» CHAPTER SEVENTEEN «

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She looked at the box and took it . It had in big bold letters "Kay Jewelers" on it .

"Awe , Joe , you didn`t have to get me anything ." she smiled .

"Well , I felt that I had to . Just open it ." he told her . She slowly opened the box and gasped . Inside was a gold accented neckalce with a charm on it that read "I love you" . Alex nearly teared up . She couldn`t find any words to speak . Joe just smiled from ear to ear .

"I can`t believe you would ever do this for me !" she remarked . "Honestly , Joe ; you`re the BEST ." she got gave him a tight hug . She couldn`t stop staring at the necklace as it glistened in the light .

"Here , let me put it on for you ." Joe said softly . She turned around in her chair , holding her hair back as Joe placed the expensive necklace around her neck safely . "There you go ." he finished . Alex was still in complete shock .

"I just can`t believe you did this for me !" she smiled excitedly .

“Well , it`s the least I could do for you , Alex . Trust me .” he reassured her . Almost without thinking , Alex blurted out :
“How much was it ?” she questioned . Joe began to get a little nervous . He KNEW that if Alex found out he spent $500 out of his own money on a necklace for her , she would MAKE him take it back ; and he wanted her to have it more than anything else .

“Uhhh …” Joe hesitated . “It … was a … reasonable price I … guess … only …” Joe paused . He made a random number that Alex would be content with . “…two … hundred ?” he fibbed .

“Awe !” Alex exclaimed . “That WAS a bit for a necklace , but I`m SO glad you didn`t spend anymore than that on it .”

“Why ?” Joe wondered . Alex`s face quickly changed expressions .

“Because …” she started . “I REALLY don`t think I`m worth it , Joe .” he looked at her confused .

“What do you mean ?” he asked .

“Honestly , Joe . I`m 16 and pregnant and my mom kicked me out -- someone who`s WORTH it would be 16 and a virgin and still living with their mom and dad . I`m SO far from worth it .” she explained . That statement made Joe a little upset -- nearly teary eyed .

“Alex , I NEVER wanna hear you say that again .” Joe said , placing his arm around Alex`s shoulder . “My family and I think you`re REALLY important . That`s why we took you in . Your mom wasn`t being fair at ALL . I guess she was just so hurt and overwhelmed by everything , she thought too fast and picked her worst option … then again that`s her second worst option . Her WORST option would have been to kill you .” Joe joked . He made Alex smile a little bit . “And you wanna know something ?”

“What ?” Alex asked .

“When I was shopping for your necklace , all the other ones didn`t seem special enough for you .” Joe whispered into her ear . “And as soon as I glanced at that one , it screamed your name ; I KNEW it was perfect . And you wanna know something else ?”

“Continue .” Alex declared .

“That`s pretty much the same thing with you . All the other girls I`ve dated weren`t the one . Then as soon as I met you , I knew that you were .” Joe continued . Alex started crying a little , but they weren`t tears of sorrow ; they were tears of acceptance and relief . He lightly kissed her on her forehead , but then realized that wasn`t enough and kissed her on her lips . As soon as they turned around , they saw their waiter with two plates just staring at them as if she wanted to say “do you want your food or not ?”

“Oh .” Joe said , looking at the waiter . “Well , this is awkward .”

“You think ?” the waiter asked rudely . She placed the food on the table for each of them . She then walked away , rolling her eyes . “Teenagers .” she said under her breath . Joe just stared .

“Anyway …” Alex started . “Did I tell you that I`m still going back to the same school I went to when I was down here before ?”

“Yeah I think you mentioned that before .” Joe reminded her . “I`m glad cause we can still hang out at school AND at home .” Alex didn`t reply . Something else was filling up her mind .

“Uh , Joe ?” Alex began . “Do you think your mom will kick me out like my mom did ?”

“Of course not, Alex , why would you even ask that ?” Joe asked .

“Well … because if my own MOM kicks me out just because of a mistake , then why shouldn`t your mom ?” Alex wondered , scared .

“You have a good point , but you KNOW my mom ; she loves you a lot and you`re like her daughter . She`s better than that , Alex , trust me . Your mom`s going to regret ever kicking you out .” Joe stopped . He thought for a minute . “Uh , Alex ? If your mom ever decided to take you back … would you move back into your house ?”

Alex never expected Joe to ask her that question . She just stared at him blankly . “Wow … that`s a hard question . I never really thought about that , Joe … I don`t think I would , honestly because what she did to me … that`s not something you can just get over .” she took her first bite of her food . Joe was a little happy , but confused about her answer . Could someone REALLY hurt their own child like that for her to never forgive them ? Wow . Joe thought . I`m glad that she`s realizing the error of her mother`s ways … but then again …my dad DID always say to forgive everyone that hurts you … this is confusing … Joe for some reason changed the subject .

"How old was Jason ?" he question spotaneously .

Alex hesitated to answer . "Uhm ... that`s not really ... important ."

"Well , I was just curious as to how old he was ... that`s all . If you don`t wanna tell me , that`s fine . I`ll just go through the rest of the day ... wondering what I did to make you hide something from me ." he said sarcastically .

"OK , fine !" Alex gave in . "He ... was ... a WEE bit older ... I guess ..."

"How MUCH older ?" Joe yelled suspiciously .

"Only ... a year ." Alex answered .

"Oh ." Joe said .

"Plus 4 more ..." Alex said under her breath .

"WHAT ?!" Joe jumped up . "No WONDER you have HIV !" he yelled at the top of his lungs . The entire restaurant stared at him as if he were a mad man . Alex immediately turned red . Her mouth was wide open , staring at Joe in complete shock . Now EVERYONE in that restaurant knew Alex had HIV .

"Oops ." Joe said quietly . Alex immediately ran outside . Joe just stood there , not knowing what to say and everyone was still glaring at him . "What does this look like , a freak show ?! Keep eatin' your lasagnas and junk !" he demanded loudly and everyone continued talking .

Joe ran outside to see if he could find Alex . She was sitting on the bench , head in hands , face blood red .

"Alex ?" Joe asked cautiously . She didn`t say anything . "I know you`re mad at me . And I NEVER meant to say that out loud ." he sat next to her on the bench and put his hand on her back . "I guess ... I was just in so much shock that Jason was 21 and you`re only 16 . I honestly and REALLY am sorry that I blurted that out ." he continued apologetically . Just then , the WORST possible thing that could happen , happened .

"You have HIV ?!" a voice said , as they were running out the front of the store to find Alex . Joe and Alex looked up and saw who it was .

"Oh my God , NO ." Alex said ...

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WOWWW . awkward ! wanna find out who this is ? comment comment comment !