Chapter 2

[Elena's POV]

Back at the café was akward. I hope Madison didn't see that.

I drank the last bit of my espresso and threw the cup to the trash and walked in the hallways. It's a short walk for me to go to my locker so I was able to make it. I dropped off some books and after I closed my locker, I am now face-to-face with the boy I seen for the second time.

"Elena?" Alexander or Alex, said in shock.

"Hey," I akwardly greeted.

"Hey," He responded. "Didn't know I was your locker buddy."

"Me neither, maybe it's just a coincidence." I told him. He chuckled.

"See you around maybe? I gotta run to class."

"Yeah sure."

Damn it, another weird moment.

|Time Skip to End of a Class|

RIIIING!

"Alright, that's all for today, thank you everyone, pop quiz on Thursday! Prepare yourself!" my History teacher said to the whole class.

Finally, second period is over. I can't process almost every information in History. I am smart but I'd usually get A-s or sometimes a B on this class.

After sorting through my stuff in my locker, I walked towards 3rd period. Math. When I walked into my class, I saw Alex again. I guess this is one of the classes he and I have. As I make my way to sit a table behind him, we exchanged glances.

"Good morning students, in today's class, we'd be doing worksheets in pairs. This will help you see how you work together." my Math teacher announces.

The whole class responds with a groan but he ignores it. "I'll be choosing your partners," Mr. Rays says as he takes out a piece of paper. "Harry and Jackson," "Barry and Layla," the list goes on and on. On the inside, I'm just praying that Mr. Rays didn't partner me up with-. "And Alexander and Elena."

'WHAT!?' I mentally thought to myself.

"Mr. Rays, please just let me do this alone. I-" I started as I stood up from my seat but he cut me off.

"Miss Harper, I know you are used to this but," He gestures me to come closer so he can whisper.

"Alex has been failing in my classes. And other classes. You are the right person to help. I can even sign you up to be his tutor." He offered.

"Mr. Rays, thank you so much for the offer. But I-"

"Elena," Mr Rays says as he puts a hand on one side of my shoulder. "I know it's tough times for you but I know how much your mother wanted you to be happy. Especially your father, my good friend would even give you a long lecture to you."

I sighed. Mr. Rays is right. If Dad was alive, I'm pretty sure this is what he'd do. I remember times when my Mom have to invite Mr. Rays for dinner to see how I was progressing. And I remember the first time that Mom told me that Mr. Rays and Dad are best friends since high school which took me by surprise.

"Okay," This gave Mr. Rays a small smile. "I have all the faith in the world, Miss Harper."

After the intimate conversation, I took a seat next to Alex as Mr. Rays passed out the worksheets.

"Must've been ANOTHER coincidence," Alex said, emphasizing another. I chuckled. "If you need help on that, let me know." I said to him. He nodded in reply as he takes out his pen.

As time flew by, I glanced over to see how he's doing. 'He seems to be trying to analyze before he could ask me.' I thought to myself.

'Ugh, how do you do this?!', Alex mumbled to himself which caught my attention. I looked over and he's struggling on the basics of algebraic equations.

"Do you need help?" I asked him.

"Sort of, if only I studied then I could've answer this quickly." He said in frustration.

"Hey, don't worry. We've all been there. I'm not gonna lie but I have too." I said with a chuckle that makes him chuckle too.

"Thanks Elena. So can you help me?" He asked and of course, I agree and taught him how to do the linear equations in the proper way. After a few minutes, he tried to do a question by himself.

"I'm not trying to be nosy or anything but you signed yourself up to be my tutor?" Alex asked in curiosity. I looked at him in his brown eyes.

"Well, that's what Mr. Rays wanted," I answered him. "I heard you're not really doing well in classes, is everything okay?"

"You're sweet, Elena and thanks for the concern," He said with a chuckle. "It's basketball. I didn't really have time for myself to study because I need to practice and hangout with Madison. I love her and all that but she doesn't want to listen." He said the last part with a sigh.

I feel bad for Alex.

"Why can't you talk to her on the situation?" I asked.

"Trust me, I've tried talking to her about it from the last 6 months, she's a stubborn one." He replied with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," That's all I could say.

"Thanks for that." He said with a smile. I smiled back.

|Time Skip to Lunch|

For some reason, Alex is on my mind. There is a part of me saying to put myself out there to make friends and be happy and the other is saying after the tutoring, I'm done.

As I was walking towards my locker to drop off some books, Madison came walking towards me. Oh crap.

"Hello, Harper," she said in a tone that gives me chills.

"What do you want, Madison?" I talked back.

"I want you to stay away from Alex. He's my boo. My boyfriend and he's mine, not yours." She threatened.

"You need to chill, there's nothing going on," With that, I walked past Madison to go to a place where I can be myself. The school garden.

No one has ever been here before but I managed to be me when I'm in the garden.

With the book in my hand, and a muffin in the other, everything is perfect.

Until I hear someone whistling, I hid behind the hedge. I looked over the hedge to see who it is. I figured that I should read my- Wait, where's my book?

"Hello!? Who's in here?" the voice called out.

CRACK! Damn it, I stepped on a stick.

The person who called out faced to my direction. Wait, it's Alex, what's he doing here?

"I know you are in there," Alex called out. "Show yourself."

I take a deep breathe and slowly stand up.

"Elena?" Alex said in surprise.

"Hey Alex," I smiled a little. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd usually go to the cafeteria."

"Nahh, I wasn't in the mood at the moment. I found this place three days ago and I figured when I need some time alone, I can always find an excuse to come here." He explained. "Here's your book." he said giving me my book.

"Thanks." I said, retrieving it from his hand.

"I can see you're a Limelight," he joked.

"You know them?" I asked in surprise. He replied with a nod.

"Well, I guess I'm not the only one who knows about this place." I chuckled.

"Why are you here?" He asked sweetly.

"This is my safe zone. The only place where I can be myself." I said while taking a bite of my muffin. "But now that you're here, I don't know if I should consider safe."

"Hey, it's okay. And why are you saying that?"

"Alex, you're the most popular kid in school. I'm just a nobody." I said sadly.

"That's what you think." He said putting a hand on my shoulder to assure me. He gave me a small smile and I smiled back.

"So about the tutoring session? When do you wanna do it? Are you down for after school?"

"Sure, I'm down." I agreed to Alex.

While everyone else is in the cafeteria, Alex and I stayed in the garden, laughing, talking and trying to make a start of a beautiful friendship.

[Hey guys! Hope of you guys had an amazing day. When I found out that I got 146 reads, I decided to publish this chapter as a way of saying thank you for 146 reads! You guys are the reason that motivated me to send another chapter, stay safe and remind yourself to #appreciateyourselfmore❤️]