Alex & Me

Alex & Me Ch.4

"Hey Zoey! How are you finding Preston so far ?" Eric asked.

"Its...uh...its great so far. Can't say anything for sure till Gym gets over." I said, surprising myself.

"Why is that ?" Eric looked puzzled.

"Well, lets just say Zoey here is not one of those blessed with grace." Alex explained, snickering.

"Al!" I hit his arm.

"What Z? Its the truth!"

"You could have been nice about it!"

"How so?"

"By not laughing! And you call me your best friend. Some friend you are!" I shook my head as if I were disappointed.

"Jeez! Stop with the blackmail already!" he said throwing up his hands.

We both laughed and then stopped when we heard four different people clearing their throats. I looked up to see four amused faces and once again I realised that we weren't alone. Second time today. Weird. I didn't understand how and why but Al and I tended to live in our own private bubble.



"Al?"



"Z?"



"Best friends?"



"Oreos?"



That was Sam. We all turned to him. He shrugged.

"What ? Everyone was asking something! I thought I would too." he defended himself.

Then the whole table burst out laughing and he joined in too. After wiping away the tears, we went back to talking and enjoying our Lunch. I was talking with Hayley and found that I'd been right on both accounts. She was shy and kind. When I asked her why she hadn't asked me anything she said she'd figured that I must have been fed up answering all the same inane questions over and over again. Well her parents sure were lucky to have such a mature, understanding daughter. When I voiced this aloud she just laughed shaking her head. She had such an understated beauty. People tended to gravitate towards her naturally-

Rrrriiiiiiinnnnnggggggggggg



The shrill ring of the bell, signalling the end of lunch broke into my reverie. There were loud screeching noises in the room of chairs scraping the floors as the other students got up. We did too. Everyone bid goodbye and went off to their own classes. I had Science now with Alex and Eric too. We got over with it and then when the class ended I groaned. Gym. That too with Alex and Eric. I just wanted to go home.

Alex chuckled.

"No use stalling Z! We gotta go. Come on!" he said pulling me by my hand.

"Nooo!" I resisted which only caused Eric to laugh and pull me by the other hand. I was no match for the both of them and so they successfully managed to get me out of the classroom. Alex alone I could have taken. I think. Fortunately there was no one around to watch what happened.

When we reached Gym, Coach Weber instructed us to sit down as he had some instructions to give. I was happy and dancing on the inside. That was probably for the best seeing as how wasn't capable of doing it on the outside. He told us that today being the first day we wouldn't be doing anything rigorous. That made me feel warmer towards him more than I thought I was capable of what with him being the Gym teacher. He just lectured us on the rules of the sports we were to play this term and then let us go early. God bless him.

As we still had some time Alex and Eric decided to give me a tour of the school. I agreed and we spent the rest of the time like that. When other classes were about to end we made our way near the gates where we would be waiting for the others. Just as we reached the gates the bell rung and you could hear the thundering noise which the students made while getting out. Eager to leave. I saw Amy, Hayley and Sam approaching us and waved happily. They waved back. We started talking, waiting for our parents to show up. I assumed it would be David who would come to pick us up but was pleasantly surprised when I saw Mom at the gates. I went to her and hugged her.

"Mom!" I said loving the warmth of her hug.

"Hey Peanut! How was your first day?" she asked pulling away.

"It was great Mom. I made some great friends. Come meet them!" I took her hand and led her to where the others were standing. They all smiled at her and I introduced them all. They were all very polite.

Then it was time to leave. I hugged the girls and waved at the boys and then Alex and I went to the car with Mom. She drove for sometime and then I remembered what I wanted to ask her but was side-tracked.

"How come you came to pick us up? I thought David would," I asked her.

"Oh! He was going to come but I felt bad for not dropping you off on your first day so I asked him if I could pick you and Alex up and he agreed."

"Its alright Mom. You didn't have to feel bad. I understand you were busy unpacking. But I'm glad you came!"

"Me too Peanut!" she smiled pushing my hair away from my forehead. Then she turned to Alex,"I'm sorry but I couldn't ask earlier. How was your day Alex ?"

I turned to see Alex smile from the backseat.

"Its perfectly fine Lily and I had a good day. Thanks for the ride." My mother too insisted that Alex call her Lily.

"Your welcome" she said as we pulled upto our house.

"I'll get down here" Alex said and the car stopped. I got down with Alex while Mom parked the car.

"How about the park Z?"

"Could we go later please? I'm really tired," I planned to sleep till dinner was ready.

"Yeah sure no problem. We'll go later, probably at the weekend" he shrugged.

"Well see you tomorrow Alex "

"Yeah. Till tomorrow." And with that he hugged me. I was ready for it now and it only made it better. It made me feel strangely safe and warm. We parted and turned to go. At the door-step I turned to look at him with a smile on my face and found him at his doorstep smiling back at me. We waved and then I entered the house. Dad wasn't home and Mom was already inside. I told Mom I was tired and she asked me to go and take a nap. She'd wake me up when dinner was ready.

I headed upstairs to my room and got changed quickly into my blue pajamas and fell on the bed already half-unconscious.

My last thoughts were that I was glad for my new friends and my best friend with the crooked smile.

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