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The bell that Alex has been begging for for the past hour finally rang; freedom at last. He places all of his belongings into his school bag and scoops it up. Before Alex was about to leave, he passed all the residue from his eraser onto the classroom floor and then headed out the door.
Alexander quietly walks down the hall holding the straps to his school bag. He tends to look around and observe his surroundings; people standing around by the lockers talking to some friends, someone looking at themselves in the mirror inside of their locker, etc etc. Alexander loves film, even wants to be a director when he is older so being the nerd he is, he likes to imagine how he would capture a scene like this while also including what was happening around him. Though he was immediately startled out of his daze when his favorite someone pops in front of him.
“Alex-” Alexander jumps up with a slight squeak. He immediately covers his mouth embarrassed, “Ah- I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Tamarack frantically waves her hands around in Alex’s face.
“H-hey it's okay-” Alexander chuckles, “How were classes today? Do you have band practice?” He points at the big cello case attached to her back.
“Um- no.” She looks down at the school ground, “I’m bringing it home with me to practice.” Tam looks back up at Alex, “Do you have yearbook club?”
“No, that’s Mondays and Wednesdays. I’m just heading home today”
“Oh.” For a second the two just awkwardly stood there staring at something other than each other, “Uh-” Tam starts, “Did you want to walk home with me?” Alex looks at her with slightly wide eyes.
“Really? Yeah of course!” Alexander smiles wide at Tamarack.
“Okay..” Tam shyly smiles back. She looks around herself to make sure that she had everything before she left. After confirming that everything was ready she looked at Alex to indicate that she was ready to head out.
Alexander pushes the doors to the outside open and holds it a little longer for the girl slightly shorter than him. The autumn breeze slaps their faces unapologetically, Alex and Tam sputters while covering their faces from the harsh wind. After it calms down, they start heading down the sidewalk. Red and orange leaves fall around them and the distant smell of rain tickles Alex’s nose. He wasn’t sure if the rain had already come or was going to pour down eventually until he noticed the puddle on the street; that confirms it. The leaves move along with the wind.
Alex takes a slight glance at Tam. The wind was moving her braid just like it was moving the leaves on the tree. Her golden hair was perfect as usual, the way it sparkles at the slightest bit of light. The way it curls around her face in the most perfect way. It’s just every single thing Tam does or how she is just makes Alex’s face turn shades of red.
Alexander has had a crush on Tamarack since the day they met. When Tam threw a paper airplane at him, even though it scared the crap out of him, he still finds it super lovely. It’s been 4 years and the only thing that has changed is Alex’s cute childhood crush on Ms. Baumann deepened to an actual crush on her. He wasn’t sure in the slightest if she liked him back; in his eyes, she acted the same way around everyone.. Except Qiu in which they just argue. Speaking of Qiu. they had tried a million times to convince Alexander that Tam liked him back but he just couldn’t believe it! The most beautiful girl Alex has ever met liking a boy with messy hair, goofy-looking glasses, and acne that covers every crevice of his face? Absolutely impossible.
“Um- do you have anything planned today?” Tam looks up at him with pink cheeks, “I was thinking we could hang out too… maybe take a walk or something..?” Oh she totally noticed him staring at him.
Alex’s face heats up as he quickly turns away towards the woods on his left, “I-I’m not doing anything- we can hang out.” he grips the straps to his bag extremely embarrassed that Tamarack noticed him admiring her.
“Cool-” she pushes some stray hairs behind her ear and looks towards the neighborhood, “I was thinking that we could go to the bridge on the trail? We haven’t been there together in such a long time…”
Alex looks at her with a confused expression, “Wouldn’t it be weird if we went without Qiu though?”
“Oh-” Tamarack looks at him with a shocked expression, “I guess you’re right, sorry.”
“No it’s alright! Maybe we could just walk the trail!” Alex grins.
“Yeah.. we could. We should drop off our things at our houses first though.”
“Of course!”
Silence fell over the walk once again.
Then suddenly something brushes against his hand. Alex looks down at the perpetrator and notices Tamarack is suddenly a lot closer than before. Her face was pink while looking down at the sidewalk. Alex pokes out his pinky finger. Tam glances at their hands then with all of her courage, holds onto Alexander’s hand. Alex couldn’t hold back the big grin forming on his face even if he tried to push it down.
“When did we start doing this?” Alex looks down at Tamarack, “I mean… When did we start holding hands..? I can’t remember.”
“Um.. I don’t know… I guess it just started.”
“Can you promise me something?”
“Yeah?”
Tamarack looks at him with big ruby eyes. Her eyes sparkle a bit while looking at him, “Can you promise me to never let go..?” Alex stops in his tracks in shock. He wasn’t sure what she even meant by that. “Um-” she continues, “Forget it.. It’s stupid.”
“No..” Alex begins, “It’s not at all stupid, I just don’t understand.” He would've never guessed that her face could get even more pink but it is.
“I just… um…” She looks at the ground again, “I don’t want us to ever stop holding hands.. I like it.”
“You do..?” She slowly nods her head, “Okay… I won’t let go of you, I promise.” He beams. Tamarack latches herself onto his hand as they continue to walk home ready for what the day awaits.
They continue their walk holding hands ignoring what bystanders might think. The only thing that matters to them at this moment is being with each other. Tamarack takes a deep breath keeping an eye on what's in front of her.
Tamarack has also had a crush on Alex since they were ten… ever since he called her pretty. Even though he said it by accident it still meant that it was in his head. Though, she wasn’t sure if that even meant anything! Who knows, Alex might’ve just called her pretty in a platonic friendly way instead of in a ‘I have the biggest crush on you and I think you are the most beautiful girl in the world’ type of way. Absolutely not! How could the most handsome boy in the world like a girl like her..? But for some reason, she still latches onto every single possible hint.
It is just not fair. No matter how hard Tam tries to get rid of her crush on Mr. Morello she just can’t. Whenever she thinks that she has gotten over him he shows up and the barrier she made breaks apart. Though she can’t say that she hates it that much, it feels like the world disappears when she’s around him. Every single thing that bothers her goes away as soon as he starts holding her hand… maybe that’s why she wanted to hold his hand forever, it's like a comfort for her.
So, I guess she doesn’t mind it.. Maybe one day she will build the courage to promise him to stay with her forever, of course not in a platonic way. But for now, holding hands is okay.