Cultured

Chapter 13 | The Importance of Being Earnestine

Hannah: "Okay, that was not my proudest moment. I guess I'd just been so mad at everything that I finally blew up. I know it's been a while since then, but I still feel awful about it."

Alex: "It's fine, Hannah. I mean, I probably deserved it anyway. I was kind of a jerk to you that day. Seeing you with Stefan just made me really angry."

Azalea: "It was definitely a hard time for all of us. And don't even get me started on 'Earnestine'—if you can even call her that."

Hunter Thomas Singleton:

Through my windshield, I watched Hannah's car speed down the street and cut to the right at the next intersection. Stefan stood motionless, lovestricken on the sidewalk, eyes tracing Hannah's path as she disappeared.

Fists balled, Alex turned away, gritting his teeth. Stiffening his back to Stefan, he trekked over to where my car sat parked, covered by overhanging trees that sprouted next to Starbucks's glassy exterior, shadowing the lot.

When Alex opened the passenger door and climbed inside, he didn't even look me in the eye. Most of the drive back to his house passed in silence, his arms crossed in defeat as we traversed the monochromatic highway stretch.

"Thanks for driving me," he finally managed when we were about five minutes away from the neighborhood that he and I now shared. "Too bad it was a total bust."

"Hey, come on, dude. Don't say that," I tried.

"Why not, Hunter?" he shot back. "She turned me down for some grade-grubbing dork."

"Look, I don't know what happened in there, but I have a hard time believing she's head over heels for Stefan after one date."

"It wasn't a date!" he snapped.

I shrank back. "I—I'm sorry. That's not what I meant."

Alex paused, then shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." He shut his eyes. "Gosh, I am not myself today."

I held my silence.

"And you're right," he continued. "She wasn't head over heels for him. She was just mad at me—really mad."

"But...why?"

"She's upset that I followed her there from school." He sighed. "But what was I supposed to do? I mean, she left with Stefan—STEFAN, for crying out loud."

I hesitated. "Alex, can I ask you something?"

He turned to me, sighed. "Yeah, man. What is it?"

"Do you like Hannah? Like, really like her?"

"Dude, have you been hiding under a rock the past two weeks? I'm crazy about her."

"Well, why? What about her makes you feel that way?"

He gave a slight pause. "I don't know. I guess I...I just love that look in her eyes when she's happy, when she gets a math problem right in practice, or just when she's laughing and hanging out with me and you and Azalea. I love making her smile, and...I want to be there for her." He shook his head. "But I guess that doesn't matter if she hates me."

"Dude, come on," I practically begged. "Don't do that to yourself."

It was his turn to retreat to silence.

"Look, Alex, if you really like Hannah—and I know you do—then you've gotta give her the chance to like you back. I'm no expert or anything, but I do know that girls hate being smothered, even if it's by someone they like."