The Pen Pal Project // Alex Gaskarth

33.

She swapped her morning books for her afternoon ones and for her lunch.

Before she could, someone grabbed the notebook from the top shelf behind her.

Kendall gasped, scared it was Alex. However, when she turned it was only Jack once again.

"You're coming to eat with Rian and I right? Just cause you and Alex aren't talking doesn't mean you shouldn't sit with us. Now come on, daddy's hungry."

Kendall scrunched up her face, "I'll sit with you on the one condition that you never call yourself daddy ever again."

Jack laughed loudly then nodded, handing Kendall back her notebook.

They rounded the corner and that's the moment Kendall's jaw hit the floor.

There he was.

Alex Gaskarth, Guitar-Guy, her best friend, and the man she was falling for.

He stood there with a guitar strapped to his back, the same outfit on from Friday.

The day that everything was supposed to go right, but instead went horribly wrong.

Kendall spotted Rian, lingering. She guessed it was in case she tried to run.

By this time the hallways had mostly emptied, with only a few stragglers here and there.

"Kendall."

She was scared to look at him, she really was; but she forced herself to, she just had to.

His eyes were just as brown as they had been but they were filled with an emotion Kendall couldn't decipher. She also noticed the prominent bags under his eyes, a sure sign his insomnia had been keeping him up for a while.

"Look, Kendall. I never meant to hurt you. Or make you uncomfortable or anything of the sorts. I was a selfish dick on Friday and I'm sorry. I thought with my heart and not my head and the thought of losing you didn't even occur to me. I'm sorry, I truly am. You know I like you. Truth be told I'm so happy you were my Book-Girl. Otherwise I would've had to pick who I liked more.

I fell in love with you through your heartfelt and elegant letters, your personality and how you just knew how to say anything in a way that made sense to me. But meanwhile I was falling for Kendall Carney too. The smart, sarcastic, beautiful, book loving girl who sat next to me in Physics class. And now suddenly they're the same person. Talk about a curve ball.

I know I'm admitting my love right now and that's so unpunk-rock of me but I sort of don't care. I love you. Both of you. I love the girl who wrote those letters and I love the girl who found that really awkward mixtape in my car.

And you don't have to say anything. Right now, I really just want my best friend back because that's what I really miss the most. I want to be able to go get coffee with you whenever and not have to worry about you pitying me because I'm hopelessly in love with you. I just want you in my life Kendall Carney. That's all I've ever really wanted."

Kendall's eyes were full of tears, but she still hadn't said her peace. She opened her mouth to speak but Alex cut her off.

"Before you say anything, I want you to hear this song. I wrote it at three in the morning this weekend. It's for you. It's called Six Feet Under The Stars. It's based off us, as classmates and as Pen Pals."

He started to strum his guitar in an unmusical way, which then fell into a rhythm. The words that Alex sung sent shivers down Kendall's spine.

"Time to lay claim to the evidence. Fingerprints sold me out, but our footprints washed away from the docks downtown. It's been getting late for days, and I think myself deserving of a little time off.