Learning to Fall

After a week of dating Alex, things have cooled down a bit… Not as many girls are pointing and staring at me, thank God. But instead they’ve taken to flirting with Alex while they think I’m not around. I’ll have to thank them for that, though. It’s shown me that Alex is not going to cheat on me – at least I’m pretty sure he won’t.

“Will you come with me and Rian to the batting cages after school?”

“Sure,” I answer and put my notebook into my bag. I put my bag over my shoulder and close my locker. “Am I just going to be sitting there and watching?”

“Probably, yeah… Unless you want to practice you’re batting.”

He laughs at his own statement and slips his arm around my waist. We start walking towards the senior hallway where we both have our next class.

“No, I’ll pass. I’ll bring my homework.”

“I thought so.”

“Do you doubt my baseball skills?” I tease.

He shakes his head. “Of course not.”

“Hey guys!”

Jack Barakat appears to my left and Alex sighs loudly.

“Hey Jack,” I greet him. “Where’s Tara?”

“Just walked her to class, then I saw you guys.”

“Oh, okay… So are you ready for the History review?” I ask. Jack is in my class.

“Yeah definitely. I’ve been reviewing all week.”

“Oh dear Lord,” Alex mutters under his breath, and I have to shoot him a death glare.

“Tara said we’re hanging out on Friday, yeah?”

“Yeah, she did say that.”

Tara planned a small party at her house to celebrate the last day of the first semester. Today’s Monday, our last day of classes. We have tests from Tuesday to Friday.

“I’ll see you later, babe,” Alex whispers when we stop in front of his math class. “Meet you at your locker. Bye Jack.”

Once Alex is inside his classroom, Jack and I start walking again.

“He really doesn’t like me much, does he?” Jack asks with a sad smile.

“What?” I do my best to sound surprised. “That’s not true! Why would you think that?”

“Well, I don’t know… I just kind of get that vibe… And not to mention, he laughs every time I mention something about school. He thinks I’m a loser.”

“No, he doesn’t. He just doesn’t know you well yet. He’s shy.”

At that, even I have to laugh and Jack laughs with me.

“Whatever, maybe once he gets to know me he’ll like me.”

“Definitely. Try talking to him on Friday at Tara’s. Bring up music and he’ll definitely have a lot to say.”

**

When we walk into ‘Legends’, Alex is gone within seconds. He’s across the room with his arms around some girl. I won’t lie – I’m jealous and annoyed.

She’s pretty and her hair reaches the middle of her back. She has a huge grin on her face as she hugs Alex again.

I walk over and stand there awkwardly.

“I haven’t seen you in forever, Faith!”

“I know! I’ve been super busy, but after this semester, I’m taking fewer classes – you’ll be seeing much more of me babe.”

Babe? What the fuck?

“Hey, step off my girlfriend, Gaskarth.”

Rian appears around the corner. He’s carrying a bucket of baseballs. I feel like an idiot.

“I haven’t seen her in a while, chill! Oh!” Suddenly Alex remembers I’m here and he grabs my hand and pulls me forward. “This is Stella – my girlfriend.”

Faith holds out her hand and smiles. “So nice to meet you! I think you’re the first girlfriend of Alex’s that I’ve met!”

That little bit of information makes me feel better.

“Nice to meet you too.”

**

“Are you on steroids?!”

“I’ve been working out, baby!”

“No, you must be taking something! That was fucking incredible!”

I smile as I listen to Alex and Rian’s argument from behind that batting cage. I’m doing my math homework with Faith sitting beside me. She’s talking on her cell phone.

A few minutes later, I close my books at the same time she snaps her cell phone shut.

“So,” she says. “How long have you and Alex been together?”

“A week.”

Her eyes widen. “Seriously? For some reason I got the impression it was longer.” She shrugs.

“No… I mean, I’ve known him for a long time. He was best friends with my brother.”

“How does your brother feel about that?”

“Oh, well I don’t know… He died in August.”

The smile she was wearing is wiped off her face. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry… I didn’t – wait, who was your brother?”

“Zack-”

“Oh my God, I didn’t know… I met Zack a few times… he was such a cool guy.”

“Yeah… He was pretty cool.”

“Alex was so torn up over it… I remember. It was bad. I can only imagine how you’re feeling.”

“I’m okay,” I admit. “Sometimes it’s hard.”

She nods. I thought that bringing up Zack would be awkward, but it’s not. Faith sits there and watches Rian take batting practice. Alex cheers from the sidelines.

“Alex is a good guy,” She says after a minute of not speaking. “I can already tell he cares a lot for you.” I nod and she goes on. “Just… be a little bit careful. You know his track record, I’m guessing…”

“Yeah… not the best…”

“No… I think he’s changed but… you’re a nice girl – don’t get hurt.”