You Again

Friction

Its Sunday morning, and the Smith family has been back home for two days now. I'm not exactly sure how to feel, considering the fact that Alexander got extremely handsome.

Just because he's handsome doesn't mean he's the only one I might develop feelings for. Wait, feelings?! Oh god, Stella.

I'm sitting on my kitchen table again, and out the window I can see the moving truck the Smiths have rented. Convenient, huh?

"Why don't you go check on them, and see if they need some help?" My mother suggests, noticing my looking at the window. I grin, and walk out the door. Halfway across the street, I'm suddenly self-conscious. I'm dressed in sweatpants and an old V-neck. My hair is tied up in a messy pony tail. But... who do I have to impress?

The door is quickly answered after I knock three times by Aunt Donna. She looks tired, but has a bright smile on her face. "Mornin', Dear." She greets.

"I was wondering if there's anything I could do to help?" I ask, giving her a smile.

"Of course!" she squeals, leading me into the living room. "Here are some boxes that need unpacking. Go ahead and put the pictures anywhere on these two shelves for now. We'll organize them later."

I get to work, opening up the first box. I see lots of pictures of a younger Alexander. His hair is shaggy and hangs in front of his eyes. He stands proudly while holding a soccer trophy in his hand. His uniform fitting poorly on his then scrawny frame. I smile and put it up on the shelf.

Box after box, I begin to see the bits and pieces of the Smiths I never knew. They traveled a lot. Wherever they went, Alec played soccer. I find a box that reveals several trophies and medals. Everything goes on the shelves.

Then I see a box marked HOME. I open it, and feel tears well up in my eyes. I open it and see pictures of Alec and I as kids. I see a picture of us on Halloween. He is-or was Peter Pan, and I was Wendy. I teared up, feeling a drop run down my cheek.

"Mom? Hey Mom? I was wondering where some of the multi- Stella?" Alec comes into the living room wearing nothing but basketball shorts that hang low on his hips. "What are you doing here?"

"I offered to help your mom, and she told me to unpack some pictures-"

"I think you should go," he says, dragging the word Go slowly as his eyes rake my body. Suddenly, I'm extremely insecure about myself. I'm insecure that my thighs touch and I'm insecure that my stomach is not flat. I cross my arms over my chest, hoping to cover myself up.

"Why is that?"

"You just should," he says, sounding pained. He approaches me and takes the picture from my hand. I see the red ribbon.

"Why do you still wear it, then?" I ask.

"What are you talking about?"

"The ribbon I gave you."

"It was a gift," he replied, taking my hand in his after setting the photo down. "Why do you still wear the ring?"

"My best friend gave it to me," I answer.

"Stella, I barely even know you anymore." He chuckles dryly.

"I don't even know your favorite color." I give back.

"True," he whispers. I feel electric shocks goings through my fingers as they stay in contact with him. My fingers are not as long and slender as his, so I curl my hand away.

"Nothing is wrong." I answer before he asks.  I have a feeling he will ask what is wrong later.

"Honey? I think I heard you in here," Aunt Donna comes in and sees Alec and I. "You're talking? Great! I remember when you two were little, you'd talk for hours on end. Whenever you two had a sleepover, it woukd be the wee hours of the night and you'd still be chatting away!"

I feel myself blush. "That's adorable," I giggle. Aunt Donna smiles and nods.

"It was. Now, Alec, you're in the presence of a lady. go get a shirt on!"

Alec turns to me and smiles meekly, and I watch him climb the stairs. I try to adjust the sweatpants and the shirt.  I undo my hair and comb it out with my fingers and a desperate attempt to look nice.

"How is school?" Aunt Donna asks, and I grin at her as we sit on the couch and talk.

What was supposed to be a five minute affair of putting a shirt on, Alexander turned it into an hour, finally coming downstairs fully showered and dressed nicely. "Mom, I really need to get out of the house."

She laughs and glances at me. "Do you mind taking him?" I shake my head.

"What do you wanna do?" I ask him, getting up after giving Aunt Donna a hug.

"Let's go for a walk," he suggests, and we go outside.

I rub my arms right after we leave. "I'm not dressed for the cold," I say, gesturing to the clothes I'm wearing. He laughs, and puts a warm hand on the small of my back and guides me to my house.

We go upstairs, and I show him around my room. "its pretty boring," I sigh, grabbing my towel before heading off to the bathroom.

"You're just leaving me by myself?" Alec asks, faking hurt. I roll my eyes and shut the door.

After a few minutes in the hot shower, and an extra three and a half to gain courage to leave, I'm walking back to my room, hair dripping, wrapped in a towel. I tell Alec he needs to wait in the hall so I can get ready.

Half an hour later, maybe more, I come downstairs to see Alec and my dad chatting on the kitchen table over two cups of coffee. I pull my boots on and adjust my sweater.

"Sorry to interrupt," I say, leaning over my dad,  "but I owe Alec a walk."

Alec and my dad stand up. They shake hands, and just before I leave the house, I hear my dad say "Take care of her."

Take care of me?

"What was that all about?" I ask as we begin to stroll down the sidewalk.

Alec shrugs, "He was just asking me about school. Apparently I'm gonna get my schedule to match yours or something."

"Why?" I press. Alec always has been the more confident one.

"Different system," he guesses. "So," he says.

"So?"

"Are you crushing on anyone?"

I laugh at his question. "Why are you asking?"

"I'm curious."

"No one, really." I admit, half-truthfully.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You're lying."

"Excuse me?" I gasp, starting to laugh.

"That look on your face states otherwise." He points at my cheeks, causing me to blush harder than I already was.

"There's this one guy..."

"I knew it!" He jeers. "Who?"

"You know to much," I say, giving him a playful shove. "What about you? Anyone special you left behind?"

"I left her back home, yeah, but she admitted there's a guy she likes." He mumbles.

I blink a few times, and drop the topic. I wonder who his girl back home is. I sigh, but keep walking. 

"Is there anywhere particular you wanna go?" I break the silence after a while. 

"I'm back home, I don't care where we go."  He takes my wrist in his hand and leads me into the snow covered playground.

I'm gonna stop it here for now. Please don't hate me! I'll update soon.  promise♥♥

-Denise