Welcome to New Haven

by Dawn Doyle

  He felt warm all over, more so in certain parts that were beginning to press against the front of his jeans. He leant against the doorway and just watched her. Waiting for her to notice him there.

  As Holly turned her head to see Dev, he knew she had seen him too. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. Holly immediately turned to look away and straight out of her windscreen. Dev and the other girls got into Holly’s car and buckled their belts. Dev turned to wave at him, with a knowing smile. He returned the wave.

  “Bye girls. Have a great day!” He said.

  “Bye Alex!” Riss and Kayla chorused from the back seat, giggling.

  Holly drove away, without looking back at him and he disappeared into the house.

  She definitely reacted to me. She still looked away, but I definitely saw something.

  Alex was still smiling to himself when he went to get his gear ready for the gym.

  Oh my God! Holly thought to herself as she drove down the road.

  How could he look so sexy in just jeans and a T-shirt?

  Her heart had been thundering like a bass drum in her chest since seeing Alex at the door. The black v-neck T-shirt that fitted across his chest like it was his own personal creation. The sleeves hugging his biceps that made her feel jealous of the fabric. His dark blue faded jeans hung loosely on his hips and his thighs stretched out the denim to perfection.

  “What’s with Alex?” Kayla’s voice broke into Holly’s thoughts.

  “Yeah.” Said Riss. “He’s never waved us off from the door before.”

  “Usually it’s from the window.” Added Kayla.

  “I think he’s trying to make an effort”. Dev said, but Holly saw a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth that said she knew something else.

  “He doesn’t have to try. He’s one of the sweetest guys at school.” Said Riss.

  Holly felt an unwelcome pang in her stomach. She didn’t like that feeling at all.

  “Are you ok Holly?” Dev asked as Holly had fallen silent.

  “Oh…Yeah…Where to first?” she asked, trying to keep the subject away from Alex.

  “How about the mall?” asked Kayla.

  “Or the park” asked Riss.

  “We could go there later, when everywhere else get busier.” Said Dev. “How about the Seattle Centre? There’s lots to do in there. They have a great arts and entertainment centre, and they even have their own park.”

  “That sounds great!” Holly replied with enthusiasm. The centre did sound like fun. It could help to take her mind off other things. “How do I get there?”

  “It’s just north of Belltown” Dev replied. “Have you seen the space needle?”

  “Yeah. My Mum had Dad took me the first week we arrived.” Holly said.

  “It’s near there.” Dev said as she programmed Holly’s Sat Nav.

  The girls drove around, and they visited the Seattle Centre, the restaurant in the Space needle and they visited the mall on Pine Street.

  They had such a good time; Holly hardly thought about Alex. Well, she had, but the girls had her so engrossed in conversation that she had to exert extra energy to keep focused on them.

  Alex was out with the guys, at their usual eatery, when he felt three pairs of eyes fixed on him.

  “What’s up with you today dude?” Kyle asked.

  “What?” asked Alex as if he didn’t know what was going on.

  “You’ve been zoning out. Seriously, have you even been listening?”

  “Sorry. I’ve got a few things on my mind. What were you saying?” Alex said as he shook his head.

  “I said that the new action movie we wanted to see is on in the next half hour. Do you want to go see it?” Kyle said with a smirk.

  “Oh yeah, sure. What about you guys?” Alex asked Ben and Ryan.

  “We’ve already said yeah; man” Ryan chuckled.

  They stood from their seats and as they walked out of the restaurant, Ben nudged Alex.

  “What’s up? You’ve been like this since Monday.”

  “Nothing, man.” Alex replied with a shrug.

  “Yeah whatever” Ben said with a knowing smile.

  “Seriously, Ben, nothing’s up so can we drop it?…please?”

  “Sure” said Ben, a little mischievously.

  They walked into the movie theatre, got their tickets and popcorn, and made their way to the screening room.

  As they entered, they spotted a group of young girls pointing at them and giggling. Ryan rolled his eyes, Kyle dropped his shoulders in a slouch and Ben snorted an irritated breath. The group of girls all looked about fourteen years old, but their attention was firmly fixed on the guys.

  Alex shook his head as they took their seats.

  “Let’s make a sharp exit after this” whispered Ben to which they all quickly agreed.

  The movie barely had the credits rolling when they got up leave.

  Once out the doors, they heard the familiar sound of female chatter behind them.

  “Hey!” one of the girls shouted to them. They tried to ignore them, but the girls ran to catch up, making their way in front of them. Trapping them. Alex politely removed one of the girls’ hands from his arm as she tried to get a grip of him.

  “So…” one of them began. “…We’re going to a party later. Wanna go with us?”

  “Not me, but thanks.” Alex replied as the girl’s eyes were looking him up and down, making him seriously uncomfortable.

  “Me neither.” Added Ben. “We’ve all got plans and we can’t get out of them.”

  “That’s too bad” said another girl. “We could’ve had a lot of fun.”

  “What about you two? The first girl asked Ryan and Kyle.

  ”We go with these guys, sorry.” Said Ryan as Kyle nodded in agreement. “We barely had time to see the movie. In fact, we’re late for our appointment.”

  “Well if you change your mind…” the girl said as she told them the address of the party, before they left. Looking back and giggling among themselves.

  “Personally, I wasn’t digging’ those girls so a pass was easy for me.” Said Ryan.

  “There could’ve been older girls there.” Said Kyle, a smile threatening.

  “Nah I’m good” said Ben before they all burst out laughing.

  “I know random people get invited to parties all of the time but, really, we could’ve been anybody!” said Ryan a little shocked.

  “I know! That’s just dangerous. They were just kids. Fuck!” said Kyle as he shook his head in disbelief.

  “If my little sister did that, I would lock her in her room until she was twenty. In fact, I may just do that anyway.” Said Ryan as they continued to walk out of the theatre.

  “Dude, your sister’s ten.” Alex said with a chuckle.

  “That’s good enough for me.” Ryan replied as they all laughed.

  They went to the mall for some gym gear before heading back to Alex’s house.

  As Alex pulled up to their garage, he saw Holly’s and Riss’ cars outside. His insides were doing a happy dance that she was still there. He would get a chance to see her before Monday.

  Thinking that they may be in the hangout room, and he can’t just go and join them by himself because the girls would become suspicious, he asked the guys if they wanted to watch another movie. As he walked through the front door, he saw Dev in the hallway with popcorn.

  “Hey guys”! She said as her eyes lit up.

  “Hey Dev” they chorused.

  “Watching a movie?” Alex asked. He knew they were, and his idea to watch with the guys, couldn’t have better timing if he had planned the whole thing. Besides, his previous plans had turned to shit…

  “Yeah why?”

  “We were gonna watch too. Mind if we join you?” Alex knew Dev liked the whole gang getting together to watch movies. It was the time when they got to watch together, but still had their friends with them. Nobody was left out.

  “No, not at all!” She said exci
tedly. “It’ll be more fun.”

  Alex took the popcorn from Dev, to carry it for her and she passed him a look that said ‘I know what you’re up to’. He just smiled back.

  “Look who I found lurking in the hallway!” Dev squealed as she entered the room as Alex and the guys walked in behind her.

  “Hey guys!” the girls said, Holly remaining quiet, a look of shock on her face as she saw him. Her head turned, and she looked down at her hands. Alex saw her discomfort, and he felt sad because he thought that maybe she may not like him after all. He went and sat on the far left of the sofa, at the end. The others took their seats and Dev handed out the popcorn before picking up the remote.

  Holly was sitting on the far right of the sofa at the end. Luckily, nobody could sit to her right and Dev already had the seat on her left, followed by Riss and then Kayla. They all moved up so that the guys could sit down comfortably.

  The sofa could easily fit ten people as it was curved and designed for a corner, but not a right angle. It was set on the back wall of the room, but with a large gap to walk behind if needed, so the corners curved around to the centre.

  The large flat screen TV hung on the wall opposite, and the black coffee table was large enough that all of them could easily reach drinks and snacks.

  “We haven’t decided what to watch yet so here are the choices…” Dev said as she got herself comfortable.

  “The Devil wears Prada”.

  The guys groaned as the girls said that they’d seen it twice already.

  “Ted or anchorman”

  “Ted!” They all agreed at the same time.

  “Ted it is”

  Whilst they were watching the movie, Holly could feel Alex’s presence and also his eyes, on her. She felt as though she were sitting next to an electrical sub station. She felt the buzzing of electricity flowing through her and it made her continually shift in her seat.

  She made the mistake of glancing over to him, and he smiled, just a little, at her. She thought her heart stopped for a second before it began thumping so hard, she could hear it.

  Holly continued to look at the screen as the movie went on. Trying to focus her attention on the stuffed bear, shouting expletives.

  “Ew!” and “That’s gross” were heard coming from beside her as the girls were disgusted at what was happening in the movie. Holly just laughed. She was trying to contain her laughter by putting a cushion over her face to stifle the noise. The guys looked over to her with strange expressions on their faces.

  “Hey Holly” Ryan said. “Doesn’t that gross you out?” he asked as the other girls were retching.

  “No. It’s funny.” She replied, shyly, as her face heated.

  Well at least no stuttering there, she thought as she managed to speak a full sentence in Alex’s presence.

  Maybe because the lights were off and she couldn’t see him clearly. Oh, but she could feel him alright.

  After the movie finished, Dev switched it off and stood.

  “Bathroom break before the next movie.”

  “Next movie?” the guys asked.

  “Yeah we’re doubling up. A funny then a scary.”

  Holly managed to avoid Alex by going upstairs to Dev’s bathroom. The girls got back to the room before the guys and took their seats again.

  “Ok…so we have…Child’s Play, Silent Hill, or Dawn of the Dead.”

  “Dawn of the Dead.” They chorused, and Alex noticed Holly’s reaction. It was a pity he wasn’t sitting by her. He could ‘comfort’ her during the scary parts.

  So cliché. I’d end up with a fat lip. Stop! Stop!

  He willed himself to gather his sanity, but it seemed to have left.

  Dev turned off the lights and switched on the movie.

  During the movie, Alex could see Holly becoming more frightened by the minute. She was hiding most of the time, and for the opposite reason as before. Holly was more than frightened, she looked terrified. Alex didn’t like to see her that way and he got up, walked around the back of the sofa to speak to Dev.

  “I need to talk to you in the hall” he whispered. Seeing the look on his face, Dev got up and followed him out.

  “What’s up?” she asked with a frown of worry.

  “I think you should either turn off the movie or get Holly out of there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she looks terrified, Dev. That’s not just being scared. That’s being terrified. Dev, you have to get her out…now.”

  “I’ll go turn off the movie” Dev said as she turned towards the door.

  “She might be embarrassed if they know she’s scared.” Alex added.

  “Ok” Dev said as she went in. Alex sat back down and Dev whispered to Holly, getting her up and moving out into the hallway. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to spend time with her, but not like that.

  “Oh my God Holly, are you ok? You look terrified!” Dev said as they stopped in the hallway, away from the hangout room.

  “I’m ok. I…just…I get scared of zombies.” Holly said as her heart rate began to drop. She thought she was going to have a panic attack right there in the room before Dev whispered to her to go out into the hall with her.

  The last time she had seen that movie was the day her Dad had died.

  They’d gone to see Shrek 2 when she’d run ahead and mistakenly went into the wrong auditorium. As she ran inside, she saw, in full graphic horror, a zombie devouring a living person. Holly had frozen with fear and her Dad had come in to get her out.

  By the time he had calmed her down, the trailers for their move where already over. What she saw that day stayed with her. The movie was a reminder of what had happened that day.

  “You should have said, earlier.” Dev said as she hugged her.

  “I didn’t want to spoil it for anyone. They all wanted to watch it.”

  “Oh honey, you wouldn’t have. I’m so sorry.” Dev hugged her again.

  “I don’t want to go back in there, but I don’t want you to stop the move for me. I’m tired anyway so I think I’ll just go.”

  “Are you sure? They won’t mind…” Dev began but Holly stopped her, shaking her head.

  “No, I’ll just go home. It’s ok.” Holly could see that Dev felt bad for not knowing she was scared. It was evident in her expression. Her eyes were full of worry, and they were misty as if she were about to cry.

  “Don’t feel bad.” Holly reassured her. “I could have said something, but I didn’t. Don’t you feel bad for my mistake.”

  “You are such a good person.” Said Dev. “Text me when you get home, Ok?”

  “I will.” Holly said as she turned to leave. “Oh, Dev, please don’t tell them…just tell them I was tired from all of the driving…please?”

  “No worries.” Said Dev and Holly knew that she could trust her.

  As Dev walked back into the room, Alex looked for Holly. She didn’t appear.

  “Gone home” Dev mouthed to him.

  He felt sad that she’d gone, but it was better than her being scared of the movie. He couldn’t believe that nobody else had noticed. Well, maybe because he was the only one with the fixation on her, that he had noticed. Even Dev who was sitting next to her, hadn’t.

  When the movie ended and the lights turned on. The rest of the group turned to Dev to ask where Holly had gone.

  “She went home. She was super tired from driving around, and the lights being off were making her sleepy. She texted me when she got home.”

  “Oh” they said.

  “She’s got an awesome sense of humor.” Said Ryan.

  “Yeah I thought she was going to bust a lung at one point” laughed Kyle.

  Alex just smiled. He’d loved seeing her laugh, he couldn’t hear her as she’d covered her face with the cushion.

  “You didn’t hear her though” Dev turned to Kyle. “That girl has one infectious laugh.”

  “Yeah!” agreed Riss and Kayla. We couldn’t help but laugh when she did ea
rlier. I swear, other people were too. It kind of makes you feel happy, and you can’t help but join in.”

  Dev beamed and the girls started giggling as they remembered. Alex felt a little jealous because he wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted to see her smile, at him, because of him.

  His dreams, the night before, had her waiting for him. In the hallway where they’d met. She was smiling, wanting him to go to her. He didn’t know how, but he could sense she did. The closer he got the more he felt it, but as he finally reached her…he woke up. He’d looked down the bed and saw it. The painful tent pole he was sporting from his dreams. “Oh no.” He’d groaned.

  It was a while later before everybody left to go home. They’d ordered Chinese, played some video games and talked about the new schedule coming up for Monday. Alex was happy that he had more classes with Ben, Dev wasn’t. It meant her being in the same room with Ben for more than she’d liked.

  They hadn’t bickered that day, which was good, but he could tell an argument was brewing. They hadn’t talked much and, he knew that, if Ben so much as opened his mouth to Dev, she would make a snarky comeback. He didn’t get what was going on. Sometimes, they would be civil, when it came to looking out for him, and when Alex had the fight last year, Ben had wanted to hurt the guy just as much as Alex did. He shook his head and put it down to one of those things that he wouldn’t understand. Well, right now at least.

  The next morning, Alex came downstairs to see Dev already at the breakfast table, phone in hand, talking.

  “The guys think you’re awesome.” He heard her say. “See? You didn’t need to worry so much. They’re all great and you’ll get along with them just fine.” Dev paused for a moment as she was listening to, who he assumed was Holly.