He's Dying to Get Inside

Raylee set her books down on her desk before going to the back of the room, leaning on Kara's desk. The girls around the cheerleader hushed, having no idea that they were friends.

"I have an issue Kar."

"What?"

The hazel eyed girl took out a piece of paper from her back pocket and placed it on her friend's desk, turning on her heel and walking back to her own. Confused, Kara opened the letter and ran her eyes over it, making sure to keep it from the nosy girls around her.

I may have made a mistake, I'm not sure, and I'm not one for saying that. I always make the right choices, because I take the time to evaluate the consequences. What I am getting at is that I need your advice; yesterday when I was at Alex's he asked me to be his date to the after party. It took some convincing, as it always does with him, but I accepted. Did I make the wrong choice? How can I back out of this without hurting him?

When she looked up, her honey eyes fell on her friend who was watching her, keeping an eye on her expression as she read. Kara shrugged, causing her to turn back around; she knew that it was such a bad idea for her to go with Alex, but maybe the singer could surprise the both of them?

The cheerleader walked out of the room ahead of her friends and grabbed Raylee's arm, following her down the hallway to the library where all Junior classes were heading for their lecture on applying to colleges.

"I think you should go."

"What?"

"You need to move on from Derek, maybe you don't fall for Alex, but it's a step in the right direction; just don't let him convince you into the sheets."

"That he won't, for sure."

"You'll be stopping by my placed first, I'll be changing into a party dress and I will be doing your makeup. We can go shopping for dresses this weekend, I still have money left on my prom account so I might be able to spot you."

"You won't need to, if I tell my mom that I want to buy a dress she'll clear out her whole account; she always wanted me to be a little beauty contest winner."

"Raylee, you'd surely win, you're looks are simple but high-edge, you're attractive. That's part of what drew Alex in once he spotted you, it wasn't all about annoying Derek or Darcy. He was going to ask you to that party, not Darcy."

The hazel eyed girl grew silent, "Can we not talk about the old Alex," she asked when he voice returned.

"Oh yes, of course. Just know this: attending Alex's party with him will put you in the spotlight, a lot of girls will hate you for it; let's not get started about Lisa."

"I don't care much for what others think of me, the rumors they will spread won't have any truth in them."

"You're brave and strong minded, I can only hope you won't forget about me and the boys once you get somewhere in your life."

"I'm worried they'll forget us will all their touring."

Kara dropped her bag on the table and crossed her legs, "Hopefully things will workout like a fairytale and we'll all be happy."

"You know that-"

"Don't crush my dream with your logic."

"Sorry," Ray replied as she pulled out a book from her backpack and began to read it.

"What are you doing, don't you want to hear what they have to say; and are you reading the dictionary?"

"I already have a scholarship in line already, and yes I am; they say reading books will strenghten your vocabulary, so why not read a book of definitions?"

"However you can, I guess."

~x~

Alex took his usual seat next to Raylee, but the thing that caught Jack's attention was the salad the singer set down in front of her. Her eyes widened as he looked at her, when he turned to his own lunch, she uncapped the plastic and started to eat.

"Thanks," her words were muffled by the food in her mouth.

"It's better than the apples and cheese I saw you take out of your locker this morning."

"It is," she agreed.

Jack decided to speak up, "Did I miss something?"

Raylee looked at Kara who nodded slightly, Alex caught the look between the girls and knew that he'd rather tell his friend the truth and hurt him then lie to him and make himself a liar.

"Ray is my date for the after party."

"I thought you were considering Lisa or Alexandra."

"Lisa is a lost cause, and I know you like Alexandra, you should just ask her."

"I can't even begin to-" Jack stabbed his burger with the spork, "Are you doing this to prove you can, to finish that stupid bet? You know she was next on the list."

Raylee dropped the utensil in her hand, looking up as she remembers what Kara had mentioned earlier that week and what happened at the last party he'd invited her to. She was afraid of Alex changing back, she had been throughout the whole time they'd been hanging out; but she never suspected that.

She stood up, leaving the half eaten salad on the table and took her books with her as she left for the library. She could hear someone on her heels as she walked down the freshly waxed hallway, but she did not turn, she pushed back the girl's room door; knowing the only person she wanted to talk to could follow.

"He doesn't mean it."

Raylee jumped, not expecting to hear Alex's voice. She turned around and looked at him, not really knowing what to say to him. The few girls that were in there grabbed paper towels and shuffled out of he small room; expecting Alex to do his usual.

"Are you a female now?" she asked him, turning to the sink and washing her hands, running her wet fingers over her face to take away some of the heat.

"No, I just need to explain to you that what Jack said is wrong, I don't want you mad at me over something like this."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

He stepped up behind her, staring into the mirror she was to look into her eyes, "You can't trust me after a month of me not slipping up?"

"Alex, what is all of that was a pretense? I won't ever know until you make your move."

He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, "I could never hurt you, I was drunk at that party. You've cleared the filter in my brain, there's nothing clogging it up and making me make wrong choices."

Raylee looked down, not wanting to look into his eyes, "I don't know what to think."

He tilted her chin up and stepped closer again, their legs brushing and their faces inches apart, "I have no idea how to convince you to believe me. I just want you to think on it, hopefully by next Friday you'll accept me again"

When she closed her eyes, tears trailed down her cheeks, "I don't want to make the wrong choice: I don't want to hurt you if you're seriously being honest, and I don't want to hurt myself if you're lying."

Alex brushed them away with his thumbs and gave her a soft smile, "The only thing that would hurt me, is me hurting you."

She opened her eyes and looked at him, not knowing how to reply or react to that. The two jumped apart when a toilet flushed and a stall swung open. Lisa walked forward and bent over the sink to wash her hands, using the remaining water to fluff her moussed curly hair.

"You shouldn't grovel Alex, at least not to her."

Raylee stared at the eye contact the exs were sharing, not wanting to be apart of the argument, even though she was the whole reason it began. She went to walk out of the bathroom but she was grabbed by a hand paired with faux nails.

"Let go of me, Ruocco."

"Using my last name won't scare me you little geek."

"I would listen to her and not be fooled by her brains, she's pretty strong."

The cheerleader held up a french tipped finger, "I don't even want to know how you'd be aware of that. As far as I am concerned, every day you spend with her makes you rusty; soon I won't even want you anymore."

"That'll be a relief," Alex breathed causing her confident expression to falter for a moment.

"How about we all forget this, Alex get out of the bathroom, Lisa let go of me before I seriously do hurt you; I'm not threatening you, you have my word, just get off."

"Well you have my word that I'll pluck every hair off of your head if you say one more thing to me that I don't like,"

Raylee pulled her arm free and looked at the taller girl, "Get over yourself, no one believes a word you say. You take things out on others because you're too pathetic to accept that things won't always go your way. Alex is done with you, he'll find someone else eventually."

The singer looked at her, somewhat hurt by the fact that she was still blunt to him liking her. He walked out of the girls room shaking his head, ignoring the looks he was getting from his peers. As he walked down the hall way he caught Kara's arm.

"She's in the bathroom, get her away from Lisa, please."

"Oh dear," the honey eyed girl took off towards the bathroom, nearly dropping her bag as she pushed back the wooden door.