The next few weeks were filled with long grueling rehearsals. Anthony was pretty supportive for the most part. He came to a lot of Dawn’s rehearsals. AJ wanted to knock him out each and every time he saw him, though. None of the other guys understood why his mood changed so drastically every time Anthony would show up.
"What’s with you?" Brian asked AJ one day after rehearsal.
AJ glanced over at Dawn who was packing up her stuff, getting ready to go home. Anthony was there earlier, but had left after lunch. Brian followed his gaze.
"Oh, I see," he said accusingly.
"You see what?" AJ shot back. "You don’t see anything,” he finished.
"Well, since you’re not volunteering any information, I’m left to assume," Brian replied.
Just then Kevin walked over.
"Hey, what’s going on?" He asked the pair.
"Nothing," AJ replied then walked away leaving Brian and Kevin standing there confused.
"What was that all about?" Kevin asked.
"I don’t really know," Brian started. "But I know it has something to do with Dawn".
AJ headed out the door, he just had to get away. He didn’t need to deal with everyone questioning his moods. He tried to avoid Dawn, but it was too late, she saw him.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" She asked as she walked alongside him.
"Nowhere," he responded. "I just want to get away from here."
"You’ve been awfully quiet lately," she pressed.
"I’ve just had a lot on my mind,” AJ responded trying to end the conversation.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She questioned.
He tried to keep walking, she put her hand on his arm to slow him down. Finally, he stopped and looked at her.
"Come on, Alex, you know you can talk to me," she said softly, looking him in the eye, her hand still on his arm.
As he stood there looking at her, for a brief moment he considered telling her everything. He wanted to be honest with her, he wanted to tell her that she should leave Anthony because he was a jerk and didn’t deserve her. He wanted to tell her what he knew about their relationship. For a fleeting moment he even wanted to tell her that she should be with him and that is was ripping his heart out to see her with Anthony everyday.
‘You can’t do that moron,’ he said to himself. ‘You’ll ruin your whole friendship’. "I just don’t think I can work with you, this wasn’t a good idea," he said as he got in his car leaving Dawn standing there dumbfounded and drove away.
As he drove he felt tears well up in his eyes.
"Why the hell did you say that??" He yelled at himself and pounded the steering wheel.
"Did you see the hurt in her eyes when you said that? She’s never gonna forgive you now, you’re such an asshole, McLean."
As he drove further away, unsure of where he was going, he glanced over to a couple kissing on the sidewalk in front a flower store. He couldn’t help but stare at them. For a minute, sitting there waiting for the light to change, he closed his eyes and imagined that he was kissing Dawn. He didn’t know what brought on these feelings. He and Dawn were old friends, they had known each other for years. He couldn’t fall for her. She would laugh at him, anyway.
"Damn it!" He pounded on the steering wheel again. "Cut it out, you idiot!"
He glanced over at the couple again, they were walking back to the car holding hands. He could see their faces now as they were walking towards him. He thought he recognized the man, he looked again.
"Holy shit!" He said out loud. "That’s Anthony!!"
With his mind racing, he pulled quickly into a parking spot and got out of the car.


Chapter 10
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