How can I love you?

3

After Alex told Jack and Ryan off, the whole class was in awe, some saying "Oooh" and stuff like that. Alex didn't look ashamed at all, though. Jack smirked at her, and took a step towards her. I stood up from my chair, vowing to punch him right in the face if he touches Alex. Ryan puts his arm out to stop me. I smack it away.

"Feisty, aren't we, Alexis?" Jack says, putting his hand on her waist.
"Don't touch me, you fuckass." Alex states and slaps him right in the face.

The class goes up in gasps and stares at the scene in awe. Jack slowly lifts his hands up in defense. His left cheek is slightly red from the hand that belonged to Alex. Ryan steps away from me and closer to his brother. My mouth was slightly open, eyes wide, and just in awestruck. This is the first time I've ever seen Alex hurt someone. Aside from that time where she punched this guy in the face in middle school, because he called me ugly. Yeah, Alex is that type of 'good girl'. She's the type of person that you'd least expect to hit someone. Jack smirks and puts his hands down, and grabs Ryan by the wrist.

"Let's go, bro. Class is going to start. Don't wanna get in trouble on the first day, don't we ladies?" He winks at us both and heads to the very back of the classroom. Everyone slowly returns to their own conversations, and soon, the whole room goes from an eerie silence, to obnoxious noises. Alex sighs heavily, rolling her eyes as she sits down and buries her face in her arms. I sit down in my seat and stare at her back. Leaning forward, I poke her back gently.

"Hey, Alex." I say softly, "It's okay, Jack and Ryan are asses, and we know it. I'm proud of you for slapping his stupid face."
"Thanks Shi," she replies tiredly, "but now I got Jack germs on my hand now." I hear her chuckle softly, and I do the same. I reach into the pocket of my cardigan and pull out a mini hand sanitizer. Japanese Cherry Blossom? I wonder, Where the hell did this come from? Shrugging slightly, I tap Alex on the back.
"Here. Randomly found this in my pocket." I laugh. A smile forms on Alex's face, and for what seemed like the hundredth time today, my heart skipped a beat.
"Thanks!"

And then, our teacher came into the classroom. Our teacher, Ms. White, was - from what I've heard - the best homeroom teacher for seniors in our school, so I was pretty pumped to have her. She was about in her thirties, but she knew how to have fun. She came to school wearing a yellow sundress with blue roses imprinted on it, lime green vines and stems were plastered around the roses. Her shoes were matte black high heels (which Alex and I thought were pretty cool.), and she had this necklace with the date July 27th, 2008 on it in Roman numerals. I'm guessing it's an important date. I mean, it has to be, right? Her hair was an auburn color that lay flat on her shoulders, and her faded freckles were spread all over her face. She looked a little young to be in her thirties. She had pale, emerald green eyes that just captured everyones' attention. Her voice was bright and cheery, and got the class filling the room with laughter from her funny-ass jokes. Boy, did I love this teacher already!

Anyways, a little time-skip, the last bell finally rang, signalling the end of the day. The first day of school was pretty great, aside from the incident with Jack and Ryan, Ms. White made things a lot of fun, and really got the class pumped for the year ahead. As Alex and I left, and exited out of the school, she turned to me.

"You wanna go to the mall for a bit, Shi?" She asked. My heart fluttered.
"Sure." And then Alex grabbed my wrist, and dragged me towards the mall, which was only about 15 minutes away. Our local mall was quite big. Probably the biggest in town! It was located in the Downtown area, where the majority of the school lives, and had some of the best shops. Of course, like any other mall, they have tons of clothing stores, video game stores, makeup shops, you know, stuff like that. There's a theatre nearby that shows new movies and has an arcade. Alex and I went there during the summer to play in the arcade. I remember us also going there to watch a horror movie. If I can remember correctly, I think the movie was Carrie. That horror movie with the possessed girl who can control fire or something? It's been a while, so I can't remember much.

But, I do remember seeing Alex get really scared, and having to hold my hand throughout the entire movie. I'm honestly not that scared of horror movies, but it was kinda cute to see Alex be all scared.

When we both entered the mall, I glanced at Alex, and saw her eyes sparkle with excitement. She had the brightest smile on her face, and I realized that it hadn't even been that long since she last went here. She let out a soft squeal, and I chuckled at her excitement. She was just too cute.

"Whaat?" Alex said looking at me with wide eyes. The smile stayed on her face like it was painted there with acrylic. She looked like a seven-year-old at DisneyLand for the first time.
"You look like this is your first time here." I laughed.
She pouted, "It feels like forever since I've been here, Shi!"
"It's only been a few weeks." My heart raced as she playfully rolled her eyes at me.
"Whatever." Alex let go of my wrist, and moved her hand down to my own, and interlocked our fingers together, and ran to the H&M store.

I can't stop the intense blush on my face. The feeling of her fingers wrapped up in mine, and how hers fit so perfectly in the spaces between my fingers, and how tightly she was holding onto me, as if I was going to leave her the second I let go; was an amazing feeling. My heart wasn't pounding from the amount if running I was doing from Alex dragging me, but it was pounding from the excitement, and nervousness I was getting when I saw her eyes light up at the sight of a plain grey, crop top with a rainbow on the breast, and whenever I saw her flash me a bright, warm smile, with her big hazel eyes, staring back into mine with joy.

Then I realized; it's going to be very difficult to come out to her.