Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 26

Isaac's birthday was only a few days after his and Cassie's last fight. He was awake earlier than he wished because he had his Calculus II lecture at nine in the morning that day. If it wasn't for the fact that the professor marked attendance, he would've skipped class without a second thought. But he had to drag himself there, if only because he didn't want his attendance mark to needlessly slip.

Before he headed off to class, he decided to try and reach Cassie yet again. He'd sent her another apologetic text since their fight, but had yet to hear a peep from his girlfriend. So, he changed his approach and called her, knowing that she would be awake now because she also had an early class that day. Unfortunately for Isaac, he was only able to reach her voicemail. He hoped that she hadn't intentionally missed his call, and left a short message.

"Hey, babe! I was hoping to talk to you, so could you please call me back? I love you, and I hope to hear from you soon. Bye!"

Isaac hung up, finished gathering his things, and then left for his lecture. He tried to focus hard on the class, but that proved to be more challenging than expected. Snippets of his and Cassie's spat replayed enough to distract him from whatever his professor was going on about. He wished that he and his girlfriend were on better terms so that they could go out and celebrate his birthday like they had tried to plan only days before.

I don't understand why we're still fighting even with Lexi out of the picture, he thought.

Lexi. He hadn't thought much of her ever since their fallout after the Thanksgiving weekend. He'd seen her hanging out with his friends, especially Nikita. He'd heard that they were really good friends, but that Lexi didn't hang out with many other people outside of that friend group. He wanted to resume their friendship, but she didn't seem like she was about to change her mind on the matter.

This is shaping up to be one shitty birthday, Isaac thought. Hopefully the guys will wanna hang out later.

That idea kept him in an optimistic mood for the second half of his lecture. He managed to pay attention during the remainder of class, though his mood wasn't fully brightened. Once the lecture finally ended, he left for his dorm to have lunch and relax for the day. It wasn't until he made it home that he received a text from the last person he'd expected.

Lexi: Hey, Nikita told me that today's your birthday. So...happy birthday! Enjoy your day.

Rather than send a thank you in response, Isaac decided on a whim to give her a call. He didn't expect her to pick up at all, but she surprised him for the second time by doing just that.

"Hello."

"Hey, Lexi! I just got your text, and I wanted to say thank you."

"Oh...you're welcome, Isaac."

An awkward moment of silence came and went, with neither one wanting to address the bigger issue at hand.

"Uh...do you have a minute, actually? Please?" Isaac asked.

Lexi seemed to hesitate. "Sure."

"Let me start by saying that I'm not looking for a fight. I understand why you did what you did. I was wrong for what I said, and I understand that now. Can we please move past this?"

"No."

Isaac gaped like a fish. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Isaac, but we can't be friends because of Cassie's behaviour. Until she stops acting so jealous once and for all, I don't feel comfortable getting close to you. I know it's stupid, but I'm sick of getting yelled at."

"And I'm sick of it, too! Is there anything I can do to fix this?"

Lexi scoffed. "Really?"

"Okay, forget I asked that. I guess we're not gonna see eye to eye on this, are we?"

"I'm afraid not."

At this, Isaac gave up on resolving the issue. "Whatever. If you're not gonna budge, then I'm done talking to you."

He hung up without waiting for a response from Lexi. He felt a little guilty for suddenly being so abrupt, but it had been a rash reaction to her stubbornness.

This is so fucked up that it's not even funny anymore, Isaac thought. I guess I'm hanging out with the guys tonight. At least none of them are angry with me.

***

Later that night, DeShawn joined Isaac and Felipe in their shared dorm for a long night of video games, junk food, and action movies. The guys were currently watching an old action movie they'd already seen many times before while sharing an extra-large pepperoni pizza. Given the fact that they'd already seen this particular movie numerous times, they freely talked amongst themselves over it.

"So, how's your birthday been?" Felipe asked.

"Horrible. But I don't wanna get into it," Isaac answered.

"That sucks. I take it you haven't heard from Cassie recently?" DeShawn inquired.

"Yeah, but it's not just that," Isaac said. "Do you two wanna know the rest?"

Both friends nodded in response.

"Alright, fine. Lexi texted me happy birthday earlier today. It's a bit of a big deal 'cause we haven't spoken since our massive blowout."

"I remember that! Did you try to fix your friendship?" DeShawn asked.

"I did, but it didn't work at all," Isaac confessed with newfound frustration. "She wasn't having it. I didn't realize just how stubborn Lexi is until our talk on the phone."

"Damn, she's tougher than I thought!" Felipe laughed. "I wouldn't wanna piss her off!"

Isaac rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. I fucked up big time."

"No shit!"

"I hate to say it, but you're right," DeShawn added.

"Can we please stop talking about it? I'm really sick of just thinking about all this bullshit, let alone discussing it," Isaac said.

"Okay, okay, okay, we'll stop talking about it," Felipe replied. "Besides, you need to try and get ready for when I finally kick your ass later!"

"Oh, fuck you!" Isaac bellowed. "You're both screwed!"

DeShawn laughed. "This isn't gonna end well for either of you, and you guys damn well know it."