The Outlaws

ten.

Picture: Phoebe Tonkin as Rachel Avery

This chapter is pretty long, I think, and for all you Chalexis/Alextian (?) shippers, this chapter is all about them. ;) Enjoy!

ALEXIS

"Lex," he calls.

Oh, hell.

I ignore him and walk even faster through the crowded hallway.

"Wait up!"

Even Kayleigh doesn't know about it. He definitely shouldn't know about it.

"If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to," he yells, like he read my mind. "I just want to tell you about our project!"

Christian's shouting at me across the hallway and everyone's giving us weird looks. If he's lying, I will kill him. But then again, yesterday, he said he'll never lie to me. Besides, we do have to talk about our project, since Biology is in two minutes. I sigh then slow down, waiting for him to catch up.

"I finished my part last night. I came up with a way to present it, too," he informs me. Then he suddenly looks so embarrassed for some reason. "I mean, if you have another idea, then sure. I'm just suggesting that we could do a song. I guess that would help with the creativity part. I brought my gui-I mean, instrument-and everything, so I'm prepared if you want to do it. But if you don't, it's fine. I get it. I was just thinking about it, so..." He shakes his head and stares at the ground. "You know what? It's a stupid idea. Forget I said anything. But then again, if you don't think-"

"Chris," I laugh, shutting him up, and he looks up at me in surprise.

That was adorable.

"You're rambling," I smile. "Relax. I think it's a great idea."

"Oh," he breathes. "Okay, good," he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's really cool. And it's great that you took the initiative, so thank you."

"It's nothing," he grins shyly. "And you listen to The Story So Far right?"

"I do, why?"

"The song is in the tune of their song, Right Here, okay? At a slightly slower pace, of course."

"Nice, I love that song!" I reply. "Where is your guitar, anyway?"

He raises his eyebrows, because I said the word.

"It's, uh-" He clears his throat. "-It's with Dan, in class, in case you didn't like my idea so I didn't look ten times more stupid."

I burst out laughing. "Aw, Chrissy. Don't worry, you'll look stupid no matter what."

He laughs. "Fuck you."

***

"Alright, Mr Dacquel and Miss Dalcour, it is your turn to present," Miss McMann announces.

I glance at Christian nervously and he squeezes my hand.

"You can do this," he encourages, standing up from his seat. "Come on."

We walk up to the front, with Christian holding on to his guitar-not his usual matte black electric one; this one is a dark brown acoustic one-and guiding me forward. Daniel, Rachel and Lindsey flash us supportive smiles.

I stare blankly at the class.

I'm so bad at this.

"Hey," Christian greets the class on my behalf. "So, Alexis and I are going to present to you about the Cape Sundew plant, in the form of a song." He gestures to his guitar. "But there will also be a PowerPoint in the back, so you can see pictures and stuff like that."