The entire week I've been avoiding Alex. If he sits next to me in a class, I don't acknowledge him. If he waits by my locker, I go to Devin's. If he talks to me, I walk away. To his credit he's made a lot of attempts. None of them have worked, but still.

I walk to my locker to grab a book when some kid asks, "Are you Riley Connor?" I turn around. He's holding something.

"Who's asking?" I ask. The kid kind of smiles.

"These are for you," he says. He hands me two boxes of good Godiva chocolates and then a little card.

"Thanks, you can go now." The kid walks away. I open the card and it says I'm sorry. -Alex

"Ooh, that from a secret admirer?" Devin asks. He takes a box from my hands and whistles.

"Uh, no. It's from Alex actually," I tell him. He drops the box and takes a couple of dramatic steps back. I laugh. "They're for me, not you. I doubt they're poisoned." Devin reaches for the note. He snorts when he reads it.

"'I'm sorry' that's what he says? Why is he sorry, he said that to me not you. I should be the one getting expensive chocolates," Devin says.

"I don't think Alex like likes you," I say. He frowns and then picks up the box that he dropped. He throws an arm around my shoulders and then we walk to lunch. Devin grabs stuff from the lunch line and I look over my chocolates. Devin plops down next to me with a salad and fries. He grabs a chocolate and then stares at it.

"Will you try it first?" he asks.

"You're being ridiculous, but sure. Whatever," I say. I bite into half of it and hold the other half out to Devin. He takes it. He grabs another another chocolate and then shakes his head.

"That one is disgusting. It's strawberry," Devin says. I frown and he puts it back in the box. I bite into another one and then give the other half to Devin. Alex catches my eye. My lips twitch into a small smile. He grins back. "Babes, you should try this one," Devin says. I try it and it's really good. By the end of lunch Devin and I have gone through an entire box, if you don't count the strawberry or white chocolate ones.

"I'll meet you in the classroom," I tell Devin. He nods and then starts walking away. I catch a glimpse of Alex's blonde head. "Hey," I say. He whips around in surprise.

"Oh, uh, hi Riley," Alex says. I hand him the box of chocolates.

"Thanks for the chocolate," I say. He opens the box and smirks when he sees the half eaten white chocolate and ones with strawberry. "Yeah, Devin and I didn't like those ones very much." At the mention of Devin something passes over his face.

"Right, well I have to go," Alex says and then starts walking away. I grab the collar of his shirt. He turns around.

"Do you want to do something tonight?" I ask him rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, I'll text you," he says. I smile and then walk away. Pretty soon Devin and I walk out of school.

"When do you want to go home?" I ask him once we're in my room.

"Never," Devin says, there's pure hatred in his voice, "Not with that son of a bitch there."

"What about your mom, is it her fault?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "When does your brother get home?" I ask him. Devin's brother is in college and never home.

"I don't know. Whenever he has a break he spends it getting drunk and far far away from his family," Devin says sadly. My phone buzzes. Do you want to grab dinner or coffee? It reads from Alex.

"Uh, Alex wants to grab coffee," I say slowly.

"And?" Devin asks.

"And what?"

"Do you want to?" he asks. I think about it.

"Well, I guess," I say. I don't know why I'm asking for his approval.

"Then go. I want a pastry though," Devin says. I nod.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'll just take a shower and do some homework or something," Devin says. I nod and then text Alex that I'll meet him at a coffee shop. I shove my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and then I say goodbye to Devin and leave.

I order a large coffee and then wait for Alex to arrive. I sip my coffee and wait for him. After a couple of minutes he walks through the door. "I'm sorry that I'm late, traffic was bad," he says. He grabs a coffee and then sits down across the table from me.

"Why'd you do it?" I ask him. He chokes on his coffee.

"Excuse me?" he says.

"Why did you say that to Devin? What would make you do that?" I ask him.

"Well, I don't exactly know," Alex says.

"You're going to have to do better than that," I tell him. He runs a hand through his hair.

"I don't know. I've never done anything like that. But he just threw me off." I stare at him blankly.

"Are you ever going to do anything like that again?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "Good, I don't mean to be presumptuous or anything but we can go out again, assuming that you aren't a prick."

"Um, okay. Yeah, do you want to go to the movies on Friday?" Alex asks smiling.

"Sure." We both smile at each other.