Chapter 36: Two-Year-Old Puppy Dog Eyes

I wake up at around ten-thirty in the morning. Alex is already up and he's playing Candy crush on his phone. My head is resting on his chest and my legs are off to one side and dangling off the bed. The doona cover only covers me from the chest to my knees, my feet poking out of the end.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Alex says, his voice a little bit croaky from not talking for a while.

"Good morning," I say sleepily and he smiles at me, turning off his phone and chucking it to the side, pulling both his hands behind his head and leaning on the bed head. I pull myself off him and sit up next to him.

"What're you doing today?" he asks. I shrug.

"Dunno. Probably seeing Bubbles or someone," I say.

"Oh," he says and moves his hands from the back of his head.

I shove his shoulder slightly and smile. "You disappointed?"

He grins at me and pushes me in return. "Very."

I laugh and he hops out of the bed. He grabs my hand and drags me off the mattress with him. We walk into my bathroom and I grab my brush, running it through my knots. He leans against the counter. "So..." he hesitates. I raise my eyebrows at him and continue brushing my hair. "The wedding..."

I put the brush down. "Alex-"

"C'mon Nat, please! Amanda will be fine with it!" he says, interrupting me.

"I doubt that," I say. He opens his mouth to retort but I hold up a hand. "If you're so sure she'll be fine with it, why don't you just call her?"

"I... Alright, fine," he agrees and takes out his phone, starting to call Amanda. He clicks on her name and raises the phone to his ear, but I stop him and pull his arm down.

"Speaker," I whisper and he rolls his eyes but clicks speaker anyway.

"Hello?" Amanda answers on the other line.

"Hi Amanda," Alex says nervously.

"What do you want?" she snaps, and I recoil, I didn't think she'd speak to her boyfriend like that. "I'm in the middle of something."

"Hey, babe! Come back to me, who you talkin' with?" a muffled voice says in the background. There's a series of shuffling before we hear:

"Its my boyfriend. Just wait a few moments, ok, Henry?" she says, still quite as muffled. There's more shuffling and she pulls the phone back closer to her. "So, what d'you want, Alex?"

I look up from the phone. He's not even the slighest bit shocked. At least, if he is, he's hiding it pretty well. He just speaks into the phone like we didn't hear anything. "Can I take Nat to my cousin's wedding?"

"Who, that sk***?" Amanda asks. Alex looks up at me and a muscle in his jaw clenches. I smile back at him and he turns to the phone.

"Yes, Amanda," he sighs.

"Well," she sounds like she's chewing something. "Don't go cheating on me with her, OK? But you can go with her. As long as you come with me to Virginia."

I'm shocked by how easy it was for her to say yes. "Ok, bye Amanda," Alex says and hangs up. He places the phone on the counter and grins at me. I roll my eyes and pick up the brush, turning to the mirror and brushing through the knots.

"Shut up," I say. He smiles and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"Look who's going to Paris! You! And me!" he sings. I roll my eyes but smile anyway. "You and Bubbles should go buy a dress today. Make sure you look hot. See ya!"

He kisses my cheek softly and walks out of the bathroom. I put down the brush and feel my cheek. Someone's happy. I smile to myself and grab my towel, turning on the water in the shower and getting ready for the day ahead.

***

"He invited you to a wedding? Dude this is huge! You're going to be dancing together, eating together, sleeping together and then KISSING together, right under the Eiffel tower!" Bubbles slings an arm around my shoulder as we walk into the mall. She makes a big motion with her hand as if to paint the Eiffel tower above us.

I roll my eyes. "We're just going as friends. There's not going to be any kissing or anything," I tell her.

"Puh-lease, there'll definitely be some kissing in your dreams while you sleep in some five star hotel with one bedroom and a queen bed that you'll sleep in together with your legs wrapped around each other's and you hands around each other's waists," she says and gasps for breath at the end of that long sentence.

"Nope, nope, nope!" I say and she laughs, pulling her arm off me. "Let's just go find a dress. Mum gave me a list of stores to go to so we'll hope fully find something."

Bubbles nods and we walk into some random store Mum's written down on the list. "I'm. Going. To. Find. You. The. Perfect. Dress," Bubbles says, saying each word as she pulls out different dresses from the same rack to look at them.

"Ok," I say and walk over to another rack to start searching.

"Oh! This one!" Bubbles says and I look around to face her. The dress is nice, but its made of white lace.

"Its white, might look a little too much like the actual wedding dress on the bride," I say and she nods, hanging the dress back on its rack.

About half an hour later of searching, we leave the store and walk into another one Mum put on the list. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, swiping the 'swipe to answer' button when I see Alex's contact.

"Hi," I say, balancing the phone in between my shoulder and ear while I look through the racks.

"Hey dude, are you shopping?" he asks.

"Yup," I pop the 'p' and look at a nice green dress with a mermaid skirt.

"I forgot to tell you its a really fancy wedding you know, so pick something extra good, not like a normal wedding guest. Maybe like... a prom dress or something you'd wear to a really special anniversary or something. ITt can have lace, or silk, or anything. I'll pay for it."

"Wow, babe, you really know your stuff. Maybe you should pick it out for me instead," I tease. He chuckles.

"I'd be happy to make any excuse to be near you today," he says. I frown.

"Why? What's wrong?" I ask. There's silence. "You can tell me, you know. Alex?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean, like, today... today, I just meant any day," he says quickly and chuckles a chuckle that doesn't sound like it would ever come from him, its too fake and awkward. I walk away from Bubbles and hold the phone closer to my ear.

"Alex, if there really is something wrong, you can talk to me. We're friends, right?" I say. I hear him gulp on the other line.

"Yeah, right, we're just friends," he says.

"Just friends?" I ask, repeating the word he slipped in. I probably shouldn't have asked that, now he's probably gonna know I like him. I can hear him breathing on the other line and I hear him start to speak but quickly interrupt him. "Oh, yeah, uhm.. I'll buy something fancy. You don't have to pay for it either so.... er, bye, Alex."

"Bye," I hear him whisper back before I hang up. I slip my phone into my handbag and sigh. Bubbles pops up behind a rack, holding a pastel purple dress with a large skirt.

"Relationship trouble? I hope you guys never break up," she says. I roll my eyes and scan through the racks again.

"Everything's fine," I say. "Alex wants me to buy a fancy dress."

"Ooo! Really? I have just the place!" Bubbles says, hanging the dress back on a random rack and taking my hand, leading me out of the store.

***

"OMG! I love it!" my best friend exclaims.

"Really?" I pull my hair over my shoulder and look down at the dress in the mirror. Bubbles has left already, since her mum wanted her to be home by five.

"Its so nice, and looks great on you!" she says. I smile at the laptop and look back at the mirror.

Bubbles took me to some store she shopped at for her homecoming dress last year. There were a few dresses I likes, but none of them looked as good as this one. Its blue and spaghetti straps. The skirt goes down to my ankles. There are white flowers at my waist where the skirt connects to the top. The top bit is white and the bottom is some kind of meshy material. It does look good on me, but I wouldn't admit that to anyone.

"So when is it?" Adele asks.

"I think next month, just after my birthday," I say, turning back to her.

"Yay!" she says. "I can't wait to meet him!"

"What about me?" I put a hand on my chest, mock-shocked. Adele laughs.

"Yes, I'm excited to see you too, Nat," she says. I grin at her.

"Ima go take this off," I say and wave at her. She smiles and we hang up. I walk into the bathroom and slip the dress off, putting it back on it's coat hanger and hanging it up in my closet.

I put on my shirt that looks exactly like the one Taylor Swift wears in her 'You Belong With Me' video and chuck on some Nike shorts.

I walk out into my room and flop onto my bed. I pull my book off my bedside table and start reading. About fifteen minutes later, I stop reading when I hear the sound of yelling.

It's coming from next door and I place the book down when I see Alex pacing his bedroom with his phone held to his ear.

"Seriously, Amanda, would you just let it go already? It's not like you're not cheating on me as well, don't worry, I know."

He listens closely while tugging his hair.

"Dave?" he asks loudly. That's the last I hear of the conversation because he hangs up angrily.

I see him pull his shirt off and chuck it to the side. He then plops down on the edge of his bed and puts his head in his hands.

It couldn't be more ironic, really, he's fighting with his girlfriend and I'm sitting here in my Taylor Swift T shirt while both our rooms are parallel to each other's. Before I know it, I'm reaching for my phone and a hairbrush and scrolling through my downloaded songs.

I click on 'You Belong With Me' and stand up, opening my French doors. My Spotify immediately connects my phone to the speaker on my desk.

I turn up the sound and start lip syncing to the lyrics. Alex looks up and smiles.

"You're on the phone with girlfriend she's upset," I mouth. He pulls over a couple of pillows and leans against them, watching me.

"I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night," I lip sync. He keeps smiling at me.

"She's wears short skirts, I wear t shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers," I hold a hand to my chest every time I say 'I' and bend my knees slightly to add DRAMATIC EFFECT.

I hop up onto my bed and jump around on it for the chorus. "Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time."

I stop bouncing and look back at him. He's laughing, blue eyes twinkling. "If you can see that I'm the one who understands you been here all along so why can't see... you belong with me!" I mouth , trying to put a heap of emotion into the performance. I play the air guitar and jump off my bed, running forwards and spreading my arms out wide on the 'you belong we me.'

"Walking the streets with you and your worn out jeans," I lip sync and walk around, sitting down on my desk chair and kicking my leg up in the air on the 'laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself, "hey isn't this easy?"'

"And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town," I say and get up, doing a robot walk across the room. "She wears high heels, I wear sneakers, she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers."

Alex is laughing at me now. I do some weird dancing like Taylor does in the video. "If you can see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along so why can't you see, you belong with me."

I hold my hand to my heart and point at Alex with the hairbrush on the last line.

"Standing by and waiting at your back door all this time how could you not baby, you belong with me."

I play the air guitar in the instrumental bit. "Oh I remember you were driving to my house in the middle of the night. I'm the one who makes you laugh when I know you're bout to cry."

I swear I see Alex nod his head but stops when I look at him. "Think I know where you belong, think I know it's with me."

Alex gets up and walks to his doors, opening them and walking out. I lip sync to the lyrics and meet him on the balcony, he's smiling so hard.

"Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along-" I trail my hand along his jaw dramatically. His smile falters for a second as I do so. I quickly take my hand away and strut back into my room. I kneel on the floor and pretend to sing into the brush.

It finally finishes and I hear Mum yelling at me from downstairs. I'm about to walk over to Alex but instead I go to the door and wave to Alex. He shakes his head and looks at me like Lucas Till did in the video from behind the curtain. I smile at him and close the door.

***

Mum got mad at me for blasting my music so loud. I mean, I don't blame her, it was very loud. Then she got me to help her bake cupcakes for when we go over to the Collins' tomorrow for Sunday Lunch.

"So you and Alex are going to a wedding together, yes?" Mum asks as I stack things in the dishwasher while the cakes are baking.

"Yeah," I mumble, trying to make as much noise as I can with the bowls and spoons.

"That's funny, I didn't know you two were dating," Mum says absent mindlessly, scrubbing a pan.

"We're not!" I say quickly.

"So you're going as friends?" Mum raises her eyebrows.

"Yes," I say quickly. "I'm going to go see my friends. Have fun icing!"

I grab my keys and phone off the bench and swing around the corner before she can protest. I hop in my car and text the group chat.

Do you guys wanna meet up at McDonald's? I'm heading there now.

Bubbles texts back a minute later and I pull over.

Yeah! Callum's coming too.

Kate responds a few seconds after that.

Is it ok if Leo comes?

Yea

I pull back onto the road and continue driving. When I reach the shop, I take out my phone and read the new messages.

Chloe and I are coming from the mall!

You were at the mall? Nat and I were there this morning.

Ooo, why?

I'm here guysssss

I'm two minutes away.

I'm three

I'm five

I turn my phone off and turn it onto do not disturb. Then I walk into the store and sit down at a large booth. I scroll through my feed on Instagram and like a couple of posts. Chloe and Meghan arrive first and we talk for a little while about how bad and awkward our geography professor is. Bubbles and Kate come in a few minutes later with Leo and Callum and we order our meals.

"Where's Alex?" Leo asks, slipping back into the booth after paying. I shrug.

"Probably out. With Amanda most likely," I say and fiddle with my receipt.

"He's not with Amanda. They broke up," Callum says.

The four other girls and I immediately sit up straighter and stare at him.

"WHAT?" Bubbles yells.

"Why?" Chloe asks.

"When?" Kate says.

"How?" Meghan gapes at Callum.

"THEY DID WHAT?" I scream at Callum.

Leo and him wait a few moments before bursting out laughing. They laugh for a couple of minutes before finally calming down and gasping for breath. "They didn't. But Alex is home, I'll call him."

Leo phones Alex while the rest of us glare at the two of them. Callum laughs and pulls Bubbles into him, poking her nose. She wrinkles up her face and shoves him before resting her head on his shoulder. I do not get how love works, one minutes you're hurting someone and the next you're cuddling up beside them. Weird as.

"You two are going to a wedding, huh?" Kate says, looking at me as the waiter plonks our food down on a tray in front of us and muttering, 'enjoy.' I suppose she wants to sit down with her friends like us instead of serving the group of teens her age.

"He's coming," Leo hangs up and places his phone down on the table. I fidget with my napkin and eat my fries while the others talk about the upcoming spring holidays.

"What are you doing, Nat?" Meghan asks. I look up from the napkin I was absent mindlessly folding into a paper crane. "For spring break?"

"Oh, nothing much. We don't have any plans," I say and return to folding the wings of my bird. The others shrug and continue with their conversation while I slowly bite a chip and fold over the beak.

"Yours looks much better than mine," Alex's voice startles everyone and we all look up. He's staring down at the napkin in my hand. I smile at Alex and throw it at him.

"Practice makes perfect, hun," I say. He grins and Leo, Kate and Chloe slide out of the booth to let him sit beside me.

"Thanks," he says to them and slides in. He hooks an arm around my waist and I try to wiggle away from him but he scoots even closer and leans his head on my shoulder. I sag against him and rest my head on his. He steals one of my chips and eats it.

"Hey!" I say. I feel him shrug and continue eating it.

Chloe rests her head on her hand, her elbow on the table. "I wish my boyfriend and I were like you two," she sighs audibly. "So in love."

"What?" I ask. Chloe shrugs and sucks her lemonade straw dreamily.

"Yeah dude, we so in love," Alex says and pokes me in the stomach.

"Yeah totally," I say and giggle when he pokes me again. "Stop it!"

"No thank you," he says and tickles my neck. I snort and he laughs.

"Stop! Alex! I'm serious, stop it!" I squeal. He stops for a moment and I take the opportunity to grab a chip and throw it at his face. He grunts and picks another one up, throwing it at me. I open my mouth and it sales straight into my mouth. I eat it happily.

"Lemme' try!" Alex says. I roll my eyes and pick one up and throw it at him.

It bounces off his nose and onto the seat. I laugh and he pouts at me. I throw another one and it hits him in the eye. I pick up at third one, "Third time lucky." He nods and I chuck it. He catches it and chomps, smiling. Then he stands up abruptly and throws his hands in the air.

"I did it!" he yells. Unfortunately, his legs hit the table too hard and Meghan's nuggets and Callum's coke fall off the table. "Oh, sorry," he says and sits down again. He looks so guilty that I laugh my head off.

After about a minute, Alex pushes my head back into the booth and mutters, "It wasn't that funny."

"It sure was!" I say, still giggling.

He grunts and crosses his arms. I finally stop laughing and scoot over to him. I pout and uncross his arms. "I'm sowee Alwex, pwease forgwive me," I say.

He looks down at me with the same frown for about ten seconds before he cracks and laughs at my two-year-old puppy dog eyes. I sit back up and he wraps and arm around my waist. I put my head on his shoulder and eat the remaining chip. We watch the basketball match on the TV in front of us, occasionally booing if the other team gets a point.

After about half an hour, everyone goes home. Alex and I walk out of the fast food restaurant a few minutes later, since we wanted to see the end of the game.

"I caught the bus, can you give me a ride?" he asks.

"Sure," I say, sipping my take away chocolate thick shake. We walk to my car and hop in. I push the keys in and the engine starts. We drive out of the car park and onto the road. I look over and see Alex leaning his head against the window, twirling a strand of curly hair around his finger. His Ray Bans are on and mask his expression.

"What's wrong?" I ask, looking back at him from the road.

"Nothing," he mumbles.

"C'mon, you look sad, what's wrong?" I ask again, looking back at the road.

"You said something was wrong this morning so-" I start.

He cuts in. "Well, I didn't actually say anything was wrong..."

"But something is," I say. He shrugs and continues looking out the window. "Just tell me what's wrong, babe."

"My mum's got cancer," he says silently. My heart must stop for a minute. I'm sure of it. Or at least it skips a beat. There's this tingling feeling that goes through my head down to my toes. I don't say anything. The car is silent for a few minutes until we get home. I'm amazed that we do, since I was numb and couldn't think about where or why I was going anywhere. I pull over on the pathway in between our houses and turn the car off.

Alex's head is still on the window sill and he's avoiding all eye contact. I crawl over the small area between us and onto his seat, halfway on his lap. He looks down at me from his sunglasses and wraps his arms around me, burying his head in my neck. I scoot onto his lap fully and turn around so that I'm facing him. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head in his soft hair.

We stay like that for a couple of minutes before his hand travels up my back and into my hair. "I don't know what's gonna happen. They probably do, but they're not telling me. She's probably going to lose all her hair from the chemotherapy and then come home all frail and weak and not all bubbly like she usually is. Who's gonna cook us dinner if she's gone, Nat? Who's gonna clean the toilet because nobody else wants to? And Liam's too young to lose a mother."

I pull him closer to me and close my eyes. "She's not going to leave you. You know your mother more than I do. People can survive cancer, you know."

Alex doesn't respond, he just pulls me in closer until I can feel his warm breathing on my shoulder.

"I'm so glad I have you," he mutters.

***

Lunch the next day is awkward. Michelle announced it as soon as we sat down at the table. No one ate the cupcakes. Felecia was reserved and the boys didn't speak to her. The adults were talking, Mum and Michelle hugging for quite a while.

Alex and I sat on the couch, side by side, Liam stretched over our laps. We're watching the last few Star Wars movies. Alex's curls are tickling my neck as his head is laid on my shoulder, and mine on his head.

The movies finally finish, and we go up to his room. My family has gone home and we've put Liam in his cot. Its eight o'clock. I move to the balcony to enter my room, but Alex pulls me back.

We lay in bed together for a few minutes before he rolls over next to me and wraps his arms around me.

"Night dude," he whispers.

"Night babe," I whisper back.

____________________________________________________________________

Hulloooooooooooooooo!

I gotta go. bye