That Girl

Finley really wasn't interested in meeting Alex's friends. Hell, she hadn't even been interested in meeting him. And as he was dragging her across the lunch room (because, well, he had his fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist which, yeah, she was not a fan of that). And even though Finley had tried to express to Alex that she had little interest in meeting his friends, Alex expressed that, well, he didn't care. He led her over to his usual lunch table and sat down, motioning for her to do the same. 

Finley clenched her jaw but sat down.

Alex smiled. "You really don't like me, do you?"

She shrugged. "Would it bother you if I didn't?" she asked. She had a feeling in her gut that Alex wasn't the type to care whether or not if someone liked him.

"Would if surprise you if I said yes?" he asked.

Finley took a drink of her Coke. "Maybe."

Alex smiled. "Jack and Luka should be here any minute. They'll be excited to meet you." 

"Too bad I can't say the same," she muttered.

"You really don't want to be here, do you?"

"I'm not a fan of organized education."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm aware," Finley replied. She knew what he meant, it just wasn't a conversation that she felt like having just yet. 

"Where did you move from?"

"Texas," she said simply.

"Why?"

Finley clenched her jaw. She didn't understand why everyone was so curious about her. She had never shown an increased interest in new kids at other schools she had attended. In fact, she never showed interest in people in general. She wasn't introverted by any means, she just didn't think it was her business to ask someone about their life. People tend to reveal the bare minimum, even when asked, and she was in no place to even pretend that she deserved to know more about someone.

"Alex, did you do the homework for Stevenson's class? I forgot," Jack said, throwing his books onto the lunch table and sitting down. He met Finley's eyes and smiled. "Hi, I'm Jack!"

Finley nodded, clearly unimpressed. "Good for you."

"Where's Luka?" Alex asked.

"Getting lunch."

"Hopefully a salad and low fat dressing," Alex joked.

"Rude," Finley muttered. 

Jack laughed.

"No, it. It was a joke," Alex assured her. "She eats more than I do."

"It better have been a joke," Finley said.

Alex held his hands up in surrender. "Trust me, I know how to speak to a lady."

"Yeah, if you want to get her into bed," Luka declared as she sat down next to Jack. "Hi, I'm Luka. I'm sorry you had to sit with these two crazies alone for so long."

"I managed," Finley said.

Luka smiled. "Good to know."

"I was just asking Finley why she moved here from Texas," Alex said, successfully putting her on the spot.

"Oh, yeah, why did you?" Luka asked, taking a bite of her pizza. 

"Well, she was in the middle of evading my question," Alex added, resting a hand on Finley's shoulders.

"Pause," Finley said while shaking her head. "First things first, personal space," she told him before grabbing his arm and shoving it off of her shoulders. "You will not touch me without permission. Two, I don't have to tell you anything about myself. Third, it's none of your goddamn business."

"Fin, I--"

"I don't care," she snapped before grabbing her bag and walking out of the lunch room.

Alex paused. "Does anyone know what the hell just happened here?"

Jack shrugged.

Alex sighed. Of course Jack wouldn't know--he was the most unobservant person be knew. "Luka? Any ideas?"

Luka shrugged, mimicking her boyfriend. "Maybe she's on her period?"

+

Finley wasn't easily bothered, not with everything that she had went through in her life. But now, now she was bothered. She wasn't used to people trying to be her friend. At other schools, people talked to her, yes, but she knew that it was for the sole purpose of trying to figure out her story. With Alex, she didn't get that feeling. And she wasn't comfortable with that. 

She walked slowly down the hallway until she found one of the bathrooms. She sat down on the floor in the handicapped stall and dug her iPhone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her contacts before landing on Sawyer Wilkins, her best friend from Texas. She briefly considered texting her, but she knew she was unable.

She had a new life now. A new life in Baltimore, Maryland. And Sawyer didn't fit into that life anymore.

But in all honesty, Finley wasn't sure where she fit into her new life at all.

+

"She just looks...sad," Alex noted as he watched Finley walk out of the school building that afternoon. And okay, he might have been kind of watching her in the hallway throughout the entire day. Well, not in a creepy I'm watching you way but in a more...observant way. Yeah, that was the right way to say it.

"Stop creeping on her, Lex," Jack said as they walked to his car.

"I'm not creeping," Alex protested. "She just doesn't smile."

"We get it, dude, you want in her pants. Let's move on," Luka said as she rolled her eyes.

Alex scoffed. "I don't want her in her pants."

Luka laughed loudly. "Bullshit! I call bullshit!"

Alex paused. "Okay, well, maybe I do. But--"

"You only want it so bad because she is not giving you the time of day at all. And it's killing you," Jack said.

"My boyfriend is right for once. You're not used to not having a girl flirting with you," Luka agreed.

Alex sighed. "Maybe that's part of it. But that's not all of it," he said. "Should we offer her a ride home?"

"If you wanna get shot down and possibly insulted again, go for it," Jack said.

"I think I will," Alex said before walking over to where Finley was standing by the flag pole, engrossed with her phone. He smiled to himself as he tapped her on the shoulder.

Finley whirled around without thanking and planted her fist in his stomach.

"The fuck!" Alex choked out before doubling over, his books falling from his hands.

Finley bit back a laugh. It was a knee-jerk reaction, she couldn't prevent it. "You good?"

"Yeah," he squeaked before coughing. It took him a minute before he stood up completely, an arm still wrapped around his stomach. "I'm good."

"That oughta teach you to not sneak up on me," Finley retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do you punch everyone who sneaks up on you?" Alex asked with another cough.

"Usually."

"Fuck." Alex ran a hand over his face and he refused to look around him. He had no doubt that his classmates were watching, probably laughing. No, he didn't need to be laughed at, he needed to be admired. So he sucked it up. "I'm good," he declared, hoping he sounded a lot more put together than he felt.

"What did you want?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted a ride home," Alex said. "But that was before, y'know, I was suckerpunched."

Finley smiled softly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm good," she told him as a black Lincoln pulled up by the curb.

"This you?" Alex asked, clearly impressed.

"Yup," she told him before opening the door. She tossed her bag on the floor before turning back to him. "I'd apologize for punching you but--"

"But that'd imply that you have feelings," Alex interrupted before he could stop himself.

Finley smiled, something that she wasn't quite used to. "Yeah. Something like that."