No, I still haven't talked to my mom, and it's eating me alive. I wish I knew what to do. If only I hadn't seen that text message then I could pretend this whole thing isn't real. Have you noticed life seems to be made up of "if only" moments? If only I'd done this or if only I hadn't said that. I wonder what type of new tapestry would emerge if I stitched all those "if only's" together. Perhaps something better than what I'm stuck with now. -Freddy aka Alex
Definitely not the best day ever. First off, this morning, her brother had been in a foul mood. Hugo rarely got grouchy but when he did—oh boy, watch out! It was like trying to reason with a grizzly bear. While driving to school, she tried to pry information out of him about his relationship status with Alex, but he just growled and turned up the music.
Once they got to Terra Linda, Alexx fluffed up her hair and smoothed on some lipgloss in case she ran into Ravi, but sadly, he wasn't there. When they were officially a couple, she'd school him on the proper boyfriend etiquette such as waiting for her by her locker.
Then, she'd been so busy thinking about Ravi, she didn't notice the girl balancing a plate of eggs and hash browns on her books until it was too late. Alexx ran to the bathroom, trying to get the ketchup stains out but it was no use. Her oatmeal colored top looked like a murder scene. Unfortunately, Alexx loaned out the back-up cardigan she kept in her locker to Bri last week and hadn't gotten it back yet so she was stuck until she could hunt down one of her friends.
If that wasn't bad enough, Alexx had a surprise pop quiz in Spanish, which she bombed, and now here she was standing by her locker, wondering why Keya was giving her looks. Fed up, she crossed the hall and went up to the ledge where Keya was sitting.
"What's up?" Keya asked, uncrossing her legs and bracing herself on the concrete wall.
Alexx raised a brow. "I don't know. You tell me."
Swinging her feet, Keya glanced at the ground and then back up, reluctance on her face. "Just wondering how things are with you."
Alexx looked around. "Is this some sort of joke? When have we ever attempted to sit and talk?" An idea popped into her head. "Wait, is this you warning me off your cousin?" Unbelievable. What she and Ravi did was no one's business—not Hugo's, not Arlo's, and certainly not Keya's.
"My cousin?" Confusion quickly morphed to astonishment. "Ravi?"
"Do you have another cousin?"
"I have too many to count." Keya hopped off the ledge, landing in her inch suede booties. "Why would I warn you off him? Are you two together or something?"
"He didn't tell you?"
Keya reluctantly admitted, "We're not on the best of terms."
"Shocker," Alexx said wryly. "Are you on good terms with anyone?"
Keya sent her a sickly sweet smile. "Your best friend."
Alexx scowled. "So if this isn't about Ravi then why are you wondering how things are with me? Wait." She looked deep into Keya's eyes. "Are you possessed? Possible food poising? Did you find out you have a fatal disease and are trying to rectify all your mistakes?"
Keya cocked her head to the side. "What mistakes? I'm perfect."
Puh-lease. "Are you forgetting your performance in The Jungle Book? That note went so off-key I'm surprised windows didn't shatter. But seriously, what's going on?"
Keya hesitated. "How are things with you and Alex?"
Her face hardened under a veil of suspicion. "Fine. Why? You want to steal another best friend?"
"I didn't steal Cleo. People are not possessions."
"No, they're not, but you can't deny that whenever you're around my friends start to disappear from my life."
"Maybe they're tired of being under your thumb and want a REAL best friend."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"That just because you're the star of a play doesn't make you the star of life."
That was ridiculous. Alexx didn't think she anyone's star but her own. "You don't know what you're talking about." She shook her head. "Look, I don't want to get into a fight with you. I'm more than happy with you being in drama club and far away from Playhouse, but don't think for one second that Alex chose you over me. You might be working with her, but she's my best friend, and I'm hers."
Keya studied her for a beat, something working behind those brown eyes. She must have made up her mind about whatever was bothering her because she slowly released her breath as her shoulders sagged. "So you're not the one," she murmured.
Alexx wanted to grab Keya and shake her. Hard. "The one what? What's going on? And stop speaking in code."
Keya looked around and then leaned in. "Something weird is happening at drama club."
"Besides the fact that you don't have enough people to pull off the play?"
Keya jerked back as her jaw fell open.
Alexx nodded. "Yeah, I know all about it, and no, Alex didn't tell me. "You're not the only one that's been asking around. So, what's happening with your club?"
Keya played with the ends of her hair, curling them around her finger. "Someone's been sabotaging the costumes I store in Mrs. Piccola's classroom."
"Sabotage? How?"
"I checked on them the other day, and they were all cut up. All of Alex's work—gone."
"Are you serious? And she knows all of this?" Alexx exclaimed, a thread of hurt woven into her words. She hadn't said a word.
Keya vehemently shook her head. "She doesn't know. I didn't want her to worry. She already has an overflowing workload. I didn't want to make it worse."
That was dumb. "So what? You're just going to throw it on her at the last minute?" That was worse in Alexx's opinion. At least if Keya told her now, Alex would know how much work she actually had to do and plan accordingly. Although, knowing Alex, she'd just wing it like always. "That's not fair to her. You need to tell her."
Keya's shoulder slumped as her chin dropped to her chest. "I know, but..." She let out a low groan. "Alex has been picking up a lot of slack for me. I don't want to put more on her."
"What about Cleo? Why isn't she picking up the slack?" The Cleo she knew was no couch potato. She worked hard.
"She is!" Keya raked her hands through black locks. "She's doing more than her fair share. There's just so much—" She stopped, realizing who she was talking to. "Let's just say there's a lot to do."
"Okay, so back to the sabotage. Do you have any idea who's behind it?"
"Well, I thought it was you—"
Alexx let out a snort. "No matter how much I dislike you, I would never do that to my best friend."
"It seems you do have heart," Keya said dryly. She bit the inside of her cheek and leaned against the concrete wall, tapping her finger. "You were my only suspect. Now I don't know who to look at."
Alexx thought back to the weird conversation she overheard in the bathroom. Could there be a connection? Should she tell Keya? But she hadn't even told Alex yet. Better to keep it to herself for now. "You don't have a single idea?"
Keya shrugged. "You're the only one who hates me."
"I don't hate you." Thinking, Alexx rubbed her earlobe as she walked in a circle. "You know, it could be a random student. I mean Mrs. Piccola leaves her room alone all the time, and she's not the most popular teacher. It could be someone mad about a grade or something."
"I thought that too, but those costumes are tucked away in a box under a bunch of other boxes and they were the only things destroyed."
"So there's no way it was a random act. This was deliberate and by someone who knew where those costumes were."
"Exactly. And there were other props and things in there too. It was just Alex's stuff that got cut up."
She winced. This would devastate her best friend. She spent hours on those costumes, losing sleep just to make sure they were perfect. "That's not good."
"I know. It's bad—really, really bad." They exchanged worried looks. Keya bit her bottom lip and gestured to the two of them. "This is weird, isn't it? Sharing ideas and stuff."
"Super weird," she agreed.
The bell rang, indicating the start of third period. As if by some silent agreement, both nodded at each other. "Keep me in the loop?" Alexx asked.
"I will. And if you hear anything..."
"I'll let you know," Alexx promised. She could play nice with Keya for the sake of her best friend. Plus, she'd do some snooping of her own. Someone had to have seen something. It was just a matter of tracking down the right person.
Alexx barely listened in the next two classes, her thoughts a ping pong ball, bouncing all over the place. She was relieved when lunch rolled around because for one, she didn't have to pretend to be learning, and secondly, she could finally talk to Ravi and sort out the details of their date. She knew once that was set, she could concentrate on Alex, and whoever was sabotaging her.
After grabbing her lunch from her locker, she grabbed an empty table in the quad and kept her eyes peeled for Ravi. A couple of minutes later, she saw him strolling across the grass, searching for her. Alexx waved, catching Ravi's attention. Her heart pounded as he approached.
"Hey you," she said with a bright smile. Her stomach fluttered with nerves as he eased himself onto the bench across from her. "How's your day going?"
"Good, good. How 'bout you?"
"A little hectic," she laughed, gesturing to her shirt. She filled him in on everything except for her talk with Keya.
"Sounds like you're ready for school to be over."
"No kidding, but it's better now," she said, throwing him a cheeky grin. He didn't grin back as she expected. In fact, he looked positively grim. Oh no, was she coming on too strong? Maybe that Youtube dating guru was right. She needed to dial it back.
Ravi fiddled with straps of his backpack. "So, um, about Friday..."
"Right! Where do you want to go?" Thoughts of dialing it back, fled as her mind raced with possibilities. "I saw there was an event at the ice rink over in Sorell Valley this weekend." Although the thought of falling and possibly breaking an arm didn't sound pleasant. Plus, she couldn't risk getting hurt before the play.
"Or we could go to the movies," she suggested instead. "There's not anything I want to see, but if you have something in mind, I'll go." Oh geez. Didn't that sound desperate? "I mean, I'm cool with whatever." Then she remembered he loved books. "Or maybe the library or a bookstore has an event. Although I doubt they stay open late—"
"Alexx."
"Yeah?" she said, looking up. She saw his expression and wanted to bury her face in her hands. "Sorry, am I talking too much? I do that sometimes when I get nervous. Not that I'm nervous with you! Okay, maybe a little, but I'm sure once we hang out more, I'll get over it. The nerves, not you," she clarified.
Ravi's eyes filled with compassion. He reached out as if to touch her, but then drew back. "Alexx...um, I don't know how to say this but..." He raked his fingers through his hair and down to his neck. "You know how I'm living with my aunt and her husband?"
A sinking feeling took hold. "Keya's parents," she murmured.
"Right." He sucked in a breath and then let it out with a rush of words. "My-aunt-doesn't-like-the-idea-of-me-dating-right-now-so-I'm-afraid-I-can't-take-you-out-Friday-night."
Her whole chest seized as her fingers dug into the palms of her hands. "W-what did you say?"
"I'm sorry, Alexx," Ravi told her, his voice low and sweet. "I hope you're not too upset."
She swallowed, trying to laugh it off. "O-Of course not. I get it. Parents, r-right?"
His brown eyes darkened until they were nearly black. "Aunt," he said curtly.
She swallowed again, feeling her shoulders shrink into themselves. "Right. Aunt. Sorry."
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head like he was beating himself up. "Not your fault. It's a touchy subject."
"Right," she whispered.
He leaned in, regret pouring out of him. "I never meant to hurt you."
"You didn't." Your aunt did.
"Okay, well, uh—" He looked around, shifting in his seat. "I'm gonna get lunch. Are we cool?"
That was it? No date so no more getting to know each other or hanging out? Even if they couldn't officially go out, they could still find time to see each other. He worked at Playhouse. There were plenty of opportunities to be together there. But before she could say anything, he was already standing and waving goodbye.
Alexx was confused. Heartbroken. And utterly frustrated with the whole situation so she pulled out her notebook and began writing to the only person she could confide in.
Freddy,
This morning when I woke up, I was at the top of the world, and now I feel like I've been sucker-punched. Ravi and I aren't going on a date. Ugh. I'm still trying to let that sink in. It sucks. I bet this is what Juliet felt like with Romeo or Maria after Tony. My inner actress is telling me to channel this for my craft, but I don't think I can do that. That's how much it hurts. Maybe after time, but right now I just want to crawl into bed with a vat of ice cream and cry.
If only his stupid aunt would let him date! Ugh. Why is this my fate in life? I never get what I want. Okay, that's not entirely true, but you know what I mean. I just don't get it—get HIM. If he's not allowed to date, then why can't we see each other at school or Playhouse? He just closed the door on the whole topic without even considering those possibilities. I feel...snubbed. And it doesn't feel good.
Speaking of dating, why didn't you tell me about you and Hugo?? Best friends tell each other the painful stuff...it's in the by-laws! Seriously, Freddy, I love you, but you need to stop holding things in. You'll get an ulcer, or worse, wrinkles! And remember our pact to always be truthful in this notebook? So if you can't tell me stuff out loud, at least write it in here. That's what best friends are for.
She stopped when she felt the table move.
"Hey," Sloane greeted as she sat down. Her hair was tied back into a complicated braid that wound into a bun at the base of her neck. "Can we talk for a minute?"
Man, this was not her day. Honestly, Alexx felt pretty wrung out right now and didn't feel like she could handle more. "Can this wait? I'm kind of busy," she said motioning to the notebook.
Sloane's body went tight as her gaze flickered to the book. "No. We need to talk. Now."
Taken back by the seriousness in her tone, Alexx closed it. "What's wrong?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Okay..." That sounded ominous. Feeling nervous, Alexx picked at the hem of her shirt, trying to wrack her brain for what this could be about. As far as she knew nothing had happened except for...
Ravi.
Horror took hold. Did Sloane have a crush on Ravi?
"It's about Alex," Sloane said.
She jerked in surprise. Alex? First, Arlo and now, Sloane. Unease slithered down her spine. What on earth was going on?