Alex was sitting in the back of Bill's car, snuggled close to his side. She was never more content than she was now, ever. Bill wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close. She rested her head on his shoulder, sighing. She could get used to this. This was what she had been dreaming about for years with all of her friends. Her eyes drifted closed. Everything was peaceful. She was almost asleep when her phone buzzed. She thought about ignoring it but decided not to. It was Colista IMing her on Yahoo! chat.
Colista: how far away are you?
Alex: Only about a half an hour. You will never guess who im riding with!
Colista: BILLS??? OMG NO WAY!! That's awesome!
Alex: I know! It's amazing. I love him so much! Ttyl!
Colista signed and blinked back the tears. She and Collette, Asha, and Allie were waiting for Alex behind her house. Leaning up against the back wall, she slid down and held her knees to her chest. She closed her eyes for a minute to regain her hold on her emotions. Sighing, she opened her eyes back up to find Allie standing over her. Allie was the shortest of the girls, so she was almost never taller than anyone. It was strange now that she was.
"What's wrong?" Allie sat down next to her, crossing her legs under her.
"Nothing, why?"
"Colista, please," Allie gave her the how-stupid-do-you-think-I-am look. "Your one of my best friends; I can tell when something is wrong."
Colista hadn't told any of her friends about her breakup. It didn't seem right, with Alex coming home and everyone being happy about that, to deliver sad news at the time. She would tell them in a few days. They would understand and support her as best as they could.
"It's nothing, I swear. Thanks though." Allie shook her head skeptically. She didn't believe her at all, Colista knew, but she would find out soon enough. She stood and walked over to the horse of a dog chained by the fence. She petted him as he licked at her hands. He loved attention. Allie was whispering to the others across the yard about her attitude, Colista thought. She decided it was time to put on a happy face for her friends. She was good at it, though not quite as skilled as Alex.
If there was ever a time for Colista to be selfless and put on a brave face, this was it. Alex's homecoming was great, and everyone was excited. But they all knew that Alex was going to be a different person then when she left. If Bill stayed with her she would be happy for the first time, no longer dragged down by her past. If Bill didn't stay with her… well… they all knew it wouldn't be good. None of them really wanted to think about that. Colista knew that she had to be strong if the latter ended up as the reality. She would have to try and protect Alex at all costs from the most difficult person to defend against; Alex herself. Whether or not she would be successful or not would be the major question, and most people would predict success to be unlikely.
"Time to head up to the school," Allie called over. Colista cleared her expression of all emotion, as she had done many times before, and put on a happy face.
"Alrighty, let's go gang!" Colista called back. Allie looked surprised, almost concerned, at Colista's sudden cheerfulness. The four took off down the street, literally walking in the middle of the street. There wasn't much traffic down Alex's street, so they could get away with it. They headed in the direction of the school. The atmosphere was thick with anticipation.
"You turn right here, then the school is up ahead on the right," Alex directed Gustav, who was driving. He and Georg were seated in the front of the SUV, while Tom occupied one of the middle seats. Bill and Alex sat side by side in the very back, fingers intertwined. They had been talking for the whole car ride. The rest of the group was amazed, and a little scared, that they had so much in common. And the girl never shut up! Bill didn't seem to mind though. He seemed perfectly content to just listen to her talk. He seemed quite enthralled by her.
"How long are you going to stay?" Alex inquired, some of the hope slipping from her voice as she spoke. The school came into sight on the left.
"As long as you want me," Bill responded immediately, no hesitation. This surprised the rest of the band. They all knew that it was impossible for him to stay long. But Bill seemed completely genuine in his answer, which puzzled the others. He couldn't be serious, could he? Had he really fallen that hard for her, that quickly?
Alex looked at him sheepishly, "I don't think you should leave that up to me."
"I just did," Bill smiled. Tom's mouth hung agape. Was he serious?
"Well, in that case, you may want to phone home for…say… all of your important possessions?" Bill laughed, Alex smiled.
"I think you will need a bigger house." Alex had explained to Bill about her house anf though it wasn't as small as it could be, it wasn't big either.
"Hmmm… I think that could be arranged Mr. Multimillionaire."
"I think so too."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Tom turned to face them.
Bill appeared surprised. "What? We could do a tour around Michigan…" Tom raised an eyebrow at his brother. "…or the Midwest?" Bill tried. Alex laughed.
"You're serious?" Tom asked, still shocked.
"Yes…." Bill trailed off as they pulled into the school parking lot. He wrapped his arm around Alex and held her close, noticing her sunken expression, and said with finality "We will talk about this later."
Tom relented, shaking his head as the group climbed out of the SUV. The first thing they noticed was a group of four screaming girls running towards them at top speed. Alex screamed and ran towards them too. They all jumped into a pile, laughing. As they emerged, the guys studied each of them. There was a small one, dressed in all neon-spattered clothes right down to her converse. Then there was one with a multicolored Mohawk and a plain black t-shirt and jeans. One had light brown hair, much like the shortest one, and was dressed in all black. Her makeup made her look almost zombie-like. Then there was the tall, blonde one. She was dressed the most like a typical teenage girl, with short denim shorts and a tank top that showed off her chest. She looked a little slutty, but not overwhelmingly so. The thing that stood out most about her is her eyes. They were a startling ice-blue, gray color. They were lined with blue eye liner on the top and black on the bottom, with silver highlighting the inside corners which made them stand out even more. She looked over to find Georg staring and gave him a confident half-smile. He looked again and caught a glimpse of something behind her eyes, an emotion that he couldn't quite place. He smiled back at her nervously. Tom appeared to have his eye on both Collette, the zombie girl, and Asha, the one with the Mohawk. Asha usually made it known that she didn't want a relationship. Meanwhile, Gustav had his eye on Allie, the smallest one. Colista was introduced and walked over to Georg, reaching out her hand. He took it, still captivated by her eyes.
"I'm Colista," She smiled again, her teeth brilliant white.
"Georg," He responded.
"I knew that, silly." She looked at him coyly out of the corner of her eye as she walked away and he would have sworn he saw her wink. He just stared.
"Oooooooooh!" Alex said, laughing at her friend.
"Oh, shut up," Colista joked, laughing too. In the recent past she had had absolutely no trouble getting guys, so her confidence was a lot higher lately.
The girls started into a very loud and animated conversation that the guys didn't even try to follow. Instead they just watched, studying their favorite girls with interest. It was very apparent that Bill had eyes only for Alex. The guys started talking amongst themselves after a few minutes, seeing that the girls had no intention of moving soon. Alex's mom left for her house, telling Alex and her friends to be along before dark. And do morning progressed into afternoon, and into evening all the same, no one taking notice in the least.