In Love With Alex Brightman

chapter ten

October 3rd, 2018 [Wednesday]
•29 weeks left•

Two days went by since Katie and I talked the situation out. It ended well with apologizes and a movie with popcorn.

Katie said she was sorry for making me think her and Alex were flirting or that I felt excluded. She explained that she was simply excited that she had met another person who knew as much Broadway as her. I told her it was fine and she cleared the assumptions of ever liking Alex in a different way. That definitely lifted weight off my shoulders.

"Don't worry, Sarah. Alex is your piece," She teased me, bumping my shoulder.

"Stop it. Alex isn't mine," I scoffed, immediately breaking eye contact.

"Oh he will be soon. The time will come around," she wiggled her eyebrows. "Now come here," She giggled, pulling me into a tight hug. I groaned at the hard impact, before patted her back repeatedly to signal quick lose of air.

Somehow afterwards, we ended up singing to multiple Broadway soundtracks for another few hours. When we fell back on the couch in exhaustion, I checked my phone and found texts from Alex. He asked if we could meet up the next day to talk properly. I quickly responded, agreeing on the idea. It had only been two days and I missed him a lot.

Alex and I met the next morning around lunchtime at a lovely coffee shop on Broadway street. As I walked through the door, his eyes immediately lit up. He jumped to his feet and walked around the table to pull the chair out for me. I slapped his shoulder in laughter, telling him to calm down. He was undeniably nervous.

After ordering my coffee and making small talk to stall, I explained to Alex—in minimal details—why I had left them at the park. He sounded kind of hurt and anxious when he asked about it, worried for the answer. I left out the parts of myself thinking that they were flirting and liked each other. But somehow, he figured me out and didn't believe me when I said I wasn't.

"I don't like Katie nor had any intentions of flirting with her," He confirmed, holding my hands across the table. I could see the desperation in his eyes. He wanted to make sure I understood that he was serious, but I couldn't focus clearly due to the feelings of his soft hands. And his thumb mindlessly rubbing my knuckles. He had to have noticed my breath hitching.

"I'm sorry for assuming that. I don't know why I did. You guys just looked—"

"Don't even finish that, Sarah. Nothing was happening and now that I'm aware of how you felt, I'll keep my distance." He closed his eyes to shut down the vision for himself.

"I don't want you two to be enemies or anything. You both have a lot in common and I don't want to ruin a new friendship," I explained with a shake of my head.

"Still, you don't have to worry about me and Katie anymore, okay?" He inquired, squeezing our hands. I nodded, a small smile on my face. "I'm glad that's over. I missed you a lot, Holland. I wanted to hang out again, but I didn't know a good time to talk about this," his free hand running through his short hair.

"I'm sorry. And I missed you too."

The next day was the first Beetlejuice cast and crew meeting. Alex and I met up that morning to walk to the theater together. He said he had a feeling that I'd be nervous about going and I definitely was. I didn't know how to feel, honestly, but I was a bit anxious. I had no idea what to expect and Alex saw it all on my face.

"Nervous, huh?" He asked, squeezing my shoulder. His arm was around my neck like usual when we walked together. I could say that his small gesture made me feel protected, for some reason.