Between Friends and Lovers

(25) Alexandria

By the time Friday rolled around, I was officially done with the entire week. Second week of school meant more homework, new assignments being handed out, and weekends no longer being two days to rest and recuperate since they’d be spent doing homework or starting on assignments. But for me, second week was the worst since my personal life was also giving me anxiety.

The only thing that had become crystal clear on this annoyingly hot—so hot that we were allowed to ditch our blazers—Friday was that Ricky was ignoring me, despite the little smile he gave me on Monday. At first, Jackie had been adamant that it was all in my mind, but yesterday she finally realised that it was true.

Ricky avoiding was bad enough on its own, what made it worse was that since we shared a lot of classes and people had gotten used to seeing us together, it had become very obvious to our classmates that he was ignoring me; so I was not only left to see his more than obvious ways to ignore me but I also had to explain to our classmates, those who were brave enough to ask, why Ricky was avoiding me.

But all things considered that didn’t hurt me that much. What did hurt me was that I was now so used to Ricky being a friend that I didn’t know how to process this space. I was hurt because, in my mind, this was the beginning of him ignoring me for a very long time. I didn’t realise just how much he had become a constant figure in my life, and losing that felt like I lost a pillar that helped hold me up. And it sucked big time.

I released a deep sigh and looked out the window while tapping my pencil on my notebook. Seeing the beach in the distance made me feel like I wasn’t in English Literature, with Edwin taking her time before beginning the lesson while also ignoring Ricky’s presence behind me.

When did my life become so complicated?

“Do you think we’re going to have a surprise quiz?” Jackie asked.

I didn’t bother turning around. I was going to assume she wasn’t talking to me. Cece and Ricky were sitting close to her.

“Based on what? We barely covered enough material for her to quiz us,” Ricky answered.

I nearly snapped my pencil into two. It hit me that I was the only one he was avoiding. For the past two days, I’ve tried striking up conversations with him, but he would just shrug before paying attention to something else. He hadn’t talked to any of our mutual friends around me, and I had thought that meant he was also ignoring them. But him being able to talk to Jackie was the big ‘Nope, it’s just you!’ Sign.

“I’m just saying, if it’s a surprise quiz, then I’m going to be really surprised,” Jackie pointed out, and Ricky chuckled.

I looked forward at Lorraine Edwin, wondering what was stopping her from starting the lesson and putting me out of this misery. Lorraine was busy shuffling papers around her desk, and I understood why Jackie thought we were about to have a surprise quiz. Looking around the classroom told me that Jackie wasn’t the only one who thought so. Some students were looking at Lorraine in shock. Some were flipping through their textbooks. But some, like Paige in front of me, looked like they were ready to jump out the window. But maybe Paige just looked like that. She was, after all, friends with Diane.

As if she knew that I was thinking about her, she turned and smiled. I’ve never understood why Paige Hamilton was friends with Diane. For starters, Paige was smart, we had the same classes, and most of them were advanced. She was also kind and beautiful. She was porcelain pale, with crystal blue eyes and red hair that she kept shoulder length, and her 5’5” height complimented her perfectly.

“Alex,” she began, her voice quiet as usual. “I hope this won’t be a bother, but I had a doctor’s appointment during chemistry today, and I...”