This Girl

Chapter 32: Hell, Yeah, I'm a Goose!

I look up at her. She's looking at me w~ith a deadpan look on her face. I look back down and pick at my nails again, shaking my head, I tell her, "He loves Amanda. Noah probably did something to her."

"I find that very unlikely. We also interviewed Amanda before Noah was taken off school ground. She said she hadn't even talked to Noah this week," Wendy informs me. 

I scratch my temple. Wendy stands up and I follow. "Alex is ready to go," she says, looking into the corridor and down the hall. I nod and follow her out of the room. 

Alex looks up from where he's sitting on the bench in the cell when he hears Wendy's keys rattle. The door swings open and he runs out. 

"Thank God that's over," he says, sliding an arm around my waist and pulling me into him. Wendy raises her eyebrows at us and I try and push Alex off me. All he does is move his arm from my waist to my shoulders. 

Wendy gestures for us to follow her and we do. I turn to him. There's no way I can deny why he did it, Wendy definitely made me see that. "Who told you?"

"Bubbles," he says, I turn back around and he rests his head on mine. 

What if what Wendy said was right? What if Alex does love me? No, he doesn't, you idiot! He likes Amanda. Maybe he loves me as a friend. A brother would punch up his sister's ex-boyfriend if they were close, right? Maybe its that kind of love.

My phone dings in my pocket and I quickly push myself away from Alex, missing his warmth. Its a text from Amanda. 

LOL, Noah dumped you. You're literally not good enough for anyone, I don't know how your parents cope. ;)

***

"You'll lock the house, send the kids to bed at ten, and cook the nachos?" Mum asks me, grabbing her keys from the key table. 

"Yes Mum, I will, now go and enjoy your night!" I shoo Mum out the door. She walks out to the waiting car with Dad in it.

"Alex is coming at seven with Felecia and Liam, get the beds ready!" she yells before I close the door. I yell out an 'ok!' before closing the door. 

I don't know why the Collins' are staying over, they literally live next year. But apparently, the parents have figured it out. Alex is coming over to 'babysit' all of us. The four adults are going to some hotels for my parents' anniversary. 

I twist the heart necklace around my neck. Walking into the storage room, I wonder to myself where Alex is going to sleep. In my bedroom? That's what he would usually do. Nah, he can have the couch. 

I drag the mattress out of the store room and make the bed before dragging down Lucas and Paul's so that Felecia doesn't feel lonely. Paul sees me and calls out after me, "Nat, you look like a goose!"

"Hell, yeah, I'm a goose!" I yell out to him and continue to drag down the mattress. I make their beds before walking back into the storeroom and pulling the heavy cot (mine and Lucas's from when we were babies, Paul got a brand new one, since we only had one) out the door. Its too heavy for me to lift, so I make the mattress and leave it in the doorway until Alex arrives, he might be able to help me with it. 

I retreat to my room and take out a book, lying down on my bed to read it. 

"NAT!" Paul yells up the stairs. I sit up, my hair all messy from lying down too long. 

"Yeah?" I yell back down. 

"They're here!" I hear Lucas' voice. 

"Coming!" I yell back. I jump off my bed and run out of my room and run down the stairs. I straighten my clothes as I run and take my hair out of its messy ponytail. I slide the hair tie onto my wrist and open the door.