For the next couple of weeks, Alison avoided Alex. It was almost too uncomfortable to speak and meet him and mostly, she hung out with Angela in school while Edward was forced to sit with the teachers during lunch breaks. In a month’s time, he would return back to Stanford after his internship was over. Alison hadn’t broached this topic to him yet on how they were going to…progress further but she was sure that they would still meet each other regularly even when he moves away. By this point in time, almost the entire school knew of them – Edward and her- as a couple. Even if Principal Audrey and the other staff members were in the know, they didn’t show it. It seemed as if for them, private affairs and official matters never mix together. At least this was settled. However, Alison hadn’t exactly told her parents yet. Her parents just thought that Edward was kindly giving her Spanish tuition every Wednesday afternoon when in fact, they were half-dating and half-teaching each other.

“How do you say, “Nice to meet you”, in Japanese?” Edward had once asked her during one particular session.

“Konichiwa, yoroshiku onegaishimasu,” Alison replied fluently, ignoring the fact that Edward’s hand was crawling up her leg.

“How do you say, “I want to jump your bones” , in Japanese then?” Edward murmured seductively.

That was the last thing he said. The entire session ended with them engaging in a heavy make out session and that was an unexpected twist in the situation, as always.

Reminiscing that particular afternoon, Alison almost smiled as she sat down at the lunch table. Although she truly liked Edward for his character, his physical attraction was an added bonus.

“Earth to Alison!” Angela waved her unappealing watercress sandwich in her face. “Thinking of Edward again?” she smirked.

“No way!” Alison said defensively as she bit into her chocolate cookie. “I’m not that love-sick.”

“You should see yourself,” Angela chuckled and she mimicked in an overly dramatic voice, “Oh, when is my darling Edward coming? Is he in school today or not? Is he in the toilet or not? Is he at lunch or not?”

“I’m not that pathetic,” Alison muttered.

“Oops, the Mean Girls’ Gang is at it again,” Angela whispered and Alison looked up.

The bunch of cronies led by Jessica and her right-hand man, Jane was trudging viciously into the cafeteria. Apparently, Carrie had risen in position to be Jessica’s second-in-command and for now, she was walking alongside with Jane with an aloof expression. Carrie paused briefly when she passed by the table where Alison sat but she continued to walk on as everyone else cowered in fear. The different cliques had mixed reactions with the MGG’s entrance. The geeks tried to avoid attractive unwanted attention while the rest like Angela and Alison merely played the role as mere observers. The jocks, mainly in the Bad Boys Gang, were leering at the girls.

“Oh no, Alex is there too,” Angela said. Alison bore her eyes into Alex’s back figure. After they fell out, Alex had taken to sitting with the BBG and she was getting worried that he would be negatively influenced as well.

“Is Alex still mad at me?” Alison asked. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, she missed having happy-go-lucky Alex as her friend. Now, she just hung out with Angela only and it got lonely at times when Angela wasn’t available. Furthermore, Alison didn’t see how offending two of the Kingstons and being in love with one of them was going to help. Conflicts often arose between them and it was difficult for prevent it from breaking out into a fight. From her angle, Alison could see Carrie eyeing Alex speculatively while her ex-best friend seemed unperturbed by her. Perhaps Carrie would have to work harder to win Alex’s affection, she noted.

Angela sighed. “He’s not the type  who would apologize first. Besides, he seems bent on joining the BGG. Maybe he got tired of hanging out with uncool, ordinary people like us.” Angela sounded a tad too forlorn and hurt which didn’t seem to be like her usual character at all.

Alison didn’t say a single word. Her eyes followed Alex as he got up to dump his uneaten food into the waste bin. The moment he caught sight of Alison staring at him, he quickly turned away and pulled the hoodie over his head, as if he wanted to shrink away into nothing.

“Honestly, you would think that I’m some psycho maniac trying to get his attention,” Alison said disgustedly. This avoiding thing was proving harder than she thought. Alex tried escaping from her as if she was a plaque but she wasn’t willing to step out and apologize to him first. As far as she was concerned, she knew that she had done nothing wrong. She did what any respectable girl would do to an unintended suitor by rejecting him politely. The point was, Alex wasn’t going to let it go. He seemed to have trouble accepting her being together with Edward and Alison wasn’t exactly finding it easy to think of him as her “brother-in-law” although they were of the same age.

“You can say that again,” Angela answered. “Maybe you should try to talk to him and get him to join us again.”

“I thought you disliked him.” Alison eyed her curiously. She had never voiced it out but she got the impression that Angela hung around only with Alex only because of her.

“Haven’t you heard the saying that “The cat misses the mouse when the mouse is away”? I feel the same way, ” Angela replied wistfully.

“I wish life wasn’t that complicated.”

“Yea, me too.”

****

Slipping into her seat during Psychology class, Alison waited patiently until Alex showed up. She noticed there were dark eye rings and he looked pale. As Alex sat in front of her, she quickly took out a notepad and scribbled:

ALEX, what’s going on? Are we still fighting?- Alison

There, the tone was not subservient but firm. Alison flicked it casually at him. He looked up with a distinct note of surprise and read it before starting to scribble. Alison was relieved. She thought that he was just going to chuck it into the bin and ignore her. At least this was a good start.

He flicked it back to her, almost throwing it at Robert.

DUH, we are. In case you are still unaware.- Alex The note read.

Alison wrote furiously and threw it back at him.

WHY??????- Alison

Alex chuckled- much to her chagrin- and penned down an answer whilst keeping a lookout for their militant Psychology teacher, Mr Harrow.

AS IF you wouldn’t know. Why else would I avoid you all this while? Just because you’re always hanging out with my brother.- Alex

I know what happened between Edward and you. You don’t need to hide from me anymore- Alison.

At this point, Alex gaped distressingly at her.

YOU KNEW ABOUT IT?- Alex

Yes, I do. I just think your actions are silly and immature. Your brother has gone through so much and yet you’re putting on a childish tantrum. – Alison.

CHILDISH? IMMATURE? Damn, I knew he would paint himself as such a pitiful soul. He’s just trying to get sympathy from you. He’s no angel. He’s a devil. – Alex

Funny, Edward had once mentioned that he wasn’t an “angel”. She hadn’t known what it meant.

What do you mean he’s a devil? He’s the sincerest person I’ve ever met. – Alison

You’re fooled by him.  If you had known what he did before, you would be scrambling to my side now.– Alex

Alison stared at Alex’s written words with a shiver. What did he mean by that?

“Miss Goodall, may I know what’s so interesting about  this piece of paper? ” Mr Harrow grouchy voice boomed as he stopped in front of her desk and stretched over to take the paper.

“Nothing, Mr Harrow! ” Her quick fingers crushed it and stuffed it into her pockets. “Your lecture on the intricate workings of the human nature is just simply fascinating.” She smiled innocently at him.

Mr Harrow surveyed her for a moment before saying grumpily, “Pay more attention during class next time.”

“Yes sir,” she said, feeling relieved.

Alex turned around and gave her a knowing, triumphant smile.

Suddenly, Alison understood what he had written. Alex knew something terrible about Edward that she didn’t. But Edward had promised her that there were no more secrets between them.  Could it be possible that…..

No, it couldn't be. She had to trust Edward. She would never forgive herself if she allowed Alex to purposely sow discord between them. Still, she got the hunch that Edward hadn’t told her everything. The adoption thing still wasn’t the full story. There was something crucial missing…..

And that something has got to do with Amber.

***

“I think you’re officially obsessed,” Angela said as they walked home together. Edward was away on a refresher course and Alex had taken over the wheel. Clearly, their current broken friendship didn’t constitute free transport for her. So she took to talking to Angela to relieve the boredom on the way back to her house. Angela lived near just around the corner in a shop house above Starbucks.

“I’m not crazy, I think Alex might be saying the truth.” She had shown Angela the contents of the note but her best friend just laughed it off as a joke.

“Please, Alex is just trying to seize and opportunity to make you as his girlfriend. That’s how boys think.”

“Still, I think it has something to do with his ex-girlfriend, Amber,” Alison said seriously.

“Amber? You don’t mean the high school dropout? ” Angela asked oddly.

“She left Cornwall?” This was a new piece of information. Why hadn’t Edward told her that? Maybe it just didn’t crop up in their conversation.

“After she dated Edward, they suddenly broke up. She then disappeared from school for a week. When she came back, she announced that she was dropping out.”

“How did you know about this?”

“I hadn’t enrolled in Cornwall then. But this story has almost become a legend. Some speculated she had hooked up with some hot surfer guy on the beach while others thought she dabbled in drugs and ended up in rehab. These are just rumors but there might be some truth in them, seeing as how she’s the ex-leader of the Mean Girls’ Gang.”

“Well, erm, do you know about Edward as a student?”

“Mr Kingston?” Angela wrinkled her nose as she tried to crack her memory. “He’s mostly invisible, I think. Some called him the lackey dog of Amber. I’m so sorry, Alison. It’s not that nice to hear your boyfriend being called like that,” she whispered apologetically.

Alison knitted her forehead together. “Could something have happened between them? I mean, why did Amber disappear suddenly?” There was something mysterious about the part. From what she had gathered from numerous conversations, although Amber was the head of the MGG, she was an excellent student who was supposed to be the valedictorian of the graduating class. There was no way she would give up all these statuses and quit Cornwall suddenly.

“Nobody knows, even the regular gossipers. After those years, nobody talk much about it anymore.” Angela shrugged. They had reached her apartment while Alison’s one was further downtown. “I’ve to go now, bye.” She smiled. “And don’t worry, I’m sure Alex is just suffering from teenage-crazed hormones.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Alison muttered as Angela disappeared up the staircase leading to her apartment.

 ***

Reaching home, she closed the door. The house was quiet. Her father must have been out working as an accountant at a small central firm. Her mother, on the other hand, must have gone off to the knitting club alongside with Mrs Kingston. The two mothers had strike an unusual friendship and they were often seen shopping together. Alison didn’t object of course. It was probably much more favorable for her if her “future-in-law” would get along well with her parents. But then again, she wasn’t sure how both sides would react or whether this relationship would sour the moment she spilled out the truth of Edward and her.

“You back?” Carrie asked stiffly as she emerged from the kitchen. She was eating grapes and apples as her lunch- her new regime. Apparently, Jane had insisted all the members to be a size two and even skinny Carrie wasn’t able to achieve that if she didn’t stick to an anorexic diet so she got to consuming fruits only for all her meals. It would have been healthy and all but the fact that she was getting skinnier and skinnier until she was only a bag of bones was indeed worrying. The worse thing was, her parents didn’t even care. Her father wasn’t even aware that his youngest daughter was dieting while her mother was in favor of Carrie slimming down.

“Yes,” Alison replied equally coldly. This was how all their conversations went for the past two months.

“Where’s Mum?” Carrie enquired with a blank expression on her face. She looked almost like how she was in the past. Jane had taught her some ways to elude parents’ suspicion or so as Alison had heard. Carrie always took out all those hair extensions and washed off the nail polish the moment she got home so as to avoid suspicion. And the tattoo she got was hidden beneath her long-sleeved sweaters which she wore to school every day before changing into something more revealing. Through this way, Carrie was able to continue her extreme behavior unsuspectingly and no one in the family knew except for Alison.

“Don’t know,” Alison said and started to head straight for her room.

“Just to tell you, Alex will be dating me sooner or later,” her sister called out after her.

Alison stopped. “Does this concern me at all?” she asked.

“Obviously.” There was a glint in Carrie’s eyes. She picked out a card from her bag and threw it at Alison who caught it with perfect precision.

“What’s this?” She read the glossy cover. “Why is Jessica inviting me to a party? Doesn’t she usually invite only the MGG and BBG only?”

“You seem well-informed,” Carrie answered smugly. “This time, Jessica is inviting the entire school including those pathetic geeks.”

“Why?”

“Just to show how rich she is.”

Alison muttered suspiciously, “And how does Alex come into this entire thing?”

“He’s coming and if you want to patch things up with him, I suggest you make an undeserving appearance too,” Carrie said casually, flicking her brown hair over her shoulder as an imitation of Jane’s signature move.

“Is this some sort of trick?” Alison scowled at her sister. It was hard to not be distrustful of Carrie. She always wondered what tricks she had up her sleeves or whether Jane was imparting all her knowledge of deceiving people to her.

“It depends on how you look at it.”  Carrie vanished into her room, leaving Alison standing there all alone and looking foolish holding an expensive watermarked card.

 ***

As she stumbled back into her room, Alison heard the distinct tune of her phone ringing.

“Hello?” she asked as she flipped open the mobile cover.

“Alison?” The crackly voice of Edward could be heard.

“Yes?” Alison breathed as her heartbeat quickened.

“Did you receive the  invitation from Miss Jessica Hampton to her party?”

“Yes.” Alison felt surprised that he knew of it but then again, surely Jessica would love to show off to the man of his dreams.

“Are you going for the thing?” Edward asked.

Alison contemplated briefly. What Carrie said was true. If she could happen to catch Alex at the party, she could corner him and make an attempt- however futile it might be- to retrieve back a precious friendship. Still, she was a little worried about the sort of party Jessica was going to organize.

“Is it going to involve booze and drugs?”

“I’m not sure but I speculate she probably won’t try anything dirty as the entire school would be there.”

“Good.”

“Does that mean you’re going?”

“Erm…yes, I guess so, ” Alison hurriedly said. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“Oh no, you silly girl!” Edward laughed but his voice turned serious again. “I can understand the appeal how Jessica’s invitation might be to people who haven’t been to her parties before. It’s considered a privilege, I might add. Still, I’ll be there to protect you. You don’t know how complex some of those characters would be.”

“And you aren’t worried about your own sister and brother?” Alison retorted.

“They know fully well how to take care of themselves. With Jane’s bullish attitude, I wouldn’t be surprised she would end up taking advantage of the guys there!” Alison could sense him smirking on the other side of the phone. “As for that brother of mine, I reckon he’s well-trained in taekwondo to know how to protect himself from the bad guys.”

“Oh, yea,” Alison mumbled. She had forgotten that Alex took martial art classes every week.

“As for you,” Edward’s voice softened. “You are much too vulnerable and as your lawful boyfriend, I have to make myself useful, shouldn’t I?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Well, see you at the party next Saturday then,” he said.

“Bye.” Alison hung up. She felt horribly guilty for doubting Edward’s honesty. How could she think that he was keeping things from him? He’s such a responsible and caring boyfriend. There was just no way was what Alex said true. Except… Alex wasn’t the type of malign others.

Alison felt so frustrated that she flung her cell phone across the room.

“Why can’t everyone just leave me alone?” she shouted and wept she buried herself beneath the blankets and pillows. Life would be so simply if she had stayed in Japan and not interfere with all these typical American high school melodramas. But now that she was tangled in this complicated relationship with Alex and Edward, how was she ever going to escape?

That was one answer she had to find out herself.

***