Alex's Point of View:
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"Shut up," I mutter and hit the snooze button on my alarm clock, my head still in my pillow. I groan and try to get back to sleep. Why the hell is my alarm clock on anyway, it's a Saturday.
Felecia.
She gets on my nerves sometimes, the idiotic imbecile of a twelve-year-old girl.
Still groaning, I run a hand through my messy hair and sit up, throwing my covers off my body. I can never get back to sleep after I've woken up, no matter how hard I try, my body just won't allow it. I look over at the time beeping on my alarm clock and mentally groan when I see the time. 7:30. Seven freaking thirty. I usually sleep in until nine or ten on weekends, but since my stupid sister set my alarm clock two and a half hours earlier, I'm waking up at seven thirty. Felecia needs a serious talking to, I think as I walk over to my dresser and throw on a grey shirt before grabbing my phone and plopping back down onto my bed.
I look over at my window and see that Nat's awake as well. Her curtains are open wide and her room is lit by the lamp sitting on her bedside table. Her hair is tied up in a messy ponytail and her eyes are glued to a book. She's sitting cross legged on her bed, and doesn't notice me looking.
Nat doesn't notice a lot of this.
She doesn't notice all the guys checking her out as she walks through the halls. She doesn't notice how every guy's head turns to her when she laughs. She doesn't notice how other girls - even the barbie doll, popular girls - are completely, whole-heartedly envious of her. She doesn't notice that everyone in the grade knows her name. She doesn't notice how she looks like a supernatural goddess. She doesn't notice how I want to be with her every single second of every single day. She doesn't notice how I hold her hand or swing an arm around her shoulder just to touch her. She doesn't notice – no matter how many times her friends try to tell her – how bad I have it for her.
As much as I want to rest my head in my hand and stare at the beautiful girl next door like a teenage girl laying on her bed admiring a Harry Styles poster, I can't. That'd just be weird. Although, she probably wouldn't notice, so I take another look at her before I get up off my bed to get changed.
She's still sitting in the same position when I come out of the shower and up from breakfast. Apart from occasionally turning the page, she stays still, absorbed in the book and oblivious to me looking at her.
A strand of golden-brown hair falls across her face and she uses one of her long, delicate fingers to push it back behind her ear. Her hair is one of the many beautiful things about her that I can't seem to figure out. Its brown at the top and then changes into blonde, making it golden at the ends, kind of like a natural Ombre colour.
I remember last Friday night, a week and a day ago now, when I held her, smelling her hair like a crazy maniac. I can't help it. No one can. I know its crazy, but I've always liked the smell of hand sanitizers, they always fill the room with a scent that smells absolutely amazing. Natalie doesn't smell like hand sanitizer, but her hair, it might be her shampoo, always smell like berries similar to a hand sanitizer Felecia once used that smelt really good when she was younger, and I was around thirteen. I stole some for myself just so that I could smell it all day long. Natalie smells even better than that.
I plop back onto my bed, grabbing my phone and pretending to be absorbed in candy crush while actually sneaking glimpses at her over the top of my phone. I am such a creepy stalker.
Her head is cocked to one side and shows her sharp jawline. Her cheekbones are prominent, as though she's wearing contour this early in the morning. Her long, dark eyelashes flutter as she blinks, not taking her warm, brown eyes off the book in front of her.
Finally, she closes the book and places it onto the table beside her bed before swinging her long, tan legs off the bed and standing up. She unties her messy hair and pulls the strands back into her hand, which holds her hair high before she ties it into another – neater – high ponytail. Her hair swishes back and forth as she walks into her closet.
A minute later she emerges with a handful of clothes and her towel. She walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I seize the opportunity to get off my bed, throw on my leather jacket, put my phone into my jean pocket, and unlock my doors, stepping onto the balcony and leaping onto the railing, jumping and landing softly on the one opposite. I place my hand on the handle and open the door. Nat should really lock them when she goes into the shower, so no more whipped teenage boys go climbing into her room.
I plop down on her bed and relax into the pillows. I can hear the shower's water running in the bathroom and look over at the book Nat was reading. The Hunger Games it reads. I've heard of this series, although I've never read it myself.
I look around her room. There are heaps of photos of her and her friends blu-tacked to the walls. One in particular catches my eye and I off the bed and walk over to it. It's the photo we took when I was helping her bandage her feet. I smile at the memory and her face, right beside mine, our cheeks almost touching. Her lips are in a kissing position and she has an eyebrow raised, my ray bans looking big, but good, on her beautiful face. I smile again before plopping back down on the not-yet-made-bed that still has her smell lingering on it.
I think I manage to fall asleep, lying there on her bed, smelling the intoxicating smell of berries. I'm surprised when I wake up five minutes later, I can never get to sleep after I've woken up. Especially not in the mornings, I guess that's what Natalie does to me.
I hear the bathroom door unlocks and Natalie steps out. She's wearing black yoga pants that make her long legs look even longer. She's got on a black baggy hoodie, that makes brown eyes and golden Ombre hair stand out. She's in the middle of tying her hair into two Dutch braids that finish at her waist when I speak, startling her.
"Hey dude," I smirk at her when she drops her towel. After picking it up quickly, she scowls at me.
"Good morning, babe," she grumbles. That's another thing she doesn't notice. How every time she says that word, to me, a shiver runs down my spine, as though I hope one day she'll call me that not for nicknames sake, but for a different kind of... purpose.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," I raise an eyebrow as she finishes tying the end of her braid and plops down on the bed next to me.
"No, I didn't," she growls, and I laugh.
"Then what's got you annoyed, Greg?" I ask.
"You," she says simply, shrugging.
I hold up a hand to my heart dramatically, pretending to be offended. "Me? How could you?!"
One side of her lips twitch upwards in the corner, but she manages to keep scowling. "Yeah, you."
"Well, I was going to buy you some McDonalds for breakfast, mister, but I think not," I say.
She laughs, her bright, white, perfect teeth glittering in the morning sun as her mouth stretches into a smile and her eyes twinkle. "I think not?" she says, still laughing.
"Don't make fun of Yoda," I pout, crossing my arms over my chest.
She laughs again, the sound like music to my ears, and I refrain from smiling at the sight of seeing her happy. I feel proud of myself making her laugh. God, how lame can a guy get? "Yoda never said that!"
"Really?" I ask, before lowering my voice and attempting to sound like Yoda. "At me bro, you come!"
She laughs again. "Yoda doesn't sound like that either," she says. With a smile still on her beautiful face, she leans forward, her braids swinging beside her head as she plops herself down right beside me, so our shoulders are touching through the material of our clothes. "Will you be the one paying for those hash browns?"
I smile at her. "Anything for you, mate."
She grins back, mischief playing on her features, her bright eyes sparkling under her long, dark eyelashes. I sit up, stowing my phone away in my pocket. Nat gets up and grabs her purse.
"Pack your swimmers too," I say, she looks at me quizzically. "We're going to the beach."
"We are?" she raises an eyebrow. "Its winter though, babe."
I shrug. I didn't consider this option when I made the decision a couple of seconds ago. "Exactly, there won't be anybody there."
She makes a face and shrugs as if to say, 'good point,' before walking to her closet and taking out her swimmers. She stuffs them into her bag and walks back out. I take her hand and pull her down the stairs.
I'm pulling her down at such a speed that her foot slips and she tumbles over. I quickly turn around, letting go of her hand, and she falls straight into my arms. I stand her on a step above mine and smirk at her. "Dude, you're clumsy."
"Shut up, babe," she says, walking down the steps and hitting me on the arm as she goes. I smile after her before skipping down the steps and grabbing her hand, pulling her out onto the street with me.
I put on my sunglasses and unlock the car. One thing I love about my sunnies is how I can admire Nat without her knowing.
She rolls her eyes and smiles, pulling her sunglasses out of her bag and putting them on top of her head.
"I don't get why you're wearing sunglasses in the middle of Winter," she says, eyebrows raised. "But if you're gonna be weird, I'm gonna be weird with you."
She smiles again, and I grin back as she flips the large sunglasses into the right position, so that I can't see her beautiful eyes. On the upside, I can see her perfect jawline and cheekbones clearly when she stops smiling and hops into the car.
She winds down the window and leans out when I don't move, pushing her sunnies onto the top of her head. She smiles, "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you getting in the car?"
I smile, "Yeah, I'm getting in."
Dammit, I love her.
***
"What's the time?" she asks me, licking her ice cream.
I check my watch. "Ten thirty," I say and she grins.
"Good, now I won't feel guilty for having ice-cream for breakfast," she says and I raise an eyebrow. "Its ok to have ice-cream for morning tea, which is now, duh."
I laugh. "Is ten thirty morning tea time?"
"Of course it is. When else would it be?" she snaps, smiling.
I laugh. "Ten o'clock?"
She snorts. "Of course not! Ten thirty!" she says.
I laugh again and lick my own ice cream. We went to McDonalds for an hour, it took them about half an hour to deliver Nat's hash brown and my bacon and egg muffin. Very un-McDonalds-like. I decided I wanted ice cream so we arrived here about ten minutes ago and I ordered a plain vanilla ice cream, Nat teasing me for not even adding gummy bears. She, on the other hand, go a cookies and cream with marshmallows. We're sitting in a booth on the same side, in front of a feature wall of green plants.
I lick my ice cream again. She pouts at me. "You're so lame. You could've gotten any flavor," she points to the colorful display of ice creams in the glass and then directs her finger back to my ice cream. "And you chose vanilla. Plain vanilla, might I add."
I lick my ice cream again. "What? Its yummy!"
She laughs and licks hers. "Really?"
"Yes, really, wanna taste some?" I ask, holding it out to her. She scrunches up her nose.
"Nope. No thanks," she says and turns back to her own. I grin at her and she looks up at me and sees the mischief in my eyes. Before she can groan, I wipe my ice cream across her cheek. She groans. "You.. you - you BLOBFISH!" she yells and I laugh at her. She looks at me with a fake-angry expression and mushes her ice cream into my face. I let out a yelp. She laughs, wiping the ice cream off her smooth skin and licking it.
I pout at her and she grabs a napkin, wiping the ice cream off my mouth. I look at her and she smiles, her eyes glittering and her teeth shining white. Her sunglasses are on top of her head and the light glitters across her head as she wipes a bit of ice cream from the corner of my mouth and scrunches up the napkin, tossing it into the bin beside us.
She licks her ice cream again and looks up. "Are you going to eat that?" she asks, pointing to my ice cream. "It was yummy."
"Ha!" I say, pointing my cone at her. "Victory!"
Unfortunately, my poor ice cream can't take anymore and the whole things slips off the cone and onto the ground on the floor between us. "My poor ice cream," I whisper.
She laughs. "Cheer up, babe," she says. "I'll go and get you another one."
I grin at her and she slides out of the booth and walks over to the counter. I wait in the booth, watching her talk to the girl on the other side of the counter, ordering my ice cream. A smile plays across my lips when I see her lick her own ice cream while waiting.
"You kids are cute."
The voice startles me and I jump in my seat, looking around. Its an older woman in the booth in front of us. She laughs quietly when she sees how startled I am.
"Oh," is all I say.
"When did you two meet?" she gestures to Natalie.
"Oh, we're not together," I say. The woman's eyebrows shoot up.
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah. She's not my girlfriend. She already has a boyfriend," I say to the old lady. I don't know why I'm telling her this, but the lady seems warm and friendly.
"Well, son, as soon as she's single you better swoop her right up," she says. I laugh.
"I will," I say and look over at Natalie, she takes my ice cream and walks over, smiling at me. The old lady turns around.
"Here you go," she says and slides into the booth beside me. I take my ice cream and lick it.
"Yummy," I say. She laughs and pokes me in the side. I poke her back and she lets out a startled yelp/laugh, causing me to chuckle. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her into me. I lick my ice cream and take out my phone.
"We're taking a photo?" she asks, turning to me so I can smell her intoxicating, berry smell.
"No, we're playing Buzzfeed quizzes," I roll my eyes and open the camera app on my phone. She smiles at my comment and leans into me, the delicious berry smell over coming me until I'm delusional and do something I probably shouldn't do.
Just as I'm about to click the button to take the picture, I turn my head to her and kiss her smooth cheek. I click the button then, and she can see everything I do in the camera on my phone, and her eyes widen just after I've taken the photo. She turns and looks at me. I stare back at her through my Ray Bans before turning away and looking at my phone.
"That's a good photo," I say and show it to her. The background it the leaves behind us and it makes out faces stand out. The top of my white shirt is showing and so is the top of her hoodie. My lips have only just reached her cheek when the photo was taken, so my lips are parted resting on her cheekbone.
Her face is probably the most heart-stopping thing of the photo. Of course, she is heart stopping. When I first saw her, her hair tied back in a fishtail and her warm brown eyes looking at me from under long, dark eyelashes, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat. That's when I realized that she wasn't like most girls.
The sun is shining on the top of her head, making it look golden in contrast with her tanned face. Her eyes are shining like stars and the whiteness of her teeth is blinding. Her jawline is sharp, anyone can see that, even from the front. Her sunglasses are resting on top of her head and her nose is slightly scrunched up.
"Alex?" I hear her say beside me.
"Huh.. what?" I say, shaking my head to try and get her out of my head, obviously, I can't. I can still smell the berries in her hair and can see the gorgeous features of her face. "Oh, right. Are you finished that? Lets get going."
She smiles and I slide out of the booth and we walk out onto the beach. She takes off her thongs and holds them in her hand as we walk down to the ocean. As expected, there's no one on the beach except for us. She pulls off her hoodie and I takes off her pants, she got changed in the bathrooms of the ice cream shop. She takes the sun-shirt out of her bag and makes to put it on before I take it off her.
"Its not even sunny!" I say.
"The sun might come out though," she says and snatches it off me. I roll my eyes and let her put it on. I'm already wearing board shorts, so I pull off my shirt and grab her hand. I feel her eyes on me and turn around. She quickly looks away and a blush spreads across her nose and cheeks. I smirk at her and she shoves me, rolling her eyes.
My foot touches the water and I jump back. Its freezing. Nat laughs at me and bumps her shoulder against mine lightly. "Scared, sweet-heart?"
I grunt. She laughs again and sprints off down the beach. I grin and run after her. She stop running for a couple of seconds and I sprint past her. Before I know that she's behind me, I feel her hands on my arm and she shoves me with all her might into the water. I topple over and the cold water hits me, giving me goose-bumps all over. I tumble over before finally coming to a stop. I see Nat ten meters away, sprinting down the beach. I quickly run out of the freezing water and chase after her.
She turns around to look at me, grinning before she lets out a yelp and runs faster. I smile to myself and chase her, catching up easily. I wrap my hands around her front and run into the ocean. She yelps again and laughs.
"Alex!" she squeals when I'm far enough in to throw her. She comes up spluttering and glares at me, flicking her braids behind her. "I'm gonna kill you!" she says and launches herself at me. We fall into the water, her on top of me, myself under her. I wrap my arms around her waist and push off the ground and stand with her clutched to me.
"At me bro, you did come," I say and she laughs, throwing her head back.
"Have you ever even watched Star Wars, or read it?" she says, her hands wrapping themselves around my neck. I stay silent, confirming that no, I haven't ever watched a star wars movie in my life. "You haven't?!"
"No," I shrug my shoulders.
"We have to!" she says. I roll my eyes. "Tonight, when we get home, I'm coming over with the whole series and we're binge-ing, got it?"
I chuckle at her and smile. "Got it," I confirm before taking a hand off her waist and ruffling her hair. She pouts at me and takes her hands off my neck to splash me. "Oh, Natalie, you're gonna pay."
She squeals and I pull her over light body over my shoulder so that I can only see her legs. She pounds on my back.
"Alex!" she shrieks. "Put me down."
"Ok," I say and pull her waist forwards, tossing her into the water.
"Oh, Alex, now you're gonna pay."
A/n: i HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR ALL YOU GUYS IN THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE READ IT! I JUST ADDED THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAPTER BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'LL ALL SEE IT. AND WRITING IN CAPS LOCK JUST GETS PEOPLE'S ATTENTION. BYE.
***
I pull my shirt on over my head and wipe my pants and hair with a towel before putting on my Ray Bans before turning to Natalie who's pulling a book out of her bag, pushing up her sunglasses and lying down on a towel.
"I'll go and get some lunch," I say and she looks up at me, her beautiful brown eyes glittering as she blinks in the sunlight.
"Ok," she say before turning back to her book. "Thanks."
I grab my phone and my wallet before quickly walking up to the beach-front stores. I order from a Mexican place. Some fries to share and some soft drink and two burritos. I thank the cashier and take the bag, quickly walking back onto the beach.
Natalie is absorbed in her book, looking as gorgeous as ever. She can literally pull off anything, even a plain black sun-shirt and sunnies. Because she usually dresses casually, whenever she dresses up the tiniest bit, I think my heart stops. It really annoys me.
Her foot is propped up on the towel, her tan skin looking golden in the sunlight. Her lips are pursed as she reads and her braids fall onto the sand behind her. Her brown eyes scan the words on the page before she turns onto the next one, completely oblivious to my obvious staring.
I walk over to her and sit down. She closes her book and puts it away. "What'd you get?" she asks.
"Burritos," I say, taking out the food.
"Thank you!" she say and smiles, quickly unwrapping hers and taking a bite. Her eye light up as she munches.
I laugh at her. "Boy, you do like burritos."
"Duh," she says, holding up a hand to her mouth while she speaks and rolling her eyes. I smile at her and toss my ray bans to the side, sitting cross-legged right next to her. She takes a chip and eats it.
"So we're both wanting that Oxford scholarship, huh?" I say.
"Yeah," she says quietly. We eat our burritos in silence before both speaking at the same time. "You know, if you get it, I'd be happy for you, you deserve it," she says while I say. "I want you to get it, you deserve it. Its not my dream uni. It'd just offer good education, is all."
We look at each other for a minute before she grins. I smile back and scooch over to her, so our hips are touch. I then wrap an arm around her waist and hold her firmly at my side. She eats another chip and leans her head on my shoulder, the berry smell intoxicating me for the millionth time.
"You know, I can just attend there and pay for it normally," I say. I feel her cheek move against my shoulder and I know that she's smiling.
"And have you attend college with me, babe, no thanks," she says and I laugh.
"Why, d'you want me to stay the hell away from you forever?" I ask, grinning.
"To put it lightly, yes," she says.
"And that's putting it lightly because...?"
"Its sarcasm, Patricia," she grins and look up at me. I look down at her, my arm still around her waist.
"Oh, sorry, I couldn't tell," I whisper, a smiling playing across my lips.
"Mmmhmm," she says, closing her eyes and humming. "Sure."
I laugh. Before I can stop myself, I lean in closer so that her warm breath mingles with mine and the smell of berries is overwhelming. She looks into my eyes from under her dark, long lashes and her mouth parts. We stay there for a couple of seconds before I tilt my head to the side and move forwards more.
I come so close. So, so, close to kissing her, and what does she do? Oh, yeah, that's right, the beautiful girl raises one perfect eyebrows and chews on a half eaten chip still in her hand. I quickly pull away and she laughs. How can she be laughing?
I take another bite of my burrito and scowl at her. She lets out one last bubble of laughter before taking a sip of her drink, watching me over the bottle with her beautiful, sparkly brown eyes.
I finally smile and she puffs out her cheeks and smiles, still with the soda in her mouth. Then she caps the bottle and swallows. Even doing something as simple as that, she manages to look beautiful and I don't freaking get it.
What the hell is she doing to me?
***
After staying at the beach for a few more hours, we decide to call it a day and head to a chinese shop. I lock the car and check the time on my phone, 6:14 it reads.
"C'mon, lets go get dinner," I say, pulling her into me and holding her firmly by my side. We walk into the shop and sit down on opposite sides of a booth in the corner of the restaurant. She starts playing with a napkin, folding it into a paper crane. I watch her delicate fingers fold the pieces and push different bits in and out. "How do you do that?" I ask as she folds the head down.
"Magic," she grins at me and places it in the middle of our table. I smile at her and grab a napkin.
"Show me!" I say and she rolls her eyes.
"Fine," she says. "Well, its kind of difficult to do with a napkin, especially for someone with the same size brain you have, but it'll do."
I playfully scowl at her and push her forehead back into the cushioned chair behind her. She pokes her tongue out at me and begins explaining.
"So, first, you fold it in half, like this," she shows me. "And then like this."
She continues explaining it to me until we come to some kind of complicated bit that I struggle with. She laughs at me and takes the napkin out of my hands. "No, silly," she says and takes my hand, moving my fingers around until I've got it. She smiles at me before we continue.
When I've finished my crane Natalie pats me on the head repeatedly than laughs. "Could your big brain handle that?"
I roll my eyes and push the tip of her head back. The waitress arrives and we order our meals. I keep making napkin-cranes until our food arrives. Natalie pulls off both her hair ties and starts unraveling her braids. Her golden hair becomes curly and looks absolutely gorgeous on her. She runs her hands through it a couple of times and the curls become beach waves that cover her face. She pushes a couple of strands back and sucks up a noodle.
We continue to eat our meals, arguing over random things before we decide to call it a day and head home.
***
Natalie arrives back on my doorstep, her hair tied into some kind of knot on top of her head, some black leggings on her legs and a loose beige cardigan covering her singlet top. She's holding a bunch of Star Wars movies and a packet of unpopped popcorn.
I dropped her off at her house a few minutes ago. Enough time for me to have a shower and quickly add on some of my cologne, just for her.
She smiles at me and I pull her hand, leading her into the second living room. I take the popcorn from her and heat it up in the kitchen microwave. When I come back she's turned on the TV and is putting a DVD in.
"Its not on Netflix?" I ask, plopping down on the couch, eating a piece of popcorn as she tosses me the remote.
"Nope," she says before coming to lie down beside me. I click play on the movie and we watch in silence. We get through about two movies before I hear her shiver beside me and turn to look at her.
"You're cold?" I ask.
"Maybe," she says, smiling. I roll my eyes and pull her over to me. I wrap an arm around her waist and bury my head in her hair, breathing in her scent and closing my eyes.
About an hour later, Natalie's breaths start to become deep and even. I pull her closer to me and brush the loose strands of hair off her face. She sighs in her sleep and puts her head on my chest, her hand resting next to her on my body. She nuzzles her cheek against me and another strand of hair falls into her face. I immediately push it back.
I watch one more movie before I pause it and put my other hand around Nat's waist. I hear footsteps around the corner. Felecia comes into view and I see her smirk when she sees us. She opens her mouth to say something but I quickly cut her off.
"Shh," I whisper, as quietly as I can. "You'll wake her."
She rolls her eyes and walks off. I bury my face in Nat's head and doze off, sleep immediately coming as I breathe in her amazing, delicious smell.
___________________________________________________________________
Hiii!
You guys have been wanting an Alex POv. did it meet your expectations?
I'M SO SORRY! I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO, SO, SO, SO, SO LONG! We moved house and then didn;t have any wi-fi so I couldn't write this chapter or anything. Don't hate me.
Anyway, I was wondering if - since you guys want a cast - you want the cast to be actual actors or just models/pictures of people I think would suit the characters? Tell me in the comments.
bye! Vote! comment!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter byeeeeeeeeeeeee!