Alvarrez

Alexis Gray is my girlfriend.

When I asked her—wait, I didn't ask. I blurted out my feelings and it turned into a half-assed proposal. Needless to say, none of it was planned. It's just... being with Julia and making her smile and laugh like that warmed my heart so much it felt like it was about to burst. It made me realize that I want to be the one who makes her happy. 

I don't care what her ex-girlfriend—or anyone, for that matter—thinks. I meant every word I said and I have every intention to prove it to anyone who dares to question it.

I assumed she would like to keep our relationship private, but when I asked her how we should act in school, she simply answered, Like girlfriends.

Right now, my girlfriend—damn, I am never getting used to that—is doing a presentation in front of the class. Our Science teacher assigned it to her to get an incentive to make up for the things she missed last week. Her white, button-down shirt is neatly tucked in the denim jeans that are doing wonders for her legs. The first two buttons in her shirt are undone, revealing the slightest hint of cleavage.

Julia catches me looking. A hint of a smirk plays at the edge of her lips.

The class is unusually quiet. I can't blame them. It's not every day you get to see Alexis Gray looking like a goddess while discussing the Laws of Motion. Although I think they're not really listening to what she's saying. I'd bet they're taking this chance to ogle Julia without looking creepy. Because I'm doing the same.

Once done, Julia rakes her eyes across the class. "Any questions?" Her tone almost makes it sound like a threat.

To everyone's surprise, someone raises their hand. It's Rick. One of the alpha males in the school and infamous for spreading STDs. With a cocky smile across his lips, he boldly asks, "Wanna go have lunch with me?"

"No thanks. I'm not fond of wasting my time." Julia answers without a second thought. "Any questions related to what I discussed?"

A few chuckles echo in the room.

Okay, let's see if I can put Sophia's trivia to good use. I raise my hand. Julia raises an eyebrow. "Yes, Alvarrez?"

I lean forward on my chair. "Since we're discussing motion, I have one question. What happens when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?"

"Ah. The irresistible force paradox." Her mouth slowly forms into a coy smile. Her dimples show. "The short answer is: it's not possible. If there's an unstoppable force, there cannot exist an immovable object and vice versa. Moreover, one of those concepts actually cannot exist. An immovable object would have to have infinite inertia, and therefore infinite mass. If the mass is infinite, it will give off an infinite amount of gravity which will cause everything in the universe to pull in itself towards the center. It will collapse into a black hole, then the rest of the universe will follow."

It takes a moment to register that she's done talking. "Oh."

She finishes with a self-satisfied cocky grin. "Does that answer satisfy you, Alvarrez?"

Yes, and I think I just came a little because you're so fucking sexy when you speak like that so can you please satisfy me next, is what I wanted to say, but a pathetic, "Perfect," is all that comes out of my mouth.

Just in time, the lunch bell rings and I'm released from the mental image of me pinning Julia against one of these walls with my hands all over her.

"Guess that's all for today." The teacher announces. "Alexis, you did great."

Julia gives him a polite smile before walking to her seat to get her bag. She brushes past me, tips my hanging jaw upwards and whispers, "Might catch a fly."

"Might catch your lips." I laugh, taking her finger and kissing it gently. "I'll see you in the office?"

"No, I'll buy lunch," she says. "I wasn't able to cook this morning thanks to a certain someone calling me at three in the morning asking me if I was really her girlfriend."

"That's so inconsiderate." I click my tongue disapprovingly. "But maybe she just woke up in the middle of the night and thought it was all a dream, y'know? Can't really blame her."

"I think she's being overdramatic," she teases. "Let's go. I'm starving."

We shoulder our way in the cafeteria, earning a few looks our way. I used my ninja skills to pay for Julia's meal before she can even take her purse out. "I think whoever disturbed your sleep would like to offer a meal as compensation."

Kris waved for us to join them in their table. I glance at Julia who gives me a nod of approval.

We've hung out with them a couple of times before and she seems to like the company. It makes me feel at ease because she's finally starting to come out of her shell. Or rather, people are starting to realize that she's not as unapproachable as they think.

We were almost to the table when I bump into someone, hard. I stumble sideways, also bumping into Julia. "Shit, sor—"

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch where you're going, dyke?" David made sure to spit out that last word loud enough for a few people to look in our direction. His two teammates from the soccer team behind him snickers. I catch a glimpse of Diane standing up from our usual table.

I was about to snap at him, but I feel a warm hand on my arm. "You okay?" Julia asks softly. Almost too soft.

Just like that, my annoyance flickered. My lips form a smile. "Yup."

Her eyes flick to David. "Watch where you're going," she snaps.

David's eyebrows rise. He works his jaw, looks away, then looks back at Julia. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No." Julia turns away and continues to walk to the table.

Before I can follow her, David blocks my way. "Not so fast."

"Dude, seriously. What the fuck is your problem?"

He gives me what he must think is a friendly smile but all I see is his veins popping at his embarrassment. "Let's talk. Somewhere alone."

Before I can protest, he has an arm around my shoulders like we're old drinking buddies, steering me towards the exit.

I slap his hand away. "I told you to—"

"Get your fucking hands off my girl."

Someone yanks David from behind, followed by a hard thud. I turn around to see David's face planted on the nearest table with one arm behind his back, twisted in an unnatural angle. Pinning him down is none other than Julia, who looks way too calm for someone who's about to break someone's arm.

"What the fu—"

Julia kicks the back of his knee and David falls to the floor. "Apologize." Her voice was low, deadly calm.

"Why would—"

Julia twists his arm. David screams in pain. "Now."

"All right I'm sorry! Fuck I'm sorry!" David looked like he was on the verge of crying.

Still, Julia doesn't let go. She was breathing heavily as if trying to calm herself down. One of David's cronies tries to step forward but one murderous look from her stops him in his tracks.

"If I ever see you within seven feet of Alex, I will break both your legs" —she steps on David's leg in demonstration, putting enough pressure to earn a string of curses from him— "and you can say goodbye to your favorite soccer ball. Understand?"

I know I should not be thinking this right now but damn she looks hot even when she's mad. I'd let her step on me and thank her for it.

David's reply comes in the form of a whimper.

"Do you understand?" Julia's voice was shaking with barely restrained anger. She's not serious, is she?

"I do! Fuck it, Alexis! If I knew you were a dyke I wouldn't have wasted my time on you!"

Oh hell. Is he asking for a death warrant?

Before Julia can do something worse to him—and I'm fairly certain she was—I slip a hand on her waist. "Baby, it's okay. That's enough." I pry her hands away from David and the boy wastes no time scrambling to his feet.

He shoots us a nasty glare while rubbing his shoulder. "Tell me this is a joke. You guys are together?"

For a split second, I thought Julia was actually going to break his arm. Instead, she turns to me, clutches the front of my shirt, and presses her lips into mine. The kiss is slow yet intense. Enough to get her point across. When she pulls away, I almost pull her right back.

David's hanging jaw was almost comical.

"Leave my girlfriend alone," Julia growls before taking my hand and walking out of the cafeteria, parting the crowd that has formed around us as we strolled past them.

"I should've broken at least one of his arms." Julia bursts as soon as she slams the office door shut.

"Woah, what happened?" Max, who I didn't notice was sitting in front of a computer, asks. I also became aware of the mechanical whirring of the printer next to her.

"That bastard David was—" she narrows her eyes at me. "Why are you smiling?"

I bite my lip trying to stop smiling and shake my head. "You're cute."

Julia looked like I just told her the earth was flat. "What?"

"You look cute," I tell her again, this time, not bothering to hide my smile and instead beam at her.

Max clears her throat. "Save the flirting for later. What's the tea?"

I grin, making my way to the table, dropping the paper bag with our lunch in it. "She pinned David down, police-style, told him to fuck off, and kissed me in front of everyone in the cafeteria."

Her eyes widen. "Holy shit. Seriously?" She laughs. "Can't believe I missed that. But hey, he deserves it. I saw what he did to you last week."

I scrunch my eyebrows together, trying to remember what happened last week that involved David. Only one came up. "You saw that?" I thought we were alone in the corridor at that time.

"Saw what?" Julia asks sharply. When did she get beside me? "What happened?" She alternated glancing between Max and me.

I rub the back of my neck, unsure how to explain it in a way she won't want to march back in the cafeteria to break David's arm for real. "He kinda threatened me. But it's fine. No harm done."

Julia narrows her eyes at me, then looks at Max. "What did he do?"

I shoot Max an alarmed look that I hope is saying please don't make it sound bad. "The bastard shoved her in a wall with a hand on her throat." Nice. Thanks, Max.

Only the sound of the printer printing cracks the silence. Then, "I'm gonna kill him." Julia bolts for the door but I manage to grab her waist before she was able to take two steps away.

"Nuh-uh. You're not killing anyone." I lock my fingers on her stomach and pull her close to me. "I'm perfectly fine. He barely scratched me. Right, Max?"

"Yeah. You should've seen his face. I almost blew my cover trying not to laugh when I saw him scampering away." The sound of printing ceases. Max glances at the device. "That's my cue." She stands up from the chair and gathers the papers, sliding them into a short brown envelope.

"You're not staying?" Julia stops struggling and asks Max.

"Nope. I just needed to print these things for my next class." She heads for the door, pausing to look at us just before closing it. "And congratulations, by the way. About time, eh?" She laughs before leaving us alone.

Sensing that Julia has calmed down, I loosen my grip on her. She turns around to face me. "Why didn't you tell me what happened?" She asks softly.

"It's not a big deal. He barely scratched me." I shrug. "Why's he so obsessed with you, anyway? I mean, I can relate, but he's creeping me out."

She sighs. "He's been trying to make a move on me for a while now. Obviously didn't work." She makes no move to release herself from my grasp. "I'm pretty sure I flat out told him he had no chance and stop wasting his time."

That's news to me. "I see now why he's so butthurt. You think he'll stop bothering you now?"

"After getting embarrassed like that, he should."

I chuckle. "Yeah, I bet. I didn't know you know martial arts."

She tilts her chin upward and gives me a sly smile. "I know enough to make my brothers sleep for a few seconds."

I mentally let out an appreciative whistle because I don't know how to in real life. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"Too late for that, don't you think? I doubt anyone can—"

The words die in her mouth as I crash my lips into hers. I pull her closer, unable to hold back any longer. Julia responds instantly, her lips moving in sync with mine. She clasps her hands at the back of my neck.

A smile carves itself into my face as we broke the kiss. I rest my forehead against hers. "I've been wanting to do that since this morning."

"Your self-control is commendable." She says, her voice a few notes lower. Then she reaches in and goes for another kiss. Who am I to decline? If there's anything I learned about her after officially dating, it's that she likes kissing as much as I do. Just plain kissing. Making out. I know this because we spent the rest of the day back at her house memorizing each other's lips.

"Don't praise me just yet." I nuzzle her neck and my hands reach for the third button on her shirt. "That's just one thought among a few other things."

Julia sucks in a breath. "Oh, really? What other thoughts do you have in mind?"

I fasten the button and lean back to check it. "There. I think it got undone when we were in the caf." I try for my most innocent smile.

Julia looks down on her shirt, then back at me. She blinks.

I burst out laughing.

"You are so annoying." She rolls her eyes and frees herself from my arms.

"I wouldn't be your girlfriend if I weren't." I wink and pull her in for a kiss one last time. She doesn't argue.