Butterflies

Chapter 2

Fresh summer breeze, children's laughter filled the air, in the beaches, the ocean sparkled beautifully with surfers riding waves showing off their skills. Our fun little friend group of 6, I, Alex, Caleb, Angelica, Demi and Jennie.
I raised my head up to see properly with the harsh sun hitting my eyes slightly
"Hey." His lips curled upward revealing a smile. 'You can't always be scared of the ocean, you know' Alex asked sitting next to me.

"Don't start again, you know I'll never go."

    "You look really nice today"

"Julia let's go get ice cream before I melt!" Angelica yelled from afar.

I stood up from the mat I was on, "Wanna come?" I asked the 11th grade Alex.

"Sure."He stood and followed.

The led lights on the signboard was dim and faulting already, the door becoming rusty, you wouldn't know the sweet sensations behind those very doors, "Dunkers", From the sweet cherry donuts to their strawberry shortcake ice cream, every taste and bite was heavenly.
The rest got settled in the booth, and called for a waiter to take their order.

"Look that's just how it is...accept defeat fool!"Angelica raised her voice slightly

"Angie, shut up dude! You fucking cheated!" Demi said hitting her arm.

"I can't wait to get my hands on a *chocolate bomb*"Caleb said beside Angelica
Within a couple seconds the table became filled with chatter.

Alex and I sat outside the restaurant so we could be alone.

"Come on jewel!" Alex said, his voice showed irritation "you have to come it wouldn't be fun for me without you there." He continued

"I don't want to go...plus your friends aren't my friends" I said

"Don't start with that again, I tried to introduce you but you cancel each time!" He raised his voice catching the attention of others.

"I'm sorry I'm actually serious about my future! Alex your grades aren't good enough for college applications, you know this, you should be looking for loopholes to get extra credit not to party." I said forcing my tone to stay cool

"Just say the truth, just say you don't want to meet them because of the rumors you heard, and quit fucking lecturing me! God forbid I want to have fun with my fucking girlfriend, I don't touch you and you don't want me to see other people. You know before you judge people least of all me, take a step back and think about you, where you stand when you speak to me and how we aren't the same person. Just because I pitied you and started dating you, doesn't mean you're my mother or that you have the right to speak to me like I'm a toddler."

I stare at him, tears welling in my eyes, "If pity is why you're here then I don't want it, I want someone who chooses me because they actually want me. So look at me and tell me, is there anything real here for you anymore, or was this always one sided"
I looked for some sort of sign that this really wasn't how he felt and I was stuck in some stupid dream, a second passed without a response from him.

"You know what Fuck this." He said as he got up and left.

I stared blankly at his back, each step he took echoing louder than the diner chatter, and as he got further away it broke my heart more and more. Was this really the end of it all?
I stood up on shaky legs and walked into the diner, sliding into the booth beside Demi with a lost expression on my face. The smell of coffee and fries hit me like nothing mattered anymore.
"Where's Jennie?' I asked the group, voice barely above a whisper."
"Oh she's in the restroom." Demi glanced toward the hallway. "Come on, let's go outside." She stood and stretched her arms out to me.

"I told you to break up with him. The way he yells at you... it's the same way Mike behaved."
"Demi, it's not like that..."
"Yes it is!" She stepped closer. "You deserve more, Julia. He yells at you anytime, anywhere."
"You're... he's not like Mike. They might be friends but they're not alike. Forget about it—let's go eat." I turned and walked back toward the diner.

My room was dimly lit and the latest jam blasted through the speakers. I was half-listening while hunting down the elusive 'x' in yet another math problem, a pile of unfinished holiday assignments stacked on the left side of my desk. On the right sat a tray of gummy bears—my only reliable company tonight.

After a while my phone started ringing. I stood up to hunt for it because I had no idea where I'd misplaced the damn thing. It kept going nonstop, which made me slightly worried. Eventually I found it buried under a hoodie, and I stretched across the desk to turn the speaker volume down.

"Hey, Jewel." Alex's voice came through, slurring just enough to notice.

"Alex?" I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the screen. Unsaved number. "This isn't your number though," I said, a knot forming in my stomach.

"Could you come pick me up?" He sounded properly drunk now.
"Alex, where are you?" I could hear thumping bass and voices in the background.

"I'm at the party YOU didn't want to come to," he said, leaning hard into the "you" like it was an accusation.
"Alex, just drop your location." I grabbed my keys off the desk without thinking twice.
It was about a fifty-minute drive to the party house. I pulled up, still in my blue pajamas, hair a mess, and stepped out of the car. The second I walked through the front door, the scene hit me: a loud crowd circled around a beer pong table, cheering like it was the Super Bowl, and everywhere else people were locked in intense PDA—making out like tomorrow was canceled. The whole vibe was exactly the kind of chaos I'd wanted to avoid.
All I could think about was finding Alex and getting the hell out of there.

{PDA means public display of affection, chocolate bomb is a nickname for an extremely soft donut filled with chocolate in Dunkers menu.}