Alpha Female

~11~

Celestine

It has been an interesting week and half. Between seeing Alex's reaction to Carlos, and her tense behavior since...and the prank that left her covered in glue, I've been really worried about her. She tries to pretend she's fine, and trying to act like her normal self, but I can tell that something is upsetting her...though I'm not sure what it is.

I've tried asking her, but she just denies it. I've tried to ask her friends too, but they just give me vague answers about stress at home. So it's only made me more suspicious, not to mention concerned since it seems I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on. What's going on that's so bad that they're hiding it from me?

She's been even more agitated since the prank, and having a harder time hiding it. But the biggest shock was when she came to school the next day with her hair cut shorter due to the glue drying in her hair and messing it up. Even though I hated that she had to cut it due to a prank that crossed the line, it does look really good..if not better than when it was longer. I actually told her that, and it seemed to make her really happy...which in turn made me happy too.

Like her, it doesn't take much to make me happy anymore.

Speaking of Alex, she's running a bit late this morning. Which is unusual for her, considering she's usually so punctual despite not being a morning person. I've been waiting at our lockers waiting ever since Mama dropped me off, but she still isn't here yet. I've even tried calling her cell, but no luck.

What is going on?

"Guess who?" A deeper voice murmurs as they place their hands over my eyes, and I sigh in disappointment when I quickly realize it isn't Alex.

"Hi Carlos..." I reply, and he immediately drops his hands. I turn around to face him, and I swear I see a slight look of irritation before he flashes that trademark smile. It isn't the first time I've caught something off about his expressions, but I'm not sure what to make of it.

"You seem so disappointed Cutie, are you not happy to see me?" He chuckles, and this time I swear I see something flicker in his eyes.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about Alex." I reply, and this time I catch it. The clench in his jaw, the frustration flashing in his eyes, and his hands curling into fists at his sides for a brief moment.

He's irritated with something. But what?

"Why's that Cutie?" He asks. I don't know what it is, but something about his concern seems...I don't know, fake?

To be truthful, I've felt uncomfortable with him ever since day one of us meeting. Something about him made me want to stay as far away from him as possible, even though to me he's been as nice as could be. In fact, he does a lot of the same things as Alex, from the cheesy jokes to calling me Cutie...but I have a starkly different reaction to it.

With Alex, I feel shy, nervous, but oddly happy. When she calls me Cutie I blush, when she touches me, even just casually, I feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest. I feel warm whenever I'm with her, and like the earth orbits the sun, I feel drawn to her warmth.

With Carlos, I don't feel any draw to him...I just feel uncomfortable. Something tells me that all he's doing is just an act, that he's just faking it. But why would he do that? It just sounds ridiculous to my own ears.

"Hello? You in there Cece?"

I shake my head and look up at him, noticing the slight impatience in his face.

"Yeah...it's just, well, Alex has been really guarded and off lately. She's been acting really strange, like something is bothering her. But no one will tell me what it is." I answer, not even sure if I should even be talking to him about this.