My New Love

Chapter 5

“Aubrey, do you know something that we don’t,” Becky asks while raising her eyebrows at me. I shake my head no. They don’t need to know that I’m the girl that Alex’s been with all day. I don’t want them to have the wrong idea about us. I know for a fact that Alex doesn’t have a crush on me. We just met a few hours ago. How can you tell if you like someone that quickly?

            “No, I don’t know anything about it. That’s just what I’ve been hearing from other people. I have no idea why rumors are starting about him already. He only started coming to this school today. What did you say about the “witch of the waste”?”

            “She has a jumbo crush on him already, but she doesn’t want to break up with Jonathan. She also said that Alexander was sitting next to you in class today. Are you the girl that he’s been with all day,” Jess says while shooting me a sly smile.

            “No, what would give you that idea?”

            “Well, you started speaking to us when we started discussing Alex. I believe you’re the person he’s been with all day,” Becky says and smiles at me. I sigh because I know they won’t have shut up unless I tell them the truth.

            “Yes, I’m the girl that he’s been with all day. We met in second period. I’m the only one who acknowledged him. He wants to be friends. I’m showing him where his classes are. I don’t have a crush on him or anything. I doubt he has a crush on me.”

            “Hmm, that’s pretty interesting. I’m happy you were able to make a new friend today. I will believe you for now. I believe you actually like him, don’t you agree, Jess?”

            “Yes, I agree with you.”

            I nod. I’m not going to argue with them. They never believe anything I say anyway. They resume their conversation about their boyfriends. I think they may have switched topics to get me talking. Jess got in a fight with her boyfriend again last night. They had an argument over something really stupid. Her mother wants her to babysit her younger brother for the next few days. Her boyfriend, Noah, got mad at her because of it. He wants to go on a date. Jess’ little brother is only six years old so she has to watch him. Her mother is working the night he wants to go out. I try to give her advice on the situation. “You should explain to him that you need to watch your brother because he is too young to be on his own. He could seriously hurt himself. Or the house could catch on fire. Anything could happen. It’s better if he isn’t left on his own.”

            She sighs a little bit. “I don’t understand why Noah doesn’t get it. He has a little brother and sister. His younger brother is eight and his younger sister is only a couple of months old. One day his mom and dad might ask him to watch his siblings. I doubt he will turn his parents down. If he has to cancel plans with me to do so I won’t get mad about it.”

            “He should be able to understand then. Call him and talk it over.”

            “I will talk to him when I get home. Thank you, Bre.”

            A couple of minutes later the school bell rings. I meet up with Alex at the door. Next period is the last period of the day. The class is so boring that Alex actually falls asleep. I wake him up quickly so our teacher doesn’t catch him. Our teacher is really mean. When class ends we part ways.

            I walk towards my locker when I trip over something. I feel my cheeks starting to turn red. I hate being embarrassed in front of other people. Luckily, not too many people are around. I look up to see that Michelle is the one that tripped me. I glare up at her. Jonathan is with her this time. Before I have time to get up Jonathan climbs on top of me and pins my hands to the floor. I try to fight him off me, but he won’t budge. “Get off me!”

            “No, you’re going to listen to what I have to say first. I don’t want you to run away. Got it,” he asks me. I nod, but don’t respond. I really don’t have anything to say to him.

            “Give it to her good, Jon,” Michelle says. Anger starts to seep into me again. I start squirming under Jonathan.  

            “I want you to apologize to Michelle. She didn’t deserve to have her nose broken. Now apologize,” he says while pulling my hair. He is pulling it pretty hard.

            “I’m not going to apolo-,” I am cut off by a slap to the face. Tears start streaming down my face immediately. I cannot believe this. This is the second time Jonathan’s laid his hand on me now. He looks as surprised as I feel.

            “I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to hit you, Bre,” he responds flustered. Jonathan is pulled off of me a few seconds later. Alex is the one that pulls him off me. He looks extremely pissed off right now.

            “You, how dare you hit a girl in the face! That is low and dirty. If I ever see you hit her again... I will beat the crap out of you. Do you understand me,” Alex screams at him. He throws Jonathan to the side. He helps me up and Alex walks me around the corner. He glares at Michelle and she looks down at the ground. I can tell she really does have a crush on him, already. How? She doesn’t really know him. I can also tell that Alex doesn’t want to have anything to do with her.  

            Alex is trying to calm me down. I cannot stop crying. I can still feel where Jonathan slapped me. I have a feeling he slapped me on purpose. He wanted to make it look like an accident. I think he slapped me because I refused to apologize to Michelle. She doesn’t deserve an apology.

            Alex takes me to the principal’s office. I’m shaking like a leaf. The secretary looks up at us with concern and calls the principal. Alex explains what happened in the hallway. Principal Johnson leaves the office after I give my version of the event. I’m happy that Jonathan is going to get in trouble for what he did. This isn’t his first offense. I’m glad that Jonathan is going to be suspended. I won’t have to deal with him for a few days. Jonathan and Principal Johnson come back to the office.

A couple of minutes later Jonathan comes out of the principal’s office. He is waiting for his mother to come pick him up now. I hear him tell Michelle that he is getting suspended. Michelle starts crying her eyes out.  His mother comes a few minutes later to pick him up. He glares at me as he walks by with her. She is screaming at him from the top of her lungs.

            I know his mother still cares for me. She apologizes to me for him and he grunts. I know he’s not sorry that he hit me. I can see the hatred in his eyes for me.  

                “Hey, do you want me to walk you home,” Alex asks.

            “No, I can have my mom come pick me up. Thank you for the offer,” I say and smile at him. He really has been a big help today. I’m happy that he was there. I call my mom and ask her to come get me. It will only take her a couple of minutes to get here. Alex waits with me.  

            “Do you want a ride home, Alex?”

            “Sure, why not?”

            When my mother finally pulls up she shoots me a look. I mouth to her that he’s a friend. She nods and then we pull away. Alex only lives a couple of blocks from me. Before he gets out of the car I give him the biggest hug I can muster. I really appreciate what he did for me today “Thank you, Alex. You are the best.”

            “It’s no trouble at all, Aubrey. I don’t like guys like him. They are all scum. I will help you out whenever you need it. I really don’t like that Michelle girl either. She has a lot of nerve. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            When Mom and I finally get home I get in bed and take a nap. I wake up a couple of hours later to do homework.  I’m thinking about what happened today. I really hope that tomorrow goes a lot smoother for me. I don’t want anything like this to happen again. I really did make a great new friend today. Alex really is an amazing person. I’m really happy I met him.