Dear Maria, Count Me In

Chapter One

TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD:

"So, tell me. Does 'Jalex' exist?" the interviewer asks, using air quotes around 'Jalex'. Alex laughs, putting his hand up to cover his beautiful mouth. Jack is laughing too, nodding enthusiastically.

"Oh, yeah. Love ya, baby!" Jack tells Alex, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. Alex slaps Jack in the stomach with the back of his hand, still laughing.

"No. It doesn't. To be honest, I don't even know where that came from. Fans are crazy!"

"That's not what you said last night, babe," Jack replies, jutting out his bottom lip, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Nobody likes you Jack," Alex laughs, "Nah, I mean, I have a girlfriend," he finishes. My heart swells, the butterflies fluttering excitedly. The interviewers face lights up; they clearly know that they're the first one to get their hands on this juicy piece of information.

"Ooh, really?"

"Yeah, I do," Alex answers. Not keen to share too much. He's told me before that he wants to keep his relationship with me and his career as separate as possible. I understand. Until now, I wasn't even sure I counted as a girlfriend! I want more than anything, to be able to reach out and touch his face, but there's a screen blocking my hand.

"Can we have a name?" they ask, their hand on their earpiece - they must have been told to press on with this subject.

"Maria," Alex says, chewing at the end of one of the hood strings on his navy hoodie. He doesn't sound best pleased releasing this information and I'm not sure whether I should be insulted. Don't I want a boyfriend who'll declare his love for me from the rooftops? Does Alex love me? I don't know. I didn't even know he was my boyfriend until he told the whole world. Wasn't that something? The interviewer should really just drop it - it's obviously not a subject Alex is comfortable discussing. But they don't.

"Uh huh. Maria. Is she in the music business too?" he asks and Alex frowns. He taps his foot a few times, ruffles the back of his hair, and scratches his shoulder. He's stalling.

"Yeah," Jack says, looking at Alex as he pretends to cough. Jack slaps him on the back, continuing. "Sort of. I mean, she's a dancer,"

"A dancer? How long have you two been dating?" they ask and Alex clears his throat. He can't cough forever.

"Yeah. Not long. A couple months, maybe," he answers. Just as unsure as I am, then. It's been ninety-nine days exactly since I met him - just over three months - but for how long were we 'dating'? Had we ever even been on a real date? I rack my brains and come up with two possibilities.

[A/N: The age at the top is important, because it jumps back and forth to different times in Maria's life to tell her whole story. Remember to let me know what you think?]