Remember What Went Wrong

Lunch with Alex was interesting.

I met up with him after I had sorted out all the details about textbooks with my biology teacher, and together we had walked towards the cafeteria.

As soon as I saw him again, I became aware that Alex was different from any of the other boys I had known. After all, he offered to carry my books, but he joked at the same time, laughing about things like ‘dicks’ immaturely.

He was neither insensitive nor overly sensitive, and his smile was a constant reminder why I liked him.

I had thought about him all through first period, where I had been introduced and gaped at for the first thirty minutes, and then whispered about for the following ten.

Second and third period were similar, with an absent Alex and dozens of eyes on my back, even though I sat in the middle row.

For some reason, my mind continued to playback the encounter with the secretary. Never, in my entire education have I encountered a registration period like that. Usually I got my papers and left. I was never met with a threatening secretary followed by an amazingly sarcastic cute boy.

This was all so new to me, though it was very similar at the same time.

As we came to lunch, Alex introduced me to all of his friends, though I managed to professionally stumble through a greeting.

Realizing that they all were looking at me, I did the only thing I could think off, which was begin to talk about where I was from. Since this usually took a while, it seemed that they lost interest easily, which discouraged me.

I stuttered my way through my monologue, though I ended up feeling defeated.

The girl who Alex seemed most fond of went by the name of Eden, and she was indeed beautiful. As soon as I saw her, I knew I was going to have competition.

She had choppy blonde bangs that highlighted her oval face, with long blonde hair that cascaded in waves down to her mid-back. Her eyes were an incredible shade of light blue, lighter than the ocean or even the mid-morning sky.

She was dressed casually, much more casual than I, in torn jeans at the knee, a pair of gray sneakers, a gray hoodie and what appeared to be a band t-shirt. Her face was clean and pure, indicating that she wore no makeup.

While I looked like someone who tried to hard, she looked effortlessly beautiful. My stomach had churned out of nervousness, and I knew right then that it would be a difficult year.

I suddenly felt silly putting on the makeup like I did this morning, hoping that it would make a good impression. If I hadn’t sweated it all off anyway, it remained as a peach-colored clump on my face.

Unlike me, Eden was a natural beauty who was confident about her appearance. Also unlike me, Eden spent the remaining twenty minutes of lunch slumped in her chair, with the corners of her lips turned painfully downwards.

She didn’t seem enthusiastic to see me at all—in fact she greeted my rather coldly. She looked at me a total of four times, and talked to me even less. She made no effort to even get to know me, but if I was her, I wouldn’t either.

She joked and laughed with Alex, and it was clear that he cared for her as much as she cared for him, which made my stomach freak out even more. Everyone else seemed liked by Eden, but maybe I had to gain her trust.

Throughout the rest of lunch, I learned many things about Alex and his friends.

They were in a band called All Time Low, which they had formed in their freshman year of high school. Alex, Jack and Rian were in the band, along with this guy named Zack, who apparently went to school in a different part of Maryland.

Eden and Kara went to their band practice, which was usually every Saturday in Rian’s basement. Alex moved from England when he was eight and he met his current friends when he entered high school.

Unfortunately, after much discussion, lunch ended and I was forced to go to my next class, which was World History.

I appeared to have Jack and Eden in class, and even though Jack was happy enough to include me quickly in the group, Eden seemed more reluctant.

The three of us walked to the class, as Alex and Rian had English Literature, with Jack talking nonstop while Eden gave me the cold shoulder, occasionally glancing my way.

Once we reached the room, Eden threw her bag onto a desk at the far back and was soon joined by Jack, which forced me to follow even though I preferred the front of the class. I had no other contact with Eden for the rest of the class.

The remaining classes passed slowly, my mind wondering back to Alex occasionally. I had a class with him for last period, and I spent the whole time sneaking side glances at him as he took notes.

I tried to stop, but I just couldn’t help that he looked so cute as he scribbled things down.

It wasn’t like we learned much on the first day, anyway.

By the time the final bell rang, dismissing us for the day, I was exhausted. It seemed as though school would never end.

Alex accompanied me out to the parking lot, where we were met up with Jack, Eden and Rian.

“Do you need a ride home, Ede?” Alex asked, upon reaching the group. Eden shook her head, looking annoyed, as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

“I had to ride to school on my bike,” she pointed to a pathetic looking magenta bike, which was sloppily parked in the bike rack. “So I guess I have to ride it home.”

“You can just come to my house, and we can take your mom’s car to pick it up later,” he suggested, which caused her frown disappear and a smile (shock!) to appear on her face.

She bit her lip after a moment before her smile widened.

“That would be...great.”

“Awesome,” Alex smiled back, digging a set of shiny car keys out of his pocket.

I sighed under my breath as Eden followed Alex.

Of course, they were totally in love. It was obvious.

Before they were completely out of view, Alex spun around, before jogging a few stairs to come within earshot of us. “Do you want to come too, Audrey?”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I glanced at Eden who looked most upset.

“My, uh, my mother...dropped me to school this morning.” I stated lamely, tugging at the hem of my top uncomfortably as I squinted in the sun. Eden snickered under her breath, though nobody else in our small group seemed to notice. Alex raised his eyebrows, as though challenging me to continue. “I think, she wanted me to, um, go home with...her.”

“Oh,” Alex frowned, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as he glanced towards the parking lot. My face heated up as I felt the blood pool in my cheeks, making me fidget uncomfortably. Eden yawned, causing Alex to glance her way. “Okay, then.” He said finally. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

He saluted Jack and Rian, who departed their separate ways. I tapped my foot lightly on the cement steps, thinking. Finally I sighed. Why the hell not?

“Wait!” I called after Eden and Alex’s retreating figures. Alex turned around slightly, only so I could see about a quarter of his gorgeous face, and gave me a smirk. I blushed, feeling my heart stop for a moment before coming to my senses. “I guess I could call her and let her know I went to a friend’s house.”

Alex grinned, shouting out words of approval, while Eden just crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

I didn’t even process what was happening as I followed Alex and Eden to Alex’s car, which was a beat up Ford pickup.

He grinned, before climbing into the driver’s seat.

Without permission, Eden sunk into the passenger seat, leaving me to slide uncomfortably in the backseat.

The backseat, a small cramped space, was luxuriously placed atop a floor full of discarded chip bags, empty McDonald’s takeout bags, water bottles and pages of magazines.

“Oh come on, Ede.” Alex laughed, catching my desperate gaze through the rearview mirror.
“How about letting Audrey sit in the front?” Alex smirked, causing my knees to go weak. I was just glad that I was sitting down so I wouldn’t fall to the floor. “We don’t want to give her a bad impression, do we?”

Eden grumbled something, before looking at Alex incredulously. It looked like she was getting ready to rip his head off.

I felt bad, witnessing this from the backseat. If I knew it was going to cause problems...

“Are you serious?” She stared at him wide-eyed. “Shotgun has always been my seat.”

“I know...” Alex trailed off, second-guessing his decision to speak. “But you can go in the back for one day, can’t you?”

“Alex, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I can stay in the back. Really. It’s no big deal.” I spoke up, earning a hateful glare from Eden.

“Shut up.” She muttered.

“Eden!” Alex glared at her.

“I’m going.” She raised her hands in surrender, before pulling open the passenger door and throwing open the backseat one. “Move.”

She scowled at me, and I scampered out of the seat quickly. She scooted into my seat, and I reluctantly moved to the passenger seat.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Alex said, laughing slightly. I looked back at Eden, who had her hands crossed over her chest. After she didn’t respond, he grinned. “Oh come on. You know I love you, Ede.”

“Whatever.” She muttered, trying her hardest to appear mad.

But as I glanced at her again, I noticed she was smiling.