That Girl

Finley grumbled under her breath as she climbed out of Alex's car the following Monday. She hadn't been to school in a couple of days, not that she was complaining, but she wasn't looking forward to walking in the doors again. If she thought people had been talking about her before, she had no doubt that they would definitely be doing it more.

"Here, give me your books," Alex requested.

"Don't be so demanding," Finley said with a frown.

Alex rolled his eyes and took Finley's books from her, holding them under his arm and adjusting his book bag on his shoulder. "C'mon, let's get you to class."

Finley groaned audibly. "Alex, you're acting like I'm crippled."

"You have a sling. You're crippled. I just wish the doctor would've given you one of those sweet handicapped placards. Would've done wonders when we go to Chipotle and the mall. Primo parking, you know?" Alex said. He paused and then sighed. "Man, that would've been nice…"

Finley couldn't stop the sound of laughter from escaping her lips. "Are you kidding me?"

"No way," he told her, slipping his hand against hers and linking their fingers together.

"Let's skip and go to Chipotle now or something," Finley suggested.

"I thought you weren't afraid of anything?" Alex asked.

Finley shot a glance towards the doors of the school and shrugged.

"So you'll go confront two killers in an abandoned house with no fear, but high school? That…that makes you want to run away?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Don't judge me," Finley snapped.

Alex smiled, leaning in to press his lips against her temple. "I assure you that you'll be fine. Where's the hard-ass girl who takes shit from no one?"

"She's feeling a little less hard-ass with a bullet hole in her shoulder," she told him. "Hence the sling."

"Yeah, but on the other side, you have a bullet hole in your shoulder," Alex replied. "Pretty bad ass, huh?"

Finley paused. "You're an idiot," she decided.

Alex smiled. "Did it take you that long to figure it out?" he asked.

"I think I've known for a while," Finley said with a nod.

"Hey, if anyone gives you shit, just glare at them or some shit. You know, what you used to do…every single day," Alex told her.

Finley smiled softly. "I'll do what I can."

+

"So, like, you were really in Witness Protection?" Jack asked Finley at lunch that afternoon.

Finley sighed and nodded. It was only about the one hundredth time that she had been asked that throughout the course of the day. She really didn't know any other way to say it. "Yes, I really was in Witness Protection."

"Is that why you've been such a bitch?" Jack asked her.

Finley paused. "What kind words you have to say, Jack. I must've missed your award-winning personality when I was in the hospital. Really, you're quite refreshing," she said dryly.

"Jack, can you not insult my girlfriend, please?" Alex suggested.

Jack sighed. "Why can't I insult the girl who has successfully broken up our bromance for good?"

"She hasn't broken us up, Jack. Don't you see? We are stronger than ever," Alex told him, reaching across the table to take Jack's hands in his own. "No one could ever break us up."

"Bitches can't break up the unbreakable!" Jack exclaimed.

Finley looked over at Luka. "Do you want to leave these idiots and get something to eat?"

"Definitely," Luka agreed, standing up and walking with Finley to the front of the cafeteria.

"Look, uh," Finley started, scratching the back of her neck. "I wanted to, uh, apologize…if I was ever a, uh…"

"Bitch?"

Finley nodded slowly. "Yeah, a bitch to you when I…first moved here," she told her quietly.

Luka smiled softly. "I understand, dude. It's hard to make solid friendships when you don't know when, or even if, you'll be leaving. So, I get it. Even if you went about it the wrong way."

"Yeah, thank you for understanding. Do you think you could, uh, pass the memo to Jack? He doesn't seem as forgiving as you are," she told her with a slight laugh.

"I'll do what I can. But Jack is really protective of Alex."

"Yeah, I can tell," Finley told her.

"And you really fucked with Alex, you know? I never see him chase after a girl like he chased after you," Luka said.

Finley sighed. "You know, it was never my intention to come here and fuck with people, you know?"

"I know."

"I just…didn't expect to like Alex as much as I do," Finley admitted. "And I didn't even know how to react when I realized that, you know? And I responded in all of the wrong ways. I can own up to that."

"Most girls wouldn't even be able to do that. And if it helps, I feel like Jack will forgive you."

"I think I'll make him forgive me if he doesn't," Finley joked.

Luka laughed. "I think we'll get along just fine from now on, Fin."

Finley couldn't help but smile.

+

"It wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, huh?" Alex asked as he carried Finley's books into her house that afternoon after school.

"Define bad," Finley instructed as she laid down on the couch, kicking off her moccasins and propping her feet up on a pillow.

Alex set the books on the coffee table before picking up Finley's feet, sitting down on the couch, and letting her feet rest on his lap. "No one bombarded you with questions."

"Unless you count Jack at lunch."

"He's my bro, he worries about me," Alex said with a shrug.

"He's your bro, and he wants your man parts."

Alex paused. "Hater."

Finley smiled and reached for the remote, turning on the television.

"Can we please watch cartoons?"

"No," she said resolutely. "There will be no cartoons in this house. I can, however, put on Pulp Fiction. Which is infinitely better than any sort of cartoon."

Alex nodded. "That'll do, pig, that'll do," he told her, patting her knee slowly.

Finley rolled her eyes.

"That was not a fat joke, by the way."

"I know it wasn't."

"Good, because any other girl--"

"Alex," Finley said, cutting him off, "you know I'm not like any other girl."

Alex smiled, leaning over to press his lips against hers lightly. "No. No, you're not."