Lexi Cocker - Faleena Hopkins Page 0,55
me with measured patience, “Uh, Lexi, at the party, I asked you what he did and you said you had no clue. I thought it was funny that you’d brought some guy you hardly knew to…”
“Hold on!” I throw my arm up in the universal stop-it-right-the-fuck-now symbol. “I would never do that. I know exactly what he does. He’s a mechanic. That truck he drives? Oh, you probably didn’t see it. Well, it’s amazing and he remodeled — or reassembled — or reconstructed — whatever! He made it himself! You asked where he worked. I don’t know. I’ve never been there. At least not yet, because we pretty much have the same schedules now that we took Saturdays off together! But of course I know what he does for work. He’s a hard worker, and takes his job very seriously. And from what Ralphie says, he’s excellent at it!”
She stands up, eyeing the wall because a Hatha yoga class should be starting any minute. Maybe already has. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Paige, how much do I love my family?”
She reassures me, “Immensely. I know you love your family an extraordinary amount.”
“Do you really think I’d embarrass myself, or them, by bringing some random dude to meet my parents? Or Grandpa Michael and Grandma Nance? Grams?!!! Have you ever seen me bring a date to any of our BBQs?”
Carefully she admits, “No.”
“Have you ever met anyone I’ve dated?”
“No.”
I stammer, “I was only dating that one guy—”
“—Brad.”
“Yes, I was only ever dating Brad since you and Gabriel met, and since I've known you, but still! Have you ever met Brad?”
“Lexi, calm down.”
“I’m really angry about this, Paige!”
“Why are you so upset?” she gently asks, repeating, “Why?!”
I gasp, losing my breath, “Because…”
“Why?”
Swallowing hard I shout, “Because!”
“Why?!!”
Covering my face with my hands, I start weeping. “Because if that’s what you thought, maybe other people thought it, too!”
She gathers me close and rocks my shaking body like the nurturing momma she was born to be. “Shhhh, they didn’t think that.”
I sob, “You did!”
Murmured against my hair is the reassurance, “But I haven’t known you your whole life. I’m only close to the girl who doesn’t get close to anyone.”
She’s right. I don’t let people in. And now I’m an even bigger sniffling, gasping, shaking, snotty mess. Paige dashes for much-needed tissues just in time before things get really gross, and even gives me her blanch-worthy tea for hydration when finally I gasp over and over for air.
I slide to sit on their wood floor in a ball, workout pants stretched tight at the knees I hug. “I like him!”
“You guys looked really great together.”
“Not just because he’s hot. And he is! He’s very hot!”
“Yes, he is.”
“I like him because I am free with him. Able to be me. As wild as I want to be. We have so much fun together! We snuck into Six Flags last week!’
Fear widens her eyes. “You did what?”
After wiping my nose with a balled up tissue, I wave it. “And he was right there, down for it, ready to lift me over that fence and climb the thing like a couple of sneaky monkeys so we could walk around the park alone after dark.”
“What was it like?”
“I don’t know. We got caught, and had to run.”
“You got caught?!”
“We got away. The guard was out of shape. That’s not the point! Paige, when I suggested it, he didn’t get all shocked like you just did, and like every other person on the planet would! He was right there.” I slap my thigh. “Ready for it!”
“Were you challenging him to do it so you could see if he would?”
Blinking at her, I sigh, “No,” and rise up, gathering the used tissues and trudging to toss them before I squirt a generous amount of her sanitizer into my palms. “That’s my point.”
“What is?”
Feeling more tired than I have in a very long time I grab my tote, and rise to slide it onto a still-worried shoulder. “I wasn’t doing it for any other reason than I’m me. And to me, those crazy things we do are pure fun. I’ll see ya later. Thanks for the hug and the ear.”
As I open the door, leaving without looking back, I hear her say, “Always here for you, Lex.”
And she would be.
She is.
In the way Paige knows how.
I’m not taking it for granted.
But it sure is a reflection.
Some people just get you.
And others love you despite the fact that you’ll always be impossible for