“The kind of name a person who would burn down the world for what he loves owns.” Lex stops at a car’s passenger side, opens the door, and extends his hand like a rogue prince. The alluring sparks of a man on the edge of losing his mind whilelooking at the last thing holding the scraps of his sanity together flicker through his eyes. And the act is too pristine.
“What did I say about using roles to toy with my emotions?” All the same, I take his hand and let myself be a dark, beloved princess, if only for an instant, if only to get into the car.
Lex, the jerk, lingers, holding my hand and meeting my eyes. “I thought the restriction was just on Kenneth. Is it, perhaps, on all characters you find devilishly attractive? Or, rather, is the rule actually that I’m not allowed to act in any way that might risk you falling in love with me?”
Breath stilted and lips parted, I stare at him.
The act breaks in an instant, and he pulls his hand away, fullyLexwhen he straightens. A touch of red fills his face. “My bad. I got carried away again. I can have more muffins ready for you tomorrow. Also, since I apparently have a problem, you are absolutely allowed to just hit me next time.”
My mouth closes, and I laugh.
His face morphs into a goofy grin, and he closes the door for me before walking around the car and getting in on the driver’s side. “I take it I’m forgiven?”
“You’re an absolute nutcase. With or without the act.” I cover my face with a hand, feeling the heat scald my cold fingers. “As if I’d forgive you before I get my apology muffins. I hope they cost fifteen dollars each.”
“Yet again your expectations for my life astound me. There just aren’t enough people who live in castles in this part of town for any bakery demand to be able to sustain those prices. There would be a surplus in a week that would lead them to excess at the best and bankruptcy at the worst.”
“Ooh. Business nerd speech. As expected from the son of such a prestigious company.” I rest my head back against the seat and close my eyes, letting my hand fall to my lap. I’ll be okay. Like this, right here, with Lex, I’ll be perfectly fine. “Takeme sometime,” I say, with all the confidence I have whenever I summon him to my side on stage.
When I do, he never hesitates.
And he doesn’t now either. “To the place where I get the muffins?”
“Yeah.”
I can hear the smile in his voice. “Okay. It’s a date.”
Lex
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Calypso lives in a little neighborhood with all the houses that look the same and narrow alleys between. The pastel colors of the buildings melt together until the whole scene gives off an emotion that seems safe and worn.
Nothing bad happens in this little neighborhood. Families live here, and the laughter of children playing wakes everyone on the weekends.
Calypso leads me down through the winding streets and into the far back of the snaking maze of roads. I commit every turn to memory and burn the brand of her little yellow house into the back of my mind when she points at it.
“That’s me.” A tinge of relief coats her tone, and I pull into the empty single-car drive. “Mom’s not home yet, so there’s no chance of her poking her head out the window and discovering this scandal.” She reaches for her backpack and pulls it up onto her lap. “Thank you for taking me home.”
“Anytime.” It’s too polite, sterile. Like we’re just business partners or something. Leaving one hand resting on the wheel, I lean back and watch her. “That is, any time you want a scandal, just let me know. Really. I mean it. I’m always up for a scandal.”
Her eyes roll, but the brightness in them is unmistakable as she adjusts her glasses. “No doubt tomorrow is going to be a scandal for you. I give it five minutes before you overhear the whispered words ‘girls’ bathroom’.”
“Ooh. I can’t wait. My reputation was starting to get a little too tame, what with you and Rebecca and Jason all hanging around. That’s a whole friend group. Pretty sure people were starting to think I was approachable or something.”
“Because you are.” She opens the door but doesn’t get out. Isshe lingering? Is she just as not ready to say goodbye as I am?
“Before you knew me at all, was I really?”
Calypso scans me, from my dark hair straight down my chest, then she looks away. “Okay, maybe not. Why make such an effort not to be?”
Because I knew from the start I’d be leaving before long. I’m not good at keeping up relationships long-distance; they exhaust me more than I care to admit. One friend is more than enough work for later. I press my lips together and shrug. “I could say the same to you.”
She, unlike me, answers honestly. “I’m bad with relationships. It’s just been Mom and me for so long, I guess I’ve forgotten how to people. Every relationship I’ve had since high school has been an accident. And most all those accidents started beginning of this school year. Yes—I’m blaming you.”
A single question burns in my head, and it takes a moment for my curiosity to battle my manners. In the end, curiosity wins. “Just you and your mom…?”
Her attention leaves me to cling to her house, then roams toward the ever-darkening sky. “Dad did leave. I’m just not all pouty beat-up about it like when I joked with you. He calls, when he remembers. I get texts on birthdays and holidays. That sort of thing.”
