Cornerstone

Apologies and Broken Noses

As I walked out I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't angry and that I shouldn't be angry but the truth was that I was very angry. I was also hurt. And by the looks of it Alex seemed to be angry or at least upset now too. I didn't know why. I didn't know why everyone was telling me to talk to him either.

Alex was leaning against the wall outside smoking as expected. I awkwardly walked up to him and stood beside him. We stood in an uncomfortable silence for what seemed like days until he decided to say something.

"Why did you follow me?" he said, looking down at me.

"Because I wanted to?" I looked away.

"Yea sure," he scoffed, putting the fag back to his lips.

"Well if you want me to leave so badly I will," I said, giving him a glare as I turned and walked back towards the door.

"No, Charlotte that's not what I meant-" he grabbed my arm. "Sorry I was just in a bad mood because you seemed to be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" I joked. I knew exactly why I was mad at him. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself.

"You already know-" but before he could finished I interrupted him.

"No I don't? Go on tell me why I would be mad...or at least upset."

"Don't be like that Charlotte."

"Fine I guess I will leave-" I scoffed as I turned back around.

"No no wait. Fine. I'm sorry for telling you that I liked you and kissing you but then never texting or calling you afterwards and then sleeping with my ex. That was pretty fucked of me but I was drunk and just being stupid. Please don't be mad at me. I hope we can move on from this and stay friends," he said, tilting his head to the side.

The word "friend" felt like a punch in the gut. I really did like Alex and had kissed him back but he had only kissed me because he was drunk. It was a stupid mistake really. I didn't want to ruin my friendship with him or the others. I had finally found a group of friends and I didn't want to spoil that so I accepted his apology and gave him an awkward side hug.

"You two seemed to have made up pretty quickly. What were you fighting about anyways?" Louisa whispered to me as we both walked back in. "Alex also seems to be in a better mood."

"It was just something dumb that happened at the after party from the concert. We're good now so let's just all move on," I replied.

The rest of the day was spent listening to the boys play. Alex finally decided to sing and he sounded just as good as he did when he was playing live at the concert a few days ago. Maybe even a little better because the booze had given him a surge of confidence and he wasn't as nervous. We all sang along and had way too much fun.

When I had gotten home I was luckily the only person in the house. Mum seemed to still be at work. That means she couldn't question why I had gotten home so early. I looked at the oven clock and it read 3:44. I would have to go to work in a few hours. I had found a job at a coffee shop and was able to work there when I wasn't at school to earn some extra cash on the side. It was easy work and I had made a few friends with the people who worked there. Most of them were older than me though so none of the friendships were very close.

I changed out of my school uniform and put on normal clothes. I walked to the coffee shop with my headphones in and listening to music. It wasn't a far walk just like many places by my house. It was a small town so everything just seemed to be nearby.

I reached the shop to find a few people sitting at one of the tables and Jess, one of my coworkers, standing at the cash register.

"Hey. Just us two today," she smiled.