Chapter 2
Riker POV
"Ugh! Why do you make this so hard!?" Alex said.
"Because I love you!"
"Fine. In the morning, I'll tell my dad I broke up with you."
"Make it believable."
"I will."
Alex yawned, and I realized it was pretty late.
"Well I guess I'll let you go back to sleep now…"
"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow. Unless you're busy all day like usual…"
"No! Tomorrow I actually don't have much to do. We can spend the whole day together."
"Ok."
"Ha! I knew you'd be here!"
I turned and saw Rocky standing at Alex's window.
"Shhh! If you wake up her parents, they'll kill me! What are you doing here Rocky?"
"I was wondering where you needed to be so desperately. I thought you'd be at Alex's, so when I pulled in and saw her window open, and thought I'd see for myself."
"So you're spying on us?"
"No. You know I'm here, so it's not technically spying."
"Ok, well I was actually just about to leave, so Alex, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ok. See you tomorrow."
I gave Alex a hug before climbing out the window. Rocky waited for me so I didn't have to walk home alone in the rain. He'd brought an umbrella.
The Next Day…
Riker POV
"So what are you doing today?" Rocky asked me.
"Uh well Alex is breaking up with me, so when she texts me that she can leave, we're probably going to go somewhere like out to lunch or something."
"Wait. What?"
"What don't you understand?"
"She's breaking up with you, and then you're taking her out to lunch?"
"Oh. We're not really breaking up. Alex is just pretending to in front of her dad so he'll let her out of the house. He doesn't like her dating me, so he has her locked up in there all the time."
"So you're lying to her father?"
"Well not exactly-"
"But that's what you're doing."
"So is Alex!"
"That still doesn't make it ok. If Alex jumped off a cliff, would that make it ok for you to do the same?"
"Well no, but-"
"You shouldn't be doing this."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Since when are you Mr. follows the rules?"
"Riker-"
"You said you were fine with me dating her!"
"I am! I just think that if you see her more often, it's going to take away from our band time."
"I won't let it. It'll be fine."
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and it was Alex saying she would meet me down at the beach in 5 minutes.
"I have to go. I'm meeting Alex."
"Where?"
"Down at the beach."
"Dude. It's storming out."
"So what? I love her, and if that's where she wants to meet, that's where I'm going. But I might put a swim suit on first so it's ok if I end up getting soaked."
"Uh huh. You do that. But don't come crying to me when Alex's father wants to murder you!"
I turned to go up the stairs and change. Once I was finished, I headed down to the beach in the pouring rain, and I mean pouring!
I was just about at the bottom of the hill when my foot slipped. I fell backwards into a giant mud puddle, and slid the rest of the way down the hill to the beach, screaming in the process.
"Riker!?"
Alex came running over to me from the docks.
"Are you ok?"
"Ugh, yeah."
"You're covered in mud!" Alex said, laughing.
I looked down. I was soaked.
"So did you tell your dad?"
"Yeah. I put on a whole show on how I was heartbroken and devastated, and how could Riker do this to me. He totally bought it. I spent a few hours in my room, pretending to be upset and stuff. After lunch, I came out to get something to eat. I asked my dad if I could go sit on the docks. He told me I could do whatever I wanted, but I better not track mud into the house. I'm finally free!"
"Cool. Can you help me up now?"
Alex laughed.
"Yeah, sure."
I grabbed Alex's hand, and got up.
"Oh my gosh. You're so muddy."
"Well now you are too."
"What!?"
I picked Alex up, and spun her around a few times.
"Ugh Riker!"
"You're wearing a swim suit! You're fine, just go jump in the lake."
"Come here. Follow me."
I followed Alex down the first dock.
"Let's jump."
"Alex, don't you remember what happened to me?"
"Your stomach?"
"Yeah."
"Oh come on! If you really can't get back up, we can just swim back to the beach."
"That's like 300 feet away!"
"So?"
"I can't swim that far!"
"Ugh! You need to learn some life skills Riker! So you can have fun in life!"
"I can swim! Just not very far!"
"300 feet is not that far."
"Yes it is!"
"Well then you need to learn how to swim better."
"When?"
"How about now."
"AHH!"
Alex pushed me off the end of the dock, and jumped in next to me. What happened to the Alex that was always so careful around me? What happened to the Alex that would never even think of an idea like this?
"Riker, let go of the dock."
"What?"
"Let go of the dock. We're going to swim to the beach, and prove to you that you can do it."
"Alex, I know I can't make it that far."
"Have you ever tried?"
"No, but-"
"Well today's the day."
"Alex-"
"Come on Riker."
"Alex I can't make it."
"You'll never know if you don't try."
"This isn't safe!"
"I'll be right here. Don't you trust me?"
Well I did, but now she's different.
"Alex. The bass player from the band R5 can't die from a tragic swimming accident."
"Well I'm not helping you get back on the dock, so you can either swim in with me now, or cling to the dock all night. It's your choice."
"Alex wait. Can we talk about this for a minute?"
"Why?"
"What… happened to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're…"
"Not the same girl you fell in love with?"
"What? No. I just mean you're different. A month ago, you would've never gotten this idea."
"Well a lot can happen in a month. A lot can change, especially feelings."
"Whoa Alex. What's this about!?"
"It's about you hurting me!"
"What!?"
"Ever since we got my dad's approval, you've been so busy with all your music stuff. My schedule's been crazy too because of my dad and everything. I understand the tight schedules. But it just didn't seem like you cared about me. I texted you every single day Riker! Every day! And guess what? I was lucky, I was lucky if you responded! I just feel like you don't love me anymore! I'm hurt, and upset, and-"
"Alex, stop. You know that I love you. Do you know how hard I fought to get you as my girlfriend last month?"
"Yeah exactly! Last month! What have you done for me this month! NOTHING! You've been too busy doing who knows what! You know how long it takes to send a text? 5 seconds! Was I really not worth 5 seconds of your time!?"
"I've just been really busy! I've had a ton of stuff on my mind! It was hard to remember!"
"Hard to remember your girlfriend!?"
"Alex, it's not like that."
"Well what is it then?"
"I don't know… I messed up!"
"Got that right!"
"What can I do? What can I do to fix this?"
"There's nothing you can do Riker."
"Well why didn't you tell me how you were feeling sooner?"
"Why didn't you answer my texts sooner?"
"It really is all my fault…"
"Yeah! It is!"
"I'm so sorry Alex!"
"Yeah, so am I, for thinking this could ever work! Even the first time you asked me out! I wasn't sure it was going to work, but I gave you multiple chances anyway!"
I had no words anymore… It was still storming, and we were still in the water by the dock. It was a gloomy day, perfect for this awful conversation.
"Alex can you please just help me get up on the dock? We can talk more about this after we get out."
"Riker, you don't know how mad I am at you right now. I'm not helping you get out, but I'll swim to the beach with you."
"Alex."
"Riker, I'm swimming in now. Either you're coming or you're not. If you're coming, I'll swim next to you and make sure nothing happens. If you're not coming, have fun figuring out how you're getting out. What's your choice?"
"I'll… go with you…"
"Ok, well then let go of the dock and let's go."
I let my hands drop off the edge of the dock, and I started swimming for the shore. After only a minute, I had barely gotten anywhere, and I was getting tired already. I don't know how Alex did this all the time. I slowly kept swimming forward.
"Alex. I'm getting tired," I said, out of breath.
"We're almost halfway there. Keep going. You're doing awesome."
I kept swimming, but after another minute, I knew I wasn't making it to the shore.
"Alex! I can't do it!" I said, slowly sinking lower and lower into the water.
Alex, only a few feet away from me, grabbed my arm, and kept me afloat.
"Yes you can Riker. Just rest for a minute. Do you know how to float?"
"Do I know how to what!?"
"Ok, guess not. Here, I'll just hold you up for a minute, and then we'll keep going."
Alex slipped her hands under my arms, and somehow, kept me above the surface for a few minutes.
"Ready to keep going yet?"
"I guess so."
"Alright let's go."
Alex released me, and I continued toward the beach. I was only about 50 feet away now. But I decided, screw the beach, the raft is closer.
"Alex I'm exhausted."
"We're almost there. You can make it."
I finally reached the raft, and was barely able to pull myself up. I flopped over on my back, and started coughing.
"You couldn't make it 20 more feet?"
"No! I couldn't!"
"Well your swimming skills aren't as bad as I thought, so that's good at least."
"You know Alex, I'm really confused right now. Nothing makes sense anymore!"
"What are you talking about?"
"One minute you're screaming at me because of who knows what. The next minute, you're saving me from drowning or complimenting me on how I'm not as bad a swimmer as you thought! I just don't get it! Do you hate me or not!?"
"I don't hate you. I'm just extremely mad at you, but I still love you, and that's really not a good combination!"
"Thanks for saving my life at least."
"Well thanks for trusting me and trying to swim. But see? I told you you'd be fine."
"Almost drowning?"
"But you didn't!"
"Sometimes I can't imagine my life without you, and other times, I can't believe I can stand life with you!"
"So you don't care about me then!"
"Alex I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
It was still pouring out. It seemed to be getting darker every minute. I was still laying on my back on the raft. Alex was silently staring at the shore. I knew she was really mad at me. I was starting to get worried she'd jump in the water, and leave me out here.
"Alex… What's happening to us?"
"I really don't know. But during these past few weeks, you really hurt me."
"So what can I do?"
"I don't know Riker."
"But I love you."
"Riker I can't talk about this anymore. Maybe we can talk about this again later, but right now, I just can't anymore."
"Wait. Are you breaking up with me then?"
"I honestly don't know what we are right now. Obviously you love me, but I don't think a boyfriend or a friend would treat someone the way you treated me. So… I don't know. But, we should probably swim in. It looks like the storm's going to get worse. We don't want it to start thundering while we're out here."
I nodded slowly, and got up. I slid of the edge of the raft and followed Alex to the shore.