I Meant What I Said

The next day, Bree walked into her first class, sat down in the same seat she always sat in and waited for the day to start. This will be a good day, she thought to herself. She was going to make it a good day.

She was early for class today. She hoped to get in there and get situated before anyone else came in so she could get the chair she wanted.

Slowly, more of her classmates filed into the classroom, filling up the chairs around her. When Jamie came in, he sat on the other side of the room as her. Good, he got the point. Sara came in and sat next to her. “I have to talk to you,” she said, with a grin on her face.

“Okay, catch me before breakfast.”

Mr. MacAlbee walked into the classroom right as the bell rang. “Morning class, clear your desk.” A wave of sighs flew across the classroom. “Oh, relax,” he said. “I'm not giving you a pop quiz.” Good day. “So this morning, class, we're going to have a very special guest. I have invited in one of our state senators to talk to you a little about the way our state works.” Half of the class sighed; this was going to be boring.

The teacher looked disappointed. “I promise you that this isn't going to be a blow-off class. You are going to be held responsible for some of the information he tells you. So, without any further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Senator Denvin.”

Oh my gosh.

He walked into the class, looking very professional. “Morning, class. I'm Gary Denvin. I've recently been elected as senator for the state of Rhode Island. I recently moved here with my son and daughter and so far, we're very happy here.”

Bree felt her stomach flood with butterflies as she thought about Alex. She hadn't known her father was a state senator. He never said anything about it.

Mr. Denvin continued. “Actually, some of you may know my son, Alex. He's a junior like many of you.” Bree saw Sara look over and smile at her. Tyler had a smirk on his face. She looked at Jamie. He looked pissed.

The senator continued his talk until the bell rang at the end of the class. Surprisingly, no one in the class even fell asleep. He kept their attention pretty well. When the bell rang, Mr. MacAlbee stood at the front of the class. “There will be no homework assigned for tonight, but I do hope that you remember some of what Mr. Denvin talked about today. Have a great day.”

Everyone filed out of the classroom and went on their way to breakfast or wherever they were headed. Sara called for Bree. “Hey, come talk to me,” she said. Bree walked over.

“What's up?” No one else was left in the classroom now.

Sara smiled at her. “So, you and Alex are getting pretty close, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Lie, she hadn't felt this way about someone since Jamie.

Sara laughed. “You guess so? Bree, you know I can read you like a book, right?”

Bree felt her cheeks burn. “Yeah, fine. We're getting really close.” She let out a small laugh. Close, if that's what you want to call it.

“Really? Like lots of talking and getting to know each other?” Bree fidgeted around.

“What's up with the twenty questions?”

Sara gave her a look. “Bree, I'm your best friend. I know that you aren't just 'getting close'.” She laughed. “Details, please.” She patted the chair next to her.

Bree sat down. “Fine, fine, fine. You caught me.” She fidgeted with the ring on her finger. “Yeah, we, uh, don't talk much...”

“Bree! Are you kidding me? You just met the kid!”

“Oh, Sara, stop being a 90 year old. You and Max couldn't keep your hands off each other when you first met.”

“Hey. That was different.”

Bree laughed. “Really? How was that any different? You guys were like magnets to each other.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Fine, I'll give you that one. Just be careful. I don't want him to let you down if he doesn't meet all your expectations.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” Bree said, smiling.

“Bree, please tell me you've kept your pants on so far. Please.” The look on Bree's face gave her away. “Bree...”

“Oh stop it. I haven't slept with him. Relax.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But, we have come pretty close to it.”

“Bree...”

“Sara, stop. The thing with me and Alex is we just click. There's something about us that just works. He understands me. Do you know how much I need that? My world crashed when Jamie left. And yesterday, I took care of him, Jamie, I mean. And then Alex came over and everything just worked out. He makes me feel like the most important person in the world. It makes my heart melt.”

Sara just smiled at Bree. She stood up and hugged her. “I'm so happy for you, Bree. I hated seeing you after Jamie left. It was terrible.”

The two girls grabbed their bags and walked to their locker. Max and Alex were standing up there, talking. Sara turned to Bree. “Did you know they were friends?” Bree shook her head.

Alex's back was to her, so she reached up from behind him and covered his eyes. She must have startled him because he jumped. “Bree, you're too cute,” he said as he turned around and pulled her into his arms.

Max looked at them and then reached over to give Sara a kiss. “So, does this mean you two are a thing now?”

Bree and Alex looked at each other and shrugged. “We haven't really talked about it,” Bree said.

Alex whispered in her ear, “We haven't really talked much, Bree.” She punched him in the arm before Max or Sara could hear.

“Well, we're going down to breakfast. Catch up with you later,” Max said as he grabbed Sara's hand and they started walking downstairs.

Bree turned to Alex. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he said as he kissed her. She smiled. “You're so beautiful, Bree. So beautiful.”