How to Date Alexis Brighten

I ducked back in between the lockers and took in quick, sharp breaths. Had he followed me here? Who did he think he was anyway? I wasn’t going to deny it. I was scared. I was feeling completely freaked out. I decided that I would confront him. It was the only way to get any answers. I took in a deep breath and emerged from my hiding spot, walking up to the blonde guitarist.

He looked completely different and less threatening now. He was wearing a bright yellow tee-shirt and bright red shorts. His shaggy, blonde hair was messy and stuck up at weird angles. The blue backpack he slung over his shoulder looked like something Isaac would use. The thought suddenly struck me.

Was he a student here?

If so, a confrontation was definitely not a good idea. I paused in the middle of the hallway, lost in thought.

“Alexis Brighten, I always thought you were a bit mental, but I never expected to find you around here.” I looked up and noticed that the blonde boy was staring straight at me now, a goofy smile present on his features. His stance was casual; his bag slung over one shoulder, his hand in his pocket.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m actually here to pick up my little brother,” I said icily, by confidence coming back to me. The smile quickly disappeared from his face.

“I’m sorry, Alexis. I didn’t know how else to start a conversation,” he said.

“A simple ‘hello’ wouldn’t have gone astray,” I muttered. He laughed heartily.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he said earnestly.

“Did you follow me here?” I blurted out.

“Of course not!”

“Wait. How do you know my name? I’ve only ever seen you once in my life,” I said. Who was this guy?

“Everybody knows who you are. I go to your school, Alexis,” he said.

“Then how come I’ve never seen you there? When I saw you at the show, I knew you looked familiar. I’ve seen you somewhere,” I pointed out.

“Probably around here,” he said, looking around the halls filled with bright red lockers.

“If you go to my school, then what are you doing here?” I questioned. The playful smile disappeared from his face once more and he looked down at his feet.

“Well?” I prompted, waiting for an answer.

“I work here,” he said.

“Yeah, right,” I said.

“I do. Please believe me,” he said.

“Why should I? I don’t even know you.”

The bell sounded in the halls and students suddenly came rushing out of the classrooms and filled the halls. He called out to me, but I turned my back on him, dashing down the hall to catch up with Isaac, who’d run ahead of the other children. I caught up to him and grabbed his hand. He looked up at me warily and I squatted down to speak with him at eye-level.

“Hey buddy,” I said gently, straightening the hat on his head.

“Allie,” he said, squeezing my hand.

“That’s right,” I said, pulling him into a hug. He tangled his small hands in my hair. I stood up and carried him out to the car. I never struggled with his weight, as he was quite small for his age. I strapped him into the car seat in the back of the Jeep and made my way around the front of it to the driver’s side door.

I got in and fastened my seatbelt before starting the engine. It was then that I saw the blonde boy running across the front lawns of the Special Needs School towards me. He knocked people down in his wake and I couldn’t help but smile at his clumsiness. Suddenly realising that he was trying to catch up with me, I pulled out of the lot quickly and drove off. I saw his face fall in disappointment in my rear-view mirror.

I didn’t even know his name.

______

The next day at school, I found myself searching the halls for him. There was a part of me that still doubted we even went to the same school. Something about the way he’d acted the previous day wasn’t right. He’d definitely been lying about something, and I was going to find out what.

“Hey, Alexis,” Melody greeted me in the halls.

“Hey,” I said distractedly, standing on my tip-toes in an attempt to see over the crowds.

“What’s up?” she asked me.

“Do you know a guy in our year with blonde hair? Kinda skinny, really veiny arms, muscular, I guess. Wears bright colours?” I blurted out.

“Fletcher Murray,” Melody said with certainty.

“You sure?” I said dubiously.

“Positive. He’s in my music class. He plays guitar,” she said.

“Sounds like him,” I said.

“What’s he got to do with you?” Melody asked with interest.

“Nothing,” I said, quickening my pace. I didn’t want to get into this. How would I explain it, anyway? Nobody knew about Isaac. I couldn’t just tell Melody I ran into some blonde guy named Fletcher at a Special Needs School. It was none of her business, anyway.

I ran in my high heels to the aquatic centre. I had to get there before the period started and everyone else arrived. I had a plan. Mr. West was sitting beside the pool with his clipboard, waiting for the class to arrive when I walked in. He looked up at me as I crashed through the doors.

“Alexis! Shouldn’t you be changing with the other girls?” He said in his raspy voice. I winced at the sound of it. It was truly awful.

“I won’t be able to swim this week,” I said as I walked towards him. He stood up and put his clipboard under his arm, closing the distance between us.

“Why not?” His question sounded like an accusation.

“I have, uh, female issues,” I mumbled, looking down at my feet. I hoped my acting skills were up to scratch. If this didn’t work, I didn’t exactly have a Plan B. Mr. West shuffled uncomfortably.

“Well, you’ll just have to watch. I expect you to be swimming next week, though,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” I said, making my way over to the benches. I put my bag down on the bench and sat beside it, just as the boys started to file out of the change rooms. The girls always took much longer. I watched as Daniel walked out first, his muscles flexing as he moved. I openly stared at his well-defined chest as the rest of the boys walked out behind him.

One of the boys at the back of the line tore my attention away from Daniel. He was fairly skinny and kind of pale, and he was wearing a bright yellow pair of board shorts. My eyes flicked to his face and that familiar, goofy grin was plastered on his face as he joked around with one of the other guys.

Fletcher?

He certainly didn’t have the build of a swimmer. Had he been in my track and field class? Was it possible that I was always so caught up in my own thoughts that I’d never even noticed him?

“Don’t think too hard, Brighten! Your head might explode!” Daniel hollered. The other boys broke out in laughter, but not Fletcher, if that was even his name. He stared at me blankly, just like he had at the show. I scowled at Daniel and looked over at Fletcher again.

I lifted my hand in a small wave but he ignored it, turning his back on me. I couldn’t understand why. He’d been perfectly friendly the day before, up until I’d...left. I’d driven off and left him standing there when he had obviously wanted to talk to me. He must have still been mad. But why should he be? I didn’t even know him.

The girls emerged a short time later, and the boys responded just like I expected them to. They whistled and hollered as the girls came out in their bikinis and I rolled my eyes at their animalistic behaviour. I did notice that Daniel was waiting on one of the blocks to start laps, and wasn’t joining in with the other guys. This surprised me. Was Daniel finally showing some sign of maturity?

When he looked my way and winked, I regretted I ever even thought that about him. His smirk was plastered on his face, as per usual, and I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Hey Alexis,” Fletcher said, sitting down beside me.

“Uh, hi,” I said hesitantly, tearing my eye away from Daniel.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” His face was unreadable. Was his look portraying hurt? Anger? Confusion? Humour? It was impossible to tell. At least with Daniel, I could always tell what he was thinking, no matter how perverted.

“Fletcher, right?” His eyebrows rose in disbelief. He almost looked impressed. So Melody had been right. He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully and looked over at the pool.

“So maybe everyone isn’t invisible to Alexis,” he said more to himself than to me. My brows knitted together in confusion. Before I could ask him what he meant, Mr. West had called him over to the pool.

The boys all had to do laps first. I noticed that Fletcher was completely awkward and thrashed through the water in such a way that I wondered why he hadn’t sunk to the bottom yet. Mr. West kept yelling at him to do better. He screamed at all the boys from the track and field class that were having trouble or couldn’t keep up with the swim team boys. The whole thing was ridiculous. How could he possible expect them to keep up with the swim team boys? They’d been training for years. The track and field guys had only just started.

After the guys had finished, the girls started. Daniel made his way over to me and sat down beside me on the bench.

“Shake out your hair on me again, and there will be hell to pay,” I warned him.

“You know, I just love the little games we play,” Daniel smirked.

“I don’t play any games with you,” I said with disgust. He laughed.

“You’re doing it now, and baby, I’m winning,” he said with a wink. I grimaced and leant away from him.

“Don’t be so ridiculous,” I said.

“So, why aren’t you swimming, princess?” Daniel’s voice was full of condescending sarcasm. His tone suggested that he didn’t really care what my answer would be, anyway. I hated the way he spoke to me.

“Medical reasons,” I said with an air of superiority.

“Whatever,” Daniel said, leaning forward. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his face in his hands. I crossed my legs and shuffled up the bench away from him. At the end of class, everyone rushed to the change rooms. Mr. West had lost track of time and the bell had already gone before everyone had even got out of the pool.

I picked up my bag and started to walk out of the aquatic centre. I was all alone. Mr. West had gone to his next class and everybody else was madly trying to shower and change in record time. as I rounded the pool, I slipped in a puddle and my feet went out from under me. before I knew what was happening, my bag had flown off in a random direction and I was falling backwards at an alarming rate.

The freezing cold water felt as though it pierced through my skin as it surrounded me. I frantically moved my arms and legs to get to the surface, but it felt as though I was only being pushed further down. I opened my mouth to scream as panic overtook me, and water filled my mouth. I could feel my last few breaths escaping. I was drowning.

The minute I accepted this fact, everything became simple. I stopped struggling. I stopped thrashing my arms and legs and let the water overtake me. I thought of Isaac.

Suddenly, strong arms encircled my torso. My eyes widened in shock as I was pulled upwards, towards the surface of the water, with great force. I was dragged out of the pool and placed on my back on the tiles. I opened and closed my mouth as I struggled to breathe. I turned on my side and coughed up water. Oxygen filled my lungs as I took in panicked, quick, sharp breaths.

“Shit, Alexis! You scared me!”

I looked over and saw that it was Daniel who had rescued me. I wished it could have been anyone but him. Anyone else. Why did I always get myself into these situations?

Daniel’s face was full of worry, and his trademark smirk was nowhere to be seen. Usually, I could tell that it was just bubbling under the surface, waiting to show on his face, but now, it was completely gone.

“Why didn’t you just swim out? You didn’t even try! You just stayed underwater! Do you want to die or something?” Daniel’s voice sounded so different. It wasn’t like him at all. It was as though I was looking at a completely different person. I stared back at him, unsure of how to answer. Daniel stared back at me, his turquoise eyes boring into mine.

“I’m not suicidal,” I said. Daniel’s eyes searched my face for the truth.

“You can’t swim, can you?” He said, his face softening. I looked away from him.

“Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“I can swim,” I said quickly.

“No, you can’t. Alexis Brighten can’t swim,” Daniel said.

“Don’t you dare tell anybody,” I warned him.

“It’s like you don’t care that you almost died! Is your reputation all you really care about?” Daniel said in disbelief.

“No. Of course not,” I said. I shuddered as shivers worked their way up and down my spine. Daniel stood up and retrieved his swim team sweatshirt from the ground a few feet away. He must have taken it off before he’d dived into the pool after me.

“Here,” he said, putting it around my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, holding my face in my hands. I felt so ashamed, not to mention stupid.

Daniel and I sat there in silence. There was nothing more to say. He stared at the wall as I silently sobbed into my hands. I hoped like hell he didn’t notice and just thought I was shivering.

The Daniel sitting next to me wasn’t the sarcastic boy I thought I knew. Maybe there were still things to learn about him. I thought he hated me just as much as I hated him, but he’d jumped in the pool to save me. Did he care if I died or not? Or was he just trying to be heroic?

I had no idea.

I hugged his stupid sweatshirt close to my body and refused to speak to him.