First day of school. The first day at a different school, in a different city, in a different state. I hope I will meet a cute boy, but I can’t worry about that, because no guy will ever like me, so no guy will ever love me.
I get my backpack, tell my mother good bye, and go down to the bus stop. My parents are divorced, and I live with my mother. Since they are not together anymore, they pretty much hate each other’s guts. I know how they feel, because I had a boyfriend who I thought really liked me, but it turned out that he completely lying to me. He was cheating on me with three other girls.
When I get to the bus stop I notice there is already somebody there. A really cute guy. Wait! I know who that guy is. That guy is Alex! Me and Alex were best friends from fifth grade to our sophomore year, but he moved away two years ago. He didn’t say where he was moving to, but who knew we would end up back in the same city. It has been along time since we have talked to each other. That is along time for not having any contact with your best friend.
He is wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. I am wearing the same thing except for a red shirt, but blue is my favorite color. Blue looks good on him.
He doesn’t hear me coming until I step on a rock while looking at him. He is gorgeous. His brown hair, brown eyes, and perfectly soft skin is what everyone likes about him. He notices me staring and smiles. I smile back and continue walking.
“Hey Alex! I haven’t seen you in forever,” I say once I reach him.
“Hey Mary. I know right. I have missed you,” he says smiling.
We hug for a little bit and pull apart.
“I have missed you so much,” I say with a slight smile.
By the look of him, I think he is probably one of the popular kids at this school. We don’t say anything else while we wait there for the bus. Nobody else comes.
“Is there any other people at this bus stop?” I ask him after a while.
He says, “No. It is just me and you here. No kids really live around here. I live a couple blocks away, and this is the only bus stop here.”
“Oh,”  I say. “I just live around the corner. Not as far as a walk.”
We both laugh a little. Then we hear the bus coming.
When the bus stops right in front of us, Alex gestures for me to go first, so I do.
The bus is crowded, and there is only one seat that is not taken, so I take it. Now Alex has nowhere to sit.
He reaches the seat I am sitting in and says, “May I sit here with you?”
I decide to let him and he sits down right next to me.

We didn’t talk on the way to school.
I get off the bus and head straight to the office, which is right when you walk in. This school isn’t very big, and there aren’t very many students that go here.
Once I reach a lady behind the desk, she asks, “Are you new?”
“Yes,” I answer
“Name please.” she says
“Mary Jenkins.”
“Ah here we are,” she says to herself.
She prints the paper off and hands it to me.
“Don’t worry about being late. You are new, so you should be fine. Have a nice day,” she says.
I thank her and head to my first period.

Once I get there, I already see Alex. He is talking to some of his friends.
I go up to the teacher and show her my schedule. She tells me to sit next to Alex, so I do as told.
When I sit next to him, he says, “Hey, Mary.”
I look at him and say, “Hey.”
“What class do you have after this?”
I look at my schedule. Art
“Art,” I say.
“Me too,” he says, “I have to admit that I have become quite the artist.”
“Well, we will have to see then,” I say.

The class period goes by really fast. It was like the period only lasted for about five minutes. Ten minutes at the most.
I walk with Alex to the art classroom.
“I have to ask you something Mary,” Alex says
“What?” I say back
“We have known each other for a very long time, and I want to know if you would like to go to the carnival with me tonight?”
Did he just ask me out on a date? Probably. What should I say?
“Umm,” I say, “Sure.”
“Awesome,” he says.

When we get to the classroom, me and Alex sit in the back of the room. The seats are comfortable in this class, unlike in the last class.
The teacher gets up from her desk when everyone stops talking and passes out a piece of paper to everyone. She tells us to draw anything we want.
Alex draws, what looks like, a flower. It isn’t very good. It actually looks like pancakes on a stem. I can’t help but laugh at him drawing, and he acts offended.
“Am I really that bad at drawing?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say. “You are terrible.”
He laughs and so do I. He looks at my paper. There is nothing on it. I don’t know what to draw.
“Let me see you draw a flower,” he says
I shake my head no, and he doesn’t say anything further.

The next four periods go by fast, because Alex was in them, and now it is time for lunch. Good. I am starving.
I meet Alex at the cafeteria doors. He is leaning into one of the doors.
“Hey beautiful,” he says.
“Hey,” I say, “Alex.”
We walk to one of the back tables, where a couple guys are sitting. Maybe five or six.
I sit down next to Alex and another boy that I haven’t seem today, except for now.
“Mary, this is Cameron, Matthew, Edward, Justin, Marcus, and Richard. Guys this is Mary,” Alex says.
Everybody smiles, says hello, and I think one of them whistled. I wave and say hello back.
“Mary and I have know each other since fifth grade… so don’t dare try anything with her,” Alex says trying to sound protective over me.
We get up to get our food. Chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. Ew!
Once we get back to the table and sit down, I give Alex my lunch and I hear him say, “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I don’t like this stuff and I am not hungry,” I answer.
“Mary. C’mon you have to eat something,” he says back.
“Fine,” I say. “Give me the mashed potatoes back.”
With that he hands me the mashed potatoes.
“Geez Mary,” Edward says, “Are you able to breathe while stuffing your face?”
I answer, “Yeah.”
I give the styrofoam bowl back to Alex and ask, “You happy?”
“A little,” he says back.
I laugh a little.
“I love your laugh, Mary,” Alex says after I stop laughing.
I don’t say anything. Instead I just smile at him. He smiles back at me.

Once school is over, I go straight to my locker. Alex is there. Why? Oh, I know why. He is waiting for me. Duh.
“Hey beautiful,” he says once I get close enough.
“Hey handsome,” I say back.
I open my locker, put my stuff in my backpack, and shut my locker. We walk to the doors in front of the school.
“I am going to walk home today, so I will see you tomorrow,” I say turning around to leave. Alex grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I almost get wrapped up in his arms.
“I will walk with you,” he says
I smile, and next thing I know we were outside walking in the rain.
We run to a near by tree and Alex holds his jacket over up. I move into him a little more.
He notices and says, “Can’t stand to be away from me, can you?”
I answer, “No, I can, but I don’t want to because I am cold.”
He doesn’t say anything else after that. Neither do I.
The rain continues for about another minute, then stops. I step away from Alex, and we continue our way to my house.

We are a block from my house, and I see a black cadillac escalade stop by us on the side of the road. One of the windows gets rolled down so I can see somebody’s face. It is Matthew.
“Need a ride lovebirds?” he asks.
I look farther into the car and see that Edward is driving.
“Yes,” I say, “we do need a ride.”
The back door opens and I see three other people in the car. Cameron, Marcus, and Justin are in the back seats.
I go up to the car and wait for Alex to get in.
“I guess you have to sit on my lap,” he says once he gets situated.
It is really crowded in this car as it is.
I say, “Okay.”
I get on his lap and he shakes his leg the whole way to my house.
“Here it is,” I say.
Edward stops right in front of my house.
I get off of Alex ’s lap and out of the car. Everyone does the same.
I get my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door. I open the door and shut it once I’m inside. I put my backpack on the couch.
“Let’s get this party started,” I hear Alex say as he walks inside.
Everyone else is behind him.
“Who said you can come in?” I ask.
“I did,” Alex answers.
I don’t object, so I let them stay.
“Okay I am going to get dressed. Don’t touch anything,” I say.
I hear Edwards say, “Don’t worry, we will.”
I chuckle a little to myself, so nobody else hears me.
I go up the stairs and into my room. I put on grey sweats and a black t-shirt. I go back downstairs to see that all the boys have their shirts off.
“Put your shirts on,” I say once I sit on the couch. I don’t want them to put their shirts back on though.
None of them put their shirts back on. I don’t say anything else after that.
“Lets play truth or dare,” Justin says.
“Okay,” I say back.
“Okay, Mary, truth or dare?” Alex asks me.
“Dare.”
“I dare you to kiss me for one minute,” he tells me.
“Okay,” I say.
I walk over to Alex , who is across the room, and sit on his lap. I lean in to him until our lips meet each other’s. His lips are soft but rough at the same time. He kisses me hard, like he has been waiting for this moment, but then the time is up. I get of off Alex’s lap, and sit next to him.
“Dang Mary, can I get some of that too?”
“You wish, Matt,” I say.
“Yeah, I do,” he says back.
“Justin, truth or dare?” I say.
“Truth.”
“Is it true that you have never kissed anybody?” I ask.
“No,” he says back.
Edwards says, “Liar.”
Everybody laughs, even Justin. I think that Edwards is right. Justin is lying about kissing someone. There is no way anybody would ever want to kiss him.
“This game is boring,” Marcus says after a while in silence.
“Yeah,” we all agree.
“I am going up to my room to get something. I will be right back,” I say.
I go up the stairs and into my room to get my phone. I don’t know why I left it up here, but I did for some reason. I grab my phone and turn it on. No messages. Ugh. I have no friends. I am totally lame. I turn my phone off and turn around. Somebody is there. I scream.
“Geez, Alex. You scared me. I hate you! Don’t ever do that to me again!”
While I am yelling at Alex, he is just standing there by the door, laughing. How was that funny? Well, I guess my scream could've been the funny part. I scream like a little girl.
I hit his arm and say, “Not funny.”
“Hey, that is no way to treat your boyfriend,” he says.
“You wish you could be my boyfriend,” I say back
“I do,” he says
Aww. Does he really want to be my boyfriend? I am blushing, and I know he notices, because he comes in closer to me. He puts his hands around my waist, and I know this isn’t right. I know I can’t do this. Not now. Not here. Not with everything that is going on. This is my senior year, and I want to concentrate and graduate.
I step back a little.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asks.
“I can’t do this, at least not now. I have so much going on right now,” I say. “I’m sorry Alex, but I can’t”
“It’s alright,” he says back. “I can wait. I will wait for you. Just tell me when you are ready.”
I nod my head up and down, and he smiles. I smile back at him. And then we kiss. I know, weird right, kissing a boy you are best friends with, but I can’t help it. His lips are like.. like… paradise.
After a couple more seconds, I pull away.
“We better get down there. They might be worried,” I say.
“Yeah,” Alex says.
We go down the stairs and back into the living room where all the other guys are.
“Well we are going to head out,” Justin says. “Have fun, but not too much fun.”
And with that the walk out the door and drive away. It is just me and Alex. Alone. In my house. I don’t know what we will do.
“So…,” Alex says.
“So…,” I say.
“What do you want to do now,” he says.
“I dont know,” I say back.
“Wait, follow me,” he says taking my hand and pulling me up the stairs.
I don’t say anything.
We walk into my room and onto my balcony.
“What are you doing?” I ask Alex as he climbs up the roof.
“Come on,” he says once he is sitting.
“No,” I say. “I can’t.”
I walk out of my room and leave it at that. I go back down the stairs and into the kitchen. I open the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water. I take the lid off, take a drink, and put the lid back on. I walk back to the living room.
I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and they are Alex’s. He has an expression on his face that I have never seen before. A mixture between disappointed, worried, and sad, and I would understand why he felt all of those feelings. I am afraid of heights, so I can’t go on the roof like he can. I have been afraid of heights since I was about five. My mother got me to ride a ferris wheel and I was scared out of my mind. I have never rode another ride in my life. And then I just realized that me and Alex are having a date tonight at the carnival.
Alex walks up to my, takes my hand, and says looking me directly in the eyes, “What is wrong?”
“I am afraid of heights,” I answer.
“What about the carnival?” he asks looking down at his shoes.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I will ride the rides for you. I promise.”
That puts a smile on his face. He closes his eyes and leans in to kiss me. I grab a stuffed animal that is on one of the kitchen chairs, and put it up to his lips so he kisses it.
He opens his eyes, straightens up and says, “You are lame, loser.”
I laugh and say, ”I made out with you about half an hour ago.”
“That was a long time ago,” he is stretching out the word ‘long.’
“Fine,” I say.
“That’s my girl,” he says back.
“I am not you girl,” I say.
He leans in to kiss me, and this time I actually kiss him back. I love the way his soft, rough lips are back on mine. I try to take control, but Alex takes over, putting him in control of the kiss. I end up giving up, and letting him take it over.
After, what seems like an hour, I pull back and say, “We both don’t want to be late to our date, do we?”
“I don’t mind. Just let me have those lips again,” he says leaning in.
I tap his lips with my pointer finger and say, “You can have these lips at the date.”
He sighs and says, “Fine, lets get going.”
I grab my keys and purse. Alex looks at me weird.
“What are you doing?” Alex says.
I look at him with confusion.
Then he says, “ I am driving.”
“Fine,” I say, tossing my keys to him.
He doesn’t catch them. He picks them up off of the ground.
“I caught those,” he says as we walk out the back door.
He goes to the driver’s side of my yellow hummer and unlocks the door. He gets in, shuts the door, and unlocks my door.
“What a gentleman,” I say to myself.
I guess Alex must of heard it, because he says, “I know I am. Thanks for the compliment.”
Dangit. I was hoping he wouldn’t hear that. Now I sound like a girl who wants her man to be a complete gentleman over everything.
Alex puts the car in reverse, and backs out of my driveway. Then he puts it back in drive. Neither of us talk for a couple minutes. So there isn’t anymore silence, I turn the radio on to 102.5, the country station. I am in love with country. It is my favorite genre of music. Country girl, by Luke Bryan is playing. Man, I love this song!
I sing along to the lyrics:
Aw, country girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Country girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me.

I pause and stop singing to look at Alex, who says, “Wow, you are a good singer, and really Luke Bryan? I would rather prefer Jason Aldean. Everybody knows that he is a way better singer than Luke Bryan.”
Did he really just say that? Did he really just say he would rather prefer Jason Aldean than Luke Bryan? That’s it! Nobody makes fun of my Luke Bryan!
I reach for the volume, and I turn it up all the way to 38. It blows up my speakers. I sing along to the song, until Alex turns the radio off. Way to ruin the fun, Alex!
“Lets just talk,” he says.
“Okay,” I say. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Lets talk about-,” he was cut off, because I said, “We're here.”
Now I kinda feel bad for cutting him off, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Alex parks in the front of the parking lot, and turns the car off. We get out, and Alex comes over next to me and holds my hand. We walk to the entrance and pay for our tickets. Alex pays for mine, which was expected. He was probably going to pay for everything on this date, and i am going to let him.
Once we are done, Alex pulls me to something I wish he hadn’t. The ferris wheel. Why would he do this? Then I remember that I promised him I would ride some of the rides.
We get in line, which only has a couple people, and wait for a couple minutes
“Tickets, please,” the young, man says.
Alex hands him one of his tickets, and so do I. We sit in the seat and put the bar over us and onto our laps. The bar is cold and I shiver a little bit. Alex notices.
“Are you okay,” he asks me.
I want to be honest with him, but after this ride he will want us not to ride any other rides.
I say, “Yeah, I’m fine. The bar is just really cold.”
He nods his head, and the ferris wheel starts up, and next thing I knew, we were at the top. The ferris wheel wasn’t moving. It was just me and Alex on the top of the ferris wheel that has stopped. That is really good news! The best thing that could ever happen to me.
“This is good news,” I hear Alex say.
“Good news? How is this good news?” I say with a little anger in my voice.
“It is good news, because it is just you and me alone. Do you not like the idea of that?” he says.
“I guess I like the idea of us being alone, but I don’t like the idea of us being on the top of a ferris wheel that has stopped moving,” I try to say calmly.
“We don’t have to ride anymore rides if you want. We can just play games and stuff like that. Or we can leave,” Alex says.
“This is a date, and you payed for it, so we are staying. I will ride another ride after this one, but that is it,” I say.
Alex smiles at me. His perfectly straight white teeth, and his lips. His lips are to die for.
“So is the time where you attack me with kisses?” Alex asks.
“Uhmmm… let me think about that,” I say without even thinking about it.
I move a little closer to him and brush my lips over his for a couple seconds. Then I press my lips to his, and quickly pull away from him.
“That’s no fair. That is just teasing me,” Alex says once I get back to my side of the cart.
“I know,” I say back. “That is why I did it.”
Then Alex starts rocking in the cart. I don’t scream at him, but I want to. That is probably what he wants… for me to scream at him, but I am not going to let him get what he wants. I am so scared right now, and I am really getting mad at Alex.
The wheel starts moving again, and I close my eyes until our cart reaches the ground. I hurry up and get out and run toward a food stand called ‘Dinosaur Chocolate Ears’. I know Alex is running after me worried sick, but I am not going to stop running until I get to that food stand.
Once I get there, I stop, and Alex is right by me breathing heavily.
“You are fast,” he says with a smile that is soon replaced with a frown. “What’s wrong? Why did you run off like that?”
“What’s wrong?” I say with an angry tone. ”Really? What is wrong? I told you I hated heights and especially ferris wheels, and you made it worse for me. How could you even do that? How could you rock the cart when you knew I was scared out of my mind? I can not believe you! You know what? Leave me alone. This date is over.” I pause and hold out my hand. “Just give me my keys.”
“But Mary-”
“Give me my keys!” I say again with a louder voice.
He doesn’t say anything further. He gets my keys out of his pocket and hands them to me.
When I have the keys in my hands, I say, “Find your own way home,” and with that, I turn around and leave.
When I get to my car, I hurry up and start it. I leave this place. This carnival, that I will never want to go back to again. Not after what happened today.
I drive straight home. I get out of my car, walk in my house and go straight to my room. My mom calls my name, but I don’t look at her or talk to her. All I want to do is sleep now. I look at my clock. It reads 5:43. It’s early, but I am still going to sleep. It has been a really… really… long day, and I just want it to be over. Soon, I am sound asleep.

I wake up to my alarm clock going off. I look over at it. 6:30. Ughh…. Why do we have to go to school so early? I mean, come on, all I want is some sleep.
I slowly walk over to my closet to pick out a blue hollister shirt. I walk over to my dresser and pick out a pair of black skinny jeans. I don’t feel like dressing up today.
Why did yesterday go by really slow? Is it because it was the first day of school? The second day of school goes by faster… sometimes. I hope it will today, because I do not want to talk to Alex.
I put on my baby blue vans and grab my backpack. Ready. I go downstairs and walk down to the bus stop. I pull my phone out of my pocket. 7:03. The bus will come in about two minutes. I still have a little bit of time left. I speed walk to the bus stop and I almost forgot that Alex is at the bus stop. Danget. Why does life have to be so hard on me?
I get to the bus stop and stand a couple feet away from Alex, who has a big grin on his smooth face.
He looks at me and says, “Hello beautiful. You look nice.”
“Shut up,” I say back.
“Oh come on, baby. I know you still want me. Everybody does,” he says.
I say, “I used to, but not anymore, so find a new girl to be your little ‘victim’? Just because we are supposed to be best friends, doesn’t mean I want to be your little toy.”
He looks at me and moves closer. He takes my hand from my side and I quickly pull it away from him.
“Why don’t you want to be my toy anymore? i thought you really wanted to.” He says smiling.
That’s it! I do what I naturally do. I punch him in the face. He stumbles back and holds his nose. He removes his hand and I can see there is a little bit of blood, but he wipes it all off like nothing happened.
“I will be waiting,” he says as the bus comes around the corner.
The bus reaches us and I unhesitatingly get on first.
I sit in the front seat and Alex sits next to me. I try to push him out of the seat, but he is too strong. He justs stays there, glued in the seat right next to me. I give up and look out the window. I was hoping he wouldn’t talk to me, but that didn’t happen.
“You still want me,” he says.
I look at him directly in the eyes and say, “Uhh… yeah… uhh... nah.”
He actually had the nerve to talk to me. Wait, what am I saying? He will talk to who ever he wants, because he is the most popular boy in school. Maybe even the most popular boy in the whole town.
He looks at my hands, which were on my lap, and looks back up at my face and says, “I can see it in your eyes.”
See it in my eyes? What does he mean he sees it in my eyes?
I move closer into him and say, “You’re right. I still want you. Meet me at my house at 5:00, but in order for all of this to work, you can not talk to me all day, okay?”
He nods his head and I look back out the window.
What an idiot. He is totally wrong. I don’t still want him, but I can have him wrapped around my finger in less than a second. I am going to have a little fun with this and I am also going to get back at him for the horrible thing he did on the ferris wheel yesterday that I will never forget. The thing that makes me not want to trust him again. I think the reason that I am so worked up about all of this is because I feel like he is trying to kill me.

The bus stops and I hurry of the bus to my class, but then I remember that Alex is in all of my classes. Literally. Shoot! Now I wish he wasn’t so cute and attractive. It might be a little hard for me to handle myself around him. But if he doesn’t talk or look at me, I will surely be able to pull this thing off. I really hope he doesn’t talk to me at all like I told him to, but who knows. He does whatever he wants.
I walk into the classroom and see that Alex isn’t in there yet. Weird. He was one of the first people in the class yesterday. Oh well. Maybe he is a little behind today. Probably thinking about what I said on the bus and about tonight. Now that I think about it, what am I going to do to him tonight?
I put my books on my desk, and I hear a deep voice.
“Mary?” Mr. Scrumpy says from his desk.
“Yes?” I call back.
“Can you go to Mrs. Burtner’s room upstairs and get papers for me?” he asks.
I nod my head and he says, “Room 224.”
I nod my head again and walk out of the classroom and up the stairs.
I get stopped by a hand over my mouth, two other hands around my waist, and one on my back. What is this? They are all behind me, so I can’t see who they are.
They drag me up steps that I didn’t even know were in this school. I guess this school is actually bigger than it seems.
They let go of my once we are on the roof. Why are we up here? I turn around and see three people. Three people I would of never guessed. Edward, Justin, and Marcus. What is going on? I am so confused.
I decide to slap Edward. I don’t know why him. Just because. He holds him hand up to his face where I slapped him. To my surprise, he doesn’t hit or do anything else to me. Why? I mean, if somebody slapped me, I would definitely want to slap them back, but I would slap them back ten times as hard. That is just how I am.I turn around again to see Alex. Did he get them to bring me up here? If so, why?

I hear Edwards, Justin, and Marcus walking back downstairs and into the school, but I don’t take my eyes off of Alex.
I decide to break the silence that was in between us and say, “I don’t know why you had them bring me up here, and right now I don’t care, because I am not sticking around to find out.”
I turn around and start walking, but I get stopped by a hand that has ahold of my wrist.
“Let go of my wrist,“ I say without turning around.
He keeps his hold on my wrist.
“Let go of my wrist,“I repeat raising my voice a little bit. This time I turn around.
He still doesn’t let go, instead he says, “No. I am not going to let you walk away again. I really need to talk to you.”
“What do you want to talk about,” I say sounding a little annoyed at the fact that he keeps talking to me, because I really don’t want to talk to him… at least right now that is.
He takes a deep breath and say, “Us.”
“What do you mean us. There isn’t even an-,” I get cut off when Alex presses his lips against mine.
I know I am supposed to be mad at him, but I have really missed his lips on mine. I want to pull away, but I can’t. He asks for entrance and I immediately grant him his wish.
After a while, Alex pulls back, looks me in the eyes and says, “You kissed back.”
“Well, yeah. I realized that is what makes us, us,” I say with a slight smile.
He looks shocked when he says, “So there is an us.”
“Don’t hurt yourself there,” I say. “Lets just say that we are friends with benefits… for now.”
“I don’t want to be. I want to be girlfriend and boyfriend. You know.. dating,” he says with a little frown.
“Still come to my house and we will figure that all out,” I say back.
He nods and kisses me again.
I pull apart when I hear the bell ring. Really? We have been up here for forty minutes? Wow, time goes fast. What is Mr. Scrumpy going to say to me tomorrow? Oh well, I will just have to think of something.
I look at Alex again and go down the stairs back into the school.
It was interesting.. what we did on the roof. What we did, I thought we would never do again.

The other periods before lunch went fast, and now it is time to eat. I am hungry, but I am not going to eat today. I want to starve myself so that I will be skinny. I want to tell Alex, but he wouldn’t understand. He would just make such a big deal out of it.
I walk to the cafeteria and see Alex talking to the same blonde that he was all up on earlier. What are they doing? I walk to the right so that most of my body is hidden. I am going to eavesdrop on their conversation. I would never call it spying. I listen to them for a few seconds, and I wish I didn’t even start listening to their conversation.
“Hannah, don’t worry… this will all work out,” Alex says. “I am going to go to her house tonight, and I will get some dirt on her.”
Hannah says, “Don’t tell me you are actually going to fall in love with her.”
“Of course not baby,’ Alex says holding Hannah’s hand. “I am in love with you and only you. I will pretend to date her then break up with her and we will have all the dirt we need on her. This will work out. I promise.”
“Okay,’ she says back. “I love you.”
“love you too baby,” Alex says.
They kiss and walk into the cafeteria then part into their own ways, like they never spoke to each other.
I am surprised that nobody else was in the hallway to hear them talking. I am going to get Alex big time! Just you wait Alex. Just you wait. I am going to have so much planned for tonight when you come over.
I get out from behind the locker and walk into the cafeteria. I am going to act like I didn’t hear anything he or Hannah said. I am going to make Alex jealous.
When I approach the table he is sitting at, I sit next to Matt, who is across the table from Alex. I look at Matt and he is already looking at me, probably wondering why I am sitting by him. I smile at him. He smiles back at me. I then look over at Alex and he does not look too happy. My mission one is complete.. he is totally jealous. Now I have to make him come up to me, ask me what it was about, and complain about all of it. That is going to be easy.
I get up from the table, and go into the lunch line to get my food. Alex follows right behind me, with the other guys behind him. Matt was the last one to line up.
I shiver when I hear Alex whispers in my ear, “What was all of that about Mary?” Mission two.. complete. I have to confront him.
“I don’t know. I think I am totally into Matt now. He has those perfect chocolate eyes, and he has such perfect hair. I mean, he is gorgeous,” I say, even though I don’t like Matt. I do like Matt, but not in that way.
“What do you mean you like Matt, I thought you like m-,” he says, but I cut him off before he could finish the last word.
“I did too, but I found out that I can’t trust you anymore with you stabbing me in the back and trying to find some dirt on me for Hannah. Pretending to like me, date me, find dirt on me, and then break up with me. Yeah, I don’t think,” I point from me to him, “this is going to work out.”
I move up in the line, and pick up my pizza and potato wedges.
“Mary, what are you talking about? Why would you even think-” he begins, but I cut him off again.
“Stop with all the bullcrap, okay?” I say.
“Okay,” he says. “But I have to explain why,” he pauses. “My sister, Nicole, dated Hannah’s brother, Derek, when they were in high school. They are the same age, both in college now. Hillary cheated on Derek. When Hannah found out, she wanted to expose my sister, but Derek had already found out. Derek broke up with her, but Hannah still wants revenge on Nicole. I have to find dirt on you, because for some reason, Hannah does not like you. She really likes me though, so she keeps thinking that we are dating, and she kisses me. I have to act like I don’t like you, so she does know I do.” He takes a sigh.
“So why did you push her up on the lockers yesterday and make out with her,” I say when we sit back at the table. This time I sit next to Alex.
“I was trying to make you jealous, so then you would go out with me, because we have known each other for so long. I didn’t think you would date me. I knew you were watching us.”
“Oh,” is all I could say.
Should I believe him? Or, did he stay up all night one night to come up with this excuse incase I found out and confronted him about it? I really don’t know, but for right, now I think I am going to believe him. I hope I will not regret it.
“Okay,” I say, “I believe you, but don’t make me regret it. So what are we going to do about this whole situation?”
“I don’t know,” Alex says.
I sigh as a response.
A couple seconds later, the rest of the boys come sitting down with their trays in front of them on the table. For the rest of the lunch period we just eat in silence… and I’ve got to admit it… I really didn’t like all of the silence. I like having silence sometimes, but most of the time, I like having the noise around me.
Once lunch is over, I go to the next period..

The last periods of the day go by really fast, and it is time to go home. Finally! It has been a long... stressful day.
I go to my locker, but Alex isn’t there. That’s weird. Oh well.
I put my books in my backpack and sling it around my shoulder. I shut my locker and walk out of the school. Still no sign of Alex. Looks like I am walking home alone today. I wonder where Alex is.
I start walking the way to my house when I see a little black kitten laying in the grass by the sidewalk. I stop walking, and pick him up. I hold him in my arms and start walking again.
A little kitten like this shouldn’t be a stray. It deserves a home. I wonder if it is a boy or girl. I am going to check.
I stop and lift the kitten up, and look to see that it is a girl. I have always wanted a kitten, but my mom never wanted a pet. She says they are too much to take care of.
I cuddle the kitten in my arms and begin to walk again.

It takes me about twenty minutes to get to my house. That was probably going to be my exercise for the month. I am so tired.
I walk up to the door, unlock it, and walk into the living room. To my surprise, I see my mom sitting on the couch. My mom works a lot, trying to feed and clothe me. She looks up at me and smiles. There is a tall man sitting next to her. I drop my stuff on the floor next to the couch and just stand there holding the kitten in my arms.
“Mom,” I say, “I found a kitten in the grass on my walk home, and I was hoping we could take it to the vet.”
“You know I don’t like pets, sweetie, but if you want the kitten then, sure, yes, we will take it to the vet this weekend when I am not working.”
“Thank you mom,” I say.
“Oh, sweetie, this is Drew. Drew and I have been dating for the last few months, and he proposed to me this morning. I said yes, and he will be moving in, but you will be moving in with your father.”
Wait! She has been dating somebody and never told me? They are getting married? He is moving in? I am going to have to move in with my dad just so Drew can move in with her? My dad lives in Tennessee and I live in Ohio. No, this can not be happening.
“Are you serious?,” I say with an angry tone. “You never told me you were dating. You are telling me that I have to move in with my dad, just so your fiance can move in with you? Mom, I am almost 18, my birthday is next week, and I am not moving in with him. I can’t believe you love a guy that you have been dating for a couple of months more than your own daughter. I hate you!”
I pick up my backpack, and run up the stairs with the kitten snuggled up in my arms.
I am not going to move in with my dad. I am staying here, until I find a place of my own, but I only have about two hundred dollars in my pocket. Looks like I am going to have to save up all of the money I can.
I go into my room and set my backpack and the kitten on the floor. I take my phone out of my pocket when it starts ringing. It is Alex. I answer it.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey,” I say with a sad voice.
“What’s wrong?” he asks me.
“Nothing,” I say. “I just found out my mom was dating somebody and now she is going to marry him. She told me I have to move in with my dad, who lives in Tennessee, so her fiance can live here, but I am turning 18 on Monday, so all I have to do is save up enough money to buy a house, so yeah.”
“Wow! I am coming over right now,” he says then hangs up.

A couple minutes later, I hear a knock on the door. I jump off my bed and start running down the stairs. I rush to the door, without looking at my mother, and open the door. It is Alex. I take him up the stairs and into my room. His eyes shift straight to the kitten that is now on my bed.
“A kitten?” he asks.
“Yeah, I found him on the walk home, and decided to keep him. I am going to take him to the vet this weekend.”
“Cool,” he says. “So about the house kinda thing… I can help you with that.”
“You can?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says. “I have a log cabin about twenty miles from here out in the country. You can stay there for a while if you want.”
“Really? Thank you so much Alex,” I say and hug him.
“We can go there now if you want,” he says once we pull apart.
“Okay. Let me pack all of my stuff,” I say back.

I end up packing all of my clothes, my books, my bathroom supplies, etc.
I pick up my kitten, and Alex carries my stuff out to his Mustang GT500. I have to admit, it is such a nice car.
He puts the bags in the back and gets in the driver’s seat. I get in too with the kitten back in my arms.

He drives to a beautiful, big, log cabin. There aren’t very many houses back  here, so I might get some peace and quiet.
I hop out of the car ,once it comes to a stop, and grab one of my bags, while Alex grabs the rest. We walk to the front door, and Alex unlocks it.
We step into a huge log cabin mansion. I could really get used to this place. There is amazing furniture, rugs, and a big staircase. I put the kitten and bag on the floor.
“Luckily,” Alex  says, “we have a dog kennel, so we can put the kitten in it before we leave to get the stuff for her.”
He walks over to the cat and picks her up. He puts her in the dog kennel that he was talking about. Then he comes back to the door where I am.
“Are you ready,” he says holding his keys in his hands.
I nod. We walk back to the car and get in.
He drives to a pet store that is somewhat near by. We get out and head into the building.
I grab a cart. We go to the section with the bowls and grab two tiny baby blue bowls and two medium hot pink bowls.
We go to the section with the toys and grab a couple toy mice, a scratch post, and a couple balls with bells inside of them.
Next we go to the area with the cages and pick out a small black carrying cage and a small kennel for a grown cat, but she can grow into it.
Now it is time for the food and treats. We go to where the food and treats are and pick out a four pound bag with small pieces of cat food it it, five things of tuna in a can, two bags of Party Mix, and three tiny toothbrush treats that clean their teeth and also make their breath smell better.
We go up to the check up. When I see that the total is $132.63, I get out my wallet and try to hand her the money, but Alex has already paid.
When we get to the car, I say, “You didn’t have to do that. It is my kitten.”
He slams the trunk down when he is done putting everything he bought in there.
He looks at me and says, “Let me do it, Mary. I wanted to buy all of it for you. I wanted to let you stay at my log cabin. The least you can do is say ‘thank you’”
“Thank you,” I say with a small voice while looking down at the ground.
Alex walks over to me and says, “I’m sorry, Mary. I didn’t mean to snap like that. It is just, when I do all of this for you, it is because I want to, and I have to get something off my chest,” he pauses. “I think I love you.”
…..Did he just say he thinks he loves me? He thinks he loves me? Really? I don’t know what to do. After a few seconds thinking of what I should do next, I kiss him. I kiss him hard and long right here in the parking lot of a pet store. This right here, is when I realized that I might love him too.
“I love you too,” I say once we pull back and get into his car.
He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just smiles to himself.

When we get back to the cabin, I get out and open the trunk. We take everything out of the trunk and put them inside the house.

It took us a while, but we decided to put the scratch post in the living room, the cage and medium sized bowls in an extra bedroom. Then we put the small bowls in the kitchen by the sink and the food in a tall pantry. 
After we are finally done placing everything, we sit on the couch and turn on the T.V. I then realize that I forgot about the kitten. I go to the kennel, that she is in, and let her out. I go back to the couch and sit down next to Alex. The kitten walks to us and begs to get on the couch. Alex picks her up and places her on his lap and starts petting her.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” Alex asks focusing on the kitten.
“Umm… sure. Where are the movies at?” I ask him.
“Over there,” he says, pointing to a tall shelf next to the T.V.
I get up off the couch and walk over to the shelf. I instantly find a movie I have been dying to see since it came out. I have never got the chance to see it. I take it off the shelf, open the case, and put it in the DVD Player, without letting Alex see what movie it is.
I put the case on the table and plop down on the couch right where I was.
“What movie did you put in?” Alex asks.
“Endless Love,” I say back.
He lets out a long sigh and puts the kitten back down on the carpet. She rolls up into a ball, and falls to sleep in less than a minute. Alex yawns and puts him arm over my shoulder. He pulls me closer to him.
“Wow!” I say. “That is so old.”
“Yeah, but it works,” he says.
“True,” I say, not wanting to argue with him over such a stupid thing.
I have had enough going on today, and I just want to relax and not worry about all of it for just this moment.
They movie starts and me and Alex are all cuddled up together. I look over at Alex and he must think that this movie is really fascinating. I do too, it is really good so far. The girl asked her father if she can have a party for her, and her dad agrees. She wants the party, so that boy can come.
That makes me think of me and Alex. Whatta is out status? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend? Or are we just… friends that like each other? We know that we like one another, but are we dating? I need to find out.
“Alex?” I ask in a quiet voice.
Surprisingly, he hears me. “Yes?” he asks, with his attention still on the T.V.
“What are we?” I ask.
That gets his attention. He looks directly at me.
“What do you mean?” He asks.
“Are we dating?” I say.
“I think so. Do you want to?”
“Yeah,” I say with a little excitement in my voice.
“Then it’s official,” he says kissing my cheek.
I smile at the thought that we are dating, and the thought of his lips on my cheek.
I bring his face to my hands and kiss him. On the lips. For some reason, I have been dieing for this moment to happen. I guess I have liked him for a long time, but never wanted to admit it to myself. I want to admit it now. I like Alex. Wait.. I love Alex! I have known him for so long, and I know that is how I feel about him. I love him.
We snuggle together on the couch until the ending of the movie came. I looked over at Alex and he was crying.
I take my phone out of my back pocket and pull up my camera. I take a photo of him, not wanting him to know, but of course, the flash was on. It blinded him and he kept his eyes closed for a while.
When he opens his eyes, he looks at me with an angry expression. I shouldn’t have done that.
“Did you just take a picture of me crying?” he asks.
“Nooo..” I say.
“You better delete that photo or else,” he says back.
“Or else what?” I ask standing up from the couch and backing away into the kitchen.
He doesn’t answer me, instead he chases after me and into the back of the kitchen where the food is. This isn’t going to turn out pretty.
I stop running and open the cabinet.  I pull out the bag of flour, that is already open, and dump some on Alex when he stops running. I set the flour on the counter and go up to Alex. He looks at me and smiles. He is going to get me back, and I know it won’t be good when he does.
“Come here,” he says.
I shake my head.
“Please,” he says.
I go to him and stop. He takes his hands and puts them on my face. Jerk! He just put flour on my face. To get him back, but I’m not going to get him back how he expects me too. I am going to give him the silent treatment.
I walk into the bathroom and shut the door. I go over to the sink and turn on the faucet until it is really hot. I wash my face off and dry it with a towel that was hanging on the rack. After I am done drying my face, I hang the towel back up. I open the door and go back into the living room. Alex is there sitting on the couch watching the end of the movie.
I step loud enough so he can hear me on purpose. He looks my way, then I just turn around and walk to one of the bedrooms. I walk into one of the biggest bedrooms upstairs. I guess I am going to stay in this room for the time being.
I slip into the covers and just lay there until I hear the door open. Of course, it is Alex. I look at him, and he meets my gaze. I instantly look away and hear him sigh and walk over to the bed. I feel the bed sink down at the edge and I know that he sat by my feet.
He finally speaks up, “I know what we should name the cat,” he pauses then continues. “Alary, because those are our names put together.”
That is a really good name, and he is right, Alex plus Mary equals Alary.
I smile and pull him into a hug, and he hugs me back.
I pull out of the hugs and look him in the eyes. “I love that name. It is perfect,” and then I kiss him. I kiss him like i did earlier, before I gave him the silent treatment.   
Alex gets under the covers with me and we eventually are both in a deep sleep.

I wake up with an empty spot next me. Where did Alex go? He probably just went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I get out from under the covers and walk down the hallway quietly. I go down the stairs, and stop when I hear Alex’s voice.
“Don’t worry, baby. I told her the story we came up with and she fell for it. This plan will work out, trust me Hannah.You have to believe in me, okay? Okay, I got to go. I love you. Bye babe.” And with that he hangs the phone up and walks into the kitchen.
I knew this was too good to be true. Even though I have been Alex’s friend for such a long time, he has always been the kind of guy to get into trouble or lie to you about something, or just about everything, in this case. I have to find a way to get out of here, but how? Oh, I have a perfect idea.
I go back to the room and pack everything I have, and double checking to make sure I have everything that I had brought with me. I grab the kitten, that was laying on the bed, and put her in my purse. She falls asleep again. I take my suitcase and rollin down the hall, without Alex hearing me. Maybe he is going deaf. I go into his bedroom and grab the car keys from his dresser. I put them in my pocket, so he won’t be able to see them.

I go down the stairs, wheeling my suitcase behind me, and walk to the front door, twisting the doorknob when I hear his voice.
“What are you doing?” Alex asks, looking confused.
“Goodbye,” I say, and walk out the door before he could say another word.