Fallen too Fast

Chapter 3

Flash back to end of last summer
Reggie's POV

Today is the day Alex is coming home and I can't wait. I haven't seen him all summer because his parents shipped him off to some boarding school. I hope it wasn't too bad and he's still the same Alex I've always known. Part of me fears they've completely changed him and a stranger will be coming home.

I pace back and forth in the park where he said he'd meet me. His parents picked him up from the bus station and spent the afternoon with him, so he couldn't get away until the evening.

I'm so nervous that the school brainwashed him or something. I can't stop thinking about it. What if I lost my Alex and they return an Alex whose completely different?!

I stop pacing when I see him start walking towards me and relief fills me. He doesn't look any different.

"Alex, I missed you so much." I say giving him a hug but that nervous feeling comes back when he doesn't hug me back. I pull away, and he doesn't say anything and just has a blank stare. "Alex?" I say. He had a blank almost robotic expression.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" He says in a monotone voice.

"W-What no c-c-come on, y-you have to r-r-remember me." I begin to stutter, like I always do when I'm scared. I'm always scared.

"Sorry, I don't think I so." Alex says. "But do you know where I might find my friend? Maybe you know him, his name is Reggie Peters, kinda shy but won't shut up when you get him going in about Star Wars."

I was both relived and angry that he was joking. "That's so not funny! I was scared!" I say hugging him again, this time he hugs back.

"It was so funny." Alex says. "But I missed you too."

"You have to tell me all about it." I say.

"It was boring. Nothing to tell." Alex says. I can tell something is off, something had to have happened, but I don't wanna push it.

"You sure?" I ask.

"Yep, let's go get some pizza, I wanna hear all about your summer." He says putting his arm around me.

Alex's POV

I didn't tell Reggie about what happened at the boarding school because I was putting it all behind me. I never want to think or hear the name Luke Patterson again.

Besides if I tell him, he's gonna get stuck on it when it's in the past. It already happened and it's over now.

Present

It's the next day and I didn't get to talk to Reggie after the first time I called. I tried but he didn't answer nor did he call back.

I wait for him by his locker and when he shows up I'm relived to see that he doesn't look hurt, but knowing Reg, he could be hiding it.

"Hey, you didn't call." I say. "Or answer my calls, how was it? Are you okay? Did Phoebe come? What happened when your dad got home?"

He shrugs his shoulders at me meaning he didn't want to talk, which means Phoebe probably didn't show up again.

"Ah Reg, I'm sorry." I say. "Did she at least call?" He shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He sighs. "I'm okay."

"Are you?" I ask. He nods.

"Okay, well let's just get to class." I say.

Reggie's POV

I have first period with Alex but then second period I have math, with Luke. I wanna try and talk to him, but I'm just too nervous and he'll probably make fun of me if I start stuttering.

I walk into second period and take my seat next to him, trying my heart not to turn my head and stare.

"Hey you ready for the test today?" He says. I look over and he's looking at me, he is talking to me. What do I do? Not to mention that I completely forgot about this test.

I just smile and nod.

"That makes one of us." Luke says. "Math is my worst subject. It's just so useless, you know? Like I wanna be a musician not a mathematician."

"Don't bother talking to him, he barely talks to anyone." Bobby, Luke's best friend says coming in and sitting down in front of Luke. "It's like talking to a wall, and then there's his dumb gay friend-"

"Don't talk about him like that!" I say defensively and Bobby has a look of shock on his face, probably because I've never spoken in front of him before.

"So you do speak?" He says. "Who woulda thought. I thought you were too dumb to talk but-"

"Yo, Booby just leave him alone!" Luke says. He turns to me. "Sorry about him, he can be a bit of a jacka**. You don't have to speak if you don't want to, I mean half the kids at this school talk sh*t, at least I know you won't." He says. I just nod. "Oh, sh*t wait was that offensive? I'm sorry, what I mean is, it's totally okay that you don't talk much because when you do, it's not gonna be some false rumor or lie. It'll actual mean something, just don't listen to Bobby."

I give him a slight smile and the teacher walks in to start class. She passes out the tests and I try my best to remember everything we've learned so I don't give my parents a reason to call me a failure.

Alex's POV

I get out of my class and go to meet Reggie like we always do and he is walking out of his classroom with Luke Patterson. Luke was talking about something I couldn't hear and Reggie was smiling and nodding falling helplessly in love.

"Hey Reg." I say. "Made a new friend?"

"You're Alex, right?" Luke says as if he didn't know me. Last summer his tongue was in my mouth like that was it's home and he's pretending like he doesn't know me? But I can't make a scene, not here in front of the whole school. Besides it's better this way, it's better to put the summer behind us.  "Nice to meet you."

"Same here." I say with a sarcastic smile. "Reg, can we talk?" I ask. He nods and we walks away far enough so Luke won't be able to hear us.

"Since when are you friends with Luke?"

"I'm not. Not exactly." Reggie says. "We were just talking...well he was talking I was listening. I really don't understand why you don't like him."

"I just don't want you to get your heart broken." I say.

"You don't have to be so protective over me." He says. "And it's not that I don't trust your judgement or appreciate your advice, because I do, I trust your judgment more than my own, but you don't even know Luke. What do you have against him?"

"You don't know him either, what do you have for him?" I ask.

"He just seems nice." He says. "And he stood up for me when Bobby-"

"Bobby? What did Bobby say?" I ask. I could deal with Bobby being a d*ck to me, but I will not let him treat my best friend like that.

"Nothing, really it was nothing." Reggie says. "I wasn't even offended, but Luke stood up for me nonetheless. He's actually really great Alex ."

"Okay maybe he seems nice, but trust me on this one Reg. He'll rope you in with that charming smile and then when you let your guard down he'll rip your heart out."

"You literally just met him." He says. "How could you know?"

"Because I just know. Reg, I'm just trying to protect you." I say.

"Well I don't always need you to protect me!" He says. "I gotta get to class." He says and walks off.

In all of the years we've been friends, I don't think we ever fought, but what was that just now? Were we fighting?