Meet Me Under The Cherry Tree

Chapter 4

Alex and his Mom drove to the hospital. There was a lot of traffic. Alex’s pain was worsening. Cars honked and angry taxi drivers shouted out their windows. There were a lot of people on the road, for twelve o’ clock. They reached the hospital at one o’ clock. People coughing and sneezing and people with bandages on different body parts filled the waiting room. The receptionist asked them to wait in the waiting room until Alex was called. They found a seat next to a huge fat man coughing on everybody around him. Seconds, minutes, hours passed and still they had not been called. Alex was in a lot of pain. Finally his name was called.

A doctor examined Alex’s wrist and gave him so pain medication. He was then sent up for an x-ray. “I’ll just be a minute” the doctor said as he walked out of the room. He came back in, the x-ray in his hand. He held it up to the light and pointed to where there appeared to be a small break. “You’ve fractured your wrist, nothing serious. Your wrist will be put in a cast and you’ll have it for six weeks” he said as a nurse came in. At least I can still draw cause it’s my left arm, Alex thought. He was given an injection and his arm was put in a blue cast. Alex was exhausted but he had to wait a couple of hours before he could be discharged. The doctor came in and put a sling on Alex and told him he could leave now. Alex stumbled out to his car and climbed in. He looked at the clock, it was ten past eleven. Alex’s eyes drifted shut.

He opened his eyes. He was sitting under the Cherry tree, the sun was shining brightly in the afternoon sky. His sat against the tree, his right arm around Amy. He looked down at her and she looked up. Her green sparkling eyes met his deep brown eyes. She leaned in close. They closed their eyes and Alex breathed in the sweet scent of her breath. Their lips were millimetres apart and then Alex opened his eyes. It had all been a dream, he was lying in his bed. He took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. Was it just a dream or did this mean something he thought. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, half nine. Alex’s stomach groaned he was starving he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Her dragged himself down the stair and wandered into his kitchen. He took out the bread, butter and ham. He awkwardly tried to butter the bread with one hand. Rachel came in and took it off him. “I’ll do it, sit down” she said as she took the knife out of his hand.  He pulled one of the chairs from the kitchen table and sat down. Rachel set the sandwich on a plate in front of him. “Thanks” he said as she walked out of the room. She turned and smiled and went up the stairs.

Alex ate his sandwich in peace he couldn’t get the dream out of his head. He didn’t know what it meant. He finished it and went back upstairs. It wasn’t long before he fell back asleep. He woke up early and went downstairs in his pyjamas. He turned on the TV. He could hear his dad getting ready for work upstairs. His dad walked down the stairs. “What are you doing up” he asked as he passed through the living room. “Couldn’t sleep” Alex replied. About a half an hour later his Dad disappeared out the front door and his Mam came down the stairs. He watched TV for a while. He glanced around the room and something caught his eye, the clock. It dawned on him it was a Monday morning and it was half eight. He was going to be late for school. He jumped up and started running up the stairs, tripping over his own feet. “What are you doing” his Mam called from the kitchen. “I’m going to be late for school” he shouted as he reached the top of the stairs. “Calm down, you can take the day off” his Mam replied in a soothing voice as she walked into the hall. Alex continued into his room and grabbed the navy blanket from the end of his bed and went back down stairs. He grabbed a random movie from his shelf of DVDs and went back downstairs. He put the DVD in and curled up in a ball on the couch. It was lunch time and his Mam made him a nice chicken wrap. He ate it so fast it gave him the hiccups. He wrapped the blanket tight around him and drifted off to sleep.

He was lying in the grass his eyes closed, the only thing he could hear was the voice of an angel singing. I must be in heaven he thought. He opened his eyes and there sat Amy singing the song she had written. Alex sat up and listened. And once again their eyes met and they leaned in their lips almost touched. “Alex honey, wake up. Alex” his Mam whispered in his ear. He groaned and opened his eyes, rubbing them with his hands. “Somebody’s at the door for you” she said grinning from ear to ear. Alex pulled himself from the couch and held the blanket around him with his good arm. “Where were you yesterday?! I waited hours and you never came and then you didn’t come to school today. You had me worried!” she screamed. It was Amy. Alex tried to keep the blanket closed around him but it slipped out of his hand. “Oh My God! What happened?” she questioned shocked when she saw the blue cast and sling. “It’s nothing, I fell getting out of my bed on Saturday night” he replied. “Oh I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted at you” she said. “Would you like to come in?” Alex said and Amy stepped inside. They went into the living room and sat on the couch. They talked for a while and Alex took a black marker from his bag beside the couch and Amy signed his cast.

“Dinners ready” Alex’s Mom called as she walked into the living room. “Would you like to stay for dinner, honey?” she asked Amy. “No thanks, I should be going” she answered politely. She stood up and headed for the door, followed by Alex. “See you tomorrow” Alex said as she walked out the door. “See ya” she replied. Alex walked into the kitchen. “Who’s that? She’s pretty” his Mam questioned. “Amy, she moved in down the road” he answered and he sat at the kitchen table. He started thinking what were the dreams about? Did he want to be more than friends with Amy? He didn’t know what he was feeling. He felt like a hormonal teenage girl, his emotions were all over the place. Alex stared off into mid air. His Mam set his dinner in front of him, burger and chips. “Alex, you in there?” his Dad asked waving his hand in front of Alex’s face. “Sorry, I was just thinking” he replied and he started eating his dinner. They ate in silence, nobody had anything to say. Alex went upstairs and took out his sketch pad. He couldn’t believe that he and Amy had met each other almost a week ago.

He looked at the clock it was almost twelve. He got ready for bed. He tried and tried but he couldn’t sleep, he had slept enough. He tossed and turned but got nowhere. He gave up and just lay there. The dreams popped back into his head. What if I do like her more than just friend like? Does she feel the same way? He thought as he lay there. He slowly dozed off into a deep sleep. The sun shone through the little gap in the curtains waking Alex. He climbed out of bed and got ready for school. He grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the door. He met Amy at the corner like usual. His phone started beeping as he reached the wall. He placed his bag on the wall and tried to unzip it with his good hand. The bag slipped and fell off the wall. Amy picked it up and took the phone out for him. “Here” she said as she handed it to him. “Thanks” he replied as he checked his phone. “It’s almost out of charge” he said as he put it back in his bag.

The bus arrived and they stepped aboard the full bus. “What happened?” Tess asked concerned when she saw Alex’s arm. “I just fell, it’s nothing” He said as they sat down in the empty seat.  The bus continued on to school. They hoped off the bus and headed for Alex’s locker. He took his books out and they went to class. They sat next to each other in history as usual. Next class was P.E. Everybody changed into their gym gear except Alex. He sat alone on the bench against the wall. “Listen up everybody, we’re going to play dodge-ball today. You lot know the rules. Be careful!” said Mr. White, their P.E teacher. This was the first time he was alone to think. His dreams of him and Amy crept back into his head.  He tried to think of other things but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He stared across the room trying to find something to distract him but instead his eyes landed on Amy. It was like she was glowing. Her hair glistened as she threw the ball and at the other team. It was in that moment he knew he had feelings for her. What am I going to do? Should I tell her? What if she doesn’t feel the same way? He thought. He was trapped in a trance of her beauty. The bell rang loudly making Alex jump. Alex avoided making eye contact with Amy for the rest of the day. She knew something was up but she couldn’t figure it out.