How to Date Alexis Brighten

I walked down the road bare-foot, carrying my heels in my right hand, my mobile phone in the other. I had considered calling one of my parents to pick me up, but my mother would be busy with Isaac, and if I knew my Dad, he’d be staying back late at work. I gripped my phone tighter in frustration as I stomped down the road, already tired. Fletcher had bailed, as had Ace, and I didn’t have a car. It looked like I was stuck walking.

Dusk was settling over the town as I continued on my walk in, the sky darkening faster with each passing minute. My house was on the other side of town and if felt like it would take all night to get home. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that I shouldn’t have been walking in the dark on my own, but it wasn’t like I had any other choice. My situation only worsened when the first few drops of rain splattered across my face, before the major downpour started.

I stared up at the sky, willing the rain to stop, but if possible, it only fell down harder. I sighed but trudged on, letting the rain soak through my clothes to my skin, chilling me to the bone. A pair of headlights shone brightly directly in front of me, and I quickly moved off to the side of the road. The car pulled over and let down their window. I was surprised to find Daniel looking back at me.

“Get in,” he said. I gave him a doubtful look. “Come on, you’ve probably already got pneumonia.” He pushed open the door and I climbed in, sniffling and wrapping my arms around my torso. “You’re freezing,” Daniel said, reaching into the back seat and grabbing his swim team sweatshirt, handing it to me. I took it from him and put it on, pulling it close to my chest. I knew that it would be soaked within minutes.

“Thanks,” I muttered as Daniel cranked up the heater. He pulled back out onto the road and turned around before looking at me. His expression was serious, maybe even a little bit worried. “What the hell were you doing out here on your own? Why didn’t you just call me?” He asked after a moment, averting his eyes back to the road. I didn’t have an answer for him. He sighed loudly and turned to look at me again. “What?” I flinched, suddenly self-conscious.

“I was really worried about you,” Daniel dead-panned.

“Why?”

“Well Fletcher texted me and said that he was with you and I freaked out. Ace called me and told me where you’d be, by then it was starting to rain and I didn’t know if I’d even find you. Anything could have happened,” Daniel said in a rush, his voice cracking at the end.

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“No, you’re not,” Daniel shot back at me.

“Yes, I am.”

“Lex...”

“Whatever,” I brushed him off, looking out the window. “Wait...how do you know Ace?”

“It’s a long story,” Daniel said.

“I’ve got time.”

He continued driving until we reached the 24 hour diner he’d taken me to once before. He parked the car and got out, running through the rain for shelter. I remained in the car for a moment, before stepping out and walking slowly to meet him. He lifted his mouth into a crooked half-smile as I reached him, taking my hand in his and leading me inside. He pulled me to a booth and this time, slid in first, pulling me down to sit beside him.

I was hesitant at first, but obliged, sitting down beside the boy I’d once loathed. I stared at his gorgeous half-smile and turquoise eyes and couldn’t help but smile back at him. He released my hand and instead draped his arm around my shoulders, bringing me to his side. A deep shudder worked its way up my spine and I shivered, leaning it to Daniel’s side. He let out a low laugh and pulled me closer as I rested my head in the crook of his neck. It all felt so strange, but at the same time, so right.

I was almost going to prompt him to start telling me about Ace, but he began before I could. “I was friends with Fletcher once. Ace, too, until the night everything changed.” His voice was low and full of seriousness. I glanced up at his face to see that he was staring down at the table, his jaw set, his lips forming a tight line. I could tell it was difficult for him to talk about as his eyes were full of hurt.

“What happened?” I whispered. Daniel looked down at me and shook his head before resting his chin on the top of my head. “Fletcher happened. He used to be a good kid, believe it or not.”

“I do believe it,” I replied.

“Really?”

“He used to be a pretty decent guy to me. I used to even sort of like him before I found out just how messed up he was,” I said.

“I’m glad you found out, then,” Daniel said.

“Why?”

“I can’t have you liking anybody else, can I?”

“What makes you think I like you?” I laughed. Daniel chuckled and moved his face from the top of my head, looking down at me instead. “You know you love me,” he said, his trademark smirk spreading across his face. I rolled my eyes, causing Daniel to laugh even louder. “We’re getting off-topic...” I trailed off. The smile immediately disappeared from Daniel’s face.

“Are you sure you really want to know?”

“I’m dying to know! I’ve been trying to figure out all this for weeks!” I exclaimed, frustrated. “You must love me,” Daniel replied. “You’re getting all stalker-ish and everything!”

“Daniel...”

“Okay,” he said, his tone turning serious once more. “Fletcher and I were best friends.”

“Closer than brothers,” I interrupted.

“Right. How did you know?”

“That’s what he told me.” Daniel’s face fell and his eyes were filled with hurt once again. It looked like he was about to burst into tears. I slid my arms around him, embracing his torso as another round of shivers worked their way through my body. He held me tighter, bringing his lips to my forehead and kissing me gently. My stomach responded by immediately erupting with butterflies.

“Fletcher and I were like brothers,” Daniel continued. “You couldn’t separate us. We spent nearly every minute of every day together in middle school. He was a good kid, then. Really popular, too. Everybody loved Fletch.”

“But...”

“But then everything changed. He started hanging out with this older guy a few years ahead of us. You might know him. He’s the drummer in their band.” I nodded for Daniel to continue. “Patrick was not a good influence on Fletch. He brought out this wild streak in him that none of us had ever seen before. Ace was surprised too, but too gutless not to go along with it. He always wanted Fletch’s approval or something. It was kind of weird.”

“You said there was one night that changed everything,” I said.

“Well, yeah, but I guess I should have seen it coming. But the changes in Fletch were slow and gradual so that I didn’t notice until it was too late,” Daniel said.

“What happened?”

“We went out on a Friday night, just like we always did. Patrick was driving us around. Ace and I sat in the back seat, willing to go along with whatever Fletch and Pat were doing. They were always the leaders. Ace did whatever they said, but I was more reluctant. I got the feeling that Pat never liked me. Hell, he hates me now.”

“What did you do?”

“I went against him. Guys like that don’t like it when you don’t do what they tell you to,” Daniel said, glancing down at me again.

“Did he hurt you?” I whispered, surprising myself with the realisation that I actually cared about what happened to him.

“No,” Daniel said.

“Then what happened?” I asked him quietly, staring up at his tanned face.

“Pat thought it would be fun to break into this video store,” Daniel said. “The rest of us went along with it. I still don’t know why I did it, it was so stupid. I should have walked away then and I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.”

I listened silently, leaning into Daniel’s warm embrace, my clothes slowly drying in the warm diner. I looked up at Daniel and saw that he was looking down at the table, his face blank, expressionless. He looked lost.

“Pat and Fletch completely trashed the place and stole some stuff. Ace and I didn’t know what to do. Ace had always been this quiet guy, never got into trouble. The shit hit the fan when the cops showed up and arrested us all,” Daniel continued, a tear escaping his eye. He wiped it away fiercely with the back of his sleeve.

“Of all the nights my Dad was working...” He trailed off. I made the connection instantly.

“Oh, no...” I gasped, staring at Daniel’s face. He nodded.

“My own father was the one to arrest me. You should’ve seen his face. He was so disappointed in me. When I finally got home, he was furious. My Dad has never really been one for words, but his silence was far worse than the line of obscenities I was expecting. Things haven’t been the same since. We hardly speak,” Daniel said, so quietly that I barely heard him.

“What about your Mum? What did she do?” I asked him.

“My mother left us when I was seven,” Daniel said flatly.

“Daniel, I’m sorry...”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Why are you suddenly talking to Fletcher now?” I asked after a moment.

“Ever since that night, I haven’t spoken to him or the other guys, except Ace. He’s a good kid and I don’t want him getting into too much trouble,” Daniel said.

“It’s inevitable with Fletcher, though, isn’t it?” I replied.

“I guess...” Daniel trailed off.

We were silent for a few minutes before I had the courage to speak up and tell him what had been plaguing my mind for weeks.

“I know about the list,” I said into Daniel’s chest. He loosened his grip on me and held me at arm’s length to look at me. He raised his eyebrows and gave me a questioning look.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” I sighed, shaking him off. I placed my elbows on the table and held my head in my hands. Daniel gently touched my arm, tugging at me to pull my hands away from my face. I flinched away from him.

“Lex...what’s wrong?” He asked after a moment.

“What’s wrong? Daniel, I know. Fletcher admitted to writing it but he said he had help and I know it was you! The handwriting matches!” I said, my voice rising. I turned to stare at Daniel, whose face crumpled. “Lex...I’m sorry, I just...”

“You just what? You thought it would be funny to write mean things about me?” I snapped. Daniel flinched and looked away.

“It wasn’t like that...” Daniel said quietly.

“Then what was it like, Daniel? Huh? Why would you do something like that?” I said, my voice cracking. I didn’t even want to admit it to myself. I was hurt. Daniel had hurt me. I hadn’t even realised I’d let him in. Now, he remained silent, averting my eyes. I sighed and stood up, turning on my heel and storming out of the diner.

“Lex, wait!” Daniel called after me. I broke into a run, pushing through the doors out into the pouring rain. I ran through the parking lot, but Daniel was faster. He caught up with me and grabbed my wrist, forcing me to turn and look at him.

“Daniel, just don’t! Leave me alone!” I screamed at him, the rain masking the tears that fell down my face. Daniel suddenly grabbed my face in his hands and crushed his lips to mine. I locked my arms around his neck and kissed him back, his hands sliding down to my waist.

His lips felt warm against mine, despite the constant rain that was soaking us through. Daniel kissed me gently, his lips so soft. We broke apart and I sighed, resting my forehead against Daniel’s broad chest. He wrapped his arms around my back and held me there, resting his chin on the top of my head.

“We’re a mess,” he said with a low laugh, for the second time. But this time, I replied with “yes, Daniel. Yes we are.”

______

Daniel drove me home and walked me to the door. We stood there awkwardly, both of us dripping wet. He had his hands stuffed in his jean pockets and was shivering. I was just about to hand him back his sweatshirt when Isaac opened the front door. He stared at Daniel curiously, his hand still clutching the door knob.

“Hey, Isaac,” I greeted him, stepping inside. He looked at me fleetingly, before looking back at Daniel, who was still standing awkwardly on the doorstep, trying to avoid my brother’s gaze.

“Do you want to come in?” I asked him. He raised his eyebrows but stepped inside, Isaac closing the door behind him. “Isaac, this is Daniel,” I said to my little brother. He followed closely behind Daniel as we headed for the living room. “Daniel, this is my little brother, Isaac. He’s...a little different,” I said, leaving the two boys together as I went down the hall to get some towels.

I returned to find the two playing on the floor. Daniel held one of Isaac’s toy planes in one of his hands, and was making engine noises, swooping the plane around in front of Isaac’s face. Isaac was laughing, reaching for the plane when Daniel moved it closer to him. I stared at the two, dumbfounded by the way Isaac had taken to Daniel. He wasn’t usually like this with strangers. He was always so timid and afraid. There was just something about Daniel. Whenever I was with him, I felt safe. Isaac must have felt it, too. I made my way over to them and tossed Daniel a towel. He thanked me and wrapped it around his shoulders.

“I’m just going to have a quick shower, will you be okay here?” I asked Daniel. He smiled widely at me before looking back down at Isaac. “I’ll be fine,” he said. I turned and walked upstairs to take a shower. It was the quickest shower I’d ever had in my life. I was so eager to get back downstairs to be with Daniel and I dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of sweats and an over-sized tee-shirt. When I got back downstairs, Daniel was sitting on the couch, Isaac asleep in his lap.

“Hey,” I whispered, sitting down beside him.

“Hey,” he replied, looking down at Isaac. After a few moments of silence, he glanced up at me. “Lex, I’m so sorry about everything. I just...are we okay?” He asked me in hushed tones.

“I just want to know why you did it,” I said quietly, looking down at my hands, which were folded in my lap.

“I never meant to hurt you. I just...Fletcher asked me to help him,” Daniel began to explain.

“And that makes it all right?” I asked him in disbelief.

“No...please, just hear me out,” he pleaded. I nodded.

“Fletcher had this bet with his friends that he could get you to go out with him. He didn’t really know you and he saw that I hung around you all the time so he asked me to tell him things about you. He wanted me to tell him how to date you,” Daniel explained. My mouth fell open and I stared at him. “I can’t believe he did that, and that you agreed to help him! You jerk!” I said, my voice rising.

“I never wanted to hurt you!” Daniel insisted. “Fletcher and I wrote the list together. I guess that at the time I just got so caught up in it. It felt like we were right back where we were, all those years ago...just hanging out. I thought that we could be friends again, that he could change. That maybe I could change him, for the better.”

“What’s your point?” I snapped.

“I stuffed it up when I fell for you.”

I turned away from him so that he wouldn’t see me smiling. I was trying so hard to stay mad at him, but he made it impossible. “Lex...are you still mad at me?” Daniel whispered, after a long stretch of silence.

“No,” I admitted, glancing over at him. He beamed back at me and I rolled my eyes, laughing. “You, Daniel Harper, are way too cocky for your own good,” I said.

“And you, Alexis Brighten, absolutely love me for it,” he shot back at me, his trademark smirk present on his face.
______

After Daniel had left, I made my way up to my room to go to bed. As I was about to turn off the lamp on my nightstand, I saw a bright pink piece of paper sticking out from under my bed. I picked it up and held it under the light to read it. It was the flyer Ace had given me for the next Static Exchange show, which, I saw, was the following night. My phone buzzed on my nightstand, startling me. I flipped it open and read the text message.

It’s Fletch. Let me tell you my side of the story?

I glanced from the flyer back to the message displayed on my phone before replying.

Tomorrow night. At the show.

What was I getting myself into?