Falling Through Class

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💭 Alexia POV 💭

“Come on, let’s hurry, or we’ll be late,” I said as we finished washing the dishes.

“And all this is because a special person is coming back, right?” my mom said as I untied my apron.

“It is, mom. So please hurry so we can go with them to the airport to welcome him. I want to see his face. It’s been five years since we last saw or heard from each other,” I said.

“Well, you better go with them. I will stay back and finish the dishes,” my mom said.

“Are you sure? I would have loved to stay and help, but the feeling of seeing my best friend again is eating me up,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I will be okay. Just go,” she said, giving me a smile.

I went out and saw Frank, the chauffeur, about to get in.

“Mr. Frank! Are you going to pick Nick up?” I asked.

“Yes, I am,” he said.

“Where are his parents? They said they would be coming to welcome him from the airport,” I asked.

“Yes, they did, but something came up and they asked me to go and pick him up,” he replied.

I smiled, feeling happy that at least Nick’s disapproving mom wouldn’t be coming with us.

She had never approved of our friendship. She always thought of me as the housekeeper’s daughter—and in her eyes, I would always remain that, no matter how close I was to her son.

Well, I’m glad Nick never thought the same way. Ever since my mom began working for them, I became Nick’s friend—his best friend, he always said. He was always locked up in the big mansion, and he hardly had anyone to play with, except me.

He was five and I was four when we started walking around together. Our friendship grew, and before we knew it, we became teenagers who still treasured each other’s bond.

Maybe that was what Nick’s mother saw. And to keep us apart, she decided to send him to the States to finish his schooling there.

He was fourteen, while I was just about to turn thirteen.

He had no option but to leave back then. And though I felt sad about it, I still tried to write to him—but he never replied to my letters.

Then, about three years ago, he left school and debuted his first song. I wasn’t surprised because I knew he loved music, and I knew he would make it.

And he did. Now he is known worldwide, and he is just nineteen—a young star, I thought as the car stopped right in front of the airport.

I wondered if he would still remember me. After all, he is now a famous singer, and he might have forgotten his best friend.

“Let’s wait here for him. He said he would be out soon,” Frank said, and I stood beside him, feeling agitated.

For the past two years, I had been following everything he did.

Though he never replied to any of my letters, I began to follow him on i********:, f*******:, and any social media account. I even went out to buy newspapers just to keep up with his life.

I knew how he looked now, thanks to the media that constantly talked about him. I just wondered if he would recognize me…

If he would see that I was no longer that thirteen-year-old best friend he left behind.

The doors slid open, and there he was—walking toward us. He looked even more handsome than I expected.

I touched my beating heart and felt it racing the same way it always did around him.

I haven’t really said it, right? Well, I am in love. I have always been in love with my best friend.

It all began when I understood the meaning of love, and I fell for him. Maybe because he was the only boy close to me, I developed feelings for him—but I kept it a secret. And it will remain a secret.

I watched him move closer. He had his glasses on so no one would easily recognize him.

But even if no one recognized him… I did. He was the most handsome guy I had ever seen.

He had grown into the perfect man. Every girl would wish to be with him, and I couldn’t deny that I found him even more attractive than before.

“Mr. Frank,” he said, hugging the man.

His parents had never been close to the workers, but Nick always was. He had always been close to everyone, and we all loved him for that.

He turned toward me, and for a moment, I thought he would walk to me and pull me into a tight hug like he used to.

He used to do that in the past, and I missed it deeply.

But instead, he just looked at me and turned away.

“A new worker, right? You shouldn’t have brought her. I would have managed fine with just you,” he said to Frank.

Frank looked at me, trying to speak, but Nick interrupted him with another question.

I felt like I could just crawl away and disappear.

He hadn’t remembered me. He had called me a new worker. My best friend had just called me a stranger.

I took the case he was holding and placed it in the boot. Then I got into the back seat while he sat in front, filling Frank in about his trip.

I stayed silent, fighting the urge to yell at him that I was Alexia—his best friend.

But common sense told me to stay quiet. If I had mattered to him, he would have remembered me. It only proved that Nick never valued our friendship.

When the car finally drove into the estate, the guards came to take his bags, and I went back to the kitchen feeling sad.

“What happened? Didn’t you see Nick?” my mother asked.

“I did see him, but he didn’t recognize me, Mom. My best friend called me a new worker,” I said sadly, and she pulled me into a hug.

“He might have been busy. Maybe it slipped his mind. Don’t worry, he will remember you,” my mom said.

“Stop trying to sweet-talk me, Mom. There is no justification for what he did. He forgot me easily, and that’s it,” I said.

“My dear—” she said, reaching for me, but I stepped back.

“Don’t feel pity for me. It’s the last thing I want right now. If he can forget me, I can also forget him,” I said. “I’ll take a walk and then do the shopping.”

I quickly left the mansion.

I walked around for a while and later went to get groceries. It was getting dark when I entered the mansion through the workers’ quarters.

As I passed through the garden, suddenly the lights that were off turned on.

I paused, wondering who had switched them on.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw him standing at the end of the garden, staring at me.

“Hello,” he said, still looking at me.

Trying to hide my anger about what had happened earlier, I replied, “I’m with the groceries, sir, and the sooner they get to the kitchen, the better.”

I turned to leave when he called my name.

“Alex… really? Is this how you treat your best friend? A friend you haven’t seen in almost five years?” he said.

I stopped.

So he remembered.

I turned slowly to face him.

He is the only one who calls me Alex… and I realized I still like it when he does.

“Oh really? I thought I was just a new work—” I couldn’t finish.

He walked toward me and pulled me into a tight hug.

“How could I think of you as a worker? You believed my lie… I’m sorry. All I can say is that for five years, I’ve missed my best friend,” he said, holding me closer.

I smiled and hugged him back just as tightly.

“I missed you too, Nick,” I whispered.