Chapter 18, Justin

*sorry, this one's really long, but its kind of important?*


I push Kelsey away from me. "What the hell are you doing?!" I shout.
"Oh, nothing. Don't act like you didn't like it though." She winks at me. She freaking winks at me. I want to throw up.
"No I didn't. Now get away from me before somebody sees this and thinks something's going on," I say, and she starts to open her mouth, but I add, "which it isn't," and she doesn't say anything. I look up and see Alexis running down the hall crying. "Shit!" I mumble, then take off running after her. "ALEXIS! ALEXIS WAIT!"
"Justin?!" I hear Kelsey yelling at me. "Where are you going?! Get back here! Justin!" She's mad, I can tell. But I don't turn around. I keep running after Alexis, not stopping, just going.
"ALEXIS!" I'm starting to catch up to her. By now we've run to the parking lot. I finally getclose to her and grab her arm, forcing her to stop. "Alexis!" I say, a little out of breath.
She spins around. "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
I'm a little shocked. "Why are you crying?" I reach out to wipe away her tears, but she slaps my hand away.
"You were kissing Kelsey! And you promised you wouldn't leave me!" I can see the fury and the sadness in her eyes.
"What? I didn't kiss Kelsey! She kissed me! And I'm not going to leave you!"
"Yeah right! Of course that's what you're going to say! Whatever, Justin! You know what? We're done!" She turns to walk away.
"No!" I stop her again. "I'm not leaving you with this baby. I'm staying with you, and I'm going to help you take care of it."
"I don't want you to! I don't want you to help me! I want you to STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she screams.
I relunctantly take a step back. "Okay," I say quietly. "I'm sorry. I'll stay away from you. But I didn't kiss her! She kissed me, I swear!"
She just looks at me. "Don't swear things." She walks away.

"Justin! What are you doing?!"
I look up. "Alyssa? How, how did you get in my house?"
She waves the question away. "Whatever. Not important. What is important is, why aren't you doing anything to get Alexia back?"
I look at her. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, even though you are." She smirks at her cleverness. Then she's serious again. "She told me she saw you kissing Kelsey. I know you love her too much to do something like that. I was with you at the hospital. You love her WAY too much to cheat on her, especially with Kelsey, of all people."
I sigh. "I love her. A lot. I thought she knew that, after... But I guess she doesn't. She obviously doesn't love me as much as I love her."
"If she doesn't love you, then why did she try and get you away from Ryan at my house? Why was she sobbing when you weren't waking up? Why is she so upset over this if she doesn't love you?"
I'm quiet. She's right. I'm waiting for her to say something, but she's just looking at me, waiting for me to respond. I roll my eyes. "Well what am I supposed to do? She wants me to stay away from her. She won't take my calls, she won't respond to e-mails, I went to her house and she wouldn't answer the door. I can't do anything about it." I sigh and hold my head in my hands. "Help me, please."
She sighs. "Well, I don't really know what to tell you. She's really stubborn."
"Oh, trust me, I know."
She laughs. "Yeah. Well, you could try doing something special? Like, spontaneous, romantic, surprising. Something no other guy would think of doing."
"Well what am I -" I stop. An idea pops into my head. "Okay. Thanks. I got it."
"Are you sure? Cause I-"
"Bye Alyssa! Thanks for coming! Really nice! Bye!" I push her out of the room and out my front door. I seriously don't know how she got in my house. I've been upstairs in my room all day, and all of a sudden she's standing there. A little creepy if you ask me. But whatever. I'm gonna get Alexis back, and that's all that matters.
I go back up to my room and grab my phone. I dial her number as fast as I can, and press the phone to my ear. It's ringing, and I'm hoping she'll answer, but she doesn't.
"Hi, this is Alexis," her voice chirps on the recording. "I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible! Thanks, bye!"
I take a deep breath, and wait for the beep. I hear it and start talking immediatly. "Hey Alexis it's Justin. I know you don't wanna talk to me right now but just listen. I need to talk to you. Call me back as soon as you hear this, please. I swear I would never do anything to hurt you. Please believe me. I'll do anything to make you believe me. I love you." I hang up.
I sigh and fall down on my bed. I hope she calls me back. I need to explain what happened. But what if she doesn't believe me? Whatever, I think to myself. I'll make her believe me. I'll do anything. She's having my baby. I need to be with her.
Twenty minutes later, I'm thinking about going over to Christian's house to go swimming, since Alexis is obviously not calling me back, when my phone rings. I scramble to answer it. I check the caller ID and see it's Alexis. Finally! I hurry and answer. "Hello?"
"Five minutes. That's what you have to explain. Five minutes."
"Alexis, I swear on my life, she kissed me!"
"So you're dead?"
"No need for sass. But I promise you. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. It kills me to not be with you. Kelsey's trash. I don't want anything to do with her. But I want everything to do with you. I love you."
"Yeah, yeah, you love me, blah blah blah. I've heard it all before, Justin."
"Please, Alexis, trust me."
She doesn't say anything.
"Alexis?"
I hear her sigh. "Well, I'm not just going to trust you again like that. You've gotta earn it."
"I'll do anything."
"Alright. I guess we're okay. But remember, you've gotta earn my trust."
"I know. And I will. Trust me. I mean, well, you know. I don't mean trust me, cause I have to earn your trust and stuff, but I do mean it, like believe me, ya know? But you know, just, yeah." I'm stupid.
She laughs. "I know what you mean. And I know you will. I know you'll do whatever it takes to earn it. And that kind of scares me, since, well, I know you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it means. You're crazy, boy!"
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It depends," she says flirtily.
"Well maybe you can come over later and we can figure it out." I would wink, but we're talking on the phone, so it's kind of pointless.
"We'll see." Oh my god.
"Alexis, I think you should come over. Like, now."
"Why?"
"Because I need help with my chemisty homework. Yeah, that's it. Homework." I say it as suggestively as I can, so she doesn't think I actually want to do homework.
"I don't remember a chemisty assignment." Now she's just teasing me.
"It's, uhm, extra credit." Sure, extra credit. Why not.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. It's for a ton of points."
"Well I might be able to come over."
"I'll come over there if I need to."
"No need. Twenty minutes. I'll be there. And we better go to Dairy Queen later!"
I laugh. "Again with the Dairy Queen? Really?"
"Of course! The Brownie Batter blizzards are back!"
I laugh again. "Whatever. Fine, we'll go to Dairy Queen. But you gotta come over first."
"I know, I know. I'll be there soon. Bye."
"Bye. I love you."
"I love you too. Wait, what?"
"HA! I knew it! You're not mad! You still love me!"
"Well, I mean, I just... UGH!" She's embarrassed.
"Well, whatever. Come on, hurry up and get over here!"
"Okay, okay! I'm on my way over. See you soon. Bye." She hangs up.
So Alexis is coming over. I hope she knows that there isn't any extra credit work. She's not that dumb. But she's dumb enough or me to trick her. Which I just did. I gotta hurry now. I decide to call Alexis back and tell her to take longer. I dial her number fast.
"Justin? I'm about to leave my house. What do you want?"
"I have to go help one of my relatives with something. It'll take about an hour or two. Do you think you can come over after that?" I hold my breath, hoping she believes me.
"Oh, okay." I can hear the dissappointment in her voice. "Are you sure? Maybe I should just come over some other time."
"No, you can still come over today. This is just really important. It won't take very long, I promise. I just have to fix something for my aunt."
"Okay, that's fine, I guess. See you later."
"Bye." I hang up and run to my car.

"May I help you?" The saleswoman looks at me like a piece of gum on her shoe. How rude.
"Yes, uhm, I'm actually looking for a dress for my girlfriend. It's a special occasion tonight and we're celebrating. Can you help me find a dress for her please?"
"Sure! Of course I can! What does she look like?" I pull out my phone and show her a picture of Alexis. "Oh, she's very pretty," the woman says. "I think I have just the right thing. How tall is she? How much does she weigh?"
I tell her, and she leaves and goes to the back room to get a dress. When she comes back, she's smiling. She says it's the perfect dress, and she unzips the dress bag and shows me. It's gorgeous. It's a beautiful pink dress that I know will look great on her. I buy the dress immediately.
As I leave the store, I call Alyssa. She answers quickly.
"Did you get Alexis back yet?"
"I'm working on it. Hey, do you have any really really pretty silver high heels that would fit Alexis? I need you to give them to her."
"Of course! Are you doing something special for her?"
"Yeah," I say. "She's gonna be crazy surprised. She's going to love it."
"I'll bet. Anything else you need?"
"Can you fix her hair all pretty? I mean, she's beautiful already, but I don't want her wearing a ponytail on our romantic date."
"Oooh, a romantic date?! How sweet! What is it? Tell me! I won't tell Alexis, I promise!"
"Nope. Not telling."
"Darn."
"But will you make sure she looks pretty? I'll give her the dress later."
"Dress? Whatever, okay. Bye Justin!"
"Bye Alyssa. Oh, and the dress is light pink, in case you wanted to know." I hang up, chuckling. I knew she wanted to know. That's why I told her. I'm not that mean of a person. I walk to Tiffany's and head to the counter. I'm going all out for this one. I want her to know that I love her.
A salesgirl comes over to the counter. She looks like she's about 20. "Hi! Can I help you?"
"Yes, I need a present for my girlfriend. I want her to know that I love her and that I think she's super special. What should I give her?"
"I know exactly the thing." She goes over to a display, picks up a necklace, and comes back over to me. "This," she says, handing me the necklace, "will let her know everything she means to you."
I look at the necklace. It's two hearts, intertwined, and there's a small diamond in between the hearts. "It's perfect," I tell her. "I'll take it." I pay for the necklace and leave.
As I drive home, I call my uncle who owns a big lake. I ask if I can borrow the lake, and he says it's fine. I hurry home and get ready to make dinner. Before I start cooking, I set up the table, dig up some candles and set them on the table. I go back in the kitchen and make dinner. I go as fast as I can, and the second I'm finished, the doorbell rings. "Shoot," I mutter. I wipe off my hands and run to the door. Alexis walks inside.
"Hey, do you have any idea why Alyssa gave me high heels and curled my hair, and told me to wear light pink eyeshadow? I swear, she's being such a freak." She laughs.
I laugh too, a little nervous that she'll figure it out. "No, no idea. But hey, since you have those pretty shoes, why don't you go try on this dress I got you? And I wanna see it, so come downstairs when you try it on, kay?"
She rolls her eyes. "You got me a dress? Why?"
"Don't ask questions, just do it!"
"Fine, fine!" she walks upstairs. About two minutes later, she comes down. "How do I look?" She twirls around, and I catch my breath.
"You look...amazing." Amazing doesn't even begin to describe how beautiful she looks. "Wow."
She smiles. "Thanks. It's really pretty! I love it."
"Yeah...wow..." Then I snap back to reality and remember the plan. "Uhm, I gotta go change clothes. I'll be right back. Stay here. Like, right here. Don't move from this spot."
She laughs and rolls her eyes. "Whatever, fine."
I run upstairs and change as fast as I can. I pull on a light blue button down shirt and roll up the sleeves to my elbows. I put on some nice black pants, then grab Alexis's present off my dresser and stuff it in my pocket. I run back downstairs.
Alexis raises her eyebrows when she sees me. "Hey there, hot stuff!"
I shrug. "I try. Now c'mon, let's eat."
"Eat? You made dinner? I don't think I trust your cooking."
I roll my eyes. "Just sit down." I lead her to the table and pull out her chair for her.
"Ooh, very fancy," she says.
"Mhm." I leave the room and come back with two plates of spaghetti. I set them on the table, then light the candles on the table. I sit down and smile at Alexis. "Bon appetite."

"Justin, that was delicious. I had no idea you could cook." Alexis leans back in her chair.
"Yeah, me either," I reply, laughing. I glance at my watch. 6:03. We have to go. I stand up. "Okay, no come on, we're going somewhere."
"Are you sure? I though maybe we could stay here, hang out?" She puts her arms around my neck. I want to kiss her so bad, but I know I can't.
"Nope. We gotta go. Come on." I pull her out the front door, and we get in the car. "Okay, now hold on." I put a blindfold over her eyes.
"What are you doing? I can't see."
I chuckle. "Yeah, that's kind of the point. I don't want you to see where we're going. I want it to be a surprise."
"Whatever." She crosses her arms and sits back, and I start to drive. "Can I at least have a hint to where we're going?"
"Nope."
She sighs. "Darn."
I drive for about ten minutes, and we finally reach the lake. "Alright, we're here."
"Can I take the blindfold off now?" She reaches up to lift it off her eyes, but I stop her.
"No, not yet! Jeez, be patient!" I get out of the car, the go around to the other side and help her out. I lead her to the edge of the lake, where a little wooden rowboat is sitting. "Alright, be careful. Step up. Okay, there you go. Now sit down. Okay." I help her into the boat then I get in, and start to row out onto the lake. I try to row quietly so she doesn't know we're on the water.
"Now can I look?"
"Not yet!" I wait till we're a little farther out. "Okay, now." I help her take it off, and her eyes widen when she see's where we are.
"Oh my," she says. "This is perfect. We'rein a rowboat, like in The Little Mermaid! And it's sunset! Oh, wow. This is just perfect." She looks at me and smiles.
"I did it just for you," I say, looking down. I'm a little embarrased.
"You are the sweetest."
I clear my throat. We're in the middle of the lake now. "I, uhm, got you something."
"You did?"
I nod, and hand her the box.
She opens it and holds the necklace in her hand, looking at it. "Oh my gosh, it's beautiful." She fastens it around her neck, then looks up at me. "Thank you."
I swallow. "I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. I love you, Alexis."
"I love you too, Justin."
We lean toward each other, and right as we're about to kiss, the boat tips over. "Shit!" I yell.
Alexis screams, and goes under the water. She struggles to stay above water. "Justin!" she crys out. "I can't swim!"
I hurry to help her, but right before I reach her, she goes under water again. "Alexis!" I look for her, but the water's murky, and I can't see her. I'm freaking out. I dive under water and reach out, trying to find her. I don't. I come back up and look all around for her. I don't see her anywhere. I go back under, but still nothing. "ALEXIS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
I hear a splash, and I hear Alexis say, "Justin!" then gasp and another splash. I spin around, and I see a hand above the water, and then it's gone. I swim over to where it was and ive. I feel Alexis under the water and grab her arm. I pull her above the water, but right as she's up and I let go of her, she goes back under. I pull her up again. "Justin, my foot is stuck! There's something caught on my foot and I can't get it off!"
"Try your best to stay above water, okay? I'm gonna get something for you to hold on to."
"NO! Justin! Don't let go of me!"
"You're gonna be fine, okay? Just stay above water." I let go of her and swim as fast as I can to the boat. I grab one edge of it and pull ot over to Alexis. She's struggling to keep from going under. "Alexis! Hold on to this!" I help her hold on to the boat. She's coughing and crying. "Are you okay?"
She nods. "But my foot, it's still stuck, and my ankle's starting to hurt."
"I'll fix it." I take a deep breath, then dive under water. I open my eyes, and try as hard as I can to see. I can barely see her foot. There's some seaweed or something caught on her shoe, and to make matters worse, her foot is wedged between two rocks. This isn't going to be easy. I swim back to the surface. "Okay." I explain what's wrong, and she starts to cry more. "Don't worry. I'll get your foot unstuck." It's starting to get dark. I suddenly remember that there's a zoo nearby, and those idiots decided that the best thing is to let the alligators out into a lake at night. This lake. We need to get out of the water. I look around. No sign of the zoo people yet. I turn back to Alexis. "Okay, I'm going back under now. Try not to move your foot unless I tell you to, but keep it limp so I can move it, okay?" She nods. I dive back under, and I struggle to free her foot. I go back up, take a breath, and go down again. Finally, after two more tries, I get her foot out. Now I just have to get her shoe unstuck. I resurface. "Will Alyssa care if she only gets one shoe back?" She shrugs. I go back under, and get ther shoe off her foot. I noticwe that there's a cut on her foot, and it's bleeding. Crap. I come back up. "Alright! You're out!" I turn around to look behind me. A feeling of dread comes over me as I spot the van from the zoo. They're about to let the alligators out. "Alexis, swim as fast as you can to shore, okay?!"
She looks scared. "What? Why? I can't swim though!"
"Just do it! go! now!" They're opening the back door. We're in the middle of the lake. We'll never make it. "ALEXIS! SWIM!"
She starts swimming, dogpaddling, as fast as she can. I start swimming with her, grabbing her arm, trying to pull her with me. I turn back around, just in time to see a large dark object slither into the water. Oh-no.
"COME ON ALEXIS! SWIM FASTER!"
"I CAN'T!" she screams. "I CAN'T GO ANY FASTER!"
"YOU HAVE TO!" I look at her, and I'm crying. God, why does this girl alwaya make me cry? Oh well, I can't worry about that now. I just have to get Alexis to shore. I start pulling her again, and we're starting to get closer and closer. We're almost there. Just about ten feet to go. Alexis screams.
"Justin! Something just touched my foot!"
I freeze. No, no, no., They can't swim that fast, can they? "Alexis, HURRY!" I pull her again.
"IT TOUCHED ME AGAIN!"
"SWIM FASTER!" Five feet. Four. Three. Two. And then we're there. I drag her onto shore, and I can tell she wants to sit down, but I don't let her. "DON'T SIT DOWN! TO THE CAR, NOW!" I push her towards the car and hurry to get in. I see two alligators coming out of the lake. Alexis isn't in the car yet. She's limping. "ALEXIS! GET IN THE CAR!" They're getting closer to her. I open the passenger side door, leap out, and grab Alexis's arm. I yank her to the car and pull her inside. I climb back into my seat through the passenger door, and she shuts the door quickly behing her. I hurry and turn the ignition, then back up and speed off as fast as I can. I look back and see that now there's four alligators on the shore. If I hadn't pulled Alexis into the car, they would've got her. I turn to look at Alexis. She's sobbing.
"It touched my foot. It could've got me." She puts her head in her hands. "And you bought me this dress. And now it's ruined."
I laugh a little. "Alexis, the last thing I care about is the dress. I'm just glad you're okay."
She looks over at me. "Really? Thanks. Thanks for helping me."
"Why wouldn't I help you?"
"I don't know. I though you just might not. And I was scared. I've always been scared of swimming and stuff."
"Why?"
She sighs. "I was at camp once, in Florida, and we were at this beach, and no one was around, just us. And I was trying to not go very far, since I can't swim. But then a big wave came and I got swept out really far. And I tried to call to my friends but they thought I was kidding. And I tried to swim back, but I couldn't. Then, I looked down, and there were all these jellyfish and fish and stuff underneath me. And I was scared, and I freaked out, and I got stung. A lot." She points to a spot on her ankle. "See? If you look close, you can see a scar. It was a long time ago, so it's kind of faded, but it's still there."
I look at her, trying to pay attention to the road. I can tell that she didn't want to talk about it, and I feel bad for asking. "I'm sorry I asked. It wasn't my business."
"It's fine. Hey, let's turn on the radio." She leans forward, and turns it on. She flips through the stations until she finds some Sean Kingston song. "I love this song!" she exclaims, sounding excited. "Girl, you make me dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb!" she sings out, dancing around. "Dumby dooby dumb! Why why why why?"
I laugh. "You're such a freak, you know that?"
She smiles. "I know."
"But you're my freak." I burst out singing along with her, and we sing all the way home.