𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄 ( 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐎 )

𝐓𝐄𝐍

- CHRIS

i was sitting in the library listening to music as i did my math homework. i felt hand on my shoulder and immediately thought it was brielle. i swiveled around and was wrong. it was the last person i wanted to see.

"sturniolo! let's have a chat, huh?" reece asked me as he sat across from me at my library table. how'd he even find me? no one knew this was my normal spot except for my brothers and brielle. brielle didn't tell him right? or did she? did she tell him about saturday? i hoped not. i wasn't in my mood for an ass whooping on this monday afternoon.

"what is there to talk about?" i asked reece as i held back from rolling my eyes. it came out harsher than i would've liked but maybe he deserved that.

reece gave me a tight lipped smile and pointed at me. "i think you know what i'm talking about." i shrugged and i could see reece getting mad by the second. did he have anger issues or something? we had been talking for maybe 30 seconds and he was already seeing red.

"i don't," i replied as i crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat. "just let me know."

"it's about my girl," reece told me. i shut my eyes for a moment. his girl. didn't seem like it when he was canceling plans on her but whatever.

i shrugged. "what about her?" suddenly, reece put both his hands on the table and leaned closer to me. he was trying to look intimidating, but really he just looked stupid. i knew he would still beat my ass though so i didn't dare laugh.

"come on sturniolo. no need to play dumb. i know you were with her on saturday." i opened my mouth to respond but reece just kept talking. "i'm not stupid. i know you're obsessed with brielle." how'd he know? was it that obvious? if he knew, did brielle know? she better not.

i furrowed my brows and continued to play to my story. "who told you that?" i asked as i uncrossed my arms. reece laughed and looked down at the table. he looked back up at me and his face grew hard.

"no one needs to tell me anything. all i needed to do was look at how you look at her. you've liked her longer than i have and you still didn't get a chance with her. i'm here to make sure that you never get a chance with her," reece pointed at himself and smiled another fake smile.

i waved off everything he said and shook my head. "that's not true b-" reece cut me off.

"save your bullshit story for the next guy. long story short, i'm just going to ask you nicely to stay away from her. she doesn't like you, never has, and never will. stop chasing something you'll never catch." reece tapped the table twice and stared into my soul. "you don't want to know what will happen if you don't."

was he crazy? i get he wanted to be overprotective over his girl but threatening me wasn't exactly helpful for him. i was going to listen, but he was being way too controlling. i was more scared for brielle than i was myself.

i put my hands up in surrender and nodded. "i don't want your girl and i never did dude. we were partners for a project and that's it. i'll stop talking to her." reece smiled in satisfaction and stood up from his chair and started for the door.

"you're a good man. see you around sturniolo." reece patted my shoulder and continued his walk out of the library. i hated the way my last name sounded in his mouth. his voice just made me want to rip my hair out. now, i had to stay away from brielle completely. so much for being her friend first. how'd he even find out we hung out on saturday? it was probably ross. i should've known he was one of reece's goons.

i wondered if brielle knew this is what reece was up to. i wondered if she was the one who put him up to it. i couldn't stop thinking about brielle. not even after her boyfriend confronted me. i needed something- or someone to take my mind off of her.

suddenly, i had an idea.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

"you're alex right?" i asked from the doorway of the fitness room. i was leaning on it and i saw alex sitting on the floor stretching. her head swiveled to wear i was standing and i had never seen anyone stand up so fast. she looked flustered. it was kind of cute how she was already nervous.

alex nodded and wiped her hands on her shorts. "that's me." i smiled at alex and walked over to her. 

i stuck my hand out for alex to shake it. "i'm chris." alex grabbed my hand and shook it.

"yeah," alex let go and then turned around to pick up her water bottle. "i know who you are."

"brielle told me a little bit about you but i thought i should find out more from you personally." i did not know i had play like this. alex turned back around and took a sip of her water.

"and how did you plan on doing that?" alex asked me with a coy smile on her face. i smiled back and looked away from her for a moment.

i  shrugged and pulled my phone out my pocket. i put my face id in and went to the contacts app. "i was planning on getting your number first. then maybe we could go somewhere from there.." alex grinned and shook her head.

"if you wanted my number you could've just asked for it." alex took my phone from my hand and put her number in. when she was done, she started to give my phone back but when i reached to grab it, she pulled it away. "promise to text me tonight?"

i grinned and nodded. "i promise." alex smiled back at me and handed my phone back to me. this was new. brielle was out of the picture for real this time so i really needed to give this a shot. a real shot.

"good. now get out of here. i need to finish my cool down." i put my hands up in surrender as i laughed a little. i started backing up towards the door but stopped at the doorway again.

"bye alex," i said with a small smile at my face. alex stared at me as she sat back on the floor to continue her stretch.

alex smirked at me. "don't say bye yet. it's a see you later. you'll probably be seeing me in your dreams tonight." my jaw dropped but i quickly closed it as a smirk of my own appeared on my face. i low key liked her vibe already.

i was going to respond, but i decided not to. i walked out of the fitness from with a small smile on my face. it was time to start fresh. why not start with alex?

AUTHORS NOTE

stuff is about to start getting fun now. fun little first 10 chapters but i have a question for you guys

from brielle, what artists do you think she would listen to? this story is heavily based off songs and what not and will play a big role in the future but i just want to know who you think brielle would like