Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 12

A few days into her vacation, Cassie was relaxing on a beach chair by the resort pool. Isaac's parents and his sister were off driving around Honolulu to do some sightseeing. As for Isaac himself, he was swimming in the pool nearby. She closed her eyes as the sun rested on her slim, fair-skinned figure. So far, her vacation had been nothing short of blissful. She'd been able to relax and have fun with the love of her life. The idea of having to go back to school shortly was far from appealing.

I wish I could be here forever, she thought.

Isaac suddenly appeared by her side, forcing her eyes open. She frowned as he ignored her and went straight to his phone. He studied it for a minute or so before shoving it back in her bag.

"Everything alright?"

Isaac glanced over at his girlfriend. "Yeah, I'm good, babe." He gave her a peck on the cheek before diving back into the water.

Cassie's frown deepened. Isaac seemed dismissive, and that rubbed her the wrong way. She figured that something on his phone held his interest more than she did. She waited until he was far away before she grabbed it out of her purse. Since he didn't have a password on his phone, it wasn't hard to read his text messages. Her heart dropped when she saw Lexi's name.

Why the hell is her number in here? And why is she even texting Isaac?!

When Cassie selected Lexi's name, she immediately noticed that Isaac had been trying to get in touch with her for several weeks. Lexi hadn't responded at all, yet it hadn't stopped him from texting her anyways. This revelation had Cassie's blood boiling from the get-go. But as she went through older messages, she noticed that Lexi had texted Isaac in the past. It seemed innocent at first, what with it being mostly school-related. But every now and then, Isaac would invite her to hang out outside of class for one reason or another. Lexi would politely decline each time, a fact that surprised Cassie. The only exception was their study session not too long ago, but all other attempts to hang out were quickly shut down by Lexi.

So maybe Lexi isn't the one I should worry about. Maybe Isaac's hiding something. But why would Lexi even reply to him in the first place?

Cassie looked up and saw Isaac about to get out of the pool. She quickly threw his phone back in her purse and stretched out on the beach chair. Isaac approached her with a calm smile.

"Wanna go in for a bit?"

"Sure."

The couple silently headed into the resort. It wasn't until they entered their room that Cassie decided to pipe up about what she'd read.

"I see you've been texting Lexi a lot lately."

Isaac furrowed his brows with confusion. "What?"

"I said-"

"I heard what you said," Isaac interrupted. "I'm just wondering how you know."

"Oh, I went through your phone while you were swimming. I saw that she hasn't texted you in some time, but you haven't stopped anyways. And when you guys were texting each other, you tried to hang out with her outside of class...a lot."

"You went through my phone? What the hell?! You have no right to do that!"

"That's not the fucking point! Why are you trying to get so close to Lexi? She's not your fucking girlfriend— I am! But you wanna spend more time with this stupid bitch instead??? You just don't wanna spend time with me— is that it?"

"Cassie, enough! I've told you multiple times that there's nothing going on between us!"

"Then why were you trying to hang out with her? And why are you trying to be so nice?"

"Can't I make some new friends?"

"Yeah, but...why her?"

Isaac sighed. "I'm just being nice! Look, please drop it. I really don't wanna argue while we're on vacation. And I really don't want my parents to know that we're fighting. That's just gonna be awkward as hell."

"Fine, but I'm still mad at you," Cassie snapped. She then stormed out back to the pool to cool down.

Isaac didn't follow her, choosing instead to stay inside their hotel room. He didn't want to be anywhere near her after that exchange. He just needed to be alone for the rest of the day.

This has become such a huge mess, he thought.

Isaac sighed. He couldn't believe that Cassie would have the nerve to go through his phone and read his texts. There hadn't been anything sexual or surreptitious; his conversations with Lexi had been strictly platonic and friendly conversations. They were just friends—nothing more, and nothing less. Truthfully, he was more upset that Cassie had gone through his phone than hearing her groundless accusations. All he wanted was for her to trust him. He was so sick of the fighting, the suspicions, and the anger. He was stressed out enough from school that he didn't want the added stress of not getting along with his girlfriend

Isaac watched the sun slowly set from outside his window. He knew his family would be back soon, and Cassie would also return to their room in and around the same time. He made a mental note to be polite to her whenever his family were near, if only so they would remain clueless about their current fight. He didn't want to be put through the third degree about how his relationship was going. He just needed to keep this under wraps long enough for them to make up and be okay again.

***

The next morning was rather quiet. Cassie had arrived late to the hotel's breakfast bar, having slept in longer than she'd anticipated. She still managed to join Isaac and his family for some breakfast before they'd finished eating.

"Morning," she greeted. "I didn't mean to sleep in."

"Oh, it's okay, dear," Isaac's mother replied. "You're on vacation; there's no set time to do anything."

"Just relax and enjoy yourself," Isaac's father added.

Cassie grinned. "Well, thank you."

As she continued chatting with Isaac's parents, she quickly noticed that Isaac didn't speak up once. He simply focused on eating, and then sat there when he finished. He didn't look angry, but he also didn't look happy. He seemed bored despite a small grin etched on his face. Cassie tried not to stare at him too much as she carried on talking.

Eventually, everyone returned to their hotel room to get ready for the day. Isaac's parents announced their plans to visit some souvenir shops in town before going to an outdoor concert that evening. Laura was off to check out some local hangouts for the day.

"We'll probably stay at the pool or go down to the beach," Cassie revealed.

"Well, have fun!" Isaac's mother exclaimed.

After they all left, Cassie and Isaac were alone in their hotel room. It took a minute for them to look at each other. They exchanged uncomfortable stares, as if one was waiting for the other to speak. Cassie decided to end it by breaking the awkward silence.

"Isaac, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have gone through your texts in the first place. I don't even know why I did it. It was so impulsive and childish of me."

"It was," Isaac retorted. "You've told me more than once that you trust me, and yet...we're fighting about you not trusting me again. This has got to stop. You're the only one I love."

Cassie bit her lip. "I know. I can't stop worrying about stupid shit. I'm just a worrier over everything."

"Yeah, you are. But if there's one thing you need to stop worrying about, it's whether I love you or not. I love you, and only you. You're the only girl I have eyes for. You need to trust me on that. I'm sick of us fighting so much."

"I'm sick of it, too. I'm sorry, Isaac. I didn't mean to ruin our vacation."

"No, you didn't ruin it. Let's just put this behind us, okay?"

For the first time that day, Cassie smiled. "Okay. I love you, too."

The couple hugged and shared a small kiss, both relieved to have made up so soon. With their fight now behind them, they could focus on enjoying the rest of their vacation before returning to school.