4. Supermarket flowers

Five days until school starts. I sigh as I look out of my window, taking in my morning coffee and enjoying the sun. I really don't want to let go of these days, of this calm and overall healthy lifestyle. The simple thought of the overwhelming high school routine saddens me.

I decide to FaceTime Neil, knowing that he probably isn't awake yet but I'm bored. I wish I had more friends sometimes. I do get along with a lot of people ; but never truly had a lot that I can hold close. I had a best friend two years ago. Her name was Casey. She started dating a high school jock and pretty much everything went downhill from there. She stopped hanging out with me and started criticising Neil and I a lot without any particular reason. It was really painful for me and he took it upon himself to take care of me and be here for me through all of it, which I'll never thank him enough for. No wonder everyone thinks we're dating ; we're together all the time and he was really caring... With the outside pressure both of us started asking ourselves if our friendship was somehow wrong and if we should be dating instead.. But this thought quickly vanished as we realised how good we were for each other and how lucky we are to have each other as friends. I honestly don't know what I would be doing without Neil in my life.

As I expected, he doesn't pick up the phone. I sigh and go to my kitchen and my dad isn't home again. I call him directly, not knowing what he's up to these days.

He picks up after a couple of rings.

"Dad?" I say

"Yeah?" He says in a monotone voice

"Where are you"? I ask

"I'm- I'm at work sweetie. Left early." He says, although he usually works from home

"Are you sure everything's okay? You've been absent.." I say, showing him that I'm starting to be slightly worried

"Yes it's okay. Don't worry. Just busy." He says, but I can feel something that he isn't telling me.

"Okay dad, love you" I say hoping he will say it back

"Love you too" He says and I hang up. I wonder why he is so absent but I try not to overthink it.

I truly need to go grocery shopping today. I kind of want to go on a run. Run first, grocery shopping next. Maybe eat at the hill with Neil later. Sounds like a plan.

At this moment, Neil calls me through FaceTime. I answer as his sleepy face shows up on the other side of the screen.

"Hello there" I say

"Heyo" He says, obviously just waking up "What are we doing today" He asks me, knowing I usually do the planning

"I'll go on a run now, you may join if you're not too slow" I tease him knowing that we raced once and that I beat him by far "Then I'll get home and shower and then we go grocery shopping, I need to get food for the week and you're buying flowers for Sarah" I dictate, knowing he will do just as I say. As expected he rolls his eyes at me and smiles. "Then we'll take some things up the hill for a picnic, sounds good?" I ask

"Yeah, do you want to crash this party later tonight tho?" He asks me

"Which party?" I ask, not aware that there was one

"At Brian's. If you don't want to go that's okay" He reassured me

Brian is Casey's boyfriend. I just honestly don't care anymore

"It was a long time ago, maybe they've matured a little since then. Let's go." I say, excited because we haven't been to a party in around two weeks and knowing that it's one of the last ones before school starts, it's probably going to be huge.

"Okay great! Let's go around 9 and then can we go over to yours? My mom is having a date and I don't want to disturb her" he says smiling, excited for his mom

"She has a date?? She didn't tell me" I say a little offended

"I didn't know either it's a last minute thing but she seems excited" he says

I smile for Sarah, I hope whoever he is good to her, she deserves it and I will definitely question her the next time I see her

"Okay well are you coming with me to run?" I ask

"... eh, I'll pass" He blows me a kiss after which I blow one sarcastic one back and hang up

I get dressed shortly after the call, tie my hair in a bun and take out my sneakers for the jog. I make sure to have my earphones and keys with me. After I lock the door of my house I immediately feel freer. I used to despise running but once my body got used to it it became a high that I wanted to repeat over and over again. The music in my ears and the warm weather make me feel free and the rush of adrenaline and emotions will I sweat my eyes off feels.. amazing.

---

The run passes quickly and I feel refreshed and ready to take a shower once I come back. My face is most definitely red and I'm.. very thirsty. I come home and see someone sitting on my couch, immediately scaring me off.

"Neil fucking shit" I curse, he almost gave me a heart attack

"You left your backdoor open dumbass" He says, arms up in the air

I silently curse at myself and take some water from the fridge

"You look awful, how was the run?" He asks as he comes near the counter

"Good, I need to shower" I say while drowning in big sips of water

"Yo where's your dad?" He asks, suddenly realising he's not home

"I don't know, he's just not here these days" I say, trying not to show that I'm worried because Neil will start asking all kinds of questions and make me worry even more

"Okay..." He says, seeming to think

"Let's go shopping after I shower?" I say, heading upstairs

"Yep" He agrees and throws himself on the couch

--

I step out of my shower, feeling clean and happy. I look into my mirror and smile at myself as I hear Neil's music playing downstairs. He is the typical punk pop kid and I love him for it. I look out my window, secretly seeing if Eve is in her bedroom. To my disappointment, she isn't.

I quickly get dressed with only a white top and some light jeans, get my credit card and motion to Neil that I'm ready. He finishes the cigarette he lit up and joins me.

"I had a weird moment with Eve yesterday." I confess

"Yeah? What happened?" He says as we're walking

"I just fell off my bike coming back from yours and when I saw her she was on her porch and she kind of took care of me inside her house. It was really sweet." I say

"Like,,, nurse mode or?" He raises his eyebrows at me

"Neil don't make this weird, it was really kind of her" I say

"I'm not" He smirks

Once we get to the supermarket, thankfully seeing that not a lot of people are here, I check the list that I made the other day. Ingredients for salad, steak, wine.. So much I need to buy.

I look around and see Neil stealing candy from the boxes. I roll my eyes at him and go do my groceries, knowing this happens everytime. I get to the cheese section and concentrate knowing my dad is really picky with his cheese.

"Hi there" I hear a familiar voice behind me

I kind of have a realisation that hits me as I realise who it is. Eve. And I didn't even have time to mentally prepare.

I turn around casually and smile at her, hoping she doesn't sense my discomfort

"Hi, what are you doing here" I say without thinking and realise how dumb the question must have sounded

"Groceries, surprisingly" she replies sarcastically, slightly making fun of me

"Right. Makes sense." I say, knowing how awkward this will be if I don't say something.

She looks stunning today. Her long dark hair seems wavier and she's wearing a white, v-neck blouse with a long skirt. Her cleavage is showing more than usual which suits her a lot.

I hear her clear her breath and curse myself, hoping she didn't see me checking her out.

"Oh hello" I hear Neil's voice and silently thank him for coming in at the right moment

"Oh Neil this is Eve" I do the presentations

"Oh Eve? It's nice to meet you" he puts an emphasis on her name as my eyes grow wide, is he doing it on purpose or is he just dumb

"That's me" she says, slightly confused but slightly smiling "Are you her boyfriend?" She innocently asks and he bursts laughing

"'No honey she is very *gay hand gesture*" As he motions I punch him

And give him a ??? Look

"I see" Eve says, not showing any kind of judgment "I'll see you soon Alex? It was nice to meet you Neil" She smiles kindly and goes away

I blush so hard and look at Neil in disbelief

——-

a/n

hi everyone!!!! sorry for taking so long to update, im in the middle of my exams. anyways, what's funny and interesting about this story is that im in a situation similar to alex's.. so im kind of portraying things that happened to me onto her. i really hope you're enjoying it so far. make sure to leave a vote and a comment if you feel like it!! im sending lots of love