Stand A Little Too Tall, Say A Little Too Much

“Nice. I’m Justine and this is Alex Gaskarth.” I pointed at Alex. He looked up from his work and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh hey, yeah I’m Alex.” He smiled.
“I’m Jack, nice to meet you Alex.”
“You too Jack.” Alex went back to his French work.
“Alex, you geek.” I chuckled.
“You love it.” he replied.
“Hmmm, you’re not wrong there.”
“So, are you two close friends?” Jack chipped in.
“We’re actually dating.” I laughed.
“Ah I see. You’re both very cute together.”
“Thanks. Alex’s the cute one though, although he thinks that’s me.”
“Aw haha. You’re adorable.”
“Aw thanks.” I winked.
“It’s no problem haha!” he joked.
“So what type of music do you like?”
“Um, a variety to be fair. I love Berated, I got their new album the other day.”
I nudged Alex and he listened in. “Chloe is going to love you seriously.” I replied.
“Who’s Chloe?”
“One of my best friends.”
“Oh cool.”
“She loves Berated so much. I’m totally gonna introduce you to her.”
“Sweet.”
“What’s your number? I’ll text you when I know more details.”
Jack gave me his number and text him just to make sure I had the right number.
“Got it!” he exclaimed.
“Sorted. Right, must catch up with this French work or the teacher is gonna kill me.”
“Same here.”
We sat in silence for the rest of the lesson with the occasional pinch on the leg from Alex. I kissed his neck and he giggled like a girl.
“You’re so adorable,” I whispered into his ear, “even when you giggle like a girl.”
“Oh no you didn’t!”
“Oh yes…I did.”
“I’m gonna get you later.”
“Bring it.”
“I shall.”
“Good.”
“Fine.”
“Indeed.”
“It is indeed.”
“Geek.”
“I am not a geek!”
“Erm, yes Alex. You are my geek.”
“And you are my baby girl.”
“Aw. Now get on with your work, Alexander.”
“I am seriously getting you later.”
I loved calling him Alexander, especially when I knew he hated it.
Alex closed his book and looked over at mine.
“Done nothing as usual?”
“Yup.”
“You’re gonna fail.”
“Thanks for the reassurance Gaskarth. Sorry for not being your A+ student.”
“It’s no problem.” He winked.
“Class, the bell is about to go. Excellent work today.”
Alex shot up and was the first to the bag rail. He collected his bag and then picked mine up on the way back.
“Hey Jack, what’ve you got next?” I asked.
“I’ve got all frees now. How about you?”
“Same here. Same with Alex too.”
“Oh cool, do you wanna hang out?”
“Sure thing.”
“Cool.”
“Meet me at the college gates in about 10 minutes, I’ve just got something to sort out involving me and Alex, but it shouldn’t take long.”
“Alright. See you then.” He headed off towards the door just as Alex came back.
“Sup?”
“Wanna go out for a bit?”
“Can do yeah, if you want.”
“Yeah. I need to have a catch up with Chloe too. I’ve not seen her in ages.”
“That’s fine. Remember, we’ve got that meeting with the headmaster in like 5 minutes.”
“I know. Oh, I invited Jack along if that’s okay? He seems like a nice person.”
“That’s fine,” he smiled, “he seems a bit lonely if you ask me.”
“Well he has only just moved here.”
“That is true.”
“Right let’s go.”
We made our way to the headmaster’s office. As soon as we got there, the receptionist ushered us in and sat us down. The headmaster came out of the little room with his cup of coffee.
“Hiya Alex and Justine. I called this meeting because of your recent absence.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve done all my coursework Sir.”
He laughed and then became more serious. “What’s gone on? We’ve had reports of abuse.”
I sunk down into my seat. “I don’t want to…” I shuddered at the memory. Alex put his arms around my shoulders.
“With all due respect, I don’t think this is a good idea, Sir.” Alex intervened.
“Considering you’ve both been off school for a while, I think it is a good idea to know exactly what happened, don’t you think?” He raised his eyebrows at Alex.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but seriously, this isn’t a good idea.” Alex warned. I started to shake. Why did our headteacher have to be a dick and remind me of that night? I was just starting to forget about it.
“Well, there can’t be much to tell really.”
“There’s a lot more than you think Sir. I don’t think Justine’s prepared to tell you at all.”
“We need to know.”
“Well, I doubt she’s gonna tell you.”
He paused and turned his attention back to me.
“Justine, you must tell us why you've been off school for so long.”
“I-I don’t…want…to.”
“You’ve got no choice.”
My blood started to boil. If he didn't shut up I was going to end up saying something I’d regret. I squeezed Alex tight and looked into his eyes with a stern look. He caught on immediately.
“Honestly, this is against our human rights. We don’t have to tell you anything.”
“Unfortunately, you’ve got no choice, whether you like it or not.” My shaking started to increase and I slammed my eyes shut and tried to block out what was happening. Alex tightened his grip on my shoulders. I could see that he was trying so hard to refrain from getting angry.
“We’ve got a choice and I’m sorry but you won’t be told anything. We’re leaving.”
“Oh no you’re not. You won’t be leaving til we find out what’s happened to both of you.” He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. His face was emotionless.
I rose from my seat and Alex stood in front of me. He pushed me back towards the door.
“Stop it, Justine. Calm down.” He said, calmly.
“Get me out of here before I do something I regret.”
He held my back and put his other hand under my legs and proceeded to pick me up.
“We were just leaving.” Alex hissed. He turned around and walked out the door with me in his arms.
I couldn’t refrain anymore, my fuse had just blown. “YOU’RE A FUC-” Alex pressed his lips onto mine and my body instantly went limp and calmed down.
“Feel better?” He whispered in my ear as he carried me out of reception.