Fall For You (ON HOLD)

(25)

"Hey," A voice says and I look up from the pages of my book to find Alex standing in front of me. I stand up from the couch, grabbing my bag and shoving the book inside it.

It has been a few days since I was in Alex's room with him and his mum and I've been purposely avoiding him since. As soon as I heard Alex say that he would stay away from me because he thinks I'm a distraction, I got up from the bed and left the room.

"Gemma, wait," Alex says as he follows me towards the doors of the student lounge.

"I have to go, Alex," I snap as I walk through the doors.

"Can you slow down, please, just for a second?" Alex asks as he struggles to keep up with my fast footsteps.

"Why?" I ask over my shoulder and pick up my pace as I try to get to my car and away from Alex faster.

"I just want to talk to you but I can't do that if you're walking away from me."

"There's nothing for us to talk about," I tell him.

"Yes, there is. I didn't mean what I said to my mum."

"Oh, yeah," I scoff. "It sure sounded like you didn't," I reply with heavy sarcasm.

"Gemma, please just look at me!" Alex yells earning the attention of other students in the area who look confused and surprised by the situation unfolding in front of them.

I stop walking and turn around to face Alex. "Don't make a scene, Alex," I say shifting the strap of my bag on my shoulder, anxiously. I don't like all this attention on me.

"You told your mum that you aren't going to see me again. I'm just trying to make it easier for you by staying away from you."

"I didn't mean it," Alex says. "I only told her that so she'd leave. The truth is that I like hanging out with you."

"You like hanging out with me?" I ask Alex in disbelief. "Alex, the few times we have spent time with each other we've ended up arguing," I remind him.

"I know," Alex admits.

"So, we should just stay away from each other. It's for the best," I tell him. I'm giving him a way out now. It's his choice to decide whether he takes it or leaves it.

"I don't want to stay away from you," Alex says, his voice almost as quiet as a whisper, as though he's afraid of the consequences of speaking his true thoughts out loud.

"Your mum wants you to though, and I'm not interested in being her target every time she wants someone to insult."

"She doesn't have to know," Alex tells me, taking a step forward. "She lives an hour away. She's now going to know what I do here."

"Are you listening to yourself?" I ask Alex. "You're talking about lying and keeping a secret from your parents. You'll be hanging around with the girl you know they don't like. They think I'm a bad influence on you."

"Gemma, you're missing the point here."

"What's the point then?" I question.

"The point is that it should be my decision. I want to spend time with you. Yeah, we have our moments when we get on each other's nerves but that's only because we don't know much about each other, yet. It shouldn't be up to my parents to decide for me. I don't want to stay away from you."

I take a step back, regaining the distance between us. The eyes of the other students in the area are still on us and it's pissing me off. Surely, they have something else they can be entertained by rather than Alex and I.

"Alex," I breathe out as he takes another step closer to me.

"Gemma, please," Alex begs. "Can we give this friendship a chance?"

"You really want to be friends with me?" I ask.

"Yeah, I do," Alex says confidently. "And I think you want to be friends with me too because I think you know that in the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take and the relationships we were afraid to have."

"Quoting Lewis Carroll, impressive," I reply and a smile crosses my face. If there's one thing that Alex and I have in common, it's our love for books.

"What are you so afraid of, Gemma?" Alex asks, searching my eyes for an answer.

"Nothing," I tell him and he raises an eyebrow. "I'm not afraid of anything. In fact, I think we can give this friendship thing a try.:

Alex's eyes light up and a smile takes over his face. "Really?"

"Yeah," I nod in response. "Now, you should probably go and study or whatever so all of these people stop staring at us. It's really fucking annoying," I say and roll my eyes.

"Sure," I answer but Alex still looks unsure. "I promise. We have Literature together and Harley is your roommate. There's no way I won't see you soon."