𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑅𝑆𝑇𝑅𝑈𝐶𝐾, djs

[CHAPTER 18]

𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑅𝑆𝑇𝑅𝑈𝐶𝐾

Alex woke up the next morning, Daniel's hoodie still wrapped over her body like a second blanket. She rubbed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, thinking about her conversation with Daniel on the balcony late last night. She reached for her phone, hesitating before dialling Madison's number.

"Alex?" Madison asked sleepily. "Why the fuck are you calling me at 9:30am?"

"Daniel came to see me last night,"
Alex blurted out, covering her mouth.

"What did he say?" Madiaon asked, sounding much more awake now. "Did he confess his undying love for you?"

"Of course not; why would he?" Alex sighed, her focus flipping back and forth between her conversation with Madison and the events of last night.

"Just... come over later? I need a girl talk session."

"Of course babe, I'll be there in an hour," she replied, hanging up the call. Alex sighed and let her eyes fall closed, her mind conflicted and lost in thought. Feelings. Emotions. Thoughts. Those were the few things that worried her. But her mind kept returning to a lingering memory from last night.

"I'll see you soon baby, promise." 

"Promise?" 

"Yeah, promise. Something you can never break."

He gently took her hand in his, the simple action of making her heart skip a beat. Alex watched as Daniel pressed a soft kiss to her hand. 

"Goodnight princess."

Alex looked at her hand, remembering the shivers that ran through her spine and the warmth she felt as he placed a kiss on her skin. She remembered the way their eyes always seemed to lock during conversations and how softly he spoke with her. Alex remembered how happy she felt as she laid in her bed last night after he had left, realizing she had been missing Daniel.

What was wrong with her?

She had only known this guy for a month, yet he understood her more than anyone she had known. He made her laugh and smile. She enjoyed her time with him and the conversations they shared. He made her happy. She had even started to accept his pet names and nicknames for her, realizing Daniel had never once called her by her actual name.
And she didn't really mind that.

She was shaking out of her thoughts as she heard the doorbell ring.  She crawled out of bed, stripping off Daniel's hoodie and placing it back in her drawer.  She opened the front door to see Madison ... and Liv.  Alex internally groaned, knowing she couldn't tell Liv the truth about the fact she was hanging out with Liv's  celebrity crush. 

"Hey Alex," Madison greeted, mouthing an apology to the girl. 

"Hi," Alex simply replied, closing the door behind her friends. 

"I need food." 

"I'm on it."  Liv smiled, making her way into the kitchen and leaving the other to girls in the entry. 
"Sorry, Liv really wanted to come and I couldn't tell her no. It would've looked suspicious," she said, an apologetic look on her face. 

"Its okay Mads."  Alex smiled softly.

"I'll just talk in code, easy. I just need a little advice." 

"About Daniel?" 

"Yeah. I'll explain later."  Alex ran a hand through her dark hair. 
"Now let's go find Liv before she burns down my kitchen."

Madison laughed and followed Alex into the kitchen, turning on the coffee maker.  Meanwhile, Liv stood at the stove, dipping slices of bread into a raw egg and cinnamon mixture to make French toast. 

After the food had been made, the girls made themselves comfortable at the table.  "Okay so Alex, whats up?"  Madison asked, taking a sip from her coffee and looking up through her eyelashes at her friend. 

"I need boy advice," Alex said quietly, taking a bite of her food.  Liv choked on her coffee, asking once she had recovered, "Our Alex, the one who dumped Sam portman and poured a milkshake on his head, is asking us for boy advice?" 

"Please don't bring up Sam," Alex groaned. 

"I dumped his ass for a reason." 

Sam Portman;  Alex's ex boyfriend who she had dumped on the last day of tenth grade by pouring a milkshake from Dairy Queen on his head in front of the whole school after he cheated on her;  the whole incident had even ended up in the school's newspaper. 

"Okay tell us Alex."  Madison grinned, nearly bouncing up and down in her seat.

"There's this guy I know ... and I hadn't talked to him in a while. But then I just saw him recently and it made me happy. He kissed my hand before he left and yeah ..."

Alex managed to  hold back the smile on her face as she took a long sip from her coffee mug.  Liv squealed. 

"So you really missed this guy then, huh?"  She locked eyes with Madison happily;  the brunette holds the same excited features as Liv. 
"I guess," Alex sighed, sipping her coffee as she thought. 

"I like talking to him a lot, and he makes me laugh. But I haven't really known him that long, a month, really." 

"Alex, no one said you have to know someone forever to have feelings for them," Madison said simply, a smile on her lips as she took a bite of her food Alex scoffed, "Who said I had feelings for him? I never said  that. "

"You're kind of implying that you do."  Liv smiled knowingly, glancing at Madison. 

"I don't," Alex sighed, "he's just a friend of mine who I enjoy talking to and spending time with. I like how fluently we can talk, if that makes sense. There's no way I have feelings for him,  you psychos. "

"Love makes you crazy sweetheart."  Liv shrugged, pouring more syrup on her plate.

"And pretty damn stupid." 

"I am not in love and I do not have feelings for him." 

"Why don't we resolve this once and for all,"

Madison stated, grabbing Alex's laptop and typing something in.  She turned the laptop towards Alex, a quiz open on the screen.

"Answer the questions and what the quiz says is how you feel about this guy." 
"So we're letting some stupid internet quiz decide my feelings?" 

Alex asked, looking at her friends. 

"Make another excuse and we'll just assume what we want to assume Alex," Liv said in a playful voice, a coy smile flickering over her lips.  "Okay okay."  Alex sighed, beginning to answer the questions on the screen. 

"These are so fucking stupid. 'If you accidentally liked the person's picture from a year ago, how would you react?'  Seriously? "

Madison shrugged. 

"Keep answering Alex."  She sighed and answered the quiz all the way,

"Press 'Check My Results', you dumbass," Liv chided, locking eyes with Madison. 

"Here goes nothing."  Alex pressed the button, watching as the loading bar began to fill. 

Her heart pounded in her chest with a strange nervousness as she watched the bar appear on screen.

'Now check your results.  This will only take a moment. ' 

The screen read...