Tuesday, Justin worked noon to closing at the Sub Station. It was the first time that he and Alex had officially seen each other since Saturday, and, well...
This is awkwierd. Alex slid by Justin, trying very very hard not to touch him as they squeezed between the tables. He shot her a quick smile, and she smiled back, then wondered if she were smiling too much, or the wrong way, or.... Get a grip. No one is watching. She looked around anyway, though, was relieved to find out she was right. Dad was busy in the kitchen, Mom was taking another order out to someone, Max was behind the counter, making some kind of incredibly disgusting sandwich involving chocolate syrup, mashed potatoes, and Alex didn't want to know what else.
And Justin... Justin was helping out in the kitchen and serving. As for Alex herself, she wasn't on -- but she was down here anyways, supposedly working on her homework, actually trying to stay close to Justin without anyone noticing.
That was the problem. There wasn't just their family to worry about here -- the Sub Station had regulars, some of them regular enough to know Mom and Dad on a first-name basis. So Alex couldn't flirt with Justin when none of the family was looking -- there was always someone who could see. Sighing, she wished they were back at the TV room; they'd spent a good two hours there last night before returning to Justin's room, and it had been wonderful, being able to sit in his lap, to lean against him, to hold onto his arm and kiss his cheek. Going back to this, to watching him and wishing she could touch was... well, it was torture.
She tried to turn her attention to her homework, but it just wasn't working -- Alex was easily distracted even at the best of times, and this definitely wasn't that. And the t-shirt Justin was wearing wasn't helping -- it had gotten tight over the summer as he had another growth spurt, and showed off his nicely-muscled shoulders a little too well. Thank God that Harper had that thing with her Mom, though. I don't think I could take watching her fawn over Justin right now. And....
Alex's train derailed right there. She'd turned her head automatically as the door opened, then frozen in place at who'd just walked in. What is she doing here? She stared at Gina for a moment -- and, of course, Gina chose just that moment to look where Alex was sitting. She waved cheerily, then came over. "Hi... Alex, isn't it? How are you?"
"Fiiiiine," Alex answered, drawing it out as she looked Gina over. The older girl was still keeping up her hippie look, though today she was in a beaded vest and bell-bottom jeans with hand-painted flowers on them. It was actually kind of cute. It'd look better on me, though. "How're you?"
"Great!" Gina sat down, without an invitation. "This is my first time in the city, and I'm really loving it. There's just... so much, you know?"
"Oh, that's nice." Alex glanced over toward where Justin was, saw that he hadn't seen Gina there yet -- he was busy taking an order across the room. Mom was nowhere to be seen. She must be back in the kitchen right now. "Where are you from?" she asked then, stalling for time as she thought quickly.
Scenario 1: Mom comes out, sees Gina sitting here, comes over. "Oh, Alex, who's your new friend?" "Hi, I'm Gina. I go to school with Alex and her boyfriend, Justin." "BOYFRIEND!?" Result: I spend the next twenty years in a nunnery.
Scenario 2: Justin comes over, sees Gina sitting here, says hi. She gets a good look at him in that t-shirt, goes a-swoon-a over cute fit geek, decides she must have him or die. Result: She can't have him, so I have to kill her. I spend the rest of my life in jail.
Scenario 3: Dad comes out, sees Gina, comes over, asks who my new friend is. "Hi, I'm Gina, I go to school with Alex and her boyfriend, Justin." "Ah! Mra! Gaah! ALEX!" Result: I fake my death, Justin finds me, thinks I'm really dead, takes poison and dies, I wake up to find him dead and stab myself. Wait, no -- that's Romeo and Juliet. Dad kills Justin, goes to jail, I pine away. Yeah. That's more like it.
"Hello? Alex? Are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah... you're from... California?"
"No, Albuquerque. You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying. Is something wrong?" Gina tilted her head a little to the side and frowned.
"Wrong? No, nothing's -- yes. Yes! You see..." She stopped, scooted her chair closer, dropped her voice. "You see, this sandwich shop belongs to my parents. Justin works here, and they don't know we're dating. So you can't mention anything about it to them. Okay?"
"Wow... you have to keep it a secret? Don't they like him?" Gina asked, speaking low as well.
"Oh, they like him okay, but... you see, I'm not really in college either. I'm still a junior in high school, and they don't want me dating a college guy. They're kind of strict that way. Plus, with him working for them, it gets complicated, you know?"
"Oh... I see." Gina nodded at that, then smiled and put her hand on Alex's. "It's okay. I won't tell."
Alex smiled back, feeling a momentary kinship with the other girl. If it wasn't for the whole you-can't-have-my-Justin thing, maybe we could be friends. "Thanks," she said aloud. "It means a lo -- oh, here comes my mom."
"Oh, Alex, who's your new friend?" Boy, can I call it, or what? Right down to the way she said it.
"Hi, I'm Gina. It's nice to meet you...."
"Theresa. And it's nice to meet you too. Do you go to school with Alex?"
"Oh, no -- I'm at the college with Justin. But he's busy right now" -- she waved over in his direction, where he was bringing out food to a couple -- "so I'm talking to Alex right now."
"Oh, I see. Well, that's nice. I'd love to talk more, but we're kind of busy right now, you can see." And indeed they were -- more than half the tables had people at them. "You two have fun." Then she was off.
Whew. Bullet dodged there. "Thanks," Alex said aloud to Gina.
"Don't mention it," the other girl replied with an offhand gesture. "It's kind of cool -- a whole forbidden love thing."
"Yeah. Yeah." Alex smiled, thinking, Oh yeah. If you only knew the half of it.
Sorry for the delay getting this one up -- this week's been crazy here, and the next two probably will be as well. I'm no abandoning the story, though -- just won't be able to keep up my usual pace for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for bearing with me!