Holly was already in homeroom when Dev walked in.
“What’s up Hol? You look tired.” She sounded concerned. “Nightmares?” she asked.
That would be normal, considering the circumstances, but nightmares were not what was on Holly’s mind.
“Not exactly” Holly replied. She moved closer to Dev and lowered her voice. “The other kind of dreams.” She said shyly. Dev looked at her in shock.
“Holy fuck!” Said Dev. “You’ve been having sexy dreams about Alex?”
Holly nodded her head.
“Deets.” Dev said as she leaned closer still.
“No. He’s your brother.” Holly whisper shouted.
“I can overlook that part, now spill.”
“Well…ok.” Holly said, and she told Dev the part were Alex rescues her and then he’s over, leaning down to kiss her.
“Oh that is so not all of it.” Said Dev. “There’s no way you would lose sleep over that. Did you start to take each others’ clothes off at least?”
Holly looked at Dev with an expression, that she could only describe as questioning. Dev had asked her, as though she’d already heard it before.
“Um…maybe…kind of.” Holly replied and Dev grinned.
“Whoa baby!” She said as she waggled her eyebrows. Holly shook her head and smiled at Dev. She sure loved her ‘deets’. Speaking of deets…
“Did you hear about Stacey?” Holly asked.
When she’d gotten into school, Holly had heard some of the other students talking about the party that they’d been invited to. Stacey had been the main topic of conversation.
“No, not yet. What’s she done now?”
“Apparently, she hooked up with Jake at Caleb’s party, on Saturday night. The weird thing is…he doesn’t remember any of it.”
“Really?” Dev asked, her eyes widening.
“Mhmm. I heard that he woke up with his kecks and boxies down to his knees, his T-shirt lifted up under his arms and a used condom wrapper on the nightstand.” Holly said as she looked to make sure nobody was listening in.
“What happened then?”
“Well, and this is only what I overheard, she came out of the bathroom and said to him…’good morning sleepyhead, we sure had fun last night’” Holly said in a Stacey voice. Dev was staring at Holly open mouthed.
“He must have been sooo wasted! He’s another guy that’s turned her down a lot, only to have slept with her at a party.” Dev said. “There was this other guy, called Steve, but he left for college last year. There was a party for the senior leavers that she ‘just happened’ to be at, and she hooked up with him. Same thing too. Woke up with no memory and half-naked. Those guys must’ve been seriously wasted to have gone with her when they’d always turned her down.”
“That’s horrible!” Said Holly with a hand over her mouth. Her stomach was rolling, and she felt nauseated. Just the thought of Stacey made her want to vomit.
“Tell me about it” Said Dev.
They heard Stacey laughing with Cerise at their table.
“He was good, but I’ve had better” they heard her say. They looked at each other with disgusted expressions as Stacey continued.
“He was so wasted; I had to take control. He could barely stand, but he still wanted me” Stacey said in a breathy tone and looking at her nails, as if being wanted that bad was normal for her.
“Wow, Stace, Jake is one of the hottest guys in school, and you hooked up with him!” Cerise sounded as if she were in awe of her.
“Oh. I know.” Said Stacey. “They always admit they want me in the end.”
“Ew!” Dev mouthed to Holly.
“Sweat!” Holly mouthed back.
There was something seriously wrong with that girl. Holly could feel it in her gut.
Dev had a free period so she walked Holly to tech class. Holly’s nerves were shot as she knew Alex and Ben were in that class too. She walked in and took her seat, next to the wall on the left hand side from the front. Holly was there for less than a minute when her skin came up in goosebumps, right before Alex and Ben walked in.
Her temperature rose, her heart rate accelerating. She could hear it; it was so loud.
Holly kept her head down as she was looking at her phone. She sent a quick text to Dev.
H: I’m not ready for this! :/
D: You’ll be fine sweetie. X
H: Not possible.
D: Cold showers not available until later. XD
H: Gee, thanks.
D: :)
The tech teacher signalled for the class to boot up their computers. If they wanted to ask each other for help, the chat facility was there. A little window would pop up from whoever had sent a message, and then conversations could ensue. Group chats could be made by clicking the ‘invite to chat’ button.
The teacher hadn’t allowed this in previous lessons, that Holly had attended, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Hopefully, people would overlook her and use the feature to chat to their friends instead.
As Holly’s computer came to life, she opened up her files that contained the program she was working on. Nobody had completed the task yet, but there were still a few weeks to complete the coding that made a dancing kitten appear on the screen. The teacher gave out hints and tips for ten minutes, before the class would get started.
Holly began her work when a chat window opened up. It was from somebody called ‘Taylor’.
T: Hi, Holly. How are you getting on?
H: Fine thanks. You?
Holly really didn’t want to get into a conversation, but she wanted to be polite.
T: Not bad, I guess. Are you doing anything tonight?
‘What the…? Seriously?’ she thought.
H: Yes I am.
T: How about tomorrow?
H: I have a lot of work to do. I’m playing catch up.
Holly didn’t like to use that excuse, especially since she didn’t need to catch up. She’d told the truth to Jake the first day, but she thought that it would get him off the ‘chat’ quicker.
T: We could play something else. ;)
‘Ugh!’ Holly hit ‘end chat’. Not in this lifetime.
Alex was still trying to think of what to say to Holly when he saw that she was chatting to somebody. He looked around and noticed Taylor smirking and looking at her. Alex turned back to Holly and saw her scowl and end the chat. Taylor’s face fell. “Oh maaaan!” He heard him say. Alex’s chat box opened. It was Taylor. What the fuck?
T: Hey dude.
A: Hey
T: Your sister’s friends with Holly, right?
A: So?
T: So, do you know if she’s with anyone?
Alex couldn’t believe it! Taylor was asking him about Holly. He was pissed.
Oh what the hell… He thought.
A: I don’t know, but I do know she’s into someone.
T: Who?
A: That’s her business. Not ours.
T: Dude, help a guy out!
Alex nudged Ben to read his chat. His eyes widened, and he scowled. Alex invited Ben to his little ‘chat’ with Taylor.
B: Leave it alone Taylor.
T: I was just asking, man.
B: Why? Did you ask her out?
T: Kinda. I asked her if she were doing anything and she said she was busy catching up with her work.
A: I think she was being polite.
T: What’ya mean?
A: Holly was caught up before she started here.
T: That’s cold.
B: Better than being told to fuck off.
T: I guess. So, who’s she into?
A:B: Bye Taylor.
Alex ended the chat, and he and Ben smirked at each other. Alex opened a chat window and Ben was watching. Seeing whom Alex had chosen to chat with, Ben smiled approvingly and went back to his work.
A: Hi Holly. How are you?
Holly didn’t answer right away. Alex watched her reaction and saw that she had stopped what she was doing and was staring at the screen. After a couple of seconds later, she closed her eyes in a long blink and took in a deep breath. She began typing.
H: Hi Alex. I’m fine. You?
A: I’m sound. :)
Alex watched her reaction and was happy that Holly smiled.
H: Good to hear.
A: Is it quiet without Emily?
H: Very, but I miss her.
A: Being that far apart must be hard.
Being far apart from Holly was hard, and she was across the room!
H: It is.
A: She’s very protective.
Alex could see that Holly was smiling as she typed.
H: You noticed? I thought she was subtle.
A: I may have spotted the telltale signs. Extreme violence being the main one.
Holly chuckled and Alex felt amazing that he could make her laugh.
H: She’s delightful!
Now, Alex chuckled. He wanted to talk more with Holly. A longer conversation. He wanted to ask questions that would get a longer answer.
A: I love our chats. Very informative. I don’t seem to be able to get a word in. You talk too much.
Holly bit her lip, and he saw that her cheeks and ears go pink. He wanted to bite that lip…
H: I’m sorry. I’ll try to curb my impressive communication skills.
A: Don’t
H: No. I’m busy all of the time.
A: ?
Alex didn’t know what was happening, but as he looked over to Holly, he saw that she was typing again.
H: Sorry that wasn’t meant for you. I didn’t click on the other screen before I replied.
A: No problem. Who was it meant for?
H: It was meant for Brad.
A: Did he ask you out?
Anger flowed through Alex’s veins. Somebody else was asking Holly out! And they were using the chat function to do it! He was chatting to her, of course, but he wasn’t going to ask her out that way. He wasn’t a coward.
H: Yes.
A: And you said no.
H: Correct.
A: Taylor too?
H: How did you know about that?
A: Because he asked me if I knew if you were with anybody.
H: What?! What did you say?
A: I told him that we were married and that he should stop bugging my wife.
Alex was trying not to laugh when he looked over to see Holly’s reaction. She was staring at the screen in shock, hands hovering over the keyboard.
A: Just kidding! Your reaction was awesome. :D
H: !
A: Honestly though, I told him you were into somebody, to shake him off.
He really wanted to know how she would react to that. He wanted to say ‘I told him you’re into me’ but somehow, he thought that may not go down too well.
H: Did he buy it?
A: I think so. Ben told him to leave it alone when he asked who.
H: Ben?
A: I grouped him in to tag team. He asked Taylor if he asked you out and Taylor said you were busy catching up. I…may have said you were just being polite.
H: Polite?
A: Yeah, because you had caught up before you started.
H: OMG!
A: Ben told him it was better than being told to fuck off.
H: I guess so. I had wanted to tell him that.
A: Why?
Alex saw Holly hesitate before she replied. As if she were deciding if she should tell him… He wanted her to.
H: Because I said I was playing catch up and he said we could ‘play something else’.
A: He did?!
Alex was seething, and he wanted to get out of his seat and punch Taylor right in the mouth for saying those things to her. He decided it wouldn’t be the best thing to do, so he took a deep breath instead.
H: I ended the chat straight away. I wasn’t responding to that.
A: Have the others left you alone?
H: Yes.
A: So, just me that’s bothering you?
H: You’re not bothering me.
Alex smiled to himself. He felt a little lighter from her message, and he wanted to delve further.
A: I usually do though, don’t I?
H: No
A: Then why don’t you talk like this to me in person?
It was a least a minute before Holly began typing again. Alex thought that he may have pushed her too far, and now she was giving him the brush off.
H: I’m somewhat verbally challenged.
Alex relaxed that she hadn’t told him to ‘do one’.
A: Not with everybody.
H: What can I say? It comes and goes.
A: Somehow I don’t believe you.
H: My typing skills far supersede my conversational skills.
A: I see that. :)
Holly was blushing like mad. She was having a conversation with Alex! A fun one too. She wanted to turn to look at him but was worried she would lose her momentum. She carried on typing.
H: In fact, I may just text everyone instead of talking. Much better.
A: That’s a possibility. Just out of curiosity, you said you were always busy. What do you do?
H: I was being polite, but mostly I have plans with the girls and tutoring with Dev.
A: What do you do the other times?
H: I FaceTime Emily and other family, in the UK when they’re free. I work in my garden too.
Holly was feeling a little bold at that point. She’d been holding a conversation, albeit at digital one, with Alex for over fifteen minutes and she was loving it. He was asking questions like he was interested in what she did away from the group. She was interested in what he did too, so she decided to ask too.
H: What do you do when you’re not hanging out with Ben?
Holly had turned the question on Alex. He liked that she wanted to know what he did too. He couldn’t really say much without freaking her out, so he tried to keep it simple.
A: Drawing
H: What do you draw?
A: Just sketches of things that interest me.
You mostly.
H: Don’t you hang out with the others?
A: Usually it’s all of us or just me and Ben.
Or me by myself, drawing pictures of you from memory.
Holly was about to reply when she had another incoming chat. It was Caleb. They guy who liked to throw parties.
C: Hey Holly girl! Sorry you missed my party. We should get together some time.
H: Why should we do that?
Seriously? Another one?
C: For fun. Get to know each other. You know, spend time together.
Holly saw that she had another message from Alex. When she read it, she felt nervous.
A: Invite me to your chat.
H: ?
A: Please? I can see that you’re not happy with whatever that person has said.
Holly invited Alex to the chat. She didn’t know why because now he would see what Caleb had said to her. Before he could, she typed out her response.
H: No thank you.
C: Why not?
A: Because she said so.
Holly’s heart beat faster when she saw that Alex was joining in.
C: Dude! WTF? Holly?
H: Yes?
C: Why’d you invite Alex to our chat?
Holly had to think of something quick before Alex could reply. She was already getting angry that Caleb was upset that she’d had included Alex. He had no right.
H: I didn’t realise we were. You suggested we get together; I said no. End of discussion. Plus, Alex is my friend and I can invite him to chat anytime I choose, thanks.
Holly heard a snort coming from Alex’s direction.
A: Does that answer your question?
C: Man, you’re a cock block.
There was the sound of a chair scraping from the back of the class as if somebody were getting up out of their seat. As caleb was sitting near the front, Holly knew it had to be Alex. He’d defended her in A.Bio, and he was probably about to do the same for Caleb’s comment.
H: Excuse me?! Alex isn’t a ‘cock block’ because that would have to mean there was a chance of one being involved and there’s not a damn chance in hell of that, so jog on!
Holly ended the chat, but her other screen was left.
A: I guess you told him no then. :D
H: So it would seem. :)
A: I like our chat better.
H: It’s cleaner.
A: So it would seem. :D
H: That’s my line!
A: Mine now XD
H: :(
Holly sent the sad face, but she was far from it. Her stomach was doing back flips with joy, and she was smiling so much her face was aching.
A: Aww, don’t get mad.
H: I don’t get mad; I get even.
A: Should I be scared?
H: That’s a possibility.
A: Hey, that’s my line!
H: Even. :D
A: You’re funny. :)
H: In the head.
A: So it would seem.
H: :o
A: Haha!! XD
“Ok guys, that chats are closed. Time to carry on with your programs on your own. I hope you got useful information from your classmates.” The teacher said from the front when all of the chat screens vanished.
Holly’s phone vibrated in her pocket for an incoming text from…a number she didn’t recognise.
To be continued…
Holly turned to look at Alex. He was smiling at her, phone in hand and he tapped the screen. Holly got the message instantly.
A: I texted myself on Saturday. :)
He texted himself her number at Riss’. That’s why he took her phone. Not just to translate but to get her number. She texted back.
H: Sneaky.
A: Yes.x
He sent a kiss! Don’t read too much into it. He sends them to Dev too.
Holly quickly saved his number into her contacts before putting her phone back into her pocket.
Holly shut down her computer and got up to leave after class had finished.
“Hey there.” She heard Alex say behind her and she turned. Her mouth popped open involuntarily as he smiled at her. It was just so painful to look at him; he was so gorgeous.
“Oh…hi.” She said nervously. Her mind instantly remembering the feel of his body next to hers. His hard muscles and strong arms…
“So we’re friends?” He asked bringing her out of her fantasy.
Shit!
“Um…well…hmmm.”
Alex just smirked as Holly’s face heated as he continued to look at her with his deep chocolate brown eyes. Her knees felt shaky, and something was stirring down south.
Holly finally blew out a breath.
“Dev’s my friend. So…I guess…”
“And I’m her brother.” He cut in, his eyebrows slightly pinching together.
Holly thought she saw disappointment in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as she saw it. Holly just nodded.
“Friends by association!” Ben said as he came up behind Alex. “Now that we’re clear on that, Alex you have to get to class. Holly and I need to discuss something.” Said Ben as he hurried them from the room.
“We do?” she asked. Holly had no idea what they needed to discuss but by the look on Ben’s face, he was happy about it.
“Yup.” He said.
Alex glared at Ben, Holly didn’t miss that.
“Nothing major. Just talking about the assholes in our tech class bugging you. I may be a guy but I still like a bit of gossip.”
Alex shook his head, and Holly couldn’t help but giggle. Ben, with all his masculinity, liked hearing details. He was like Dev in so many ways.
“Come this way.” He said and they walked toward Alex’s art class.
“Holly!” Dev practically screamed when she saw her with both Alex and Ben. “What are you doing with this riffraff?” she asked jokingly.
“Apparently I need to have a gossip with Ben.”
“Oh well he loves his gossip.” Said Dev glancing at Ben.
“Anyway, we need to get to class, Alex. Bye guys” Dev said as she gave Holly a hug.
“Bye Holly” Alex said. His voice smooth, low, and oozing so much sexiness Holly thought she may actually faint.
“Bye Alex” She said shyly.
As Holly and Ben turned to leave, Holly heard Dev say something to Alex.
“Ben’s not the only one who likes their gossip, Alex.”
“I want to know everything!” Dev said as they sat down at their table.
Alex and Dev sat together in their art class. Alex loved to draw, Dev preferred painting over drawing. He told Dev all about tech class, and the conversations that had happened throughout the chat system.
“You texted yourself her number?!” Dev asked.
“Is that all you’ve got to say?”
“No of course not!” Dev replied “But you didn’t tell me. Have you texted her before? She never said anything.” Dev looked annoyed at Alex from keeping that from her but he hadn’t sent any messages before today.
“One…There was nothing to tell. Two…I only texted Holly today, like I told you. I would’ve done so sooner, but with what happened I thought that, maybe, she would get mad at me.” Alex had thought that. He’d wanted, so much, to ask Holly how she was but even Dev was keeping her distance to let Holly recover. The last thing he wanted was to bother her.
“Was she ok with it?” Dev asked.
“She didn’t look unhappy about it.” He said. Shocked but definitely not unhappy.
Holly and Ben were sitting on a bench, just inside from the outdoor area as it was raining. That meant no lunch outdoors.
“I bet that got on your nerves.” Said Ben, talking about the guys using the chat to ask her out.
“It did.” She replied. “I don’t know where they get off!”
“They probably wouldn’t have the guts to ask you to your face.” Said Ben.
“Yeah, but there’s asking someone out and there’s just being inappropriate.” Said Holly.
Taylor had been suggestive and Caleb had more than crossed the line with his ‘cock block’ comment.
“Alex was fine though, right?” He asked as if fishing for hidden gossip. Of course, he would’ve known that Alex was chatting to her. They sat next to each other.
“Yes. Absolutely” she replied.
“Really?” Ben asked with a knowing smile.
“Yes…really.” Holly wasn’t about to give anything away. Especially to Ben. It would get back to Alex in an instant. Literally. All Ben would have to do was pick up his phone.
“You seemed to be having a nice, lengthy conversation.” He said as he lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t normally speak more than two sentences to him."
“Verbally challenged. Alex will agree.” Holly said as she blushed…yet again.
Getting off the topic, Holly talked about the incident with Stacey. Neither of them could believe it. Ben had mentioned that Alex had been harassed by her for a long time and he smirked when he saw Holly was getting angry. Luckily, the bell sounded for the end of the period.
The girls had to spend their lunchtime in the busy cafeteria and due to seating issues, the issue being no tables big enough for all of them, the guys had to sit a few tables away. They were discussing the days’ happenings so, of course, Holly had to go over tech class details again. She was aware that Riss and Kayla knew she liked Alex.
“We knew, Sweetie, you couldn’t hide the looks you were giving him.” Said Riss with a giggle.
“You weren’t saying anything and we didn’t want to ask. We saw how nervous you were so we left it alone.” Said Kayla with an understanding smile.
Holly received a text as they were eating. Alex.
A: This sucks
H: What does?
A: This room. Too cramped. :(
H: Only for tall people. :)
A: You have a point…shorty. :D
H: Hey!
Stacey chose that moment to breeze into the room and over to Alex.
“You missed a great party, baby.” She said.
Holly felt her fists clench. She looked at Alex and instead of the smile he’d been wearing; he now looked as if he were going to vomit.
“Not from what I heard.” He replied leaning away from her slutty hands.
“Well if you had ‘come’…” Nobody missed the emphasis. “…It would’ve been ‘fucking’ fantastic” she leered at him.
“Somehow, I doubt that.” He said was he looked at her in disgust.
“Are you always going to be this difficult?” Stacey said in annoyance.
“That’s a possibility,” Alex replied with a smirk.
Holly’s insides were bouncing up and down. He was making a joke. A private joke between him and herself.
“You know I don’t give up easily.” Stacey said, folding her arms.
“So it would seem.” Holly felt her legs turn to jelly as Alex glanced at her when he said it.
Was it a double meaning?
She hoped so. The times she had dreamt of Alex wanting her to be his. This felt just like that.
“Holly? Holly!” Said Dev.
“Oh, huh, what?” Said Holly as she noticed Stacey had gone. What had she been doing during her love fog?
Oh…shit!
She’d been staring at Alex, and he was staring right back at her. He was smiling, a panty melting smile.
“I said Stacey’s disgusting. Sleeping with Jake on Saturday and still trying to get Alex. What a tramp!”
“Oh yeah…I agree.” Holly risked another glance at Alex. When she did, he looked back and…winked.
“Ho.ly. Shit!” Said Dev. “What the fuck just happened? Did Alex just wink at you?” Dev had a grin like a cheshire cat and her eyes were wide open.
“I. I. Think so.” Holly replied.
Football, cricket, rugby, shorts, Alex’s shorts, no shirt, muscle, strong, sexy, ripped…’
Holly was getting hot right down to her lady parts. She needed to get out of there or put some blinkers on at least!
“Holly are you ok?” asked Riss. “You’ve gone all red.”
“Yeah like you’ve been running.” Said Kayla. Dev was trying not to laugh.
“She’s fine.” She said. “Alex just winked at her.” What followed was “oooh” and “Awwwww” and that was that as the girls went into a boy talk frenzy and Holly couldn’t keep up. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
A: Sorry I couldn’t resist.
H: For?
A: Winking at you.
Maybe he hadn’t meant it the way Holly had wished he had. Maybe he was apologising for turning her into a hot mess.
H: No worries. I heard you using my line again.
A: You heard me?
That confused Holly. If he thought she hadn’t heard, why look at her as if her was sharing a joke?
H: Yes. Didn’t you know I did?
A: No.
H: Oh. I thought you did.
A: You think that’s why I winked at you?
H: Well…yes.
Holly looked over at Alex. He shook his head slowly and smiled. Holly’s lips parted in shock.
He wanted to wink at me! And not because of our joke. Holly felt very uncomfortable in her chair.
Alex’s jeans were getting so tight it was difficult to sit still. Holly thought he winked at her because of a private joke. Her face when he told he it wasn’t. He wanted to kiss her so bad. Every minute, every second, it was getting hard and harder to resist doing so.
She may not take kindly to me just grabbing her and feasting on her luscious lips. Oh shit! Tighter!
Holly’s legs were tight around him. So were her arms. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest.
“Alex, for fuck’s sake man!” Said Kyle.
“What?!”
“Pick your chin up before somebody trips on it.”
“Or slips on the drool” added Ryan.
“Shut up.” Alex said, making the guys laugh.
“I’d never thought I’d see the day that Alex got hit by the love bug.” Said Kyle, shaking his head.
“What are you going to do instead?” Kayla asked when they went to Phys.Ed.
“I’ll have to use the gym.” Holly replied.
Due to the rain, Holly wouldn’t be running outside. She also knew that the guys used the gym, and she was probably going to pass out if she saw Alex exercising. The girls went to the pool area, and Holly went to the gym.
She plugged in her earphones into her phone and zipped it into her pocket. She got onto the cross trainer and started on a steady pace to warm up.
Holly didn’t notice other people coming into the gym as she used the piece of equipment the furthest away and facing the window. She was in a world of her own that Alex was in too. Together…on a beach…
Holly felt one of her earbuds come out.
“Hi there, friend.” Said Alex.
Holly jumped, lost her grip, her footing, and fell.
Alex’s reflexes were fast, and he caught her around the waist as she fell backwards.
“Whoa!” He said as he righted her but didn’t let go.
“Alex! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” she squealed.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.” He said, his lips twitching as if he were holding back a smile.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Holly found her vocal chords again.
“Um…it’s ok. I’m ok.”
Alex slowly removed his hands from her waist, and Holly felt the loss immediately, and wanted it back.
“You sure?” He asked, still looking into her eyes. Holly thought she saw Alex blushing. She sure was.
“Yes…thanks.” She replied.
“What’s going on here?” asked Ben as he walked over.
“Looks cozy.” Said Kyle. The guys had come to see what was going on. Plus, the gym coach didn’t like students hanging about, so they intervened before anybody was told off.
“I gave Holly a fright.” Said Alex.
“I fell.”
“We saw.” Ben said with a smirk.
Alex could hear a double meaning in Ben’s tone, but he wasn’t about to bring it up in front of Holly, or the others.
“I best get back to it then.” Holly said as she stepped back up onto the cross trainer.
Alex wouldn’t be able to see her, from where they were training, but he wouldn’t be able to workout if he could. He could still feel her on his hands, and he wanted to hold her again. He felt himself make a move towards Holly when Ben steered him away.
“Us too.” He said to Holly as he was physically pushing Alex in the direction of the weights area. Kyle was chuckling under his breath when they met up with Ryan who was already warming up.
“I see things are going well.” Said Ben when they were out of earshot of Holly.
“So far.” Alex smiled.
“So you’re getting along?” asked Ryan.
“Yeah. By text anyway.”
“Ah yes. ‘Verbally challenged.” Ben said and Alex just smirked.
“Only with Alex.” Kyle said, batting his eyes, which made Ryan and Ben laugh.
“Let’s just train.” Alex said as he shook his head.
Things were looking up. All he needed to do now was to keep their communication up so she would feel more comfortable with him. She hadn’t lost her words when he frightened her. Probably because he had.
Alex smiled as he thought of Holly in his arms, again.
Ryan approached Holly outside the changing area after Phys.Ed.
“Hey, Holly. Got a minute?” He asked.
Alex stopped and wondered what was happening and what Ryan wanted. He was going to try to walk with Holly as they left school, but now Ryan was messing that up.
“Sure,” Holly said. “Dev, I’ll see you later ok?”
“Yep. Four o’clock” Dev replied. “Come on Alex, let’s go.” Alex started to walk away.
“What do you think he wants?” He asked Dev.
“Oh probably to see whether she was still Ok after Saturday.” Dev suggested.
“Oh yeah, probably.” Maybe Dev was right and he just wanted to make sure she was ok and she still forgave him.
Alex was slowly coming around, but the image of Holly under the water wouldn’t leave his mind.
Holly walked with Ryan until they were out of the way of the mass of bodies trying to exit the building.
“What’s up?” She asked.
“I wanted to ask you for your help. I know it’s a bit stupid considering I almost drowned you.”
“Ryan, stop” she interrupted. “That wouldn’t have happened. Forgotten. Now, what do you need help with?”
“There’s a girl I like.” He said.
“Yeah?”
“I want to ask her out, but I don’t want to be just ‘hey, wanna go on a date?’ I want to make it memorable.”
“Do I know her?” Holly asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“You know you do.” He snorted.
“Ok. So what do you have in mind?”
“I want to show her that I’m not afraid to make an ass of myself.”
“That’s good because you have no problems any other time.”
“That hurts Hol.” He said with a hand on his chest.
“Whatever, divvie” she laughed. They chatted for a little longer before Holly had to leave. They arranged to meet up again on Friday, for free period, to finalise some details and to set everything in motion.