Michael glanced over at the cafeteria register in the mess hall during lunch and noticed Alex purchasing a bottle of water and start to walk past him, completely ignoring his existence. He felt his heart sink with dismay at her act of constantly ignoring him lately but pushed his pained feelings away once he realized that sulking wouldn't solve his problems. He called her name to snag back her attention and when she stopped to look at him, he saw that she forced him a half smile.
"Hi," she said nervously.
"Hi there," Michael greeted back.
Alex narrowed her gray eyes. "Was there something that you needed?"
"Where are you hurrying off to?" Michael asked pulling out a nearby chair from beside him and motioning her to sit in it.
She reluctantly agreed to his gesture, slowly slipping herself into the chair, "I have someplace to be and wanted some water before I left. Why do you ask?"
He scanned her body with his hollow, onyx eyes and didn't even attempt to hide his gawking, causing her to blush like the bashful girl she was. She was wearing a simple black dress that flowed down her small form and a white jacket that was draped over her thin shoulders. Her lips were a shade darker than they usually were and her eyes had been lined with black.
She looked absolutely breathtaking.
"You're all dressed up," Michael finally remarked, sounding more surprised than he had intended to be, "And you look really nice."
"Thanks."
"What's the occasion?"
Her fingers began to fidget in her lap, "I, uh, have a date."
Michael forced himself to believe that he didn't know even though he knew otherwise. He just wanted to talk to her so badly that he was willing to have any sort of conversation with her.
"Who's the lucky guy?" he asked and that stupid grin from the mime flashed in his mind.
Those giant eyes of hers lowered to stare at her beverage when she answered, "The new kid, Leonce."
His heart wrenched, "Ah."
"He asked me out for dinner."
"That sounds nice," he forced himself to say. Once again, Michael found his eyes lingering on the curvaceous shapes of her legs. "New clothes?"
"No. Just borrowed. The dress belongs to Monica and this jacket is Tatiana's," she murmuringly explained.
He nodded.
"I don't really own anything nice," she continued wistfully, "so I had to scrounge around for them." She silently chuckled to herself with her eyes still burning into her bottle, "I think they were more excited than I was." She then raised her gaze to clarify. "Meaning my wearing a dress and heels."
"Yeah. Tatiana likes that kind of stuff. It's nice to see you making friends."
Her forehead wrinkled as she sat up straighter in her seat. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped but Michael knew that she only meant it out of mere curiosity.
"Nothing," he replied quickly and decided to change the subject, "So, you're wearing makeup."
"So? All the girls here wear it on a regular basis."
"Nothing," he said again and he nervously laughed, "I was just… It's different."
"Right." Alex stood, much to his dismay, and brushed out the crevices in her dress, "As much as I would like to stay and chat with you, Michael, I need to get going. Leonce told me that he would walk me to my next class."
She turned on her heel and began to walk off, away from him, just like always.
"Alex!" He suddenly called and he stood up as well, almost toppling over his chair in the process. She immediately turned to face him with a look of annoyance and he wistfully continued, "You can't go."
"Why not?" she demanded with both hands on her hips.
Michael swallowed over the lump in his dry throat and uncomfortably shifted in his unsteady stance. "Because I…" he trailed off.
Because I don't want you to be with him.
"...because you forgot your water." Without hesitation, he grabbed the plastic bottle from the table and slowly offered it to her.
Crestfallen, she reluctantly accepted the beverage, "Thanks..."
"Of course."
He thought he was imagining her disappointed expression but he decided to ignore it. However, he didn't ignore the tender touch of her fingertips as they brushed against the back of his hand.
"I've got to go," she said with a hint of melancholy and dread laced in her voice.
He offered his best smile and said a weary, "Have fun," like a father would say to his sixteen year old daughter; with little excitement and pure derision. He restrained himself from yelling out an early curfew she was to return.
Alex mimicked his grin and turned away from him to make her leave.
Though his body and heart wanted to stop her, Michael's mind prevented him from taking action.
He was trying to stop himself from leaving and he didn't even know how badly she wanted him to stop her.
"I hate him," Michael sputtered.
"Why? He just asked her out on a date." Janet assured her fuming brother.
"I know. It's just..." Michael trailed off into silence to muse over his own inner thoughts.
It was all so sudden, last minute. Neither of them looked like they were ready for the date. Especially Leonce and he was the one who asked her out. He had asked so out of the blue. It seems like everything is being rushed...
"I just don't feel right about this..." Michael said sighing.
"Why? Because he's attractive or because he's a ladies' man?"
Michael scowled, "Both."
"Michael, you do it every other night with a different girl and you have a twenty year old girlfriend in Florida," she remarked and Michael flushed, "You hardly have room to talk."
He growled low in his throat. "That's different. Besides, he's too old for her."
"No, it's not and no he's not. She's sixteen and he's seventeen. They're only one year apart."
"One year too many," he grumbled.
"But aren't you turning eighteen this year?" she cunningly asked raising a brow.
Michael shrugged, "Age is just a number."
"Then I guess Leonce still has a chance," she said with a grin.
Michael scoffed, "In his fucking dreams."
"Just admit that you're jealous of him."
"I am not jealous of that damn mime!" Michael shouted.
Janet rolled her eyes, "Stubborn ass."
"I am not stubborn."
"Yes you are. You're stubborn and you're jealous. You're a jealous ass."
"I. Am. Not. Jealous."
"Yes. You. Are."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
Michael groaned, "I'm not gonna argue with you, Jan."
"Good. We can be rational about this. Why don't you want Alex to go on the date?"
Michael racked his brain, searching for something to win the argument, "He has a tattoo," he lied.
Janet grinned evilly, "I know. And I bet she'll get to see it tonight. Too bad she doesn't know where it is." Janet shrugged, "Looks like she'll have to find it for herself."
Michael stiffened, "Over my dead body!"
"I knew it! You are worried about her! You're scared he's gonna pull a fast one on her."
"No I'm not. Alex is a big girl. She can protect herself."
Why am I lying to myself? I can't even count on her to defend herself in front of an army of stuffed animals!
"Oh really? Last time I checked, you said that you protected her."
"I meant from other bullies. Not Frenchies."
"Liar."
"Truther," he corrected.
Janet rolled her eyes, "You're so stubborn."
"I am not stubborn!"
"Yes you are. You're even too stubborn to say that you're stubborn."
"It's because I'm not stubborn."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"I'm not doing this again, Janet."
"Good. But just so you know, I won this argument."
Michael shot her a glare and she grinned cheekily. Rolling his eyes, he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Keep telling yourself that."
Alex laid on her bed, glaring up towards the bleary ceiling as if begging it for answers. Being stuck with a foreign boy she was in no way attracted to in any way possible inside of a fancy diner full of rich snobs wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her Friday night when she could have been catching up on her sleep or beginning to start on her English homework. But it wasn't as if she could just reject him or call him last minute saying that she had to cancel. Maybe she didn't like him in that way but she didn't have a heart of stone. It wasn't in her nature to deliberately be mean to someone or to reject them when everyone was listening. She just couldn't have done that. It was too cruel, too inhuman, ungodly, like Michael.
The lone female chewed on the insides of her cheeks as she watched the clock tick second by second. Her date for the evening would be turning up in a matter of minutes. A roll of the eyes and a shaky sigh were just minor indications of Alex's lack of patience (major indications included stomping around the room and groaning to the top of her lungs). Alex had been informed that her said date would be taking her to an extremely high class restaurant so she made sure that she at least looked decent for the part.
The knock from the door startled Alex; the two hour wait had nearly caused her to fall asleep on the couch.
"One minute," she shouted out into the direction of the front door.
Alex stood up from her seat and straightened out her dress. It felt weird to her, having not worn such a form of feminine attire since she started going to the Charington Academy. She took one final look in the mirror before opening the door to her date for the evening.
Her eyes flew wide open as she was greeted by the most beautiful bouquet of roses she had ever seen. Crimson petals fluttered to the ground as Leonce gracefully bowed to Alex. Alex took in a quick whiff of the flowers, allowing a secret smile to be concealed within them.
"Thanks, Leonce," quietly remarked Alex, proceeding to place the flowers in a vase of fresh water.
"You are very welcome," replied Leonce, who had then ushered Alex towards his ivory limousine, "Now, shall we make a move? I am sure you'll enjoy the place that I have chosen for us to dine."
"Sure."
The two slipped into the back seats to be whisked away to their next destination.
Once they arrived, a maitre'd escorted them through a maze of clothed tables and chairs to a single table with a pair of ornate chairs and a lit candle resting upon the white cloth.
In a gentlemanly manner, Leonce pulled out a chair for Alex then tucked it back in as she slowly sat down and he rounded the table to sit across from her. The two had never felt so awkward together. It was only when the waitress presented them their menus did the silence break between them.
"We'll split the cost half and half," Alex bluntly suggested.
"Don't be silly. I'll pay for this," Leonce assured, "I would never take a lady out for a meal and expect her to pay anything."
Alex seemed shocked but impressed by the jester and continued to browse the selection of courses on the menu. Once the both of them had decided what meals they would have, the waitress took their orders and left them to lapse in the awkward silence.
"Cherrie," Leonce said, "I want to ask you something."
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Do you like me?" he timidly asked.
Alex jolted in surprise, Why is he asking me that?!
"Well," she began awkwardly, "uh, um, sure I do."
"No, I mean like me. As in, more than a friend?" he asked with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Well, I just sorta met you a few days ago. I can't answer that just yet."
"Then why did you agree to go out with me?"
"I couldn't just say no to you in front of everybody, now could I?"
Leonce nodded in agreement, looking quite disappointed yet not necessarily looking hurt either. He just seemed to look as if he were showing empathy.
"Of course..."
Alex sank in her seat in dismay as he began to idly fiddle with the basket of breadsticks situated in the center of the table.
Alex never thought that she would feel so awkward being alone with Leonce. She felt as if she were eating with Mr. Matthews and he was her math teacher! She would have rather be eating with him than Leonce. She would have even been willing to eat with Michael, considering the fact that he had practically begged her to stay at home (begging as in ordering her to stay home or he would "punch her so hard that her teeth would rattle").
She idly listened to Leonce talk about his life, why he moved from some part of France to America because of a foreign student exchange program and how both of his parents worked as both models and fashion designers and how he would soon come to the point of his life when he would be doing the same and passing it on to the next generation. Unfortunately for Leonce, Alex was tuning his droning voice out.
All of the current thoughts occupying her mind revolved around Michael. She wondered what he was doing at the moment, if he was thinking of her just as much as she was thinking of him, if he was waiting at her apartment planning to do God knows what and why he didn't try to stop her when she had departed.
As if he cares anyway. She bitterly thought, Leonce could rape me right now and he wouldn't even care.
"But I never wanted to be a model," Leonce sighed, "It was what mum wanted. I always wanted to be a veterinarian, to take care of animals and heal them. I love animals. I hate it when people abuse them. They have hearts too. They breathe and they bleed as we do. I don't understand it when people do that to them."
Alex absentmindedly nodded in agreement, half-listening and half-tuning him out.
Leonce must have noticed because he drawled out a shaky sigh and motioned his hand to signal the waitress for the bill before turning his attention back to Alex.
"We should be heading back," he suggested, rising from his seat and gesturing with his hand to assist Alex up from her chair.
Alex jolted out of her reverie and stutteringly replied, "Okay."
The two silently left the restaurant out into the moist atmosphere only to be greeted by a downpour of rain. The pair looked at each other then looked back towards the rain.
"Maybe we should wait back insi-?!" Before Leonce could even finish his sentence, Alex darted back inside the restaurant.
"Cherrie? What's wrong?" Leonce worriedly asked starting his way inside to join Alex's side.
She vigorously shook her head in assurance but Leonce knew better. He could see it in her eyes.
She was afraid.
Afraid of what? He didn't know but he was determined to find out for himself.
"Cherrie-?!"
"I'm fine!" she snapped.
A clap of thunder resonated throughout the air and Alex yelped in surprise.
As Leonce glanced up at the sky, he pondered on his own assumptions and shifted his gaze back on Alex.
"You're scared of storms, yes?"
Alex bashfully nodded her head shakily, smothering her face in her hands in shame. Leonce smiled softly at her as he took off his jacket to wrap around the rather exposed Alex.
"You'll end up catching a cold," he remarked wrapping an arm around her trembling shoulders.
He gently led her out of the restaurant with looks of confusion following the couple out. Alex clutched desperately to his shirt, cringing each time a crackle of lightning or a clap of thunder pierced their ears.
"It's alright. I'm right here, cherrie," Leonce softly assured.
The two walked together side by side in silence, stopping momentarily under a street light which made it seem like they were the only beings around. Alex was currently using Leonce's jacket to keep the rain off her head. She kept herself close to Leonce who soon placed one arm around her in an attempt to keep her warm.
"It's okay to be afraid of storms." Alex looked up towards him, the moonlight reflecting in her glistening gray eyes. Leonce looked down towards Alex.
Alex quickly regained her trail of thought, "I'm sorry..." Alex looked back up towards the puzzled boy, "I was probably such dull company tonight."
Leonce chuckled, "I have had worse. I'm just glad that you actually talked to me."
Alex smiled, sighing in relief to the assurance.
"Good. I hope you don't feel like you wasted your time on me."
"I assure you, cherrie, I wouldn't trade the moments we shared for anything in this world," replied Leonce as he slowly kissed Alex on the lips.
Alex felt as if all of her defensive walls had been broken down in a matter of seconds and yet, she did not put up any resistance. The rain started to clear which gave the opportunity for the moonlight to naturally shine upon the pair. It felt like an eternity before the two of them pulled away.
Alex let out an innocent laugh, which made a change to the usual sadistic howl which would often echo throughout her mind.
Leonce led her towards his limousine and smiled down at Alex, "How about we make a move back now?"
Alex responded with a subtle nod, following Leonce into the vehicle. She knew it would not be the last time she would see that quiet restaurant for it held a special meaning to it, which she would argue to be a special feeling.
Leonce, I think I'm actually falling for you. Really falling...
"I miss you, Alex…" breathed a raven-haired teenage boy through tears. Tears that he had been holding back all day; alas, now it was finally night, everyone had gone to sleep, and he could finally cry. It had become a routine for Michael to cry himself to sleep as he called out his admirer's name. Hoping, if he called her name enough, that she would hear him and come back running into his arms.
His lower lip jutted out in a small pout and quivered as more sobs escaped him. A small teardrop ran down his forlorn face, landing on the picture frame that he held in his hands. In that delicate frame was a photograph of Alex who looked as if she could almost look as if she were actually 16. It was the night of the winter dance when she wore that simple blouse and that pleated skirt along with that pretty smile that she wore on her pink lips. The picture of this girl was taken shortly before he had decided to "trash" her.
Right before everything went downhill for them to ever fall in love.
"Why?" he sputtered out through a fresh torrent of tears. "Why did you have to go with him and leave me all alone? Why, Alex, why…?" He felt his shoulders shake as he heaved another sob, wishing that Alex would finally realize his feelings and find her way back to him. Praying, that somehow, she might be able to forgive him.
Michael hugged the picture frame to his chest once more before setting it back on the nightstand, its resting-place during the day. After he had carefully placed the picture back, he then buried his tearstained face into his pillow as he cried himself to sleep, a bad habit that he had gotten into ever since Leonce won his prize: Alex's heart.
That bastard can burn in hell for all I care! He can have all the bitches he wants but Alex is my bitch!
"I have to do something about this..." he murmured into his pillow.
I can't let him win. I have to fight for what's mine. I need to prove myself worthy of Alex's love even if its the last thing I do.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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Chapter End Notes:
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