"You're WHAT?"
"Monica, keep it down!" Alex hissed, looking around the cafeteria nervously.
Several students glanced into their directions before turning to continue their various conversations.
"I can't believe this! You can't just leave! What about me? Bruno? Tatiana? Nelson? Your cousins...!" she included after a moment.
Surely her family would convince her to stay, Monica assuringly thought.
"And Michael...!" Monica persuasively added.
"Monica stop!" Alex snapped, "I never said I was going. I said maybe."
"But you would never even consider leaving if it wasn't serious!" Monica frantically remarked looking as if she were on the verge of crying, "Why now?"
"It's… complicated."
Tears welled up in Monica's eyes as she suddenly grasped the severity and reality of the situation. Alex was actually considering leaving Charington, leaving her friends behind, leaving Monica. She couldn't just sit there and let her best friend leave!
"Please stay…" Monica looked down at the floor, trying to blink back the tears weighing on her eyelids.
"Monica, stop." Alex glanced away, "You're making this really hard for me."
"Then don't make that decision!" Monica said, "I'll make it for you! Come live with me. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind. I sure don't mind."
"Monica, even if I do go, it's not like we'd never see each other again. I'll be back before you know it."
Monica's features softened into one full of sorrow, "I don't want you to go, Alex… you're my best friend…" she whispered, squeezing her friend and feeling her throat swell up.
"I know, I know. I'll try my best to persuade her to let me stay, but if I can't…"
"Don't say that, Alex!" Monica pleaded.
"I'm just being real here, Monica."
"Don't be. I don't want to hear you saying stuff like that."
"I know but I don't want you getting your hopes up and having them crushed because of the decision that might be made. I'm trying to get you prepared."
"I don't wanna be prepared! I want you to stay!" Monica whined.
Alex smiled sadly, "Even if I do go, I'll be back soon. You'll see."
"You better be."
Alex forced a tiny smile but it fell just as quickly as it came.
"Please don't leave me," Monica pleaded, "You're my best friend. I don't know what I'll do if you're gone."
Alex sighed, "Me neither..."
"What about Leonce?"
Alex cringed, I completely forgot about him.
"He'll be fine, I'm sure of it."
"I'm not thinking so. He's kind of worried about you, you know, with you avoiding him and all." She glanced around as if to make certain that he was nowhere in sight before leaning in to whisper, "And I think he's blaming himself for it."
"He'll get over it soon," Alex gently assured, although, she was having a hard time convincing herself the same.
"I dunno. He seems pretty bummed."
Alex shrugged, "He'll be fine," she said again with a smile. "Besides, he'll do better without me here."
"Not Michael," Monica added, "He'll probably die without you."
"Thanks for the tip," Alex sarcastically said.
"I'm being serious. He's gonna die. He will kill himself if you leave. Either that or he'll follow you."
"Wants to hurt me that bad, huh? Nice."
"That's not what I meant!"
"That's what I heard."
"Alex-?!"
"It's cool. I'm not planning on telling him anyway."
"What?! Why?!"
"He's better off not knowing. Besides, it gives me more of a chance to escape from him." Monica frowned.
And it gives me more of a chance to spare myself from seeing that damn hopeless look in his eyes...
Alex sighed impatiently as she reached for the eraser sitting on the desk to the side of her. She was sitting on a chair Indian-style, her homework lying gently on her lap, herself writing an essay about how she would change the world in the far future. She usually never did a rough draft for her essays; she hardly ever made mistakes. But today, after wasting half the paper in her notebook due to the constant mistakes that she had made, she stopped using her pen and began to use her pencil.
"Argh!" she groaned in exasperation. She had rubbed the eraser too hard against the paper, soon enough realizing that she had done it so many times that she had created a rip in it. She threw her eraser across the room, knocking a photo down in the process and smothered her face in her hands, a sign of utter defeat and despair.
To her dismay, a concerned knock came at her door and she nearly screamed out of frustration.
Can I be alone for once?!
"What?!" she furiously shouted at the door.
"It's Michael," Alex's heart skipped a beat, "May I come in?"
Alex paused briefly then, tossing her notebook aside, she hastily clambered out of her chair and dashed towards the door, swinging it wide open to meet the weary eyes of her visitor. She smiled faintly, blushing bashfully all the while at her guest.
"Hey, Michael. What can I help you with?"
When he didn't answer, her head bowed slightly, as if she felt as if she were no longer worthy to look him in the eye anymore. And yet, he could still see the weary, melancholy look in her eyes and worn-out expression on her face.
"Alex?" Michael asked placing his fingers beneath her chin, ever so gently lifting her face up so that he was gazing into her eyes.
Her pale gray eyes looked into his hollow black ones and she noted the concern in them. She felt a pang of guilt pierce her heart.
There goes that stupid hopeless look...
"What's wrong?" he asked gently.
"Michael..." she began but she then realized that it really wasn't any of his concern. It was her problem. Not his. There was no need for him to worry about it.
"I don't think I want to talk about it right now," Alex quietly replied, her eyes looking back down at her feet, "Maybe later," she added, forcing a tiny smile that didn't fool Michael's wits. He knew something was bothering her.
"That's alright," Michael sighed.
If she doesn't want to tell me right now, then she doesn't have to. She can just tell me later, he mentally decided.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Michael said as he offered her his best smile and gave her a kiss on her forehead. But as he began to pull away, Alex grabbed his wrist gently and pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Michael showed no hesitation as he wrapped his own arms around her slim waist, rocking her body from side to side in a way that a mother would cradle her baby.
When they finally pulled away, Alex was sobbing quietly, tears running down her face. Michael pulled her back into the hug, Alex resting her head on his shoulder as her tears spilled and soaked his shirt. Michael stood there patiently, stroking her back to comfort and calm her. Alex finally pulled away with a sigh, sniffling and wiping her tears away to hide the visible traces of sorrow from view.
"Come in," she finally said. She led him in her room and they both took a seat on the ledge of the bed.
"Well, I've just been really stressed out lately..." she shakily began, clasping her hands together on her lap and staring down at her knees. "You see... My Aunt Becky, she's um, very, very sick and, uh... when she's gone... Uncle Joe won't be able to afford me anymore. Aunt Linda wants me to..."
Tears began to cloud her eyes once more as her heart began to wrench with anguish, "And she's pressuring me to..."
"Move away. I know. Your aunt told me." Alex glanced up in shock.
"You knew about it?" Alex croaked.
He nodded, "Mm-hm. I know she's taking you to Louisiana and I know that you don't want to go. What I don't know is why you aren't doing anything to stop her."
Alex sighed, "It's already been decided. I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to!"
"I don't think it's because it's already been decided. I think you're just afraid your aunt will love you less than she does now."
"How-?!"
Michael calmly interjected, "I know that because it's happened to me before. I was always afraid to stand up for myself because I was afraid that the person that I loved wouldn't love me as much as they used to. But you know what I realized? I realized that it didn't matter. It was their choice if they wanted to hate me. It was my choice and my right to express my own opinion. You don't have to be afraid of that. I told you this a thousand times already. This is your life. Not theirs. So stop letting people control it."
"I know..."
Michael clasped his hands on her shoulders and lightly kissed the top of her head.
"You know that I'll support whatever decision you make..." Michael whispered into her ear, still holding her tightly, "It'll be hard for you but I know that you can do it. I toughened you up for a reason, gurl. You can handle anything. No matter what it is."
"What if my aunt doesn't want to listen?"
Michael sighed, "Then at least you tried," he said.
Alex nodded at him, "Okay."
"But, Alex," he started again as a thought occurred to him. "if you do go, I need you to promise me something."
"Okay. What is it?"
He glanced down at her necklace, the one that he had convinced Janet to give to her on Christmas last year, "Don't take off that necklace."
"Okay."
"It's a reminder that I'm always with you, even when you can't see me."
Alex stifled a giggle, "Okay."
He paused, "Don't forget about me," he said with his voice lowering considerably.
"How can I not?"
Michael smiled sadly, "Right."
He wrapped his arms around her, shaking slightly. He wanted to cry, he really did. But he had to be strong for Alex, tell her that it was okay. It was hard, but he had to. After all, he couldn't leave a weak impression on Alex before she left.
"Try your best to convince your aunt to stay. I... I..." he trailed off into silence.
I don't want you to leave yet. I'm not ready to lose you.
Alex nodded at him as if she had just read his mind, "I understand."
Michael pushed her away slightly so that he was able to drink in her beauty for the final time. He smiled sadly.
"I knew that you would."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the wait! Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
Dont forget to review and ideas are welcome (except for Michael and Alex either dating, doing "it" or getting married lol)