Chapter 28: Chapter Fifteen-2

I grow silent for a few moments, a little surprised at how nonchalant I am feeling, having him ask me. "I don't think that's a good idea." "Why?" "You know why." "It's because of Miles, isn't it?" "Alec, I'm tired. I just want to sleep," I mumble, hugging my pillow to me. He is quiet for a few moments. I see in the dimly lit room that he reaches for me, but doesn't touch me. "Okay." He gets to his feet and leaves the room. I bury my face into my pillow, feeling more confused than ever. *** I lay in bed the next morning, feeling lifeless. I showered, ate and put makeup on, but found myself crawling back into bed an hour later, feeling tired. I roll onto my side, staring at the empty spot beside me, thinking back to Miles. The things he said to me last night were things I've wanted to hear for a long time. The kiss we shared was passionate - fuelled with longing, desire and memories of how things used to be. I can't help shake the fact that he left me, for someone else. Even if we weren't technically 'dating', we were still seeing each other. A soft knock at my door, brought me out of my thoughts. "Come in." Alec wanders in, giving me a small wave. "Hey." "Hey," I reply quietly. "What's up?" "Your mum forced Finn to go grocery shopping with her, because of how he spoke to her last night," he informs me, collapsing on the end of my bed, looking up at the ceiling, which still has outline marks of the glow-in-the-dark stars I used to have up there. "Sounds like something she would do," I nod in agreement. "I wanted to talk to you... You seemed mad at me last night." "I was in a mood. Sorry. You did the right thing calling Finn." I tell him, with a sigh. "How's Jai?" "Sore but okay." he told me. "Jai told Finn what happened." I stare down at my nails as I scratch at my black nail polish, just to have a reason not to look up at him. "What did he say?" "He actually didn't seem that mad. I think he's annoyed that you did it, but he knows he can't control you." "He tries pretty hard to," I mutter. Alec pushes himself to sitting position, before crawling towards me. He moves to my side, propping his head onto his hand. He reaches out, touching my chin with his fingers, bringing my face closer to his. I look away, shifting back. "I can't." I apologise, feeling my cheeks redden. I can't kiss Alec, after kissing Miles last night. It would be wrong. "What's wrong?" he asks. "I just want to talk..." I trail off, before looking up at him. He looks taken back by my response. Slowly, he nods, moving so that the gap between us increases. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" he asks, brushing his dirty blond hair from his face, his eyes having dark circles from lack of sleep. "What are you doing with me?" I ask him, nervously. "Are you just wanting to hook up, or what?" "Honestly? I don't know," he answers with a small frown. "It just feels so natural with you." I give him a half-smile, not sure if that was the answer I was hoping for, or not. "What's going on with Miles? He wants you back?" Alec asks me. "Appears that way," I nod, waiting for him to lecture me, like everyone else has. "Don't really blame him." "Thanks," I whisper, sinking back into my pillows. He leans forward, pressing his lips to my forehead softly. "I'll see you later." "Okay," I weakly reply, unable to think that the 'talk' barely lasted a minute. He pushes himself to his feet, giving me a friendly grin, before loping out of the room, leaving me feeling more lost than I already was. *** I inwardly groan at the number of eyes that swivel my way, when I walk into school, the following Monday. "Hey girl, I'll give you a tenner to give me a lap dance," Bentley calls out loudly, causing a few of the football guys to smirk. "You could pay me a thousand dollars and I still wouldn't," I smile back sweetly, causing his smirk to drop. I stride past him and head to where Samara is. She's sitting on one of the outdoor tables, Jai standing beside her. I stop before I get to them, realising that they're having a serious discussion. "Hey," a voice says behind me. I turn to see Miles, who is dressed in his leather jacket. He pulls gloves from his hands, obviously having ridden his motorbike to school today. "Hey Miles," I greet. He shoves his gloves into his bag and adjusts his beanie, looking far too adorable. "How's it going?" he asks, giving me a lope-sided smile. "Good," I say slowly. "Yourself?" "Fine." My eyes involuntarily drop to his lips and I think back to when he kissed me hard and passionately, like I was the only girl in the world. I wish he was like this before leaving. Everything would be much different, if he had. "What are you doing tonight?" he asks as a silence had lapsed. "Homework, probably." I reply honestly. "Do you want to go on a date with me?" I blink a few times, waiting for him to smirk or say that he is kidding. Miles Carter - notorious player and well-known legend amongst all males of the school, is asking me on a date? "Or a hang out, if that makes it seem less serious," Miles rambles, scratching the back of his neck, appearing nervous. "Why me, Miles?" I murmur in wonder, my wide eyes taking in his fidgeting. "It's always been you," he says softly. "I just couldn't see it." His eyes never leave mine and I feel a blush kiss my cheeks at his words. My eyes moisten and I quickly look down, so that he can't see. "Please, Issy," he murmurs, stepping closer. "Please let me make it up to you." I find myself nodding, before I even think it through. "Yes. I'll go on a date with you." The widest grin I've ever seen, split across his face. He reaches out and grabs my hands, his warm from his gloves, making mine feel cold. "Thank you," he smiles. "Can I pick you up or will Finn kill us both?" I let out a laugh. "I'll meet you." "Okay, where do you want to go?" I bite my lip, well aware that many eyes are on us as he is holding my hands. I find myself thanking the universe that both Finn and Alec are in football work out training, Jai being exempt due to his injury. "I don't care, anywhere." "Do you still like Chinese?" "I do," I nod. "Meet there at 7?" he asks eagerly. "Okay, I'll be there," I promise him, returning his smile. With one last squeeze, he lets me go. I begin walking towards Samara, who is watching me, open mouthed. Nerves plague my body as I rest my hand on my stomach, hoping that I haven't just made a terrible mistake.