Chapter 3

I glanced at Alexander, but he still had that same blank look on his face.

But then I noticed his ears had gone red.

Those red ears with his pale cheeks, he looked absolutely adorable!

Once the teacher left, I ran over to Alexander, smiling as I complimented him.

"Alexander, your ears are all red! With your pretty face, you're just too cute!"

My eyes were practically shining, hoping he'd finally say something.

He did speak up, but it wasn't anything nice.

Alexander's face went bright red in a flash.

He frowned, clearly annoyed. "Seriously, Alexandra, you're driving me nuts! Get away from me!"

With that, he bolted out of the classroom.

I just stood there, frozen, watching his back as he vanished.

The other kids burst out laughing, some even mimicking the way I'd just complimented Alexander.

It felt like Alexander's blush had somehow spread to my face, totally burning up.

I just kept my head down, too embarrassed to say a word.

Seriously, I just called him cute and he still got mad? Geez!

Good-looking? So what? Big deal.

I stayed mad and didn't say a single word to Alexander for the rest of the day.

Outside the classroom, it started drizzling.

The teacher handed out raincoats to everyone.

I left mine on the cabinet and hurried off to the bathroom.

When I came back, I saw three or four boys gathered around Alexander.

I wondered when he had gotten so popular without me noticing.

Then I heard the ringleader, grinning mischievously, say, "Alexander, you're so cute!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Hey, pretty boy! Who knew you were so quiet, but you actually like it when people call you that, huh?" one of the boys jeered.

"My mom says boys shouldn't be called cute," another kid piped up.

Oh, that was why Alexander was so upset.

"So if he likes being called cute, does that mean he's actually a girl?" one of them snickered.

Everyone cracked up.

Hearing all that made me feel really awful inside.

I wondered why Alexander wasn't saying anything to shut them up.

I couldn't take it anymore and stormed over and shoved the ringleader out of the way.

I spun around and planted myself in front of Alexander, glaring at them. "What the hell are you guys even talking about?"

The boy saw me and laughed even louder. "Oh look, it's the cutie's little tag-along!"

"Why do you care? Say sorry to Alexander right now!" I shot back.

"Why should I apologize? If anyone should say sorry, it's you, the little tag-along!" the boy shot back.

"Yeah, you're the one who called him cute first!" another chimed in.

"I...I'll apologize later, but you guys need to say sorry right now," I said, trying to sound tough.

"Nope, if you want to apologize, do it yourself," the boy shot back.

"Are you going to apologize or not?" I pressed.

"Nope," he said, not backing down.

"Say sorry, now!" I demanded.

"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" he shot back, sounding extra cocky.

"I..." I was just about to say I'd knock you guys flat when the chubby kid from earlier came over and grabbed my hand.

"Alexandra, the teacher's coming," he whispered.

I paused for a second. "Whatever, I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it. Just go."

"Whatever," one of the boys scoffed.

As they walked off, they kept tossing snarky comments my way.

I just ignored them and turned to Alexander. "Are you alright?" I asked, hoping he wasn't too upset.

Alexander glanced at my left hand, the one the chubby kid had just pulled, but stayed silent.

He got up and quietly took a seat on the other side of the table.

I had just stood up for him, and he couldn't even say thanks.

I sat down in the spot he'd just left, watching him from across the table.

After a while, I looked away and glanced up at the rain outside the classroom window.

One by one, the other kids got picked up by their parents.

In the end, it was just me and Alexander left.

The teacher came over and asked if my dad had shown up yet.

Yeah, it was getting pretty late.

After waiting a bit longer, I grabbed my little backpack.

Inside, I found an umbrella.

My dad had made sure I brought it today.

I put on my raincoat, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and walked up to Alexander.

He was just staring out the window at the rain, looking lost in thought.

"Alexander, let's walk home together," I said.

Without waiting for him to react, I stuffed his raincoat into his arms.

Then I grabbed his hand and dragged him out, yelling, "Miss, we're leaving!"

By the time the teacher came out, the two of us were already long gone.

After we'd dashed out of the kindergarten, Alexander waited until I was totally out of breath, then pulled his hand away from mine with all his strength.

"What are you doing, Alexandra? Don't go crazy and drag me along with you!" he snapped.

I tilted the umbrella more toward him, making sure he stayed dry.

Alexander hadn't bothered with his raincoat, so his hair was getting wet and there were raindrops all over his clothes.

I kept quiet and knew I'd acted a little rash.

Anyway, I knew this route like the back of my hand having walked it home for over two years.

Alexander noticed I was holding the umbrella more toward him; he was quietly fuming inside, but kept it bottled up.

His face stayed stone cold, and he didn't say a word.

I kept my head down, thinking he was about to lose it, so I blurted out an apology before he could say anything.

"Sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have called you cute," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Alexander just kept looking at me, totally cold.

"But you really were cute just now," I muttered.

For some reason, I couldn't help but feel happy and looked up at him, only to meet his icy stare and quickly looked away.

Whenever Mom called me cute, I got all happy. So why did he look so annoyed?

Was it just because he was a boy?

We just stood there, neither of us moving forward.