The Way Back To You

Chapter 16

Don't forget to vote and comment!

(If you don't, you'll step on a lego)

Follow me to become a member of #TEAMBLOSSOMS!

A P R I L

I rush down the hallways, knocking into ten different people without stopping to apologize. Charity dashes after me, wending her way through the masses of high school pedestrians to get to me.

"April! Wait-Oh, sorry, wait! APRIL!"

She finally grabs onto my arm and tugs me backward, forcing me to come to a halt. She questions me with crossed arms as I furiously scan the people around me, my eyes darting from face to face.

"April, what the actual fuck are you doing? Where are you running to?"

"Huh?"

I haven't listened to a word she's said. I'm still looking around for Alex. I need to find him, like, stat.

Charity snaps her fingers in front of my face. "April!"

"Sorry Charity, I'll explain everything later, I swear. But I have to go. Now."

Before she can open her mouth to respond, I take off again. Thankfully she doesn't follow after me.

I run past corridor after corridor until I finally spot him walking at the end of one of the longest hallways. I let out a sigh of relief and grab onto his arm.

He immediately stiffens up before turning to face me. When he does, I see the irritation and frustration etched on his face.

"I think I know how this is going to go."

I lean down for a bit to catch my breath and look up at him. "What?"

He rolls his eyes and takes on a high-pitched voice. "Oh my god, Alex. I'm SO sorry. I just came here to thank you. I so owe you one..."

He shakes his head. "Well, here's a thought. Maybe the way I want to be payed is in space...Leave me alone. We're equal then. All right?"

I squint my eyes at him. "What? No. I-I seriously..."

I trail off, not knowing what to say. He's right. I've run all the way after him to apologize, but he doesn't seem to get it. I need to apologize. Like, I'd be devastatingly in the wrong if I didn't apologize.

"Alex, look. I wasn't in a good state of mind the other day. I'm just asking that you excuse my actions, and...Yes, forgive me, so we can restart."

I shove my hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels.

"Oh, it's all right. We can go back to being mutual friends."

He looks at me seriously and I wrinkle my forehead in disbelief.

"Really-"

"No, not really! I was being sarcastic. Sarcasm. Ever heard of it?"

I blush furiously and drop my gaze to the floor. I can feel his eyes on my face, so I push a strand of hair behind an ear to give me something to do.

"Yeah, 'course. It's just-"

"Look," Alex closes his eyes for a brief moment and steps back. "You're forgiven, okay? I have nothing against you. Just...Space. I need space."

I cross my arms. "You want space?"

He nods and smiles a little. I smile back at him and shift my hands up to my hips.

"You'll get space. I promise. You'll get all the stars, the planets and the moon. I'll be your sun, whiling away around you until you revolve. Until I pay you back. You said yourself that I'd have plenty of opportunities."

He looks exasperated with me, but I'm actually sort of proud of myself for making that up.

"You know what they say about the sun?"

I smirk. "It's super hot?"

He shakes his head and lets out a short laugh. "No. In order for a guy to survive, it needs to stay approximately 93 million miles away from him."

I shrug. "I don't plan on it."

He rolls his eyes and starts to walk back down the hallway. "Then I guess you'll end up being the death of me."

"That also wasn't-"

He's already walked away. He can't hear me.

I sigh and run back over to a fuming Charity. She nags me all the way to English class, but I'm too lost in my thoughts to really care.

I think Alexander's got it all wrong. It's him who'll end up being the death of me.