The Kings II

3

I just looked over at her. "Why?"

She shrugged, looking back at me. "I don't know. I freaked out yesterday because I don't know, I've been assuming the worst recently, for no reason."

"Are you insecure in you or our relationship?" I asked, "I'm a little lost."

"Me," she said, "I know there's other girls that would kill to have you and I don't act like I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

"Alexis, y-you don't have to," I said, shaking my head.

"No, but I do," she said, "I've been looking at girls that would kill for you and getting so angry with myself for not looking like them, for not doing my hair, for not doing all those things to get your attention."

"Alexis, you're the most beautiful person I've ever laid my eyes on," I said, "you don't have to do all those things."

"It's just there's girls that are within your reach that-"

"Alexis, I don't want to hear that shit," I said, shaking my head, "I want you. We've been over this."

"And all I want to do is impress you," she said, shaking her head, "that's why I wore this fucking stupid bra today, I spent a solid hour self tanning myself last night-"

I just looked over at her. "You could impress me in a potato sack, Alexis."

She just sighed. "You should at least be fine with what you're looking at, if I'm being stingy, you know."

I looked towards the field.

"And this wasn't me fishing for compliments," she said, "this is explaining me being like I've been recently. And I'm sorry for that, and I'm working on it."

"If it's something I've done to make you feel less secure in yourself, I want you to know-"

"Fred, no-"

"That you're the most stunning human I've ever seen," I said, "that you don't have to spend hours self tanning, or doing all that shit, that you can roll out of bed and make every single human drool over you."

She just looked at me. "You really mean that?"

"I really mean that," I said.

She just looked down at her legs. "Well thank you."

I just looked over at her. "Hey, look at me."

I grabbed her chin and she looked at me, her eyes boring into mine.

"I love you," I said, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, my free hand on her waist, "we'll work on it together, okay?"

She just smiled, nodding. "I love you, too."

~*~

Jo

I walked into class, seeing Aaron and Malcolm sitting on the table.

I'd felt defeated.

Never had I ever gotten intimidated in the slightest by another guy's presence. I got that trait from Dad, of course, and it wasn't even me being intimidated by that guy.

But he was a good-looking guy, there was no denying that.

I looked up and saw her tucked away in her little corner, reading. Every single time I'd seen her she'd been reading, and she'd been reading a different book.

She was so far off from what I usually wanted to get invested in. I'd never even liked brunettes, and quiet girls weren't drawn to me and I simply wasn't drawn to them, either.