the schools courtyard, as well as the fact that anyone who does come to the woods always stay more towards the edge of the clearing rather than venturing deep into the trees and other dense foliage. Most would see this as an excursion and be unwilling to take the time necessary for the ten minute walk to the small creek past the schools property line where he ate his lunch every day. Though now... he found himself face to face with a girl. It would have been one thing if anyone else, girl or not, approached him in the spot he was sure no body could have ever reached without making a sound. But here she was, seemingly out of nowhere the most beautiful girl in his whole school of 2500 students. A 2nd year who transferred late into the first semester Abigail Schen, a perfect 10 with modest hips, piercing green eyes with flecks of brown, golden blond hair that flowed to the middle of her back and breasts... breasts that were the envy of most of her peers not to mention some of the girls in Alex's 4th year class. This exquisite beauty was now looking directly into Alex's eyes which were plain brown, situated under rough and unkempt black hair. His height of 5'10" was the best thing about him but all of his other features were as average as green beans.

"I said would You like to go out with me" Abigail spoke with a soft voice though it carried a peculiar sense of precision that made her words seem sexy.

"Sorry" Alex said abruptly with an awkward pause...

"I was caught off guard by your breas... I mean your beautiful smile". Alex said trying to figure out how she came upon him this far into the woods.

"thanks" She said blushing and giving a cute downward glance, either ignoring or not catching the slip of the toung Alex had made.

"I also apologize for startling you, I had waited for you in the cafeteria but Ryan said you always eat out by the creek behind the school so I came to look for you" she said with an embarrassing flush coming from behind her ears and giving her face a beautiful rosy color.

"damn that goofball Ryan" Alex cursed his best friend for exposing his temple of seclusion. "oh well, he probably won't tell anyone else, and he undoubtedly caved to her smile" Alex thought while grinning on the inside.

"it is ok, I am just surprised that you even noticed me let alone come all this way out here to ask me out" Alex spoke with clarity now seeing how it was probably his frequent daydreaming that kept him from noticing her potential observations of him throughout their short school life together.

"But I would love to" Alex said quickly trying to ease his mind and alleviate her embarrassment which he found to be extremely cute.

"I know its probably not the best idea to advertise this in school so i will continue to give you your space" she said. "But if its ok with you we can trade numbers and if you want I could see you Saturday if you want to go to a movie with me"? she said with her beautiful smile.

Feeling flutters in his stomach and knowing that this was a golden opportunity for him to experience what all young men dream about Alex agred and gave her his information. Once they had said goodbye she turned and strolled away with a light energetic spring in her step. Alex sat back down and finished eating lunch, noticing that the homemade food tasted better and that the forest seemed a little brighter.

Alex got home that day a little earlier than usual not really wanting to stay after school to go back to the creek and do homework in the natural silence of the forest. His younger sister Ashlin (16) was in the kitchen preparing dinner, Tyler and his twin sister Reza (13) were off in the forest collecting firewood and bugs. Brandon (11) was reading in their fathers study with their grandparents who were playing chess (and by the sound of his Grandfather 'Zettie is what the kids call him' grumbling Alex could tell his grandmother who they called Ellie was winning once again. Jasper (9) and Jasmin (8) who were closest in age other than the twins had been down to the river to fish and Ashlin said that they would be back in another hour or two. Not wanting to jump the gun, Alex decided to spare his family the story and details until after his date on Saturday. It would be strange if what happened was a joke or some way to get back at an ex-boyfriend. So that night during dinner Alex kept the conversation off him and angled towards the others. A decision he would come to regret soon enough..

That night as Alex lay in his bed he thought of his school life up until then. He was always made fun of by his classmates who viewed his love of nature as weird, telling him he's a "tree hugger" or a "pussy". "Grow the fuck up" they would say while admonishing his refusal to enjoy the luxurious world of fossil fules. Being raised in a family of environmental naturalist, Alexander Phillips didn't have a phone or a computer like all of his classmates until he turned 18 this last summer. Adverse to the way technological innovation was beginning to outpace society and began to be a more perverse ideological battle space between cultures his parents prevented their children from having such things until they reached 18. This obviously created tension between Alex and his classmates at first, though his kindness and quick wit allowed him to make friends easily enough. Ashlin his younger sister had no problems whatsoever, she was absolutely gorgeous and always had a clique of other girls in her class creating a dense buffer between the would be bullies and young men who would do anything to court her. Alex who considered himself to be a man of nature (though some would just say is a reclusive weirdo) but had two loyal friends none the less. Ryan who became friends with Alex by way of a logging camp north of the towns border at the base of the Heavens Ridge mountain chain. Alex and Ryan's fathers were introduced to one another when the house was under construction at the ranch. They became friends immediately and considered the both of them to be gentlemen who were connoisseurs of fine wine and spirits (the wives on the other hand just called them drunks in a lighthearted manner). Thus as a result the boys began to hang out frequently and became friends whose shenanigans were unmatched throughout the land as being quoted from Ellie who covered for the boys on many occasions. Alex's other friend was more like a little sister, though her age was about the same as his. Abra was an orphaned girl whose parents were killed in the last great conflict between two countries across the Silver isthmus south of Union Empire. Her tan Complexion, large silver colored eyes and dirty blonde hair made her a gem among the students. In Alex's high-school students were all mostly from the land around the base of the snowy Heavens Ridge mountains. This meant that all were pale with average brown or orange eyes. Most of their hair was black although some had a silver hue to them. She was bullied for her race by the children in her preschool, so one day she ran away into the forest being incredibly sad and ashamed of her body and skin color. Upon arrival at the large river to the north she began to cry for she could go no further but felt she had no place to return to. Tiring herself out by crying so hard she became incredibly thirsty. Looking for a place to approach the warter she heard a noise, crouching down for fear of being found by the teacher who she thought was surly after her she waited. A few minutes passed by with nothing changing so she popped her head up.

WHAMM!!!!!! something struck her forehead with a tremendous power. Stunned and confused she had no time to cry before she teetered into unconsciousness. Abra awoke confused and in pain several minutes later to the sight of two boys her age kneeling by her side looking down with shocked expressions.

"Are you alright"? "I can't believe you are alive" Alex said with a worried tone in his voice.

"no kidding I thought you were super duper dead!!" Ryan said with excitement "i am sorry for hitting you with our slingshot but you looked like a rabbit from over there" he added while pointing across the river.

Abra felt the spot on her forehead where a small object had smashed into it. Raw and painful but the skin had not broken so she was relieved.

"why did you come to wake me up"? she said looking down. "didn't you see the way I looked when you got closer" she said softly while tears welled up in her eyes. She thought of the other children yelling and throwing sticks and rocks at her earlier in the school yard.

"because we wanted to say we were sorry" Alex spoke now with clarity and precision. "were very sorry about hitting you by mistake" Alex exclaimed.

"yea were super duper sorry... um.. ah.. whats your name??" ryan said this confused but kindly which threw Abra off.

"my name is Abra"

"Abra what"? Alex asked while thinking of what a unique name that was.

"Abra what?"? She said wondering the meaning of his question.

"he means do you have a last name" ryan said with a smile gleaming in the sun.

"no I don't know what that is" she said with a quizzical expression on her beautiful tan face now looking less pale than it had before.

"oh well who cares" said Alex "come on! my mom is back at the house and is making fresh ice cream for us, you can come over and have some if you will be our friend".

Abra didn't know what this "ice cream" was neither did she have time to ask about why these two boys wanted to be her friends, let alone have her over to their house. Though before she said anything Alex grabbed her tiny hand in his, helped her to her feet, and began leading her down the river towards a big bridge. His hand was rough and warm, flutters engulfed her stomach in a happy way. she looked at both of the boys who were talking excitedly about fresh vanilla and strawberries but she paid no attention. As she was led along the path that wound through the woods she noticed that both of the boys pants were wet and muddy. It suddenly occurred to her that they had rushed across the river to come get her and make sure she was alright. This made her tear up a little but not from sadness. This feeling she couldn't explain moved around in her tiny head bobbing along the path.

"they must have dashed across when they realized that I wasn't a rabbit" she thought.

Something caught in her throat but she had no time to address it because she was suddenly standing at the front door of a beautiful wood home. A beautiful blonde hair woman opened the door suddenly.

"Oh my gosh what happened to your pants"!! she said while going to her knees. Then her eyes met Abra's and a warm smile spread across her face radiating love and happiness.

"oh this is Abra our new Best Friend" Alex said while still half thinking of ice cream.

At that moment, Abra then began to understand what had just happened. Keeping it to herself, she shed a few tiny tears while eating ice cream flanked on both sides of her chair by her new best friends.

This was ok because he loved his family, a family of three sisters and two brothers which made them an even set with Alex being the oldest at 18 years. Alex loved them all so deeply, this was partly due to him raising his siblings mostly on his own now that his parents were traveling and being able to spend his every waking hour (if not at school) working on their ranch in the foothills in the state of Anderica with them. Their was never a time in which Alex felt more loved than when sitting down and eating with his whole family. The two story home which they lived in was built on a 1000 acre plot of land which their grandmother obtained through a will from her grandfather who received it from his grandmother and so on. Their home was on the very edge of the town of Zellsville, across the mighty St. Zeras river and just below the base of the world's largest mountain chain The Heavens Ridge which separated the two coastlines of The Union Empire. Their home was made by his father from the surrounding areas natural resources. The animals on their property had all been rescued from around the world and once they received medical attention from Alex's father they were able to roam freely, never traveling beyond the hills into the snow covered mountains or being able to cross the river the animals always stayed close and the children were able to bond with them all.

Until reaching the age of high-school students, Alex and his siblings were taught by their mother. She was a professor at the Great Union Military Academy and wad extremely young for her age relative to the position she held within the military and society. That's why her father (Alex's doting Grandfather) cried for five days straight when his only daughter came home and said she had resigned from the Academy to marry and travel the world with Alex's father. Then 4 years later they brought into the world a baby boy, which immediately changed the views of Alex's Grandfather who had grown cold and stubborn to the newly wed couple. Through the years and five more children later the once imposing and fierce General of the Greatest Division of the black operations very first Space Marines who conqured the colonies of rebellious miners on the satellite moon closest to earth called Heavens Door. The indestructible General Zanettiof Villiam Philips the 3rd became soft and squishy. Always thinking of ways to make his grandchildren smile along with his wife of 65 years Ellen Philips, Alex's only grandparents moved in with them after the third child was born and now 18 years later the family felt enormous but loving and complete.

His mother and father were apart of the Green Friends society that battled climate change and deforestation. His father Adam Phillips was a "born again environmentalists" and his mother Shelby who had a PhD in environmental science, worked tirelessly traveling all around the world campaigning for the mostly fictitious dream of abolishing fossil fules. Alex knew this was a pipe dream of sorts because the reality of the year 2035 was that the explosion of the earths population had led to a global economic war for water and resources. Recently though kinetic conflicts have flared up on every continent and the possibility of a war has gave way to a technological arms race between all of the major powers. This was something that Alex and most of the other people in The Great Union Empire hardly thought of. Living in the largest economic and military power the world has ever seen was a buffer between its population and the reality of the rest of the countries across the massive oceans that lie on either side of the Unions territory.

Alex felt like his mind was too full to fall asleep, though listening to the insects in the woods eventually lulled him into comfortable breathing and a sense of calm. He fell asleep thinking about Abigail, and the future seemed so bright. He had no dreams that night, just sleep.

Some of the last few moments of peace that he would ever experience on earth.