How to Date Alexis Brighten

I didn’t tell Daniel where I was going. He’d called, hoping that we could hang out, but I’d blown him off, telling him that I had family issues going on. He’d offered to come over. He wanted to see how I was. He’d said I sounded upset on the phone. I was upset. Upset because I had to lie to Daniel. Upset that I’d have to face Fletcher. Again. But I was going to do it all by myself. This was something that Daniel couldn’t help me with. This was something I had to do on my own.

Ready or not.

I pulled up to the venue; got out of my Dad’s Jeep, locked it, and walked inside, my head held high. I planned on marching right up to Fletcher, and demanding to know what his problem was, but the second I walked through the door, I was completely lost in the crowd. I pushed through people much taller than I was, eventually being spat out at the edge, a few metres from the stage. I could see Fletcher, Ace, Denny and Patrick standing at the side of the stage, behind a huge security guy. I called out to Fletcher and he turned, his light brown eyes locking with mine.

He walked up to the security guy and said something to him, before pointing directly at me. Fletcher motioned for me to go to him, and I looked warily at the security guy. He nodded, and I made my way forward, knocking shoulders with a blonde girl who gave me a dirty look as I continued on my way.

“Alexis! Hi!” Fletcher said brightly when I reached him. His whole face was lit up by his wide, toothy grin. His eyes sparkled in the dim lighting inside the venue. He looked so young and honestly, kind of adorable. I mentally kicked myself in the head for thinking that.

“Hey,” I said, stuffing my hands into the pockets in my hooded jacket. “Good crowd.”

“Yeah, it sure is! We’re headlining tonight!” Fletcher said excitedly. “We’ve got some new songs that’ll hopefully be crowd-pleasers.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going mainstream!” I joked, a smile spreading across my face. What was I doing? Why did this feel so easy?

“No way! We’re just ‘broadening our horizons’ is all,” Fletcher said, using his hands for air quotes. “Denny thinks we’ll be a real riot!”

“You know it!” Denny exclaimed, the pair exchanging high-fives.

“Fletch, we’re on,” Ace said, tapping him on the shoulder. He gave me an odd look, but didn’t offer a greeting. All the others looked so excited, but Ace looked kind of...sad. He walked onstage, followed by Denny and Patrick, but Fletcher hung back. “What’s up with Ace?” I asked him over the roar of the crowd. “Tell me if you figure it out!” Fletcher said before running on stage to join the others.

“Hey everyone!” Denny said into the microphone. “We’re Static Exchange, reminding you all to stay golden!” The band then launched into one of their new songs, Denny jumping around the stage and reaching out for hands in the crowd. Ace swayed on his feet, so lost in the music. Fletcher bounded around the stage and head-banged, the goofy smile never leaving his face. When they reached the catchy chorus for the third time, the crowd sang along, jumping up and down with the band.

We’re the youth of today! The screw-ups, the broken,
The misfits, the losers, the boldly outspoken!
You can’t stop us! We’re just here to live!
This life is the only thing we’ve got to give!

We’ll curse and we’ll cry, we’ll laugh ‘till it hurts,
We’ll wear out our shoes and stain all our shirts.
We’ll scream and they’ll stare at us while we dance,
Let’s screw up now while we’ve still got the chance!

I couldn’t help but smile when Fletcher belted out the chorus completely off-key on purpose. He looked over at me side-stage and winked, before turning back to the crowd and sticking his tongue out at them. The response from the crowd was amazing. Just a month before, nobody had bothered to give Static Exchange the time of day. Their new edgier and upbeat sound had obviously attracted attention, and the boys must have been working overtime advertising.

They played through six more songs, including ‘The Shadow Of You,’ before walking off stage, covered in sweat, smiles stretching across all of their faces. Fletcher immediately picked me up in a bone-crushing hug when he reached me. I struggled in his grip and demanded that he put me down. He laughed and placed me back on my feet, grinning at me like a flaming idiot.

“Great new song,” I commented.

“The first one?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

“We’re all really proud of that one. It’s truthful, you know? ‘Stay Golden’ is kinda our anthem!” Fletcher said happily, peeling off his tee-shirt and emptying a water bottle on his sweat-covered body. It was not as impressive as Daniel’s, not by a long-shot. Daniel was fit and muscular, with a broad, tanned chest. Fletcher was tall and lanky, incredibly skinny and pale. He didn’t work out or exercise frequently like Daniel did. He just played music and got himself into trouble.

“Let’s go,” Fletcher said, pulling on another tee.

“Where to?” I asked him.

“You know...our place,” he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes but followed him out of the venue the back way, walking around the front to the Jeep. Fletcher climbed in the passenger’s side and immediately reached for the stereo system. He slipped in a CD that I hadn’t seen him pick up inside, and cranked up the volume. The first song they’d played that night, ‘Stay Golden’, came blasting through the car speakers. I turned and raised my eyebrows at Fletcher, who beamed back at me, before loudly singing along to his own band.

I drove to the now-familiar spot on the outskirts of town. The hill that overlooked the town, so high up and far away from everybody else. I parked the car and we walked to the edge side by side before sitting down and dangling our legs over the edge. We stared out over the lights of our town in silence for a few minutes until Fletcher spoke up.

“It wasn’t all my fault, you know,” he said, glancing at me.

“What wasn’t?”

“You know, Daniel and his daddy problems,” he said with a shrug.

“Well, it sure sounded like it,” I muttered. He raised his eyebrows at me but continued. “Daniel and his Dad were screwed before I got involved, believe me,” he said.

“Why should I? So far you’ve proven to be a complete freaking liar,” I spat. He shrugged and put his hands into his jeans pockets, the wind whipping his shaggy, blonde hair around his face.

“I don’t call it lying,” he said.

“Then what the hell do you call it?”

“Innovation,” he said with a grin. I rolled my eyes at him and looked back over the town. From where we were sitting, it was like we were on top of the world. This was a place where questions were asked, but rarely ever answered. This was a place where anything and everything could happen. The possibilities were endless.

“Daniel and his old man didn’t unite or anything after his Mum left if that’s what you were thinking,” Fletcher said. “That was what tore them apart. I guess I just screwed it up even further, though.”

“Well, at least you can admit that,” I said sarcastically. “Well done.”

“Hey, we’re young! We’re supposed to screw up! We’d never learn anything if we didn’t,” Fletcher pointed out.

“You obviously never learn anything, then,” I shot back at him.

“I’ve screwed up bigger and better than anyone, and you know what? It feels great! You can call me a liar, but what you see, right here, this is me! I’m not going to walk around pretending to be some kind of saint. I’m a screw-up! We’re all screw-ups! Because nothing and no one is ever perfect, or permanent. There’s no plans for the future, I’m just making it up as I go along! Maybe I’ve messed up multiple times, but I’ve gotta shake things up somehow! Life isn’t meant to be all mapped out and planned for you. It’s an adventure! And if it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna screw-up and laugh and live and have one great big fucking adventure, one mistake after the other. It’s just how life is.”

We sat in silence for a moment, as Fletcher’s strong words hung in the still night air. He was right. About everything. He was the master of screwing up, that was for sure, but he acknowledged it, he lived it. It was his choice, and he was really freaking happy with it. What was so wrong with that?

“You can forget about your little bet. I’ll give you fifty bucks straight up if you leave me alone,” I said, my voice cutting through the air. Fletcher turned and raised his eyebrows at me.

“That Daniel is a little tattle-tale isn’t he?” Fletcher said sarcastically.

“You’re an absolute maniac,” I said.

“You know it,” he said with a wink.

“So you’re happy about it, then? You’re willing to screw around with someone’s life for a stupid bet? Just how insane are you?” I said, my voice rising.

“I’m not insane, I’m just ambitious. And for the record, let’s not forget that lover-boy helped,” Fletcher retorted.

“I don’t care anymore,” I said, getting up. “I know I said I’d listen to your side of the story, but I think I already know it.”

Fletcher stood up and reached for my hand. I flinched away from him, folding my arms across my chest. “It’s not hard to guess,” Fletcher said with a shrug. “Like I said, what you see is what you get with me. I won’t pretend to be all freaking perfect.”

“And Daniel does?” I asked. Fletcher just raised his eyebrows at me. I sighed in frustration and turned on my heel, walking away from him. He ran after me and grabbed me by the wrist, forcing me to turn and face him.

“Look, I know I messed up, okay? At first it was a bet to get the most popular girl in school to go out with me on a date and yeah, there was cash involved. I won’t deny that. It seemed like easy money - ”

“Oh, so you just assumed I’d be easy?” I said in disbelief.

“But you weren’t! I thought you were just like those bimbos you call your ‘friends’, but with the list and hanging out with you and everything, I got to know you. I found out you weren’t like them. You were real! You had a heart! You loved music and you craved an escape from everyone and everything -”

“How did you know that?” I cut him off.

“You’re just like me,” Fletcher said, his eyes boring into mine.

“I’m nothing like you!” I screamed back at him.

“We’re alike in more ways than you think, Alexis. Tell me, does this feel wrong? Right here, right now? Give me an honest answer!”

“You said I was the Ice Queen, that I was cold. And now you’re trying to tell me that I actually have a heart? Make up your freaking mind!” I retorted, obviously frustrated.

“You didn’t answer my question! Is this so wrong?” Fletcher yelled.

“No! Okay? Are you freaking happy now? It doesn’t feel wrong, and honestly, that scares the hell out of me!”

“Me too! I’ve never gotten myself this deep in all this shit. Feelings. I don’t understand the half of it, but I’m willing to learn, with you.” Fletcher said earnestly, taking my hands in his. I pushed him away immediately.

“I can’t, Fletch! Not after everything you’ve done! How can I even trust you?” I yelled back at him.

“You can’t, but that’s half the fun! We’re young! We’re heart attacks just waiting to happen! Just take a chance on me!” Fletcher screamed back at me. I realised suddenly that I was crying. I was sick of all the drama, the fighting. But now it looked like it could all be over, it just depended on me.

Daniel was so dependable and right for me, a safe bet. Fletcher was unpredictable and wild, everything that was wrong for me. I looked up at Fletcher’s face, tears cascading down my own. I stared into his light brown eyes, which were full of hope, as I thought about what I’d say next.

I had a choice to make, and when it came down to it, it was all so simple.

Sink or swim.