Picturesque

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Luckily, everybody's attention had been captured elsewhere and they soon forgot about me, but the sudden pang of loneliness I felt was unbearable. There I was, sitting in defeat on the ground while the raw egg slid down my entire body. What came next was so unexpected that I had to pinch myself to believe it.

The scent of a familar crisp cologne enveloped me, and I figured I was going crazy in an effort to comfort myself. I inhaled sharply the scent of Alex's cologne that brought me back to the memories of being in the safety of his arms. But when I snapped into reality at seeing his hand reach out to me, it hit me that it wasn't all in my head. Alex was actually standing in front of me. Dumbstruck, I stared at it, unable to bring myself to let my eyes travel to his face.

"Tuesday?" he quietly asked. I felt so petrified at his voice that all I could do was stare at him in amazement. At my reaction, he tenderly bent down and grabbed my hand and helped me up. The warmth that trailed through my body from his touch gave me such a dizzy feeling that I tripped over my own feet, falling over. When Alex caught me against his chest, I was certain he could feel my heart beating like a hammer against his and my face flushed into a color I'm sure it had never been. Just for a moment, his arms were protectively wrapped around mine and our eyes met. He broke our gaze by undoubtedly looking around to see if anyone had seen, and his reassured face at the completely empty hallways completely ruined any connection I had felt before. I backed out of his arms slowly as the realization struck me. I was still Tuesday McScott. I was still the absolute worst person to be seen within a two foot radius with, unless you were throwing food at me. I could feel Alex's gaze on me as he registered my hurt expression.

"I miss you," I blurted stupidly, covering my mouth the instant the words spilled out of my mouth. Alex hesitated, his blue eyes focused on me. I braced myself for the worst as he opened his mouth.

"I..  I miss you too," he quietly admitted. Much more than I would have liked, my face lit up as hope began to rise inside of me, but it was shot down just as quickly once he continued, "but..," he trailed off.

Of course. But he couldn't possibly ruin his precious reputation by dating someone like me. Anger built up quickly until I couldn't contain it any longer.

"What was I to you?" I practically screamed at him. "Was I just someone to keep your reputation? Then please, I'd love to know, why you've wasted so much of your precious social time to help me off this floor where you watched your own friends knock me down to it?"

Alex ran his fingers through his dark brown hair in frustration as he closed his eyes. "I care about you, Tuesday. I really do," he quietly said, as if talking in a regular voice would mean the entire world hearing what he said. "I really couldn't take how upset you looked when they egged you today," he said, his voice steady. "But I'm sorry I wasted my time," he finished coldly. With that, he spun around and left me standing alone.

Saying I was pissed off was an understatement. I did all I possibly could to keep myself from screaming at the top of my lungs. He was sorry he wasted his time?! For what, ten minutes? I paced back and forth as the time passed, my lunch period quickly slipping away as I wasted it angrily walking back and forth in a fog of thoughts. Just who did he think he was? Never had I hated him more, and never had I wanted him as my own either. The determination was set in me now. I had to get him back.