Living with a Heartache

Alex’s Home: Alex’s POV

I was back from the hospital already- the nurse had to chase me and Kyle out because visiting hours were over. It was 5pm, and we left Patrick in the hospital mopping around. I was sitting at my dresser, playing music on the computer and doing nothing. God bless the good teachers who don’t give us any homework.

“Hey Alex,” I heard him put his things down.

“Hey Brian, I wanted to uh,” I walked to his side of the room and propped myself on his bed. He glanced at me while he pulled out his books from his bag. I caught his smile which he gave, and smiled back.

“I wanted to thank you for what your parents decided to do for Patrick,” I told him. He faced me and smiled slightly.

“Oh, it’s okay. They were glad to do so, they’re big fans of guitar playing kids,” he chuckled as he sat opposite me on the bed. I shifted back for him to settle down as he sat Indian style facing me.

“So what happened to your ‘personal bubble’ thing?” he added the inverted commas sign between the words personal bubble. I smiled, remembering how I pushed him off the bed.

“Well, I guess they don’t really apply to you now, you know. Considering how you helped me and stuff,” I admitted. I believed I told him that it was alright for him to touch me. Dammit.

He thought for a while, then when he opened his mouth, I almost fell off the bed.

“Alex, would you like to go to the prom with me?”

Brian’s POV

She looked as if she might topple off the bed. She bit her lips nervously as she pondered over my question. Was it good? Or bad.

“I- I’m so sorry Brian,” she eyed me uncertainly. My heart fell, I knew it, and it was too good to be true. She would never go to the prom with me.

“Sam asked me today, and I said yes,” she continued. I followed her throat muscles move as she gulped.

“Well, then. Good for you,” I managed to spit out. She smiled at me, even though her eyes were clouded with a sheer layer of confusion.

“It’s okay, girls are just falling at my feet these days,” I joked. I saw her eyes relax a little and she laughed.

“You’ll forever be a self-obsessed dickhead,” she chuckled. I smiled.

“And you’ll forever be a lime,”

“Shut up,” she laughed and punched me on the shoulder. Suddenly, it was all silent. It remained like that, silence and the usual small talk until we both reclined to bed.

I felt happy for her; she’s going out with her crush. But then, I felt a jolt of realization as I imagined Prom Night. What if she fell for Sam for real this time? Sam was a nice guy, and she was a great girl. What would I do when it happened? Would I be able to move on? Then again, mum always used to tell me ‘if she’s really the one, then you’ll just have to wait till the time comes’.

So I guess there was nothing else for me to do other than to wait.

School: Patrick’s POV

“So what am I gonna do when you’re all out preparing for your grand date with Sammy?” I asked Alex as we sat under the huge tree behind the school. It was our old haunt, the horny boys and girls had long evacuated the tree because the neighbors had started complaining that the sights they say everyday was disturbing their children.

I was back in school, the doctor decided to let me off from the hospital- the thick atmosphere of the blood and the operations was beginning to affect my brain. Alex and a few other guys were ecstatic to see me. Speaking of Alex, she sat next to me, her head leaning back on the tree. She was wearing the shirt I got for her 14th birthday- it was red with the words “I’ll be back” from the Terminator series. We were staring out to the track field, which was relatively empty at this point of time.

“I don’t know Patty, you think that maybe you could go to the prom with a girl? We could double date,” she muttered as she winced towards the glaring Sun. Go out with another girl when I could possibly be crushing on you? No way.

“Sorry Alex, I’m only game to go to the Prom with The One,” I replied.

“You’re so pure Patrick, seriously. If you wait this long, maybe The One has already long gone and is married off to some other guy already,” she sighed, looking back at me. I know, maybe you’re the only one I have left. I was being so emotional; I think it might be the morphine they used on me.

“Mmhmm, maybe that’s just the way it is,” I replied. She rolled her eyes and whacked my head.

“Asshole,” she tittered.

“Asshole,” I mimicked her. She hated it when I did that. She smiled, but hit me again. I closed my eyes and stared up at the sky, feeling the Sun warm up my face. It must have been a long time, because I opened my eyes suddenly as Alex forcefully nudged by ribs.

‘Patrick! Someone wants to see you,” she whispered.

“Huedmedk,” I groaned.

“Seriously, she’s like right in front of us,” Alex whispered. I opened my eyes and glared at Alex, but I was met with a gleeful smile. Reluctantly I looked up, and was met with the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes ever.

Alex’s POV

One look at her, Patrick was gone. Needless to say, she was beautiful. Her hair was a golden shade of blonde- she wasn’t platinum blonde, or a pure blonde. She could be described as a strawberry blonde kind of girl, but the blonde parts of her hair shone like gold and the dark parts where equally as luscious. She had a pretty little nose, and a perfect pair of puckers. She was wearing a black dress shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

“Hey,” her voice was soft and mellow. Patrick was gaping at her, lost in his dreamland. I thumped his knee and he awoke from his trance with a jolt.

“Hi!” I replied for him, as Patrick glared at me. She smiled at us, two dimples appearing on the sides of her mouth.

“Hey,” muttered Patrick as he pushed himself up.

“You’re Patrick right? Your friend Kyle said I might find you here, I’m Penelope,” she talked in a mild British accent as she stuck out her hand.

“Hi, yeah I’m Patrick. You must be the chi- I mean girl who plays the guitar,” Patrick stumbled over his words and I rolled my eyes. I’d seen this side of him before, but never seen him fall this hard.

“Yeah, we heard a lot about you from Kyle. I’m Alex, his best friend, nothing else,” I smiled at her. Her eyes lit up at the words ‘nothing else’ and I tried to stifle a laugh.

“Nice to meet you Alex,” she giggled and smiled at me. I smiled back. I liked her; she was nothing like those crazy girls I’d seen before. She was sweet, and funny.

“Yeah, nice to meet you Alex. I think your phone is ringing,” quipped Patrick as he looked at me and raised his brow, hinting for me to take a hike. I ignored him and went on.

“Would you like to go the prom with Patrick? He doesn’t have a date, and I was thinking if you two went together, we could double date! And plus, you’re beautiful, you guys would be cute!” I practically squealed. Now, I saw how excited Jessica was for me when Sam asked me out. Penelope blushed a lovely shade of pink, and peeped out from under her eye lashes at Patrick.

Patrick glared at me so hard I was afraid my irises would burst.

“Okaay… My phone is really ringing, excuse me,” I half chuckled half muttering to myself as I walked to a safe distance. I saw Patrick take a deep breath in as I went away.

“So, would you like to you know, go to the prom?” I heard Patrick ask after I was away.

Patrick’s POV

She was The One. With the capital T and O. I knew if I waited this long she would come! Penelope was beautiful, and one look at her, my heart catapulted all the way to heaven.

Of course Alex had to be a great friend and ask her out to the prom like she was her date.

“Well, we just met and I,” I sucked in a deep breath. I knew she was going to say ‘it wouldn’t be right’ or something like that and smile nicely and then walk away.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go together,” she shrugged and smiled. I felt my face break into a stupid smile as I stared at the ground. I looked up at her and found that she too, was smiling from ear to ear. Two goofies make a perfect couple, I thought.

“So I heard you have a band?” she asked, playing with her shirt.

“Yeah, I do. We could use another guitarist though, because I only play bass and Alex is kind of a rhythm player,” I replied. I was contemplating if I could just reach out and grab her hand from playing with the hem of her shirt. I grabbed the pocket of my jeans in case my hand started trembling.

“You any good,” I added, to ease the silence.

“I don’t know. I’ve been told I was good,” she replied, her voice sounded like the high strings of a harp- it was mesmerizing.

“Would you like to you know, come down some time to try out?” I answered, trying to act like I didn’t care. But on the inside, I was melting, and bursting at the same time. I got an awesome mum and an awesome future wide in a matter of one week.

Life is wonderful, now.