"Hey slammy, why are you so angry?" Alex says with a smug smile on his face.
"It's nothing." I roll my eyes and practically beam at him.
Alex has a way of always being able to make me smile when I feel at my worst. I don't know if it's the way his dark blue eyes seem to light up when he laughs, or the way he sweeps the dark, wavy locks off his forehead when he's concentrating. Maybe it's his presence. He has an aura of happiness and calm that surrounds him and swallows up anyone standing close enough.
He extends his long, muscular arms to wrap me in a warm, safe hug. I bury my face in his chest and take a deep breath in, smelling his cologne. It makes me feel so at home. It makes me feel like I can never fall apart by being in his embrace. He pulls away and looks at me. I look up at him through my eyelashes, almost giving him the puppy-dog eyes that seem to vex him.
"Mel, you're blushing!" he chuckles.
"Shut up!" I playfully push him and turn away, hiding my shame.
He grabs my wrist to turn me back to him and an instant wave of pain flashes up my arm like lightning. I feel the warm drops of blood form on the inside of my wrist.
"Ow!" I instinctively rip my arm out of his grasp, causing me more pain. I feel the prickles of tears forming in my eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Alex looks at me, troubled. He s obviously trying to connect the dots in his head. I can see by the change of expressions on his face that he's put two and two together. "Melody..." He says softly. He gingerly takes my left arm and rolls the sleeve up, making sure not to touch the wound. His expression changes from disappointment, to sadness, to empathy, to anger in a matter of seconds.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Melody?" He starts shouting. "Do you know what you've done? When you said "Only one," last night, I assumed it was like the usual scratching-the-surface! This is serious! Oh my god, we need to get this checked out. It could be infected! We need to tell someone!"
My jaw drops, and I feel the adrenaline start coursing through my veins as my heart rate soars. This of course pushes more blood out, forcing him to run and get something to stem the flow of blood.
He can't do this to me. It wasn't that deep. It's just the place I did it. He can't do this to me. Does he know what would happen? They would lock me up in the loony bin and put me in a straight-jacket!
Alex runs back and presses the wad of paper towels to my injury. By this time, the blood has trickled down my palm and has started dripping onto the cement by my feet. I look down at it, not really able to process the image.
Alex follows my gaze and his eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Oh my god." He takes my hand and leads me towards the teacher's bathroom and locks the door behind him.
I don't show any expression, or make any moves to get out of there. I just let Alex clean me up and use the gauze in my backpack to bandage me up. He sits me on the sink and holds my left hand, gently stroking it. He looks at me and sighs.
"Melody, you have to stop this. I don't want you going off and bleeding to death. You are my best friend and I can't stand to lose you..." he squeezes his eyes shut and sweeps his hair out of his face. His face looks flushed.
I stare into his eyes and see something I've only seen once when we were in the first grade and I fell off the jungle gym on the playground. I went unconscious and when I woke up in the office, he was there waiting at my side, and trying to call my mom because he was the only one who knew her phone number. He didn't know I was awake and I saw him pacing back and forth. He had that same look in his eyes, fear.
Alex squeezes my hand, bringing me back to the present, then inhales as if he wants to speak again but can't find the words. He looks at me and puts a hand on the back of my neck and crushes his lips to mine with a sort of urgency I'd have never expected. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back with all my might, and then he pulls away and caresses my cheek with a free hand.
"I love you, Melody Stowe." he says triumphantly. His eyes flicker with intuition as he begins speaking again. He looks a thousand miles away. "I've loved you ever since I met you on the first day of kindergarten. I'm sorry I never told you, I guess I could never find the words to." he looks down and starts absent mindedly stroking my hand again.
"Alex," I lift his chin up so he's looking at me. "I love you too, I always have..." I smile and pull him in for a kiss.
As our lips meet, we hear the soft rapping of a small fist on the door. Our heads whip around to see who dared to interrupt our moment.
"Oh... Am I interrupting something?" Alice purrs as her lips curl into a seductive smile obviously directed towards Alex.
"It's nothing." I roll my eyes and practically beam at him.
Alex has a way of always being able to make me smile when I feel at my worst. I don't know if it's the way his dark blue eyes seem to light up when he laughs, or the way he sweeps the dark, wavy locks off his forehead when he's concentrating. Maybe it's his presence. He has an aura of happiness and calm that surrounds him and swallows up anyone standing close enough.
He extends his long, muscular arms to wrap me in a warm, safe hug. I bury my face in his chest and take a deep breath in, smelling his cologne. It makes me feel so at home. It makes me feel like I can never fall apart by being in his embrace. He pulls away and looks at me. I look up at him through my eyelashes, almost giving him the puppy-dog eyes that seem to vex him.
"Mel, you're blushing!" he chuckles.
"Shut up!" I playfully push him and turn away, hiding my shame.
He grabs my wrist to turn me back to him and an instant wave of pain flashes up my arm like lightning. I feel the warm drops of blood form on the inside of my wrist.
"Ow!" I instinctively rip my arm out of his grasp, causing me more pain. I feel the prickles of tears forming in my eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Alex looks at me, troubled. He s obviously trying to connect the dots in his head. I can see by the change of expressions on his face that he's put two and two together. "Melody..." He says softly. He gingerly takes my left arm and rolls the sleeve up, making sure not to touch the wound. His expression changes from disappointment, to sadness, to empathy, to anger in a matter of seconds.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Melody?" He starts shouting. "Do you know what you've done? When you said "Only one," last night, I assumed it was like the usual scratching-the-surface! This is serious! Oh my god, we need to get this checked out. It could be infected! We need to tell someone!"
My jaw drops, and I feel the adrenaline start coursing through my veins as my heart rate soars. This of course pushes more blood out, forcing him to run and get something to stem the flow of blood.
He can't do this to me. It wasn't that deep. It's just the place I did it. He can't do this to me. Does he know what would happen? They would lock me up in the loony bin and put me in a straight-jacket!
Alex runs back and presses the wad of paper towels to my injury. By this time, the blood has trickled down my palm and has started dripping onto the cement by my feet. I look down at it, not really able to process the image.
Alex follows my gaze and his eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Oh my god." He takes my hand and leads me towards the teacher's bathroom and locks the door behind him.
I don't show any expression, or make any moves to get out of there. I just let Alex clean me up and use the gauze in my backpack to bandage me up. He sits me on the sink and holds my left hand, gently stroking it. He looks at me and sighs.
"Melody, you have to stop this. I don't want you going off and bleeding to death. You are my best friend and I can't stand to lose you..." he squeezes his eyes shut and sweeps his hair out of his face. His face looks flushed.
I stare into his eyes and see something I've only seen once when we were in the first grade and I fell off the jungle gym on the playground. I went unconscious and when I woke up in the office, he was there waiting at my side, and trying to call my mom because he was the only one who knew her phone number. He didn't know I was awake and I saw him pacing back and forth. He had that same look in his eyes, fear.
Alex squeezes my hand, bringing me back to the present, then inhales as if he wants to speak again but can't find the words. He looks at me and puts a hand on the back of my neck and crushes his lips to mine with a sort of urgency I'd have never expected. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back with all my might, and then he pulls away and caresses my cheek with a free hand.
"I love you, Melody Stowe." he says triumphantly. His eyes flicker with intuition as he begins speaking again. He looks a thousand miles away. "I've loved you ever since I met you on the first day of kindergarten. I'm sorry I never told you, I guess I could never find the words to." he looks down and starts absent mindedly stroking my hand again.
"Alex," I lift his chin up so he's looking at me. "I love you too, I always have..." I smile and pull him in for a kiss.
As our lips meet, we hear the soft rapping of a small fist on the door. Our heads whip around to see who dared to interrupt our moment.
"Oh... Am I interrupting something?" Alice purrs as her lips curl into a seductive smile obviously directed towards Alex.