Not Your Cliche Nerd

1 - Are You For Real

I stare into the giant group of year 12 students in front of me; the graduating class of 2014. Unfortunately, that's not me or any of my friends. We're going to be stuck in the hell hole they call school for another year.

A strong, flowery scent tickles my nose, causing me to sneeze. My best friend, Lana is hovering in front of the seat next to me, her brown, almost black hair hanging in a limp ponytail. She's talking to one of the girls on her hockey team who for some weird reason, keeps giving me the evil eye. I just raise my eyebrows at her before tapping Lana lightly on the shoulder.

"Bye Chelsea!" Lana says- wait let me rephrase that- squeals, at the girl whose name I have discovered is Chelsea. After giving me one final glare, Chelsea struts off, making sure that Alex, the bad boy and Jackson, his friend, who are heading our way, get a view of the bright pink bra she's wearing under her white hockey jersey. I shudder at the sight but quickly forget it as I turn my gaze to Alex and am mesmerised by his dark, chocolate brown eyes and the blond hair that hovers over his forehead.

My gaze is broken off when Jackson runs in front of Alex and over to Lana, pulling her to his chest and giving her a long kiss right on the lips. Alex and I connect our gazes again and roll our eyes, making fake gagging motions. This doesn't last long as Alex runs to me, mimicking Jackson's actions. I stand up and step towards him. Welcoming him as his lips smash into mine, giving me the same tingly sensation as I felt the first time we kissed. Expecting the sweet and minty taste that I usually find lingering on his lips, I allow his tongue to enter; only to taste, strong alcohol. I shove him back, away from me. When I do so, I look up into his eyes and watch as they fill with hurt and confusion.

"Your lips taste like alcohol," I state in a matter of fact tone.

The colour drains from his tan face and he looks down to the ground. Now that I look at him, I can see he's under the strong influence of alcohol. His eyes are droopy, he isn't actually standing properly, his breath reeks of alcohol and it seems as if he doesn't actually realise he's here yet at the same time, he knows he's here. How I didn't notice these things before, I don't know but what I do know is that something is amiss.

"Alex? Are you alright?" I question.

This isn't his normal behaviour. Sure he gets drunk a lot but only at parties. Something must be wrong if he's drinking this early. He grimaces and as he looks up, I see a hint of regret or guilt in his eyes. He swallows hard and I begin to get a strange feeling at the pit of my stomach.

"Alex?" I ask him, more firmly this time.

"I....I kissedanothergirl!" He says in such a jumble of words that I think I must have misheard him. That doubt changes when I see his face though. He actually looks like he's about to cry. This knocks the wind out of me and I feel as if someone has tipped a bucket of icy cold water on me.

"I'm sor-"

Alex is interrupted when his phone starts blaring out 'Counting Stars' by One Republic. Alex is quick to answer his phone, avoiding my gaze as he goes and sits on the seat I vacated earlier. My vision begins to blur and I feel like bursting into tears. My body begins to react; shuddering, before my brain can even comprehend what's going on. When Alex gets off his phone, he appears to be in a bad mood and I assume it was his dad who he was talking to.

I expect him to apologise to me like he was going to before his phone rudely interrupt. In fact, I was expecting a lot of things. But what I wasn't expecting is what came next.