Welcome to New Haven (25 page)

“Alex has Art, Kyle and Ryan have wood shop.
 
I’m all alone.” He said as he wiped an imaginary tear away.”
 

“Until Algebra.”
 

“Yep.
 
So what are you going to do until then?” He asked.
 

Holly just pointed to her books.

“I guess I’ll leave you to it then.
 
Catch you later babes.” He said as he stood.
 

“See ya”

As Ben walked away, Holly blew out a relieved breath.
 
Ben was a good guy but he was also Alex’s best friend and that was dangerous for her.
 
If she gave anything away she was sure he would tell him.

I can’t have that embarrassment.
 
Things would get a lot more awkward than they already are.

Holly sent Dev a text, letting her know that Ben had stopped by, asking her questions about school before she continued checking through her Algebra work.
 
She was glad she didn’t have that class with the others.
 
It gave her some space to think and concentrate on her work.
 

“Yeah like
that
makes any difference.” She snorted.

“Hey Hol!” Said the girls as they met outside class on their way to lunch.
 

“Hi. How did your lesson go?” she asked Dev.
 

“It was great actually.
 
Thanks to you, I understood what was going on…finally!”
 

“Oh I’m glad! You’ve been doing really well.”
 
Holly said as she smiled, proud of Dev for improving her work.
 
“So what’s going on girlies?” Holly asked Kayla and Riss as they got to their table.
 

“Well, my Mom said that I could have a few friends over for a little pool party.”
 
Riss said with a huge grin.
 
“I wanted to wait until we were all together before I mentioned anything.
 
I want you guys to come, obviously, and I’m going to invite the guys over too.”
 

“Oh my God, that’s going to be so awesome!” squealed Dev.

Oh shit.

Holly felt
the colour drain from her face.

I need to get out of this

“Um…I think Emily’s planning something for us to do this weekend.” She said.
 

“Oh Emily can totally come too.”
 
Said Riss.
 
“She’s so much fun, we’ll have a great time!”

Oh no!

Holly didn’t want to let her friends down, but she didn’t want to go near a pool.
 

“I suppose I could ask her.”
 
She said finally.
 

“Yay!” Dev clapped her hands together excitedly.
 

“Hey girls!” Kyle shouted as the guys got to the table.
 
They sat down close together and left only one space left for Alex to sit, right between Ben and Holly.
 
Alex wasn’t sure, but it seemed as though the guys had left that space on purpose.
 

Alex sat down and noticed Holly’s hands curl slightly into fists, her shoulders hunched a little, and her knee bounced.
 

“Hi boys” the girls said in unison, except for Holly.
 

“What’s happening?” asked Ryan.
 

“I’m having a pool party on Saturday, well more like a pool hangout, and you guys are invited if you want to come, Riss piped up.
 

“Count me in.” Said Kyle
 

“Me too” Ryan and Ben said together.
 

“Cool, sounds good” Alex said as he glanced to Holly.
 
He didn’t think she would be going, and he thought he saw fear in her eyes as she glanced to Riss.
 

“Who else is going? Anyone from school?” Ben asked Riss.
 

“No.
 
Just us.
 
I wouldn’t want anybody else going anyway.”
 
Alex looked back to Holly as Riss continued talking.
 
“Holly and Em will be coming too if Em hasn’t planned anything.” She added.
 

“That lady scares me.”
 
Ryan said with a shudder.

Emily, Holly’s sister seemed ok when they’d met her in the parking lot on Monday.
 
Alex could tell that she was fiercely protective of her little sister and glared at any guy looking her way.
 

He’d liked her immediately.
 

Her accent was thicker than Holly’s, but he could still understand her.

Just about.

“Good. Maybe you’ll behave yourself”
 
Dev said with a little smirk.
 

“Maybe, maybe not.”
 
Ryan said as he looked at Holly, which got Alex’s full attention.
 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He said as he held his fingers up in a scout’s honor.
 

“So…Holly…” Ben said as Ryan’s mischief became the topic of conversation.
 
“…How did your revision go before class?”
 

Alex’s head snapped toward Ben.
 
Ben smiled back at him.
 

“Fine.” She muttered.
 
Alex glared at Ben.
 

“Oh, I forgot to mention.
 
Holly and I hung out for a little while during free period.” He said as he popped a fry in his mouth.
 

“You did?”
 
Alex tried to sound indifferent instead of growling at his best friend.
 

“Oh yeah.
 
We talked about how schools In the UK are different to ours…very educational.” Ben added for effect.
 
Holly had gone beet red and carried on picking at her lunch, her knee still bouncing up and down.
 

Alex clenched his jaw and saw Dev attempting to distract Kayla and Riss by talking about the pool hang out.
 
Ben sucked his lips between his teeth to stop a laugh from escaping and Alex just narrowed his eyes at him.
 
He knew his friend was just trying to get a rise out of him.
 
He wasn’t going to take the bait though.
 
Not in front of the girls, and especially not in front of Holly.
 

Alex shook his head with a movement so small it was barely noticeable.
 
Kyle and Ryan had sat by watching the drama with avid interest, by his reaction, they knew not to say anything.
 

“Dude looks like he’s going to punch Ben.” Alex heard Kyle whisper to Ryan.
 

Ryan smirked and nodded.

Luckily, Dev had the girls too engrossed in their plans to notice.
 

“So I’ll make a sweet fruit punch.”
 
Said Kayla as they were planning food and drinks.
 

“I love your fruit punch!” Said Riss.
 

“But what shall we have for food?
 
I could get my Mom to make us some stuff, but you’ll have to tell me what Emily likes.”
 
She said to Holly.
 

“You don’t need to worry about her.
 
Emily’s a human bin, she likes almost everything.”
 

The girls cracked up at that, and Holly smiled.
 

“We could order something in.”
 
Added Kayla.
 

“What do
you
like?” Alex quietly said to Holly.
 
He’d been waiting for an excuse to talk to her all through lunch.
 
She turned her head and looked right into his eyes, and his breath caught.

Christ! She’s beautiful.

”Erm…” she swallowed and glanced to his mouth before looking back up to his eyes.
 

“Sorry, what?” she asked.
 

He could see her cheeks flush again, and he was about to repeat his question when he was interrupted.
 

“Pizza! We
all
like that!” Kayla said and the all agreed.
 

Holly had quickly turned her head to Kayla and didn’t look back at him.

For Fuck’s sake
!

He
really
couldn’t catch a break.

Phys.Ed was next, and the guys changed and walked into the gym.
 
Ryan and Kyle began their warm ups, and Alex pulled away so they were alone.
 

“What the fuck was
that
dude?”
 

“What do you mean?”
 
Ben feigned innocence and Alex wasn’t falling for his crap.
 

“You know what.” Alex growled. “That thing with Holly. Hanging out with her, and you didn’t tell me!” He whisper shouted.
 

“I didn’t think I needed to, bro.”
 
Ben said with a huge grin.
 
“Wait…are you…jealous?”
 

“No!” Alex said defensively. “I’m not jealous.” He sulked.
 

“Dude you should see your face!
 
You are
so
jealous!”
 
Ben continued to chuckle as Alex glared at him.
 

“There’s no need to be though…She’s not going to take me away from you.”
 
And he bit his lip to stop another fit of laughter.
 

“What?! Go fuck yourself, Ben.” Alex was so close to punching his so-called ‘best friend’ in the face.
 

“I’m so awesome; I would if I could.”
 
Ben added with a wink.
 

“Dude, you’re disturbed.”

“I don’t deny it.
 
Nah, seriously though…I saw her sitting down and I went over to say ‘Hi’.
 
I asked her about school, just to test her…”
 

“Test her?” What would he be testing her about?
 

“Yeah.
 
To see whether she would hold a full conversation with me, and dude…she did.”
 

“What are you getting at Ben? You’re really starting to piss me off.”
 

“You don’t see?” Ben looked at Alex with a confused expression, as if wondering how Alex could be so blind.
 
Alex shook his head, no. “She’s only quiet with
you.
Like she’s suddenly shy and nervous when
you’re
there.” He said as he pointed at Alex.
 

“I don’t think so.”
 

“Man you’re so delusional; you don’t see what’s right in front of your face.”
 
Ben rubbed a hand over his face, annoyed that Alex wasn’t ‘getting it’.
 

“And what’s that?”

“Dude…I think she likes you.
 
Like
likes
you.”
 

Alex’s heart stopped and then pounded furiously in his chest.
 
Did Holly like him?
 

“You think so?” He asked as his pulse soared.
 

“Well if she doesn’t, then the only other explanation is a severe dislike and I’m positive that’s not the case.”
 

“What should I do?” Alex asked as his stomach was doing flip-flops at Ben’s Epiphany/statement.
 

“I’d just talk to her, bro, like her shyness isn’t an issue.
 
Make her feel more comfortable around you.
 
Just telling her you like her might freak her out a bit.
 
I mean, she’s a bag of nerves around you.”
 

“Since when did you become so wise?”
 

“Hey, I have my moments.”
 
Ben replied with a smile.
 

“Thanks, man.”
 

“Anytime.”
 

Alex didn’t feel like punching Ben anymore.
 
He did what he did to make sure his theory was right, and if it were, and Holly
did
like him… He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
 
He and Ben joined Ryan and Kyle for their workout.

They’d been training for almost twenty minutes when Alex got up to get a drink.
 
He got to the water station and turned to look out of the window. He froze as he saw Holly running track.
 
The fences had been taken down, and now he had a clear view.
 

“Dude, what are you…?” Ben paused mid-sentence when he saw what Alex was staring at.
 

“Shouldn’t she be in the pool?”
 

“She ran track for her last school.
 
She must be continuing here.”
 
Alex knew why she was running, but he wasn’t going to tell Ben, or anybody else.
 
If Holly hadn’t told them, then it was obvious she didn’t want them to know.
 

“Oh.” Ben said, interrupting his thoughts.
 
“I guess
there’s
something to look at during gym.”
 

Alex turned and scowled at Ben who snorted a laugh.
 

“Dude, I’m just saying…”
 

“Well don’t.”
 
Alex spat through gritted teeth. “I wonder if I should tell Dev what you said.”
 

“What?!”
 
Ben seemed shocked at what Alex had said to him.
 

“Yeah…Dev.
 
I’ve seen how you look at her.”
 
Alex said, raising his eyebrows.
 

“Come on, man, she’s like a sister to me.”
 

“Just you remember that. And don’t be eyeing up Holly either.”
 
He added, with a warning tone.
 

“Oh my God”
 
Ben shook his head.
 
“Alex, I don’t look at Holly that way.
 
She’s cool and all, but that’s it.
 
Besides, I wouldn’t do that to you.”