Too Bad

Chapter 4:Revealed

Rhea's POV
Lunch hour is the only time we get a chance to be together, all five of us. We're sitting around a table at the cafeteria and enjoying one of Jess' recent finding. For a girl who hates almost everything, she has a liking for anything related to sex. Everyday, she cooks up funny stories to tell us. Today it was about Porcupines.

   "I'm telling you guys, the male porcupine goes to the female and pisses on her-" at this we all say 'ewe' in unison. "-and if she likes the smell of it, she lets the male do her." Jess finishes, undaunted by our reaction.  

  Tina scolds her, "you've got to stop this torture, Jess! We don't want to learn these weird facts!"
 
"Yeah, I totally agree with Tina." I say.

  But Jessica simply says, "It's true." With that, she gets out of her chair to get her lunch. So we conclude there'll be yet another interesting fact tomorrow.

I take out my lunch, pick up the apple that mom has packed specially for Alex. He loves apple more than anything. One day he was at our house playing with me. I was 10 and he 11. We were near the kitchen. My mom was cooking. She opened the door of the refrigerator to get something and he saw a basket full of apples inside it. He said very politely, "Excuse me Mrs. Simpson, could you give me an apple, please? I like it very much." I still remember the look of amusement on my mother's face. Since then, my mom gives me an extra apple for him.

The memory has put a small smile on my face. He's sitting across from me now, discussing something with Ross. He's always been the polite, considerate and matured one. Though he's only a few months older than me, he doesn't look like it. There's a sense of serenity in him, that makes him look older. He's tall, (probably too tall, if you ask me) with long limbed, lean body of a tennis player. But he doesn't have the aggressiveness that comes from playing any sort of competitive sports. He is more of a laid back kind of person. You could as easily mistake him for a piano player.

"Hey Alex, catch!" I throw him the apple which he swiftly catches in one hand. The girls applaud. He takes a bow with a flourish. I don't know if anyone else notices it or not, there's something off in Alex's behavior, today. There's a tightness on his handsome face. He's smiling at me but the smile is not reaching his otherwise warm brown eyes. He even looks a bit distracted. It's worrying me. Does this have anything to do with what Ross was saying earlier? Has he said anything about Jace and me to Alex? No. There's nothing to tell about. This is probably nothing.

   "So guys I was thinking of throwing a party this weekend as my dad won't be home, as usual." Ross says excitedly. His parents are divorced and he lives with his father. His father remains out of town, most of the time and he thinks of something creative to do for those days of freedom.

   "Yay!" Jessica yells excitedly. Then Rita's phone starts to ring and she picks up, walking away for privacy.

We are discussing the pros and cons of throwing a party when Rita comes back with a stricken look on her face. She sits down and looks at me in a way that shows concern and shame. "Ryan just called me, Rhea. I'm so sorry for what he's done to you!" She says with genuine concern. Oh My God! This can't be happening! That jerk Ryan suddenly developed a conscience and called Rita to apologise for his actions? He could've called me! But, I suppose he's a coward and doesn't have the guts to properly apologise to me. But for him, I'm again in a tricky situation. Why the hell did I say yes to him???

All hell breaks lose after Rita's revelation. Everyone starts to curse him, including Rita. She's very ashamed of her cousin's behavior. Then comes the dreaded questions. How did I reach home? Why didn't I call them for help? Etc. Etc. I blurt out the truth about those thugs, how Jace rescued me and dropped me off at my house.

   "Oh God! That's why you called me last night!" Alex looks positively sick. "I thought you'd rant about how good your time was with Ryan and I wasn't in a mood to listen to that and so I didn't pick up the phone." He's close to pulling his hair. "Anything could've happened to you last night and all because of me!" As much as i try to tell him it's ok and nothing really happened, he looks more pathetic. I sigh. The rest of the day will go like this.

Coming back from school, inside his car, I try to assure him.
"Everything is fine, Alex. You're overreacting. I was lucky, Jace was there. Nothing actually happened."

"You don't understand Rhea! I should've been there, not anyone else."

"Now you're being too hard on yourself, Alex. I'm not your responsibility."

"But you are! Don't you understand? You've been my responsibility for ten long years, Rhea. All this time I've been by your side. One slip, just one slip and look what happened!"

I've never seen him this worked up. It's starting to make me worry. He looks frantic. I have to assure him.

"Look at me Alex! I'm fine. Nothing happened, nothing at all. Anything like this will never happen again. Ok? Ok?"

"Yes"

"Good. Now stop overreacting and drive the car carefully."

"Yes ma'am!" He smirks.

-----------------------------------------------------
So, another day for Rhea, Alex and Jace is over. The drama is slowly unfolding now. Alex is slipping up, showing his feelings for Rhea. On the other hand, Jace is taking an interest in Rhea that's confusing her. Stay tuned for more drama! Don't forget to vote, comment and share!
P.S. I've attached a pic of Porcupine! 😀😁
Love,
Elena.