India

Alex shut the front door behind him at 2 am that night, forehead resting against it gently as he tried to come to terms with what was happening to him. The slight incident that had happened with Lisa Ruocco two weeks prior still racing back and forth in his mind, bile raising in his stomach as he thought about how India would react if she were to ever find out.
Sulking up the stairs quietly with his shoes in his hand, he wondered if things would ever work out the way he wanted them too. It didn't take him more than two seconds to know he wanted to be with India right after he kissed her, and that hadn't changed one bit. The amount of effort he was going too for this girl baffled him. He'd always sworn to himself that he would never fall in love, or even come close to that. It just hadn't appeared to be in the cards for him.

Swinging the door of his bedroom shut, Alex collapsed down onto his bed, eyes drifting to his bedroom window where he could see India's. A small smile spread across his face as he settled down under the blankets, the words written in the fog of her window enough of a reminder that there was still hope for him.

'Thank you'

"For real, how are we actually going to get Alex to Zack's party this weekend?"
"Jack don't be such a dick, Alex will come. Its Zack's party hes not going to miss that. He told me he was bringing India too." Rian defended, getting a little sick of hearing Jack's constant whining. This new Alex was proving hard for them all too adjust too.
"He better. I dunno man, he might not drink if shes there too. I probably sound really selfish but i just want Alex back."

"Hey guys, whats going on?"Alex greeted them all cheerily, a grin on his face as he sat down at their table in the cafeteria, taking one of the chips from Rian's plate.
"Nothing, just discussing this weekend."
"Oh yeah, about that. Its all good if India comes right?"Alex asked.
"Of course, shes invited." Zack butted in before Jack could say anything rude.
"Okay good, thanks. Look, I know this is hard for you all to adjust too, but once you guys get to know her better you'll love her. She makes me really happy."
"Its fine Alex, we want you to be happy man and shes obviously doing a really good job of that, we just want you to be careful." Rian said.
"Why would I need to be careful?" He asked, his brows furrowing slightly.
"In the nicest way possible, we just want to be sure that shes not using you." Jack said.
"For what? Popularity? Money? Access to parties? Jack no offence, but if she was trying to use me for popularity, she'd be here at our table every day so people would see her, not off hiding in the photography room or in the library. Her house is twice the size of mine, so I think she's all set for money. Plus she doesn't even go out partying, so I don't really see what she'd be using me for.
Jack sighed a little, putting his head in his hands. "You're right man, I'll butt out. I don't know, I think we all just kinda feel like we've lost you recently. You were like our ringleader. Do you know its been two weeks since i've been laid? I need my fucking wing man back." Jack replied.
"I dunno what you're complaining about, I haven't been laid in a month." Zack mumbled, crossing his arms.
The table of boys erupted into laughter, Jack slapping him on the back. "You poor fucker. Alex you'll wing man for us this weekend right, please?" He whined, pouting up at his best friend.
"Öf course I will, its what im good at."

As the week carried on, India got increasingly more nervous for the party she'd be attending on Saturday. Even though it was only Wednesday night, it felt like she was going to throw up.
Two light knocks on her bedroom door made her sit up in bed, pushing aside the book she'd been absorbed in for the last two hours.
"Yeah Mum?"

The door opened and India's Mum walked in, a plate of cookies in her hand. India felt her stomach drop and her hands go sweaty. She knew exactly what a plate of cookies went when they were in the hands of her Mother. She'd been absolutely dreading this day for nearly two months.
"India, sweetie, we need to talk really quick okay." She said, sitting down at the end of India's bed, placing the cookies down. Compensation.
Her Mum was far from a domestic goddess. Going to the effort of baking was something she only did to soften the blow when she was about to deliver bad news. It had happened this way every four to six months for as long as India could possibly remember.
"Yeah Mum, of course. Whats going on?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well, as things turn out, I don't really think Baltimore is the city for us anymore baby. I've been offered a new job up in Seattle. Its really short notice. I wanted to tell you sooner baby but I've just been so busy organizing everything and you've been so busy with school, I didn't want to put any more pressure on you."

India had heard enough by the end of the first sentence. She wanted to kick and scream at her Mother, to throw those stupid cookies in her face and tell her to not be so selfish. This was the one place that India had been truly happy in since she could even remember. She didn't want to leave.
But her passive demeanor and the love she had for her Mother stopped all of that. Instead, she just smiled slightly.
"When do we leave?"
"The movers will be here at 6 am on Sunday. We'll be out of here by 8. Oh baby you're going to love Seattle, its so rainy and nice there I know you'll love it, we're gonna be there for a while I can just feel it." She said, hugging India tightly.
"Yeah Mum, its going to be great. I cant wait."

India felt like everything she thought was reality was crumbling around her. She had finally found a place she could call home. Alex was her home. It had never broken her heart to move to another city as much as this did. And she knew in that moment, that she could not tell Alex. Maybe the universe was just against them happening. Maybe Jack had been right. It just wasn't meant to be.
So as her Mum walked out of the room and India got up out of bed and began to pack her things into the boxes that were still sitting in the corner of her room, she made up her mind exactly what she was going to do. Alex wasn't going to know until it was too late.