Sudden Bite

Chapter 3: Unwanted

That night thunder crashed down and lightening exploded across the sky and the only way I could catch any sleep was by putting my earphones in and cracking up the volume to some comforting music. When morning came the rain had ceased and the clouds weren’t so dark anymore, in fact they had become white and fluffy once again. As I nursed a mug of coffee I wanted the trees sway in the wind that refused to leave completely even the storm had let. It was nearly noon at this point because I was anything but a morning person, and the house was empty. Dad was out at work, doing some over time –something he has been doing ever since mum left us – and Sam was more likely than not out with his friends as he usually was on the weekends.

I loved my family, I really did, but I also loved having the house to myself for a while, it became serene and my own little world. But I knew that in just over an hour Alexander would be arriving so we could finish our English project so I couldn’t just lazy around the house with a book nor dance around with the music blasted. Instead I found myself taking a long hot shower and pulling my damp hair back into a French braid since it was the easiest way to keep wet hair out of my face without it drying weird in the end.Hair out of my face, I began to shuffle through the clothes in my closet until I was pulling out black leggings and a simple pale blue crew-neck and dressed in them. With time to spare I cleaned up around my room even though I usually kept it – mostly – in order.

When Alec rang the doorbell I hurried downstairs to keep him from waiting and swung the door open to greet him with a smile.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” he replied with a slight bow of his head. He didn’t smile but Alexander never smiled, however, I could have sworn that he looked sheepish when greeting me – even if it only lasted for a fleeting moment.

“Um, so this is my room,” I state obviously as I lead Alexander into my room, pulling the spare chair out from the corner to set it next to my chair at my desk. He briefly glanced around before coming to sit next tome, placing his backpack on the ground next to him. “Oh! Right,” I exclaim in sudden realization before abruptly getting up again and heading over to my bed.“Oh! Right,” I exclaim in sudden realization before abruptly getting up and heading over to my bed. “This is for you,” I explain handing Alexander his recently washed and folded hoody. I know he said I didn’t have to hurry but he really saved me yesterday by driving me home so I wanted to do something nice in return even if it was really simple and maybe not totally necessary.

“Right, thank you,” he replied gently taking it from my hands and placing it in his bag when he went to grab his stuff out of it. As he did do I logged into my laptop so we could type up our short story.

We moved along productively for a number of hours,collaborating and getting our ideas typed up. Alexander did most of the typing because even though I could come up with ideas and concepts and events he was amazing at forming sentences and actually turning my ideas into something real.He had a way with words that made everything he wrote flow nicely and sound beautiful. After writing it I read over it and corrected any minor mistakes I found and then Alexander went over it again just to be sure that we hadn’t made any mistakes we would kick ourselves for later. I wanted to ask Alexander if he liked writing in his spare time since it seemed to come so naturally to him but I never found the right moment to bring it up.

“I think this turned out great,” I decide out loud as I happily come back into my room with the printed copy. With a satisfied smile I punched some holes into it and placed it in the rings of my binder before closing it up. Turning to Alexander I caught sight of smile before it quickly melted and disappeared. “You make good company,” I suddenly compliment before freezing as I realized that I spoke out loud.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Kit.”

“Why do you call me Kit?” I ask curiously. It’s what he’s called me since day one even though he knew my full name; I had actually become quite fond of the nickname but I was still curious about where it came from.

“I’m not sure, the name Catalina just made me think of Kit,”he shrugged in response. Even though there was no special meaning behind it I still though it was special – after all it was a name that Alexander alone referred to me as giving its own unique meaning. I wasn’t sure if Alexander and I were close enough for me to say what I was about to but we couldn’t possibly be just peers, could we?

“Do you know about the rumors about you?” Alexander nodded in confirmation which surprised me a little bit, “Then why don’t you do anything about them? They aren’t very nice.”

“I don’t care what they think,” he answered simply,genuinely seeming as if he didn’t care. I wasn’t exactly someone who needed everyone to love me but I’d hate for people to be saying such things about me.“If you know about the rumors how come you don’t stay away like the rest of them? He suddenly asked. Alexander initiating the conversation shocked me a little bit since up until now I always spoke the first word or made the effort to keep the conversation going. I liked his voice; he should talk more like this.

“Because they’re rumors.”

“How do you know they aren’t true?” He questioned as if he were testing me, edging me on. However, I simply roll my eyes playfully and reply,

“Right, I’m sure the psychopath who spent the last year in a detention center for a number of crimes who be spending lunch sleeping across from me or writing a fairy tale about princesses and dragons with me. You’re harmless Alexander.”

“I might not be a psychopath and I might not have spent time in prison but that doesn’t mean I’m harmless,” he countered as if he were trying to convince me that I was wrong about him. Why did he want me to be wrong so badly?

“No one is harmless, especially if that someone is a teenage boy. Do you even know how many fights break out at school?” I reason, not believing that Alexander was any more dangerous than the next person. He might be closed off and daunting before but I’ve seen peeks of a smile and that just proved to me that there was so much more beneath the hard exterior he showed the world.

Alexander seemed to give in, letting me win, but I could tell that – for whatever reason – he didn’t believe me. The rumors weren’t true yes but why did Alec still think lowly of himself? Still think that he was a danger of some sort? Had something happened in his life to make him think like this?

“Well, I should be getting back,” Alexander said as he stood and slung his backpack onto his shoulder. Nodding in acknowledgement I get up as well to walk him out.

“I guess I’ll see you Monday?” I comment as he slips on his shoes at the front door.

“Lunch,” he nods in agreement. Pulling open the door I let Alexander walk out, waving after him and closing the door once again once he had pulled away in his car. I didn’t know much about cars (despite my father and brother being major car nerds) but I knew that Alec drove an old car, it was something like a 67’ Chevy impala and even someone like me could appreciate the beauty of the car.

--

Monday morning dad delivered the bad news that my car was still in the shop which meant I had no choice but to catch a ride with Sam and his friends. Sam nabbed the passenger seat next to the Bear forcing me to sit in the back with Max and Asher. I didn’t want to be rude but I really, really, didn’t like Max and Asher, they always creeped me out. When Bear parked in the student parking lot I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough but in the end it didn’t matter anyways.

Sam and Bear were stuck in their own little world as they talked about who knows what while Max and Asher chose that moment to pull me into a conversation.

“It’s a shame that your car broke down on you but that thing was ancient anyways,” Max commented as him and Asher halted in front of Bear’s jeep to converse with me. If I walked away and ignored them I’d feel rude and surely these two would tell Sam that I had been a jerk and then Sam would scold me. It just wasn’t worth it to walk away no matter how much I wanted to.

“Ya it is, but we don’t mind giving you a ride from now on,I could pick you up myself even,” Asher suggested with a sly smirk as he slung his arm around my shoulders uncomfortably. The way they looked at me made me feel all greasy and gross. Asher’s arm slide down my back and his hand began to grope my behind causing me to squirm but fail to get out of his hold.

Suddenly Asher’s hand if ripped away from me and Alexander is holding his wrist up in a tight grip. Asher attempting to pull his hand away, shock flashing in his eyes when he failed to do so, his smirk quickly returning however. Even I was surprised because although Alexander was clearly built with defined muscles Asher was on the football team and much buffer as well as the same height as Alec, and yet Asher remained in Alexander’s iron grip.

“I don’t think she appreciates your advances, so I suggest you stop before I do something you regret.” Alexander threatened in a steady and even voice, his gaze unwavering.And then he realized Asher and glared at them until they left.

“Thanks,” I mumble pulling on the baby blue and baby pink sleeves of my white crew-neck.

“My pleasure,” he replied as we began to walk towards the school.

“Uh so… what class do you have first?” I ask feeling awkward that Alexander had saved me from such a pathetic situation. I couldn’t even stop Sam’s friend from molesting me. I really did appreciate him stepping in though since I failed to manage the situation myself (which was something I was seriously kicking myself about).

“History; you?”

“Math,” I reply before the bell rings. “Uh, bye I guess.”

“Kit, wait,” Alexander says when I turn to leave for class,his hand grabbing my arm. His grip was kind and gentle, the complete opposite of how he’s handled Asher. “Are you alright? You look pretty shaken up?”

I was amazed at how easily he read me because he was completely right. It wasn’t like I couldn’t just avoid Asher or Max or any of Sam’s other friends because they were his friends and I nervous about facing Asher next time. I’d have to be in the same car as him to get home, stuck next to him once again, and honestly I was worried that he’d continue since Alexander wasn’t there. I knew Asher, he was stubborn and he listened to no one, I doubt that he’d give into to Alexander’s words alone.

“Ya I just… I’m a little nervous cause I’m getting a ride home with my brother and his friends and Asher is one of those friends,” I explain with a sad smile.

“I’ll drive you,” Alexander offers without missing a beat.

“Really?”

“Of course, it’s on my way home anyways,” he insists making me feel drastically better.

“Alright, thank you,” I say surging forward to hug him ingratitude. Alexander froze for a mere moment before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and returning the warm gesture. “I’ll see you at lunch,” I saw when I pull away, quickly waving at him before I hurrying off to my first period,already knowing that I’ll be slightly late.

When the lunch bell rang three hours later I texted Alexander to tell him I was going to be up on the roof since the sun had returned to the sky over the past day. He met me up on the front mere minutes later and we occupied one of the picnic tables. Alexander instantly laid his head down on his arm, one stretched across the table and the other folded to support his head but he didn’t go to sleep right away. I didn’t pay much attention though as I pulled out my lunch and math homework.

I was going back and forth between writing, pushing my glasses up my nose and taking bites from the snacks I had packed, completely absorbed in my thoughts and work as I did so. Spinning my pencil in my left hand I took a break from writing to eat the granola bar I held in my other hand, looking up in the process I caught Alexander watching me. In a second my face grew warm and pink.

“Um, hi,” I say sheepishly, feeling flustered knowing that he had been looking at me and not sleeping. He sits up and reaches across the table. Between his thumb and pointer fingers he grips my glasses by the little bridge between the two lenses and pulls my glasses away from my face. I felt my cheeks turn from pink to tomato red as he stared deeply into my eyes, making it impossible to look away.

“I like your eyes,” he comments after a while, gently placing my glasses back on, carefully not to poke me or get the arms stuck in my hair.

“Oh, thank you,” I stutter, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip in a flustered and flattered manner. Alec only smiled slightly before lowering his head back down and actually closing his eyes this time. It took me a moment to come back to reality and focus back on my work but my focus now was nothing compared to before. Everyone once and a while I’d glance up over at Alexander, watching him sleep for a mere moment and taking in his peaceful expression and the way that hair fell in his face before turning back to my food and notebook.

After complimenting me I thought that Alexander had gone to sleep since he seemed to enjoy doing so during lunch but when the bell rang I didn’t have to wake him up, he got up and stretched the second the bell rang himself. We walked inside together, making small talk and not noticing those around us as if we were in our own little world as we headed to class.

The next few days passed in similar fashion, the being that Alexander had graciously driven me to and from school,keeping conflict with Asher and any of Sam’s other friends to a minimum. Even though it had nearly been two weeks of Alexander and I essentially hanging out I felt like I didn’t know much about his personal life so this lunch period I decided to change that. Other than the conversation we had at my place where I learned about how lowly he thought of himself (even if it was subtly revealed)the guy remained a mystery to me.

“So, what do you like to do?” I ask, the both of us occupying a picnic table, myself pulling out some food. It surprised and even confused me as to why someone of Alexander’s stance never had lunch but he was in good shape and clearly eating enough so I didn’t question it.

“This,” he replied without missing a beat; his head had been tilted back to look up at the blue sky but he looked at me when he spoke making it feel so much more intimate.

“That’s not really what I meant… but thanks?” His answer meant he liked hanging out with me too, right? Well that should have been obvious, Catalina, otherwise he wouldn’t spend lunch with you, I silently berate myself. I was fidgeting with the elastic band on my wrist under the table as a subconscious action.

I was starting to learn that although Alexander’s smiles were rare they often occurred when we were spending lunch up on the roof and that those smiles deserved to be appreciated for their beauty. I really wishhe’d smile more.

“What about you?” He abruptly asked catching me off guard and effectively confusing me before I realized that he was returning my question.

“Oh uh reading, drawing. I don’t really do much besides homework,” I admit. It wasn’t like I had a social life or friends to talk about.

“I don’t get it,” his sudden comment caught me off guard more than his question ever could have, however, he quickly resolved my confusion as he continued to speak, “Why isn’t a girl like you flocked with people.”

“A girl like me?”

“Kind, creative, thoughtful… beautiful.” The last word made me blush but if I were being honest it all made blood rush to my face.

“I’m not quite sure, guess I just haven’t found my kind of people yet. Or I guess I did recently,” I reply thoughtfully, smiling at him towards the end as I hint about our new friendship.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m your kind of people,” he says, face scrunched up slightly and disagreement written in his expression. It didn’t sound like he was against the idea of being ‘kind, creative, thoughtful and beautiful’ as he described it but as if he was positive that he wasn’t that type of person. I would beg to differ but I also wanted to know why he thought so. He had the same sort of attitude towards the subject as he did when I told him that I didn’t think he was harmless.

“What kind are you then?” I sigh, giving him a pointed look.

“The kind that is better off alone.”

“Then why do you spend lunch with me?” I challenge with determination burning in my eyes. Alexander seemed to think so little of himself and I hated it. I might not know every little thing about him but I knew that he was a good person and that he didn’t deserve to treat himself like this. No one did.

“It’s hard to stay away even though I know I should,” he replied.

Narrowing my eyes at him I point a determined finger in his direction and declare firmly, “One way or another I will figure you out Alexander Wood.” He chuckled at that but I was completely serious.

“Alright,” he ‘gave in’, clearly a little unsettled by my declaration for some unknown reason, “in the meantime, do tell why you always refer to me by my full name. Even teachers call me Alec at this point.”

“I’m not sure; I’ve kind of just always called people by their full names even when everyone else uses their nickname. Like in middle school there was this kid William and everyone called him Will while I stuck with his full name.” I explained not sure why I had a tendency to stick with full names myself.

“I like it, I solemnly hear Alexander unless my father is using it to scold me,” he comments a second later as if he had taken time to absorb what I said.