Welcome to New Haven

by Dawn Doyle

  Stacey’s mouth popped open as Holly and the girls turned to leave.

  “Oh my God! That was fucking awesome!” Squealed Kayla.

  “Did you see her face? I thought she was going to pee herself.” Said Riss.

  “I wanted to smash her face in!” growled Dev, obviously still angry with what Stacey had said about her brother.

  “Not in school.” Holly said, shaking her head, as the girls turned to her.

  “I’m so angry!”

  “Believe me, I wanted to punch her, but is she worth getting suspended over?”

  “I guess not” Dev said as she huffed.

  “If she touched you, then self-defense would be acceptable” Riss said with a thoughtful look.

  “I wanted her to, just so I could…agghhh!” Dev roared in frustration.

  It was lucky that it was the end of the day. Dev was pissed, and she’d put up with Stacey for two years. Holly had only put up with her for less than two weeks, and she knew it wouldn’t take much more of Stacey’s shit to tip her over the edge. She took a deep, calming breath.

  “Thanks for backing me up.” Dev said to Holly.

  “No problem. There’s no way I was going to let her get away with that.”

  “Thanks girls, I knew you were ready for a fight.”

  “Girl, we’ve got your back no matter what.” They said.

  “You guys are the best. By the way Hol, What’s a sweat? Here, it means ‘like’. Like ‘I sweat you’ means ‘I like you,’ or ‘I’m hot for you’.” Said Dev

  “Yeah if you talk like an ass.” Added Riss.

  ”I hear ya! What does it mean in Liverpool?”

  “It means a very promiscuous person. Or a big slut for short.” Holly said with a wide smile.

  “Wait till Stacey finds out!” Dev laughed loudly. “She thanked you!”

  “I know… and that makes it so much better.”

  The girls laughed so hard that they gained few strange looks from some of the students.

  Alex was waiting in his car for Dev, when the girls came out of the building, all giggling. He watched as Holly turned and got into her car. She glanced at him, a smile still on her face and his heart stopped.

  She was so beautiful.

  Her face all lit up with her smile, the sunlight sparkling in her eyes. His haze was broken when Dev got into the car, smiling like an insane person. He turned back to Holly, but she was already driving away.

  “Oh my God, Alex, you’ll never guess what!!”

  Alex listened as Dev told him what happened in the girls’ changing rooms. Stacey mocking Holly’s shyness and then she seemed to skip because she looked at him and then said “anyway” which usually meant she was missing something out on purpose. Dev then told him what Stacey said about her using his tongue and his stomach rolled.

  Gross.

  “Holly stood up to Stacey…for me?” He asked. Happily thinking that maybe she liked him even a little bit.

  “Of course! You’re my brother, and she was backing me up too.”

  “I guess.” He said as his happy feeling was gone.

  “You should’ve seen her, Alex…” Dev continued. “…Holly called her a sweat and Stacey actually thanked her!” Dev threw her head back and laughed a huge belly laugh.

  “So, what is a sweat?”

  “A big slut!” Now it was Alex’s turn to belly laugh. He definitely would have loved to have seen that!

  Kyle and Ryan had asked about what happened with Stacey, but Dev had said Alex had told them to stop. So after that, they hadn’t mentioned it again. They just looked at her as if they were dying to make a comment.

  Holly had gotten stares from other students, and they were whispering but she didn’t care. Stacey wasn’t going to say those things about her Alex and get away with it.

  My Alex?!

  Holly’s brain had already made her mind up that Alex was hers. Well that just made things worse for Holly.

  Thursdays classes with Dev, Alex and Ben were difficult. Holly was red faced even when she hadn’t looked at his beautiful features. But, when Dev and Alex had a free period, Alex had said ‘Bye Holly’ as they left and she’d only managed to barely whisper “bye…Alex”

  “Let’s go.” Ben had said when they went to their A.Calc class.

  Stacey had been absent from Social studies but that was a good thing. Holly was in no state to deal with her that day.

  Friday was much the same as Thursday. Alex had wanted to talk to Holly so much, but after what Dev had said had gone down with Stacey, he was sure that she might be feeling a little embarrassed that he knew what she had done for him and Dev.

  He had almost reached out to her when they had A.Eng. He had to put his hands into his pockets to stop himself. It was getting harder to resist. Just walking past her desk, he could smell her hair. Walking to class with her, Dev and Ben, he’d stayed on the other side of Dev, instead of Ben, just so he could be closer. He would try to get next to her, next time, to test the waters. If she looked uncomfortable then he would move.

  All of the strategizing was giving him a headache. He wanted to take her hand and walk down the hallway like a normal couple.

  Shit! I’m getting too carried away with myself.

  They hadn’t spoken properly, and there he was, imagining them as the happy couple strolling hand-in-hand… He was losing it. Cold showers were helping only so much, but he couldn’t deny what Holly was doing to his mind, as well as his body.

  Monday rolled around again, and Holly kept her head down. Spending time with the girls, shopping, over the weekend had been fun. They’d even gotten some studying in, making sure that they’d gone to Holly’s house this time. The builders weren’t there over the weekend, so Holly felt it safe to take Dev to her house.

  Dev had been an instant hit with her parents and had chatted nonstop about school and how well Holly was fitting in. When they got their books out, Holly had tried to concentrate, but her mind had been otherwise occupied by a very tall, dark, and extremely gorgeous guy.

  Brown eyes…perfect white teeth…lips that were designed specifically for kissing and hair that she wanted to grip…

  “That dress that we saw was gorgeous. It’s a pity it didn’t fit. It would have been great for our birthday party.” Dev said from beside her, Holly coming out of her Alex fantasy.

  The girls had been looking for outfits for Dev’s and Alex’s eighteenth birthday, of which Holly had been invited too; of course. Dev had seen a beautiful red bandage dress and the store didn’t have her size and there were no more in stock at any of their stores. Holly had planned a special surprise for her after that.

  “I’m sure there’ll be something perfect for you. We’ll just have to go again.” Holly said, trying to lighten Dev’s mood.

  She’d really loved that dress and was still upset she couldn’t have it.

  When the girls made their way to their English classes, Holly saw that Alex was already there. He smiled at her when she walked to her seat, and she managed to smile back.

  Kind of.

  She couldn’t multi-task that well, what with the weak knees, flushing cheeks, and erratic heartbeat.

  When A.Eng ended Holly had Spanish. Which annoyed her because the teacher still insisted speaking only in Spanish even though the other students had found her class difficult too. Holly was making her way to A.Calc class when she heard it.

  “You fucking bitch!”

  Holly turned and saw Stacey steaming towards her. She’d been missing from homeroom, and Holly wondered when she was going to show up.

  Holly just smiled.

  “Yeah, Stacey? You want to talk to me about something?” she asked innocently.

  “I looked up what up what you said, you fucking cunt”

  Holly hated that word. Where she was from, if you used that word, you had to be extremely good friends or family with someone to get away with it, or looking for a smack in the mouth. Stacey would be getting the latter.

/>   “Did you now?” she asked as Stacey stopped in front of her.

  “Yes I did and I should fucking slap you!” Stacey was furious.

  “For telling you the truth? That I said you’re a sweat? Would you have preferred me to say ‘big slut’?” Holly asked in mock confusion.

  There were audible gasps in the hallway as the students there had stopped to watch what was going on.

  “Please do” Holly continued as she stepped closer to Stacey. “I just need an excuse to punch your face in.” Stacey’s face paled, and she swallowed. “I don’t know whether it’s worth a suspension, but the more I think about it; the more I don’t give a shit.” Holly snarled.

  Stacey took a step back.

  “You’re a fucking psycho.” Stacey was visibly shaken from the unexpected retaliation that she obviously wasn’t used to.

  “Am I now?” Holly asked her voice calm. “There’s only one way to find out, Stacey. Do it. I. Dare. You”

  Stacey looked Holly up and down.

  “I wouldn’t risk breaking a nail on you.” She said as she quickly turned and stormed off.

  The other students stared at Holly and then some even began giggling, at Stacey’s expense. Holly knew this because she heard ‘I thought Stacey was going to cry’ and ‘I really wanted Holly to punch that skank’. Holly turned to make her way to class, and she almost bumped into Ben.

  ”That. Was. Amazing!” He said, quite stunned. I’ve never seen her hightail that fast. You are officially my new hero.” He said whilst raising his arms up and down in a mock worshipping grovel.

  “Could you please keep this to yourself?” Holly asked, but knowing it was in vain because the other students had seen everything and would have spread the gossip around eventually, anyway.

  “Seriously?” Ben whined. “Don’t do that to me Holly.” He put his hand on his heart. “I need this…please…I beg you.”

  Holly rolled her eyes and walked beside him.

  “Why did I bother to ask?” She muttered.

  “Yay!” he said as he got out his phone.

  She could see this biting her in the arse.

  Holly was glad for lunchtime. The students had been talking about her during A.Alg class, and she was getting irritated by their childishness. Yes, she’d stood up to Stacey and said some things to her. But, you’d think that it had been the highlight of the school year the way they were behaving.

  The girls were sat at their usual table and there were students hanging around, close by. Probably to see what the ‘girl who scared off Stacey’ would do.

  “Hey bruiser” Ben said as he plonked himself down and stealing a potato chip from Dev’s lunch.

  “Hey!” she shouted and he winked at her. Which shut her up and, Holly noticed, made her blush a little.

  Alex sat down, and Holly saw that he’d purposely sat on the other side of the table. He was opposite to her. She was glad she’d worn her mirrored sunglasses, as it was a bright day, but also because nobody could see her eyes. She could look at whomever she wanted, without them knowing.

  Holly dropped her head and smiled a little.

  “There wasn’t actually any fighting you know.” Kayla stated.

  “I know, but trust me. There didn’t need to be any” Ben said and he smirked at Holly and she rolled her eyes.

  Not that he could see them. Holly glanced at Alex, and she immediately blushed because he was looking right at her and smiling his usual sexy smile. She wanted to kiss it right off his face…

  “Hellooooo” Ryan said, to get her attention.

  “Sorry, what?” Holly said. Glad, once again, for her glasses.

  She’d been staring at Alex, and the rest of them had just…disappeared.

  “I said you stared the crap out of her. You know, instead of scared?”

  “Yeah I know” Holly replied with a twitch of her lips. “I just didn’t think it was funny.” And then, Holly smiled at Ryan.

  Everyone cracked up, even Alex. It was deep, hot, sexy Spanish music to her ears.

  “You wound me girl. You really wound me.” Ryan said wiping fake tears from his eyes, which did make Holly laugh. Not a full on laugh, just a giggle.

  She noticed Alex stop and look right at her again, as if he were paying attention to just her.

  “I need to text Em.” She said to Dev and got her phone out. Holly knew she had to act fast, or he might know what she was up to.

  Alex was busy texting on his phone too. That was good. It gave Holly more time to stare at his lips, but flushed when she licked her own…at the exact moment he looked up at her.

  His eyes focused on her mouth, and his lips parted.

  Shit! Busted!

  There was no way he could’ve known she was staring at him. Was there?

  For the rest of the week, there were no run ins with Stacey and the buzz had quietened down. In fact, Stacey was nowhere to be seen, other than homeroom.

  Holly had found it easier to talk around Alex, but it was still bad if he spoke directly to her. She was a mess. Luckily, he seemed to be keeping it to a minimum and she knew she had Dev to thank for that.

  During Friday’s homeroom, Stacey sat in her usual space and just glared at Holly and Dev. Holly gave her a smile and Dev had to stifle her laughter.

  “Her face!” Dev said as they leaned in to whisper to each other.

  “Will be mush if she messes with Alex again.” Holly said as she glanced back.

  “Ooh, getting territorial are we?” Dev said with a wink.

  “No.” Holly said defensively. “I just know he doesn’t want her and she’s practically forcing herself on him. It’s disgusting.”

  “Tell me about it.” Dev agreed with a nod. “Anyhoo, I noticed there’s an improvement between the two of you. I know you don’t really like to talk about it much, but I think it’s great.”

  Only it wasn’t for Holly. She wanted to be able to talk to Alex without losing her ability to speak. She wanted to behave like a normal person around him and not a quivering, hot flushed, wreck.

  “Yeah, maybe”

  “You guys get along so well when you do talk…”

  Holly cocked an eyebrow at Dev.

  “…Ok, the times, the few times you’ve spoken. But…shit” Dev shook her head and her expression saddened.

  “What is it Dev?”

  “Look, I know I can’t say anything but I think you’d be perfect together. You look good together too, and you know how I feel about girls and my brother.”

  It was true. Dev had told Holly all about girls using her to get to Alex. Holly had been shocked, and then angry, and then furious. She would never…

  “The other week, when you sat next to each other at lunch for the first time. It looked…perfect.” Dev blew out a sharp breath.

  “Better?” Holly asked with a smile.

  “Better”

  “You’ve been holding that in, haven’t you?” Holly began to giggle at Dev.

  “That obvious? It’s what I think, and I’m entitled to my opinion.” Dev said, her nose in the air.

  “That you are.” Holly felt better knowing that her best friend was rooting for her. If only she knew what was going through Alex’s mind…

  History class came, and Alex could feel Holly’s presence even though she sat at the back of the room with the rest of the girls.

  “Gym next?” Ben asked.

  “Hmmm?” Alex said as he was brought out of his daydream.

  “Gym. For free period.”

  “Oh yeah”

  “Man you’ve really got it bad.” Ben said as he leant into Alex.

  Alex’s eyes snapped to Ben.

  “What?!”

  “You know” Ben smiled at him.

  “Know what?” Alex tried to play dumb.

  “Don’t try to deny it dude. Ever since she started here, you’ve been acting different and your spacing out sessions are becoming more frequent.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Alex said as
he turned back to his desk, but knowing he couldn’t hide from Ben.

  “We’ve known each other for almost twelve years.” Ben said. “Don’t think I didn’t notice this man.”

  Alex didn’t say anything. He knew Ben would have seen it immediately. He’d even said, he didn’t go to the gym because of a certain ‘tiny girl’” It was true, Holly was a tiny thing, but she was also in perfect proportion. Well from what he could tell. She hid herself under loose clothing and even more when people looked. Yes. She was a perfectly perfect, beautiful, gorgeous girl.

  “It’s about time a girl caught your eye dude. Holly’s a great girl.”

  Alex looked to Ben at the mention of Holly’s name.

  “That obvious huh?” was all he said.

  “To me…definitely. I’m surprised Dev didn’t notice.”

  “She did. I applied the code.”

  “Dude!” Ben almost shouted. “You can’t do that shit to girls. Their whole lives run off this stuff, man! I wondered why she was looking as though she was going to explode.” Alex turned to Ben.

  “It applies to you too.”

  “Aww man, how am I supposed to play cupid now?” Ben whined.

  “It wouldn’t make any difference anyway. She’s not into me.” Alex felt his chest ache as he told Ben what he thought.

  “Are you kidding me? Dude, are you blind?”

  “No”

  “Well you must be, not to see it” Ben pointed at his eyes.

  “See what?” Alex frowned.

  “I bet Dev knows, so maybe you should ask her.” Ben smiled.

  “I’m asking you. Has she said anything to you?

  “No, but I’m guessing she says plenty to Dev. Ask her. But, the way she looks at you when you’re not looking…man it’s something.”

  “Really?” Alex said a little too loudly.