Roller Skate || Alex Gaskarth a.u.

Chapter 27: Two Seconds Too Late

Having a fever really bummed him out.

Having a fever and a crap hairstyle bummed him out even more.

But what bummed him out the most, was that Kit had--what felt like--disappeared off the face of the earth for seven whole days now.

Every day he waited with bated breath for the second she would ring the doorbell and rush up to him, her cheeks rosy and a glint in her eye.

But she never did.

She hadn't even returned his unanswered calls.

It stressed him out a lot, and also made his anxiety levels incredibly high. She was really pushing it.

A week.

A week with no contact whatsoever.

Something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

And all he could do was sit in his bed with his mom's floral cloths on his head and a bucket of ice water beside him, feeling sick and miserable.

That was, until she showed up out of the blue on the tenth day of her vanishing act.

Upon seeing her standing outside his bedroom door, he jolted upright, a broad smile spreading from ear to ear across his lips as she shuffled in, fresh snow on her shoulders. But immediately after she stepped in, his smile started to fade. He knew something was wrong, because Kit's hair was all knotty and tangled, her eyes were bloodshot, her whole body posture was wobbly and awkward. She had an air of not wanting to be there about her, and the atmosphere was far from a happy reuniting of a girlfriend and a boyfriend.

"Hi." she said, her voice so formal that Alex nearly didn't know who was talking to him.

"Hi." he said, lying back against his wall, taking his mom's latest pink, floral cloth off his forehead.

She stared at him silently for a moment, her eyes glossy. Why was she being so awkward? Why did this whole greeting feel like a shambles already?

"How are you feeling?"

Her question was like a slap in the face. How are you feeling? Wasn't that something a doctor would ask him? Or a stranger that might have heard about his current situation, and would have felt mildly concerned for his health? The whole question was so un-Kit Parker-ish, that Alex started to wonder if aliens had taken over the world and had abducted his girlfriend.

"I-I'm feeling fine. Better now, that you're here." he said sheepishly, scratching his head.

An emotion that looked like guilt flashed across her face.

What was going on?

A very fake smile quickly replaced the guilt look.

"I'm....I'm glad to hear that." she mumbled.

Another slap in his face. Another painful comment. The whole conversation was actually getting to the stage where Alex wished it had never started.

He shook the bad thoughts out of his mind though. He shoved them aside and gave her a small smile, determined to make the evident frostiness melt between them.

"So--"

"I came here to talk to you about us, Alex." she said sharply, cutting him off.

He swallowed, a lump forming in his throat. A storm was swirling in the room. One that made Alex cross his fingers and wish he had brought an umbrella.