Choices

Choices

“Hey Alex,” hollered Jack from across the hall.
“Hey Goofiod,” she replied with a smirk.
“Are you going to the game tonight?” Jack asked eagerly.
“I’m probably going to chill out here at the school until the game starts.”
“You can’t stay here by yourself; I’ll stay here with you.”
“No Jack-o, your mom would kill you, besides, I’m not alone. I’ll just hang out with Mike and Danny, you know, the custodians,” Alex replied reassuringly.
“You know I’m going to feel crappy knowing I left you here, right,” he said with slight frown.
“I know, but you’ll get over it. Now go before you miss the bus!”
“Alright, I’ll see you later,” he yelled back as he took off running for the exit.
Alex turned and proceeded down the hallway to look for the custodians. After pacing the halls a few times without finding the guys, she veered toward her locker. She gazed at the pictures of her friends and family that were taped to the door and pulled out a couple of school books. She slid to the floor and opened one of her books when she heard a noise coming from around the corner. Assuming that it was just one of the custodians or possibly a football player heading to practice, she just continued reading. She raised her head as the figure stepped into view and felt like she was going to throw up every meal she had had since last Thursday.
It was Derek, her obsessive and abusive ex-boyfriend. As he walked by he glared at her. She curled her legs up to her chest as he passed and he sneered, amused by her fear. She held her breathe until he was out of sight.
“Holy crap,” she mumbled under her breathe. “What the hell is he doing here?” she wondered. Then she remembered that his brother, Drew, was a football player.
She tried to erase that image of him glaring at her by reading through her homework. An hour and a half later, she was still on the same page finding it hard to focus on the words that lay before her. “Man I can’t wait until Jack gets here,” she thought as the anxiety of possibly seeing Derek at the game crept up her spine.
Alex slowly stood up and put her books back into her locker and a picture in the back of her locker caught her eye. She reached for it and pulled it out to examine it closer. It was a picture of her and Derek; she remembered the day that was taken so well.

That morning, she raised her hand to answer a question that the teacher had just asked and her shirt rose as well. When it did, Jack happened to notice a dark purple bruise across her side. Later that day he questioned her and she finally told him what was going on. He, of course, told her to leave him for her own safety. She would have done so but she knew he would probably beat her to death. After months of abuse, he told her she wasn’t worthy enough to be with him and he had found someone else who was.

“I feel sorry for his new girlfriend,” Alex thought to herself. She felt ashamed after he left her but Jack finally convinced her that he was no good and that she was better off without him. Later, she couldn’t believe that she actually cried when he left. Jack helped her out so much; he was truly her best friend.
Alex started walking toward the exit when suddenly, she heard Jack yelling and running after her.
“Hey man, when did you get here?” she asked, trying not to show that she was stressed out.
“Just a minute ago, are you ok?”
Well she failed to cover up her stress. “I’m fine,” she replied looking down at her feet.
“What’s going on?”
“Derek is here,” she replied, now trying to hold back tears.
“Alex don’t worry about it, I promise he won’t mess with you. I won’t let him,” he replied with reassurance and a hint of anger in his voice.

Jack was 6’0” tall, weighed about 190 lbs. and was very strong. He was really warm hearted and always looked out for Alex. He told her once that it was his duty to watch out for her and he would always stand by her no matter what.

“Thanks Jack, but all I need right now is a hug,” Alex replied as she raised her arms to embrace him. He wrapped his powerful arms around her waste and gently lifted her up from the floor.
“Come on, let’s go to the game,” he said as he put her down, “just stick by me and there won’t be anything to worry about, alright?”
“Alright, let’s go and try to have a good time.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Jack said seeming absolutely thrilled that she was felling better because of his reassurance. “Uh Alex, what are you doing after the game?”
“I’ll probably just go home…Why?”
“Do you need a ride home?”
“Well, I was going to call my mom to pick me up but you can drive me home if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Oh, I don’t have a problem with taking you home, not at all,” he replied in a rush.
“Uh Jack, do you really want to go to this game?” Alex asked as they walked outside.
“I don’t really care. Why? Do you want to go home?”
“No I don’t want to go home and I don’t really want to go this game,” she said. She seemed confused and stressed out.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Jack cut in before she could break down, “let’s get out of here.”
“What?”
“Call up your mom and ask her if you could go with me to a movie and McDonald’s,” he insisted.
“Alright.” She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called home. As she expected, her mom answered.

“Hello,” he mom seemed to be in a good mood by the tone in her voice.
“Hi Mom,” Alex replied without a trace of anxiety in her voice, which was rather surprising.
“What’s up Honey?”
“Not much, I’m here with Jack.”
“Are you having fun?”
“Actually no, the game sucks and I was wondering if Jack and I could go to a movie and grab some food at McDonald’s?”
“Well, do you have any money on you?” her mom asked anxiously.
“Yep, I’m good to go, with you ‘ok’.”
“Well, alright, be home by 10.”
“Thanks Mom.”
“No problem. Have fun and be careful.”
“Ok, bye,” Alex said as she hung up, “Yes!!!”
“Alright, let’s go! My car is parked at the other end of the building,” Jack said with a big grin on his face.
“So, what do you want to see?” she asked.
“I don’t care, what ever you want.”
“Ok, let’s go see ‘Chicken Little’.”
They burst out laughing but their laughter was cut short when they came around the corner. They saw Derek and all of his buddies standing by a car that was three spaces away from Jack’s.
Quickly Jack pulled Alex back to the other side of the building. “Go back to the school doors and I’ll bring the car around to pick you up,” Jack ordered.
Not wanting to confront Derek and his equally powerful buddies, she agreed. She watched him disappear around the corner and turned to walk toward the school doors when she heard Derek holler at Jack. Derek asked him if he had seen her lately. She was relieved to hear Jack lie to Derek about her whereabouts. She quietly tiptoed to the entrance of the school.
As Jack came around the corner in his car, she caught a glimpse of Derek and the thugs coming around the corner.
“Hey, there’s the bitch,” she heard Derek say to his buds, “Hey Alex, where are you going Baby? Why don’t you bring your sorry ass over here? I know you want some of this,” he said as he grabbed at his crotch.
Jack threw the car door open, “Quick, get in.” She looked back and saw Derek and the guys running toward them now. She jumped into the car as the thugs beat there fists on the trunk, and Jack floored it out of the parking lot.
“Are you ok?” Jack asked trying to look at her and drive 90 mph at the same time.
“I’m fine,” she replied and glanced out the window, “Jack-o, I think their going to follow us,” she said as she watched the goons pile into Derek’s car.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”
“What?”
“Hold on tight.”
With out slowing down, he made a sharp turn down a gravel road and turned off his lights. He turned again and slowed the car.
“I think we’re safe now,” he cut through the silence.
“Do you think he saw us come down this way?”
“No, he was still in the parking lot when I turned.”
“I’ve been through enough crap tonight. Let’s go to the movies,” Alex grumbled under her breathe.
“’Chicken Little’?”
“Yeah, let’s go see ‘Chicken Little”,” she said with a little smile.
After all the crap they had just gone through, they still managed to laugh at their goofy little joke.
They rolled out of their hiding place a few minutes later and headed for the theatre.
They shared a huge tub of popcorn and sang along with the songs in the movie. Alex was having a great time and Jack was dancing around in his seat, so he seemed pretty happy. And, as they planned, they went to McDonald’s after the movie. After they got their orders, they sat in the back and talked more than they ate.
“What did you see in that guy,” Jack asked.
“I have no idea,” Alex replied with a small laugh.
Their conversation went on and they jumped from subject to subject. Until Jack caught Alex off guard.
“Alex, we’ve been friends for a while…”
“Yeah,” she raised her eyebrow at him.
“Well, hypothetically speaking, if you had a friend that liked you more than a friend and they asked you out, how would you respond?” he asked. She noticed him blushing.
“Well, that all depends on who that friend is,” she replied, “if Sally asked me out, I might have to decline.”
He laughed. “Ok, what if I asked you out?”
“I would have to say…”
He had a look of panic on his face when she paused. “What?” he whispered, not trying to rush her.
“Yes,” she whispered as she stared into his eyes. Then, she leaned forward and kissed him sweetly on the cheek. His whole face turned red and he wrapped his big arms around her.
“Did you know that I’ve loved you this whole time?”
“I had a funny feeling that you liked me but I didn’t know that you loved me,” she said surprised by his confession.


LAM