Lexi was up early the next day despite having been up so late last night. She was still a little wired from what had transpired, so she couldn't bring herself to complain. She jumped out of bed and made her way into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. To her surprise, Nikita was sitting on the couch in their living room. She had an empty mug and plate off to the side, and her closed laptop sat on the coffee table in front of her. She was scrolling through her phone when she looked up to see her roommate enter. Lexi's face came off as puzzled— it was roughly 7:30 AM, meaning Nikita had class in half an hour. Normally, she would be almost ready to leave by now.
"Hey. Class got canceled 'cause my prof has the flu," she revealed.
"Oh, that makes sense. I hope I didn't wake you last night when I came. I'm sorry if I did."
"It's fine. I didn't hear you at all."
Lexi nodded before disappearing into the kitchen to make coffee.
"So...how did the date go?" Nikita asked. "I really wanna know!"
"Oh, yeah? I wasn't sure if you'd wanna hear about it," Lexi called out. When she appeared from the kitchen with a mug in her hand, she wore an amused smirk. She then leaned against the wall and crossed her ankles.
"I'm honestly super curious about how it went. Please tell me!"
"It went well, but it was super awkward at first. Isaac was nervous that it would turn into a disaster, and I was worried there wouldn't be any chemistry. But then I told him it was silly for us to be so nervous. I mean, we already know each other, so there was no point in getting worked up over being out on an actual date."
"Did that help relax both of you?"
Lexi nodded as she sipped her coffee. "After he laughed about our nervousness, he told me about himself- something I've been meaning to ask for a while now. He asked me about myself not that long ago, so I wanted to do the same."
"That's fair," Nikita remarked.
"Oh yeah. We also talked about how our Reading Weeks went. Oh, and he paid the bill— even after I'd offered to split it."
"Wow! Maybe he felt like he had to pay?"
"I guess," Lexi reasoned with a shrug. "It was sweet, but I wouldn't have minded splitting the bill. But I digress."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Did anything else happen?"
"Well... He walked me back here not long after, and then he kissed me."
"No way!" Nikita's jaw dropped.
Lexi laughed in response. "It felt so right. I'm glad he kissed me 'cause it felt good. I was a ball of emotions when I finally got inside our apartment. It took me forever to fall asleep last night because my mind felt like it wasn't gonna stop racing! God, I sound like an insane person."
"I wouldn't say that. You sound happy that it went well, and I'm glad. I'm not wrong to say that, right?"
"Yeah, it definitely went well. I'm glad we did it."
Nikita grinned. "That's awesome. Maybe it's too early to ask, but do you think you'll have a second date with him?"
"Perhaps," Lexi answered with furrowed brows. She paused to purse her lips while deep in thought. "I'd like to think it'll happen, but who knows? I don't want to pressure Isaac into doing anything he's uncomfortable with, so I'm not gonna stress about it. I kinda want the chips to fall where they may, so to speak. I want this to be super casual."
"Yeah, it's good that you don't wanna rush things," Nikita commented.
Lexi nodded. That's exactly how she wanted to approach what was going on between her and Isaac. There was no doubt in her mind that the fighting with Cassie and all those past dating disasters had left him wary of women and not wanting to get close to anyone outside of friendship. She understood where he was coming from, so she didn't want to freak him out with any questions of where their friendship stood now. Besides, she hadn't dated anyone since her junior year of high school and had been content with being single for as long as she had been. Also, she'd managed to get out of her comfort zone back when she'd moved to New York City from San Diego. But now she was comfortable with these surroundings, so she needed to experience new things again. Dating Isaac wasn't what she had in mind, but there was no reason for her to complain about this unexpected turn of events. Instead, it left her grinning from ear to ear.
Lexi's grin grew that evening when she was doing some schoolwork in the library. She decided to take a break and text Isaac to thank him for their date. She would've done so earlier, but she wanted to wait until she knew he wasn't in class.
Lexi: Hey, hope I'm not interrupting anything. I wanted to thank you again for last night's date. I really had a great time!
Isaac: Hi! I'm happy you enjoyed yourself. I'm not gonna lie, I was so worried you wouldn't have a good time.
Lexi: LOL and here I thought I worried too much!
Isaac: Yeah, I have issues...
Lexi: Don't worry! I get it- you've had shitty luck with dating and were worried that history would repeat itself. At least I'm not vain or batshit crazy.
Isaac: That helps a LOT. Thanks for not being anything like that, BTW.
Lexi: You're welcome (: Anyways, what's up?
Isaac: Not much, just chillin' at home. You?
Lexi: Taking a break from working on a paper at the library. What else is new, really?
Isaac: I would join you, but I might be a distraction.
Lexi: LOL at least you're honest. But I should get back to work, now...sorry.
Isaac: That's okay. I really hope to see you at my place for our Halloween party.
Lexi: If you're there, I'll come.
Isaac: Awesome! I'll talk to you later, okay?
Lexi: Sure, bye! (:
With their conversation now over, Lexi put her phone aside and tried to get back to her paper. That proved to be slightly difficult, as she now found herself to be a blushing mess. But she gritted her teeth and managed to get back on track within a few minutes.
That chat went really well, she thought. Maybe something more will come out of last night.
***
It was Friday afternoon when Cassie and Mariana strolled through the on-campus cafeteria to find an empty table. Once they did, they sat down while discussing how their respective classes had gone.
"Thank God I only have one class on Fridays!" Mariana exclaimed. "Now I can chill at home and finish making my Halloween costume."
"Lucky bitch," Cassie muttered. She broke her pissed off façade with a sly grin. "Seriously though, I'm jealous."
"I don't blame you. At least you only have that short lab today."
"True. It's just gonna be boring as hell."
Mariana shrugged. "Sorry, but I can't help you there."
Cassie nodded. Just as she was about to respond, she suddenly spotted Lexi and Isaac walking through the cafeteria together. They were smiling and chatting away with little care for their surroundings. They soon exited the cafeteria and headed outside to go somewhere else on campus.
"Really?"
Cassie snapped out of her thoughts to find a frowning Mariana glaring at her. "Sorry, I couldn't help it."
"It's fine," Mariana dismissed, her face turning neutral. "You alright?"
"No. Something's going on between those two."
"You think so? I don't know about that."
"They seem...closer than usual? I don't know how else to put it. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt it."
Mariana grimaced. "Worry about it later."
Cassie kept her mouth shut about the matter, but it continued to linger in the back of her mind during her lab. She waited until it ended to send Isaac a text.
Cassie: What's going on with you & Lexi?
Isaac: We're friends. Why?
Cassie: "Friends"? Really? That's bullshit, Isaac. Please don't lie to me. Just tell me the truth!
Isaac: I'm not gonna fight with you again. It's not any of your fucking business, Cassie.
Cassie: Fine, be difficult! I don't care 'cause I'm gonna find out the truth. Don't say I didn't warn you!
He's gonna regret not telling me whether or not he's fucking around with Lexi, she thought as she trudged back to her dorm for the night.