Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,20
being normal.
Alex picked up the beer the waitress delivered while she was on stage and finished it off in a few long chugs.
“That was amazing,” I said, trying to salvage the night.
Alex shrugged, her eyes landing on everything but me. “Keg stand champ back home. Two years running.”
Though she didn’t laugh, I did. Her sense of humor always surprised me. Pretty girls weren’t usually funny. I mean, the ones I took home weren’t there because of their wit. Alex’s was a breath of fresh air. It became more apparent with every moment I spent with her. Whether I ruined the moment or not.
But being able to chug a beer wasn’t what I meant. And she knew it. “Your voice is amazing.”
She kept her eyes glued on the two girls taking the stage. “It’s just something I can do.”
“Have you tried out for one of those singing shows?”
She glanced at me like I’d said the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “I only do it for fun. I’m not going to be a singer or anything.”
I rested my elbows on the table and leaned in a little closer. “What do you want to be?”
Alex shrugged, her eyes suddenly uneasy. I wasn’t sure if it was my question or the alcohol, but her gaze fell distant.
“You’re not gonna tell me?”
Her eyes transformed from uneasy to irritated in a matter of seconds. “You know, Hayden, you have all these questions for me, but you haven’t told me one thing about you.”
“You haven’t asked.”
She sat back and crossed her arms. “How old are you?”
“Older than you.”
Her lips pinched like she downed something sour. “Why do you live alone?”
“I choose to.”
Her frown deepened. “How do you afford it? What do you do for work?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “You know, this and that.”
Most girls found my evasiveness charming, practically begging me to take them home with me. But Alex looked about ready to kill me. “Seriously?”
No. But I couldn’t tell her I beat down people for a living. I tipped back my bottle and chugged down my beer, allowing the coolness to penetrate my body. “So you’re a senior?”
Alex paused for a long moment, obviously debating whether or not to answer my question.
I waited her out.
“Three days ‘til senior year. At a new school. With no friends. Can’t wait.”
My lips pulled to the side regrettably. That sucked.
Her head tilted to the side. “So, are you a senior, too?”
I shook my head. I knew you were expected to offer more than what was asked. But the more I said, the more I risked letting people in. Letting them see the real me.
“Oh, that’s right,” she said, shooting me attitude. “You’re too busy with this and that.”
I didn’t even try to hide my amusement as I swallowed the last of my beer behind a grin.
ALEX
I sat back in my seat and watched the next few singers without another word. Hayden might’ve been amused by his evasiveness, but I wasn’t.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t Hayden.
Maybe it was my own humiliation. I had no clue what possessed me to throw myself into his arms in the first place. I guess the excitement of the moment, and the fact that I hadn’t felt that alive since leaving Austin, overwhelmed me.
But the way he stood there, stiff beneath my touch like I carried some kind of disease, mortified me.
I tried to play it off with indifference, but truthfully, I just wanted to get back to my aunt’s apartment and lock out the outside world.
As if reading my mind, Hayden spoke over the music. “You ready to hit the road?”
I didn’t answer, just grabbed my handbag from the back of my stool and rummaged through it in search of my wallet.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warned.
My eyes lifted to his. “This was on me, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember. Now put your cash away. I’m paying.” His stern look and chilly tone left no room for an argument.
Five minutes later, Eddie Vedder blared through Hayden’s speakers, preventing our drive home from being unnervingly quiet. I wondered if the other girls he had in his truck minded the nineties’ music. My dad couldn’t leave the driveway without Pearl Jam on, so I knew the songs and didn’t mind them. If anything, they just made me sad.
But these days, what didn’t?
I glanced over at Hayden’s shadowed profile lit only by the sporadic headlights of passing cars. I wondered what made him so reticent. His past? His current situation? Me?
He hit the nail on the head when