The clattering of keys was enough to awake Aliina. She gave a slight yawn and rubbed her eyes as her eyes tried to adjust to everything. She headed down the stairs and went into the kitchen to find no one. Where had Jason and Nicole gone to? They were nowhere to be found.
Why then had she heard the clattering of keys?
She was just about to find out when her mum made her way into the kitchen. "Hey mum" she greeted while hugging her. "Hey darling, how was school today?" she asked. " 'Twas good and your day at work? "
"Extremely hectic but okay. Are your siblings in? " her mum asked her.
At the age of forty three, Mrs Jasper looked like every other bikini model except in her own case,she had birthed children but didn't even have the stretch marks to prove it. Aliina always adored her mum's ability to keep fit even with how much her place of work demanded of her.
"No,I think they went out, but they should be back soon." Aliina made herself something to eat and headed out of the kitchen when she was done. She needed help with that assignment because her mind had not been in the class. She decided to call Denise.
Aliina: "Hey"
Denise: "Aliina? Omg, what was up with you in class today? You looked lost like your mind was wandering places. "
Aliina: "The class was just straight up boring, it was unbearable. "
Denise: "I was soo worried about you, thought I'd call you later. "
Aliina: "Well, I've called you now and besides I'm fine. I was exhausted initially. Anyways I needed help with the assignment. I mean I've got an idea but I'm not so sure.
Denise: "Okay, I'll send a text to you on how you can go about it cos I'm not at home now. Is that ok? "
Aliina: "Sure, okay bye. "
Denise: "Bye. "
She hung up. Now she just had to wait for the text from Denise. As she waited, she decided to lay her head down for a few minutes. Why was she so tired?
Now one may ask; Doesn't Aliina have any friends-seems like such a loner?
Aliina has friends or rather had.
The only reason she seemed like such a loner was because she had built a wall all around herself, not letting anyone in. As she lay on her bed, it occurred to Aliina that maybe, just maybe if she could go back to socializing with people, it could be a first step to making her feel better.
She got up and checked her phone. Still no text message
She decided to step out just for some air. It's about time she let go of all this worrying and depression, it wasn't doing her any good.
"Mum, I'm going out for a walk! " she shouted. No reply? Oh well, she's probably busy.
Aliina began walking down the street which seemed somewhat empty. Odd. Was this a coincidence or...? Aliina heaved a sigh of relief just as she saw a few people walking around. She smiled. Why was she worried? The slight breeze was enough to blow Aliina's hair to her face. Just as she tucked it behind her ear, she saw a figure running from the corner of her eyes. She turned. She could swear she had just seen someone in the dark alley looking at her. She walked into the alley. "Hello?" she said sighting no one. Weird. She came out and just as she wanted to keep on walking, she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. She shook out of fear. Oh no! why did she want so badly to find out who the figure was when she could have just walked away? She was always doing stupid things. It was so unsafe doing that. What to do, what to do.
She turned around still shaking. Whatever would happen she would protect herself by all means. Her life might have been bad but death was not in her dictionary yet.
"Hey, are you gonna turn around or are you trying to ignore me? " a male voice said.
Wait...this voice sounds familiar.
Aliina turned around to see Alex. "Hey" she said with a smile. "Hey, why'd you take so long to turn around? " he asked. "You just startled me, that's all" she replied. "Sorry" he said sincerely
They stood there looking at each other. The awkwardness was so thick you could cut it with a knife. "So... what are you doing out here? "Aliina asked trying to make small talk. She looked him in the eyes. Alex was the captain of the football team at school. He had dirty blonde hair that usually crawled out onto his forehead and he had these chocolate brown eyes that always seemed warm and inviting. She remembered how she and Alex had been close friends since middle school. He was the new kid and they had sat together in class. Over time, she had come to know Alex as a very sociable and caring friend.
"...What about you, why are you out? " A voice filtered into Aliina's thoughts.
"Huh? " she asked. She hadn't heard a word he said. Deep in thought... again.
"Aliina, are you okay? You seemed to have just tuned me out." "Sorry" she apologized." I'm fine. Just stressed from school and all." She lied. Or was it a lie?
"Okay? " He looked at her uncertain. "So do you want to get something to eat? " Alex asked.
"So forward?" inquired Aliina.
"What? No, Aliina I'm just asking if we could get some ice cream. You've been kind of distant lately and I just wanted us to hang out a bit." "Oh sure, I think I need it" she replied to him. Why had she thought otherwise? God! she was so stupid. Alex probably thought she was crazy or something.
Aliina shook her head trying to ignore her brain that was telling her how stupid she was. She was still condemning herself when she heard him talk. "I don't mean to be intrusive, but why have you been so distant of recent. Is it still school because I know everyone is stressed out but you are the only one isolating yourself" he said. "Oh,I'm glad you noticed. My life is a total meltdown and I'm just regretting everything and I'm so confused that I don't what to do. " was the reply she gave but of course she said it in her head, not out loud.
"I...I just...I um...it's personal. " was what she voiced out instead. "Okay? I just hope you're okay." "Yeah, I'm fine. Fit as a fiddle. "
Fit as a fiddle? Really Allina? That's the best you've got?
Alex chuckled. Aliina looked down. Alex was such a nice guy. She had often said that his being polite could make a girl misinterprete it all. But she knew they were just friends and nothing more so she didn't have to bother about having feelings for him. Or were they?
***********
Aliina looked up to see that they were now at the ice cream parlour. Alex made to open the door for her and she mouthed a thank you to him as she walked in with him behind her.
They got to the counter and Aliina asked for an ice cream sundae while Alex asked for vanilla flavoured ice cream.
After they got their ice creams, they sat down and got talking. "Okay, I didn't think much of it at first but I'm so glad you brought me here. The ice cream is soo nice."She said to him. "It's fine. Besides it seemed like you needed to loosen up a little. " he said to her.
As they got talking, Aliina realised that by secluding herself she had really missed out on alot. She could feel the walls coming down as she talked with Alex and laughed to her heart's delight. "So how's Daphne? " Aliina asked him. Daphne was Alex's girlfriend. It was the cliché relationship where the school's football team captain and the head cheerleader were dating.
Aliina scoffed to herself. Cliche. Aliina hated anything cliche. It just really annoyed her when things were just so cliche or when people were dramatic or when situations were annoyingly predictable. It drove her crazy. She liked things to be special and unexpected. "Actually, we just broke up last week. She was becoming too much of a bother." he complained. "Oh really? "Aliina asked unsurprised. "Yeah, I don't know why I never noticed it before. She thinks that we have to be together for popularity reasons and that everything always has to be perfect. "Alex said with a tint of annoyance in his tone. Aliina looked at him. His facial expression was one of disgust, annoyance and topped with amusement . "Perfect" that was her favourite word. She remembered what Alex said about Daphne and rolled her eyes. Again Cliche. "Well I hope you are doing ok."She asked. "Yeah, in fact I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders." was his answer. Aliina laughed at the look of relief that washed over his face. "She must have been a real pain huh? " she joked. With a laugh he replied "You have no idea. "
