Chapter 7 - Alexia

I wasn't mad at Luke.

Okay, maybe at first. I thought he had ruined my relationship with Vanessa. Not that there was one, anyway. But I needed her. Even if I hated her, I needed her help.

You've probably heard this already in like hundreds of movies, but… I want to be popular.

But not in a bad way. I mean, not like Vanessa.

I want to be the girl who other girls look up to. I want to be like a mother to everyone. I want to be known as the big sister, not Vanessa's butler (yeah, I hear the jokes). Like Mother Teresa.

Okay, maybe not that far, but you get the idea.

Anyway, when I was little I thought that the best way to be popular was to be friends with the most popular girl in school. Yeah, it didn't work out for me that well. Even if I wasn't a "popular girl" yet, I would sometimes take notes about what popular girls would normally do. Like go to the mall, gossip, or put on makeup.

But, what are you gonna do?

When I went to school, Wednesday morning, I admit it I was kind of hoping to see Luke. It was still too soon to tell him my "secret", but just being around him made me feel more confident about myself.

When I saw him, at English class I immediately walked over to him, without hesitation.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Huh?" he asked.

He made a cute face that made me giggle. "I mean, I'm sorry about yesterday," I explained, "I'm just not ready to tell yet. You especially."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there when you need me," he said.

Can this guy be any more perfect? I asked myself.

"Thanks," I said. I then turned around and sat in my seat.

I was already nervous when I got to school.

Am I really going to do this?

Yes. Yes, I am.

I walked straight to the English class, without even waiting for Vanessa, and put my bag in my seat, then looked around. He wasn't here yet. Phew.

Every time someone would walk in, I would panic. Then I would realize that it wasn't him, and calm down.

Finally, he walked in, next to Nick and Will. I marched straight at them.

"Luke, I need to ask you something," I announced without even saying hi.

"Oh, yeah, sure," he said, and we walked into a corner of the room.

Here goes nothing.

"Can I have your number?" I asked.

Silence.

"This is what you wanted to ask me?" he demanded.

"Uh… yeah?" I answered him.

He laughed. "Of course you can have my number! You came there all worried, I thought something bad had happened."

"Oh, no. I was a little nervous, that's all," I admitted.

"Don't be. If you weren't the one asking, I would," he said, giving me a dazzling smile.

I smiled back, then took out my phone. It was old, scratched everywhere, but it worked fine. He dialed the number on my phone, then gave it back to me.

"I'll text you when I'm ready," I told him.

"Don't hesitate," he answered. He then walked away and all the tension I had melted away.

The last lesson of the day was P.E.

And this was a very particular lesson. First, Mr. Crum made us build an obstacle course. Then he divided us into two teams. This time Luke and I were both in the blue team.

"Each one of you will have to go through the course. Then, there will be a game of Tic Tac Toe at the end. You have to make a move, then run back and high five the next person in your team. Only when your hands touch, can the next person start," Mr. Crum explained. "Did everyone understand that?"

When no one answered, he yelled: "First ones, go!"

Two guys ran towards the obstacle course. The one on the red team went through it quickly, but our guy got stuck in the middle. After a while he freed himself, but he lost a few seconds. He played a move, then ran back and high fived the next guy, who ran off.

This one went by more quickly. But we were still far behind the other team. While our guy was thinking for a move to make, Luke stepped up.

"I'll go next," he announced, "I'll be able to even us with the others."

"Oh no, big guy," I said as I gently pushed him away. "This is my moment. Don't steal my moment," I told him.

He laughed. "Okay."

Our guy was already running back. He gave me a high five, and I took off.

I ran through it easily, jumping over the parallels and rolling under pommel horses.

When I reached the Tic Tac Toe game, I noticed that the other team was about to win, so I drew a little circle to block them. I dropped the pen and ran back. I did all this in about 10 seconds, so I did what Luke said he would do, but better. Our team was winning.

I ran back and high fived Luke, who sprinted towards the obstacles. He was almost faster than I was. Almost.

He quickly made a move and ran back with his hands in the air.

"We won!" he exclaimed.

"Good job!" I told him, and he smiled at me.

Player after player we went. At one of the last rounds, we realized that our team had one less player than the red team.

"Someone has to go two times," Mr. Crum said.

"Alexia, you should do it," Luke told me. "You're faster and more agile than any of us. We can win if you go."

Every member of the blue team was now staring at me. "Fine."

I was actually a little worried until I found out that the last player of the red team was Vanessa. I felt confident after that.

At the same moment, Vanessa and I got high fived. I ran as fast as I could. In the background, I heard Vanessa complain. "He hurt my hand!"

I crossed the obstacles, then played a move and ran back. I gave Luke a high five again. While I was sprinting back, Vanessa wasn't even over half of the obstacles.

We won.

Our team cheered, but we were interrupted by Vanessa's yells.

"It's not fair! I should be the one winning!" she dictated.

We just ignored her.

The rest of the week passed quickly. Only a few teachers gave us homework to do, so it wasn't so bad either. For some reason, after that P.E. lesson, Luke and me were closer than ever. We talked, we laughed, and I think that, after trying to flirt with him couple of times without any results, Vanessa gave up on Luke. Good for him.

Friday night, for me, is homework night. I did everything I had to do for the next week, so that I could have a free weekend.

At 10.30 PM, I went to bed.

The next morning, without even thinking about it, I disconnected my phone from my charger, put my password in, opened WhatsApp, and typed two simple words.

I'm ready.