Magnetism

16 - three of us

The day ended up being clear, clear but with a biting cold edge. November has taken control of the weather, using it for its own. Around lunchtime, I was sat outside, not on school grounds but close enough that I could go back to lessons that afternoon. It was my free period and I was catching up on some reading for English Literature under a tree.

As I flicked to the next page of a handmaid's tale, I heard the snap of a twig. I was nestled comfortably in the tree trunk and I was jolted rudely from my exact position. My head whipped around looking for the source. To the left: nothing. To the right: a familiar face - well faces. Noah and Alex.

Alex was stood, her tan skin covered in goosebumps from the breeze, against Noah's chest. Looking at them both, I could truly appreciate how tall Alex was. She was always taller then me, but now I suspected she was only just under Ivy's height. My measly 5ft6 no longer seemed above average from this company. Anyway, as they stood pressed against each other, I noticed how Noah was only 2 inches taller at most.

"Brooke" Noah smiled, seemingly happy to see me

"Oh hi" I muttered.

Meanwhile, Alex stared at me. A firm stare from her eyes to mine, as if she wanted me to know that this was in fact her idea.

"Can I help you or-"

"What are you doing with her?"
And there it was. I remember how Alex's voice was spiteful, and how that made its way through me like a bullet. It slowly and painfully made its way to my heart, ripping it at the mention of 'her'

That is what made me sit up. The chill brushed off of me as I radiated with the fire within me. I felt a strength like no other and more then that, I felt defensive of the girl I had spent the night with.

"Ivy" I replied

"What?"

"Her" I said gesturing quotation marks "name is Ivy"

"Oh"

"Use her name" I stated, plain as day 

That was when Alex's face fell, as if I'd slapped her. I purpose in way I had; I had slapped her ego, because that is what had begun all of this.

"Fine" Alex replied

"Fine" I sarcastically smiled back.

I watched Noah start to fidget, unlike Alex he wasn't nearly a match for how stubborn I was. Noah was kind and awkward, he wasn't made for confrontation. He was able to communicate problems but he and I both knew the attitude Alex had had walking up to me. Perhaps that's why he was the one to sit down, opposite me, because Noah wanted this ironed out. Naturally, Alex followed suit, sitting down closely beside Noah

"How are you?" Noah asked

"I'm good yeah"

"We heard, you know about Toby" he whispered

So I looked at him hard in the eyes. They were soft sympathetic, but I could see the caution too. In a way that angered me, I wasn't angry at Noah. But at Toby. He had made people want to be careful around me, he had made me nervous, had ruined the naivety that I had and it made me want to scream.

"I think everyone did"

It was Alex who reacted next, in a sorta of braced away. She was uncomfortable and yet a tint of concern shone through her eyes.

"But you're okay" she whispered

A let a small, false reassuring smile come to my face and replied with an "of course"

And then silence. It wasn't awkward, just quiet. The cold started to seep into me again returning like a ghost come to haunt me. I knew my friends were feeling it too but it seemed wrong to break the silence with something as trivial as weather. Instead, Noah's sharp intake in breath is what broke the silence first, and I braced myself. Because ultimately, I knew what was coming