There's a Family Moving In

Chapter 8

It's been a few days since that incident with Alex. He's been avoiding me like the plague ever since. Every time I try to talk to him he makes up an excuse to leave the room, even in front of Julia and Sarah! I'm sure they're starting to get suspicious about what's going on. I mean, who wouldn't be?

I've been walking to college since then because Alex has always been gone before I even get out of bed in the morning. I don't even know where he goes since he's always late to art. He doesn't sit with the football scum in art anymore, but he doesn't sit with me either. He sits with some other kids I guess he became friends with. Adam has started sitting next to me in class, I guess that's nice. He doesn't talk all the time, just lets me work throughout the whole lesson, sitting in silence together. He gives me a lift home though, so there's a definite perk.

I walk into art a little early today and notice that Alex is already here. No one else is around so I quickly walk over to him. "Alex, we need to talk." I say in a stern voice, a frown on my face. I startle him a little. He looks up at me, I can still see the faint bruises covering his jaw, and my face softens ever so slightly. He just shakes his head, telling me silently that he doesn't want to talk to me.

I can't give up though, I need to understand what's going on. "Alex please, just tell me what's happening. You haven't spoken to me in 4 days!" My voice gets louder the more I talk. "Just explain to me what you meant the other day, please?" I sigh, waiting for a reply. He opens his mouth, about to say something just as someone opens the classroom door. I look towards the door and see students start walking in and taking their seats, preparing for our lesson. I look back towards Alex and see him looking back down at his work, as if I wasn't even talking to him. I sigh before saying quietly "this isn't over Alex, I will find out what's going on here" and walk towards my own chair.

Fifteen minutes into the lesson and Adam still isn't here yet. A lot of people don't always show up for class since our teacher isn't here much, but as far as I know Adam has shown up to every lesson. I try to ignore that small part of myself that worries and focus on my art work, completing the shading on my first sketch. About ten minutes later the door slams open, and in walks Adam, calm as ever, as if he isn't twenty five minutes late for lessons. He strolls over to what has become "our table" and puts his stuff down before taking a seat. He doesn't even say anything, just gets out his own sketches and starts drawing.

I clear my throat to get his attention before saying "Is everything OK?" He looks at me and nods, smiling a little bit. Most people would have taken that as a straight answer but I could see the worry in his eyes. I open my mouth to say something, but before I can he says "later, alright?" so I nod.

The lesson passes with silence between me and Adam. I keep making sly glances at Alex but either he doesn't notice or he ignores them. As the end of the lesson approaches, I see Adam starts to pack away his things and so I do the same. Adam glances at me for a second, nodding his head in the direction of the door before walking that way. "Adam, give me two seconds?" I shout to him, he turns slightly and nods, holding the door and waiting patiently. I walk over to Alex who is packing away his things and quickly say "I want to talk to you when I get home later, OK?"

Alex shakes his head and says "I'm busy tonight." I look at him for a few minutes and can tell he's lying. "Too bad, change of plans" is all I say before turning around and walking out of the classroom, Adam walking with me. We head for Adam's car, him speeding up slightly, as if in a rush. "Adam will you wait up! What's going on?" I ask, jogging to catch up with him.

Adam suddenly stops, turning towards me. Before I can even stop myself, I've slammed right into Adam's rock hard chest. I push myself back, taking a few steps away from him. "We're friends right?" He asks, I nod. "Friends do each other favours, right?" He questions, I nod again, a slight frown appearing. "So you'll do me a favour?" I nod again without even thinking about it.