Love Bugs [Nemi AU]

Chapter 1

I watched the trees go by, listing to music as my dad drives, my mother chats away with my older sister on the phone while my younger one is asleep on my shoulder.

“No Dallas, your father saw this a job opportunity. We’re going to miss you a lot sweetheart. Take care! Love you, bye.” My mother hangs up the phone and sighs.

“So Demi, how do you like the whole change of scenery?” asks my mother, looking back to me. I could barely hear her, since my earphones are on full blast.

“Hm?” I take off one of the earphones.

“How do you like it?” she repeated herself.

“Oh, it looks, um peaceful?” I answered. She gives a smile and reaches over to squeeze my knee then promptly turns back around.

“How’s Dal?” I asked.

“Oh she’s fine. She’s just getting settled in to her new place.” She sighs. Dallas was a bit older than me, but she was old enough to live on her own, which she did. So now she’s all the way back in Texas while Madison, the little girl on my lap, and I are dragged to New Jersey.

It’s not like I had a life back there. Since junior high, I’ve been pretty much ignored by the whole school. I wasn’t bullied as much as most kids, thank god, but I was still lonely. I had one friend though. Alex Garcia. He was pretty much a wallflower, like me. He had unmanageable black hair, geekey glasses, and a skater completion.

We meet one day, after I was bullied in 7th grade so I walked out of the cafeteria to the hallway to let my frustration out without causing a scene. I kicked the locker pretty hard and somehow sprained my ankle. Alex happened to walk by at the moment and helped me to the nurse’s office and stayed with me until lunch was over. During that time he talked about how he wrote for the school newspaper, but no one knew but me because he used a pen name. This took me aback because his pen name is the most popular guy in school, which no one has ever seen before.

“Yea, you’re probably the only person that knows. Please don’t tell anyone.” He said worriedly.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” I laughed.

And we’ve been best friends ever since. That is, until last year.

It was Winter Formal, and people were asking each other from left to right. I didn’t expect anyone to ask me, like usual. Plus, I hate being in large crowds. I’d rather spend the day hanging out with Alex having movie marathons while eating loads of junk food. The morning of the dance, I had to drag myself out of bed, like every morning and drag my ass through another day. I open my locker and see there was a rose with a note.

Will you go to the dance with me?

I turn around and I see Alex with his hair all fixed and with a bouquet of roses. I was taken aback because I didn’t know what to say. People that walked by stop to ‘awe’ at us and told me to say yes. I couldn’t say no, but…

…I couldn’t say yes either.

I felt my blood rush to my face and I sprinted down the hall, trying to get away from those people. The bell rung and everyone went to class but I continue to run until I reached the school’s garden. It was secluded and beautiful, and not many know about it. Alex and I claimed it our spot when we first found it. I sat down on a bench and cried.

“Dem?” I turn behind me and see Alex, his hair slightly messy and still holding the roses.

“Demi, what happened?” He sat next to me.