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* * *
We all said goodbye and then Candy and I went home, resigning ourselves to a couple of hours of studying because of upcoming exams. I had my comp to study for and would be swamped with reading until the Wednesday night before the exam. I spent the rest of the day in my room with my headphones on and a journal article or textbook open in front of me. I only broke for supper, which consisted of a bowl of noodles with some added vegetables in a minimal stab at eating healthy.
The two of us spent the next few days quiet except for brief bouts of television during meals. The rest of the time, we hit the books and were silent.
* * *
About eight o'clock on the night before my comp, I got a text.
From Luke.
It wasn't from his MBS69 account so I'd moved up in the world from secret call girl to real live person.
LUKE: Hey, Alexa, I was just thinking of you.
I read it over and wondered whether I should respond. If I let it go, I'd never have to talk to him again.
Given his aversion to real relationships and his desire to live on Mars, I let it go, turning back to my paper on international treaties. About thirty minutes later, I got another text.
LUKE: I realize you probably never want to see or hear from me again. I just wanted to say I'm sorry I put you through the hell that is my family. I really appreciate what you did, even if my plans for teaching my bastard of a brother-in-law a lesson fell through. John managed to throw in your name and the word 'escort' enough that I think Eric finally got the message. What can I do to repay you? Your comp is this week, right?
I was steadfast in my intention to ignore him and let the whole Sexy Lexi business go into the forgotten past, but I could see Luke's handsome face as he bent over his phone and texted me hopefully.
LUKE: So yeah… I guess you don't want to come to Westhampton next weekend for fun and sun and great BBQ? The regular cast of characters will be
there and it would be nice if I could have someone sane to talk to besides my sister.
I smiled at that.
ALEXA: You think I'm sane? ;)
He texted back right away, and I could almost feel his relief that I wasn't going to totally ignore him.
LUKE: Oh, I know it. Crazy maybe, but not insane. :)
I laughed and couldn’t wipe a silly smile off my face. I felt bad for him, having to face his family alone, especially if Felicia would be there and Mrs. B would be pushing them together because he was alone.
And then, without any coaxing from Candace, I decided to take a chance. Live dangerously.
ALEXA: Will Felicia and Mrs. B be in attendance?
LUKE: You can count on it. I need you, Alexa. I need you as a decoy and diversion. Pretty please?
ALEXA: If I agree, you accept that it's purely a platonic weekend. We can pretend to be all kissy-kissy, but there will be no spit-swapping or any other bodily fluids.
LUKE: Aww, shucks! No spit??? But okay, I get it. I agree. No bodily-fluid-swapping involved.
I smiled, remembering kissing him. I hadn’t realized it affected me so much and felt quite a lot of regret, but I had standards.
LUKE: …but what if you're drowning in the surf and I need to lock lips with you to administer CPR, and some of my saliva accidentally gets on your mouth?
ALEXA: GROSS!
LUKE: Ha ha! Welcome back to public school. :)
ALEXA: I will perform as your girlfriend. I will let you hold my hand and put your arm around me, and you can even kiss me in public and show simple PDAs, but no tongue, okay? And if we sleep in the same room, no funny business.
LUKE: I'll have you know that none of my business is funny. Only the most serious kind of business. Sober. Grey flannel kind of business so boring you'll fall asleep before you know it.
