Sloane has been acting weird—giving me these looks that either means she has something to tell me or she's constipated. These are the times I miss you being in our group. You could have sussed out the situation and reported back. Now I just have to wait like a normal person. Ugh. You know patience is one of my fatal weaknesses. —Georgie aka Alexx
PS. Saw Ravi in the hallways today between third and fourth period and he waved at me! Seriously making progress with him. I bet by the end of the year we'll be a happy couple laughing over how silly nervous I was to even speak to him.
PPS. My dad gave me two tickets to My Fair Lady happening next week. You want to go with me?
Alex felt a flare of panic as the last bell of the day chimed across the loudspeakers. It was one thing to say she was going to do something but another to do it. Her feet dragged as she made her way to the school parking lot, scuffing her black boots.
She'd wracked her mind all afternoon trying to find a plausible explanation for what happened with Ravi, but the only thing she came up with was they were reenacting a scene out of a book for class. Sometimes it felt that way. Things were too intense between them.
Too...too...
Her skin grew hot as she thought of the way his eyes devoured her. So different from Hugo who made her feel cherished, adored even, but never consumed like a fire in a dry forest.
Hugo was leaning against the passenger door of his car; his head bent over his phone. His nose scrunched as he bit his tongue with his front teeth and hastily typed something back.
"Hey," she greeted when he lifted his head. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but she knew behind them, they were studying her. "Where's Alexx?"
He pocketed the phone and opened the door for her. As she passed, she caught the balmy moonlit scent she'd started to associate with him. "She got a ride with Sloane and Bri. They're headed over to the Playhouse to help with a set."
"Oh." So it would just be her and Hugo? An attack of nerves hit her as she slid in and buckled the seatbelt around her. Had Arlo told him about lunch? She peaked at him, searching for a clue, a sign—anything—but with his sunglasses on all she could see was the firm set of his mouth. She'd seen that look a hundred times over the years. Usually, when he was deep in studying for a test or was trying to level up during a particularly tricky game level.
"Are you up for a smoothie or something?" he asked after sliding in and shutting the door.
Surprise entered her voice. "You don't have to be at Playhouse too?"
"Nope. I'm all yours for the afternoon." Uncertainty dimmed his expression. "Or do you have to work on stuff for the play?"
Technically, she did but seeing his fledging hope gave her the push to say no. "A smoothie sounds great."
As they drove out of the parking lot, Alex locked eyes with Ravi who was standing by the curb. His backpack was casually slung over a shoulder, and he had a pair of headphones over his ears as his head bobbed with the beat. An air of "I don't give a crap" surrounded him, making other kids avoid him at all costs, however, she couldn't help but notice how alone and miserable he looked.
Her heart ached as his gaze darted from her to Hugo. Shock reflected back to her as well as a healthy dose of hurt. Guilt assuaged her, but she quickly shoved it down. She wasn't doing anything wrong. She was with Hugo—well, sort of—and Ravi knew that.
An upbeat song came over the speakers, drawing Alex away from Ravi and back to Hugo. Hugo cleared his throat, a nervous sound filling the car. "So, um, how are things with the drama club?"
Her muscles immediately tensed. "More difficult than I thought it would be. I mean, I knew it would be hard going into it, but..." She blew out a frustrated breath. "It's more than the costumes. Sewing, I can do, but everything else?" She shook her head as she remembered the text Keya sent her this morning. "It's in shambles."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"It's sweet of you to offer but unless you got a miracle packed away somewhere..."
"No miracles but I do have two good hands."
"I'd take you up on it if I thought it would help, but we need more than just set designers." She pursed her lips. "Can you keep a secret aka don't tell Georgie?"
He mimed zipping up his lips.
"We don't even have enough people to play all the parts. Already the smaller roles are being doubled up by people, but even that's not enough." Keya kept promising to recruit more students, but so far only two new kids had joined and frankly, their acting skills were about as good as her own which wasn't saying much.
"Seriously?" Hugo tilted his head, the afternoon sun highlighting his strong jaw and full lips.
And suddenly Alex felt like fanning her face. He might not have the broody, loner thing going for him the way Ravi did, but Hugo had his own charm—one that left her with butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, that was my reaction too."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I can't quit."
"It's not like you signed a contract. Tell them it's not working out and then come back to Playhouse." Hope shined in his voice. "We'd see each other more often. Hang out afterwards."
She was tempted by the picture he painted, but she shook her head. "I can't do that to Keya. She's depending on me."
"To work yourself to the bone for a play that's probably not going to happen?"
He didn't get it. Even if the play flopped, it was still something that she'd been apart of without Alexx. That meant something to her. As well as the fact that she'd promised Keya. Promises were meant to be kept.
Once they got to the smoothie shop, they ordered—her a mango banana blast and him a triple berry—and silently waited next to each other. A chord of anticipation ran between them, every second ticking to a fate that was still yet to be decided.
After getting their orders, they walked around back to where a small pavilion with benches stood surrounded by trees that were slowly shedding their autumn leaves. She took her cues from Hugo, sitting next to him in silence. Tension mounted as she took a long sip.
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry," she said in a burst of nervous energy.
Hugo didn't pretend to misunderstand. "Are you dating him?" he asked in a stiff tone matching his equally stiff body. All his muscles were strung tighter than a violin.
"We're friends." She remembered the way Ravi looked at her. "Kind of."
"Like we're kind of dating?" he asked.
It wasn't that defined and yet, she couldn't give an entirely negative answer. "It's complicated."
He nodded, his gaze fixated on his shoes as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. "And we're not official."
"No, we're not," she murmured, thinking of Libby and her texts. She wanted to ask about their relationship, but that would mean admitting she looked at his phone.
"Do you want to be?" he asked softly.
She took a moment to think about it and quell the turning in her stomach. Quietly, she asked back, "What do you want?" It seemed like he'd already made up his mind, but then she thought about his offer on the ride over and was confused.
"Things are..." He flexed his hands as he searched for the right word. "...complicated right now."
Alex laughed a little. "Sounds familiar."
He flashed a brief smile, and then his lips turned down. "I like you. I want to get to know you better. That hasn't changed."
"But...?"
His mouth pinched as his voice lowered. "A lot is happening right now. I need to get serious about my future."
Her stomach pitched forward, feeling like she was in free fall. "And I'm in the way?"
"Hell no. But you're a distraction." He sent her a meaningful glance. "And I think I'm a distraction for you too."
A fine tremble coursed through her body, which she attributed to the cold smoothie. "So where does that leave us?"
Shifting, Hugo rested his arms on his knees, his foot tapping to an internal dialogue that seemed conflicted. At least, that's what she thought as the lines around his mouth creased. "I'm not sure. I go back and forth on it, but I guess it's a moot point if you don't want to continue to explore this thing with me. Do you?"
If she could shut out the rest of the world, then it was a simple answer—one hundred percent yes. She liked Hugo. That was never in question. But add everything else to the mix, and her straight forward feelings were suddenly a big bowl of hodge lodge.
"It's complicated?" he asked with a hint of humor when it was clear she was struggling to answer.
She sent him a grateful smile, which he returned. See! This right here was why she liked Hugo. It was natural with him. Easy. Even their awkward moments were filled with an air of comfortability. "It's not that I don't want to continue seeing you..." she petered out as her thoughts scrambled.
"But...?" he drawled.
She played with ends of her hair, wrapping the strands around her finger. "I've never been in a relationship before so I don't know the ins and outs, but a part of me thinks that being in a relationship means the other person is a priority." She hesitated, afraid to lay out her feelings, but decided to go for it in a rush of words. "And not to be mean or anything but I don't think we're each other's priorities. You have your future plans to figure out, and I have the drama club."
Hugo slowly nodded. "You're not wrong. I fully admit that I could have tried harder to hang out with you."
Alex laid a hand on his at the shame in his voice. "I'm the exact same way. I could have made time for you, but I didn't." She could have pushed off a meeting with Keya, or given an hour of her sewing time to hang out with him, but she didn't and didn't that say something?
"So, what now? We go back to being pseudo friends who see each other between classes or when you hang out with my sister?"
That seemed wrong on all accounts. "I don't want that. Do you?"
Hugo shook his head, his blonde hair flopping around. "I like being with you. I like hearing what you have to say. It matters to me. You matter to me." He put his smoothie down and clasped both of her hands. "What if we took a break for a while? Give you time to finish the play and me time to figure out what the hell I'm doing about college?"
Nodding, she bit her lower lip, remembering what Hugo had said about his dad and expectations. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He hesitated. "Maybe later. I think we've deep-dived into the dark enough for today."
"Later," she agreed, trying not to feel slighted. Is this what he and Libby talked about? Libby was more qualified. Probably passed along all types of nuggets of wisdom.
A text had Hugo reaching for his phone. His forehead creased as he read it. "Do you mind if we make a quick stop to Playhouse? There's an emergency."
Alex immediately stood. "Is everything okay? Is it Georgie?"
"She's fine. There's a problem with the set, and they need me ASAP." He stood and ushered her to the car. "I just need to check on it, and then I can take you home. It'll be thirty minutes. Top."
"Of course. No problem," Alex assured him.
A crowd was forming outside when they pulled into Playhouse's parking lot. Alexx's blue eyes were wide as saucers when she saw Alex jump out of Hugo's car. She ran over, huffing as she asked, "What are you doing here?"
Alex worried Sloane or Bri had spilled the beans about her lunch with Ravi, but judging by Alexx's friendliness, they had kept quiet. "Just had smoothies with Hugo." Over Alexx's shoulder, she saw Libby saddling up to Hugo as he strode to the Playhouse, a bright smile on her face.
"Uh-oh," her best friend muttered. "You don't look happy. What happened? Did you two break up?" She followed Alex's gaze and muttered, "Oh no." Disappointment shimmered in her eyes. "He finally told you about her?"
Alex froze. "Wait, you knew about them—Hugo and Libby?"
Her best friend's face drained of color. "They've just been talking. I swear it, Freddy. I even asked him about her, and he said that's all that happened and you know my brother. He wouldn't lie."
The familiar pang of guilt at her own lies rose up, but Alex shoved it to the side with brutal force. "You knew this whole time?"
"It wasn't that long. They've barely been talking—"
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. It wasn't that Hugo was talking to Libby—she already knew—but the fact that Alexx had kept it a secret.
"Because I knew this would happen!" Alexx threw her hands up. "You would freak out, jump to conclusions, and then any chance of you being my sister-in-law would vanish."
This was precisely the same situation as when Alexx kept Wendy hiring Libby a secret. It wouldn't have mattered so much if her reason behind it wasn't self-centered, but it was. It always came down to what Alexx wanted. "What about opening up and telling the truth? Remember that?" she asked.
"I remember." Alexx shook her head, frustration stamped in her veins. "I also remember all the times you shut down when I tell you something."
"That's not true."
Snorting, Alexx put her hands on her hips. "I love you, Freddy, but you can be as cold as a freezer and just as shut off when you want to be."
Her eyes stung at the cutting remark. "I am not," she insisted.
"You are, and it's okay because that's who you are. I've accepted that just like you've accepted me and all my problems."
"And you have so many," Alex said with feeling.
Her best friend just grinned. "Exactly. It's why we're best friends."
But would they remain best friends when Alexx learned the truth about her complicated feelings for Ravi? "Listen, Georgie, I need to tell you—"
"Hey, Alex."
Her muscles tensed. Speak of the devil. Why did he have to interrupt now of all times? Bracing herself, she slowly turned. "Hey, Ravi." Behind him, she could see Sloane and Bri lurking, watching the three of them with keen interest.
"Ravi!" Alexx exclaimed, her voice an octave higher than normal. That only happened when she was excited and nervous. "Is everything okay with the set?"
He nodded, briefly looking at her best friend before focusing solely on Alex. "It will be thanks to Hugo. Good thing Libby had the idea to text him."
A fissure of jealousy crept into her heart. So Libby was the one who interrupted them. A sudden idea hit as she caught a flash of satisfaction in Ravi's eye. Or was Libby put up to it by someone else? "Will it be long?" she asked Ravi. "Hugo promised to take me home."
His gleam vanished, replaced by frustration. "I don't know. It could be awhile. Nisha is coming to pick me up in a bit. I'm sure you can catch a ride with us."
Hugo suddenly appeared next to her. He sent Ravi a tight smile as his tone brokered no argument. "No need. I got her."
Ravi took a tiny step forward, flashing his pearly whites in what could only be described as predatory. "You sure? It's no trouble."
"Positive," Hugo snapped.
Alexx's mouth parted slightly as she glanced between the two. "What's going on? I thought you guys were friends." Everyone froze, suddenly aware of where they were and who they were with.
Hugo licked his bottom lip. "We are friends, but you see—"
Sloane interrupted, pinning Alex with a cold, hard glare that had her heart-stopping. "Yes, Freddy. What's going on?"