Author: Jenny
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Pairing: Alex/Isabel
Rating: TEEN
Summary: It’s West Roswell High’s annual Christmas carnival, and Alex has been unwillingly roped into running one of the booths. It turns out to be a day he’ll never forget.
Author’s Note: Response to the Stargazer Day Challenge set forth by cardinalgirl and vegas312:
~rating is up to you
~must be no shorter than 250 words
~any season is fine and you can include the other couples or
characters
~has to be around Christmas time
~must include the following phrases and things:
1. "It's like we're on a merry go round"
2. "hard to breathe"
3. Gift exchange
4. The word "stargazer" or "stargazing"
5. "you're my Christmas miracle"
6. "dude, your chestnuts are on fire!"
7. A bell has to ring
8. A Christmas song must be featured somewhere in the fic
9. "always belong to someone else"
This takes place during Christmas of Season 2, so assume everything up to and including Max in the City has taken place. Also, this is my first time writing A/I, so I hope I do okay.
Thanks to ISLANDGIRL5 for beta-ing!
***
“Dude, your chestnuts are on fire!”
Alex Whitman rolls his eyes as raucous laughter follows the inane comment made by some beefy jock. “Funny,” he mutters sarcastically under his breath. “Like you’re the first person to come up with that joke.”
Once again, Alex curses whatever forces of nature made him get stuck here today. It’s West Roswell High School’s annual Christmas carnival, a weeklong event where all the clubs and athletic teams set up booths and games and such out on the patio in order to raise money for the school and its organizations. There are booths for everything under the sun – face-painting, food and drink stations, pin-the-beard-on-the-Santa – you name it. Alex has unfortunately found himself working one of the food booths that his Chemistry teacher, Ms. Davis, thought would be a brilliant idea – real roasted chestnuts. Which of course means that Alex gets to repeatedly hear jokes like the one just made by the passing football player.
The sound of the bell signaling the end of third period has Alex thanking his lucky stars, since it means that someone else will be here to take over the next shift. As hordes of students filter onto the patio from their classrooms, he waits impatiently, looking for the next unlucky schmuck to put up with this absurdity.
“Alex, how’s it going over here?” Alex turns at the sound of the voice, startled to find Ms. Davis’ smiling face.
“Oh… uh… fine, Ms. Davis. Good,” he says.
“Jeremy was supposed to come cover for fourth period, but he’s not feeling well,” she tells Alex, and he groans inwardly, not liking where this is going. “So one of the girls from my third period class volunteered to help, and she should be here soon. And since I know you have fourth period free, you wouldn’t mind sticking around for just a while longer, to show her the ropes?”
Alex wants nothing more than to tell her he has other obligations for his free period, but one look at her hopeful face has him changing his mind. Ms. Davis already thinks he walks on water, and he wouldn’t want to disappoint her, now would he? Damn this good heart of mine, he thinks to himself.
“Yeah, of course, Ms. Davis. I’ll stay.”
“Oh, thank you, dear,” she beams. “Oh, I think I see her now.” She turns to her left and waves. “Isabel! Isabel, over here!”
Alex’s heart skips a beat as he looks in the direction that Ms. Davis is waving, and sure enough, he sees the beautiful face of none other than Isabel Evans.
They haven’t really had more than a casual conversation here and there in the last couple of months (unless, of course, it was Czechoslovakian-related). To be perfectly honest, Alex isn’t sure if he’s up to dealing with their complex relationship today. He’s so tired of pretending that he’s okay with just being friends with her, when in reality, all he wants to do is kiss her senseless.
“Alex, hi,” Isabel says when she arrives, seemingly surprised to see him.
“Oh, good, you two already know each other,” Ms. Davis says with a smile. Then, with a clap of her hands, she says, “Okay, I have to get back to my class. Thank you both so much. I owe you!”
When they’re left alone in the booth, an awkward silence settles over them, and Alex even finds it a little hard to breathe. Isabel has always had this effect on him, for as long as he can remember. Sometimes, when he’s in her presence, it’s all he can do to think straight.
“So, I haven’t seen you around much lately,” Isabel finally says.
“Yeah, I’ve just been busy. You know… school… stuff.” Nice one, Whitman, he thinks to himself. Way to sound like a loser.
“Yeah,” Isabel nods, and then they fall into silence again as a couple of Freshman boys come up to booth to purchase some chestnuts, one of them not-so-subtly gawking at Isabel. Alex gives him the evil eye.
“Hey, man, it’s like that song,” the other boy says. “How does it go? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…” he sings in a horribly off-key voice.
“Shut up, man, you’re such a dork,” the one who was staring at Isabel grumbles. Alex can’t help but chuckle at the singing boy, perhaps feeling a little kinship with him.
Isabel tries to hide her laughter as the two boys leave, the first one obviously embarrassed by his friend’s juvenile behavior in front of the beautiful blonde upperclassman. When the boys are out of sight, Isabel and Alex both erupt into a fit of giggles, which helps to relieve some of the tension hanging in the air.
There’s not much chance for them to talk for the next several minutes, since a pretty steady stream of students comes to the booth. Alex can’t help sneaking glances at her, loving the way her hair falls in loose waves around her shoulders, and the way she smiles or chuckles as she makes small talk with the other students. What he wouldn’t give…
No, he scolds himself. Don’t even go there. Isabel has made it abundantly clear that she only wants to be friends. She’ll never be yours, so just forget it. She’ll always belong to someone else.
Isabel and Alex chat idly in between customers, but they both know that there’s so much hanging in the air between them that’s not being said. Before Alex even realizes it, fourth period is over and another student comes to take over the booth.
“Alex, I’m so sorry,” Isabel apologizes as they both pick up their books and exit the booth. “You lost your whole free period.”
“It’s no big deal,” Alex says with a shrug. “I was just going to go the library and work on my English paper.”
“Still…” Isabel says, and then lets out an “oomph” as a male student bumps into her as he runs by, effectively knocking all of her books to the ground.
“Watch where you’re going, jerk!” Alex calls out to the guy, who has already rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
“It’s all right, Alex,” Isabel says, and he bends over to help her gather her things. As he picks up her books, he comes across one that looks very familiar, and his eyes grow wide in surprise.
“You still have this?” he asks, handing it back to her.
“Of course I do,” she responds, reverently taking the stargazing book that he gave her last spring. “Did you think I wouldn’t keep it?” she asks, sounding a little hurt.
“No,” Alex replies quickly. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… never mind.”
“Alex, what is it?”
“It’s us. You and me. It’s like we’re on a merry-go-round, and I’m never sure which way to go. You like me, you don’t like me. You say you don’t want to date anyone, and the next thing I know, you’re bringing Grant to your birthday party. I just… I don’t know what to think anymore.” All of the words just fall out of Alex’s mouth in a rush, and he can’t believe he actually said them. Seeing Isabel’s face flush and her eyes drop to ground, he immediately feels bad.
“God, I’m sorry,” he says. “That was out of line.”
“No. No, you’re absolutely right, Alex. I’ve been horrible to you, and I’m sorry.” She sighs and hugs her books close to her chest. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”
“How what was supposed to go? What are you talking about?”
“I have a confession. Jeremy’s not really sick. I asked him to tell Ms. Davis that he couldn’t work the booth so that I could volunteer to take his place. I knew you’d be working and I thought it would give us a chance to hang out and talk.”
“Isabel,” Alex breathes out, not sure how to react to what she’s just told him. He feels his heart swell slightly, unable to ebb the hope that rises up in him at her words.
“If you wanted to hang out, all you had to was ask,” he finally says. “You didn’t need to come up with some elaborate scheme.”
“I know. I guess… I guess I just didn’t feel like I had the right to ask. After the way I’ve treated you.”
In a bold move, Alex reaches out to brush a strand of hair away from Isabel’s face. “You always have the right, Isabel.”
Isabel blushes and looks down at the ground again. “So where does this leave us?”
Alex, not even sure himself where he wants this to lead, asks her, “Where do you want this to leave us?”
His heart soars of its own volition at her next words. “I want to be with you, Alex. I guess… on some level… that’s what I’ve always wanted. And I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to realize it, and I’m probably crazy to expect you to believe me anyway…”
“I want to be with you too, Iz,” Alex says, successfully cutting her off. “But… let’s take things slow. One day at a time.”
She gives him a tentative smile and nods. “Slow is good,” she says. “How about we start with lunch?”
“Lunch?” Alex asks, seeing that they’ve arrived at the entrance to the cafeteria.
“Yeah, I’ll buy you lunch. Consider it an early Christmas present.”
Alex chuckles. “But I don’t have a gift for you.” Then he pauses, reaching into the pocket of his book bag. “Wait a sec… here.” Isabel laughs in response when he hands her a bag of the chestnuts that they were just selling. “Hey, give me a break,” he says. “It’s short notice.”
“It’s the perfect gift, Alex. Thank you,” she says, leaning in to place a soft kiss on his cheek.
Alex reddens slightly as Isabel takes his hand and leads him into the cafeteria. With a cheeky grin, he says, “So I guess I can’t be bitter anymore about having to work at the booth today.”
“And I guess we should thank the chestnuts,” Isabel responds with a flirty giggle.
“Chalk it up to a Christmas miracle,” Alex says and winks at her.
Isabel gives his hand a firm squeeze and says, “You’re my Christmas miracle, Alex. You’re my miracle.”
The End