You talked to her, a week ago.

Your brother’s reaction had opened your eyes to an awful truth. People saw you as a lazy slob. Alexandria had no reason to be an exception, and that’s why you waited for eight long, grueling weeks.

It was not in vain, though. As you nonchalantly entered the gun shop, Luìs whistled his surprise and appreciation.

“-Well, boy! Someone has been working out! Impressive!”

You smile back.

“-I’ve come to have a look at what you can offer for self defense abroad. I’m going to Europe, and they’re pretty fussy about guns there.”

Luis whistles again.

“-Europe? That’s really nice, kid! You’ll see things!” He thinks for a bit and he ends up raising his hands.

“- I don’t think buying a weapon is a great idea then. I mean, for self defense. What you could do, though, is join a sports league. They have shooting and archery leagues in Europe too, and I know you’ve done some martial arts yourself.” He winks.

“My daughter told me. You were not trying very hard, she says. Spent a lot of time on the ground.”

He’s right. You never really did the work. It’s not very good, though, that Alexandria remembers you as the loser who spent so much time on the ground that she told her dad…

Ah, well. No good thing comes without struggle. And her thinking better if you would definitely be a good thing.

You end up buying a sports bow, and registering for classes both here and in your future European town. While you’re at it, you also register for Muay Thai. You don’t feel like going for more Judo, but your brother told you Muay Thai is a more virile martial art, and you trust his judgment.

As you come out of the shop, you cross paths with Alexandria. You suddenly realize that you haven’t actually laid an eye on another girl. Maybe having been a girl made all the fleshy delights of the Cynthias and Judy’s at the pool and the sports hall much less attractive, or maybe your newly found focus on your life goals had a role… but Alexandria? She’s something else.

Her deep brown eyes make your heart flutter, and you very nearly miss a step. You’d be flustered if your keen eyes didn’t simultaneously observe her own surprise. She has not seen you for weeks, and you have changed a lot more than most people do in such a short time. With tremendous **** of will, you pretend to not notice, but as you walk across the street, the mirror finish of the sneakers shop on the other side show you what you hoped for. Alexandria turned around and was obviously checking you out. You still had a chance.