High School Sweetheart

Chapter 39

Alex couldn't speak. She just stared at me. I stood up, and walked towards her. She backed up and knocked over the bedside table. Tears glistened in her eyes.

She was running away from me.

"Alex please, I can explain it all" I say.

She shook her head.

"Were you planning on killing me, Tobin?" Alex asked, and I almost want to laugh at the question until I realize she's serious.

"Alex...of course not" I almost felt like crying.

"Then what the hell are you doing with a gun?" Alex screamed. She was terrified, and always seemed to raise her voice when she was scared or nervous.

"Alex...my job. I'm not what you think I am. I'm a cold blooded killer" I say, and think about it. "I'm an assassin for the U.S. Government. I take out their enemies"

Alex shakes her head no, and cries. She seriously begins to cry.

Alex pulled her phone out and almost dialed 911, but she threw her phone across the room and it shattered against the wall, and she dropped to the ground, holding her face in her hands. Great. How am I supposed to tell her about my death in a week? She can't handle this much heartbreak. Her innocent fiancé is actually a monster.

I go over to her, and place a hand on her shoulder. She slides her body away from me, and runs into the big bathroom attached to our room. I hurry after her, and she slams the door, almost taking off my hand. I hear her sobbing on the other side, and I slide down, back against the door. I can hear she's in the same position as me.

I curl into a ball, and put my arms around my head and put my head into my lap, back still against the door.

Alex's sobbing is starting to decrease after about ten minutes.

"Alex?" I say, my voice shaking. She stops for a second, but then continues to cry quietly. "Alex you don't understand. It was a job opportunity and I took it. They said Dad would do the same thing. I want to make him proud" I say.

No response. I sigh. I have to think of a better approach on her.

"Where I grew up, it was bad. So many people died. So many people killed, on the streets, everywhere. Every Sunday there was a funeral. I lost everything in that terrible town. I lost my sanity. And my family began to fall apart. I remember watching my uncle walk up the front steps on my birthday, only carrying one small cupcake. It had pink frosting and a candle on top. I was thrilled" I say.

I smile at the memory, and realize a tear slipped down my cheek.

"We didn't get much, and that little cupcake, and the insane idea of my uncle's to actually visit me, I felt like the luckiest kid in the world on that day. Then, three days after that he was killed walking into church" I say.

Alex is silent.

"I was eleven at the time. I remember standing at his tombstone, and crying. Then, I went silent. I reached down and touched his name, and told him 'I won't let this happen to anyone again'. Of course, murders continued. But I felt stronger. His death strengthened me. It made me different. Everyone noticed. My mom was worried about me, and I also remember her talking about me to my dad, saying it was unhealthy" I say.

Not a sound on Alex's side.

"Dad left for war, and Mom got so protective of me. I couldn't step outside during the day, so I snuck out at night. I saw people die, Alex. One night I was asked to shoot someone from a local gang. I didn't want to, so they went ahead and shot all the windows out of my house"