Dancer

Alex sat on the classroom roof, having finished his lunch, watching the other students down below walking around and talking with their friends. He had a good view of the school from here, should he stand up and walk around, but he refrained from moving down to the south edge. He knew what he would see there, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to see that at the moment.

His friends would be over there, without a doubt, more than happy to watch the events that were taking place. They wouldn't even question that he wasn't there. He came and went as he pleased, and they knew him well enough not to question it. He did as he pleased. Always had. He didn't care much about what other people wanted from him, which was part of why some referred to him as Ice. He always thought that nickname was ill advised to be associated with him, but let people think what they will. He was more hot headed than cold, but he didn't talk to many people long enough for them to realize that.

He heard someone coming up behind him. He expected it to be Amelia or Janice. Those girls were the ones who were usually sent to find Alex if anything came up that he should know about. When he turned to look, however, he was surprised to find Pete approaching.

Pete was a smaller kid, one of the new guys their group had picked up in the last year. He was awkward and pretty shy, but every once in a while he'd show some spine and really blow everyone away. Amelia was the one who had found him in the first place, and he had a tendency to cling a little bit more to her than anyone else, just because he was the most familiar with her. At least, that was the explanation that everyone gave. Who knew what was really going through the kid's head. He had trouble getting any words out if something important came up.

"Hey kid," Alex called out. Pete used to get mad about being called a kid, but he'd long gotten over it. "What's up? Shouldn't you be clinging to Ame's leg?"

"The fact that you weren't around today seemed a little strange," Pete replied, sitting down beside him. "I know you don't always hang with us, but I didn't think you'd miss out on Suz's dance."

Alex shrugged. He didn't want to talk about it. "Ame said you'd probably be up here. Said you tended to be when you were off on your own. Also that I should keep that info to myself."

"Yeah, kid, you really should."

"I know, I know. I won't bug you too much. Just seemed... I dunno. Like something was up maybe."

Alex leaned back against the ac unit and looked up at the sky. "Just not feeling being friendly today."

"You're not that friendly to begin with."

"No, I'm not."

They sat in silence for a while. Alex liked the quiet. He could still hear people talking down below, of course. It was lunch after all. But up here, it was harder to hear the voices, or make out what they were saying. He could think about the things he would do when he got home. Things that he didn't want to do where people could see him. That he was afraid of doing with people around.

"I don't think you're all that bad, you know."

Alex looked at Pete. The kid was looking up at the clouds, too. His words seemed to just come out of nowhere. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"You're always there when we need you," Pete explained. "Like you got some kind of... Like a spidey-sense, like in the comics, but for us. You just show up when we need some advice or when we're in trouble. You've even hurt yourself making sure we were okay. Doesn't seem like something a guy called Ice would do, huh?"

Alex sighed and leaned back. He just acted on instinct. There weren't many people he felt comfortable around, and the few that he did he wanted to keep around. He liked being alone, but not that alone. "What's your point?"

"Suz was kinda sad you weren't there. Said when she was dancing was one of the few times she saw you smile. She likes it when you smile."

Alex looked at the kid again, one eyebrow raised. "She told you that?"

Pete finally turned to look at him and smiled. "Being the awkward kid means that people aren't afraid of you hearing stuff."

Alex sat up and turned himself fully towards Pete. "You're more than you make yourself out to be, kid."

Pete chuckled and nodded. "Kinda like you."

Alex thought about that for a long moment. "Yeah," he said. "I guess you're right."

"You wanna tell me why you didn't watch the dance?"

Alex grinned a coy, cocky grin. "I ain't trusting you after what I just learned."

Pete laughed and nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "But I can keep my mouth shut when it matters. I don't think Suz would mind all too much that I told you that. But you probably shouldn't mention it all the same."

Alex nodded in return and sat back again, thinking. "That dancer..." he muttered under his breath, not fully realizing the words had been spoken.

"She's really something," Pete replied. "Hard to believe she's still single sometimes, you know?"

Alex looked at Pete out of the corner of his eye. The kid was looking up at the clouds again.

"Yeah," he said. "I know."