How to Date Alexis Brighten

“Hey,” Daniel said, sliding into the empty seat beside me. “Did I miss anything?”

“Since when are you late for Spanish?” I shot back at him.

“I don’t love Spanish, you know,” he laughed.

I rolled my eyes and angled my seat away from him, cracking open my Spanish text book.

“You’re really gonna play at this game again?” Daniel asked. I turned to look at him and noticed that his smirk was on full display.

“What game?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You’ve gotta stop playing hard to get! I know you like me,” Daniel said, lowering his voice.

“In your dreams!” I shot back at him, rolling my eyes and leaning away from him again. He laughed and settled into his chair, leaning back and crossing his arms over his broad chest. The teacher called the class to attention before telling us about our next assignment.

“Look at the person sitting next to you,” he said. I turned my face slightly to glare at Daniel. He winked at me, his smirk ever-present. I sighed and rested the side of my face in my hand, my elbow propping it up on the table.

“I hope you’re well acquainted,” the teacher continued. “They’re your new partner for this assignment.”

My eyes widened and I dropped my hand, causing my face to fall flat on the desk. I blushed and looked down as the people around me started to laugh. The teacher had just finished explaining that the assignment would be worth twenty-five per cent of our final grade. That meant a lot of hard work and time spent on it. Time spent with Daniel. I groaned and looked over at Daniel with a grimace.

He grinned back at me and raised his eyebrows. I turned away and put my hand over my mouth so he wouldn’t see me smile back. I hated the way Daniel affected me and I could feel my guard coming down.

I’d let Fletcher in, only to have it end in disaster. I couldn’t risk that with Daniel. What if the same thing happened? Granted, Daniel wasn’t dangerous, or ‘trouble’ like people told me that Fletcher was. But I couldn’t risk it. I wouldn’t let anybody in far enough to get to me. I wouldn’t have my heart broken.
After all, I was the Ice Queen, wasn’t I?

After class, Daniel followed me to my locker. I tried to ignore him as I swapped my Spanish textbook for my English Lit texts.

“Here’s my number,” Daniel said, handing me a folded piece of light blue paper. “Call me when you want to get together to do the assignment or whatever.”

With that, he walked off. This time, I noticed, he didn’t swagger. He sort of shuffled along, and he fidgeted with his sweatshirt sleeves. He almost looked nervous. I shook off this thought and focused my attention on the small piece of paper in my hands.

I unfolded it slowly and stared at the ten digits clearly printed, Daniel’s name above. His handwriting was clear and neat, but something about the smooth curve of the letters of his name bothered me. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I stared at his handwriting. I shook my head and stuffed the paper into my jean’s pocket, turning back to my open locker.

I’d stuck the list to the inside of it for motivation. As I stared at the crumpled list, stuck to the door with clear tape, I made the connection. I fumbled in my pocket for the piece of paper Daniel had given me with his number on it. Unfolding it quickly, I held it up next to the list to compare.

The handwriting was the same.
______

When I called Daniel that night, I didn’t mention the list. I wanted to do some investigating of my own before I accused anyone of anything. I knew that he was somehow associated with Fletcher, and I was almost certain that Fletcher had written the list.

But now nothing made sense.

The list was in Daniel’s handwriting but how could he have written it? Why would he? Fletcher was obviously the guilty one in my opinion, and my most recent discovery had thrown my mind into a state of chaos. I no longer knew what to believe.

“Hello?” Daniel had picked up the phone on the first ring, almost instantly. I’d bitten down on my lip to stop the string of accusations and insults from coming out of my mouth.

“Hey, it’s Alexis,” I said, sitting down on my bed. My cat, Gizmo, climbed into my lap and set up camp, purring when I stroked his back gently.

“Hey!” Daniel said brightly.

“Do you want to meet somewhere tonight?” The question I’d been dreading asking slipped out of my mouth. I could just imagine the smirk that would be playing on Daniel’s features.

“Sure,” he replied smoothly. “When and where?”

“It’s for the assignment,” I clarified, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

“Sure it is. Name the time and place,” Daniel replied.

“Wherever you want is fine,” I said.

“Pick you up in ten minutes.”

“Do you even remember where I live?” I protested.

“Of course,” he replied instantly.

“Should I be worried? You could be stalking me or something,” I said sarcastically, a smile spreading across my face. I stopped myself quickly. Was I flirting with him? Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, Alexis, I told myself. He’s just playing you.

If he was just playing me, then I’d play right back. I’d beat him and Fletcher at whatever they thought they were playing at. Neither of them knew that I’d found the list, giving me a distinct advantage. Let the games begin.

“I’m not stalking you,” Daniel said with a laugh.

“See you in ten minutes,” I said sharply.

“It’s a date.”

“It’s not a date!” I protested, but Daniel had already hung up on me.

______

Exactly ten minutes later, there were three sharp knocks at my front door. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag, dashing downstairs. I called out to my parents that I was going out before opening the door. Daniel stood at the top of the front steps, his hands in his pockets, a stupid grin on his face.

“It’s not a date,” I said, stepping outside and closing the door behind me.

“Sure,” Daniel said with a chuckle. I followed him to the beat up Toyota on the curb that I’d ridden in once before. He held open the passenger door for me and I rolled my eyes before slipping in. He laughed and shut the door, before making his way around to the driver’s side.

“Nice car,” I commented sarcastically, eyeing the beat-up dashboard.

“It’s my Dad’s,” Daniel said with a shrug, starting the engine.

“I thought you said he was a cop?”

“He is. He doesn’t just own a patrol car,” Daniel pointed out. I almost slapped myself for being so stupid.

“Oh,” I said. “Right.”

Daniel let out a short laugh before reaching over to turn on the radio.

“You look different tonight,” he said after a moment of silence.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him, looking down at what I was wearing - a pair of black skinny jeans and an over-sized sweater for my favourite hockey team.

“You just look like...” Daniel trailed off.

“Shit?” I guessed, suddenly conscious of my messy hair that hung loose around my face.

“No. Just...you,” he said.

“Uh, thanks, I guess?”

“You’re welcome,” Daniel said with a smile.

He stopped the car outside a small 24-hour diner. It had wide windows in the front and neon signs flashed inside. I opened the car door and followed him inside, taking a seat in a booth opposite him. I placed my hands on top of the table separating us and drummed my fingers on it impatiently as I waited for an employee to attend to us.

“What is this place?” I asked after a moment.

“The only 24-hour place in town,” Daniel replied. “I’m an insomniac.”

“Oh,” I said, staring across the table at him.

“I guess you’re a regular here, then?”

“Something like that,” Daniel said with a lop-sided smile. I found myself smiling back at him shamelessly. After a moment of silence, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. The question that I’d been dying to ask him just sprung from my lips without permission from me.

“What have you got to do with Fletcher?”

Daniel’s smile disappeared, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown. His lips formed a tight line and he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his seat.

“Nothing,” he said sternly.

“You know I don’t believe you.”

“I told you to stay away from him, Alexis! Going after him will only get you in trouble!” Daniel said.
“Dammit Daniel!” I screeched, slamming my hands on the table. He flinched in shock, surprise crossing his features.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why, Daniel? Why won’t anybody tell me why I should stay away from Fletcher? He can’t be that bad!” I exclaimed, balling my hands into fists.

“Lex. Just please. Don’t,” Daniel said quietly, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” I retorted.

“I just...I wanted us to have fun tonight. Please don’t do this,” he said quietly.

“I just want some damn answers,” I said. Daniel opened his eyes and looked away from me, balling his hands into fists.

“He hurt you, didn’t he?” I said after a moment.

“No,” Daniel said carefully, his jaw flexing.

“Were you friends or something?”

“In another life,” Daniel said with a shrug. “Can we not talk about this?”

“Fine,” I said, realising that I probably wouldn’t get any more information from him. Boys always seemed to just close up whenever you got onto the subject of ‘feelings’. “So, you, uh, come here often?”

Daniel laughed loudly and his face relaxed. “Yeah,” he said. “I think we already covered that.”

The rest of the evening passed quickly. We ordered coffee’s and just talked about anything and everything, but Fletcher wasn’t mentioned again. For the first time in a long time, it felt like I was being honest. Not just with someone else, but with myself. This was the real me, being displayed to Daniel Harper, of all people.

When it started to get late, Daniel drove me home. We hadn’t even mentioned the class assignment. He walked me to the door and I stopped at the top of the steps, turning to look at him. I felt awkward, but he just stood there, casual and confident as ever, his hands in his jean’s pockets.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said awkwardly, turning towards my door. Daniel captured my hand in his, ever so gently, pulling me back to face him.

“Could we do this again?” He asked me, taking my other hand in his. I felt my heart rate quicken at the contact. I didn’t know how to answer him. For such a long time, I’d focused on loathing Daniel. Hating him, even. I’d convinced myself that he was the most annoying and inconsiderate boy on the face of the Earth. But still, there was a part of me that felt differently; a part of me that ignored the fact that his handwriting was identical to that of the list writer.

“Sure,” I said with a small smile, pulling away from him and walking inside my house. I shut the door behind me and leant against it, taking in short, shallow breaths.

Because the truth was, I didn’t hate Daniel.
I hadn’t for a while now.