365 Days

357

357

When we woke up this morning the boys realized they had football practice in the afternoon, so we came back earlier than we had planned. Ryan dropped me at home about half an hour ago and now I am unpacking my things.

After Alex's comment last night, Olive and I stayed up trying to figure out if it was a good idea to keep toying with him. We keyed Lacey in on our plan and in the end it was her who thought he deserves it. What I have gathered from the statement is that Alex does not currently harbor feelings towards me but can see himself liking me, or someone like me, in the future.

Part of me wants to change him into a decent human being by getting him to fall in love with me but the other part of me wants to be a decent human being and not let him do that. It would be a cruel trick to have him lose someone he loves, so I decide I will still turn Alex Stanton into a decent human being but I will not do it by getting him to love me.

We are friends, as of yesterday, and that's how it is going to stay.

I inform Olive of my resolve via text and she doesn't dispute it. I know she understands.

I consider asking Luke to come over after football practice to hang out but decide I'm too lazy to make an effort to socialize. I'd much rather spend tonight hauled up in my room watching movies on my laptop.

So that's what I do; with the exception of a break to bring a bowl of cereal to my room for dinner. Nutritious, I know.

I am onto my third movie when I hear my phone beep. A text message, I gather. I fumble on the bedside table for my phone before righting myself and unlocking it. I figure it is a message from one of the guys but I wasn't expecting it to be Alex.

What are you doing?

I frown at my screen, before searching my brain for an answer. I can only come up with one thing.

Laying in bed.

I set my phone aside and pick up my bowl of now-mushy dinner and resume eating, watching two people kiss on screen. My phone buzzes again so I rest the bowl on my stomach and pick up my phone.

Mmm... Just laying in bed? Nothing else?

Uh...

Well, I'm eating cereal.

The responses come back almost instantaneously:

Haha nice.

And then:

What would you do if I was in bed next to you?

I thought he was going to stop with the lines. I'm tempted to respond 'punch you in the face' but decide against it. That's not how to help him become a better person. So instead, I keep it simple.

I'd eat my cereal.

Which is true, I would. I don't bother putting my phone down because I know Alex will reply in 3... 2... 1...

Haha I mean if the cereal wasn't there.

I roll my eyes, wondering how someone can be suggestive over text.

Then I'd get out of bed and go get cereal.

My phone starts vibrating but not with a text, with an incoming call. I should have seen this coming. I pick up.

"Hello?"

"That's not what I meant." Alex's voice is kind of crackly through the phone. Thanks terrible phone company reception.