Welcome to New Haven (13 page)

“Is everything ok?
 
Has something happened at school?”
 

Holly knew her Mum could tell when she was lying, and she could see the concern on her face, so she decided to just tell her the truth.
 
Well…almost.
 

“No. Everything’s fine.
 
My friend, Dev, well she’s got a brother and a girl at school was all over him yesterday. He didn’t like it and Dev hates it too.
 
It was probably something to do with that.”
 

“Mhmm.” Her mum said, looking at her over her coffee mug.
 

“What’s ‘mhmm’?”
 

“Is that all it is?”
 
Kim asked with a smile.
 

“Yeah; of course!”
 
Holly looked at her Mum as if she’d gone mad. “I stick up for my friends, siblings included.”
 

Kim just looked at her before lowering her cup.
 

“I know, love.
 
You’re a good girl.” She smiled.
 

Phew!
 

Holly felt relieved to have satisfied her mother’s curiosity. She quickly finished her breakfast and went to get ready to pick up Dev, Riss, and Kayla.

Holly sent a quick text to Dev.

H: Be there in 10. I’ll wait in the car.

D: Ok. See you soon.

I hope he’s gone out already.
But,
 
a little sneak peek wouldn’t hurt though.
 

Holly smiled to herself, but it quickly dropped.
 
She was so nervous around him, and even though she’d been avoiding him because of it, just knowing he could be there sent her stomach into knots.
 
Holly decided to ‘put on her big girl pants’ and just talk to him like anybody else.
 

Yeah.
 
That’s gonna happen.
 
She thought as she sighed.
 

Why did he affect her so much?
 
She’d been in front of him a handful of times.
 
Oh…she could feel a headache coming on…

Alex was just going to his room when he heard Dev’s phone receive a text.
 
She was downstairs.
 

“Dev!”
 
he shouted.
 
“You’ve got a text!”
 

“Did you read it?”
 
she asked with an accusing tone as she came up the stairs.
 

“No.
 
I just heard your phone go off.”
 
That was strange.
 
Dev never had a problem with Alex reading her texts.
 
Usually, if she were doing something and her phone beeped; she would say ‘Just read it’.
 

“Oh. Ok.”
 
She said as she went to get her phone.
 

Maybe she was being secretive now that some of her texts were from Holly.
 
He wondered if she’d said anything to her, but he quickly dismissed it.
 
No.
 
He could trust Dev.
 
She wouldn’t say anything.
 

“It’s from Kayla.
 
They’re on their way, and they’ll be about five minutes.”
 
She said as she replied to the message.
 

Alex looked at her, as she was tapping her phone.
 

“Is Holly with them?”
 

“No. She said as she looked up at him, and he knew she’d seen his hopeful expression fall.
 
“She’s coming here on her own” she added with a smile.
 

Alex looked back up at her and her smile widened.
 

“Holly’s the driver today and because Kay and Riss live in the other direction, we’re all meeting here.”
 
Dev said will a grin.
 
“Anyway, I gotta go ‘cos she’ll be here soon. Love you.”
 

“Love you too.” Alex replied as Dev ran down the stairs.
 
He ran into his room and quickly changed.

Alex was watching out of his bedroom window as Holly pulled up outside, and Kayla and Riss pulled up behind her.
 
He heard Dev open the front door, and he managed to get down stairs and catch the door before it closed behind her.
 

He saw Holly looking down at her phone.
 
His stomach was having some sort of party, and his heart was the disco ball.
 

He felt warm all over, more so in certain parts that were beginning to press against the front of his jeans.
 
He leant against the doorway and just watched her.
 
Waiting for her to notice him there.
 

As Holly turned her head to see Dev, he knew she had seen him too.
 
Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. Holly immediately turned to look away and straight out of her windscreen. Dev and the other girls got into Holly’s car and buckled their belts. Dev turned to wave at him, with a knowing smile.
 
He returned the wave.
 

“Bye girls.
 
Have a great day!” He said.
 

“Bye Alex!” Riss and Kayla chorused from the back seat, giggling.
 

Holly drove away, without looking back at him and he disappeared into the house.
 

She definitely reacted to me. She still looked away, but I definitely saw something.

Alex was still smiling to himself when he went to get his gear ready for the gym.

Oh my God!
Holly thought to herself as she drove down the road.

How could he look so sexy in just jeans and a T-shirt?

 
Her heart had been thundering like a bass drum in her chest since seeing Alex at the door.
 
The black v-neck T-shirt that fitted across his chest like it was his own personal creation.
 
The sleeves hugging his biceps that made her feel jealous of the fabric.
 
His dark blue faded jeans hung loosely on his hips and his thighs stretched out the denim to perfection.
 

“What’s with Alex?” Kayla’s voice broke into Holly’s thoughts.
 

“Yeah.” Said Riss. “He’s never waved us off from the door before.”
 

“Usually it’s from the window.” Added Kayla.
 

“I think he’s trying to make an effort”.
 
Dev said, but Holly saw a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth that said she knew something else.
 

“He doesn’t have to try. He’s one of the sweetest guys at school.” Said Riss.
 

Holly felt an unwelcome pang in her stomach. She didn’t like that feeling at all.
 

“Are you ok Holly?”
 
Dev asked as Holly had fallen silent.
 

“Oh…Yeah…Where to first?”
 
she asked, trying to keep the subject away from Alex.
 

“How about the mall?” asked Kayla.
 

“Or the park” asked Riss.
 

“We could go there later, when everywhere else get busier.”
 
Said Dev.
 
“How about the Seattle Centre?
 
There’s lots to do in there.
 
They have a great arts and entertainment centre, and they even have their own park.”
 

“That sounds great!”
 
Holly replied with enthusiasm.
 
The centre
did
sound like fun.
 
It could help to take her mind off other things. “How do I get there?”
 

“It’s just north of Belltown”
 
Dev replied. “Have you seen the space needle?”
 

“Yeah. My Mum had Dad took me the first week we arrived.”
 
Holly said.
   

“It’s near there.” Dev said as she programmed Holly’s Sat Nav.

The girls drove around, and they visited the Seattle Centre, the restaurant in the Space needle and they visited the mall on Pine Street.
 

They had such a good time; Holly hardly thought about Alex.
 
Well, she had, but the girls had her so engrossed in conversation that she had to exert extra energy to keep focused on them.

Alex was out with the guys, at their usual eatery, when he felt three pairs of eyes fixed on him.
 

 
“What’s up with you today dude?”
 
Kyle asked.
 

“What?” asked Alex as if he didn’t know what was going on.
 

“You’ve been zoning out.
 
Seriously, have you even been listening?”
 

“Sorry.
 
I’ve got a few things on my mind.
 
What were you saying?”
 
Alex said as he shook his head.
 

“I said that the new action movie we wanted to see is on in the next half hour.
 
Do you want to go see it?”
 
Kyle said with a smirk.
 

“Oh yeah, sure.
 
What about you guys?”
 
Alex asked Ben and Ryan.
 

“We’ve already said yeah; man” Ryan chuckled.
 

They stood from their seats and as they walked out of the restaurant, Ben nudged Alex.
 

“What’s up?
 
You’ve been like this since Monday.”
 

“Nothing, man.” Alex replied with a shrug.
 

“Yeah whatever” Ben said with a knowing smile.
 

“Seriously, Ben, nothing’s up so can we drop it?…please?”
 

“Sure”
 
said Ben, a little mischievously.
 

They walked into the movie theatre, got their tickets and popcorn, and made their way to the screening room.
 

As they entered, they spotted a group of young girls pointing at them and giggling.
 
Ryan rolled his eyes, Kyle dropped his shoulders in a slouch and Ben snorted an irritated breath.
 
The group of girls all looked about fourteen years old, but their attention was firmly fixed on the guys.
 

Alex shook his head as they took their seats.
 

“Let’s make a sharp exit after this”
 
whispered Ben to which they all quickly agreed.

The movie barely had the credits rolling when they got up leave.
 

Once out the doors, they heard the familiar sound of female chatter behind them.
 

“Hey!”
 
one of the girls shouted to them.
 
They tried to ignore them, but the girls ran to catch up, making their way in front of them.
 
Trapping them.
 
Alex politely removed one of the girls’ hands from his arm as she tried to get a grip of him.
 

“So…”
 
one of them began. “…We’re going to a party later.
 
Wanna go with us?”
 

“Not me, but thanks.”
 
Alex replied as the girl’s eyes were looking him up and down, making him seriously uncomfortable.
 

“Me neither.” Added Ben.
 
“We’ve all got plans and we can’t get out of them.”
 

“That’s too bad”
 
said another girl.
 
“We could’ve had a lot of fun.”
 

“What about you two?
 
The first girl asked Ryan and Kyle.
 

”We go with these guys, sorry.”
 
Said Ryan as Kyle nodded in agreement.
 
“We barely had time to see the movie.
 
In fact, we’re late for our appointment.”
 

“Well if you change your mind…”
 
the girl said as she told them the address of the party, before they left.
 
Looking back and giggling among themselves.
 

“Personally, I wasn’t digging’ those girls so a pass was easy for me.”
 
Said Ryan.
 

“There could’ve been older girls there.” Said Kyle, a smile threatening.
 

“Nah I’m good”
 
said Ben before they all burst out laughing.
 

“I know random people get invited to parties all of the time but, really, we could’ve been anybody!”
 
said Ryan a little shocked.
 

“I know! That’s just dangerous.
 
They were just kids.
 
Fuck!”
 
said Kyle as he shook his head in disbelief.
 

“If my little sister did that, I would lock her in her room until she was twenty.
 
In fact, I may just do that anyway.” Said Ryan as they continued to walk out of the theatre.
 

“Dude, your sister’s ten.”
 
Alex said with a chuckle.
 

“That’s good enough for me.”
 
Ryan replied as they all laughed.
 

They went to the mall for some gym gear before heading back to Alex’s house.

As Alex pulled up to their garage, he saw Holly’s and Riss’ cars outside.
 
His insides were doing a happy dance that she was still there.
 
He would get a chance to see her before Monday.
 

Thinking that they may be in the hangout room, and he can’t just go and join them by himself because the girls would become suspicious, he asked the guys if they wanted to watch another movie.
 
As he walked through the front door, he saw Dev in the hallway with popcorn.