Le Garcon Avec Les Cheveux Blancs

[VoltTurtle]

Maddie walked out the front doors of the school after another day in class.

I've officially been going to Aurora for three months now. I think that is a good milestone. She cheerfully thought.

She glanced around at the crowds of people around her, most of them boarding their buses to go home. She walked down next to the parking lot, and started looking around for her dad's car.

Damn. Looks like he isn't here yet.

She sat down at the curb a little out of the way of the other students and swung her backpack around in front of her. She rummaged through her backpack for a moment before pulling out a Popular Science magazine. She started to flip through the magazine, looking for any articles that she perchance hasn't read. Shortly after she found an article on exo-planets that she hadn't quite yet read. Surprised I missed this. She thought to herself.

She began to read, but after getting a little ways into the article she glanced up and noticed that almost everyone was gone, and all the buses had departed.

Huh. Dad is really late. She thought. Looks like I am going to be here a while.

She sighed and looked over at the remaining students, some of them being people who presumably missed their buses, and some of them being people who hung out around after-school for a little while after dismissal. She noticed one person in particular though, there was a boy nearby with with messy white hair, he stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other students. An odd sight. She thought. But, nothing TOO out of the ordinary.

She turned back to the article on exo-planets, continuing to wait for her dad to arrive.

[Firedog†]

Alex stood outside of the school; he had no practice today and wanted to just enjoy the air for a little while. It was a good time for him to collect his thoughts and have conversations with some of his friends. Alex messed around with the keys he had inside of his pocket, he had only started driving to school this year and it was still somewhat of an excitement when Alex felt his keys and knew that they were his. As Alex looked out over the parking lot he noticed a notable lack of cars, of course he had been standing there a while, but it couldn't have been that long.

Wow, I don't think I've been here long enough for all of these people to go home already.

Just to make sure that his eyes hadn't fooled him, Alex looked out over the parking lot one more time, sure enough, his eyes had been right. Most of the friends he talked to had left a little bit ago, but Alex had been too lost in thought to notice it. Alex let out a sigh before he noticed a girl sitting alone at the curb. Thinking about how lonely it must be to be alone while waiting Alex approached her. As he did so he noticed a Popular Science magazine in her hands. Nice to know that they shared an interest if there was a lack of things to talk about.

Alex sat down next to the girl on the curb before saying, "Hey," he then pointed to the magazine before he continued, "You know, I think my dad had an article published in one of those. Have you ever read something by Éric de Gaulle?"

[VoltTurtle]

Maddie sat, reading the portion of the article discussing planets that possibly can have life on them, when she heard someone sit down next to her. She turned to look at the person, and she realized that it was the boy with white hair that she saw just a few minutes ago. Who is this boy... and why has he approached me? Maddie rarely conversed with anyone since coming to Aurora, and most people just ignored her existence.

He greeted her and pointed to her Popular Science magazine that she was holding. He asked her if she had ever read an article by some man named Éric de Gaulle. Maddie fought the urge to ignore him and continue reading. This boy is being nice to me. Maybe this is my chance to finally make my first friend here at Aurora.

"Um, well, I don't really pay attention to the authors of the articles I read." She said, making an effort to raise her voice above a whisper. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why are you talking to me? Most people don't even notice my existence." She added as politely as she could muster.

[Firedog†]

Alex listened to what the girl said, giving a small, almost nonexistent, chuckle in response to what she said about not paying attention to the authors. After the girl finished speaking, Alex said, "You know, you should probably look at who the authors are and the small blurbs they have about them, I know not many people do, but they go through a lot to get published in these types of things, and it is a pretty big achievement. I know my dad would love it if he got some type of glory for it."

Alex shifted his sitting position after he became a bit uncomfortable and continued speaking, "But anyway, to answer your question, I needed someone to talk to and you had a science magazine. I figured it would be easy to start a conversation that way."

Looking out around the parking lot Alex noticed a few more cars leaving, emptying out the parking lot even more. Thinking out loud he said, "So, why are you still here this late? Waiting for someone to pick you up or did you just want some time to read something in the nice weather?"

It was a bit weird for someone to be sitting here reading when there were some nice benches to sit down on. But, sometimes it was better to sit somewhere odd and get a different perspective on the world, even if while reading, it could be nice to observe things differently.

[VoltTurtle]

Maddie could have sworn she heard a chuckle come out of the boy's mouth as she talked, but she could have easily imagined it. He told her that she should probably pay attention to the authors of the articles, since getting an article published is an achievement. "Uh, yeah. Guess it is." She had never really thought about how the authors must feel when they get an article published, perhaps she should pay a bit more attention.

The boy shifted and continued on, saying he needed someone to talk to, and she happened to have a science magazine. "Oh, alright. I just don't normally get approached." She said as the boy looked around the parking lot.

The boy then asked why she was still here this late after-school. "Oh, yeah. My dad is usually here by now to pick me up, but he must be busy at the hospital he works at, or something." She then realized that she still doesn't know the boy's name. I might as well ask. She thought.

"Erm, I just realized we haven't told each other our names. My name is Madeline, but my friends call me Maddie. What's your name?"

[Firedog†]

Alex heard the question asked and replied with, "Oh, sorry about that, I should have introduced myself earlier. My name is Alexander de Gaulle, and not just friends, but pretty much anyone calls me Alex." He thought to himself about how Maddie might be stranded here for a while if her dad didn't come to pick her up.

"You know, although it isn't important right now. I am going to be here for a while longer, if your dad doesn't come to pick you up by the time I leave I can always give you a ride home." Even though Alex had just met Maddie, he always liked helping people when they needed it and it would be a good way to get to know her.

"Although not now of course, I still plan on staying a bit longer just talking to, you first and then after our conversation ends I'm going to go talk to my other friends."

[VoltTurtle]

The boy introduced himself as Alexander de Gaulle. Oh, so THAT'S why he mentioned a person named Eric de Gaulle getting into Popular Science, he's Alex's father! Quite an impressive feat, getting into Popular Science. Alex must be quite proud of his dad.

Alex offered to give her a ride home in case her dad didn't get here soon. She wasn't one to refuse someone's kind gesture. "Oh, that is very kind of you. I would be happy to take you up on that offer." She figured that this was a good way as any to get to know Alex, even if her dad did show up soon.

Speaking of dad... She wondered where he was still. She looked at the time on her phone. He was very, very late. She sighed. He must still be at the hospital, doing whatever it is that he does. She was definitely going to have to take up Alex on his offer.

She turned to him. "So... what fields of science do you like? My personal favorites are Physics and Chemistry."

[Firedog†]

After hearing the question Alex lifted his hand up to his chin and thought about it. It was a bit of a complicated question; all fields of science were great, but narrowing down to what you like the most was tough. Well obviously I'm going to have to put physics into that answer, but I do like some other fields a bit more than the rest.

After he lowered his hand he said, "Well, after giving it some thought. My favorite out of all of them would have to be Physics, but I would also include Astronomy and Linguistics, I like both of them a bit more than the rest."

Satisfied with his answer Alex smiled slightly, it was hard to pinhole his interest in science to a few fields, but he managed to do it. To keep the conversation going he asked, "So, is there any particular reason why you would choose Physics and Chemistry as your favorites?"

[VoltTurtle]

Alex responded to her question, saying that his favorite field of science was physics, but he also liked astronomy and linguistics. Interesting. She was a little curious as to why he liked linguistics, it isn't as popular a field of science as most, and she doesn't know many who enjoy foreign language classes. Of course, not many enjoy physics class either, due to all of the math involved.

She turned and looked off a bit in the distance. No sign of dad yet. She frowned. She was starting to get a bit frustrated. Whatever he is doing better be really urgent.

She was jolted her out of her thoughts when Alex asked her why physics and chemistry were her favorite fields of science. "Oh. Uh. Well... I find those fields to be really interesting. Just knowing how everything ticks fills me with awe at the wonder of the universe." She paused. "Plus, they both have so many practical applications; all of our advancements are because of the developments in either the fields of physics, chemistry, or biology." She made a little motion with her hands. "I could ask you the same thing, at least concerning linguistics. Specifically, why linguistics? I don't know many people who enjoy that field of science, especially people our age."

[Firedog†]

Alex had an answer ready at hand for the question he knew was coming, after all, he didn't ask something like that without knowing that it could be asked directly back. "Well, I like linguistics so much because I am just fascinated by language. My dad is from France, so he taught me French from an early age, and I also know English, obviously, since we are speaking now. I am just amazed by how it is all put together and all the different meanings and how grammar works out. It really is just something that amazes me. I really hope to learn some other languages as well so I can just see how different and also how similar they all are."

"As for Physics, well... my dad is a Physics professor over at The University of Washington. I really got into it so I could talk to him about it, and he would be able to teach me some about it as well. I plan on being a physicist, so I need to like it if I plan on doing that for life." Alex scratched his head before continuing, "And, as for Astronomy, would you accept simply because space is cool?" Alex chuckled.

Alex took out his cell and looked at the time. "Wow, it is getting kind of late, where is your dad anyway? You think someone would at least give a call if they were going to be so late."

[VoltTurtle]

Alex explained to Maddie why he liked linguistics, explaining to her how he knew french and how languages amazed him. "Oh alright. That makes sense." Maddie could never quite get into language, and foreign language classes were the only classes that were genuinely a challenge to her. However, even though she didn't like linguistics herself, the explanation he gave was quite sound and she could easily understand why it would appeal to Alex.

Alex then proceeded to explain why he liked physics, saying he planned on becoming a physicist, and that the reason he liked astronomy was because space was cool. "Oh! You want to be a physicist? I was going to pursue a degree in physics, probably even become one myself later." She laughed. "And yeah, space is pretty cool."

Alex then noted that her dad is pretty late. "Oh yeah he is really late. I thought he would call too, but maybe his phone is dead or he is too busy." She looked off in the distance and saw a familiar car driving up to the school. "Speak of the devil." She said quietly. "Actually, that car coming up looks like my dad's car. Guess it is time for me to go." She put her things into her backpack and stood up. "It was nice meeting you!" She said, happily. "Perhaps we can talk again later." She waved goodbye to Alex and walked in the direction of her dad's car.

Today was a good day. She thought to herself.

[Firedog†]

Alex waved goodbye to Maddie as he watched her leave to go to her father's car. Alex stood up and scanned for any of his other friends still around but noticed no one. Damn, they must have all gone home already. With no one left for him to hang out with Alex decided to just leave and go home.

As Alex walked out to his car he twirled his keychain around his finger. Once he reached his car he unlocked the door and got in. After turning on the engine he reached for the radio before he thought, Actually, I think I would like some quiet on the drive home. Alex then drove away.