Honestly, I Love You (LAMS AU)

Four - What Would You Know?

"Hey, Alex I'm back!" I hear John call as the door closes. I shove the ice pack I had been holding on my face under my bed covers and then place my hand so it was covering my eye.

"Alright, I'm just writing my paper!" I call back, hoping he wouldn't come in here.

Unfortunately, my wish was not granted as he opened the door and continued talking. "Oh, by the way, Laf wanted me to tell you he'd be over at 4:30 if you wanted so you could walk to class together."

"Uh, I'm alright." I say quickly, not wanting anyone to see the clear black eye I had. "I was going to just work on this until the last second. I have to turn it in before-"

"Alex why are you covering your eye?" John asks, interrupting me.

I pause, silently cursing myself for making it obvious. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just resting my head on my hand."

"What happened?" He asks, taking a step closer to me.

I shake my head. "Nothing, John. I'm fine I'm just working on the paper." I say, not looking up at him.

Suddenly my hand is grabbed and pulled away from my face and I close my eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to come. Once I realize I wasn't about to be hit, I open my eyes and look up at John, who seems upset.

"Alex, it's the first day, how did you already get in a fight?" He asks. "Who did this to you?"

"It's nothing, really. It doesn't even hurt." I lie to him, rolling my eyes lightly.

"Who did you get into a fight with?" He asks again.

"I don't know, some guy. He shoved me for accidentally running into his girlfriend and so I tried standing up for myself." I say, looking back to my paper.

John rolls his eyes. "You got in a fight with James Reynolds? That guy is so strong, Alex. Why on Earth would you do that?"

I shrug. "How do you know that's who it is?" I ask, holding up my paper.

"Because he's the only guy that is that protective of his girlfriend." John sighs and walks over to his bed. "I don't understand why Maria stays with him, honestly."

I sigh in relief as he drops the fact that I have a black eye and return to writing my paper.

"Is that the paper for Washington's class?" John asks, breaking the silence. I nod as I continue writing. "Why are you writing it? It'd be way easier just to type it since you have to email it anyway."

Without looking up at my paper, I argue back, "I don't have a laptop, John."

"Wait, what?"

"I don't have-"

"No, I heard you it's just...Really? You came to college without a laptop?"

I set my pencil down and turn around to him. "Okay, I didn't even know what a laptop was until about a few months ago. So no, I don't have a laptop." He frowns and I turn around and continue writing.

"I'm sorry." He says after a few seconds. I wasn't expecting this, but I try not to let that show. "I didn't mean to offend you in any way, I was just confused."

I continue writing. "It doesn't matter, I don't care." I say coldly. I'm not sure why I was being so awful, he was just asking questions after all.

There was a long, awkward moment of silence before John chuckles lightly. "You know, you write a lot. You've got to be almost done."

I shake my head. "No, I'm barely halfway done."

"Oh, so you only have a page done then?" He asks and I roll my eyes.

"No John, gosh I don't write that slow." I sigh. "I only have four pages done."

There was another pause before John spoke again. "Alex, Washington asked for two pages. He wanted us to talk about some topics we've debated about in the past."

I shrug. "I enjoy arguing." I say to him, looking up at the clock on the wall.

There was a knock on the door and I look up. "Did you invite someone over?" I ask, finally looking over at John.

He shakes his head. "No, it's 4:30. It's probably Laf, expecting to walk to class with you."

I groan as John gets up and goes to the door. I hear it open and go back to writing my paper.

"Mon ami, Alex est-il prêt?" I hear Lafayette ask. Why does he need to know if I'm ready or not? My friend, is Alex ready?

I hear a chuckle escape John's mouth. "Non, il est grincheux. Vous devrez peut-être marcher seul en classe." No, he's cranky. You may need to walk alone to class.

I scoff at this and then get my stuff together and walk out of the room.

"Ah, Alex! You headed to class later?" Lafayette asks.

"Non, je me sens bien et je marcherai avec plaisir en classe avec toi." I say, glaring lightly at John. No, I feel fine and I will gladly walk to class with you.

His cheeks go red and Lafayette laughs. "Allons-y." He says before stepping into the hallway.

"Bye John." I say stubbornly as I walk out.

He sighs. "Bye Alex, see you later."

The door closes and Lafayette and I start walking to our next class. "Sorry about that, I was going to stay, but I didn't feel like letting John say that about me..." I sigh

"It's alright...You know he doesn't actually mean it though, right?" Lafayette asks, not looking at me.

"Well, he seemed pretty sincere to me." I scoff, holding my books close to my chest.

Lafayette shakes his head at me. "No, he just doesn't quite understand how you work all the time. He speaks very fondly of you to us, mon ami." He explains.

I cringe when he calls me his friend, as I know he doesn't really mean it, but I let it slide and continue the conversation. "Well, wh-what does he say about me?" I ask, cursing myself mentally for stuttering once again.

He chuckles. "It's not my place to tell, Alex." 

He opens a door and I look at him with a confused look, only to realize we had already reached our classroom. "After you." He says, moving out of the way. I quietly thank him and walk into the classroom, sitting near the front and away from other people. It's just better that way.

1103 Words