Chapter 3

The next day...

Alex POV

I heard the freaking alarm going off again. I watched Nick climb down from his bed. He checked to see that I was awake, and then he woke Jeff up. I sighed. At least it's Friday...

The boys let me get dressed in the bathroom. I did my hair and makeup and everything. And then we all went downstairs for breakfast.

Later...

Alex POV

Honestly, it's not that bad here. Now that I sort of know how everything works, it's not that bad. I just stick with Nick and Jeff, and follow them wherever they go. And I was enjoying that I could easily annoy Nick. I was obeying his wishes, and not bothering Jeff. But I was bothering him instead.

Nick was really annoyed this morning, but he wouldn't shout at me. He stayed calm, which I was surprised about. And throughout the day, my insults and annoyingness became more playful instead of downright rude. And Nick and I might sort of be friends now. And I'm cool with that.

"Hey. Do you want to go get dinner?" Nick asked.

"Hold on. I want to do something first."

I grabbed my pillow, and whacked him in the stomach. Nick grabbed the pillow from me, and whacked me back.

"Ok, let's go," Nick said, smiling slightly.

I got up, and followed him down.

"So how was your second day?" Nick asked as we got some dinner.

"Better than yesterday."

"Still hate it?"

"No... Not as much as I did before."

"Still hate me and Jeff?"

"No... You guys are cool. But you're fun to annoy."

"Yeah, well let's see how fun it is to annoy you."

Nick pushed my shoulder, and I pushed him back playfully.

"I think I know you better, and you've only been here for 2 days. And Jeff has been here for 3 weeks," Nick said.

"Well he doesn't speak! I think all I've heard him say is 'hi, I'm Jeff' but maybe I've heard more from him... I don't remember. But he needs to get some bravery or something. He stutters when he talks."

"I know. Maybe we can try to talk to him sometime. Together. Honestly, when he came out of the shower last night, he looked like he'd been crying. And I'm worried about him."

"Ok."

"You can't be mean though."

"I won't. Look. I wasn't too happy the past few days. My whole life got flipped around. I wasn't having a fun week. I'm sorry for how I've been acting."

"It's ok. Why did you transfer here?"

"Uh... My parents... died..."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. It'll be a week tomorrow since it happened."

Nick was silent. I guess we both didn't know what to say. And I really didn't want to talk about this any longer because then I'd start crying.

Nick and I finished dinner in silence, not wanting to make anything awkward again. But the silence was already pretty awkward.

We went upstairs, and Nick brought Jeff a bowl of cereal.

Later...

Nick POV

I can tell Alex is upset. And now that I know her parents died, I'm assuming that's why. But knowing her attitude and stubbornness, I kind of don't really want to say anything. 

But Alex is in the shower right now, so I can't even talk to her if I wanted to.

So maybe I'll try to get some answers from Jeff.

I climbed down from my bunk, and sat down on the end of Jeff's bed. He looked up from his homework. One thing that I noticed about him was that he always seemed to look nervous no matter where he was or what was going on.

"Hey. So uh... Need any help with your homework?"

He shook his head no.

"Ok... Well... Do you want to talk about anything? You've been here for like 3 weeks, and you haven't really said anything."

He shook his head no again. Alright. I might need to figure something out...

"Alright... Well if you need anything, you know you can ask me, right?"

He nodded. I climbed back up to my bed.

Middle of the night...

Nick POV

I don't know why I woke up. But I did. And I heard someone breathing loudly. Sort of like they were panting or something.

I turned my phone flashlight on, and shined it over on Alex's bed. She was sitting up, breathing hard.

I climbed down from my bed, and went over to Alex. I could see she had tears on her cheeks, but she didn't look like she was crying anymore. So... She probably did it in her sleep.

"You ok?" I whispered.

"Yeah... I'm good," she said, wiping her cheeks off.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Just a bad dream."

I could see slight fear in her eyes, which was sort of strange to me. I guess I was still just used to seeing the annoying and demanding side of her. Not the sensitive side.

I moved closer, and offered her a hug. I was slightly surprised when she took it, and wrapped her arms around me kind of tightly. I could feel her rest her chin on my shoulder, and I felt her body relax a little more.

Finally, she pulled away.

"Thanks, Nick," she whispered, looking directly at my eyes. 

"You're welcome," I whispered back.

Alex got under the covers again.

"Night," Alex whispered.

"Night."

I turned around, but then stopped. My light was on the ladder to my bunk bed, but I saw a pair of eyes reflecting the light, and it scared me for a second. I shined the light on Jeff's bed, and saw Jeff sitting up in bed, looking really nervous.

"Hey. It's ok. Go back to bed," I said, pulling the covers over him as he laid down again.

I climbed back up to my bed, and shut off the light. I was exhausted, and fell asleep easily.