by Dawn Doyle
“Alex told me…He saw you and told me…No he won’t say anything at all, don’t worry. I’m sorry again honey…Well if you’re sure, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”
Alex sat next to Dev, and she looked up at him as she continued with her breakfast.
“Is Holly ok?” he asked as he poured some juice.
“Yeah, she seems fine, actually” Dev replied.
“Did she say anything about me?” he asked and Dev looked at him in disbelief.
“Wow…Just…wow.” She said with wide eyes.
“What?”
Dev put on a mock lovestruck face, clasped her hands together to her chest as she mimicked Alex’s voice.
“Did she anything about me?” She said and then laughed.
“Come on Dev, that’s not funny.” Alex said, irritated.
“Yes it is” Dev chuckled. Alex rolled his eyes at his sister.
“Well…did she?”
“No. She didn’t.” Alex looked down into his glass and bit the inside of his cheek.
“I’m sorry Alex; I shouldn’t have teased. I didn’t mention you, other than to say it was you who saw her getting scared. That was it. Maybe that’s why she didn’t.” Dev was trying to appease him.
“Maybe…” he added “…or she just doesn’t think of me.”
Alex got up and took his glass to the sink. He didn’t feel like eating anything so he just stood and cleaned his glass.
“Fuck…you’ve got it bad, Alex.” Dev said as she walked up and stood beside him.
Alex blew out a breath as he let his head fall back.
“I know.” He said as he looked down to Dev. The worry evident in her expression.
“Give her time. She only started school on Monday. She doesn’t even know you. Hell, she didn’t even know who you were until Friday.”
“Mhmm” was all Alex replied and he went up to his room.
I don’t know her either, yet I feel like this. What am I going to do?
Afterward his shower, Alex got out his drawing paper and pencil. The image that had haunted him since Monday, began to come to life on the paper.
Chapter 7
Monday morning came around quicker than Holly would have liked. The good thing was that she’d managed to get to homeroom before Dev. Knowing now why Hot-guy/Alex had seemed to appear when Dev did, avoiding Dev first thing, meant avoiding Alex too. It wasn’t something that she was proud of, but it meant that she wasn’t with just the twins.
Holly could’ve kicked herself for not noticing that they were related. They did look alike, but where Dev looked like her Mum, Alex apparently looked more like his Dad. Holly hadn’t met Rami yet, she’s seen a photograph and, of course, he was another tall, good looking man. Heck, the whole family belonged in a magazine for the who’s who of beautiful people, starring just them.
Dev walked into homeroom and Holly saw Alex look in from the doorway, before he walked away. He didn’t look happy one little bit.
“Good morning!” Said Dev as she sat down next to her. “How are you? You look exhausted. Haven’t you slept?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Said Holly with a small smile.
“You don’t look fine.” Dev said as she looked at her with concern.
“I’ve just had a few things on my mind. But I’m ok.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Not unless you can tell me what the hell is going on in my head!
“No. Everything’s fine now, but thanks.”
“Well, I’m here if you need me” Dev said as she squeezed Holly’s hand.
Holly smiled and nodded at her friend.
Mrs.Carter came in and gave everybody their new schedules.
“Please respect these…” She said as she handed the individual schedules out to the students. “…Staff worked overtime on Friday and over the weekend so these could start today.”
Holly and Dev quickly compared schedules, writing their numbered choices in the spaces.
“We have a lot of our classes together!” Dev squealed with delight. “Well, we don’t have English or Algebra together, which I guessed anyway.” She added.
“Ugh. We don’t have any free periods together.” Said Holly, disappointed.
“What?! That sucks ass!” Said Dev, scrunching her nose.
“I know.”
Holly was annoyed that she didn’t get a chance to spend any of her free time with Dev. Without her Spanish classes, Holly would be alone the other times.
“We’ll have to check our schedules with Riss and Kay” Dev said as she got out her phone to text them. “Maybe we’ll get some free periods with them.”
“Definitely. I’d feel better not waiting around by myself during the free time and also knowing somebody in my other classes”
“You know Alex” Dev said with a strange look in her eyes, her eyebrows lifted a little.
Did she know?
“Mhmm” Holly said as she began to nervously play with her fingers.
“I wonder what classes he has?” said Dev as if thinking out loud.
He could have every class with me…shirtless…Whoa, what the fuck?!
Holly started to blush with her runaway thoughts and Dev saw her.
“You’ve gone pink, Hol, are you ok?”
“Just a little warm I guess.” Holly replied with a little pathetic laugh. She could see that Dev wasn’t convinced but kept it to herself.
The bell sounded to signify the first lesson. Holly had A.Eng, like last week. Because of the change, Holly’s and Dev’s classrooms were now next door to each other. They walked to their rooms, Dev pulling a face as she disappeared through the door, making Holly laugh as she walked into her own class. Holly’s laughter was short lived when she saw that the teacher had assigned them their seats, alphabetically by first name.
Her seat was second row in from the right, third seat back. As Holly made her way to her seat, she noticed Alex’s name on a desk. First row in from the right fourth seat back. If Holly had been one seat back, she would’ve been next to him. She didn’t know which was worse…next to, or in front. She decided ‘next to’ was worse. She would’ve been talking distance away, and she knew how bad she was at that around him.
Holly sat down and put her books on her desk. The magnetic pull towards the door filled her senses and she tried not to look. Her body, on the other hand, shifted in the seat, right before Alex walked in. Holly could smell him as walked closer to her. He smelled like soap. Clean and fresh and full of bubbles…in the shower…naked.
Her face flamed as her thoughts had taken a serious turn to x-rated as the rest of her body was heating up. Certain parts tingling.
“Hi Holly.” His smooth, sexy voice caressed her ears as he passed her.
“H.h.hey.” She managed. She wanted to curl up and hide under her desk.
“Ok people…!” The teacher said as they started the class.
Alex was happy he was sitting closer to Holly, even if she didn’t like him back. He couldn’t help how he felt about her. It was if a switch had been turned on inside of him and all of his dormant hormones were reacting just for her.
He watched as she fidgeted in her seat, her cheeks going pink. He noticed her eyes as she looked out of the window. She was tired.
She mustn’t have slept much. Was it the horror movie? Did she have nightmares?’
Alex had a strong urge to put his arms around her and hold her tight.
Alex had been uncomfortable throughout the lesson. He could smell coconut and knew it was Holly’s hair. He’d smelled it that first day, and then last week when he swore that she was behind him. He’d had a feeling in his stomach, like when he’d first met Holly, and when he’d said goodbye to Ben, he’d turned and smelled her. When he looked back, though, she wasn’t there.
When class ended, he was grateful. His jeans were becoming too tight for comfort, and he had to walk with his books in front of him to avoid embarrassment. Holly had left pretty quickly, and if he hadn't
had an unwelcome visitor, he might have tried to walk with her to meet Dev next door. Maybe he would calm down on the walk to art class. He sure hoped he did.
Holly quickly said “Hi” to Dev because she knew she had art class with Alex, and they would be walking together. It was Holly’s free period, and she used it to take her Spanish lessons. Two of them, per week were taken up for this. The lesson, which consisted of Miss Delaney talking in rapid Spanish, whilst the rest of the class looked on bemused, went by quickly. Mainly because all Holly could think about was Alex and his soapy shower smell.
Holly made her way to A.Calc whilst Dev had a free period. Her phone beeped for an incoming text.
D: How’d Spanish go?
H: Painful. :(
D: Haha! It’s not that bad. XD
H: My English isn’t great, so Spanish is really difficult!:/
D: You crack me up! XD
H: What does ‘Hola chica hermosa’ mean?
D: It means ‘hello beautiful girl’ why?
H: Some guy just said it to me.
D: Oooh! Who?
H: I don’t know his name.
D: Is he in your class?
H: No. He said it as I came out of class as he walked past. I didn’t know whether he was insulting me.
D: If you see him again, point him out.
H: Will do. I’ve just got to class. See you at lunch. X
D: See you soon. X
As Holly got into the classroom, she saw that Ben was already there and sitting in his usual spot. The teacher hadn’t changed any of their seating arrangements, so Holly took her seat behind him.
“Hey new girl” he said as he turned to talk to her.
“Hi Ben.” She answered with a smile.
“That movie ‘Ted’ was awesome, right?”
“Yeah. I like that movie. I’ve seen it a few times.”
She felt comfortable with Ben. She could see why he was Alex’s best friend. He was very likeable.
“Girls usually get grossed out by some of that stuff. You didn’t though. That’s cool.” He said with a huge smile.
“I have a warped sense of humour.” The teacher got the attention of the students and began the class, Ben turning back around in his seat.
“See you soon” Ben said as the lesson ended and the students filed out of the room.
“Yeah, see ya.” Holly said before making her way to her locker.
She was meeting the girls for lunch. The guys would be going too. Holly took a deep breath.
Big girl pants, she thought as she walked in the direction of the cafeteria.
Once they had paid for their food, the girls walked to the table that they usually sat at. It was a huge round table, with four curved benches. Big enough to sit about twelve people, if they sat close enough. There were eight of them so there was plenty of room.
The conversation picked up, and Holly saw the guy that had called her ‘beautiful girl’.
“Hey Dev…” Holly said to get her attention. “That’s the guy…” She said as she discreetly pointed in his direction.
“That’s Caleb.” Said Dev as Riss and Kayla listened in. “He throws parties all of the time and thinks he’s God’s gift to women. He’s ok in small doses, but then he comes out with crap that makes you want to slap him.”
Kayla and Riss laughed as they agreed with Dev.
“We don’t go to his parties though.” Said Dev. “There was this one time, that we thought ‘why not’ and we all went. Stacey showed up and was all over Alex…” Holly shifted as she felt a fire surge in her stomach. This time, it did not feel good. ”…He kept telling her to leave him alone, but she wouldn’t stop. She even took to telling people that they were a ‘thing’.”
“Nobody believed her though. Everybody had heard him shooting her down.” Added Riss.
“Yeah, she even tried to get him to have a drink with her. She even brought over a red cup with beer in it. He took it, just to get rid of her and poured it into a plant when she wasn’t looking.” Kayla said as her face turned into a snarl.
“Then, she seemed to be hanging around, watching him. Not like the usual way she does but like as if she were waiting for something…”
“Yeah that was creepy.” Said Riss.
“Alex was getting a little freaked out, so we all left. We’ve not been to one since. She seems to turn up everywhere he does too. I swear she’s some kind of stalker.” Said Kayla. Her hands up, emphasising the point.
The girls shuddered. Holly was raging. She could feel her teeth grinding together, her fists clenching.
The guys came over and sat down at the table with them. Holly immediately froze.
As the guys were walking over to the table, Alex could see Holly having a discussion with the girls. She was chatty one minute, and then the girls were saying something and Holly looked angry. He didn’t know what they’d said, because they were too far away to hear, but whatever it was it couldn’t have been good. He’d ask Dev about it later.
“Hi, baby. Wanna come sit with me today?” Stacey’s grating voice pierced his ears.
“Don’t call me that, and no. Not ever.” Alex said as he continued walking without even looking at Stacey. His gaze firmly on Holly.
“Just you wait, Alex, you’ll come running.” He heard her say from behind him.
“Fuck off”. He was going to have to put in another complaint about her.
He had done previously, twice, but other than ensuring they had as few classes together as possible, nothing seemed to be working. He was pleased that the schedule had them only in social studies together. They weren’t together in Phys.Ed anyway so the one class, he could cope with.
They got to the table and sat down, the guys leaving only the space next to Holly for him to sit. Not that he minded…at all.
Holly seemed to freeze and go quiet. It wasn’t just Alex who noticed either.
“Hey girls” Ryan said as he rested his elbows on the table, glancing at Holly. “Pretty interesting shake up we had today, huh?”
As the conversation picked up around the changes, good and bad, Alex saw his chance and leaned into Holly.
“Are you ok, Holly?” He asked and her cheeks turned pink as she turned to look at him with those green eyes…
“Are you ok Holly?” Alex had said.
Goodness, she loved the way he said her name. It rolled off his tongue in a breath that made her knees weak. Holly opened her mouth to say something but made the mistake of glancing up at him. She felt her cheeks heat.
“Yeah…I’m…um…wha…hmm?” Holly looked back down at the table, completely embarrassed.
Shit! Not again, not now, with everybody here!
She closed her eyes for a moment before she chanced another glance at him. He was frowning.
“You ok…after Saturday?”
Holly closed her eyes and nodded.
Please, ground, swallow me up!
Everybody seemed to turn their attention towards them.
“What are you two talking about? She heard Kyle ask.
“Nothing” she heard Alex say, with a little too much emphasis on the ‘nothing’. Well, that’s exactly what it was. She couldn’t speak…again. The group must have seen something in their faces because they left it at that. Holly wanted to hide.
“Lost your voice Holly? Ben asked her with a little smirk.
“No.” Holly said as her blush returned with vigour.
“You were a lot more talkative in Calc class.”
“Ben, shut up” Dev said, coming to Holly’s rescue.
“What? I’m just making an observation.” He said with his hands up in surrender.
“Just leave it Ben” muttered Alex. Holly saw Ben smile at Alex, and then to her.
What’s going on?
“You’re an ass sometimes Ben.” Dev snapped.
“I know” he replied as if it were old news.
Everybody laughed at Ben, but then the subject was, thankfully, changed, after some
body from another table dropped a tray, earning them a round of applause.
Dev gave Holly’s arm a little squeeze and she smiled, sympathetically, as she looked down and saw Holly’s bouncing leg. The look on her face said she would be asking about that some time soon.
The guys were talking about something they were doing later, when Holly heard Alex say…
“I’m getting a haircut.”
Holly looked to him, involuntarily, and looked at his hair. She must have done something because Alex looked back at her with confusion in his eyes, before his attention was averted when Ryan asked him something.
Well, she didn’t want him to get a haircut. His hair was gorgeous the way it was. In fact, she often thought about running her fingers through it. To see whether it felt as silky as it looked. It was so shiny, and she wanted to touch the strands that fell into his eyes…
”Holly?” she heard her name and turned in the direction of the voice.
Ben.
He was smiling at her and she frowned.
“What?” she asked and he just shook his head
“Nothing”.
They finished their lunch, and he bell sounded for the beginning of the last lesson of the day. Algebra was next. The girls all walked together, the guys behind them, until Holly turned into A.Alg. She felt relieved that she was on her own for this class, as she didn’t have to face any of the questions from lunch.
Alex wasn’t too pleased when the rest of them turned into their Algebra class.
“What’s up, Alex?” Dev asked as she sat behind him.
