To Real to be Fake

Zachary

Our Uber driver smelled like taffy. The old man in an olive vest picked us up from the movie theater. He drove an old, beat up, red minivan. As he pulled up to the curb he swiveled and almost hit a parking meter.

"Hey Zach?" Alex said. I turned and looked over at her. "Thanks for, you know, doing what you did.", she started to blush.

"Hey," I started. "It's no problem, he was being a jerk anyway." I reached out for her hand, and she slowly grabbed it.

"Zach?", she said. "You never told me what happened between you too. I want to know." As she said that, she looked into my eyes. Her eyes sparkled as usual, but they were full of confusion.

Beep.

The Uber. I pulled Alex's hand and walked her over to the uber. As we got into the car I got a sense of insecurity. A wave of worry washed over me, but then again she asked to know what happened.

I look out the window as we start to pull away from the theater. Memories flushed back as I though about where to begin.

"A few years ago Joey told me something big. He told me he had a crush on a girl. I didn't ask who, but instead just confessed I did too. He said we would both say who on a count of three. One. Two. Three. We both said, in unison the name Alex." I look over to Alex to see how she reacted. Poker face, even though no emotion showed she was still beautiful.

"When he heard I liked you too, he wouldn't have it. He beat me up. I tried to explain that I didn't do anything but he still punched. Then he said if I ever asked you out, he would hurt you." I made eye contact once again, this time there was so much sadness in her eyes. She quickly shut them as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"So I kept quiet, I never told anyone about what happened that day. Or what he said to me, and threatened to do." One last time I looked over at Alex. Tears streaming down her face, her eyes puffy and red, and she was still stunning.

"Zach..." she croaked. "Zach... I-I'm so sorry." I shook my head and squeezed her hand.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You did nothing wrong." I squeezed her hand once again, and she let go. I tried so hard to pretend my heart didn't shatter in that moment.

I quickly jolted back to reality when her lips touched mine. Her hands grabbed my cheeks, and all my blood rushed to my face. Her lips were salty from her tears. She smelled like summertime, and as I closed my eyes I knew I would do anything to experience that again.

Crack.

A throbbing pain in my head appeared and it took over my body. My body went stiff, and before my eyes shut, the last thing I saw was Alex's smile as she pulled away from mine. Then it all went black.