There's Always Another Day

Whatever the teacher spoke flew right over my head. My mind cannot stop drifting to what happened the day before yesterday. I...I can't be in love; I'm Shayne for crying out loud. Shayne doesn't fall in love.

Or does she?

I took in a deep breath, praying that Alex would grace me with her presence. The awkward looks Kalen and I are sending to each other are scary. Usually, he'd be mocking me or making funny faces at me, but today, he looks at me for a second with those dreamy eyes, then looks away before I could make eye contact. That isn't how Kalen and I are supposed to be.

The teacher continued talking, or in my case, blah-ing about whatever and I keep thinking about that moment, that one moment when everything changed.

I hadn't pulled away, instead, we looked deep into each others eyes. He hadn't pulled away either, only stared at me.

The class bell rang, shocking me out of my daze. The entire class ran towards the door, fighting and pushing their way to freedom. I took my time, stacking each book carefully on my left arm.

I walked out of the classroom, beside Kalen, and froze. The warm feel of his arm against mines, reminded me of the awkwardness that we have. He seemed to notice, too, because when I stepped back, he stepped forward.

"Hey," Alex said, standing in the middle of the hallway. I looked up from my Vans into Alex's eyes.

"What's up, Alex?" Kalen asks. His voice seemed relieved.
"Hey, Lex," I reply, walking off towards my next class. I hear the footsteps of Kalen and Alex.

"What's going on between you two?" Alex asks Kalen. When he doesn't answer, Romero walks up, holding a schedule tight in his hand.

"Hey, dude. Can you tell me where Algebra/Trig is, cuz?"

Kalen sighs and follows Romero.

When I hear Alex running up behind me I let out a quiet sigh, praying she doesn't press the issue.

"What's up with you and Kalen?"

I shrug, afraid to speak what is really on my heart. "Hey did you read those pages in English?"

Alex smiled. "Yeah. Want me to summarize it for you?"

"Yes, please, best friend." We walk to our seat in English class and Alex explains the pages.18

"Okay. Thanks. So did you get anything at the Guitar Center?" I asked hoping her mind wouldn't drift back to Kalen and I.

"Oh, no. I wish." She chuckled slightly. I let out a small laugh, my mind wandering back to Kalen.

A shortish boy walks up and knocks on Alex's desk. I looked over to Alex when he asks to speak to her.

While she is gone, I put my head down on the desk and sigh. This is going to long week.

After school, I walked home alone. It probably wasn't such a good idea because I live so far away, but it seemed like a good one when I thought of it. Alex stayed after for something and I'm quite content with not knowing where Kalen is.

I started to jog when I reached the halfway mark home. When I walked through the door, my mom sat on the couch, tapping her fingers on her leg. Dad walks in seconds later, his face unreadable.

He motioned for me to sit on the couch and I obliged. He sat by mom and placed a hand on her thigh. Her eyes watered.

Dad inhaled. "We have some news for you."

I looked from dad's brown eyes to mom's brown eyes. "What?"

Mom looked at the ground. "We are expecting another child."

My head started to spin. "What?!"

"And there is something else."

I stood, fearing what is coming next. "What else?"

"There is a possibility that we may need to move down south with your grandmother." Dad said.

My eyes grew wide. "My life is down here! How can I just leave everything behind?"

Mom spoke up. "Sweetie, I know this is hard, but-"

"Hard ain't the word!" I yelled, thinking about Alex and then Kalen. "I can't move!"

"Buttercup, it isn't written in stone. It is just a probability. There is nothing to worry about now," Dad spoke, standing and trying to pull me into a hug. I pulled away.

I stepped back and looked into the eyes of my parents, taking in air and pushing it out angrily. Tears fell out of my eyes.

Everything is falling apart.