Meet Me Halfway

Chapter 16

"I told my Dad it was a boy and he cried, which I definitely didn't expect." She revealed as she glared straight ahead. "He's not the emotional type so it figures but, I guess in that moment it just really hit him that his little was having a baby, you know?" She mentioned before turning her head up towards him.

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his varsity jacket pockets and locked eyes with her, turning soft as he glared into her ocean blue eyes. "Yeah. I mean, they say finding out the sex changes everything." He mentioned before clearing his throat, still glaring down at the mother of his unborn child.

Their walk to school was coming to an end as they slowly approached the corner of Riverdale High, still glaring at each other longingly, they hadn't noticed yet that it always seemed to happen whenever they discussed their unborn child, like it was just them and everyone and everything around them was a blur, a non factor, and they just naturally felt closer than ever.

"Hey FP?!" A group of Bulldogs from across the street called out, interrupting their moment.

FP came back down to earth and snapped out of his trance and blinking, catching a reserved Alice staring at him with tender eyes and her lips parted, folding her arms tightly against her chest.

He turned his head around to the yelling teammates. "Yeah, I'll be right there." He answered with a small wave. He turned back to find her smiling a little at him and tucking one of her blonde locks behind her ear.

"It's fine, go. I've gotta get to the Blue and Gold and draft up a paper anyway." She encouraged as she gestures towards the footballers.

"I'll catch you at lunch or something?" He suggested as he prepared to walk off.

She nodded in responses before watching him cross the street. She couldn't help but feel a sudden emptiness as he did.

•••

"So if we add this article on Mr Jensen's promotion to page three we can add the article about the top ten facts about the school under the main article on the front page. It will bring in more readers." Daryl explained to her as he shifted around his print outs on the desk for Alice to see

"Liking the way you're thinking Doiley." She praised as she leaned over the the desk with her hand resting on the edge, smiling down at the upcoming issue. She had been working at the Blue and Gold for a couple of weeks and much to her surprise, she had somewhat enjoyed it.

She felt she was finally in her element, doing something she loved, something she was passionate about and it gave her a sense of power and satisfaction and fulfilment. Long gone were the days she spent alone in her room writing down anything about anything that interested her and keeping it to herself.

"What are you too giggling about?" A stern but smug voice asked them from behind, startling her a little.

She turned around to find Hal leant up against the doorway, a brief smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets.

She looked down at his feet before locking her eyes with his, they were gleaming with mischief and smug tone, she didn't know why but had no interest in finding out. She hadn't spoken to him since she walked out on their date at Pop's a few weeks ago and she intended to keep it that way, he had presented himself unpleasantly and she didn't know how to let him down gently.

"We're just discussing this weeks front page." Daryl answered nonchalantly without turning around.

"I'll just get some more ink for the type writer." She informed Daryl before walking towards the cupboard, she didn't necessarily want to be in Hal's presence but didn't want to make it obvious, but that didn't stop him from using anything to get closer to her and get her alone.

He followed her into the narrow shelf filled stock cupboard, watching from behind as she reached for the type writer ink set along with a few other items.

He entered and slowly shut the door behind him, wanting the two to have some privacy, he didn't need Daryl knowing his business.

She spun her head around at the sound of the door clicking and was stunned to see him opposite her with a cocky grin set upon his face.

He smiled tightly before approaching her and closing the gap between them.

"Here, let me help you." He offered, reaching his hand out to take the items from her that she held to her chest.

"No it's fine, I've got it." She said sternly as she brushed past him and towards the door, unlocking it instantly and strolling out quite quickly towards her desk.

He furrowed his brows in confusion, turning his head towards her and slowly following her out. He kept his gaze on her at her desk as he remained stood by the cupboard door, genuinely unsure of why she was acting shifty towards him, but he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Daryl, go get my lunch." He demanded as he handed him a ten dollar bill on his desk.

"But I busy-"

"Just go!" He whispered angrily before using his head to gesture towards Alice. Daryl got the message and grabbed the money, walking out and leaving the two alone.

He tried to perk himself up a little as he walked towards her. He sat down on the edge of her desk and looked down, causing her to slowly look up at him from her paper.

"What do you want Hal?" She demanded to know in an unimpressed tone

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out two silver tickets and happily waved them around. "I got us tickets to the Winter Ball next week, figured we could even make it to a 5 star restaurant afterwards, what do you say?" He suggested smugly.

"I'm not going to the Winter Ball, not really my scene." She responded before looking back down at her paper.

He bared his teeth in annoyance as he scratched his head, figuring for the life of him what on earth her problem could be. "This is going to sound a little out there, I supposed, but are you, avoiding me?"

Her eyes shifted to the left instantly as she paused herself. He was onto her already, she didn't think he'd pick it up that quickly, he certainly didn't think he had the brains to.

"You know what." She added before spinning around in her chair, finally facing him since he had approached her. "Yeah, yeah I am." She announced boldly before folding her arms.

He scoffed angrily. "What the fuck? Why? What did I do?"

"Well the way you talked about FP and southsiders for one." She explained.

He rolled his head and chuckled condescendingly, of course FP had something to do with this. He began to chuckle before finishing. "Right, the southsider. Yeah I saw you with him this morning. So what? Prefer the bad boys now?"

"What? No, it's not like that. He has a girlfriend, but me and him-" She began to explain before being cut off

"You and him what? You just said he has a girlfriend so what's the problem?! Why won't you give me a chance?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you!" She argued.

"Well it will help me understand why you're picking Southside scum over me-"

He didn't even have a chance to finish his sentence before being met with a sharp slap to his face. The Southside scum line was what got her the most, because to her it was also a direct insult.

She glared at him with her eyes full of rage as he clutched his face in shock.

She didn't even give him an opportunity to respond to the act of violence, she just collected her stuff and stormed out of the office, leaving him looking utterly dumbfounded.