Chapter 18
Alexis:
After Aubrey left the table, I decided to stay and listen to Michelle and my father talk.
"I just don't know what's gotten into her. Her and Mike used to be inseparable." Michelle thought out loud. "Honey, I'm sure she's just thinking realistically. She's in a new state, thousands of miles away from Vermont. What can a long distance relationship really do for her?" My father stated. Michelle sighed, rubbing her temples. "You are right, Hank. Maybe I should give her some space. I'm beginning to really stress myself out."
"I am glad you've realized that you are stressed. You need something to relax you. How about a vacation?" My father suggested. Michelle looked up at him and smiled. "You sure? We haven't even started planning the wedding yet—" Michelle started, but my father silenced her.
"Don't think about that right now. We can go to a tropical island somewhere in the Caribbean. The warm sand and pretty blue waters." Even I painted the mental picture.
My father must have noticed the peaceful grin on my face because he cleared his throat, bringing me out of my trance. "Of course, it would just be Michelle and I. You girls have school to worry about." Michelle giggled. "I'll make sure your father takes you and Aubrey on the next vacay." She joked.
There was a long pause before Michelle got up and pulled out the chair next to mine, taking a seat. "Alexis, I want to apologize for thinking you had ill intentions with my daughter. Can you forgive me?" She asked. My jaw dropped. Was she serious? "I forgive you." I replied. Michelle pulled me into a bear hug, rubbing my back gently. "I'm glad we've settled things. Aubrey really needs a friend like you." Michelle smiled and went back to her chair.
My father typed away on his cell phone for a few minutes before speaking again. "Well, my assistant has booked us flights that leave at midnight for the Bahamas. I guess we should start packing." They both got up from the table and left the dining room.
As I cleared the table, I kept thinking about the events of this weekend. I treated Aubrey so bad, she couldn't even look at me anymore. We'd both been in the wrong, honestly. Aubrey and I should have defined our relationship better instead of just admitting that we wanted each other.
There should have been ground rules like:
No talking to exes, a monogamous relationship, and honesty. If Aubrey and I had that, there's no doubt in my mind that we wouldn't flourish.
Think about everything now, I was sure Aubrey wouldn't want to talk to me right now. With our parents leaving tonight, I figured I'd just try to get her to hear me out after school when we were home alone.
The next day, I woke up late and ended up arriving two hours late to school. Typically Aubrey would wake me up, since we slept together at night but she hadn't. Great.
I met up with my guys at lunch after fourth period. Usually Aubrey ate lunch with us but she wasn't here. "Damn, Alex. You must really be going through it. I ain't seen you touch a thing on that plate since we been here," Jay and the guys joked.
"I'm just not in the mood to eat," I told them.
"Man, what in the world happened to you?" Chuck questioned in shock.
The guys all shared a look and said, "Aubrey," in unison. "We were all at the party bro. What happened?" Jay asked.
"I messed up real bad. That's what happened. She won't even look at me anymore." I sighed, hopeless. "Well, have you tried talking to her?" Chuck wondered.
"No. I don't know what to say," I replied.
"You say whatever comes to mind. But just think before you speak," Jay inputted.
"And what are you waiting for? The longer you wait, the worse it gets." Chuck stated.
Jay nodded. "Yeah, Alex. You've got a good twenty minutes before lunch ends. Go find her," he told me.
They were right. But I knew Aubrey. She liked space. I hadn't spoken to her since Saturday's blow out. "I can't." I huffed, getting up from the table. I was so ready for this school day to be over.
After my last class, I hurried to my car. Jessina had been blowing my phone up and I honestly didn't know why. Even when we did mess around, she knew not to think much of it. To my surprise, she was sitting on the hood of my car.
"I feel like you've been avoiding me, Alexis. Why?" She questioning, hopping down. "Well, you're right." I mumbled. "What did you say?" She wondered. "Nothing. I've gotta get going." I told her. "You used to love having me around. Kissing on me and feeling on me..." She used her fingers to play in my hair. Jessina attempted to kiss me but stopped once she heard a car unlock next to us. We turned our heads in the direction and my heart sank.
It was Aubrey. I hadn't even noticed I had parked my car next to hers. She quickly got in her car and left. "Look, whatever we had, I don't want anymore. You have to understand that. I'll see you around." I quickly got in my car, hoping to meet Aubrey back at the house.
I found Aubrey cooking something in the kitchen. "Hey," I greeted her. She looked up.
"What's up," she replied, simply.
"You know how to cook?" I questioned, surprised.
"Well, yeah," she answered.
"What are you making?" I asked.
"Dinner." Well, I deserved that short answer.
"Okay... What's for dinner?" I said.
Aubrey sighed heavily. "Alexis, we haven't said two words to each other in two days. Are we going to talk about things or are you going to keep asking me about dinner?" she wondered.
"We're going to talk."