Crushed

Chapter 9

When monday came, I knew to keep my distance, but it was hard. Alex seemed to be much better at this than I was, after all, he does basically turn into a completely different person around his friends. Maybe, just maybe, he does this to protect our secret. Maybe he does it to hide the quiet, kind person he really is. But, whatever it is, he's good at it. I have to say, I prefer the quiet Alex that he is around me to the loud, outgoing fake mask that he puts on with his friends.

First break was wonderful, the birds were chirping, the sun was out, and the flowers were in full bloom. The may weather, for some reason, reminded me of the last guy who found out that I had a crush on him. We became really good friends, and then he stopped talking to me. Just straight up stopped. Not one word for eleven months and counting. *Sigh* Oh well, I guess I'm better off without him. Anyways, the air outside was warm and light, and made me think of when I was young, when nothing really mattered, and I didn't have a care in the world. It's on these days that you have a sense of security, you feel like nothing could go wrong, and that the world is finally at peace. However, this utopia usually doesn't last long, and this is exactly what happened.

It was not until period 4 that terror struck. On this specific day, we had gym fourth period, and that never ends well. Today, we started wrestling and well, there is no way of telling a shorter version of this story. So, we did our normal warm up, and had to get in partners. Now, there was only two requirements, that girls would be with girls, boys would be with boys, and that they were about the same size as you. Of course, me being me, none of the other girls were even close to my size. You know, there are ups and downs of being taller than most other girls your age, but this was definitely a down. Amyways, I was stuck with the poor girl who was left without a partner. I felt genuinely bad for her, so I decided that when it came to our turn in the game we were playing, that I would catch her, but not do anything that might hurt her. Well, I guess I should explain the game first. So, essentially it was a game of cat and mouse, just across a big mat. Each partnership had a number, and one person designated as a cat, and the other, the mouse. I was the cat first, and when the gym teacher finally called '5' she ran. I caught her by her torso, and wrapped my free arm around the other side of her chest. She was stuck in that position until Mr.Prept finally blew the silver whistle hanging around his neck. We returned to our spots respectfully, and watched as Mr.Prept called out, "nine!" I knew that number, that was Alex and his partner, Josh. Well, Josh was quite the character. He always was the first to crack a joke after being told off by a teacher, he was the first to talk back, and probably most importantly, incredibly strong-headed. He was the kind of person who wouldn't apologize when accidently hitting someone in the face, he would be the first to make joke out of it. And, well, that wasn't exactly in Alex's favour right now. Anyways, when the teacher called out the number nine, Alex sprinted, trying to stay away from Josh who was the cat. Josh, however, ran at full speed into Alex, and knocked him over. The two of them landed on the mat with a loud thud, and as Josh loosened his grip, he realised that Alex wasn't struggling anymore. Josh's face lost all expression as he slowly rolled Alex over, and saw that he was unconscious. Josh let out a yelp that had everyone terrified. Mr.Prept bounded towards the two of them, and started trying to wake Alex up, but thankfully he opened his eyes just a minute later.  One of the other girls almost fainted herself! When Alex woke, he was startled and confused. Mr.Prept asked him, "What is the last thing you remember?" " He just answered, "Bella." Before being led away to the same place he was taken after spraining his ankle. Mr.Prept asked me into the office, after getting the other gym teacher, Mr.Cass, to take over.

I walked in the office, and Alex was lying on the doctor's bed, looking very lost. When he saw me he said, "Bella? What happened to me?" I tried to explain what had happened during gym, but he told me that the last thing he remembered was a fuzzy memory of thinking about kissing, and looking at me, then starwars, but that was it. I tried to explain what had happened between now and then, but I couldn't focus. I was just thinking about kissing him the entire time. When Mr.Prept came to tell us that he was going to call Alex's parents, Alex turned to me once he had left and said, "Bella, would you kiss me right now if we weren't at school?" I was in complete shock when he asked me this, and I couldn't even muster to tell him what I really wanted to say. I probably looked and sounded completely idiotic, because that was exactly how I felt. Before I could come up with an answer, Mr.Prept walked back in, and told Alex that his parents would be there in 15 minutes, but then asked me aside. "Bella, did he say what he meant when he said that the last thing he remembered was you?" "Um, I didn't ask." I lied. I knew that I couldn't tell him about what he really said to me, and I knew what Alex wouldn't say anything either.

By the time I left the office, Gym class was over, and it was time for second break. I slipped by unnoticed, and made my way to the girl's change room. I pulled on my street clothes, and walked started walking down the hall towards homeroom, where we always eat lunch. I took one step into the class, and Julie rushed over to me, "Bella, where have you been? Anne said that she saw you follow Alex into the office." "Um..." I responded confused. "Bell, is there something you haven't told me?" She asked in a stern tone. "Um... no?" "Bella, I can tell when you are lying, and I know you are right now. We made a promise that we would tell each other everything, so that it doesn't get between us." "I know, but I made a promise to not tell anyone!" "Even me?" She asked enraged. Everyone turned to us when she asked me this. "I'll tell you later" I said in a whisper, conscious of the twenty-six other people watching us. "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, I know you will eventually." Now everyone was was waiting for my response, but it never came. I whispered, "Text me after school," before walking out of the class and spending the rest of the eating part of break in the girl's bathroom. As I sat there, I thought to myself. Can I even tell Julie? I have to. Should I ask Alex first? Probably. He would understand, right? Right?! RIGHT?!?!?!? 'RINGGGGGGG' The bell interrupted my thoughts, which was probably for my good. After all, we still have math after break.