Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 13

Lexi was watching TV from her laptop while sitting on her bed early Sunday afternoon. She enjoyed the relative peace and quiet that came with Nikita being gone this past week. Plus, the TV was a good distraction while she finished her laundry. It was shaping up to be the perfect way to start the week.

The door to her dorm suddenly flew open, followed by people walking in while chatting away. Lexi paused her show and got ready to jump out of her room to investigate, but calmed down as she listened in. She quickly picked up Nikita's voice, and then her parents'. On the one hand, she hadn't expected her roommate to turn up; on the other, she knew she should've because school was going to start again tomorrow.

I guess my day isn't gonna be quiet anymore, she thought.

For a moment, Lexi contemplated leaving her room to say hi. But she changed her mind almost immediately in case they didn't want to be interrupted. The last thing she wanted was to come off as nosey. However, she soon realized that she had to retrieve the last of her laundry from the laundry room. She managed to leave her dorm undetected, as well as when she hauled her laundry hamper of clean clothes back inside.

When Lexi returned, she noticed that it was a lot quieter than it had been. Thinking that Nikita and her parents had left, she resumed her TV show as she folded clothes. Once she finished folding everything, she paused her show to get a snack, only to find her roommate standing outside her door.

"Jesus Christ!"

Nikita burst out laughing. "You scared me, too. I thought I was alone until I heard something in your room. I figured it was you."

"Yeah, I was watching TV. Sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Anyways, how was your Reading Week?"

Lexi shrugged. "Fine. Yours?"

"Boring, 'cause I didn't really do shit. I just hung out at my parents' place and did a lot of homework. I kinda slacked off before Reading Week, so I had to play catch up. It sucked."

"That does suck."

"So, what did you end up doing? I bet San Diego was fun."

At that remark, Lexi bit her lip and glanced at the floor. "II didn't go home for Reading Week. I was here the whole time."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"My parents were in Aruba and I wasn't invited along."

Nikita's jaw dropped. "Oh, my GOD. That's gotta sting."

"Oh, I'm fine," Lexi insisted dismissively. "I was all caught up on my assignments and I'm done mid-terms, so I just relaxed when I wasn't at work."

"You must've been lonely."

"Yeah, but it honestly wasn't all bad."

"Well, I feel bad," Nikita admitted. "Look, I'm gonna make it up to you by taking you to a house party as soon as possible."

Lexi's eyes grew wide in an instant. "Oh, hell no. I friggin' hate parties. Please don't drag me to one!"

"Oh, come on! Just one won't kill you."

"Yes, it will."

"Look, we'll talk about it later," Nikita said with a laugh. "Let's catch up for a bit."

"I'm perfectly alright with that," Lexi replied.

***

Once Cassie had settled back into her dorm and had caught up with Mariana on what they'd both done during Reading Week, they managed to contact their friends and organize a get-together at The Bean's Knees for dinner that evening. Nikita mentioned that Lexi was also coming, much to Cassie's chagrin. But she kept her discontent to herself, save for Mariana.

"I wonder what she was up to during Reading Week?" she had wondered out loud.

"Probably being spoiled by Mommy and Daddy while in San Diego," Cassie had replied with distain.

Mariana had giggled. "Probably."

The two girls soon arrived at The Bean's Knees, where they found that Felipe, Isaac, and DeShawn had already saved a table. A few minutes later, Nikita and Lexi showed up and greeted everyone. Lexi ended up having to sit beside Cassie, making both girls extremely uncomfortable. But neither made a rude remark to the other, choosing to deal with it by ignoring each other.

"I don't wanna go back to class," Felipe whined. "I enjoyed Reading Week too much in Nikita's pants."

"Okay, I call bullshit on that!" DeShawn blurted.

"Same," Isaac piped up.

Felipe scoffed. "Fuck you guys."

But Nikita laughed it all off. "I think I spent more time catching up on schoolwork than doing anything else."

Everyone chuckled, even as Nikita scowled about how she'd spent her Reading Week.

"What about you, DeShawn?" Felipe asked.

"I just stayed in Buffalo with my family," DeShawn answered. "I even ran into Mariana's family when my parents and I went out for dinner one night."

Cassie raised her eyebrows as her jaw dropped. "Seriously?"

"What are the odds of that happening?" Felipe laughed.

"It was a coincidence, I swear to God!" Mariana revealed, laughing. "I had no idea he was there until we realized he was sitting one table away from us. So our families ended up having dinner together. It was quite fun."

"I enjoyed it, too," DeShawn said. "Oh, yeah, how was your trip, Cassie? Isaac told us a little bit about it."

"Oh, it was wonderful. The weather in Hawaii was perfect— it never rained, and it wasn't disgustingly humid. We went swimming, relaxed by the pool or on the beach, did some sightseeing... We have so much fun! I wanna go back so bad," Cassie gushed.

"And you got a killer tan while you were there," Mariana remarked with a tinge of envy.

Cassie smirked. "I sure did. I'll be so sad when it fades."

"But our trip was a lot of fun," Isaac added, smirking as well.

Felipe looked over at Lexi. "What were you up to during Reading Week?"

"Not thinking of you, if that's what you're implying," Lexi joked.

Nikita cracked up, as well as DeShawn, Mariana, and Isaac. Even Cassie couldn't help but laugh at the hilarious remark. Felipe pouted briefly, but he still joined in momentarily.

"So, what were you actually up to?" DeShawn asked.

"Honesty? Not a whole lot. I stayed here and worked most of the time," Lexi admitted.

Mariana looked confused. "Why didn't you go back to San Diego?"

"My parents went away to Aruba and I wasn't able to go on such short notice. It's no big deal, though; it was nice to have the dorm to myself. Er, no offense, Nikita."

"None taken," Nikita said. "I'm still taking you to a house party to make up for it."

"That's not happening."

Cassie remained silent throughout, and kept up a sympathetic look for appearances. She had to silently remind herself to not laugh or tease Lexi about how she'd spent her Reading Week at school. The poor girl had been stuck at NYU while she and Isaac had been off vacationing in Hawaii. Clearly, her week off from school had been a hell of a lot more fun than Lexi's. Cassie felt a lot better about herself, especially since she and Isaac had had their stupid fight during their vacation. That felt like nothing compared to the idea of being all alone at school and having to also work.

Poor little Lexi, she thought, I almost feel sorry for you... Almost.