The Unsolvable Equation

Twenty-six

“What would you be having, Alexia? The black pepper steak here is exquisite, I must say!” Mrs Gordon asked her cheerily.

“Alexia doesn’t like steak,” Caden murmured. That’s strange, she thought, How does he know that? I never once discussed dietary preferences with him.

Alexia hurriedly did a scan of the menu and hoped that she would be able to choke down whatever meal she picked, especially with the Judgement day report book right smack in front of her. “I’ll have the chicken pasta,” she decided. Please, please be a safe choice.

“So Alexia,” Mrs Gordon began. “How was the dance? I hear from Caden that it was a lot of fun.”

Alexia felt a pinch of jealousy. Caden felt that the dance was fun? Why? He spent the whole night with Natalie, for God’s sake! But to Mrs Gordon, she simply shrugged. “It was okay. Wasn’t my cup of tea, though,” she replied as nonchalantly as she could.

Mrs Gordon chuckled, then turned to Alexia’s mom. “Caden actually went with a girl, can you believe it? Kids these days, it seems having a date is a prerequisite to going to a dance these days!” They shared a motherly kind of laugh which made Alexia and Caden both shuffle in discomfort.

“What a lucky girl to be able to accompany such a fine young man,” Alexia’s mother said, a tad bit too dreamily, and glanced at Alexia. Alexia was mortified. Is Mom hinting that she wants me to get together with Caden? “Alexia had a date too! Lovely boy, very respectful,” she couldn’t resist adding, and leaned in closer, which did little to block out what she said next in a whisper that really wasn’t a whisper. “I think she really likes him.” Alexia started to consider how she might avoid charges of assault if she ran over and pinned down her mother that very instant, and how she might then fly out of the country and begin a new life.

“Mom!” she hissed through her teeth. “Stop!

Alexia’s mother rolled her eyes and shared an all-knowing, motherly (again!) look with Mrs Gordon, that seemed to say “Kids!”.

As if I wasn’t feeling awkward enough before, she had to go add that little tidbit and now Caden must think I’m the worst excuse for a human being ever!

The conversation shifted to something else Alexia didn’t care for, and she managed to survive looking down at her lap until the food came. However, she couldn’t resist stealing glances at Caden every once in awhile. Sometimes, he caught her eye and tried to smile at her or initiate conversation, to which she only had one word, conversation-killer answers.

“Are you okay, Honey?” Alexia’s mother asked suddenly, while she was in the middle of chewing. “You seem awfully quiet tonight.”

Alexia began to wonder if she had done something wrong, because her mother seemed hell-bent on making her already-tumultuous life descend into the next level of hell. “M’mm fine,” Alexia tried to reply in between mouthfuls, and ended up spitting out a strand of spaghetti. Ugh! That’s so embarrassing! Now not only am I an asshole, I’m one lacking etiquette!

Luckily, Caden didn’t seem to notice, and it seemed that he had finally given up on trying to interact with Alexia, because he spent the rest of the dinner in the same position as she was in, taking great interest in his own hands. Alexia tried to swallow down the rest of her meal, and was pretty proud of herself when she was able to rearrange the leftovers in such a way that they appear lesser than they actually were. She was about to excuse herself to go to the toilet, buying herself a few minutes alone, when she felt a tug on her sleeve. She glanced down to see Caden’s sister, Cheyenne, smiling at her. “Caden says you’re going to France,” she said excitedly. “That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to go to France!”

Alexia tried her best to muster up a smile. “I am! Though it’s with the school,” she replied.

Cheyenne’s eyes gleamed. “Wow, but you get to fly so far away with all your friends! And France has such hot guys, I bet you’ll come home with some hunky boyfriend!”

Alexia laughed. “Don’t count on it, I’m not much of a looker, and neither am I interested in that kind of stuff.”

Cheyenne frowned. “Oh wait, you can’t date a French guy because you have a boyfriend,” she said dejectedly, actually looking disappointed on Alexia’s behalf.

“I don’t have a boyfriend!” Alexia exclaimed, horrified. “Who told you that?”

“Caden,” was Cheyenne’s innocent reply.

Alexia forced a laugh. “No, no! Almier is just a friend!”

Cheyenne frowned. “Who’s Almier?”

Alexia blinked. “Isn’t that who your brother told you I was allegedly dating.”

Cheyenne shook her head. “That’s not what he told me.”