Crush

Chapter Four: After School

Alice could see them fighting again. She was standing in the parking lot leaning against an old grey car watching two figures in the distance. They were gesturing wildly at each in the play ground, surrounded by crowds of people heading out of school at the end of the day.

It felt like every time her back was turned the two would converge like a pair of magnets drawn towards each other. She wasn't the jealous type, her annoyance was a secondary outcome of the confusion Chris' friendship with Jane generated overall.

People tended to form attachments through shared common ground. Not because they found it easier to maintain the status quo instead of severing what seemed like an unhealthy bond.

Growing tired of the view, Alice welcomed the fierce wind that swept her long hair forwards to temporarily block everything from sight. The breeze whirled underneath her short skirt making it billow out, and exposing bare icy white legs to the cold.

Instead of standing outside spying on a conversation that might have meant more than it looked on the surface, she decided to walk back to where her boyfriend had been held up.

She marched out of the car park, then through the entrance to the school gates. Just past that was the playground where the two students were still arguing.

Taking quiet confident strides, Alice walked over to stand in front of them then slide in the small gap their bodies left.

Her lips pulled up into a smile that was intended to look friendly, but only managed to convey clear indignation. "Hey what are you guys up to?"

The pair jumped back, and away from each other in an awkward motion.

Chris was the first to speak, his fiery blue eyes turning cooler, more indifferent now they were no longer directed at Jane. "Sh*t, Alice, you scared us," he said to his girlfriend, but didn't look scared in the slightest.

He threw a glance her way, and their eyes locked for a few agonisingly long seconds before he turned to look away, breaking the connection.

Not missing the coldness in his gaze, Alice decided to test the waters further by slinking one calculated arm around his shoulders, "so what were you guys talking about?"

Her body tensed when the contact generated a visibly negative reaction. Chris bristled uncomfortably then slinked back a tiny inch just as a girl's high pitched voice broke through the silence.

"Your boyfriend was just telling me how girls are basically defined by the guy they're dating." Jane commented, clearly intending to get a rise out of the boy staring daggers at her now.

"That's not what I told you," Chris chimed in without hesitating, the usually calculated indifference he seemed to wear on most occasions slipping off his face, "I said that some people lack the personality to have their own identity in a relationship, boy or girl."

As he spoke the piercing on his tongue glinted in the light drawing everyone's eyes. He wasn't wearing a coat, just a thin white shirt which rippled in the wind.

"You should have saved your breath, and just came out and called me boring and insignificant." Jane shrugged listlessly, but couldn't hide the tension in her jaw.

Alice had to admit she'd been wondering something along the same lines for awhile. Jane did have some good points. She was relatively smart, sort of caring, and once or twice had something funny to say. However on the whole nothing about her stood out enough to have much of an impact on anyone. Especially not two of the most interesting boys at school.

"So do you think that it applies to us too then, the whole one person being the defining factor in a relationship?" Alice attempted to turn the topic of conversation away from the other girl.

When Chris shook his head, and answered, "nah course I don't," she nodded approvingly at him.

But then he continued. "It's different with us, we've only been dating for four months."

It had actually been closer to six, and the unintended miscalculation immediately turned the atmosphere between them thick with tension.

All of a sudden Alice was tired of freezing in a thin leather jacket, tired of the looks flying between her boyfriend, and his best friend Jane. Tired of being in the middle of it all.

She took a step away from the pair, then asked,"is this seriously what you two have been fighting about?"

It was unfathomable that a conversation discussing other people's relationships had kept them here all this time. Unless there was a deeper meaning behind the topic they'd landed on.

Especially when Chris seemed suddenly fascinated by their boringly familiar surroundings.

At that moment though Alice didn't care enough to find out. "It's too cold to be standing out here," she frowned, taking a step away from the pair. Then more to her boyfriend said, "you don't have to give me a ride home anymore I'm just going to take the bus."

Her feet turned, then started walking back towards the school gates. However she didn't get far before Chris ran to catch up with her.

"Five months, three weeks," he said, playing with his car keys in his hands, and looking slightly dejected. "Come on hang out with me, it'll give you more opportunity to punish me for whatever I did to make you mad."

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Question: Do you prefer Alice or Jane in terms of strong female character?