Un-Arranged Love

Chapter 20

The thought was short-lived as Alex swiftly returned to reality. Alex resisted kissing her with all his might, a voice inside his head telling him not to, ''It would ruin everything.'' So he shuffled back to his original spot, fearful of upsetting her.

''Alaya...... I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know what came over me''  he stuttered. He suddenly grabbed his backpack, stood up, and stormed away.

"Alex...." Alaya whispered as she awoke from her trance and returned to the reality she so desperately wished she wasn't in right now.

***********

Alex POV

I can't believe I just did that? What a fool I was for not going through with the kiss. I could tell she felt the same way. What is she going to think of me now? I like this girl a lot, and I believe she likes me back. I had the perfect chance to show her, but I blew it.

I can't believe I stormed off and left her there. I'm a complete moron. I made my way to the campus gym since I needed to blow off some steam. I'd put on my boxing gloves because I needed to get rid of these feelings; yeah, pounding a bag and imagining my face is on it would help, I reasoned. 

But it was pointless because I was replaying what had happened in my head every time I struck the boxing bag. I should have taken her closing her eyes and lifting her head as a cue to continue, but I ruined it. Damn it! I punched the boxing bag again.

"Hello, stranger, I haven't seen you in a long time. What have you been up to?"   Behind me, a familiar voice remarked.

Jessica Adams was standing there as I turned around.  "Hello, Jess, not sure what you mean," I grumbled as I took another shot at the punching bag, ''I've been busy "..

"Well since you asked...''  She moved closer to me and said, "It's like you've been avoiding me since we broke up."

I stopped myself from punching and held onto the bag. ''We were never together, as I've told you a thousand times. We went on a couple of dates, and I didn't think we were a good match. We don't share any same interests, and we're just not good together," I explained.

Jessica was your standard strawberry blonde, size 0 model-type girl who was overly self-conscious about her appearance. She had fillers in her lips and cheeks and wore too much make-up.  I'm not sure how she got into university because she wasn't particularly smart. We went on a couple dates, but they weren't the best. She only spoke about herself and continued to take selfie after selfie. I felt like the third wheel because she looked to be on a date with her phone rather than with me.

"Alex, we share a lot of interests," she remarked, pouting as she took out her phone to look at herself in the camera.

I wondered why she was starting this topic all over again. "Name one?" I asked, rolling my eyes at her.

"Well, we're both quite attractive, and we'd look fantastic together. See I came up with two reasons why you should give us another chance,"  she remarked, her voice screechy.

I couldn't possibly deal with Jessica today, I thought. "Jess, I have to get to class on time, so I'm going to shower and change. I'll see you around" .

I knew exactly who I wanted. Alaya. She was the one for me, she was the opposite of Jessica. Thank goodness for that. And I had blown things! 

I stormed off before Jessica had a chance to answer. Yes, running away from things is sort of my speciality. How am I going to face Alaya, I thought to myself. 

**********

Alayas POV

I can't believe I made such a fool of myself. I let my emotions take control of me at that moment, and where did it get me? No where. I can't believe I let him get that close to me and touch my face. Allowing him to think he could get this close to me was a mistake. In such a short period of time, how could I like this guy? The toughest part was that I knew nothing could happen between us because our worlds are so different. We were both from different back grounds and I am a Muslim. He'd never understand my world, and I'd never understand his.

My heart felt crushed. I bet this is a game to him. Maybe he was retaliating for the time I yelled at him in front of all those people the other day? As I headed to class I told myself that I was going demand answers from him. I felt humiliated.

The pace of the day on campus was slow. I met Tori in class, and she could tell I wasn't myself by my expression. I explained everything to her in great detail. She gasped a few times and put her hand over her mouth to emphasise how shocked she was. Her dramatization did make me chuckle a couple of times.

"Alaya, I don't think he meant any offense. I think he likes you, but something has obviously startled him. Why don't you give him a chance to explain?"  With her puppy dog eyes hidden behind her round glasses, she requested. 

''Alaya, do you like him?" She interrupted me in the middle of my thoughts, which threw me off guard.

"I'm not sure,"   I responded matter-of-factly. I'm hoping she didn't notice.

"That's not a no,"  she said, a wry grin on her face.

"Talk to him. Clear the air,'' she said once more.

"Okay, I'll give him the chance to explain himself. He'll be coming over to teach my brothers later". 

Let's see what Ass-hole Alex has to say for himself, I thought to my myself.

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