Loving A Deformity

Chapter Three

Alec was freaking out in his own head. The hell was he doing? He went in the class and set Cera's books on her desk. From there, he went to his own desk and sat down with his arms crossed. Cera walked in with Gabe and Chris, smiling and laughing. Alec forced himself to look away from her despite wanting to see if she was greatful for him carrying her things. Cera saw her things on her desk and smiled. Quickly, she whispered in Gabe's ear and sat in her seat to get ready to start class. Not even a thank you, Alec scoffed mentally. Gabe sat right next to him and leaned close to tell him something.
"Cera told me to tell you thank you. She would have done it herself but didn't want to embarrass you at all for helping the cripple girl." Gabe explains, making Alec feel worse.

***

Lunch rolled around. It was more painful than Alec thought it was going to be. Guilt still ate at him.

Cera, on the other hand, felt better than she has in years. Finally, she felt free. Happily, she went to sit at the lunch table and went to sit across from Alec who had his right arm around Kiley.
"So, you can't tell me thank you, but you can sit with me at lunch?" He snapped. Cera looked at him.
"Oh... well, In class, I figured you didn't want me talking to you do I wanted to leave you alone. But here, since Kiley is here, I figured it wouldn't be as big of a deal. I can go if you want me to though-" She started standing up.
"No!" He sighed. "That's not what I ment."
"I can just sit at another table-" She went to leave.
"No, just sit." Alec demanded. Cera sat down and started unwrapping the paper around her hot dog. Next to her, soon sat Gabe and Chris.
"Hey." They each greeted.
"Hey, guys. You're not ditching PE today, are you?" Cera asked, grinning.
"You kidding?" Gabe smiled.
"You think we'd miss today?" Chris added.
"Oh right!" Kiley said. "I totally forgot with all the drama! Ugh! I'm such a horrible friend!"
"It's okay! You can make it up to me if you come over Friday." Cera offered.
"Deal." Kiley agreed. "So we're still meeting behind the new gym?"
"Like always." Cera winked.
"What's today?" Alec asked.
"Cera's birthday." Kiley, Chris, and Gabe said in unison.
"Every year since Freshman year on my birthday, my mom buys our favorite ice creams and waits for us behind the new gym during seventh period. All four of us escape class to eat it and try to get back before we get caught." Cera explained. "ITF you want, I can call my mom and tell her there's an extra person. What's your favorite ice cream?"
"Are you sure you want me there?"
"Why not?" Cera smiled. "C'mon, tell me so I can text my mom." She said.
"Rocky Road." Alec said.

There was some more talking in the group. They joked and laughed. It was going well except for the fact Cera wouldn't ask for help to open the ketchup and mustard packets (A/N: This is a real struggle. Why the hell are those packets so hard to open??) and it was driving Alec crazy.
"Here. Let me." Alec took his arm off Kiley and took the packets from Cera. Kiley felt almost offended.
"You don't need to-"
"Be quiet." Alec demanded and she listened. One by one, he opened the packets. He set the opened packets on her tray and put his arm back around Kiley with a breath and was almost a sigh.
"Thank you." Cera smiled at him and he nodded.

***

Cera was dressed in her PE clothes as she waited for the guys to come out. This year, she had PE with Chris, Gabe, and Alec. Once they were out, they started on escaping. For Cera and one of the guys, It was easy. Bathroom. For the other two, they had to get creative. Cera and Gabe escaped first and waited behind the new gym. Kiley showed up soon after with the same bathroom excuse. Not long after, Chris and Alec showed up.
"What was the excuse?" Kiley asked.
"I hid our clothes and said they were stolen. Coach thinks we're currently looking for them." Chris smiled proud.
"Nice." Cera smiled. "Remember, last one to finish their pint of ice cream or the first to get it on their clothes, buys pizza Saturday."
"You race?" Alec raised an eyebrow.
"No. WE race." Kiley grinned, knowingly. "Unless you're scared you'll loose."
"I won't loose." Alec accepted the challenge.
"Either way, Alec can still come over to your house Saturday, right?" Chris asked.
"As long as he wants to, of course! And as long as Kiley and him promise not to devirginize my poor eyes. I already wanna wash them with soap after this morning." She gagged.
"Can we at least hold hands?" Kiley whined.
"Sure." Cera giggled.
"Sounds fun." Alec shrugged. That's when Cera's mom drove up.
"Hey, guys!" She smiled.
"Hey, Mrs. Johnson!" The group, besides Alec and Cera, greeted happily.
"Hey, mom!" Cera smiled. "Hot me double chocolate fudge brownie?"
"Yep, here you are." She handed her the pint of ice cream. "And I've got Coffee for Gabe..." She handed it to him. "Strawberry for Chris..." another hand off. "Vanilla for Kiley... and Rocky Road for Alec." She handed them the ice cream. "Here are the plastic spoons," Cera took them. "And I'm off! See you after school, hon! Happy Birthday! Love you!"
"Love you too, mom!" Cera smiled and her mom drove off. Cera looked at the group. "Okay. Let's sit and I'll pass the spoons around." They did. "Alright. You all know the rules, can't get on your clothes, can't sabotage anyone and you have to eat as fast as you can. Everyone ready?"
"Yep!" They all said.
"Okay! Ready, set, Go!" They all started shoving ice cream in their own faces. After a while, Cera put her empty bowel down. "Done!" She shouted. Seconds later, Gabe did the same thing. Then Kiley. After another second, Alec did it too. Chris laughed.
"No!" She shouted, laughing. Everyone laughed with him. After cleaning up the garbage and laughing about it for a bit, they went back to class.

***

A couple days went by with Alec basically avoiding Cera's gaze. He still forced his help by carrying her books and things like that but otherwise didn't interact with her, which she was fine with. She still didn't like him much at all. He was still Alec Rhodes to her. The jerk who's been tormenting her for years. So far, nothing has changed her mind. Especially since when he does interact with her, he is still snappy and a bit rude. It's nothing short than what she expected out of him. She had mixed emotions about him coming over for her little birthday get together thing but there was no chance in hell she was telling him no.

Friday came along and Kiley agreed to come over that night for some girl time before the guys got there Saturday night. It was never planned as a "sleep over" for Saturday night but that's what happened every year when the guys suddenly got to lazy to go home and they all end up falling asleep in the living room. Cera's parents were cool with it as long as everyone stayed away from the bedrooms. Cera's mom or dad would stay up to keep an eye on things until about 2 am. Then they'd go to bed and hope they taught their daughter well.

After school, Cera stood, waiting for her mom, with Kiley. Kiley was having a long winded goodbye with Alec. While they talked, they held each other and kissed. She's not going off to war. Cera thought, but didn't say anything. Eventually, Cera's mom showed up.
"Hey mom!" Cera smiled and got in the van.
"Hey, sweetie." She smiled. Kiley kissed Alec one last time and got in the van. Cera's mom, Kate, rolled down the passenger window and smiled. "Hi. You must be Alec. I'm Cera's mom. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry I didn't get to properly introduce myself a couple days ago." She greeted.
"Don't worry about it. It's nice to meet you too." Alec smiled back politely. Wow, when he's not acting like a total ass, he can actually be a decent human being! Cera thought and grinned secretly to herself.
"You coming over tomorrow for Cera's birthday?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well, I know you're with Kiley but I just ask you are respectful as far as touching goes."
"Cera already warned us. I'll make sure not to cross any lines." He nodded.
"Well, alright then! See you tomorrow!" Kate smiled.
"You too." Alec smiled and Kate drove off.

***

Kiley, Cera, and Kate worked together to make Cera's birthday cake that they were going to eat the next day- or, rather "cakes" as in, plural. They did mini cakes for everyone so they all got their favorite flavors. They kept toppings and icing away until the guys came over and they all decorated their individual cakes.
"Oh, I forgot to ask Alec about his favorite!" Cera realized.
"I gottcha covered." Kiley whipped out her phone. "Plain chocolate is fine." She said after a minute.
"Oh! Mom, what if we add stuff to Alec's cake to make it like Rocky Road! You know, add marshmallows and stuff!" Cera smiled.
"Great idea!" Kate nodded and went for the pantry.
"Don't tell him. I wanna suprise him." Cera told Kiley, smiling excitedly.
"You know, it's your birthday but you're the one with the suprises." She smiled.
"I'm a giving person." Cera smiled with a shrug.
"But really, you never ask for gifts. I never know what to get you."
"Being with me- giving me your time- is priceless. That's the best gift a girl could ask for." She smiled. "I'm really grateful for you three. On my birthday, I want you guys to know that." Cera nodded decisively.
"You're so chessy." Kiley said and they both laughed as they tried to stir the cake batters.

After cooking and cleaning, the girls decided to clean up and get ready for bed. They got ready and got in their pajamas.
"Ready to sleep? We still got to set up tomorrow. It'll be a long day." Cera asked.
"Sure but... can I give you something, first?" Kiley smiled. Curious, she sat on the floor in front of Kiley. Kiley grabbed a big box out from her big bag and handed it over. Cera held it on her lap and looked at the card first.
"'Because you're special and I love you. Wear it tomorrow or I'll be offended'... wow, you got straight to the point." Cera joked and opened the box to see a light blue dress. Kiley held it up for her.
"See? The straps are thick so you don't have to worry about them falling off! And the length is great cause I know how you like your modesty so it goes to your mid calf but you can also show some of your clevage with the sweetheart neckline and- I know you'll cover your cake in blue like every year- so you won't have to worry about stains with this dress as much!" Kiley said excitedly. Cera laughed.
"I love it! Thank you!" Cera said and they hugged. "I'll definitely wear it tomorrow. But right now I'm going to bed." Cera said and yawned.
"Me too. I'll wake you up when Breakfast is ready."
"You better not. I wanted to be up and moving by that time." Cera said.
"It's your birthday thing. Give yourself a day to relax, why don't you."
"I'll relax when I'm dead." Cera laid on her bed, already drifting to sleep.
"Night, Cera."
"Night, Kiley."