Destined

Fifteen

Evelyn

Mother welcomes me when I walk out to the backyard where the rest of the adults sit. My eyes fall on Alexander's who is staring at me coldly. After the whole Lia thing, he hasn't spoken to me much, if any. Not that I mind, it just means that I don't have to deal with his smug rudeness for the time being. Except for the other day, I know he technically wasn't speaking to me but he made himself apart of my conversation.
"Lia was wondering if I could hang out?" I ask my mother.
"Of course you can. Your dad and I have a date so we won't be able to drop you off. Alex, on the other hand, would love to give you a ride." His eyes snap to her, brows furrowing. I could tell he didn't want to and honestly, I didn't want him to.
"Oh mom, he doesn't have to," I say, trying to get him out of it.
"Don't be silly, who else would be able to drive you? Alex will, and he'll enjoy it." I knew what she was doing, she was punishing him for (in her eyes) stepping over the line the other day. What she fails to realize though, is that by her punishing him she second handedly punishing me which is absolutely unfair.
I sit myself down in the passenger seat and do all I can not look at Alexander and those damn eyebrows hunching over his eyes like he's a caveman. However, it was a tad more difficult than I thought and I found myself gazing at him a few times more than I'd care to admit.
"You should probably stop gripping the wheel so tightly, your knuckles are turning white."
"You should probably not act the way you have been but it doesn't look like either of us will be getting our wishes any time soon. Don't speak to me."
"You're just livid because I played you like a clarinet." I flew an inch forward in my seat before the seat belt seized me from moving any further. My right hand slammed against the dashboard as my left held the center consul tightly. Someone behind us honked for stopping the way we did in the middle of traffic so Alexander pulled over to the side. I watched his hand as he put the vehicle in park then how his body turned to me.
"You have got to be joking. I'm not livid because you played me, you didn't play me. You put on this act that now that I think about it, isn't very far from reality. But you had the audacity to sit around, act like a child and then go around blaming me for shit that isn't my fault."
"Are you talking about Daniel?"
"How does your boyfriend feel about you acting this way?"
"One, he's not my boyfriend anymore, he dumped me. Two, it was your fault. We were fine before you opened your fucking mouth." I unbuckled myself, stepping out of the car and slam the door. Alexander followed me around to my side of the car, planting his feet in front of me.
"What and saying the truth? Anyone could easily tell he hadn't fucked you yet, you scream virgin."
"That's not the point, you had no right to say anything about it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's absolutely inappropriate for you to be talking about my sex life."
"Non-existent sex life." He says, correcting me.
"God, you're so irritating." My hands grasp at my roots, pulling in place, hearing a slap when my hands connected to my thighs.
"Only for you."
"You know what, just take me to Lia's. I can't stand to be near you any longer." His now rough hand pushes on the door I'm attempting to open. His chest is pressed against my back and I can feel his breath on my neck. I turn to face him once again but realize soon enough that I'm unable to move from the lack of room between us. I've come to terms that when I'm with him, I'll never be given the proper amount of room while in conversation. He's a close person and there's nothing I can do that will force him to allow space between us.
Our eyes are beaming into the others and it's almost instant I feel the hills rise on my skin. "I-" I watch his blue globes fall to my chest, furry brows scrunch then raise in an odd quickness. Fingers reach up to meet his own gaze and I feel my necklace lift off my skin.
"It's a necklace, I'm sure you've seen these before. Women wear them often." Alexander is too focused on the jewelry to notice I even spoke.
"I can't believe you still have it." He said just above a whisper but I heard it.
"It's my favorite." Our eyes meet for what seems like the hundredth time this afternoon.
"It is?" His voice came across almost hopeful.
"Of course, I love everything daddy gives me." His hand falls to his side as he took a step back.
"He gave that to you?" Alexander was puzzled at my words, I nod. "You're positive, he confirmed this?"
"No, but I always assumed. He's the only man who's ever done anything like that. He buys mom things all the time."
"So you think he bought it." He glances at the necklace once more, shakes his head and sits back in the car.
The rest of the drive, I couldn't help but feel confused about his actions. He didn't look my way once, making sure he found his way to Lia's without giving me any attention. To say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Why would he have that reaction to my necklace... God, I don't know and when I think about it my brain goes all fuzzy. Hopefully, Lia can help me figure this out 'cause I sure can't do it myself.
"What's the dirt?" My best friend asks me as soon as I step into her room.
"It was so weird," I tell her.
"Yes, I got that through your texts on the way here. So what happened?" She wants to get right to it so she can dissect it like the frog she tore apart in eighth grade.
"We started arguing like usual and in the end, everything was surrounding my necklace. It went from us getting after each other I guess to catch up for missing a few days and then he was so calm."
"Okay, so what's so special about the necklace?"
"You tell me." I shrug, flopping on her bed. "He was completely fixated on it that he didn't even hear me making a smart ass comment. Then I mentioned it was my favorite and how dad got it for me and that's when his mood changed again. He backed off and seemed almost stunned at the idea of that being true."
"Odd."
"And to make it even better, he said he couldn't believe I still had it. Like somehow he knew about it."
"Why would he get confused over it if it was from your dad?"
"You got me." Lia gasps, causing me to look at her awaiting a continuation in speech.
"What if..." She drowns out, her mind racing with ideas. I sit up in anticipation.
"What?"
"Maybe your dad wasn't the one who bought it."
"Well, that's just crazy, who else would've?" Her expression egged me on to say I know the answer and when it hit me, I refused all possibility of it being true.
"Oh come on, it could very well be that. He wasn't confused, he was shocked and hurt you didn't know it was him."
"It's just not plausible," I say, standing and beginning to pace.
"And why not?"
"Because he would never do such a thing for me."
"You don't know what the two of you were like as a baby."
"Lia." I protest.
"It's not impossible. Don't shut out the idea, you two could've gotten along like apple and pie." I stop to stare at her.
"Apple and pie? Don't you mean-"
"I don't like peanut butter so I don't say peanut butter and jelly because personally, the mix is an abomination. Seriously though, you never know. It's not like it doesn't make at least a little sense." My shoulders slump and she only smiles weakly at me to try to comfort my new thoughts.
How am I supposed to feel about it? Lia could very well be right and Alexander could've been the one to purchase this breathtaking piece of jewelry sitting around my neck. However, she could also be wrong because that's so unlike him. Although, nothing has exactly been in character for me either so I suppose it could all be true and I may just have the wrong idea about my father gifting it to me.