Sorry for updating late. The last week had been the start of school so I haven't had any time to log on to Wattpad. So to make up, this is a rather long chapter of Realize. Hope you enjoy. :)

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Todd woke up in his room with a smiling face, late in the afternoon. He quickly washed up and went to the kitchen.

“Mom, if you were at my age, where do you want to go?” he asked, sitting by the counter. “Where do you think is the place that's perfect here in the city?” he added, as he bit the toast in front of him.

Janice took a moment to think, and then she grinned. “It would be nice to see the whole city at night — from the sky.”

Todd thought about it. Then, he swallowed.

“All right!” he said. “Thanks, Mom.”

He went to his bedroom and dressed up. He picked up his cell phone and dialed.

It rang…

“What's up?” answered a deep voice from the other line.

“Hey, it's Todd. How are you?” asked Todd politely.

“Todd! What a surprise! Well, I'm still the same. What can I do for you?” asked the deep voice kindly.

“I need a favor. See, I'm planning to go there with someone tonight. Is it all right if I come?”

“Hmm . . . I guess I can make an exception,” said the deep voice. He sounded like he was smiling.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, young man. See you.”

There was a click from the other line, and the call ended.

It was already dark when Todd finished making himself ready. Once again, he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore jeans and a beige Irish knit sweater.

“Good enough,” he nodded, before finally leaving. “I'm going out, Mom. See you later,” he called loudly enough for his Mom to hear him from wherever she was.

He closed the door, walked several steps down the hallway, and rang the doorbell on Room 40, the condo unit of the Fergusons. He waited for a while before the door opened.

It was Maxine. She must have just come out of the bathroom because her hair was still in tangles. She wore a T-shirt and pajamas. Oddly, there was a spoon in her mouth.

She seemed surprised, clearly not expecting Todd to show up in the night. Todd quickly looked away and audibly cleared his throat. Maxine looked down and pulled the spoon out of her mouth.

“Um . . . What is it?” she asked.

“I was harsh to you the other day,” he started. “I thought maybe you could come with me to some place nice.” He looked at her, waiting for her reply.

“Why?” asked Maxine suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. She looked at him, trying to read what he was thinking.

“Think of it as a peace offering,” he shrugged.

She stared at him, thinking . . .

“Fine.”

Todd's head shot up in slight surprise. He sighed in relief, but he quickly composed his expression.

She let him in the living room. The TV was on; it looked like she was watching a movie while eating ice cream.

Minutes later, she came out wearing long sleeves and jeans. For moment, Todd thought she looked pretty. But he immediately pushed the thought away. He didn't want to make anything out of it.

They both wore coats because of the cold breeze outside. In silence, they made their way onto the limousine and drove off.

“Where are you taking me?” Maxine asked Todd, having no idea where they were going. But he ignored her. She turned to Joseph the Chauffeur instead. “Excuse me, where are we going?”

No answer. Just a smile from Joseph the Chauffeur. Maxine tried not to be impatient. She never liked surprises – especially when she was the one being surprised.

They stayed quiet for what seemed like ages. All of a sudden, the car stopped. Todd swiftly went out of the car, Maxine following close behind him. She looked around, the location of where they were slowly sinking in her mind. She looked up and it was confirmed.

They were at the Empire State Building.

She looked down again and noticed Todd talking to someone. He was a middle aged African-American man. She saw that there was warmth and kindness from his face. She couldn't help but overhear some of the things the man and Todd were talking about.

“— you, Spencer,” said Todd.

“Anything for you, young man,” said Spencer, smiling.

When Maxine came up beside Todd, he held her hand. Somehow, Maxine didn't notice it. She was too excited about why they were there. They followed Spencer inside, toward the elevator.

“Marcus!” called out Spencer. His eyes landed on someone much younger him. “I'm just going to the top floor.”

The guy name Marcus nodded. When they were inside the elevator, Spencer broke the silence.

“So, how long have you two been dating?”

Todd and Maxine's eyes widened, their cheeks flushed.

“We're not!” they answered in unison.

Spencer chuckled and said skeptically, “Oh, right. You're together at this time of night, blushing” (Todd and Maxine glanced at each other and their eyes met, they quickly looked away again) “and most especially . . .” Spencer paused and looked over the teenagers and looked at the front again, “. . . holding hands. And you tell me, you're just friends.”

Todd and Maxine didn't realize they were holding hands. Todd couldn't remember himself reaching out to hold Maxine's hand. But he must have had initiated it because there was no way that Maxine would do that. Now that Todd thought about it, why did he hold Maxine’s hand?

At the mention, they instantly pulled away.

“Tell me again, why you're together here at Empire State Building?” asked Spencer, as he turned to look at Todd and Maxine. He smirked. “You might wanna look in the mirror and see how red your faces are.”

Todd sighed. “Okay, okay. I've done something bad to her. Well, not bad, but rude. Because of that, I wanted to take her somewhere really nice to apologize.”

Maxine stared dumbfounded at Todd. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought she was the one that had been wrong. She had been feeling guilty all along, without knowing that Todd also felt the same.

“Wow,” said Spencer in disbelief. “You must've done something really rude to take her to this place just to apologize. And to think, you're not the type who apologizes.”

A second later, they were at the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. Spencer stepped out before them when the elevator had opened. Maxine went forward before Todd, excited to see the view. They were the only ones there.

“Or she must be really special for you, that you thought what you did to her was really rude when it was just a simple misunderstanding,” whispered Spencer to Todd, so that Maxine couldn't overhear.

Todd didn't answer. He just looked at Spencer, who was grinning. Then, Spencer gestured Todd to go to Maxine. Todd shook his head and went over to Maxine.

She was so amazed with the view.

“You felt guilty over a simple thing?” asked Maxine, the wind blowing her hair.

Todd smiled. “What can I say? I'm a nice guy.”

Maxine snorted. “I can't imagine Todd Samuels being nice. No, sir.”

“Being nice is something I can do. Not all the time, though. I'm still better off as cool, calm and collected.”

“You call yourself calm?” she laughed.

“Was there something funny with what I said?” he asked, pouting.

Maxine ignored his question. “You call yourself calm, whenever we argued? I don't think so.”

“Whatever,” he said in a bored voice, turning his head to gaze at the wondrous city night view.

“What, you're starting to get pissed, Mr. Irresistible?”

Todd whipped his head so fast in startle. “What? 'Mr. Irresistible'? Where in the world did you hear that from?” he demanded.

“A few girls at school,” she shrugged, oblivious to Todd's reaction.

Todd stared at her for a moment.

“You were curious about me?”

Maxine flushed. “No!” she exclaimed quickly. “I just overheard them talking about you.”

“And you listened?”

“Not intentionally.”

“Right,” said Todd skeptically.

Maxine shook her head and changed the subject quickly.

“Anyway, this view is awesome. Thank you, Todd,” she smiled warmly at him.

Todd was shocked by the warmth of her smile. He saw her smile like that before. But it was never directed at him.

“So am I forgiven?” he murmured.

“I don’t think there’s something to forgive, in the first place.”

Todd suddenly thought about something. It just popped into his head. He cleared his throat and looked down.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, sure.”

“How are you?”

Maxine frowned. “I’m fine.”

“No, I meant . . . Maxine, how are you?”

Maxine then understood what he actually meant. He was talking about her father and the situation that her family was in. He was the first to ask about what she felt about all of that. And he called her by her name, which didn't happen often.

“I . . .” she tried to answer. But her lips trembled and tears came out from her eyes. She disliked being weak. She didn't want to cry in front of Todd, of all people. But she couldn't help it. The tears just started pouring out.

Todd handed her a handkerchief. She accepted it without word and wiped her tears. He looked far away and sighed.

“You hide a lot of sad emotions behind that cheerful face of yours,” he said, disapprovingly. “You should let it go for you to move on.”

“I’m not ready to forgive him yet,” she mumbled, talking about her Dad.

“Hmm,” he said, his eyes looked upward to the night sky. “I just hope that it’s not too late when the day comes that you’re finally ready.”

Thanksgiving weekend was over. The students were energetic, yet again.

It was break time, Kim was looking all over school to find Maxine (can you imagine how big the school was?). When she finally saw Maxine from a distance, Kim ran to her. She was so tired from running that she was gasping for air when she reached Maxine. She could hardly speak. When she could breathe evenly, she finally spoke.

“Maxine, I have something to tell you,” she said urgently.

“What is it?” asked Maxine, alarmed.

Kim looked around. “Let's go somewhere more private.”

She dragged Maxine to the attic. Maxine was so amazed that there was an attic in a school. The attic was even furnished!

“I didn't know that schools have attics,” wondered Maxine loudly.

“Only this school has one,” corrected Kim. “Originally, this school was a manor with very huge garden,” she explained.

“More like a forest,” commented Maxine.

“Yeah, well — It was just renovated. But this attic is my secret hideout. And you're the very first one to know about it,” Kim added as she pinched Maxine nose.

“Ow.” Maxine caressed her nose. “Doesn't Brian know about this?”

Kim shook her head.

“Anyway, what were you gonna tell me?” inquired Maxine.

“About that,” Kim hesitated, “I had a strange feeling about Brian . . . the way that I've never felt before. . . . I can't describe it . . .”

“Whoa,” asked Maxine, starting to grin. “Ms. Love Expert, are you confused about . . . love itself?”

“What 'love'? There is no 'love'. That's impossible! We tried to be together when we were freshmen. And what happened? A disaster! So, it's not love,” assured Kim.

“Hmm, I see,” nodded Maxine, trying hard not to look skeptical. “So . . . it's not love?”

“Nope. It's definitely not love.”

“What do you call this 'strange' feeling, then?”

“Um, maybe it's just a . . .” paused Kim, struggling for words. “Ah — maybe it's just a brotherly feeling.”

“'A brotherly feeling'?” asked Maxine skeptically. “You can do better than that.”

“Oh, all right! Maybe it is that 'L' word,” huffed Kim. “But I don't know how to handle it,” she said quietly. “And what's worse? He probably thinks that we're better off as friends,” she added sadly, slumping down against the couch.

“Well, at least you guys are inseparable,” shrugged Maxine.

“What do you mean?”

“You're his best friend. You're with him all the time.”

Kim stared at Maxine for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, her head nodding slowly as the information sunk in.

“You're right. I can do this.”

“Yeah!” beamed Maxine. “When are you gonna confess to him?”

“Well . . .”

☺ ♪ ☺ ♫ ☺ ♪ ☺

“Karl! I need you help right now! Faster!” demanded Peter, pulling Karl along with him. “Sorry, Jen,” called Peter over his shoulder.

“Y – Yes, of course,” stammered Jen, bewildered.

“See you later!” yelled Karl, while Peter dragged him to the Sky Science Lab.

It turned out, Peter needed Karl's help to finish his Science project that was due tomorrow. Karl understood and was willing to help.

At lunch time, Karl was with Jen again. They were walking down the hall to the Sky Cafeteria when Peter came out of nowhere, running toward them. He seemed in as though he was in need again.

“Karl, I need you! Come!” said Peter urgently, pulling Karl away with him again.

“O – Okay,” nodded Karl. He turned to Jen and said quietly, “Jen, I'm sorry.”

“It's all right,” Jen assured him.

Somehow, she knew this was going to happen a lot in the next few days.

☺ ♪ ☺ ♫ ☺ ♪ ☺

At the Sky Studio, Brian and Todd were discussing their vacation. Todd told Brian every detail – just not the part where Maxine got high from chocolates. He decided to keep that for himself for a while.

“Dude, that's Cool!” exclaimed Brian, grabbing hold of Todd's shoulders and shaking him. “You're finally expressing your feelings for her.”

“What, how many times do I have to tell you?” snapped Todd, scowling. “I don't like Maxine.”

“Why do you act like that, then?”

“Because,” sighed Todd, pausing to look away, “she's my friend.”

“I'm your friend too, aren't I?” said Brian, grinning. “And yet you don't act like that to me.”

“No,” said Todd, looking at Brian. “You're not just my friend. You're my best friend. Okay, enough about me. How's your best-girl-friend?”

Brian rolled his eyes. “She's not my girlfriend. She's my girl best friend. Got it?”

“What's the difference?”

“I don't know,” shrugged Brian innocently. “Anyway, I'm working on it.”

“That's what you said last time.”

“Give me more time.”

As Jen had predicted, Peter continued to strangely need Karl for the next few days. Everyone from the gang noticed it. But they didn't know exactly how to handle it.

Even Jen realized that Peter was pulling Karl away from her. However, she wasn't sure. She wanted to talk to Peter about it, but she didn't want to come off as an over-thinker – even if she was.

In the Sky Studio that afternoon, Maxine arrived earlier than everybody else. Not a moment later, Peter arrived as well. She didn't want to meddle into other people's business but she was worried. Really worried. Maybe Karl didn't have any clue about Peter's intention. But the gang was.

“Peter, what are you doing?” blurted out Maxine.

“Uh, arranging the tone of my guitar?”answered Peter, as if it was really obvious.

“I can see that,” said Maxine casually. She decided to get to the point. “What I mean is, what are you doing to Karl?”

Peter looked confused. “What?”

“Don't play dumb, Peter.”

“Do I look like I'm playing dumb?” he asked indignantly.

Maxine's eyes narrowed. She almost fell for the innocent act. But she grew to know Peter over the months. And the fact was, he was so good at getting away with things.

“Are you saying that you are, indeed, dumb that you don't notice what you're doing to your best friend? And you're that dumb to be oblivious on how it affects the relationship of your best friend to the one girl he really wants to be with? You're that dumb that you don't even care of the happiness of your best friend? Is that what you're saying, Peter?”

He blinked. His jaw was dropped. And then, he was himself again.

“Whoa, I didn't know you could speak that fast.”

“Please stay on the subject.”

“What was the subject?”

“Peter!”

“Maxine!”

“Stop being a child.”

“But I am a child. An only child, even.”

Maxine bit her lip. “I'm going to have to work hard for you to admit it, aren't I?”

She expected him to say another comeback. But to her astonishment, he grinned and said, “You bet it, baby.”

“Peter, take this seriously. This isn't a joke.”

“I didn't think it was.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it.”

“I thought it wasn't a joke? So then why do you find it funny?”

Maxine closed his eyes, controlling her temper. You'd think that after all this time of handling someone like Todd, she could take Peter. How wrong she was.

“It's just the both of us here,” said Maxine earnestly. “You can tell me what's bothering you.”

“Actually, you're bothering me,” said Peter a-matter-of-factly. “I'm toning my guitar, remember?”

Her eyes shot open. Okay, no more Miss Nice Girl.

“Oh, poo!” snapped Maxine. “Just admit the fact that you're not over Jen and you're doing everything you can to keep Karl away from her because it hurts you to see them happy together which I don't understand because you're the one who gave up and told Karl to take care of her then all of a sudden you're making up all these excuses just to interrupt them from getting deeper in their relationship.” She took deep breaths because she spoke fast without stopping to breathe.

“Is it so wrong that I've been asking for his help lately?” asked Peter innocently.

“I'm not convinced,” said Maxine, with a raised eyebrow.

“What, I need my best friend,” he replied indignantly.

“Best friend or baby-sitter?”

Peter knew from that point on that he wasn't getting out of this conversation with Maxine. He might as well face it.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked in a low voice.

“You can't always pull Karl away from Jen, Pete.”

“I'm not,” growled Peter.

“You're not?” asked Maxine mockingly. “Then why is it that whenever Karl is with Jen, you always need him?”

“Coincidence.”

“I don't think so,” said Maxine, shaking his head. Her mood slowly turned to sincerity. “You're still not over her, are you?”

Peter looked down and didn't speak for a while.

“It's not easy to forget someone that was really special to you,” he said.

Maxine opened her mouth to say something when someone spoke before her.

“You don't have to forget her, you just have to let her go.”

It was Todd. He walked in, holding his bag over his shoulder. His timing was so right, probably because he was listening all along.

Peter thought about what Todd said. And then, he smiled.

“Words of wisdom, I see,” said Peter lightly. “But you're right.” He paused to look at Maxine, then at Todd. He grinned. “Will you look at that? Why don't the two of you date?”

As soon as Todd and Maxine heard it, they decided to leave the room. They absolutely did not want to hear it.

“I'll come back later,” muttered Todd.

“Me, too,” said Maxine, picking up her bag.

“What's with sudden reaction?” laughed Peter. “You do have a lot in common, you two.”

“You and Karl,” said Todd through gritted teeth, shaking his head. “You're really best friends. You have the same wicked idea.”