False Obsession Turned Real

2. Two Heads Are Better Than One

"U-uh no?" Conner squeaked, looking terrified for some reason. Fred stared at him. Fred had no idea Bree had just passed behind him and due to Conner's crush, he was a nervous wreck every time he saw her. "I did catch snippets of what you said... something about History? Red hair? Stupid girls? Sorry, I was a bit distracted."

Fred raised one of his eyebrows so high it almost disappeared. It wasn't the first time Conner spaced out. Fred knew something was going on with Conner, but he didn't know what. Sometimes he acted like a hyper puppy, sometimes a stuttering idiot, sometimes highly exaggerating his actions.

"Freddie, I need to talk to you about something."

The boy whirled around, surprised to see Alex standing there with a determined expression on her face. "Eeeeuuuh Alex?"

Since Fred basically grew up with Conner, he was quite familiar with his sister Alex too. They used to play together when they were little but now Alex seemed to be too occupied with school work to talk to anyone except for her brother.

Alex's determined blue eyes pierced through Fred in a very-Mrs-Peters-way. Then without any warning, she suddenly grabbed his wrist and dragged him away. "See you later Conner!" she called over her shoulder.

Conner just stared in disbelief and shock, wondering what was going on.

Alex and Fred walked through the crowd. The boy tried to free his hand from Alex, but her grip was like a pincer. He groaned, but suddenly something came to his mind. What if Alex liked him and wanted to confess to him? Hell no! Conner would slaughter him for breaking the bro code. Correction: he wouldn't just slaughter him, he would push Fred into a pond with crocodiles, then drag him out and hang him on a tree by his ankle, then force him to step on Lego bricks.

Fred shuddered at the thought of the last punishment.

"Okay what's going on?" he asked, beginning to get slightly annoyed.

Alex sighed. "Did you notice something weird about Conner lately?"

Fred blinked. "Yeah, he always seem to space out when I talk to him. And he gets even clumsier than usual. Do you know what happened to him?"

"No," Alex replied, biting her lip while she thought. "That was what I wanted to ask you about."

"Do you have any ideas?" Fred asked.

Alex gave him a pointed look, then pulled out a small notepad from her jacket pocket. "Here," she said, handing the notepad to the other boy.

***

"Uhh guys?" Conner called after his sister and Fred after they had mysteriously decided to ditch him. He raised one eyebrow comically. "Whatever." He muttered.

Conner walked to his usual bench where his bunch of rowdy mates sat.

"Hey dude!" they chorused, welcoming the boy.

"Where's Freddie?" someone asked.

Conner shrugged. "I dunno." The boys started chattering noisily about soccer tryouts, basketball team tryouts, and so on. Conner wasn't a total fan of sports, the only reason he even ran was either because he was in a hurry or in the Land of Stories.

You run a lot in the Land of Stories. Conner and Alex learnt that firsthand.

After talking for a couple of minutes and Fred being still missing, Conner decided to look for him.

He weaved through the benches, eyes searching for a familiar blond head. He also assumed Fred was with Alex, so he searched for Alex too.

"Hey!" Fred suddenly popped out from nowhere. He waved a hand in front of Conner. "Hello, I'm back!"