Stranded

Once dinner was over, Mike left. I could see how glad Alex was for that fact. Sara was busily wiping off the counters as Makahla and I sat on the couch watching Sleepy Hallow and the others were off doing…

What were they doing?

Alex went into the kitchen. Well, at least I knew where he was. “Can I talk to you?” Alex whispered to Sara not too quietly. Makahla and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

“I’m kind of busy, Alex. Can it wait?”

“Nope.” He said, to me he seemed kind of anxious. Makahla and I pretended to still watch the movie, though we were really watching them both intently. Sara sighed, placing her washcloth back in the sink after rinsing it and looked at Alex.

“Well, are you going to speak?” She asked. If I was Alex, I wouldn’t mess with her right now, she definitely gave off the ‘don’t mess with me’ vibes.

“I want to know what’s with you and Mike.” Makahla and I looked over to see Sara’s face. If I had a camera, I would’ve taken a picture, it was priceless. Her mouth was slightly open with her eyebrows raised.

“Mike and I? Why do you need to know?” She asked him, slightly fuming.

“Merely just curious.” Alex answered coolly, which only seemed to make Sara even madder.

“Curious, or jealous?” Sara called him out. “You know Alex, I don’t care. I don’t care that you’re jealous…or that you even like me, if you do, I seriously. Do. Not. Care. At all. So I will tell you. Mike and I went out for three months before he left on his mission. You want to know something else?” Her words sounded like poison, she was mad for some reason. “We promised each other that we’d get back together if we wanted to when he came back. And I’ve always planned on it. He’s the sweetest, most caring guy I’ve ever met, and he makes me feel…” She stopped.

Alex said something quietly that neither Makahla nor I could hear. “Ha!” Sara laughed as if she didn’t believe he had said what he did. “If you did, you would have told me about Lisa before I—“ But the word seemed to stick in Sara’s throat. She scoffed again and brushed past Alex, heading towards the living room. Makahla and I scrambled for something to do.

“Uhhh…” Makahla thought for a split second then grabbed my face. My eyes widened along with my smile as she kissed me. The front door slammed, then another door in the house. They were mad. Super mad.

But, even now that they were gone, I didn’t pull away. I closed my eyes, twisting my fingers in Makahla’s short and soft hair. I’ve kissed plenty of girls, believe me, but none of them had felt quite like Makahla. She made my stomach drop and swirl around my insides. It sounds gross, I know, but it was actually a pretty good feeling.

Even cheesier, she made me feel weightless. I smiled at my own song reference.

When we finally did pull away, Makahla leaned her forehead to mine. “I guess I better go check on my bestie.”

“I have to go beat the crap out of mine.” I sighed. I gave her a lopsided grin before we separated and went to our friend’s aide…and in my case torture.

Alex was in his borrowed room, spread eagle on the bed. “Dude, you shouldn’t have messed with her.” I said.

“Shut up, man…I know.” He sighed. “I don’t know why she acted like that though.”

“Maybe…it’s just been one of those days for her. You know? Even girls as unusual as those two have them.”

“Maybe she’s psychotic. I mean, she’s always looking out for the animals and the environment, plus she doesn’t really seem comfortable around groups of people, and she never gets mad enough to cause physical harm…she doesn’t cuss.” Alex named off all of Sara’s admirable qualities, most of which described Makahla also, “So there must be something wrong with her.”

“Could it be that she’s just…I don’t know…different?” I offered. Alex looked at me like I was crazy. Not that I’m going to deny that fact or anything. “What? She is, Alex. Sara and Makahla are definitely not like most people we meet. You think you’ve got every girl down to a science, then you meet Sara, and you can’t figure her out. She’s confusing, she’s interesting. When you may’ve gotten close, you give up and just mark her off as certifiably insane? Alex, Sara isn’t the one with a few screws loose, it’s you.” I knocked him lightly on the head for emphasis.

Alex stayed silent, just scowled at the ceiling. I left, going to finish the movie. Too bad it was already on end credits. I waited for Makahla to come back inside instead.

~Makahla’s point of view~

“Sara?” I called, it was nearing nine thirty and it was dark. This silent neighborhood always gave me the creeps at night.

“I’m on the gym, Kay.” I heard Sara’s voice. I climbed up, worried about the strain on the old thing. Plus, it was already missing a few steps. This thing is dangerous.

“Of course,” I mumbled, “What was—“

“Do you like Jack?” Sara asked. It was possibly the stupidest question she’s asked. But, it was probably only to keep the conversation away from her.

“You know I do. And you’re not getting out of talking about this. Why’d you snap at Alex?”

“I feel terrible, and I’m not sure why.” Sara shrugged. “You know how I get.” I slung my arm around her shoulder.

“Were you really going to get back with Mike, or were you just saying that?” I asked.

“I don’t know…with Mike there wasn’t any confusion, he was just…my friend. If I had a bad day, he would drop what he was doing and come make me happy, send me a funny text, something, anything to make me feel better. I was never happier in Utah than I was when I was with him. I didn’t think about my father and what he did, not once, and I—“ She paused, taking a deep breath.

I let her be silent for a few moments while she calmed herself down. “I didn’t plan on meeting someone else. Only, this person causes confusion, frustration, and any other kind of twisted emotion. I’m not too fond of it, but I don’t hate it. Mike was truly the best person I ever met…guy wise.” She added, smiling a little.

“Do you…not want to snag Alex anymore?” My choice of words made her smile, but only a little one.

“I do…but, I don’t want to hurt Mike. Today I told him that I didn’t know for sure yet…and…” She sniffled, mostly she just sniffled and didn’t cry. One more thing I love about her, she doesn’t cry. Tears make things difficult. “I don’t know.” She said simply.

We didn’t say anything else as we sat outside for a while more. Once we did go in, Sara didn’t hang around, just went straight to her room.

“Alex is a little mopey, don’t you think?” Rian said after coming out of the room that all four boys were sharing for the time being.

“When is he not?” Zack mumbled quietly as he drifted off to sleep in the chair. Guess what? IT SPUN!!!

“You know, there are beds for sleeping…” I told him.

“Alex’s angst makes it hard to sleep.” Zack answered. “What happened anyway? I also feel distinct waves of anger emanating from Sara’s room also.”

“Ugh, I swear, they act like they’re in high school.” Jack scoffed like a cheerleader. I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

“Sara’s a little confused about things right now. You better warn him later that it isn’t really the time to make her angry. In fact, he’d better steer clear.” I told them.

“But it’s kind of fun to watch Sara tell people off. It’s kind of…oh, what’s the word? Misleading. A girl like Sara doesn’t seem like she can strike fear in the heart of whomever she snaps at…poor Kyle.” Rian said the last part sadly.

“If Alex gets yelled at, it makes him moodier…and a moody Alex makes for a bad bus ride.” I pointed out smartly. The others looked bummed for a few moments but then perked up.

“We’ll keep him away from her for now then!” Jack said. Zack had already fallen asleep on the couch by this time.