Of all the people Alex could have chosen to get involved with, she chose the one who would lead her straight back to Newport. She was even back in her old job, and her old apartment. It was almost like she never left, except it was a different girl that she now shared her bed with and woke up next to in the mornings.
Marissa was slowly trying to rebuild her relationship with Ryan. So far, it was going well, and she was happy with him. She thought she should give him a chance, and she was glad that it was working out at the moment.
Alex had decided to o back to school, when she'd said that to Marissa she had meant it. However, her only option in terms of schools was Harbor High, if she wanted to stay with her girl. It was the only school within the area that she hadn't been kicked out of. The very thought of attending that school terrified her, if she were honest with herself, but finishing her education was something she was determined to do.
Alex had told Rachel, her girlfriend, all about Newport, and why she had left, so that she would understand why Alex didn't want to come back. She loved Rachel, she really did, but she wasn't in love with her the way she should be. They weren't the same feelings that she used to have for Marissa, and still had to some degree, where she had felt like nothing in the world mattered except for Marissa. Alex let it go, hoping that given time, she'd eventually feel that way for Rachel.
Rachel was working at the moment, but Alex's first shift wasn't until tomorrow. After school. The thought of school made Alex shudder. She could hardly believe that she was going back to school, and the fact that it was one where she had to see Marissa every day was even worse.
It seemed like Rachel wasn't the jealous type, because she hadn't seemed bothered by this fact. Then again, Alex had insisted that she was completely over Marissa, and that Rachel had nothing to worry about. Either way, Alex was glad about her lack of jealousy, because that had been the hardest thing to deal with in her and Jodie's relationship.
Hearing the front door open, stirring her from her thoughts, she got up to greet Rachel at the door. She kissed her lightly on the lips, before hugging her tightly.
" I missed you," she said.
" I haven't been gone long," said Rachel, laughing slightly.
" I know, but I still missed you," said, kissing her again.
" I picked us up some food," said Rachel, holding up a bag.
" Rach, you think a chef would enjoy cooking more."
" I do, but that's my job, and I don't want to feel like I'm working at home."
" You're cute," said Alex, stealing another kiss and taking the bag from Rachel's hand.
Marissa woke up to the shrill sound of her alarm clock. Why did she set that damn thing again? Oh, that's right, she had to get up for school. She dragged herself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she wandered into the bathroom. She needed a cold shower to wake her up in the mornings. She'd been having some really weird dreams lately, too, which didn't help with her tired state in the morning.
Ryan arrived to pick her up as he had been doing every morning recently. She greeted him with a brief kiss on the lips; her mother was watching them, and still didn't wholly approve of their relationship. Taking her hand, he led her to his car and opened the door for her. She smiled at him and climbed in.
Meanwhile, at Alex and Rachel's place, Alex was freaking out. Rachel grabbed hold of her hands in an effort to calm her down, looking into her eyes.
" Al, you'll be fine," she said. Moving her hand up to cup Alex's face, she continued, " I promise." She kissed Alex's cheek quickly before moving away and telling Alex she needed to hurry up if she didn't want to be late. They finally left after some more freaking out from Alex, which amused Rachel no end, because Alex was usually so calm. Rachel was dropping Alex off on her way to work.
When they reached the school, Alex was visibly tense again. Rachel reached across to her, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and saying,
" I don't know why you're so worried, Al. It's just school."
" Right, just school," Alex repeated. " I can do this," she said, a determined look on her face. She gave Rachel a long kiss goodbye, and then turned to wave at her when she got out of the car. Rachel mouthed " Good Luck" to her before she drove away.
Alex had been at so many different schools that she knew the routine by heart now. Report to the principal, receive her schedule, and be shown around by random student number 33. First thing, she went to the principal, not looking forward to the talk she would have with him.
After receiving the same talk she received every time she started at a new school, the principal said,
" Well now we're just waiting on the student who'll be showing you around. She should be here any minute," he said, looking at his watch, " but the girl has never been on time for anything in her life.
The door opened, and a breathless Summer burst through it.
" Sorry I'm late, Sir, but…" she said, neglecting to finish her sentence.
" But…" said the principal, indicating that she should continue with an explanation of her tardiness.
" I don't know why I'm late, Sir," she said, frowning in a confused manner. " I thought I had plenty of time, but I didn't," she continued. Finally looking away from the principal to the rest of the room, her eyes fell on Alex's face.
" You're the new student?" she said, her shock clear in both the way she said the words and the comically shocked expression on her face.
" You two know each other?" asked the principal. Without waiting for a response, he said, " That's great. Alex, follow Summer, she'll show you where to go."
Alex stood up and followed Summer out of the principal's office.
" What are you doing? Does Marissa know you're here? How long do you plan on staying for?" asked Summer, asking all of her questions in one breath.
" Whoa, slow down and breathe, Summer. And to answer your questions, I'm here because it's the only school I haven't been kicked out of around here, no Marissa doesn't know I'm here, and I plan on staying until I graduate. Now, not that I mind answering your questions or anything, but I have no idea where I have to go now."
" Sorry," said Summer. " Lemme see your schedule," she said, taking it from Alex's hand without waiting for a response.
"Okay, you have the same class as me first, and second. All day, actually," she said, her eyes scanning over the piece of paper. " So you can just follow me," she said. Alex debated the sensibility of this, after all it would only bring her into contact with Marissa sooner, and then decided she didn't really have a choice.
" Okay, great. Now shouldn't we actually be going to the classes," she asked pointedly.
" Right," said Summer, leading her to a classroom on their left and opening the door. She motioned to Alex to sit down beside her, and Alex did so, wondering why Summer was being so nice to her. She then remembered Marissa saying that Summer was generally that way, unless you'd done something to piss her off. She thought about how she should have got to know Summer a little better when she was here before. Summer was thinking the same thing. To Summer, Alex had simply been 'Seth's girlfriend' and then she had been ' Marissa's girlfriend', and Summer hadn't really known anything about her beyond that and where she worked. Maybe if she'd made more of an effort, it would have been easier for Alex and Marissa to stay together. She felt a little guilty now she was spending this time with Alex for not trying a little harder to stop Seth from interfering.
She turned to Alex, and said,
" So why Newport?"
" Why Newport what?" asked Alex, not quite sure of Summer's meaning.
" Of all the places in this country, where you could have gone back to school, why come back here?"
" It's not exactly my first choice," said Alex, grimacing slightly. Off Summer's confused look, she said,
" My girlfriend's brother lives here. She wanted to live near him, and he didn't want to move, so she did."
" Girlfriend?" questioned Summer.
" Yeah…" said Alex slowly, wondering why Alex seemed to be so confused by this information.
" That you moved town to be with?" continued Summer.
Alex just nodded in response.
" Oh," said Summer, seeming a little disappointed. Even though she was glad that Marissa was happy with Ryan, she thought that she would be far happier with Alex. They were better for each other. But it seemed that Alex had moved on already, which just wrecked all of Summer's plans. It was probably a good thing; after all, she told Seth off multiple times for interfering. It wouldn't be right for her to start meddling in other people's relationships too.
" I'd like to meet her sometime," said Summer. As well as being curious about the girl, Summer thought she should try and be friends with Alex.
" Sure," replied Alex, before returning to her notes. She didn't want to start failing her classes already. She wondered how long it would be before she ran into Marissa.