Criminal

Thankfully, Alex had decided to be the responsible one tonight and sobered up so he could drive me home. Since the rest of the guys were still burning adrenaline and didn't want to leave yet, Kara let us borrow her car instead of taking the van.

"That was so much fun!" I said too loudly, almost tripping over my feet as we walked outside. Alex reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me from toppling over. It was possible I'd made a few trips too many to the bar tonight.

"Whoa, let's try to make it to the car in one piece okay?" he said with a small grin on his face. I resisted though and peeled his arm off me.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself," I said stubbornly and took a few steps in front of him.

"Sure you are," he said sarcastically, quickening his pace to catch up to me. Once we were a few feet away, Alex pulled out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the car. I let myself into the passenger's seat and waited for Alex to get in and start the engine. As he backed out of the space, I glanced down at the radio to see the time. It was almost one in the morning.

"Your parents are going to kill me, aren't they?" he asked, driving out onto the road.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about my mom. I'll be shocked if she's even home yet," I said. Alex looked confused.

"Where is your mom at 1 AM on a Monday?" he asked. I was quiet for a moment as we drove straight down the mostly empty street. My parents had gotten divorced a couple years ago after my mom caught my dad cheating. After she'd kicked him out, he remarried and moved to New York where last I'd heard he was expecting a new baby. With him gone, my mom went through a kind of crazy phase where she felt the need to fill all of her time with work and nights out with the girls to mingle with other singles. She never completely grew out of it so it wasn't a huge surprise to me when I'd come home to notes on the fridge saying she'd left some money for me and she'd see me in the morning.

"Out," I shrugged and the subject was dropped. Other than the directions I gave to Alex, we sat in silence the rest of the way until finally we turned onto my street. "It's that one, right there," I pointed out the window.

"Shit," his eyes widened and his jaw dropped a bit.

"What?" I asked as he stopped the car.

"Nothing, I probably should have expected that you lived in a freaking palace," he recovered jokingly.

"Well I am a princess after all," I teased back, whispering so he had to lean in closer to hear. "Walk me to my door?"

"Hold on, how about I come around and take you in my arms?" he rolled his eyes and I laughed.

"Just get out of the car," I said and unbuckled my seat belt. I got out and waited for him to come around before slowly walking up the pathway to my front door. "So, what do you think?" I turned back to Alex when we got there. His brows knit together, confused.

"About…?"

"Did I wow you yet?" I asked, batting my lashes at him a bit with a smile. He smiled too and looked away for a second before returning his eyes to mine.

"I will admit that you're not who I thought you were," he finally said. I cocked my head to the side a little waiting for him to go on. "And I like that."

"You too," I said, barely above a whisper and gave a small wave goodbye before opening my door and going inside.

***

When I woke up the next morning my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. I was tired and my body was so sore I could barely move a muscle without wincing. I glanced over at my clock and immediately shot upright, making my muscles ache ten times worse.

"I slept in!" I panicked as I raced out of bed and into my closet to pick something out for today. I have time to shower if I don't do my hair, I thought to myself after I'd laid out my clothes and hurried into the bathroom. I quickly stripped off my t-shirt and track shorts and jumped into the shower, the cold water harshly waking me up. As soon as I'd finished, I wrapped a towel around my body and dashed back down the hall to my room. I managed to get dressed in record time and ran back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and attempt to do something with my hair. I guess today was going to be a ponytail day.

I finished off my morning of disaster with only a coat of mascara and a little eyeliner so I wouldn't look like I'd completely just rolled out of bed and ran down to the kitchen where I hoped I'd find my mom waiting to leave.

"Cutting it close today," she said when I came into the kitchen breathless. I groaned and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket, slinging my bag over my shoulder as I stalked off to the garage.

"I'll be in the car!" I yelled over my shoulder. As I walked past the mirror in the front hall, I stopped and quickly examined myself. My shoulders slumped and I heaved a heavy sigh. Only 7 hours in a day, I told myself and that was the only thing getting me out the door.

***
“What happened to you?” Marissa eyeballed me with judgment as I sat down next to her and Courtney in homeroom.

“Not now Mar,” I warned and put my head down on my folded arms. I was in no mood to hear about how sloppy I looked while Marissa sat there, once again, looking like she’d just walked off the cover of Seventeen Magazine.

“Are you sick or something?” Courtney asked softly, putting her hand on my back.

“In a manner of speaking…” I mumbled, my head still throbbing from hangover. Why had I been so stupid last night? Who drinks on a school night anyway?

“Did you go out last night?” Courtney asked suspiciously. I picked my head up slowly and turned back to her. She was eyeing me warily, the sweet and sympathetic expression wearing off. I suddenly felt guilty, remembering that I’d blown dress shopping with her and Marissa off to go to Alex’s show.

“No, I think I was just up too late watching TV or something. My mom found out about my detention and stuck me in my room all night,” I lied smoothly. It scared me how good I was at it sometimes. Courtney and Marissa exchanged glances and set their eyes back on me.

“Well I hope you feel better,” Marissa finally cracked a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah,” Courtney agreed. “How about we go out for lunch today?” she suggested with an excited grin. Any time Courtney didn’t have to subject to the cafeteria “special of the day” she was ecstatic.

“Thanks guys,” I smiled weakly and put my head back down, trying to fit in as much sleep as possible before the first bell rang.

***

I managed to make it through the day without any teachers yelling at me or any more nagging from Courtney and Marissa. In fact, Courtney hadn’t been nearly as annoying about her party as she’d been the past couple days which I was grateful for. She and Marissa had taken me out to Young’s Chinese Kitchen—our favorite Chinese place right by school—for lunch and all she did there was show me pictures of her party dress which was, as to be expected, absolutely gorgeous! Now it was the moment of the day that I thought would never arrive: it was time to go home. I was just closing my locker, making plans with Marissa and Courtney to go get out nails done when I heard the familiar voice call out to me.

“Hey Lauren!” Alex waved from just a few feet away. I almost dropped my bag and looked back at Mar and Court, their eyebrows crinkled with confusion.

Keep walking, Alex. Please just keep walking! I pleaded in my head, hoping that he would somehow hear me telepathically. He gave me a strange look when I didn’t respond, but thankfully kept walking by. I breathed a sigh of relief, the tension melting from my body. That was too close.

“Why was Alex saying hi to you?” Marissa turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. “Maybe he saw me looking at him at Rita’s a couple days ago and thinks I like him or something.”

“Ha! Right,” Courtney cackled, throwing her head back. “In his dreams.”

I forced myself to laugh along, my eyes still on Alex’s back as he turned the corner. I had to talk to him. I had to at least explain. “I think I left something in one of my classrooms. I’ll meet you outside?” I said, taking off down the hallway before either of them could answer. I rounded the corner and jogged down the hall until I caught up with Alex and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and stopped when he saw me.

“Hey stranger,” he said, a half smile on his face.

“Sorry about that…” I said.

“What? For leaving me hanging there?” he laughed. “I think I’ll be able to get over it.”

I tried to laugh along and added, “I was just with my friends and well, you know how it is.”

He furrowed his brows now, the grin on his face falling. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well…I mean you and I are different, you know? We like different things; we hang out with different people. Last night was fun, but I just don’t want anyone getting anything confused.”

“So…let me get this straight. You’re not okay with us being friends because you don’t want your friends getting confused,” he said and it wasn’t a question. I stayed silent. It sounded a lot worse leaving his mouth. “Wow,” he took a step back, looking away from my eyes for a moment. “Well don’t worry Lauren. I guarantee there will be no more confusion. You have a nice year,” he turned his back to me and walked the rest of the way down the hall and out the front doors. Though his voice had been calm and soft, his words stung deeper than any cut. I felt worse than I had when I’d woken up this morning and I suddenly lost all desire to get my nails done.

I suck.