Balancing Act

"I'm in a relationship. I'm in a relationship. I'm in a relationship," Alex muttered to himself as he walked. He furrowed his brows and massaged his temples. Despite feeling happy, he felt strange and couldn't understand why. "Maybe I should read a book and learn how to be a good boyfriend. Is it something that comes naturally or not?" he thought, feeling confused.

"The first sign of being madly in love is talking to oneself. That's definitely a sign of madness," Steve joked. Alex dismissed the comment and playfully nudged Joe. "You're leaving me for Deliah already, aren't you?" Joe teased as he slung his arm around Alex.

Alex pushed Joe away and retorted, "Don't talk like you're gay. If you are, find someone who shares the same sexual preferences." Joe bumped Alex and complained,

"You're no fun!" He stuck out his tongue at Alex.

"David honeyyy~~". He called out to David, who was standing nearby,

David was momentarily confused before catching on.

"Oh yeah, Joe babyyyyy??" The other Aerospace boys laughed as Alex cringed.

"What are you doing after school today? You should take her out on your first day as a couple!" Brad grinned at Alex.

"I have the Newsletter Committee meeting after school today," Alex awkwardly scratched his head and mumbled. Henry rolled his eyes and said, "Why don't you just skip that meeting? You need to be a good boyfriend, you know, caring and all."

"Who goes to a dumb meeting on the first day he starts dating his girlfriend?" "Uh, me?" Alex coughed uncomfortably. "I want to attend this meeting. I've been anticipating it, and I've even prepared a few articles of my own." He pulled out some printed copies, his face beaming. "I want to get some feedback and-" David cringed, pointing.

"Just look at his expression. He looks so delighted talking about this newsletter thing. He doesn't even show that kind of enthusiasm when he talks about Deliah."

"Dude, you're not straight or gay. I'm diagnosing you with obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to writing. It's in its terminal stage. You better deal with it before it becomes fatal," Steve muttered. Alex sulked and put his papers back in his backpack. "I'm sure Deliah won't mind," he shrugged. "Today isn't anything special. We can hang out any other day."

He swung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm off to this meeting. I'll see you guys tomorrow." He walked away enthusiastically to the meeting, and the Aerospace guys shook their heads. "He doesn't look like he's ready for a real relationship," Philip blurted out. "We'll have to wait and see," Steve muttered. "In the meantime, we've successfully helped him get a girlfriend. Not bad!"

*******

To: My Heart❤️????

Hello Alex! Are we still on for meeting after school today?

Ahehe, I still can't believe I have a boyfriend now! ♥️♥️

From: Deliah

Alex realized his mistake and quickly replied to Deliah's message.

To: Deliah (Note readers, this is what Alex saved Deliah's number with on his phone)

I'm sorry Deliah, but I have a meeting after school today.

How about we hang out tomorrow instead? Yeah, it's still sinking in for me too.

See you tomorrow.

From: My Heart ❤️????(Note readers, This is what Deliah saved Alex's number with on her phone)

Alex debated whether to send a heart emoji in response but opted not to. He believed honesty was crucial in a relationship, and he wasn't the type to add hearts to his messages.

He put his phone in his pocket and rushed into the meeting room, which he was late for. Everyone was staring at him, aware of his new relationship status, even Teacher Edison.

She chuckled when he came in and gestured for him to take a seat. "You're excused for being late today, Alex," she grinned. "There must be love in the air, right?"

Alex blushed and played with his papers, clearing his throat awkwardly. Julian patted him on the back and smiled. "Congratulations! You have the most adorable girlfriend in the entire school!" he whispered.

Alex nodded awkwardly, unsure how to respond. Sarah was the only one not interested in their pointless banter. She opened her file and tapped her pen. "So, can we proceed with the meeting now, Teacher Edison?" she asked.

Teacher Edison scowled, seeming to want to gossip more. "Okay, fine," she muttered. "Today, we'll be assigning new report topics for the next issue of the school newsletter." she announced.

"Guys, I've got four topics here for our newsletter!" Teacher Edison exclaimed, passing out slips of paper to the eager students. "Let's see what we can come up with together!"

"You girls can work on the report together," she said with a smile, handing the slip to the two other girls in the newsletter committee, Amy and Grace. "Julian, you're our sports expert, so you'll be in charge of that section," she said, giving him the next slip of paper. "Nathan, you're great at investigative reporting, so I'm counting on you for the second page article."

Teacher Edison grinned at Sarah, handing her the final slip. "And Sarah, as always, you'll be our go-to for front page news. Keep up the great work!"

Sarah nodded and eagerly read the slip, imagining the possibilities for expanding the article. Suddenly, Teacher Edison patted Alex's shoulder. "Since Alex is new here, I'm going to appoint someone as his mentor to guide him before he is allowed to write his own articles."

Teacher Edison looked at Sarah.

"Sarah, you'll be in charge of Alex from now on. You'll be his mentor and make sure he learns the ropes, okay?" She then clapped her hand. "Meeting dismissed!" She sai

Sarah was stunned and bit her lip, staring at the tabletop. She had never been a mentor before, and she preferred writing herself. Writing was a personal thing, and her articles had her own unique style. Working with someone else, especially Alex, seemed like a challenge.

"Congrats on your new girlfriend, Alex." Amy smiled. Alex nodded, looking a little perturbed about Teacher Edison's decision as well. Sarah couldn't help but think to herself. He has a girlfriend now? I bet that girl must be superficial or something, only considering his looks. So what if he is popular? I bet he's a secret nose digger or something.

The others left the room and only Sarah and Alex were left. Alex cleared his throat and Sarah snapped her gaze towards him. "Uhm so...you're my mentor." He blinked. "Hm yeah." Sarah muttered.

"Well uh, congrats on your new relationship." she dug for something to say. "Oh yeah." Alex coughed awkwardly. "Yeah thanks." he suddenly remembered his few articles that he wrote and dug them out. "I uh, wrote some articles. Look at it and gage my writing ability right?" he raised his brows.

Sarah looked surprised he even remembered what she said. She took the papers from him and braced herself for ultimate crap. And it was far from it. She read the first paragraph and was surprised it was really fluent and well written, and excellent opening paragraph that led into the whole article. He used funny analogies and was proficient in his language.

Sarah whipped her head up to look at him in surprise. "Well?" Alex asked. Sarah cleared her throat. "It's not bad." she admitted. "Your writing is good. Just make sure your new relationship doesn't interfere with your responsibilities here." she hugged her books. "I'll finish up the article and write some comments. Research on the topic and we can write the front page article the next time we meet." She nodded and quickly excused herself.

Alex pouted. "It's obviously very good, why should she use my relationship status to threaten me huh?" he huffed. "Meanie."