Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 18

November was an uneventful blur for most NYU students. Their professors had them quite busy with multiple papers, in-class assignments, and even pop quizzes. Adding to that stress was the knowledge that final exams were less than a month away. It was enough to make most, if not all students anxious and worried over how they'd manage to pass their classes. So when Thanksgiving weekend rolled around, students were thrilled to have a small break from the stresses of university.

Isaac was one such student that was excited to spend time with his family for the long weekend. On the day before Thanksgiving, he sat in the living room of his parents' home in Buffalo with them, his sister Laura, and extended family from his dad's side. He enjoyed catching up with everyone about how school was going and how his roommates were doing. Some of the questions were slightly repetitive, but he happily answered them anyway. He was just glad to be at home to see his family once again. He enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner, followed by more conversation. A couple of hours later, all of his extended family members had left. Isaac, his sister, and their parents sat in the living room as the night continued to drag on.

"Geez, I hardly got to talk to you today," Isaac's mother suddenly remarked. "Everyone else kept asking you about school and your friends while I was too busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I only got around to asking your sister about her schooling and friends 'cause she came into the kitchen to help out. I feel awful."

"Don't worry about it, Mom," Isaac insisted. "You can ask me now."

"Me first!" Laura laughed. "How's your second year of university?"

"I won't lie— it hasn't been easy. But I'm still doing well in all my classes. How about you?"

"School's good! I still can't believe it's my last year at Rutgers! I still need to polish up my resume soon 'cause I'll be looking for a full-time nursing job soon. Just saying that is crazy to me."

"That's awesome," Isaac remarked. "I don't even wanna think about having to do that in a couple of years."

Laura laughed. "Focus on finishing school first, okay?"

"Your sister's right," their father piped up. "So, how are Felipe and DeShawn doing?"

"They're doing good," Isaac answered. "We've all been pretty busy with school this month, so we haven't talked too much. No one's mad at anyone— we're just really busy with our classes right now. Considering Felipe's a Computer Engineering student and DeShawn's studying Biochemistry, I'm sure they're both under a lot of stress like me."

His father nodded. "That makes sense."

"Yeah, that's kinda what my roommate and I are like when school gets stressful," Laura said. "We simply ignore each other 'cause we're so preoccupied with finishing the semester well."

"Nikita's doing well, too," Isaac added. He paused with hesitation but carried on anyway. "Oh yeah— I started dating someone else, too."

His mother's eyes went wide and his father's jaw dropped. Laura, however, became giddy with excitement at the news. She grinned widely and clasped her hands together.

"You look happy," Isaac noted.

"I am! You seemed so sad when you and Cassie broke up...I was hoping you'd find someone else," Laura explained.

"What's her name?" his mother asked.

"Alexandra, but everyone calls her Lexi. She's actually Nikita's roommate."

"I take it you met her through Nikita, then?" his father asked.

"Yeah, we met last year," Isaac clarified. "They were roommates last year, and Nikita introduced her to me and our friends. She's from San Diego and goes to NYU, too."