Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 12

With Reading Week now over, all NYU students were back on campus to resume their studies. Isaac had returned by Sunday and spent his time at home, catching up with Felipe and DeShawn on what they did during their week off. He ended up staying awake longer than he wished, making it harder to wake up for his 10 AM lecture the following day. He was in a bit of a daze most of the morning, which made it difficult to focus during his first class back. But it wasn't just his late night that had left him unable to pay attention. He also found himself thinking back to the thoughts that had come up in the aftermath of his latest run-in with Cassie.

Should I get back into dating? And if I do...should I ask Lexi out?

When the second question came up, Isaac's eyes widened. He then slowly looked around to see if his peers had given him weird looks over his newfound bug-eyed expression. Luckily, they were too busy either focusing on the lecture or staring at their laptops. So, Isaac resigned himself to think the matter over while pretending to pay attention to the lecture.

Why the hell was Lexi the first woman that came up? She's a good friend, and that's it! I shouldn't want to date her. But then again... We already kissed once before, even if it was an accident.

Isaac tuned back to the class to see that his professor was about to wrap things up. He looked down at his watch to see that it was almost one o'clock. Once class was dismissed and he'd finished collecting his things, he decided to grab some lunch. He had another class in about an hour, so he couldn't return home just yet.

Isaac left class and entered the cafeteria a few minutes later. He purchased a BLT sandwich, which he ate rather fast. He thought about texting Lexi everything but changed his mind in an instant. This was something important— he needed to see her reaction and how well she took his request.

I wish I knew when I'll see her next, Isaac thought as he began to leave the cafeteria.

But as he got out of his seat, he suddenly spotted Nikita sitting with a woman several feet away. His long-time friend was eating lunch at a table while chatting away with the mystery woman, whose back was currently facing him.

That couldn't possibly be Lexi, Isaac thought in disbelief.

Judging just from the hair and the large tote that sat nearby, it could've been her. But then again, he could've easily been wrong. She easily could've been someone from Nikita's major, or someone else entirely. Still, he decided to take a chance and walked past her table. From out of the corner of his eye, he realized that the mystery woman was definitely Lexi.

Well, there's no excuse to not ask her out now, he thought.

With that, he approached Lexi and Nikita's table, where each woman greeted him kindly.

"You can join us for lunch if you want," Lexi offered.

Isaac shook his head. "I already ate, but thanks. Uh...Lexi, I know that this is a bad time, but I really need to ask you something."

"It's alright, you're not interrupting anything. What's up?"

"Lexi, would you like to...hang out sometime? Just the two of us, I mean. Somewhere far enough away from campus."

"Are you suggesting a...date?"

Isaac swallowed hard. "Yes, a date. I...uh, I didn't wanna freak you out by putting it that way, but...yeah, that's what I mean."

Lexi's eyes widened as she gaped her mouth a little. She blinked and ran a hand through her blonde wavy hair while trying to process his words. Meanwhile, Nikita covered her mouth with one hand to keep herself from interjecting. But she didn't want to freak Isaac out with a loud reaction, so she focused herself to stay quiet.