Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 34

Lexi's birthday took place about a week later. She was excited when it finally rolled around, but wasn't looking forward to whatever Nikita had up her sleeve. She prayed that there wasn't a surprise party, and was relieved to learn that that wasn't the case. She learned that when Nikita asked her a few days prior what she wanted to do to celebrate.

"I don't want to party, or do anything crazy," Lexi had insisted. "I just want a quiet birthday, if that's okay."

"Oh, alright," Nikita had replied. "I won't pull anything like that, I promise."

On the day of her birthday, Lexi's parents both texted her to wish their daughter a happy birthday. She thanked them profusely, all while wishing that she could be with them to celebrate. It wasn't the end of the world that they weren't together, but she was in the mood for a family dinner out. She told herself to quit worrying over it so she could carry on with her day as usual.

With today being her only day off from both school and work this week, she spent her morning finishing her assignments while listening to music. It was a quiet morning, but she was far from upset about it. Nikita had classes from eight in the morning until almost five o'clock that evening, leaving her roommate with the dorm to herself. While she had no qualms of sharing her dorm, it wasn't hard for Lexi to admit that she liked the peace and quiet that came with being alone. She was able to complete most of her schoolwork with little distractions, resulting in her getting more caught up than expected.

For a moment, she considered tidying up her bedroom and even do some cleaning. But she swatted the idea away when she realized just how silly it was.

I should be socializing and having fun...yet here I am, working and considering cleaning on my birthday, she thought with a smirk. I'm probably the weirdest college kid I know.

The sound of her phone vibrating startled her out of her thoughts. She grabbed it and saw that she had a new text from a familiar person.

Isaac: Happy birthday, Lexi! Hope you have a good day. Sorry if I'm bugging you.

Lexi: Thank you! LOL you're not bugging me. I have the day off from school & work, so I'm just relaxing.

Isaac: Good. So then you're free this afternoon?

Lexi: I'm free all day, actually. What's up?

Isaac: Wanna go out for lunch to celebrate your birthday?

Lexi: Yeah, sure! I hope you don't mind.

Isaac: If I did mind, I wouldn't have offered in the first place.

Lexi: LOL true. What time?

Isaac: Is 1PM okay? We can meet at The Bean's Knees 'cause it's close.

Lexi: See you at 1 (:

***

A few hours later, Lexi walked over to The Bean's Knees to meet up with Isaac. She was a little early, but he was already waiting for her a couple feet away from the café. She greeted him with a big hug and smile.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it," Isaac said. "I know I'm early."

Lexi laughed as the two entered and got in line. Isaac went first, with Lexi right beside him.

"What do you want?" he asked after he ordered. "It's on me."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Lexi thanked him before placing her order. Once they each received their food, they found a table and began eating.

"Thanks again for doing this," Lexi said.

"You're welcome," Isaac replied. "Knowing you, I had the idea that you weren't gonna really do anything to celebrate your birthday. I figured this was the least I could do."

"Well, thank you. I really appreciate it."

A few minutes went by with little chatter, as the pair were more focused on eating than talking. Lexi decided to take the conversation towards a different direction.

"Since I haven't had the chance to talk to you since last week, I wanted to know— how are you doing?"

Isaac frowned a bit, but tried to stay upbeat. "I'm not gonna lie, I've been better."

It was Lexi's turn to frown slightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me. I've mostly been focused on school because it keeps me distracted from everything that's happened. I don't really talk about how I'm feeling to Felipe and DeShawn 'cause I don't think they wanna hear it. But they've been helpful by also distracting me when we play video games or whatever. They probably don't think that they're helping, but I do."

"It's better than nothing, I suppose. I know it's soon, but have you even thought about dating again?"

"No way. I don't want to get into a relationship anytime soon. After being in a long-term relationship that ended so badly, I need to be single for quite a while now."

Lexi nodded. "That makes sense, but I think you're overthinking things a little."

"What do you mean?"

"I totally get why you wanna stay single for as long as you can. But there's no harm in doing a little casual dating. Just see a girl here and there if anyone's interested. No one's suggesting you find another girlfriend or that you start sleeping around. God no, don't turn into Felipe."

Isaac's laughter cut her off, but Lexi didn't mind. She found herself laughing as well before she resumed her train of thought.

"A couple dates never hurt anyone," she added. "Just make it clear to whoever you're going out with that you're not interested in sex or anything too serious."

"You do make a good point," Isaac admitted. "I'll think about it."

"That's all you can do," Lexi said. "And if you want my help in getting back into dating, please don't be afraid to ask."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course. I hate to see you sad and depressed, so I'm more than happy to help."

Isaac smiled. "Thank you, Lexi— really. I don't think I deserve it, but I'll keep it in mind."

"Anytime, Isaac. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Correct. I hope you enjoyed lunch out."

"Absolutely, and thank you again so much for doing this. I enjoyed myself a lot."

With that, the two friends hugged and said their goodbyes before heading out of the café in different directions.