The incessant chatter in Alex's first class was strangely more than usual. She recalled several meetings where the adults stood in small groups and spoke in hushed voices and kept their stories brief and forgetful. Alex would have asked them to quiet down but she was so busy with trying to copy down the day's objective on the board that she didn't even want to have anything to do with her classmates. She sat in her usual seat in the back of the room, her ears straining to listen to the constant babbling of her peers whilst copying down the objective.
What she noticed though was that all of the conversations were vaguely similar...
"Her!" a boy exclaimed.
"No way!" another shouted.
"He did! Michael totally fucked her!" a boy yelled in a whisper. Alex jolted in shock.
Michael?
Alex shifted uneasily in her seat, bracing herself to finally use her voice and intervene into the vulgar conversation in an attempt to cut it off but the moment she opened her mouth, the room fell into utterable silence. Shocked, Alex's eyes followed the fear-stricken gaze of her peers and her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.
Michael was holding another girl's hand.
Alex felt her heart sink at the horrifying sight but hurriedly shook off the odd sensation and gathered her disinterested composure. She hated Michael for what he had done to her for the past semester and a half and yet, he somehow knew how to make her insides twist with envy. She hated the feeling and she hated him for being the only one in the entire world who could make her feel that way.
Alex looked over at Michael and for a brief moment, she held his gaze before tearing it away to glance down at her notebook, not able to see Michael's reaction to her act of avoiding him. He hurriedly made his way to the back of the room to join Alex at her desk, oblivious to the fact that he had left the startled girl standing there without excusing himself.
"Hey, Alex," he greeted her casually as if nothing bad between them had ever happened.
She nodded at him, unable to will her lips to move to form words.
"How was the date? Was the food good? Did he treat you like a lady? Did he do anything..." his voice trailed off into silence and Alex glanced up at him with a look of puzzlement in her eyes, "...out of the ordinary?"
"I just met him a few days ago," Alex remarked with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "I wouldn't know what 'out of the ordinary' would be if I've never seen his normal side."
Michael let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I guess."
"So, who's your friend?" Alex asked nodding at the girl impatiently waiting for Michael to return and Michael had to turn around in order to remember which girl he had brought along with him.
"None of your concern, that's what," Michael coldly snapped and he turned back around to see that Alex's face was struck with shock and confusion.
"Wait! I didn't mean it like that-?!"
"I was just asking a question," she mumbled sheepishly.
"No, I was just, um... It was a reflex and I, uh, um..." he sighed in defeat, "Lisa. Her name is Lisa."
"Well," she said glancing back over at said girl, "I think you should be getting back to her. She looks pretty pissed."
"She can wait. It's not like I care about her anyway-?!"
"Good morning, cherrie!" a voice gleefully shouted before a body came shoving Michael aside and leaned down to bestow a kiss upon Alex's cheek.
"Mornin', Leonce," Alex murmuringly greeted with little enthusiasm.
Leonce turned and let a look of surprise claim his features once he noticed Michael's flaring nostrils.
"Oh. I didn't see you there, Michael," Leonce said but he sounded amused as he said that, as if he had just pulled a prank on him and pretended to be innocent when he was, in reality, in the wrong.
"I didn't see you either," Michael shot back.
Leonce merely shrugged his shoulders, "I apologize. I was just so excited to see my dear cherrie," Leonce said tickling her sides, "that I didn't even notice you." Alex went into a fit of contagious laughter at the assault of his prodding fingers and before he knew it, Leonce was laughing with her too.
But Michael was the only one not laughing. He just stood there, scowling, glaring at his opponent with daggers and if looks could kill, Leonce would have never saw it coming.
"Well, next time, how about you watch where you're going?" Michael rhetorically asked and Leonce stared in bemusement but at the same time, furiously.
"Maybe I will," he said and then he smirked, "but then again, maybe I won't."
Michael's hands clenched into tight fists as he bucked forward to pounce on him but Lisa grasped his forearm with a look of rage scrunching her scowling features. But her act of getting his attention didn't seem to faze him the slightest but instead intensified his rage.
"How long are you going to keep me waiting, Michael?" she demanded.
"Just as long as I want to," Michael coldly snapped.
He glanced down at Lisa and noticed that her hand was still clutching firmly onto his arm and he gave her a look that said, "Let me go before I do it for you." She boldly stood her ground and tightened her grip on him, looking slightly discourage that he didn't buckle his knees or let out a cry of defeat. Instead, with all the strength he could muster (without harming her precious nails), he snatched his arm out of her vice-like manicured-grip and stomped out of the classroom in a steaming rage. He was so overwhelmed with his own fit of anger that he didn't even hear the empty threats from Mr. Matthews threatening to give Michael a citation following him out of the classroom.
"Did I say something wrong?" Leonce asked.
"No. He'll be fine. Don't worry about him," Lisa assured.
Alex shot her a glare, "How do you know that? He could be hurting for all you know and you don't even care."
Lisa narrowed her eyes into a suspicious stare and she took a step closer to Alex so that their faces were only a few inches apart.
"Why do you care? You're just his little toy."
Alex shrugged, "Takes one to know one. But I bet you like being his toy, don't you?"
Lisa's glare hardened with anger and she looked as if she were about to knock all of her teeth out. In a way, she did seem as if she were capable to do such a thing. Fortunately, she turned away from her, groaned and stomped towards her seat.
"Cherrie-?!"
"I know. That was mean. I'm sorry."
Although she had apologized for her misbehavior, the dryness in her voice proved otherwise. She was proud to have defended for Michael, even though the natural laws of the bully v. the victim was against it.
"That wasn't what I was about to say," he said and Alex's head perked up in surprise, "That was really nice of you to stand up for Michael that way. That girl was being a little harsh on him."
Alex smiled, "Thanks."
I wonder why he didn't point out that even though Michael used to bully me, I was still able to defend for him. Alex thought, Wait... he doesn't even know about that... Well, I suppose that's one less thing to worry about.
Valentine's Day; It had to be Alex's least favorite holiday next to Thanksgiving. Too much lovey dovey moments between a couple and just about everyone in the school was paired up with at least one person (at least one person as in some couples turn to groups which form into threesomes and foursomes and so on). Except for her, not that she was lonely or anything.
Well, okay. Maybe I am a bit lonesome on this particular holiday...
It just made her sad to have no one to pair up with. Sure, there was Leonce but that date with him was just a one time thing and probably even something that he was forced or talked in to do. Not that she cared either way. Maybe she was falling for him but not that hard to get jealous of him being with another girl or even miss being in his embrace. She didn't miss his sense of humor or the warmth of his tender touch or the comfort of his gleeful smile or his honking laughter or his jade eyes that was able to read her every thought and feel her every desire. She didn't miss any of that. Honest (Psyche!).
"Hi Alex," a soft voice broke Alex out of her thoughts.
"Oh, hey Leonce. I was just thinking about you," she replied looking up at him.
Leonce blushed in response to her blunt statement and chuckled lightly, a faint tooting sound, almost like his laugh, "That's very funny because I was thinking about you as well."
She watched in slight amusement as he shifted from one foot to the other anxiously. He fretfully loosened and readjusted his tie that had become slightly crooked in the process. His arms were folded behind his back and slowly, he unfolded them and presented her a bouquet of red roses. Alex shook off her surprise to the gift.
"Happy Valentines Day, cherrie." Alex smiled, slowly taking the offered roses.
"Happy Valentines Day, Leonce. Thanks. I really appreciate it."
He merely shrugged his shoulders, "I want to show you how much I care."
He handed her a small bag of candy and handed Alex a piece.
"Happy Valentine's Day, again," he said.
"Yeah, thanks." Alex inspected the piece of candy as he walked away. It was pink in the shape of a heart with the message 'Love You' carved into it in red. Sighing, she popped it into her mouth before scrunching her nose in disgust and swallowing hard.
Ew. They always taste terrible.
Alex hated heart candies. They tasted terrible and she didn't want the messages written out to her from anyone. Except maybe her crush. But Leonce was her crush, wasn't he?
"Alex," another voice called Alex from her bitter thoughts. She smiled as soon as she saw who it was.
"Hey Michael. You feeling better?" Alex asked her former bully.
"Just dandy…" Michael ran his hand through his curly ebony hair and sighed.
"Everything alright?" Alex frowned.
"Yeah, it's nothing-" Michael was cut off from someone wrapping their arms around him and kissing him on the cheek.
Alex practically growled at her but she didn't notice.
"Hey hot stuff," Lisa purred leaning against Michael. Michael remained silent, outwardly showing just how annoyed and disgusted he was by her presence.
Alex nearly gagged seeing those two together. Lisa. Alex disliked her. Actually, hated. She practically hated Lisa with every fiber of her being and knew better than Michael that she was only playing with him until she got into his pants then BAM! She'd drop him like a hot potato, and Alex did not want to see him getting hurt. It would tear her apart and she would beat the shit out of Lisa if she weber did such a thing, rich or not.
Lisa handed Michael a red card, "For you," she said winking at him then walked off to her next class.
"What's it say?" Alex asked trying to take a peek at the card.
Michael merely shook his head, crushing the card into a ball in his hands, "Nothin'. I'll see you later."
"You sure it's nothing? It seems like something."
Michael opened his mouth to respond but shut it with an audible snap once he realized that he had nothing to say. At least, not to Alex.
"Excuse me," he whispered and he strode off without waiting for her response.
Alex followed, absentmindedly, desperately in a way, as if though she were afraid that if she didn't follow him, she would lose him forever. It was a childish thing to think at the time but she didn't care. She had to protect him.
"Lisa!" Michael shouted over the chattering conversations buzzing in the hall, "Lisa!" he yelled again.
Up ahead, Alex could see Lisa whirling around to face the owner of the voice and smiled once she realized that the owner just so happened to be her boyfriend but what made her smile fall into a frown was seeing Alex following after him with a look in her eye that could only mean desire. She knew what was going on. She wasn't going to have it either. There was no way that she was going to let a commoner steal her boyfriend. Not on her watch.
"Hello, Michael," she scowled, "What is she doing here?"
Michael didn't feel the need to turn around to see who she was talking about. He knew that Alex was following him. He knew that she would follow him. He meant to have her follow him. She had to see what he was willing to do to be able to (make himself available) win her heart and to be worthy of the honorable title of "boyfriend". Even though it was risking a lot, he was more than willing for the consequences.
"We need to talk," Michael said, his voice low but loud enough for those around them to hear.
"About what? Why this commoner is following you around like a lost puppy?" she snapped firmly placing her hands on her hips. Alex's blood began to boil.
"I want to talk about us," he corrected.
Lisa rolled her eyes, "What about us?"
"I don't think this is going to work out, you and me being together."
Lisa's face fell but she quickly regained her impatient composure, "What do you mean?"
"You, me, us, together..." he trailed off and sighed, "It's not working for me anymore."
"How could you say that?!" Lisa exclaimed, "I've treated you with nothing but kindness and you just dump me?! I bought you gifts!"
"Like all of that shit matters."
By that time, people were staring at the arguing couple with horror and surprise in their eyes. Alex seemed to be the most surprised.
"I just wanted you to love me, Lisa but you couldn't even give me that. You didn't want me anyway, you never did. So, I'm giving you a chance to find some other guy that you would actually like. Maybe Mr. Matthews, perhaps? Everyone knows about your "tutorials" with him after school."
All of the color in Lisa's face flushed as the students around them began to murmur amongst themselves, spreading rumors about how Lisa needed help in math and brought her grades up by seducing her teacher and how Mr. Matthews gave her unnecessary amounts of extra credit "unbeknownst" to his students and how he changed Lisa's answers on tests to score her at least a B. Now, everyone knew he secret.
"You bastard!" Lisa sputtered, not knowing what else to say to earn back her dignity.
Michael's glare bore into her eyes that were pricked with tears and with a groan, she shoved Michael aside and stormed towards Alex.
"This is your fault, bitch!" she raucously screamed, "This is. All. Your. Fault!"
Squeezing her eyes shut, Alex braced herself to take on the blow that would follow Lisa's stream of expletives only to be puzzled when it never came. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw Michael standing in front of her, his back facing her and his front boldly facing Lisa. Her heart raced.
"If you ever even think about touching her," he snarled in a low voice, "I'll make sure to put you in a coffin."
They intensely glared at each other for what felt like hours, neither of them speaking or attempting to do anything else. Lisa groaned in defeat and continued to storm off, shooting a cold glare into Alex's direction.
Alex's eyes followed after Lisa with amusement until she faded out of her line of vision, her heart swelling with satisfaction and relief. Turning back to Michael, she felt a sense of suspiciousness towards him. She found it odd that he had just asked Lisa out the other day and then break up with her the next. It didn't make the least bit of sense to her. No amount of studying the human mind would get her to any reasonable conclusions besides him just being that easily disinterested in girls.
"Why'd you break up with her?" was the first thing that passed Alex's lips.
Michael turned to her with a warm smile gracing his usual stone-cold features and simply said with his smile growing broader, "I like someone else."
Alex's heart sank, "Oh," she said trying to sound as if she were interested when she would rather punch him in the stomach, "Who?"
"It's a secret."
"I'm good at keeping secrets," Alex grinned.
Michael laughed, "I know you are but I would rather have you find out for yourself. The answer is closer than you think."
Flashing a wink down at the quizzical girl, Michael brushed past her and embarked on his journey towards his next class.
The answer is closer than I think, huh?
Peering her eyes around the crowd of students around her, she scrutinized each and every girl, wondering why Michael would have any taste in any one of them.
Well, he dated Tatiana last semester so I guess he likes girls who carry Christian Dior purses. But he also dated Lisa, so that could mean that he might also like girls that wear three inch heels everyday. Maybe I should ask Janet. No... I don't want to worry her. Maybe I'm thinking about this too hard. He says it's closer than I think. So it must be somebody from one of my classes! That makes perfect sense! I wonder who it is though...
Author's Chapter Notes:
Enjoy everyone!
Chapter End Notes:
Don't forget to review and suggestions are welcome (except for the one's about MJ and Alex being together) :D