“I call shot gun!” Jack called running over to the car. It was nearly four o’clock, and they all wanted to get back by six since they all had homework and getting the parent suspicious wouldn’t be good. They would most likely find a way to easily break it to their parents who hopefully wouldn’t react too badly.
It took a little longer than they hoped to get everything in the truck. Brushing the sand away was the most difficult thing, but once that was settled, they piled into the cars and were on their way. Alex sat in the back with Margo while Jack got dibs on the passenger’s seat. Alex had his feet propped up on the seat taking up most of the back. He glanced over at Margo who had her head pressed against the window bobbing her head to whatever song was on.
Alex smirked lightly kicking her side to get her attention. She slightly turned her head with a small smile. She slapped his leg away rolling her eyes at him. He took another jab at her, and the cycle repeated.
“Alex!” she stretched out his name into a laugh as he continued to poke her side.
“Can’t you wait till yah get back before doing all that,” Jack said from the front seat. Alex could tell he had a sneer on his face, so he turned taking a jab at Jack’s seat. They laughed while Jack joked out, “just keep your pants on, children.”
They all met back at Jack’s house where they unloaded everything into his garage. They would just pick up their things later rather than take it all home now. Alex grabbed his bag and told them he was heading off. When his eyes met Margo’s, she gave him a small smile that seemed to be mix emotions. She looked tired and maybe a little down but didn’t want to show it.
Alex walked home with his bag over his shoulder trying his best to stay awake. He was beat, but he couldn’t get over the sympathetic smile he received from Margo right before Rian took her home. He could decipher it; she was just acting a little different. Alex figured it must have been from everything with Jonathon, but who knows.
“Mom? I’m home!” Alex shouted when entering the house. He dropped his bag in the space right next to the door. He walked into the kitchen seeing his mom finish up dinner. “Hey, sweetie,” she said drying her hands with a dish towel. She slipped on oven mitts to carry over the plate of chicken; Alex walked the smaller bowls of corn and peas to the table helping his mother. “Did you have fun at Jack’s?”
“Yeah, we ended up going down to the shore for the night,” Alex said watching his mother’s expression change. “Yeah, his parents have friends, and they asked them to go down, so yeah.”
His mother nodded her head, “Sounds nice, I guess, but call me next time you decide to do that. But how was it?” His mom went back to the cabinet to pull out three plates. She set them around the table; Alex doing the same with silverware.
“Cold and sandy,” Alex told her as she told his dad dinner was ready. The three of them ate while his mother and father talked about their. When they asked Alex how the weekend was, he replied with a “good” and remained silent thinking about it. His thoughts traced around his date with Bristol than to the change in mood of Margo.
He sighed helping his mom clean up before taking a shower and attempting to finish whatever homework he had. “I’ll just finish it in homeroom,” he muttered to himself tossing the books bag in his bag. He wasn’t ready to wake up and head off to school tomorrow. But as fast as it was to fall asleep, it was just as fast as hearing his mom shout his name from the hallway.
Alex groaned rolling out of bed. Monday. How wonderful. He threw on the pants that were stacked on the top of the pile on his dresser. He should really get around to putting those away before his mom throws a fit.
A hoodie and two sneakers late, Alex was brushing his teeth than brushing his fingers through his hair. Getting ready in the morning was something that he didn’t have to put much thought in. His mom and dad already left for work, so he was home alone long enough to cook up some frozen waffles, chow them down, and wait for Jack to pick him up. His parents say that he can use their car whenever, but when they both take their own car to work, Alex can either take the bus or drive with Jack.
Jack pulled up honking the horn. He trotted out of the house and hopped into the passenger’s seat. “Whaddup man?” Jack said pulling out of the driveway. Alex shrugged his shoulders replying: “Not much, dude, whatta bout you?”
“Sameo, but ready,” Jack smirked. They pulled out of the neighborhood at up to a red light where Jack continued to quickly press and then release the pedal causing a little jolt in their movement. A car behind them honked as they just laughed.
“One day you’re gonna kill me,” Alex replied shaking his head. “but hey, it was my choice to get in the car. Rev it up a little.” When the light turned green, Jack started slow speeding up slightly. It was harder with the larger amount of cars and busses that drove in the morning, but they gained enough speed before having to come to another halt.
School didn’t start for another few minutes, so Alex and Jack were able to talk before having to run off to homeroom. They stood outside one of the class rooms waiting for someone they knew. As they spoke, a tall girl with gingery red hair walked up to them handing them each a piece of paper.
“Hope to see you guys at homecoming this year! It’s next Friday on the tenth from 7:30- 10:30; should be fun,” she grinned. Before they could put a word in, she was already off handing flyers off to other people.
Homecoming was something Alex attended twice in his high school life. In freshman year, his mom forced him to go which he didn’t have a date, so it wasn’t the best. Junior year this girl Kayla Kenedy asked him, so he decided why not. It wasn’t that bad, but he barely knew Kayla. He learned that she would agree to anything he said and hoped that he would say something so she didn’t have to. Maybe this year he could actually go with some he liked.
Jack hummed folding the paper and shoving it into a random pocket in his bookbag. “Maybe you could ask that blond, beach girl,” he said. Alex shrugged his shoulders signally a maybe. “Beats hoping for Margo to come around.”
“Guess so.” The bell rung sending them off to homeroom, and then through four never ending periods. Unfortunately, Alex didn’t have classes with anyone he really spoke to. Not that he had the chance to talk to anyone. Senior year was so far filled with teachers cramming things down his throat about all the big tests and collages and his future. Right now, Alex didn’t know what he wanted to do with his future. The only thing he could really stand and enjoy doing was something with music. Right now, he worked part time at a grocery store which wasn’t exactly the lap of luxury.
Lunch came, and Alex was able to find Rian, Jack, and Zack and grab their usual table in the corner behind all the chaos. This was the only period that all four of them had together where they could pretty much say or do anything. But the day usually passes pretty slowly after that, until last period.
Alex walked into the band room waiting for a relaxing music class. He had Margo with him in there which he definitely made the class better. He always arrived early since it was right down the hall, but today was a day that he felt he showed up a little late. Margo mentioned a few times that she had a free period before this, but it wasn’t something he remembered until then.
The girl was alone playing an unfamiliar song on Mr. AcCord’s piano. No vocals. Just instrumental. Of course, Alex was going to stay and listen, but he didn’t know this about her. He didn’t know she played the piano, and from what he was hearing, she’s been playing for a while. He didn’t know the song she was playing, but it had a dominant and intense feeling. It was something that could get your heart pounding or something that belonged in a movie of some sort.
The lights were off except for one which was far off in the middle of the room. She probably didn’t want anyone to know she was there. She was turning more and more into a mystery to Alex. When her phone alarm went off, she scrambled to collect the papers along the piano and shove them in the folder. She put them in her bag, and that was when Alex left the room hoping she didn’t see him. Once more people came, he followed them in looking over at Margo. She was casually sitting her seat as if she had just gotten there.
“Hey,” Alex walked around tussling her hair and taking the seat behind her.
“Hi,” she flashed him a quick smile back to him. He wanted to bring up the whole hearing her play thing, but he decided against it. He figured that she didn’t want anyone to hear, and he didn’t want to put her on the spot about it. But how could he get over that? He honestly had no idea, but he wished he walked in on her sooner.
Mr. AcCord started talking about the different history of different types of music, but Alex just kept that prevailing tune in mind. Did she write it herself? Did she get it from somewhere? Is it an actual song? From where Alex was standing, she looked pretty relaxed. Then again, he couldn’t see her face. As she played, her back was to him. He wondered how she would react if she knew that he heard. Maybe she would be okay with it and start opening up about it or the very opposite.
Class ended and Alex walked with Margo out to the front. She started going on about some of the parties that were going on tomorrow night and if he wanted to go. Jonathon was going to some collage party with his older brother, so Alex assumed that Margo wasn’t going. Whether she declined or wasn’t asked, she wasn’t attending.
“I have an idea. Just come to my place, and we can chill like we used to. We can have a little Alex, Margo party.” He gave her a ‘so whaddya say?’ to finish it off.
She looked at him with her face scrunched. “Only if it can be Margo, Alex party,” she broke into a grin.
“It can be the fucking Gatsby party if you wish,” he replied to her, “but, hey, just text me later.”
“Will do, darling.” With that, Margo was off meeting up with Jonathon who looked back at Alex before swiveling his arm around Margo’s waist. It was a quick glance, but it was enough to rub him the wrong way. He could easily tell that it was unhappy glance with a hint of warning and annoyance. It just seemed a little predictable.
Jack drove Alex home, and it was when he got home that he saw a missed call from Bristol. It confused him for second, but then he remembered that she lived close by and was coming home tomorrow. It kind of just hit him. They spent a lot of yesterday together, and the thought of it brought that weird feeling to him. One side of his mind couldn’t get away from Margo while the other was already clinging to Bristol. It all confused him.
“Hey! Hope I wasn’t bothering you or anything,” Bristol said once Alex called back.
“Oh no, not at all. I just got home actually, but hey, how is it down there?” he asked. He pulled out a can of Pepsi from the fridge popping it open. He was going to be home alone for another good thirty minutes. His mom and dad would make it home with an hour difference.
“It’s okay, my dad is spending time with his girlfriend while I sit around with her eleven year old son… so it could be better. Anyway, are you doing anything for Halloween tomorrow night?” she asked. Here we go again. A knot in his stomach and a pounding in his chest. Rejecting Bristol was something that he definitely didn’t want to do, but ditching Margo was a definite no.
“Whatcha got in mind?” Alex asked. He was avoiding a direct answer for the mean time hoping that something would come to him.
“Nothing specifically. I just want to hang out, ya know. Up to you.” Her voice had a light and anxious sense to it which stirred things up even more in his mind.
He paused with a hum, but that only led to her saying, “I’m sorry if you have something planned already, and I understand if you don’t want to. It’s cool, Alex.” That stung. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t want to, because he did. Here it comes. This was the day that whatever popped into his mind was spat right out of his mouth.
“No, no, no, I don’t have anything going on. Anything you want to do, is fine with me,” he replied to her. It was as if he could hear her smile as she replied “Great! I’ll text you, and see you tomorrow than.”
He swore under a groan wondering how this would work. Alex could either spend his evening with Margo or Bristol. His emotions were so bottled up that he couldn’t sort them out. He could decipher anything that was bouncing around his head. At a time like this, Jack was the one he would call, but as his mom walking through the door, he figured that he would try and get her opinion on the whole thing first.
Isobel placed the two plastic grocery bags on the counter unloading them into the fridge. Alex unnervingly leaned up against the counter soon receiving a weird look from his mom. “Everything okay, hon?”
“Fine, just thinking,” he replied thinking of a subtle way to explain it.
“About?” she asked mimicking Alex’s position on the other side of the island counter.
“This thing that we have to read in English. It’s like this guy, and he made plans with two girls on the same night. He knew it was stupid, but he goes on saying how he wants to hang out with both of these girls. But it’s not like he can be in two places at once, so he doesn’t know what to do.” Alex was pretty proud of himself for thinking of this little anecdote to explain his situation. He wouldn’t doubt if his mom knew it was him, but it made Alex feel better that she played along.
“Why did he make plans with the second girl when he already had plans with the first?”
“’Cause he didn’t know what else to do, I guess...”
“Hm, well how does he feel about these girls?”
That made Alex drop his shoulders and really think. How did he really feel about each of them?

Notes

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