#albert kleinman

When Diana was 12, she told Al she wanted to be a princess. Al raised an eyebrow at the idea. “Diana, you know this isn’t Disney, right?” Al argued.

“No no no, not like a magic princess. I mean I want to marry into royalty, like the British Monarchy or something.” She explained “If I marry into a family like that, I wouldn’t have political responsibilities or anything, but I could use my influence to change the world for the better, y’know?”

Al shook his head and exhaled deeply. “Okay, like what?”

“I dunno. Maybe start a few charities. Abolish shoulder-based dress code rules. Y’know, small stuff like that” she replied nonchalantly.

Diana was full of spontaneous ideas like that. But the thing is, Diana was the kind of person that could make those ideas come to life.

That’s why Albert Kleinman was severely in love with Diana Murphy.

“Al, I swear you are the only person that would skip a high school football game to read The Hobbit.”

Al groaned. “Dad, I’m really close to the end. I really REALLY would appreciate it very much if you left me alone right now.”

“…Scratch that. I know one other person. That person would be ME my senior year of high school” he remarked. Al planted his face into his book. “Hey bud, I wouldn’t care if you didn’t say last Wednesday that you were going with Diana Murphy. Did you cancel or-?”

“No, but she’ll understand if I can’t go” Al snapped.

Jared sighed. “Al… is this for the reason I think it is-“

“No! …Somewhat? Maybe?” Al closed the book and turned to look at Jared leaning against his door frame.

“Albert Kleinman, you are not going to keep pining and doing nothing about how you feel. It has been since the summer before junior year-“ he lectured.

“End of sophomore year, if you wanna be technical-“ Al added, sliding his hands through his hazelnut locks.

“That’s not better! It drives me and this whole family nuts. If Wiley wasn’t in college he’d be pulling his hair out. And frankly-“ Jared moved to sit on Al’s bed “It kills me to see you so-so- I don’t know, insecure about this? Because I know this seems like a huge conflict, but I promise you, it’s not” he assured. Al looked up at the ceiling, as if he was searching for a reply up there.

“Al- you’re a smart kid. And you two are best friends. Even if she says no, you two have a strong enough bond to make things work out okay in the end. Just- don’t let one challenge stand in the way of you being happy. I’ve let that happen before- believe me, it’s not a good idea.” Al breathed. His dad could be an asshole, but the worst part was that he was usually a correct asshole.

“Well…alright, I’ll go. I’ll text you when I’m there and leaving and such. Also-uh...thanks” Jared smiled and patted Al on the back.

As Jared left he shouted from the hall: “Remember, no matter what happens between you two don’t piss off Mr. Murphy! I learned MANY times firsthand that’s not a good idea!”

The marching band played the fight song. Some trombone was blasting much louder than they needed to be.

“Okay, Al, you’re the one with the musical brother, so… technically how good is our band?” Diana asked. Al shrugged, straining to avoid eye contact with her.

“They’re okay, but Wiley would probably say they were better when he was there. I’d say they look less crowded without his ego on the field.”

Diana scoffed. “You’re not wrong there…” she tapped him on the shoulder “…Hey, you ‘ight?” Al was first to turn his head towards her. Her honey-colored eyes shined under the lights, and her coffee brown locks framed her round face like a painting. Even worse: when Al realized how cold it was outside, he offered her an extra sweatshirt in his car. It was a little big, so Diana hid her hands in the sleeves. Fuck… she’s fucking adorable fuck, Al thought to himself. Diana waved her hands in front of his face. “Earth to Al, we have lost the signal, I repeat, earth to Al!” she teased.

“Huh-uh sorry Di” Al murmured.

Diana crossed her arms. “Al, what’s up? You’ve been off all week. Not coming to my house at all, paying zero attention in English- I repeat, ENGLISH, you damn bookworm- nearly blowing through an intersection, and you always keep your eyes on the road-“

Diana was prepared to keep going but Al interjected: “Okay, okay…you got me. I’m- well…” he figured it was time to be honest “it’s- uh- you.”

She tilted her head. “Me? I don’t understand.”

Al’s stomach turned. “Well, you know, its- I just- you know… it’s your ex.” He was kicking himself in his head at this point.

Diana tilted her head at an even stronger angle. “Um…what? I broke up with Layla months ago, and on good terms. She was going out of state and wanted to start fresh. How is that something to be worried about?”

“Nonono! I mean… do you think you’re gonna start dating again?” Al asked, immediately regretting his decision “Waitno that sounds bad sorry Imean um-“ he stammered.

Diana laughed dryly “Oooh I see. You think I need someone to be a knight in shining armor? Come on Al, you know better than that.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Al sighed. “I mean, I dunno, you seem like you’re interested in someone… maybe?” You are a garbage liar he criticized. He began to glare at his shoes, not wanting to say much.

“Is it that obvious?” Diana asked. Al immediately perked up his head. Diana sighed. “Well… you know Brenda Nox? She gestured to a brunette cheerleader waving her pom-poms. “She..she does things to me.” Diana crooned, followed by burying her face in her hands.

Al smiled softly and patted her on the back. “It’s okay. Unrequited love sucks…” Al swallowed harshly “…but you’ll make it work.”

“Thanks Al…but that’s not all. See, there’s another person I like too” She mumbled.

“Who?” Al questioned.

“I-I can’t even say. It’s really embarrassing, because I like them a lot, and I know they do too-” she confessed.  “-But I want to wait for them. Because I know they can say it. And frankly, I think they should, because they need to know that if they want something…well, they should go for it.”

“Couldn’t agree more. And I hope this person gets their act together.” Al declared, even though her words made his heart sink. Yet, even so, something about her words made Albert have a small, hopeful voice say two words in his head: It’s you.

Al went into concessions to go to the bathroom. He thought he knew the terrain, it was his own high school, but that damn step down before he got to the bleachers always tripped him up- literally. He fell on his knee, catching the attention of a few girls from the visiting school.

“Ohhh wowww are you okaaay?” one of them slurred. When they offered their hand to help him up, he could smell the beer from the ground. He decided to pass and get up himself. “Are you okaaay? You gotta be bllleediiing or somethiiin’” she supposed.

Al took a couple of in-place steps. He knew such a small fall couldn’t affect his legs, but he had a habit of checking. The one girl that offered to pick him up still looked concerned and invested in Al for reasons he didn’t understand. “Oh! I’m fine! I have prosthetics, see?” he lifted his pant leg, then turned to the bleachers.

“Woooah wait. How’d-how’d that happeeen?” she asked, taking a wobbly step closer to him.

Great, he thought. Just try and make this quick. He inhaled and began. “I was in a car accident when I was 5. I was sitting behind the shotgun seat, and the crash impacted there the most. No one was sitting in front of me but the chair was thrown back and crushed my legs. Now if you’ll excuse me I-“

“O-M-G that must have been aawfuuullll!” she squealed a little too loudly, making Al wince. “You poooor thing…well I gotta say-“ she purred, taking a step towards Al. “-you still look preeetty tough to me.” The girl placed an arm on his bicep, causing him to freeze. She was obviously too intoxicated to put together a coherent thought, but he needed to get back to Diana. “Saaay if you feel like it, you aaand your prrreeetty blue eyes could maaaybe drivvve meee hooome, aaand-“

“You know, you’re not supposed to have alcohol on school grounds. There are teachers swarming the place, so I’d suggest you leave.” Al had never been more relieved. Diana was standing behind the girl, arms crossed.

The girl looked at Diana, then back to Al. She scoffed. “Guess I’ll leave you with your giiirlfriiiend.” she sang as she walked away. Al beamed at Diana. He saw her cheeks were pink, probably from the cold.

“Cocoa?” Diana asked. Al gave her a cup. Her smile returned.

“Come on, we’re at 3rd quarter already. We’re losing, but there might be a turn-around, you never know!”

The car ride home was silent, but Al’s mind was screaming. The incident with the girl left Al with a lot of questions. Was she jealous? Or was she just helping you as a friend? Or…both? Frankly, Al didn’t care anymore. At this point he didn’t think he would get any answers to his questions.

“Woah…Al, roll down the windows!” Diana commanded.

Her words got him out of his own question-spiral, but they led to yet another question. “Why the flying fuck would I do that?” he lashed out.

“…to look at the stars. Sorry, Al I didn’t mean to annoy you. Gotta love a short attention span…” her voice trailed off.

Al felt his stomach drop to the lowest it had this evening. He was practically sinking in his seat. “No…Diana you’re good. That one was on me.” He admitted.

Then, he got inspired.

“You don’t have to be home for another hour right?” Al asked.

“Hour AND a half! I made a case to my dad and he caved” she beamed.

“Okay, we’re gonna make a detour then” he declared.

After fifteen minutes of Diana’s nagging, they finally got there: the field where Al’s dad took him and his siblings as a kid to go stargazing. The best part is that he didn’t even have to take the time to get out of the car. He let the sun roof down, and Diana’s mouth immediately went agape. The black sky was littered with stars.

“…Al, you are really something, you know?”

“I mean...I guess I try.” Al took a deep breath. “Diana, there’s- there’s something I wanted to talk to you about” he stammered. Somehow, in exhaustion and hope, he thought this was a good idea.

“Oh jeez, did I do something? Look Al I know I’m blunt but if you ever get offended by something I say you know you can always tell-”

Al’s face turned red “Nononono you didn’t do anything wrong, I just-”

“Al if it’s about the girl earlier, you looked like you needed help.” he was now highly confused. “…It wasn’t me trying to be a knight in shining armor or pity you, I was just acting like I do- y’know, trying to help others when actually-“

“You’re really something else.” Al whispered, his face becoming much closer to hers than it was before.”

“What…what are you…” Diana tried to speak, but she was soon interrupted by Al’s lips slamming fiercely into hers. Al thought Diana tasted vaguely like cherry chapstick, but mostly hot chocolate, and he figured she thought the same. That was the last thought he had before succumbing to full bliss. Al’s hands were shaky, but they eventually found their way to Diana’s waist. Diana ruffled her fingertips through Al’s messy locks. He didn’t even feel this. He also didn’t feel his face burning up at her touch, or any other sensation. All Al felt in that moment was Diana’s lips pressing into his.