Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 11

Two weeks passed by with Isaac still not hearing a peep from Lexi. She continued to sit away from him in class, and never returned his calls or texts. The whole situation was becoming ridiculous, but he was out of ideas as to how to fix it. He'd tried to speak to her about a week ago when class had let out, but Lexi walked away without acknowledging him. That was a huge insult, but he didn't bother making his feelings known. Instead, he just continued to keep his distance while letting annoyance and rage build inside his chest.

Unfortunately, Isaac wasn't going to have a chance to fix the situation anytime soon. Reading Week had now begun, and he was going away to Honolulu, Hawaii with his parents; his older sister, Laura; and Cassie. He was going to leaving in just two days for a relaxing vacation far from school and the stupid bullshit currently going on there. It would be the perfect chance for him to unwind while spending time with his family and girlfriend. He wasn't in the right frame of mind to relax, but he figured he'd at least try to enjoy himself.

As he currently tried to get comfortable in his seat on the plane, Cassie moved her tote to her feet. They were waiting for take-off, and she'd just finished getting herself situated. She noticed his furrowed eyebrows and some lines etched into his forehead, paired with a look of deep concentration. She touched his hand to bring him back to reality.

"Oh, hi."

"Hey, baby. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Isaac lied in a rush.

"Are you sure?" Cassie inquired. She seemed unconvinced, much to his chagrin.

"Yeah, I'm sure, babe. I'm just...worried about my last Calculus test, that's all. I wasn't confident going into it, so I'm worried that I failed."

Cassie bit her lower lip. "Is that really it?"

"Well...no, it isn't. I hate flying, but you knew already that."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Isaac insisted. "I just really need to relax."

"Take a deep breath if you have to, son," his father suddenly piped up. "We'll only be here for another hour or so."

"Thanks, Dad."

Cassie studied her boyfriend's demeanour. While it was true that he looked tense and nervous, she wasn't fully convinced as to why. She had a sneaking suspicison that he was acting this way due to something else. The idea of Lexi being involved didn't cross her mind for a change— instead, she feared that he was upset with her. She chose to keep her thoughts to herself and clutched her hand tightly in his. He didn't stop her, only relaxing a little as a result. He gave her a small grin, and she promptly returned it.

Isaac was much more at ease when the plane's wheels finally came to a stop on the tarmac hours later. He stood up and stretched a little as Cassie gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"So...excited to start our vacation?" she asked.

"Of course, baby," Isaac answered. "Let's make the best of it, alright?"

Cassie grinned. "I sure will."

***

Lexi entered her dorm and practically threw her purse to the ground. After an unexpected nine-hour shift at work, she was more than exhausted. Yet she wasn't completely spent for the day. She soon picked up her purse, entered her bedroom, and sat on her single bed with her laptop in hand. Nikita's parents had picked her up yesterday to head home to Buffalo, leaving her the entire dorm to herself for the week. In fact, most of her dormitory was empty of its residents. So, she took advantage of this by playing music a little louder than normal as she began working on her novel. She needed to finish up the outline and character development before she could get to the fun part— writing the novel itself.

As Lexi worked, her mind drifted back to her last conversation with Nikita. Since that had taken place, she'd continued to give Isaac the silent treatment for what had happened. While not much had changed because of this, it soon left quite the sour taste in her mouth. The guilt from constantly ignoring someone that considered her to be a friend plagued her just enough that it felt like she was slowly losing her mind. Plus, it felt like more than enough time had passed that it would be safe to get back in touch with Isaac again. Cassie had to have forgotten or stopped caring about what had happened by now.

Maybe Nikita was wrong about continuing to ignore Isaac.

Lexi stopped typing to think about how upset Isaac must've been with her. She wanted to call to talk things out, but she also didn't want to bother him while he was visiting his family during Reading Week. That would be intrusive and rude, and he didn't deserve that anymore than what he'd already had to deal with.

Flustered and embarrassed, Lexi ran a hand through her chestnut hair with a heavy sigh. She now realized that this situation had dragged on far longer than it should've. It was silly and foolish to have ignored Isaac for as long as she had, given why it had started in the first place. He hadn't done anything wrong; it was Cassie that had been in the wrong the whole time. Whether she'd ever apologize for confronting her was up to Cassie; there was no point in badgering her for one. Granted, the chance of that ever happening was extremely unlikely by this point, but Lexi didn't care anymore. The main point was that she wanted to move past this massive misunderstanding so she could repair her friendship with Isaac.

I must talk to him when he comes back, she thought. He really deserves an apology and an explanation.

With a newfound resolve to fix things, she used that to finish her outline and character development of her new novel in a couple of hours. It was odd how Lexi had managed to push through and finish her work after thinking about her situation with Isaac, but she wasn't about to complain. She was just glad that she'd managed to finish this crucial part for the book writing process.

The sound of her stomach growling interrupted her sense of accomplishment in a flash. She couldn't help but giggle before she climbed off her bed to make some much-needed dinner. Lexi didn't dwell too much on having to be alone for Reading Week anymore; she instead tried to focus on enjoying all of the peace and quiet that came with having her tiny dorm to herself. Once school resumed, she would have to deal with the drama all over again.