I Can't Stand Alone Anymore.

The week leading up to school was pretty slow. I found myself reading a lot for lack of better things to do. I ended up finishing Catcher in the Rye as well as two other books. I was extremely bored and was just hoping for something exciting to happen. My wishes were answered in the form of harsh whispers arguing Thursday morning.

“Get out of here! I don’t want to see your face.” The first whisper exclaimed. I was rousing from my sleep but decided to pretend to be asleep and see how much information I could get.

“I just want to talk to her. And why are you whispering?” The second voice boomed throughout the room. There was an equally loud bang followed by the second voice exclaiming, “What was that for!?”

“Shut your trap! She’s sleeping you buffoon.” The first voice whispered back.

“Oh. Well how was I supposed to know?” The second voice had lowered, but it was still far away from what normal people call whispering. “Tell her I came by then.”

“Not likely. Now leave.” There was another bang.

“Now listen here. I want to talk to her. So you’re going to tell her I stopped by.” The second voice had gone back to its original volume.

“No.” The first voice was no longer whispering either.

“Fine, I’ll be back later, Knight. And you can count on that.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Aaron. I’m awake.” I stretched on the bed and sat up. Alekzander had the same grimace that hadn’t left his face since I arrived; his hand on the door as if he had tried to close it. Aaron was on the other side of the threshold, his hand against the door, forcing it open. Aaron had a look of discontentment just like Alekzander. However, his face lit up as soon as he saw me. Alekzander just grimaced more.

“Whatever. I’m out of here.”

Alekzander left and Aaron entered the room. He immediately sat down on the bed and smiled at me. “Good morning, Kaylee!” His grin grew.

“Good morning, Aaron.” I smiled back at him. “Just wait a minute while I change. I’ll be out in a jiffy.” I hopped out of bed and scooted over to the closet. I quickly picked out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, changed and hopped back onto the bed. “So Mr. Cain, what brings you here at…?” I trailed off and looked at Alekzander’s nightstand. The red numbers read…. Oh boy, it was going to be a long day. However, I kept the smile on my face and finished my sentence, “What brings you here at 6 o’clock in the morning?”

“Yeah, uhm, sorry about that, but, well, I was – uhm – wondering if you wanted to see a movie with me on Saturday. Maybe get something to eat before…” His voice sounded hopeful but he trailed off and looked nervously at the ground.

I smiled to myself. I had never been asked out by a guy before. Celine had seen to that. But here was this gorgeous boy asking me out on a date. “Sure! I’d love that. What time should I be ready?”

He beamed and pulled me into a hug. When he pulled back he told me to be ready for pick up at seven and then he left.

I fell back onto the bed and smiled. I was so happy that I had actually met someone. I never had friends at my old school. No one ever talked to me because they feared the wrath of my “oh-so perfect sister,” Celine. She lived to make my life a living hell. But now, she was in L.A. somewhere, trying to make it big off of our parents’ money. I could live my life the way I wanted to. She wasn’t going to be able to ruin my chances with Aaron. And I was glad. He was such a sweet guy and I couldn’t wait to get to know him better.

Still on the high of being asked out, I made my way to the cafeteria for some breakfast. I walked down the corridors with a lift in my step positive that nothing could bring me down; except of course bumping into yet another person. I looked up from my position on the ground to see who I had run into. There were two guys standing side by side looking at me with mixed looks of confusion and amusement.

“You alright there, little lady?” The guy I had the actual collision with asked as he reached down to help me up.

“Yeah, I am. Sorry about that. I need to watch where I’m going.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m Riley Holmes,” he said as he smiled at me and I couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was. He had messy black hair that he had to brush out of his eyes which were a dark brown and they seemed to shine with playfulness. He extended his hand to me and I shook it; his skin a beautiful olive tone. He then motioned to the guy standing next to him. “This is Ethan McDonald. He’s happy to meet you too.”

“Thanks, Riley. I’m obviously incapable of speaking for myself.” He rolled his light brown eyes at his friend before he smiled and reached to shake my hand as well. He was attractive too with skin a couple of shades darker than mine thanks to the sun and blonde hair that was short, but styled perfectly. “It’s nice to meet you…” he trailed off waiting for me to say my name.

“I’m Kaylee Hays. It’s nice to meet the both of you.” I smiled.

“Hays? As in Hays Jewellers?” Riley asked. My smile stiffened but I nodded my head anyway. “So you’re the new girl. I don’t see what Alek was talking about.”

“Oh, are you friends of Alekzander’s?”

The two of them chuckled before Ethan answered me, “yeah, you could say that. We all met in elementary school. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”

It was then that I saw Alekzander walk towards us over Ethan’s shoulder. “Well, it was nice to meet you. Hope to see you again. Good bye.” I said quickly and tried to duck away. Ever since I had brought up his friends the other night, Alekzander had been angrier than ever at me and I didn’t want to start another blow up in front of everyone. What had he said to me? Something about him never wanting me to meet his friends? So I planned to run into the girls’ washroom again to hide, but Riley had grabbed a hold of my hand.

“Where are you going? We didn’t say something to offend you or anything, did we?”

“No. It’s nothing like that, it’s just… uhm…” But Alekzander had arrived and was glaring down at me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Riley had let go of my hand at the sound of Alekzander’s voice.

“Hey, Alek, we were just talking to your new roommate here.” Riley said lightly and winked at me, as if this wasn’t my social death sentence. It figured that I met some nice people and Alekzander had to ruin it for me. “She seems like a cool girl. Why didn’t you introduce us before?”

“Why? Just look at her. She isn’t proper. I don’t even know why she’s here. She doesn’t belong. She doesn’t know her place. She’s a freak who’s not worth our time.”

“Alek, man. What the hell?” Ethan seemed to get a little angry at his friend. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“No. You two are being the idiots. She’s worthless. A worthless, useless, stupid-” But he didn’t get to finish. He was in shock. He was speechless. I had just done something that I expected no one had ever done to him before.

I slapped him across the face.

“How dare you say that about me? You don’t know me. And I doubt you ever will.”

“You just-” But I was not going to let him talk.

“Shut your mouth! You think that just because you’re idolized by people you can get away with anything that you want. But you can’t. You have no right to insult anyone; especially when you have the personality of a washed-up child star. Well, let me tell you something, Alekzander. Mommy’s not here to hold your hand and protect you. You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not; so I expect some respect. I was nothing if not kind to you when we met and you still decided to treat me like crap without even knowing me. I don’t care if you don’t like me, hell, I don’t care if you hate me, but you will respect me. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at all. Didn’t you ever learn that? You should probably start practicing it.” I suddenly turned to face Ethan and Riley. “It was nice to meet you two.” And I turned away from them all and headed towards the parking lot.

I was still hungry but there was an angry Alekzander in between the cafeteria and myself, so I decided to go out for breakfast. I walked towards the front doors in a flurry of rage.

‘How dare he talk to me like that!?’ I was in a huff, but I was far from clear. Standing right in my path, in all her bitchy glory, stood Mona. She was alone today and looked as if she was ready for a confrontation with me. I however, wasn’t in the mood to blow up again so I just went around her. She grabbed my wrist and I flipped to glare at her.

“Let go of my wrist, Pierce.” I growled at her.

“Why should I? You know, Hays, I’m getting kind of sick of looking at your ugly face around here.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’m getting pretty sick of your horrible, disgusting personality.” I jerked my wrist away from her and stepped closer. “You don’t like me because I’m not afraid to be myself. I say what’s on my mind, which hurts your carefully constructed social hierarchy at this school. You think that the make-up you hide behind is going to keep you popular and loved. But you know what? Sooner or later, people are going to start seeing just how ugly you are. And I really hope it ends up being sooner, because I would love to be there to see you fall.” And I walked away; leaving a gaping Mona Pierce behind me.

What a day. I didn’t understand how a single day could be so amazing and yet so absolutely awful; and it was only breakfast time. I marched through the parking lot, past cars, motorcycles and SUVs until I came to parking spot number 214B; my parking space.

My beautiful blue 1964 Ford Galaxie convertible sat under the gleaming sun. I looked at it and took in all of its features. Although it wasn’t in perfect condition, it was perfect for me. I didn’t want flash; my car was fantastic even with the little bit of rust above the wheels and the dent just beside the left tail light. My parents bought me a used car when they bought Celine a sleek black, brand-new 2011 Tesla Roadster. They never got Celine anything used, and they never gave me anything. Since they had to get me a car (unless look like unfair parents), they got the cheapest decent looking one in the lot. But I didn’t care. Celine could have her stupid sports car. I loved my Galaxie.

I walked over and pulled the top down, got confortable and drove out of the lot. I had no idea where I was going, but it felt good to have the wind whipping through my hair. I felt free; something I never felt at home. I think that’s why I loved my car so much; it was my escape from the demon pit. No one could stop me.

I kept my eyes open for a mall or restaurant. It wasn’t long before I spotted a strip mall with a McDonalds in it. I pulled into the drive thru and waited to place my order.

“Hello, welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order?” Well, someone didn’t sound happy.

“Yes. I’d like a Sausage and Egg McMuffin with a hash brown and apple juice, please.”

“That’s $4.79. Drive thru.” I pulled up to the window, handed the guy my money and grabbed the bag he handed me.

“Thank you.” I smiled at him. But he ignored me and proceeded to take the next person’s order. Man, the people today were super nice! Please, notice the sarcasm. While sitting in the parking lot, eating my breakfast, I decided I would stay out the rest of the day. I really didn’t want to face Alekzander for a second time today.

So I just chilled. Drove around to look at the town and admire the scenery. It really was beautiful; trees lined almost every street and every house was unique. It was much different from the suburban nightmare that I used to live in. I parked and walked through a couple of the walking trails spread out across the town. I had a fantastic day. It was hard to believe that such a stuck up school was smack dab in the middle of such an original town.

I was driving again and came face to face with a sunset when I turned a corner. I looked down at my dashboard and the numbers glowed 7:02 p.m. back at me. I had been gone for quite some time. I guess I should go back. I sighed, but didn’t feel angry anymore. I would just ignore Alekzander and do my own thing.

So I drove back to Crestion and walked to my room. Unfortunately, the room wasn’t empty. Alekzander sat on the side of his bed, not doing anything. He wasn’t reading, he wasn’t texting, he wasn’t even watching the T.V. that was mounted on the wall at the end of his bed. He was just sitting there looking at me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I turned from him and walked into the closet.

I grabbed some clothes and walked – without looking at him – into the bathroom. I showered quickly, brushed my teeth and got ready for bed, flopped down on the bed with my back turned to him and started reading my book. When I had finished, I put it away and lay back down on the bed, ready to sleep. I didn’t know what else to do; it was creepily silent in the room and it was making me uncomfortable. I was lying for about ten minutes when Alekzander spoke for the first time in a very subdued voice.

“I heard you’re going out with Cain on Saturday.” I didn’t answer him. “You shouldn’t go out with him.” Still, I didn’t answer him. He raised his voice slightly. “I warned you against him, didn’t I?”

I didn’t move as I finally answered him in a very flat tone. “Don’t worry about me Alekzander. I’m a worthless, useless, stupid freak.”

He didn’t try to talk to me again and I didn’t talk to him. In fact, the room was silent until Saturday.