The connection

Chapter Thirty five - Sparks fly

Alex

I looked up at the clock impatiently as I flicked my pen against my notebook. If we were meeting before school he better be here soon. I glanced at my phone and considered typing out a message but then thought better of it and returned my attention to the clock on the library wall. When I woke this morning and decided to meet Nate to discuss the English assignment I thought I was being the bigger person but now I was beginning to think he'd played me for a fool.

The door opened behind me and I turned to see Nate casually strolling towards me as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Nice of you to show up" I muttered beneath my breathe

"Sorry princess, traffic" he offered in way of apology. I shot him an angry stare in return.

"Sorry, Alex I mean" he looked at me with a serious expression. I wasn't going to get sucked into this one. I turned my attention back to the assignment and started to read it out loud before he cut me off

"Hey look, I think we got off in the wrong foot. How about we start again, want to blow this off until later and go and grab a coffee...my treat" he smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye.

"I think we should stick to the assignment for now" I replied

"Come on, we can meet after school to go over this stuff" he gestured to the pile of papers in front of me "I feel bad for giving you such a hard time and I think it's only fair I make it up to you, what do you say?" He asked hopefully

I rolled my eyes as I gathered my papers together "fine, but we are getting this assignment started after school. I don't want Hoskins on my back"

"Agreed, your far too scrawny to carry him" he teased with a wink.

I couldn't help but laugh at his pathetic joke as we headed to the cafeteria together.

We both ordered a latte and sat down outside together in a sort of awkward silence.

"Do you mind me asking about it"

"About what"

"Why you were in rehab"

I looked to the ground suddenly feeling very nervous, he certainly didn't waste anytime did he.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" he cut in clearly feeling he had asked too much.

"No it's fine,....I Uh...I guess I don't deal with my problems very well, things in my life were messed up. Bad stuff happened and I kind of just couldn't handle it anymore"

He looked at me seriously "did you hurt yourself"

I shook my head "no nothing like that. I just lose control, I panic and then the panic takes over"

"What makes you panic"

"Everything"

"Everything? Surely you can be more specific?"

He certainly was persistent but something made me want to open up to him. So I did.

"Let's see things that make me panic...my dad leaving, falling in love, the cabin, him leaving, all of it was too much"

"The cabin?" He questioned

"Yeah...I was assaulted, attacked whatever, well sort of anyway, it was messed up" I wiped a tear from my eye. Why was I telling him all of this.

"Someone you loved hurt you" he stated not asked

"Not in the cabin, that wasn't him but I guess he was the reason it happened at least. Then I hurt him, he hurt me...guess you could say we were both good at hurting each other"

He looked at me intently studying my face as I sipped my coffee.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, I don't even know you and you were a complete asshole to me" I smirked in disbelief.

"Sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger, and I'm sorry you're right, I was an asshole before, forgive me" he nudged me slightly and offered a smile

I couldn't help but return it as I looked into his bright green eyes. "Sure, but I think it's only fair if you tell me about you...now that I've told you all of my secrets"

"Oh I'm sure you still have a few secrets you could share" he winked "but your right, it's only fair for me to tell you something in return" he stopped to take a sip of his coffee.

"Well, what's the story behind the mysterious Nate Ashford" I asked with a cheeky grin

"Not much to tell I'm affraid Miss Morgan. My parents split up, mum remarried and they moved here. I had to up and leave my life and start a fresh even if I didn't want to" he looked away

"You miss your old life?" I asked sympathetically

"Sometimes, I miss my friends...I don't really fit in well here. People are very..."

"Princessey" I answered for him for a laugh. He laughed along with me

"You could say that, if that were even a real word....but I was wrong about you, I think I could get along well with you" he smiled and I suddenly felt the air around us heat up. He stared at me as I remained frozen on the spot hypnotised by his presence. His hand reach out to mine and sparks shot up my arm which only intensified the atmosphere around us.

"Alex" he whispered as I leaned in closer

"Alex there you are I've been looking for you everywhere" Natalie's voice snapped me out of my trance and I practically jumped away from Nate almost spilling my coffee.

"Nat, sorry I completely spaced. I uhh had to meet Nate to discuss our english project" I replied flustered.

"Right" she said eyeing us both suspiciously.

I grabbed up my things and walked over to my friend feeling the air lift as I moved away. I linked arms with Natalie and pulled her away turning back and offering an apology to Nate.

"Sorry Nate, catch up after school about the project" and before he could reply I was out of there.

*****

"So are you going to tell me what I just walked in on there because it looked like you and Nate were about ready to jump each other's bones" Natalie asked accusingly

"What, it was nothing we were just meeting for coffee to discuss our project. Absolutely nothing was going on" I lied

"Really, because you looked pretty cosy to me"

"Well we weren't" I snapped defensively

"Hey, relax I'm joking. Besides Hun, it's okay to move on. If you want to flirt or hook up or whatever with whoever then you can. No judgement from me, you deserve a bit of fun" she winked at me.

"We're just friends, nothings going on" I shot back again hoping she would drop the topic. She did. For the rest of the day all I could do was think about his hand on mine, the way his eyes sparkle as he looked at me and the way my body seemed to ignite with his touch. How could this be happening to me again.