Voices • Jack Avery

32 • Confused

Jack's Point of View

I stood awkwardly by the stairs as everyone turned to look at me. I wanted more than anything to join them for coffee and have everything go back to normal, but I don't think it can. I don't know why Alex has been avoiding me but she clearly doesn't want me there.

"I've actually got stuff to do so I'm gonna stay here" I answered, clearing my throat in an attempt to relieve some of the awkwardness.

"I'll stay to keep him company" Zach said, looking between Alex and I. I smiled gratefully at him and I was thankful that no one seemed to push it; they all left without another word.

When the door finally closed, I collapsed onto the couch and let my head fall to my hands in frustration. She looked fine, happy even. If I was so broken inside, how could she be fine?

"You okay?" Zach asked as he cautiously sat beside me. I really didn't want to talk about it; that would make it too real. Everyone could see how much it had effected me but I never talked to anyone or opened up about it.

"I'm fine" I mumbled as I stood up. Before Zach could say anything else, I walked back up the stairs to my room which I had spent most of my time in lately.

I knew Zach wanted to help but I just wanted to be alone. It had been weeks but, for some reason, I still wasn't ready to talk.

I had no idea why she had started to avoid me. One minute we were best friends and the next I was a complete stranger to her. I was dedintley hurt but I think I was more confused than anything.

So many questions were floating through my head. Did I do something wrong? Was she okay? How could I fix it? Could I even fix it? But I had no answers whatsoever.

Eventually, I psyched myself up to go downstairs. I knew I couldn't keep bottling it up or I would explode and bring everyone else down along with me.

"Dude, I'm screwed" I groaned as I fell onto the couch next to Zach. He instantly paused his game to talk, knowing that I was finally ready.

"I really like her" I breathed out, staring into space. Zach laughed slightly at this and patted me on the  back. "I think we all know that" he stated.

I glared at him and rolled my eyes. "What do I do?" I asked. More than anything, i wanted someone else to tell me what to do to fix this but I knew no one could.

"You've gotta fight for her. Tell her how you feel" Zach said as he turned to face me. I groaned again and leaned back, running my hands through my curls. "I can't. She doesn't like me like that" I stated.

Zach looked like he wanted to argue with me but he chose not to in the end, knowing I would never believe him. "I don't even know what happened" I said truthfully.

"Okay, go back to just before it started. Talk me through everything and I'll see if I know how you messed up" Zach offered. I frowned and hit his arm lightly.

"Why do you assume that I messed up?" I asked, slightly offended. Zach raised his eyebrows at me and laughed. "You always mess up. Now tell me" he explained.

I sighed and rolled my eyes once again, but continued anyway. "The night before we performed at Summerfest she was really anxious so I went to her room to calm her down. We went live and then I stayed with her for the night. I had to leave early in the morning but I left her a note. She was fine during the performance until she felt sick and that's when it started" I explained.

Zach thought about what I had said for a minute before speaking up. "Are you sure she was just sick when she ran off?" he asked.

At the time, I could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes before she ran off but she was so adamant that she just felt sick so I forgot about it.

"I don't know. At first I thought she was crying but she said she was just sick" I explained.

Talking to Zach about it was helping a little but it also seemed to be confusing me even more; I still had no idea what was wrong and now I was questioning what happened at Summerfest.

"She was completly fine performing but then she ran off and she didn't spend the rest of the day with us. Something must have happened during your last song" Zach said, thinking about everything I had said.

"But what?" I asked. I didn't expect to receive an answer considering there was no logical one, but I got one anyway.

"I know you won't believe me, but hear me out. I think she likes you" Zach began. As soon as he said this I scoffed at him. He was delusional. "Now you're just making fun of me" I said.

"I said hear me out. I think that, during that little moment you guys had at the end of the song, Alex realised how she really feels for you and it scared her so she ran off. Now she's avoiding you because of it" Zach elaborated.

I looked at him with raised eyebrows. Who knew the High School drop out could say something smart? "If that's true then why is she avoiding me? I've liked her for a long time and I never avoided her" I questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe she's scared you don't feel the same?" Zach suggested. I couldn't help but laugh at this. It wasn't exactly a secret that I liked Alex; everyone could see it. If she couldn't then she must be blind.

"This is a mess" I groaned. Zach smiled sympathetically at me and was about to comfort me when the front door burst open and someone stormed inside. I looked up to see who it was and my eyes widened.

"Alex?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ClIfFhAnGeR!! You can probably guess what's coming but hey