These Scars

Chapter Twenty-Four

I stand beside Jackie and watch Alexander, Josh, and Jennifer rehearse their last fight scene. They've been rehearsing for about 2 days now and still can't get the scene right. It's partially because Alexander is still not himself. Except for the few nights ago when he came over to my room, I have not questioned him on why he's been acting weird. He tells me that he is fine and I should probably trust him. The thing is that I've always told myself to trust my instinct. And my instinct is telling me to find out what is wrong with him. We've still been hanging out like usual but everyone agrees that he seems a little off lately.

Gary finally ends their rehearsal for the day and all three of them climb off of the Cornucopia. Alexander turns to talk to Josh as soon as he hops down. Jack and Dayo both join to talk with them as well.

"Hey, do you think Alexander is still acting strange?" I dare to ask Jackie. She cocks her head to the side as if in thought and has her arms crossed in front of her.

"I-not really, no." She says after a while.

"You hesitated." I tell her.

"No I didn't." She says, her face starting to turn red. "I-Alexander's fine. Maybe you should, um, maybe you should worry a little less? He-he's fine. I'm sure of it..."

Jackie and I have become really close friends over the past month and I've gotten to know how she acts. This isn't how she acts. She's stuttering and blushing and hesitating before she says things. That's not normal.

"You wouldn't lie, would you?" I ask her, raising an eyebrow.

Her eyes go wide and she immediately looks at the ground, her face getting more red. "I think you should stop asking what's wrong with Alexander. Trust me, Isabelle." She says before turning to walk away.

I just want to scream at the top of my lungs. My kind-of-but-not-really boyfriend has been acting really weird and now my best friend is doing the same. All I want to know is what's going on. Jackie wouldn't lie to me, I know that. I'm pretty certain that Alexander never would. And when she tells me to stop asking what's wrong with him...I don't even know what I'm supposed to think now.

Alexander breaks away from the group of boys and starts walking towards me. His eyes turn darker when he makes eye contact with me and he looks at the ground. He's been doing that a lot.

"Hey." I try to say as cheerful as possible.

"Hi." He says, his voice slightly cracking. "I was about to go play basketball with the boys. You can go watch if you want I guess..."

I shake my head. "That's alright. Try not to get hurt?" I say with a laugh. He smiles slightly but nods his head.

"I should, um, go back and change." He says while walking past me.

I follow him to the cabs. He gets in one with Leven and Dayo and I just get into one with Amandla. When we get to the hotel, I take the elevator straight up to Alexander's room and hope that he hasn't left yet.

I walk up to the door and knock lightly. He opens the door, a slight frown on his face as he pulls a shirt over his head. I walk in and shut the door behind me.

It's like he knew what I was coming here for. He sits back and waits for me to say something. I cross my arms and glare at him. I will find out what is wrong with him even if it kills me.

"Alexander, what's up with you?" I ask him. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair before chuckling lightly.

"Um, nothing. I'm fine." He says. He looks up at me, the darkness still filling his usually bright blue eyes. Now they're cold and dark, almost a stony gray.