How to Date Alexis Brighten

I peeled out of the parking lot at a rapid pace and sped after Fletcher. He had the advantage on his motorcycle, dodging around the cars when the traffic was banked up. I lost sight of him in the jammed afternoon traffic. I punched my steering wheel in frustration, the horn adding to the noise of traffic. I jumped in my seat, startled by the sound I had created, and watched as the driver’s around me honked their horns back at me in retaliation. I sunk lower into my seat, embarrassed beyond belief.

I’d given up on finding Fletcher, he was obviously long gone. As I rolled to a stop in front of a set of traffic lights, I spotted a black motorcycle near the front. I leaned forward in my seat for a closer look. I gripped the steering wheel tighter when I realised that it was Fletcher.
I waited impatiently for the lights to change.

When they did, I grinded my teeth in frustration when the cars in front of me refused to move at the speed I would have liked. Even so, it looked at though Fletcher had been caught up, and, as the traffic thinned out, I found myself driving two cars behind Fletcher. He was driving slowly, surprisingly, and he left the main road. I put my indicator on and followed as he took off down a small side street.

I completely lost my feeling of self-orientation as I looked around at the street I was now driving down. I’d never been here before. Some of the houses looked abandoned, the windows boarded up, newspapers littering the front lawns. Most of the houses were in disrepair, and I knew immediately that I was in the ‘bad side’ of town my mother often warned me about.

It was just like Fletcher to go here.

I slowed, falling further behind Fletcher, for fear of detection. I planned on finding out what was going on with him, but if he found me, I had no idea what kind of trouble I would find myself quickly involved in. Fletcher stopped his motorcycle out the front of one of the more respectable looking houses on the street, swinging his thin legs over the side and taking off his helmet. He jogged to the front door and knocked a few times, leaning against the doorframe as he waited for someone to answer.

When a thin boy with shoulder-length black hair stepped out of the house, a wave of familiarity passed over me. I realised with a start that the black-haired boy was Ace, the boy I’d met at the music store what felt like months ago. That was the day everything had gone so terribly wrong.

Ace and Fletcher exchanged a quick hug before making their way over to Fletcher’s motorcycle. Fletch gestured at the bike, as he and Ace walked around it, expecting it. The way he displayed it suggested the bike was new. Fletcher’s chest puffed out in pride and the goofy grin never left his face. He said something to Ace, and he let out a throaty laugh, punching Fletcher in the arm lightly. I wondered briefly what was so amusing, and wished that I was close enough to hear what they were saying.

After a moment, Fletcher got back on his motorcycle and put his helmet on. Ace stood on the curb and waved as Fletcher drove off. He remained standing there, a look of disappointment present on his features. Looking down at his shoes, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned, walking back into his house. Only after he was inside, did I start the engine and take off after Fletcher.

It didn’t take long for me to catch up. Fletcher was driving at a leisurely pace, leaning back in the seat as the sun warmed the bare skin of his arms. I wondered how he rode his bike in a short-sleeved shirt without freezing to death.

As I followed behind him, I became familiar with my surroundings. I knew where I was, where I was going. My stomach lurched when Fletcher stopped and parked in front of the Special Needs School that Isaac attended. Now that I knew he was dangerous, I worried not only for myself, but for my younger brother.

What if Fletcher knew who he was? Would he endanger him to get back at me? I nearly threw up right then and there at the thought.

I parked across the road from the school and watched as Fletcher got off his bike and walked into the school. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as I glanced at my watch. School had let out an hour before. He obviously wasn’t a student, and I hadn’t bought his story about him working there. There was no way.

I waited in the parking lot for Fletcher to come back out, but he didn’t. Not until three hours later. I’d stayed in the Jeep until then. I’d watched the sky darken; the street lights illuminate the empty parking lot. He walked out of the building followed by an older man, who locked the doors behind them. He said something to Fletcher before getting into his own car and driving off. Fletcher got on his motorcycle and left, and I just sat there, staring at the empty space where Fletcher had been standing a few moments before.

What had just happened?

He’d gone into the school at four in the afternoon and hadn’t come out until seven at night. He didn’t look particularly happy, or sad. His face hadn’t given anything away. I frowned in confusion, trying to come up with a logical reason he could have been there all the way home. Nothing made sense. He obviously wasn’t a student there, and who worked there after hours, anyway?

I followed him after school the following day. This time, he didn’t stop to visit Ace, but went straight to the school. Same time arriving, same time leaving. I followed him for the remainder of the week, searching for some change, some clue as to why he was there, but his pattern remained the same. He didn’t visit Ace again, but he showed up at the school at four and left at seven. Every afternoon.

This plagued my mind the entire week, and I hardly spoke to anyone, too caught up in my own thoughts. Daniel had gone away for the week for some sort of sports camp, and I was grateful for his absence. After what had happened, I knew that the conversations between us would only be awkward. I no longer knew how to carry myself when I was around him, now that I knew he liked me. What should I say? How should I act?

I had no idea why I was so worried about this at all. I pushed the thoughts of Daniel out of my mind, Fletcher taking their place. I just couldn’t put two and two together. Nothing made sense. I couldn’t think of one logical reason for him to be there. This, more than anything else, was what frustrated me the most. I hated not knowing anything.

That Friday night, after I’d followed Fletcher again only to observe the exact same thing as the four days previous, I started up the Jeep and pulled away from the Special Needs School, instead, heading towards the side of town my mother had always told me to stay away from. The place that was much too dangerous for ‘girls like me.’

I struggled to remember where Ace lived, the details in my mind vague. I drove for twenty minutes before I turned on to his street by accident. Immediately recognizing the houses around me, I drove down the street slowly until I stopped in front of the house I remembered as Ace’s.

It was one of the nicer looking ones on the street, with a neat front lawn. The house itself was quite small, and brick, the tiled roof a deep blue, the windows perfectly clean. A small table and chairs had been assembled just beside the front door, fresh flowers were planted in the garden. Everything was matching and perfectly placed. This house certainly didn’t belong in its current location.

I got out of the car and made sure it was locked, before walking across the front lawn to the door. I glanced at my watch after knocking on the door. It was still early in the night, only 8pm, and I hoped that Ace would be home.

A short woman with a milky-white complexion and jet-black hair answered the door. She looked to be in her twenties, and she was extremely beautiful. She was thin, and wore a simple black dress with a red sash across the middle.

“Who are you?” She said as she stood in the open doorway, gaping at me.

“My name’s Alexis. I was wondering, does Ace live here?” I asked hesitantly, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Yeah, he’s here.”

“Ace!” The girl hollered up the hallway behind her. Ace came walking slowly up the hallway. His eyes widened when he saw me standing there.

“W-What are you doing here?” He stammered.

“I just want to talk,” I said with a small smile. The beautiful girl shrugged and pushed past me, heading towards a black car waiting at the curb. I looked back at Ace and raised my eyebrows at him.

“That’s my sister, Phoenix. Please excuse her bad manners,” Ace said with a shrug.

“That’s an...interesting name,” I said.

“My parents are kind of weird. We all have odd names, I guess,” he said shrugging again. “How did you find out where I lived?”

“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m sorry I’ve just turned up out of nowhere. I mean, technically, we’ve only met once, so I really shouldn’t just be showing up on your doorstep and - ”

“Alexis. Slow down,” Ace said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter. What’s up?”

“I wondered if I could ask you about Fletcher. You two seem like pretty good friends,” I said.

“Well, that depends what you want to know,” Ace said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Do you want to go somewhere?” I asked suddenly, not wanting to stand in his doorway all night.

“Are you asking me out?” Ace said, raising his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed, stepping outside and closing the door behind him. He wore tight-fitting black jeans, a Star Wars tee-shirt and a maroon cap.

“Where to?”

“I’m not too comfortable in your neighbourhood, if I’m being honest,” I admitted, looking down at my feet in embarrassment.

“I know a place,” Ace said with a smile. “Mind if I drive?”

I shook my head and tossed him the keys to the Jeep. Once we were both inside the car, he drove across town to the nature reserve. I suddenly became nervous. I didn’t know much about Ace, and if he was friends with Fletcher, they had to have something in common. I just hoped that that something wasn’t trouble.

“What are we doing here?” I asked nervously, as Ace parked and we got out.

“I want to show you something I’ve never told anyone about. I guess it’s sort of like my special place,” Ace said, leading the way into the trees. He used his phone as a flashlight and I followed after him. I noticed that we started to go uphill, and when we reached the end of the trees, we stepped out into a large grassy clearing.

The lights of the town took my breath away. We were on top of a hill overlooking our entire town, the lights dazzling in the dark night sky. I walked to the edge of the hill, sitting down and dangling my legs over the side. Ace sat beside me and did the same as we looked out at our town and it’s strange beauty for a few moments in silence.

“He’s trouble, you know,” Ace said after a moment. I immediately knew who he was talking about.

“Everybody keeps telling me that,” I said, staring straight ahead.

“Because it’s true. He always has been.”

“I thought you were his friend?”

“I am. Doesn’t mean he’s not trouble. Hell, he took me down with him,” Ace said. “Once you’re friends with him, I guess it’s kinda hard to stay away. There’s something exciting, almost alluring about the danger. Being with Fletch can be fun, but sometimes, he just takes it too far.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him, searching his face for answers. He frowned and looked back out at the lights.

“He’s always been a risk-taker and he never really thinks anything through. He’s impulsive, I guess, and that tends to get him into trouble a lot. That, and the fact that he can’t keep his mouth shut,” Ace said with a sigh.

“I noticed,” I replied.

“You should stay away from him,” Ace warned.

“This coming from his best friend?” I asked dubiously.

“Girls like you shouldn’t hang around with boys like him,” Ace said.

“Girls like me?”

“The pretty ones are always heartbreakers,” he said with a smile, nudging my shoulder with his own. I blushed and looked down at my hands, which were folded neatly in my lap.

“I just, I don’t know how to explain. There’s so much about him that doesn’t match up. I just don’t understand,” I said.

“But you want to?”

“I guess,” I admitted.

“You guess?” Ace said, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes, I do, okay? I want to find out what’s going on with him. Would I be here with you if I didn’t?”

“I suppose not,” Ace said, drawing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He pulled one from the pack and put it in his mouth, lighting it and inhaling deeply, before letting it out. The smoke drifted slowly up into the sky, polluting the air.

“That’s disgusting,” I complained, wrinkling my nose.

“Each to their own, I suppose,” Ace said with a shrug.

“What does he want with me?” I asked after a moment, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Fletch? Who knows. You should ask his other friends,” Ace said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

“Why?”

“He doesn’t talk to me about stuff like that.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re lying?” I asked him.

“Probably because I am,” Ace said with sigh. “Look, if you don’t want to get hurt, you’ll stay away.”

“I wish people would stop saying that,” I said, curling my fists in frustration.

“Why?” Ace asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“People keep telling me to stay away but they won’t give me a valid reason why!” I exclaimed.

“You see no reason to stay away,” Ace mused. “You think there’s something good about him. Are you one of those girls that think they can ‘tame’ bad boys or whatever?”

“Certainly not,” I said angrily. “I just think that he can’t be as bad as everyone says he is. I’m going to find out what he’s hiding.”

“You really shouldn’t do that,” Ace said, locking his eyes with mine.

“Why not?”

“You might not like what you find out.”

With that, he handed me the keys to my Jeep before standing up and leaving. I sat there on my own and thought about what he’d said. He’d sounded just like Daniel had when he warned me about Fletcher, which gave me the feeling that Daniel knew more than he was letting on.

If Ace or Daniel wouldn’t tell me what was going on, I’d find out for myself. I knew that I was being stupid, that chasing after Fletcher was like playing with fire, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t the weak girl that Ace and Daniel seemed to think I was.

I was taking things into my own hands.

I was going to play Fletcher’s game.

And I was going to win.