He was already outside the cafeteria and he unleashed whatever emotions were choking him by taking deep breaths and exhaling really hard.
"What is bothering you?" Alessia said to Drake whose back was facing her.
Drake was startled. Was she behind him this whole time? He used his two hands to wipe his face as he hoped to get rid of that horrible face he was wearing. He turned his face to her slowly as he tried so hard to fake a smile and almost did so perfectly.
"You know you don't have to do that, right?" Alessia said with a smile. She knew that Drake was wearing a fake smile as he looked at her.
"Do what?" Drake was worried about a lot of things and was unsure of what exactly she was referring to. Was she accusing him of running away or being a clingy ass who couldn't bear to see a girl he liked laugh with another guy? His anxiety began to kick in as much as he tried to fight it.
"Hide your feelings and wear a smile to cover them up. At least, not with me." Alessia replied sincerely and with compassion in her every syllable.
Drake was moved. She saw right through him, right through the smile and he knew he couldn't lie to her but he was unsure of what words to tell her. In this dilemma of thoughts, Alessia decided to give him all the time he needed. Alessia started to walk in the hallway and Drake followed her too as their silence was resonating in both of their hearts.
Alessia led him to the basketball court which was empty and they sat on the bleachers. It was getting awkward as both of them were reluctant to make the first move. Drake sat just a seat away from Alessia who was trying not to look at his face as he occasionally caught her glance.
"Zzz, zzz" Alessia's phone buzzed as a message popped up on her screen from her mom.
"Hey baby! I have to make a trip to Arizona today and I won't be back today. Take care of yourself. See you soon. Kisses"
Alessia was stuck in every of these words as she sighed heavily.
"What's the matter?" Drake asked caringly.
"…It's my mom. She won't be home today and it…" Alessia paused as she was suddenly very emotional. Drake was now very concerned and he nervously moved a seat to her. "It sucks! Right when you lose one, the other still isn't with you" She continued with a voice so low and cracked.
"You're right. It sucks and you have every reason to say that. One moment we feel the love is there, the next moment, it somehow just feels like it wasn't ever real." Drake confessed as he stared at Alessia who was lost in his face as she listened to him.
"Turns out I'm not really good at holding back.." She said as tears began to form in her eyes. "Today marks 4 years since my dad died and I still haven't made peace with it." She continued as one eye leaked tears faster than the other.
This was one of those moments when Drake disobeyed his brain and followed his heart. He stretched his right hand to her right shoulder as he made her rest on his' to cry. She was comfortable here, with him as she let out a really good cry. It was a good thing that both of them had the period after lunch as a free one.
It was already two weeks with Alessia and Drake working together on their APP project, sparing an hour of every weekday to combine ideas while they took the weekend to rest. For Drake, these days have probably been the best of his life and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Gerard and Suzanne who murmured secretly to themselves while letting out a smile that boldly said, "He's finally got a girl!"
The weekend had come to an end and Drake was over happily preparing for school, or the hour with Alessia maybe. It was unlike him to be very conscious of his dressing and his looks, but he decided to take his time to do all that today.
"Don't worry, it's not about you. I just wanted to try looking good for myself" Drake said to himself softly with a smile on his face as he was rehearsing what to tell Alessia in case she noticed his sudden transformation. He put on a grey hoodie with about a hundred stars from its bottom to top on its back and a picture of nature, a warm looking beach on the front.
After spending no less than 30 minutes contemplating shirts, jeans and shoes, he tried styling his hair. "Ha ha!" He laughed at himself as he moved his hair to multiple places, weirdly looking, before he made up his mind on just settling the hair to the back of his head.