Rayne and Alex

Chapter 11

Rayne - 1 Month Later

"C'mon, Jenn, we don't have time for this," I say in a no-nonsense voice.

Jenn hisses at me and nudges me with her hip. "There is always time for extra Oreos."

I feel an arm wrap around my waist. I look up and see Alex's handsome face above mine. He kisses my temple softly and I lean into him out of instinct. He knows all he has to do is touch me and I'm immediately dysfunctional. The asshole uses it to his advantage all the time.

"It's not that big a deal, babe," he says to me. "It's a few extra seconds."

I scowl at him, "She does this every time we come here."

Eli, who's on the other side of Alex laughs. I stick my tongue out at him playfully. We've become pretty close over the course of this month. He's smart and witty and always finds a way to make me laugh even when nothing funny is happening. He's just a happy kid, and you can't help but feel happy when you're around him.

Today, Alex, Eli, Jenn, and I decided to go to an ice cream shop. Alex and I spend a lot of time alone, but we also try to go out with Jenn and Eli every once in awhile. At first I thought it would bother him when I asked if Jenn could come out with us the first time, but it didn't at all. He just proceeded to invite Eli so that Jenn wouldn't feel too out of place. It was a thoughtful gesture. Now, at least once a week, we all do something together. We either go out to eat or just stay in and watch movies, it's always great.

"See," Jenn says. She hold her ice cream cup to my face. "All done. It was an extra thirty seconds."

I roll my eyes at her, pretending I'm annoyed. As much as Jenn can be handful, I wouldn't change her for the world. She's my best friend, I would do anything for her and I know she would do anything for me. I love that she immediately hit it off with Alex and Eli. At first, she was really embarrassed when I told her Alex had to drive her home in her drunken state, but she quickly got over it. If there was one thing I truly loved about Jenn, it was that she lived with no regrets and had no shame.

We walk to the cashier and Jenn and I stay silent as Alex pays. We learned to never even offer to pay for anything when we're with him because he gets offended. He says that he will not, under any circumstances, let us pay for anything. He says that we're to be treated like the "princesses we are." I admit, I teared up a little when he said that. He's the sweetest person in the world. Even though my phone broke because of him, but it's okay because I got a new one a few days after that.

We all make our way over to one of the light brown tables at the ice cream shop. Alex pulls out my chair and waits for me to sit before he sits across from me. Jenn sits at my side and Eli sits in front of her.

"So what are we doing next week?" Eli asks as he shoves a spoonful of rocky road into his mouth.

Alex rolls his eyes at him. "Dude. We haven't even finished today yet."

Eli shrugs, "I've learned to look forward to these nights with you guys. That way I'm not holed up at home all bored."

Jenn raises her spoon in the air, "I second that." Jenn looks at me with self-pity apparent in her eyes, "It is so sad that the one thing I look forward to in my life is going out with my best friend and her boyfriend once a week."

The boys laugh at Jenn's joke, but I know she didn't mean for it to be one. She says she loves going to parties and getting trashed all the time, but I know that's not true at all. Even though her parents aren't very present in her life, Jenn doesn't do crazy things to get their attention, she does crazy things to pass the time. One time she spent a whole week at my house and her parents didn't call until the fifth day to ask where she was.

I wrap my left arm around Jenn's small shoulders and lean my head against hers. I kiss her blonde head and whisper, "Not sad at all. In case it's hard to tell, I kinda like spending time with you."

Jenn laughs and gives me a small smile, "Love you, Ray."

"Love you too, Jenn," I reply softly.

"I don't know where the conversation turned all sentimental, but okay," Eli shakes his head and mutters a few words to himself. "This is why I don't hang out with girls."

We all start to laugh, but we're interrupted by Alex's phone ringing. He takes the phone out of his back pocket and sighs when he looks at it. He holds up a finger to all of us so we can give him a minute.

"Hey, Mom," Alex says with over-exaggerated enthusiasm. Eli chuckles. "No," Alex says into the phone. "Yeah. No. Okay. I told you I was going out with Eli." Alex looks at Eli and sighs, "Yeah, we'll be home in a bit. Yeah, okay. Bye."

Alex extends one of his hands over the table and looks at me with his sad green eyes. He grabs my hand and kisses it.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Alex tells me. "Walk me out?"

I smile and nod, trying my best to hide my disappointment. I'm not going to lie, I've become very attached to Alex in the month we've known each other. I've been trying hard not to fall too fast, but I can't help it. Something about him just makes me feel safe. And I don't know if that's a good thing. I feel like I'm making myself vulnerable.

We all get up and walk out of the shop together. Eli and Jenn are arguing about something, but I just walk by Alex's side with my small hand engulfed in his big one. I don't even realize we've made it to his car until Alex is pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. I notice that we're standing by the drivers side door.

"You okay?" Alex asks me.

I nod, but I can't seem to actually say the words.

Alex smiles, "I know it sucks that I have to leave. But we can still see each other later if you want."

I think it's cute that he thinks I'm upset because he's leaving.

I sigh, "That's fine, Alex. I just-"

When I hesitate Alex leans in and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek. I use the action to my advantage and breathe in his cologne.

"Just what?"

"The phone call to your mom reminded me about my own mom... and I don't know. I was a little curious as to, well-"

"If my mom knows about you?" Alex interrupts with a cute smirk.

I let out a long breath, "Yeah."

"I've... mentioned you," he says slowly. He cringes and takes my hand, playing with my fingers, "But she doesn't know much about you."

I laugh and kiss his right dimple at his obvious discomfort. "That's okay," I bite my lip, "My mom kinda doesn't know about you at all."

Alex blinks and stares at me. I think he may be mad, but then he just laughs.

"You know what? Come over tonight. I'm sure Mom would love to meet you."