No Longer Alone

Chapter Sixteen

*Nicole's POV*

    I left the store in a hurry, trying hard to calm the whirlwind of emotions flooding through me.  When I had gotten Jen's text I had been heading out anyways to run a few errands anyways and thought that swinging by to see my best friend when she was slow wouldn't be too much of a problem.  I hadn't expected to see him again.  I sat in my car for a moment, looking down at the hand that he had held, and remembering how warm his hand had felt holding mine.  I knew I needed to turn on the engine and leave, but I held the keys in my hand looking at them for a moment, pondering them as if they held the secrets to the universe, when a knock on my window startled me out of my thoughts.  I looked up to see Alex standing there, a serious look on his face for the first time since I met him.

    "Can I talk to you for a moment?"  He asked through the glass, all traces of playfulness gone for the moment.  I sighed and got out of the car, standing to face him.  "I'm going to cut straight to the chase, have I or Damian done something to bother you?  Your friend seems to be fine with us, yet you seem to have a problem with us.  You seem a little familiar to me, did you go to one of the high schools here at all?"

    I'd been dreading the possibility of this kind of conversation.  Yet, I was always one to believe in honesty in handling things, lies were just too hard to continue with and took too much energy.  I gave him an apologetic look and smiled talking to him.

    "Yes I went to the high school here in town, before we had the second one, but even if we went to the same school I doubt you would have known me, or at least recognized me from back then.  I was a different person then.  I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, I just have my reasons for not wanting to get near new people, to use the cliché line it isn't you, it's me."

    He squinted a little, looking at me, then something seemed to click for him, and his eyes widened a bit.  "Nicole....would you be Nicole Evans?"

    My eyes flew up to his in shock, and I nodded.   He let out a whoop and then before I could react, grabbed me into a bear hug and spun me around,  the shock only lasted for a moment before I kicked him in the shin out of reflex.  He stopped and let me go, rubbing his wounded leg.

    "Why do you always go for shins, I swear you are both trying to keep me from walking normally!"  I just glared and folded my arms under my chest, refusing to answer for the moment. "You don't remember me do you?  Alex Trine, we were in some classes together that had mixed grades, Shay's Communication classes and a creative writing class in high school.  I think you were a grade or two below, but those classes were open to anyone.  You were always getting the highest grades in class for your poems and stories, which I had to admit, were better than any of the rest of us did.  I think you said something about wanting to write one day, how you loved to reread books because it was like visiting an old friend, and you wanted to bring that feeling to someone else.  Did you ever do anything with that?"

    I remembered the classes that he was talking about, it was my sophomore year of high school, and I had loved the classes, loved writing and the Communications classes were always interesting and fun, Mrs. Shay had been an amazing teacher who loved helping her students.  I thought back to the day that he was talking about, something vaguely clicking for me in the back of my mind, presenting a short story, I had gone with a fantasy story and had been asked at the beginning by my teacher why I choose the style I did.  I remembered explaining, and scanning the room, at the back of the class, one of the popular seniors actually seemed to stop goofing off and paid attention.  Squinting at the man in front of me, I looked at him, trying to find traces of the kid in class in the man in front of me.

    "I do remember that class, and no, I didn't, other things came up.   Well, it seems time has been nicer to you than to some of our peers from school.  I really need to get going though, as I said, I was a different person back then."  I tried to get out of the conversation and get going, if he was the same guy from back then, he wouldn't have really known me, we had hung out in two different crowds, he was one of the popular kids, and I was a bit of a rebel without a clue.

    "Awee, come on Nicole, it's been years since I caught up with anyone from school days!  I'd love to know more about how you are doing now..." his eyes glanced from me to my car, probably seeing the booster seat in the back, and his face and tone got slightly cooler, "unless you've got someone who wouldn't like us talking waiting for you."

      "I don't answer to anyone but myself Alex.  Not everything in this world is as black and white as you seem to think."  I smirked a little, knowing what he was probably thinking.  "I tell you what, you want to know so much, fine.  I'll show you what things are like, but mostly just so you understand and stop bothering me, fair?"  

    "No promises, but sounds fair."  Alex  seemed a bit confused, but nodded in agreement.  I turned my back on him and found the small sketch pad I kept in my car, the image of my kids artwork on the cover and ripped out a page.   I quickly wrote my address and phone number on there, handing it over to Alex, and glanced to the store.

    "You, I can explain as an old high school classmate who I ran across by chance...I don't think I can do the same for him.  If you decide to show up, I'm trusting you for this moment to come alone, and send me a message before you show up randomly."

    "Oh, I'll be there, I'm sure I can find a way to distract him. I'll be by later."

    With that I simply nodded and got back in my car to finish my errands as he pocketed the paper and headed back to the store.  I just hoped I wasn't about to make a huge mistake again.