Welcome to New Haven

by Dawn Doyle

  “Coooool” Alex said in awe as she passed back his daff. “You’ve obviously done this before”

  “A few times” she replied and he saw her lips twitch a little.

  More than a few times, he was guessing.

  “I’ll do that too. Why did you rub the pen on your sleeve?”

  “It creates static and it picks up the pollen easier.”

  “Oh…Like this?” He asked as he rubbed his pen on the sleeve of his T-shirt.

  “Yeah.” She said as she watched the pen go up and down the sleeve covering his bicep.

  Holly bit her lip before turning away and swallowing. Biting her lip got him a painful jolt in his pants, and he wanted to just…just…kiss her. The way her eyes had looked at him, his arm, he thought he saw something else in her eyes but she looked away before he could tell what that was.

  “What now?” He asked, his voice a little hoarse.

  “Place a finger next to the stigma, to keep it still, and then rotate the pen lid over it to transfer the pollen.”

  Alex did as Holly instructed and wondered why he hadn’t noticed before, that she wasn’t stuttering her words.

  She must really be into this stuff.

  Mr. Benson saw what Holly had done, and he walked over to them.

  “I’ve never seen it done that way before.” He said quietly. “What made you do it like that?”

  Holly seemed to become nervous at the teachers’ question and Alex wanted to put his arm around her and pull her close to him.

  “Erm…it’s more effective like that.”

  “Really? How do you know?” Mr. Benson didn’t sound as though he was being condescending, he sounded genuinely interested in Holly’s methods.

  “Um…my…Dad showed me. He was a landscape gardener.”

  Was

  Dev had told Alex that Holly’s Mum had remarried and that Holly’s biological father had passed away years before. That’s why she was sad. The flowers were a reminder of him.

  “Really?” Mr. Benson continued. “I bet you picked up a lot of things that would help in this class.”

  “Yes sir.” She said barely audible.

  Holly’s head lowered, and he could see her lower lip begin to quiver and she bit her lip into her mouth.

  “Sir” Alex said to get Mr. Benson’s attention as he could see he was about to say something else.

  He stopped and looked at Alex who shook his head slowly, warning him not to probe further. Mr. Benson looked back to Holly and seemed to only just notice her change in mood.

  “Well…uh…I’ll bear that in mind.” He said as he walked back to the front of the class as Holly sat looking down at her hands in her lap.

  “Hey.” He whispered gently and he put his hand on her left shoulder. He felt a jot up his arm, straight into his chest at the same time Holly gasped and her eyes snapped to his hand, then his eyes.

  “Has everybody finished?” The teacher asked, breaking the haze and Alex dropped his hand, feeling the loss immediately.

  The guy who had propositioned Holly earlier, spoke up.

  “I can’t get the pollen off the brush. It’s stuck in the bristles.”

  Alex looked to Holly and smiled. Holly blushed as she smiled back, even just a little.

  “Well there’s another method…Holly, could you show him?” Holly looked surprised, Alex was too, because this was the guy that had been an ass and Mr. Benson had seen him.

  “What? Erm…I guess so.” She said as she stood. She went over to the desk, taking her pen.

  Holly rubbed the pen on her sleeve and showed Will how to pollinate, with the first flower. Holly rubbed the pen lid across the stigma.“Oh Holly, baby that feels so good!” Will said in a husky voice. Then he laughed.

  “What the fuck?!” shouted Alex and he jumped out of his seat and stormed towards Will.

  “Alex…no!” Dev shouted.

  “Who do you think you are, cock ‘ed?”

  Alex stopped suddenly when he heard Holly’s angry voice.

  “Speak to me like that again and you’ll be fuckin’ sorry.” She said through gritted teeth.

  “Will I now? And what will you do?” Will asked, as he laughed.

  “She won’t have to do anything” Alex said as he walked up behind Holly. “I will though” he glared at Will.

  “Hey, Alex, man I was just kidding dude.” Will said with his hands up.

  “Don’t speak to Holly like that again. In fact…don’t speak to her at all!”

  “Shit, sorry!” Said Will. His face white as a sheet.

  “Break it up!” shouted Mr. Benson.

  “Back to your seats!”

  “Come on Holly” Alex said as he gently tugged her elbow to bring her back to their station.

  Holly was still glaring at Will as she started to turn around. They sat back down as Mr. Benson spoke.

  “Well, now that the excitement is over, let’s get back to work.”

  “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.” She said.

  “If I didn’t, he might have said something else to you I would have punched him for.” He replied as he raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t let you get suspended over that asshole.”

  Holly’s mouth dropped open as she listened to Alex’s voice. So smooth, so deep, so…sexy… She sucked in her bottom lip as she dropped her eyes to his mouth.

  “Mhmm.” Was all that she could manage.

  “Holly?” He whispered as he was watching her mouth. He licked his lips.

  “Huh? Oh shit…um…yeah thanks.” She said and looked to the front of the class. Horrified that she had been in an Alex fog… in front of Alex!

  Oh my God, please don’t let him have noticed that!

  She felt her face redden, which was the norm, and her heart was pounding, her body…well it felt on fire!

  Alex looked to the front of the class with a frown of confusion.

  Was she looking at my mouth? Was she thinking…? No, she couldn’t have been. Did she want to…kiss me?

  Alex was having an internal battle with himself. His body was wound tightly. He really wanted to kiss Holly and the thought that she may be thinking the same of him was playing havoc with his hormones. His jeans were tightening even more, even though they were never loose when Holly was around, and his heart was hammering in his chest.

  He opened his mouth to say something to Holly when he noticed her hands were shaking in her lap. Alex decided it was best not to say anything just yet.

  Mr. Benson informed the class that they now had to write up what they done in class and name all of the flower parts. Alex, not having paid attention to the teacher, had no idea what he was supposed to do. He saw Holly had gotten to work straight away.

  He needed her help…again.

  “Holly, could you help me please?” He asked quietly. I didn’t listen much.” He admitted.

  Holly nodded.

  “Yeah…sure”

  “What’s the other name for daffodil?” He asked.

  “Narcissus.” She said without pausing to think.

  “I guess you already know all the flower parts too.” He asked.

  “Yeah.” She said, her cheeks turning pink.

  “That’s awesome.” He said, smiling when she looked up at him. He loved the color in her cheeks as she blushed.

  “I’ll…um…write them down on my um…” she swallowed “…diagram and you can copy.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  As he smiled, his lips parted, and Holly could see his white teeth. His lips looked perfect.

  I bet they taste amazing. Shit!

  She realised she was staring again and looked back down at the desk.

  Oh ground, please swallow me up!

  Holly knew she was going to embarrass herself in class and, even though she thought she’d managed to save herself so far, now she’d gone and openly gawked at Alex’s mouth, right in front of him and whilst he was looking at her! There was no way he couldn’t have known what she was doin
g.

  Alex stared at Holly, wide eyed. He slowly turned back to the front of the class, still in a daze about what he’d just witnessed.

  Holly does like me!

  He had to stop himself from jumping up and fist pumping. He felt great. He knew he had to take things slowly though. Holly seemed to be really nervous.

  Ben was right.

  Alex glanced back at his best friend.

  Ben and Dev seemed to be engrossed in a, somewhat, heated discussion and sitting too close together for his liking. Ben looked at Alex and moved slightly away from Dev. Dev noticed and looked over to Alex. Alex pointedly looked at Holly and then back to Ben and Dev, in acknowledgment. He smiled and winked at them, letting him know that things were going well. Ben looked around and then gave him the ‘thumbs up’. Dev put her hands on her heart and gave him a look only a loving sister could give. Like she was beyond happy for him.

  The bell sounded for the end of the period.

  “Oh my God I thought you were both going to punch Will!” Dev whisper squealed as she rushed over.

  “I did too” added Ben. “That would’ve been sweet.”

  “We’re not going to get suspended for that dick.” Said Alex.

  “Holly, can I see you before you leave?” Mr. Benson asked. “Everybody else, go to your next class.”

  He apologised to Holly if he’d upset her.

  “That’s ok sir, My Dad and I did a lot of gardening together. I miss it.”

  “Well, I’m here if you want to talk.” He said.

  “Erm…thanks” There was no way that Holly wanted to talk about it to him. It still hurt even after all these years.

  Holly made her way to chem class and apologised for her lateness. The teacher informed her that Alex had already told her and Holly blushed.

  Seriously?! I need to have a break today, face’.

  Holly took her seat next to Dev.

  “I want to know everything. Everything!” Holly nodded.

  “Later”

  Dev squeezed her fists tightly in front of herself, like an excited child and Holly shook her head as she chuckled. Kay and Riss looked at them both, confused. They shrugged their shoulders as if to say, ‘what’s happened?’. Once class had ended, Kayla and Riss both told Holly that they wanted to know what had happened and they should discuss it at lunch. Holly agreed, and she walked off to A.Calc class.

  Dev was waiting for her outside the class as she’d had at free period, when Ben came out too.

  “Hey Dev.” He said.

  “Hey. Gotta go…girl talk.” Dev replied, and she turned Holly in the direction of the cafeteria.

  “Ok then. Knock yourselves out and go do…girly…stuff…whatever” Holly heard him say and Dev just waved.

  “Tell me tell me!” Dev squealed.

  Holly filled Dev in with what happened in class whilst she was working with Alex. She thought Dev was going to pee herself in excitement.

  When they met up with Kay and Riss, they immediately asked what had happened in A.Bio.

  “Holly worked with Alex in A.Bio” Dev started telling them. “Will was being his usual disgusting self and Alex almost punched him.”

  “Oh my God!” Said Kayla. “Tell us everything.”

  Dev and Holly exchanged a look and Dev, leaving out the interactions between Holly and Alex, told the girls all about Will and his pollination joke. They were still talking when they guys showed up. They all stopped.

  “Talking about us?” asked Ryan.

  “You wish” answered Riss.

  “Yeah I do. That’d mean you were all thinking about me and that’s totally hot.” He grinned as he sat down.

  As the rest of them sat down, Alex sat between Dev and Ryan. Holly was grateful because she didn’t think her nerves could cope with another forty minutes of Alex by her side.

  “If we were…” Kayla said to Ryan, “…it may not be a good thing.”

  The guys laughed loudly.

  “Way to kill a fantasy.” He frowned, which only made everyone laugh harder.

  Lunch passed, and they all walked to social studies class. This was the one class that they had all together.

  Alex hated this class.

  Stacey was there.

  The only class they had together and he couldn’t get away from her there.

  As they walked in, he looked around. No Stacey, yet. That was a bad thing because it meant she could walk past him when she came in.

  They all took their seats.

  Alex was at the front with the guys, and the girls sat at the back in the same row. Stacey sat behind Ben, who was in the seat next to Alex, followed by Ryan and Kyle.

  Stacey entered the room and smiled slyly as she spotted Alex. She licked her lips and walked towards him, swinging her hips and pushing her chest forward.

  “Hi Alex.” She said in a sultry voice that made his skin crawl.

  As she walked past him, she ran her right hand up his right arm towards his shoulder but he pulled his arm away from her.

  “Stop it, Stacey.” He spat, through gritted teeth.

  “Aww.” She mock pouted as she sat down. “Still playing hard to get baby?” she asked.

  “I’m not playing anything.” He replied coldly.

  “Well then, what’s the problem?” Stacey was trying to be sexy, but she had the opposite effect on Alex.

  He wanted to hurl.

  “I want you to leave me alone.” He said as he frowned at her.

  “I can’t do that honey. You know I want you, Alex. You want me too…”

  “Ha!” laughed Ben.

  “…You’re just too stubborn to admit it” she continued.

  “You’re delusional” Ben laughed again. The guys all chuckled. Stacey’s face dropped.

  “Whatever, Alex.” She said bitterly. “You’ll cave soon enough”

  “Oh my God did you actually just say that?!” Alex snorted. Stacey smiled and pursed her lips at the same time.

  “Don’t hold your breath.” Alex said. “Oh no wait…please do.”

  The guys were openly laughing now, and the girls were watching from the back.

  Kayla and Riss couldn’t believe how brazen Stacey was in front of everybody. Holly’s knee was bouncing and Dev saw.

  “Holly.” She whispered. Holly turned to Dev, her face like thunder. “Your knee. Why does it do that?”

  “What? Oh.” Said Holly as she realised what she was doing. “It sometimes happens when I’m nervous or mad.”

  “I completely understand” Dev said as she stared daggers at Stacey.

  Stacey turned and smiled a sickly sweet smile to Dev. Of course, she wasn’t actually being nice. She was a twisted bitch that couldn’t take no for an answer. Stacey noticed Holly’s glare, and she scowled, turning back to the front of the class.

  When the bell signified the end of lesson and the school day, everybody got out of their seats to leave.

  “Alex” Stacey said in a sing-song voice.

  Alex blew out an animated breath.

  “What?” He said coldly.

  “Are you going to Caleb’s party on Sunday?” she asked.

  “Are you?”

  “Definitely.” She smiled and licked the corner of her mouth. A sad attempt of being seductive.

  “Then no, I’m not.” He said as he picked his bag up to leave. There was no way on earth he was going to any more parties, where she would be able to appear. Especially after the last one they went to in junior year.

  Offering Alex a ‘peace offering’ red cup of whatever-it-was-she-had-poured-in. He’d taken it and poured it into a plant as soon as she turned away. There was something strange about her behavior, not that she was ‘normal’ but she seemed to be watching him closely. The group had left, and they’d never gone to another party after that.

  “Don’t be like that, baby” she pouted.

  “I’m not your ‘baby’”

  “Well…if you go…we could hook up. It’ll be fun, I promise.�
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  “Ugh!” He said as he rolled his eyes and turned away.

  The guys were about to say something when Dev spoke up instead.

  “You don’t give up do you?”

  Stacey turned to Dev.

  “No. I don’t.” She replied, as a matter of fact.

  Holly stepped forward.

  “You should.” She said icily.

  “And if I don’t?” asked Stacey as she took a small step back. Clearly apprehensive about Holly’s aggressive statement.

  Holly just smiled, but it didn’t touch her eyes. She continued to look Stacey in the eye and everyone fell silent, not knowing what was going to happen.

  “Go…Now” was all Holly said.

  “I’m leaving anyway.” Stacey answered in her usual arrogant manner. She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, and sauntered out of the room.

  They all turned to Holly.

  “Wahoo!” Said Kyle, laughing as he patted Holly’s shoulder. “What was that?” He asked with surprise in his voice.

  “I told you she’s a scary girl.” Chuckled Ben.

  “She just gets on me nerves.” She said angrily, her accent thicker with agitation.

  “We’re going to go.” Dev said and she linked her arm through Holly’s and the girls left. “See you at the car, Alex” she shouted back.

  The guys turned to face Alex.

  “Duuuude.” Said Ryan, in amazement.

  Alex was still in shock at witnessing, first hand, how scary Holly could be.

  That.Was.Hot!

  “I’m gonna go looking for her when I need somebody sorting out.” Ryan said with a grin. “I’ll set Holly on you!” He said in a mock whine as they walked out of the class.