Loving A Deformity

Chapter 33

Cera decided to spend extra time at her locker in the morning. It was Monday which meant she hadn't seen or talked to Alec since Sunday, yesterday, after he left in the morning. She was somewhat avoiding him. After she kissed his cheek, she felt awkward. There was a new shift in the relationship and she wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it. Cera glanced behind her every so often to see if Alec would meet her at her locker but so far, nothing. At one point, however, she did spot a pretty, tall, red headed girl she recognized, making her way down the hallway. Excitement filled her. Maybe if she saw Alec with the girl he liked, she could get over him.

Cera quickly finished putting stuff in, and pulling stuff out of her locker, closed and locked it, and started after the girl.
"Hey, Sarah!" Cera took a chance with the girls name and was pleased with herself when the girl turned around to face her. Cera smiled. "Hey, I met you at that party. Over the summer?" Cera tried to jog her memory. The girl, Sarah, immediately recognized Cera from the party.
"Oh... yeah, hi." Sarah smiled awkwardly.
"Have you talked to Alec since the party? I know he was weird but I swear he's not like that sober." Cera laughed. Sarah thought about what she should say next. She knew Alec's confession was never meant for her. But if the girl he actually liked didn't know that, is it her right to blow his only cover? No, it felt wrong.
"Uh... no... we haven't talked much..." Sarah blushed. "I'm sure he's great but... uh..."
"Cera? What're you doing?" Alec walked up. Cera quickly looked at him, forced a smile, and looked to Sarah.
"Found that poor girl you almost scared off at the party a while back." Cera laughed as Alec tensed. He looked at Sarah and had a flashback to his confession. He sighed.
"Right... sorry about that." He grumbled.
"Don't worry about it." Sarah blushed. Cera noticed it got quiet and awkward. She didn't want to deal with that.
"Well, since everything is good and it's obvious Alec isn't willing to do anything unless he's drunk, I'll ask you for him. Wanna go to homecoming with him?" Cera smiled, innocently. Sarah blinked at her in surprise and Alec looked at her wide eyed. His heart beat quickened and his face reddened. The girl he liked was asking a different girl out for him. Sarah just blinked, dumbly.
"Cera!" Alec scolded. Cera only glared.
"Well we all know you won't do it! Besides, now it works out for you! Kiley is going with Chris, Gabe is going with Vic, I'm going with Josh, and now you can have a date!" She smiled. Alec blushed in embarrassment and shifted uncomfortably. While he was trying to figure out how to get out of this, Sarah was putting together what was going on. Alec liked Cera, Cera was going to homecoming with someone else.
"Cera, you-"
"Sounds fun." Sarah interrupted, making Alec look at her, wide eyed and confused. Alec watched Sarah's demeanor change completely. She went from holding her notebooks close to her chest, tensing her shoulders, and watching her surroundings with caution, to holding her note books loosely at her hip with one hand, leaning to one side, causing her hip to push out, and holding a playful grin. Alec blinked and looked her up and down in shock in the sudden change in character.
"Really?" Cera smiled, excitedly. Sarah smiled back.
"Yeah. My best friend is Marina- Derek's girlfriend- so I heard a lot about Alec." She shifted her eyes to look Alec up and down. A suggestive grin covering her face. "Sounds like a fun time." Sarah bit her lip, making Alec raise his eye brows and gulp. Cera felt bothered by her flirtatious behavior but tried to smile pass it. Alec was in auto pilot mode. His brain was switched off completely.
"Then great!" Cera chuckled, feeling like a third wheel with Alec and Sarah staring at each other. "I have his number- if you want it. Alec seems to be on a mental vacation right now." She joked. Sarah looked to Cera and smiled.
"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great." She stepped toward Cera as they got their phones out. Alec watched, dumbly. Eventually, numbers were exchanged and Sarah looked and smiled at Alec, brightly. "See ya around." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before he had time to react and walked away, swaying her hips. Alec watched her leave, impressed. He remembered her not being remotely interested in him. How she managed to pull off something like that was beyond him.
"Woah." He breathed, still watching her go. Cera glared at Sarah, then back to Alec. She couldn't place why, but she felt annoyed.
"I'm going to go to class." Cera murmured and started to leave, but only to have her arm be caught by Alec's hand.
"Hey," he said, finally snapped out of it. "You okay? You seem upset." He said, pressing his eyebrows together, showing concern. Cera felt her annoyed expression relax and she grinned lightly, feeling her shoulders also relax.
"Yeah, just tired." She didn't lie completely.
"Mind if I still take your books?" Alec smiled.
"Course." Cera nodded.