Sandcastles

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pictured: Taylor Swift as Tiffany

I watch speechless as the both of them basically eat each other with their eyes. This is gross. And weird. Nobody is talking, yet here they are just staring and smirking at each other.

"Who's the hot chick?" Ben whispers in my ear. I impulsively elbow him in the chest and he clutches it, wincing and wheezing about why I did that. Why did I do that? Well, when my boyfriend's gorgeous ex-girlfriend walked up to our lunch table, I didn't expect to be happy about it.

The bell rings, and thank God it does. I don't even wait for anyone and just get up to go to gym. I quickly change clothes and go outside, beginning to jog around the track.

Ben nor Troy try to catch up with me so I am alone during the whole jog around the track. When I finish, I go back to the locker room and change out of my sweaty gym clothes. I go to study hall for the last few minutes of the school day.

The events from lunch finally catch up to me. Tiffany is back. Thank you, perfect ex-girlfriend of Alexander, for showing up right when my life was starting to look a little nice. I don't want to question why or how she's here, and I don't even want to question what's going to happen. Alexander still asked me to go to the beach with him, so he's still probably going to ask me to prom, right? Tiffany can't change that. Alexander isn't like that. He said he didn't love her anymore.

But he also hasn't seen her in two years.

Alexander doesn't strike me as the guy who would totally ditch me for his ex. But I'm afraid I don't know Alexander as much as I think I do. Tiffany is gorgeous and tall and blond. I'm short with dark hair and dull eyes. Who would most likely be seen with Alexander? Not me.

I groan and lay my head on the wooden desk in the study hall room. The teacher barely glances at me from behind his thick framed glasses and goes back to reading a book.

I jump back when I feel a hand grasp my shoulder. I sigh when I realize it's only Ben. He sits in the desk in front of me, leaning his elbows on my desk.

We both sit in silence for several moments. As I said before, the "twin telepathy" theory is real. He probably knows exactly what is running through my head right now. We both stare at each other and he finally sighs.

"Ben, what's going on?" I ask him with a slight smile. He shrugs and leans back against the desk.

"Just an old friend." He reassures. I give him a look, and he understands. We both know that Tiffany was never just an "old friend" to Alexander.

The bell rings, signaling school has come to a close. I gather my books and stuff and walk outside towards Madeline's car. She's talking with John Tyler. When I walk past the black truck, guess who is seen talking to Alexander? He doesn't even notice me or run over to scoop me into a hug as he usually does. I know it sounds stupid, but that's kind of like a tradition for us. We rarely see each other outside of school, so he always runs up and hugs me tightly before we both leave. I walk a little slower past him, but he still doesn't run up and tightly throw his arm around my waist.

"Isabelle!" his voice comes to my left. I snap my head towards his direction, expecting to see him running at me. But he's not. Instead, he just waves his hand goodbye before turning back to talk to the blond girl.

I open my mouth to shout something back but decide not to. Anything I try to say will only come out as a terrible croak. I just go back to Madeline's car.

Ben already sits in the back and I easily slide in beside him. He just glances at me for a second before putting his earbuds in and paying me no attention. This is probably good. I don't feel like talking.