When the notebook containing their deepest, darkest secrets is stolen, two former best friends must unite, despite crushing on the same heart-stopping boy.
*****
Best friends, Al...
Okay, you caught me but its not because I think you'll poach him—you'd never break the friend code—but because I want him to myself for a little longer. I've never felt this way about a guy, Freddy, like EVER. He gives me these feelings deep inside my chest. All I want is for him to like him. I tried talking to him and got tongue-tied. Me! The girl who can't shut up. It's ridiculous and absolutely fabulous at the same time. He has me in knots, and I don't ever want to be untied. -Georgie aka Alexx
PS. Are my jeans fixed? I'd LOVE to wear them for the auditions on Sunday. I just know your patch will bring me good luck. :)
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Alex's foot tapped to the beat as Take Me or Leave Me, a RENT song, played in her earbuds. It was a favorite, so she turned up the volume before taking a bite of her lunch—crackers and cheese. Well, mostly cheese with a side of crackers but who was going to bust her—the cracker police?
The lights were off in Mrs. Trentworth's empty classroom giving it an eery vibe. Alex kind of dug it. It felt like her private sanctuary, especially since the windows were closed, muffling the lunchtime chaos outside. She'd been eating in the classroom ever since Mrs. Trentworth found her sitting cross-legged on a concrete planter, trying to balance her notebook on one leg and her lunch on the other.
Of course, she lied and said she was working on a school project, not friendship notebook, but it kind of felt like a project. Every time she put pen to paper, she came up blank because she didn't know how to respond to the brutal honesty in Alexx's last entry. It was a side of her best friend she'd never seen before, and she didn't want to come off cavalier or respond in a way that hurt her.
Alex couldn't afford to lose her best friend. She'd always been shy. Her mom complained when Alex was young, she would hide behind her legs anytime a person approached, even if they were family or a friend. That's why she was grateful when Alexx talked to her in middle school. She'd been terrified that first day, dragging her feet that her mom physically lifted her in the car, but once Alexx said hi, the fear trapped in her chest evaporated.
That's just the kind of person Alexx was. She made people feel at ease without even knowing she was doing it. Alex envied her. She'd heard more than once from her cousins that she was too closed, too hard to get to know.
"It's near impossible trying to get anything out of you," Jenna, her cousin, said last Christmas. "We want more than an ' I'm fine.' We want ALEX."
That had been a slap in the face because she'd been trying—really trying—but they didn't seem to notice or care. Her mom held her that night as she silently cried and promised herself she'd find a way to be better.
But how could she be better when her best wasn't good enough? She wished whatever magic sauce Alexx had would rub off on her. Then maybe she wouldn't be spending lunch alone like a loser.
Her earbud was ripped away. A voice whispered, "Who are you hiding from?"
A shriek left her lips as Alex threw her pen in the air and stumbled off the stool. She looked up to see Ravi standing above her. The shadows draped over his face, exaggerating his sharp angles to create a striking work of art. She knew he was gorgeous, but in this lighting, he made her heart pound.
