That's My Spotlight | ✔

viii. newton's laws of emotion

THERE WERE MANY perks to having a free class period. One of them was the obvious — not having to sit in class for an hour — maybe more — cramming new information into an average brain. Alexander enjoyed that particularly because he got the opportunity to complete a few credits back in middle school. Currently, he's ahead in his credits, so ideally, he can sit back, relax, and enjoy his time in the school's media center. 

But the thing was, he couldn't.

It wasn't because it was a grueling Tuesday morning or because he had to hurriedly catch up on class assignments. It wasn't because he couldn't sleep the night prior, either. It was because of yesterday, and all the shit that went down in it. It upset him more than ever for some odd reason. From his viewpoint, the drama between them was nothing more than unnecessary. Even more, he was baffled at how so much drama and tension can be created just by a party game. To Alexander, it was disturbing how things would've been so much different if someone else was picked to spin the bottle. It would be even better if they played some other shitty game.

Deep down, if Alexander had some kind of opportunity to dictate what happened at the party, he wouldn't even decide for Spin the Bottle to be played. Seven Minutes in Heaven would've been a better choice, considering that Inez and Alexander could just sit in silence surrounded by darkness and heat in such a small closet. But that wasn't the point. Alexander was just baffled at how things ended up the way it did. 

He tried not to pay much mind to it, though. He sat at a small, rectangular table at the heart of the library with his earbuds jammed in and his textbooks open. Alexander attempted to ignore the situation by studying for upcoming exams and working on current homework assignments. But as his mind evolved, he realized that it really wasn't working. Not even the popular slow R&B music blasting from his earbuds were helping take his mind off of the situation. Nothing was, for that matter.

That's when Alexander realized that he couldn't run away from his problems. He couldn't hide from them, either.

That was just part of the cycle of life. Maybe he could run for a bit, but he certainly couldn't hide. Problems always have their way of haunting people, whether they like it or not. Alexander, in particular, didn't like it one bit.

To worsen his somewhat embarrassing situation, he could see Inez from a distance in front of a bookshelf, picking and choosing between the media center's wide selection of science information books. The girl pulled a narrow book from a nearly scarce shelf and skimmed through the pages. Then, she hugged the book in her arms before sauntering away from that specific section.

At this point, she was getting closer and closer to Alexander. Knowing her, she'd probably stop by to talk to him, which was the polar opposite of what he wanted. He'd rather not waste his precious free time, which was ticking against his will, so he foiled a spiral notebook out of his backpack, opened it, and placed it over his face as if he was reading it. This was to shield his face from the view of everyone else, including Inez, who was wandering her way to the circulation desk to check out her book.

A nervous sweat broke out on his forehead as he waited for Inez to pass. He'd for sure see her walk pass by the side of his eye since the notebook didn't cover his entire face. Alexander believed that it was nothing but a genius plan. That's what he hoped, at least.

But the thing was, Inez never passed by.

Instead, his ears tingled as he heard the light sound of a chair from across him slide against the carpeted ground. He lowered his notebook to take a peek just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Oddly, he wasn't. Inez Archer sat directly in front of him. His genius plan wasn't so genius anymore.