Crazy Love

“Can you skip school today?" the man asked, looking worriedly at the teenager sitting across from his chair in the little dining space of their house. She was eating as if the hangman was standing directly behind her. But looked up briefly, said nothing and continued eating "If you go out, please be home before dusk," the man continued, half pleading, rubbing his temples tiredly. To everyone outside, Alex is a boy, she looks like one too and, most of all, she acts just like one. Her father, Mr Mathews, knew the girl does whatever she wanted, no matter what he said. He just hoped she wouldn't mind his overprotectiveness too much and heed all the warnings. He also knew he could not hide the truth from her for much longer. All he wanted was to ensure the safety of his little girl. The last thing he wanted was to lose her, like he lost her mother years ago. He was constantly worrying that she would end up in danger once he stopped being clingy. The girl, already accustomed to this, just rolled her eyes and continued eating, completely ignoring the man. "I'm serious Alex, you need to promise me that you'll be careful," he said. To this, Alex stopped eating, acted like she was thinking over what she had just heard, then unceremoneously continued chewing loudly before stuffing more food into her mouth. "We have this conversation every day. I don't know what you are afraid of, but I want to assure you that I'm always very careful. You of all people should know that," she said with her mouth still full, looked the man dead in the eye, and continued "I don't know why you do this every day, but it's getting boring and I am not a child anymore.” she hissed, stuffed more food into her mouth and continued talking. "Besides, I can't miss school today of all days, we are having maths pop quiz" she said slowly "Mr Clarkson puts it on the class group chat last night, so I have to be in school today at any cost," she finished scooping the rest of the food on her plate into her mouth. "Stop eating like an animal!" the man scolded gently. He had watched her grow into this young lady. If she were ever to be referred to as a lady, there's nothing about her that gave off the fact that she was female. He is apologetic to her but also frustrated with her lack of basic etiquette when it comes to everything. She eats and does things just like a male, an uncultured male, to be precise. Time and time again, the man tried to get her to at least act a little like a lady and stop talking with her mouth full, but it just flew over her head. It’s almost as if she was doing it on purpose or perhaps she really never learned. She looked up briefly again, smiled and grabbed his plate before he could say anything and began to eat that food too. "You can't help yourself, can you? Animal!" he said, sighing in exasperation. This only earned him another smile from Alex, who responded to everything with a smile. This is a daily occurrence between the two. The older man watched her chew for a while before speaking up again "Are you meeting with that boy today?" he asked. Since arriving in Silver Creek, five years ago, Mr Mathews had constantly been on edge and incessantly looking over his shoulders, like someone was chasing after him. Naturally, people were curious and suspicious of the new guy in town who appeared to be shifty and all, some busy bodies took it upon themselves to corner his young son to ask random questions, trying to find out what they were all about and, like the smart girl she is, she feigned ignorance and acted like she didn't understand what they hoped to get out of her. It was tiring for her to act this way, but she did it anyway. Her dad and she had both developed thick skin to protect themselves against societal prejudice. Alex didn't like that they had to keep moving all the time. She particularly disliked that she had to change schools so often, which tended to affect her grades. They rarely stay in one place for long, but Silver Creek is different. It is the place Mr Mathews felt safest in a long time. This doesn't mean they don't have to be careful. It was a bit difficult for Alex because of his weird and eccentric method of keeping her protected. Little did he know that his little girl had it rough too and had only just made a friend that made everything seem right. If she didn't know better, she would think he had kidnapped her from her real birth parents. Making friends is difficult for Alex because other kids keep away from the weird kid. This also meant problems for Alex because the unfriended ones are always unlucky and easy targets for Brian and his cronies to bully. "Who, Edgar?" she asked before getting up, taking both empty plates to the sink to wash. "I have to, I'm learning new techniques from him today" she answered over her shoulder, as she washed and dried the plates. Then she walked back to the dining area to pick up her backpack lying on the floor close to the chair she was previously occupying. "I'm serious, I don't want you to take any undue risk" Mr Mathews said with a slight angst in his tone. "Geez dad, why are you acting more strangely than normal today?" She snapped angrily. "I am just going to school to study and after that I'm going for self-defense practice. It's not like I am going out to commit a crime or do something illegal," she said between clenched teeth before storming out of the house without a backward glance. Mr Matthews only watched her go wearily and sighed, pulling out his phone from his jacket pocket, dialled a number and waited for it to connect. "Lina, it's me" he said. Alex’s POV I went to where my scooter is kept as soon as I left the house. I like riding on it to school than walking, I kept having this weird feeling that I am forgetting something, but I couldn't quite place my finger on what I needed to remember. Anyway, I liked going to school, it started to get interesting after meeting Edgar and today looks like it's going to be a good day coupled with the fact that dad made my favourite dish of baked mushroom risotto for breakfast. It was so good that I wanted a second helping, but knowing my dad, he prefers I eat his half finished food than take another serving, even if he made plenty, he hates it when I ask for more and always preached continously about being cultured, but I don't understand, I can't help myself when the food is delicious. Instead of listening to all he was saying about missing school for the day which I pretended to be paying attention to, I was actually thinking about when next I would get to finish the left overs, away from his prying eyes. He will most definitely have a fit and criticize me till I choke if I took more now. Luckily, he made plenty. I will just eat the rest when I get back from school. I also don't know why he likes to sit and watch me eat every morning when he barely touches his food but just talk. Sometimes, it's okay to talk about stuffs, but other times, I prefer the silence, I especially like to be alone most of the time. I doubt he'd ever let me do that, ever. I always wonder if other people's dads are like that. He kept saying he was protecting me, but protect me from what? The weird thing, however, is, I don't even hate him for bizarre ways. He is all I ever known as my family and although I see him as overprotective, I wish he would tell me why I needed all that protection or from what I'm supposed to be hiding from. I got to school early, like I always do, since it only takes fifteen minutes on the scooter. Other kids were already arriving too, so I wasn't too early, and because I don't have any friends, I keep to myself most of the time. Most of the kids avoid me so I don't associate much with them because, although I'm friendly and nice, they sort of keep their distance. I don't let it bother me. I like my own company better. Plugging in my headphones, I went straight to my locker to get the books I'd needed for the day and went to Mr Rogers' Science class to prepare for the day. I was the first to arrive in class and so I chose the back seat close to the window. Other students came thronging in afterwards. Looking out of the windows, I can't wait for the day to be over so that I can meet up with Edgar again. I don't understand why my dad disliked Edgar. He's one of the coolest kids in my school, very charismatic and handsome, all the popular girls were always hovering around him. He seems to be from a rich family too, and he drives the latest car, BMW model, best of all, he is a straight A's student just like me. To me, he is the definition of perfection. I never knew someone could have it all and be the complete opposite of me, so how did I become friends with such a rich and high-society kid when I'm just a nobody who is too inconspicuous to notice. It's a long story.