How to Date Alexis Brighten

We sat there in silence for so long that our clothes dried. We missed classes, but I didn’t care. No one else came into the aquatic centre and Daniel stayed where he was – sitting beside me and staring straight ahead.

When the final bell went and we still hadn’t spoken or made a move, Daniel cleared his throat loudly. I turned my face to look at him and raised my eyebrows at him in question.

“I should drive you home,” he said. I stared blankly back at him.

“You catch the bus,” I replied. He nodded curtly.

“I saw you drive here this morning.”

“Are you stalking me now?”

“Of course not. It’s just...you obviously can’t drive in your condition,” Daniel said, nodding in my direction. I raised my eyebrows at him once again.

“I’m not in any condition,” I argued, my lips forming a tight line.

“Don’t be so stubborn,” Daniel said, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown.

“I’m not the one who’s stubborn,” I objected.

“Alexis, please.”

“Fine,” I said. I picked myself up slowly but swayed. Daniel held my shoulders gently to steady me. I quickly shrugged them off.

“I don’t need your help,” I snapped at him, my voice cutting through the stillness of the aquatic centre.

“Sorry,” Daniel muttered, retrieving my bag from the ground and handing it to me. I got my keys from the front pocket and slung it over my shoulder, walking ahead of Daniel. He followed silently behind.

Out in the hall, Daniel quickened his pace to walk beside me. Students looked at us curiously and broke out into whispers with their friends as we passed. Great, I thought. Another rumour starting up, no doubt.

I ignored the stares and walked straight to the parking lot, unlocking the Jeep and throwing my bag in the backseat. Daniel held his hand out for the keys expectantly and I reluctantly handed them over. I sighed and made my way to the passenger’s side door, opening it and climbing in. Daniel adjusted his seat before fastening his seat belt and starting up the engine.

“Nice car,” he said, the trademark smirk playing at his lips.

“Is that sarcasm?” I asked him.

“I just always took you for a Mercedes Convertible type of girl,” he said, reversing out of the lot. He had one hand on the headrest of my seat as he looked out the back window. I moved away from his hand pointedly, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“You don’t know me,” I said.

“I know more than you think.” The way he said it suggested something almost sinister. What was he talking about? He knew more about me than I thought he did? Like what?

“Like what?” I said, echoing my thoughts.

“For me to know and you to find out,” he said with a wink. He flipped on the stereo as he drove up the road at a steady pace. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t have to pick Isaac up that day but cursed to myself when I realised that I’d have to direct Daniel to my home address.

A fast pop song was playing on the radio and Daniel tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. He hummed along to the familiar tune that had been topping the charts for the past few weeks. Everyone knew the song. Personally, I hated it. I turned off the stereo angrily. It seemed that I was always in a bad mood when I was with Daniel.

“Hey! I like that song!” He protested the minute I switched it off.

“I don’t, and it’s my car, so you go by my rules,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I thought the driver got first choice on music?”

“Not in my car,” I said. Daniel laughed and leant back into his seat further. I gave him directions when he asked for them, but we ended up in the street a block over from mine.

“You’re a terrible navigator,” he said as he turned around and we drove back the way we’d come.

“I’m a fantastic navigator. You just can’t take direction,” I fired back at him. He laughed heartily as he turned into the right street. Finally.

He parked in my driveway and killed the engine. He tossed the keys to me before leaning over the centre console to retrieve my bag. He slung it easily over his shoulder as he got out of the car and closed the door. I climbed out of the Jeep slowly and took my time closing the door. Daniel stood in the driveway patiently waiting for me, one hand on the bag strap, the other shoved into his jean’s pocket.

I walked past him to the front door and he followed closely behind me.

“You didn’t have to walk me to the door,” I said as I opened it.

“You might’ve fallen over,” he said simply, handing me my bag. I took it in one hand and raised my eyebrows at him.

“And if I had fallen?”

“I’d have laughed. Then maybe helped you up,” Daniel said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed in response.

“How will you get home?” I asked him.

“Did you hear that? Alexis Brighten cares about my welfare,” he said sarcastically, holding his hand over his heart theatrically. I rolled my eyes at him and silently cursed when I let a smile escape my lips.

“I’ll see you around, Alexis,” he said with a smile, turning on his heel and walking down the driveway. I lifted my hand to wave, but thought better of it. I walked inside and closed the door, leaning against it heavily as I thought about the strange day I’d had. Daniel had actually been decent. I wondered how long it would last.

I walked up the stairs to take a shower. I dumped my bag in my room and greeted my cat, Gizmo, before making my way to the bathroom. It was only then that I realised I was still wearing Daniel’s stupid sweatshirt.

______

The next day at school, I looked for Daniel by his locker. When he didn’t show up, I wrote him a note and slipped it into the vents of his locker, telling him that if he wanted his sweatshirt back, he’d have to come get it. I made my way to my own locker, then, and put his sweatshirt inside on a hanger for the second time. As I closed the door, Fletcher’s face appeared in my line of vision.

“Hi,” he said brightly, a large smile plastered on his face. His blonde hair was messy and sticking up at odd angles and his clothes were incredibly crinkled.

“Hi,” I said cautiously, still not knowing just what to think of him.

“Listen, about the other day. I just wanted to clear the air between us,” he said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts. I nodded at him and he continued.

“I really do work at the, uh, Special school. My Mum is a teacher there,” he said, looking down at his feet.

“Whatever you say,” I replied.

“Please, Alexis, you’ve gotta believe me,” he said with a pleading look.

“Why? Why is this so important to you?” I demanded, placing my hand on my hip.

“It’s not, I just - ” he started to say, but a booming voice cut him off.

“Fletcher Murray!” The loud voice echoed down the hallway. I recognized it as the voice of our Principal, Mr. Harvey, and cringed. Fletcher’s eyes widened and he pulled a red hat on over his messy hair, smiling at me before taking off down the hallway. He ran around people and pushed through others, papers and books flying around in random directions in his wake. Students groaned and yelled after him with a string of profanities.

I almost smiled, but held it back, gathering my things for my English class.

“What’s going on with you and Daniel Harper?” I turned to see Melody standing beside me. She flicked her auburn hair over her shoulder and looked at me expectantly.

“Why?” I asked her. “What have you heard?”

“That you came out of the aquatic centre wearing his clothes and looking pretty dishevelled,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Nothing happened. People at this school have an amazing skill for making up stories,” I said with a sigh.

“If you say so,” Melody said.

“You do believe me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?” Melody said. A normal one. I thought. I had no idea how ‘real friends’ were supposed to act. I’d grown accustomed to the behaviour of Amelia and Lacey. Melody was different to them. She reminded me a lot of a girl I had known who’d lived on my street when I was younger. We’d stay out and play on the street with our dolls. Her name was Susan, I thought. I didn’t remember her very well, though. She’d moved away when I was still quite young. She was the only friend I’d ever really had.

Things certainly changed when I hit middle school. That’s when the whole persona had started. I met Lacey and everything took off from there. I’d been who I was now ever since then. I’d always been the girl that others looked up to. The girl who had at all. I wondered if anyone knew that I didn’t really ‘have it’ at all.

I was almost certain that Daniel did.

His turquoise eyes seemed to have a way of seeing straight through me, and every time he looked at me, I felt as though he was searching my soul. His eyes never missed a thing, and he constantly showed up when I least expected it. How did he know when to show up when I needed him?

I cut the thought off immediately. I didn’t need him. Alexis Brighten didn’t need anybody.

“Are you okay?” Melody’s voice cut through my thoughts and I nodded at her, before making my way to English. Melody walked beside me and talked about a boy she’d met at the mall the previous day. I was only half listening as she chatted away excitedly, my thoughts involuntarily drifting to Daniel. I shook my head and instead focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

I refused to think of Daniel. Just because he’d been halfway decent to me the day before, it didn’t mean that was how he’d act all of the time. I reminded myself of the reasons I disliked him. This certainly overshadowed the tiny bit of doubt I’d had about him and the even tinier amount of credit I’d given him. I imagined his arrogant smirk and thought of his irritating personality.

There was no way a girl like me could even consider liking a boy like him. We were from practically different worlds.

______

At lunch, I sat beside Melody at our usual table. Amelia was sitting at a table out on the lawns, talking to the British exchange student, and Lacey was busily texting. The spare seat at our table remained empty and we knew that no one would dare try to fill it. That’s why, when Fletcher approached our table, even Lacey stopped what she was doing to look up at him in interest.

“Hey, Alexis,” he said with a toothy smile, casually holding his tray in one hand.

“Uh, hey,” I said awkwardly, staring up at him.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

Before I could protest, he’d sat himself down next to Lacey and opened his can of Coke. He took a sip before picking up his piece of pizza in one hand and taking a huge bite. Lacey looked at him with disgust and I suppressed a smile. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I retrieved it to read the message.

What the hell is he doing here?

The message was from Lacey.

I don’t know. I ran into him the other day and now he won’t leave me alone. I replied to the text message. She was quick to send one back.

Stalker, much? Get rid of him!

I laughed and slipped my phone back into my pocket. I looked around the lunchroom for inspiration. I had no idea how I’d get Fletcher to leave. I noticed Daniel standing near the entrance. His eyes were fixed in my direction, and a frown was set in his features. I stared back at him and wondered why he looked so mad. When he caught my eye, he looked away. My eyebrows knit together in confusion. It was such an uncharacteristic move on his part.

Daniel dropping his gaze first? There was no way. The normal Daniel would’ve lifted his lips up in that all-too familiar smirk. He might’ve even winked.

What was going on?

I looked back at Fletcher and realised that he had no intention of leaving.

“Fletcher?” He looked up at me at the sound of my voice.

“Could you get me a drink?” I asked him, handing him a five dollar bill. He nodded, the goofy smile spreading across his face, and took off towards the lunch line.

“Who is that?” Lacey asked, the second he was gone.

“Fletcher Murray,” Melody said.

“What do you know about him?” I asked her with interest.

“Nothing much, except that he’s always in trouble. It’s probably best to stay away from him,” she warned.

“I’ll say,” Lacey added. “That guy stinks.”

I laughed and picked up my things to leave.

“Where’re you going?” Melody asked.

“Well, we’ve got to leave before he gets back, don’t we?”

“I like your style,” Lacey said with a devilish grin, picking up her bag and slinging in over her shoulder easily. Melody did the same. We left in a hurry, and on the way out, I noticed that Daniel was still standing in the same spot, only this time; his eyes were set on Fletcher, the frown still present on his face.