Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 3

On the first day of school, Lexi had her lone elective, Criminology II, early in the morning. She left class feeling good; it seemed interesting, and her professor was a former criminal prosecutor who shared some stories about past cases. That said, she was rather tired since it had been an eight AM class. She yawned as she slowly trotted down the stairs of the building and blinked hard when she walked out into the late summer heat.

"Lexi!"

At first, Lexi thought she was hearing things. She was tired and not paying attention to her surroundings, so it seemed plausible. She looked around to make sure she was right but soon saw a familiar face a couple of feet away from the building where she had had her class.

"Are you stalking me?" she teased while approaching him.

Isaac laughed. "I have an economics course in the same building. I was about to head home but saw you and figured I'd say hi."

"Makes sense. What's the course called?"

"World Economy I."

Lexi raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, that's something I wouldn't be good at."

"It sounds boring, but I love it."

"That's good. Hey, remember our last talk a couple of days ago? When we were texting, we discussed that we should hang out sometime."

"Yeah, I remember. Wanna hang out now?"

"Wait, really? Are you sure? You don't have to drop everything for me."

"Yeah, let's go to The Bean's Knees for some coffee."

"Oh, sure!"

The pair spent the next several minutes walking over to The Bean's Knees, which was busier since the breakfast trip with their friend group. They still managed to get their drinks and find a small table in the bustling coffee shop.

"Wow, it's a friggin' zoo in here!" Lexi remarked.

"I guess all the new students are checking this place out like we did last year," Isaac said. "I think it'll be less busy next week."

Lexi nodded in agreement. "Anyways, you said the other day that dating wasn't going well. Why's that?"

"It's just been a huge shit show, to put it mildly. I'm beginning to think that I unintentionally attract crazy women. Some are needy, and some are vain because they won't shut up about themselves. There are also a lot of women who are only after sex, and nothing else. It's all been so frustrating that I've decided to not date during school. I need to focus on my studies, not on girls."

"Jesus Christ, that all sounds like hell! I can't say I blame you for wanting to stay away from dating. But if you change your mind, I'll happily be your wing-woman again."

Isaac laughed at the suggestion. "I'll keep it in mind. Thanks, Lexi."

"Anytime."

Lexi sipped her drink again with a grin. She then opened her mouth to change the subject, but she never got the words out.

That's because Cassie appeared from seemingly out of nowhere with her trademark scowl etched onto her trademark scowl. Cassie's eyes were narrowed, her hands were on her hips, and her lips were firmly pursed. That last part only changed when she opened her mouth.

"Wow, this is pathetic as hell!" she taunted. She then turned to Isaac, appearing to be seemingly disappointed. "You can do so much better, Isaac. How do you not know that?"

Rather than respond, Isaac shook his head in disbelief with a small smirk. But Lexi didn't keep her mouth shut.

"Get over yourself, Cassie," she hissed. "I don't know if you remember, but Isaac and I are just friends— nothing more, nothing less. Now, can you please go away?"

Cassie was fuming throughout but didn't retort to Lexi's request. She instead left The Bean's Knees without saying another word. Isaac and Lexi exchanged bewildered glances before laughing about the ridiculousness of Cassie's outburst. As upsetting as the exchange had been, they couldn't help but laugh about it.

Once the laughter faded, Lexi suddenly spotted Isaac on his phone. He put it away a moment ago with an apologetic smile.

"I just texted Mariana about Cassie's latest stunt. Hopefully, she can straighten her out," he explained. "She can also think of it as a warning that her best friend's not gonna be happy when she sees her next."

Lexi bit her lip to suppress a laugh. "Good idea. I have a feeling she'll appreciate the heads up."

***

Cassie was in a foul mood long after her afternoon class had ended on the first day of school. But it wasn't caused by school itself. Ever since she'd encountered Lexi and Isaac earlier and dealt with the former's nasty attitude, she couldn't think straight. She'd only insulted Lexi just to upset her, but it only seemed to have angered her enemy. It appeared as though it had amused Isaac like he'd expected her to do such a thing. This not only left Cassie upset but also embarrassed that she had more than likely overreacted. Sure, Isaac was single, but it stung to see him hanging out with Lexi one-on-one again.

I hope to God they weren't talking about me before I showed up, Cassie thought as she entered her apartment.

She entered to find Mariana in the kitchen, presumably cooking dinner. Her best friend left that room to greet her, which is when Cassie noticed just how annoyed she looked.

"What's wrong?"

"Isaac texted me earlier— apparently, you snapped on him and Lexi?"

"Oh...yeah, I did. Jesus Christ, you sound like my dad right now," Cassie remarked.

Mariana relaxed but was still unimpressed. "You really upset him and Lexi."

"I don't give a shit about Lexi's feelings, and you damn well know that," Cassie sneered. She paused to collect herself. "But I shouldn't have done that in front of Isaac."

"I don't care for Lexi either, but upsetting Isaac really wasn't a smart move."

"Yeah, you make a good point. Goddamn it!"

Mariana returned to the kitchen seconds later. Cassie threw her purse onto the living room couch and sat down to text Isaac.

Cassie: Hey, can we please talk? I'm sorry about earlier.

Isaac: Leave me alone.

Having not expected such a blunt response, Cassie pouted. She lightly tossed her phone on top of her purse, frustrated to have embarrassed herself. If she really wanted Isaac back, she needed to smarten up and win him over with her charm and kind words. There would be no more stupid insults or dramatic outbursts coming out of her. No, she had to keep it together so that she could get her ex-boyfriend back successfully.