Isaac's grin was half-hearted as he followed Felipe and DeShawn in the early evening. The only reason he was willing to drag himself to Nikita's party was because of Lexi's impromptu invitation. It's not that he didn't like Nikita; he had no problem with the birthday girl whatsoever. The added promise of Cassie not being there also made it better. But after all the recent events that had taken place, he was beyond spent and done with drama. He tried to ignore any dread rolling around in his stomach by tuning back into the banter currently going on between his friends.
"Nikita's definitely gonna have a good birthday," Felipe remarked.
"Yeah, it sounds like a good party," DeShawn said.
Felipe smirked. "True, but that wasn't what I meant."
"What are you talking about, then?" Isaac asked.
"She's getting a nice gift from me...if you know what I mean."
DeShawn and Isaac exchanged confused looks, but the latter student quickly picked up on what Felipe meant.
"You seriously think you have a chance of getting into pants? C'mon, man," Isaac scoffed.
"I think the odds are in my favour," Felipe countered.
"You wish," DeShawn teased.
"Oh, shut up."
As Felipe and DeShawn laughed, Isaac kept quiet. He looked up at the apartment complex they were now coming up towards. On the fourth floor was the stifled sounds of loud music playing. He couldn't hear any people talking— they simply weren't loud enough to talk over such booming music. But there was no doubt that the trio had finally made it to Nikita and Lexi's apartment.
"We're here," he remarked.
They headed inside the building and were promptly buzzed in by one of Nikita's friends. She let them in the unit, which already looked like one hell of a party. Bottles of cheap beer and liquor were sitting on the dining table, along with a few snacks. The music Isaac had first heard came from someone's laptop, which was also rigged up to a couple of speakers. People were mostly sitting or standing in the living room with some sort of alcoholic drink in hand. Laughter and incoherent bits of conversation were muffled only by the music blaring throughout the small apartment.
"Looks like it's gonna be a good time!" DeShawn remarked. He was practically shouting so that his friends could hear him.
"You got that right!" Felipe replied. "I'm gonna go find Nikita. Later, dudes!"
He didn't even wait to hear a response from his friends before darting into the heart of the crowd. DeShawn and Isaac exchanged looks of disbelief.
"Someone's anxious to get turned down," Isaac noted.
"No kidding," DeShawn chuckled. He then looked around the place, only to spot a familiar face. The lights may have been dimmed significantly, but that hadn't hurt his ability to see.
"What?" Isaac asked.
"Mariana's here," DeShawn revealed. "I'm gonna go catch up with her. You can come if you like!"
"I would, but...I need to find a bathroom," Isaac replied. "Excuse me."
"No problem, dude. You're welcome to find me when you're done."
"Sounds good!"
DeShawn went left, so Isaac hastily went right. His excuse had been a complete lie; he didn't need to use the bathroom whatsoever. He just wanted a decent reason to not join DeShawn while he spoke with his ex-girlfriend's best friend. There's no way she wouldn't pass along whatever he said to her over to Cassie, and he didn't want such a thing to happen. That was only going to cause a problem.
So instead of going to the bathroom, Isaac went off in search of Lexi. He worked his way through the crowd but couldn't see her anywhere. He then tried the kitchen, but he also came up empty there. So, he sent her a text.
Isaac: Hey, I've been here for a while now...where are you?
Lexi: In my bedroom. You're welcome to join me.
This response wasn't the one Isaac had expected. He frowned as he tucked his phone back in his pocket.
I hope she's okay, he thought while he tried to find her bedroom. Both bedroom doors appeared closed— but only one actually was closed. The other was open by about an inch or so, making it difficult to see who (if anyone) was inside. Isaac gently knocked twice, all while preparing to apologize for interrupting God knows what.
To both his surprise and relief, Lexi opened the door without so much as a phony smile on her face. "Come in."
Isaac followed her in, where they sat side-by-side on her bed. He brushed some hair off her face, and that was when he finally caught a solid look at her expression. Her eyes seemed dim and she appeared more withdrawn than he'd ever seen before. She continued to not smile whatsoever, too.
"Is everything okay?" Isaac asked.
Lexi shook her head. "Cassie's here."
Immediately, Isaac's dark brown eyes went as wide as could be. "I thought you said she hadn't been invited?"
"She wasn't," Lexi said, "but I guess that didn't stop her from coming anyways. I think Mariana dragged her here." She let out a sarcastic, albeit hollow laugh. "It's like I can never escape her, no matter what."
"Does Nikita know?"
"If she does, she hasn't done anything about it. But I'm sure she doesn't know 'cause she told me she'd kick Cassie out if she showed up."
"Has anything happen between you and her?"
"No; but that's only because she was only a few feet away from me. I saw her talking to someone— I don't know who— and I froze. But she didn't seem to notice me 'cause we never made eye contact. As soon as I spotted her, I decided to hide out here. It's stupid, I know. But I just wanted to enjoy this fucking party without another fight breaking out...and now I can't even do that."
Isaac nodded as he wrapped a strong arm around Lexi's waist. She didn't respond to the contact, but that didn't deter him.
"I'm just so tired of this," she added. "I just feel like she'll never leave us alone. That's all I want— for Cassie to stop meddling with our relationship. I hate when she interrupts our dates or harasses me when I'm alone. It's so fucking annoying, and I'm beyond done with this bullshit!"
The last exclamation made Isaac flinch. It'd been a while since he'd seen Lexi this upset. He saw how hard she tried to keep her composure in front of him. Yet it was clear that she was about ready to snap.
"Lexi, I promise I'm not going to let Cassie fuck things up for us," he said in a calm yet firm voice.
"How?" Lexi asked in a hostile voice that didn't even sound like me.
Isaac didn't flinch the second time around. "I care about you, and I care about making this relationship work. I refuse to let her crazy ass break us up."
"She managed to drive us apart when we were just friends last year— what's different now? The fact that we're a couple? It's just made her more determined than ever!"
"The fact that we're a couple now means that we're closer than ever. I'm more determined than ever to keep us together."
Lexi's eyes fell to the ground before she closed them tight. It was as if she was trying to come up with another point to disprove what Isaac had said. She opened them a few minutes later just in time for her boyfriend to see fresh tears pooling up inside her eyes. Isaac pulled her into his chest while tears slowly streamed down her cheeks.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered. With the music mostly blocked out from Lexi's bedroom, he was able to lower his voice just enough that he didn't have to shout.
No response came from Lexi. She allowed her emotions to flow freely without abandon. As embarrassing as it was, it felt good to get everything out in the open. But the more she thought about what they had just discussed, the more she came to realize that her fears— while somewhat justified— were also unfounded. Isaac's eyes held enough determination and care that she wanted to believe in his words. No, she didn't want to believe him; she needed to believe what he was saying.
"I'm so sorry for everything," Isaac continued. "I never wanted any of this to happen."
"I know," Lexi mumbled. She sat up and wiped any lingering tears off her face. "I'm mostly upset that I actually thought we'd...break up, I guess.... All because of Cassie's bullshit. I'm sorry."
"Why don't we not think about what could happen, okay? I'd rather focus on right now," Isaac said.
Lexi grinned for the first time since they'd begun chatting. "I'd like that a lot."
The couple shared a brief yet tender kiss before getting up off the bed.
"Could you please give me a few minutes to pull myself together?" Lexi asked.
"Of course," Isaac replied. "I'll just be outside your bedroom if that's alright."
"Yeah, that's cool. See you in a few."
Isaac kissed his girlfriend's cheek before strolling out to give her time to touch up her makeup and hair. It took roughly five minutes or so before she reappeared, looking happier than she had earlier on.
"Ready?" Isaac asked.
Lexi nodded. "Let's go."
The couple returned to the party to see that everything was still well underway. They didn't see any familiar faces for the longest time while heading towards the crowd of people. It wasn't until they got into the thick of it that they spotted Cassie, standing a couple of feet away from them. She must've felt as though someone was staring at her because she suddenly looked in their direction. Her eyes narrowed in an instant and she pursed her lips. It was far from a pleasant facial expression.
"Just ignore her," Lexi shouted into Isaac's ear, "and don't give her a reason to freak out on us."
Isaac didn't argue with her for a second. He just nodded at his ex before continuing his journey to the couch. It was surprisingly empty, meaning that he and Lexi could sit and relax without having to share it with anyone else.
Once settled in, Isaac brushed some hair away from Lexi's face. "Let's try to enjoy the rest of the night together, okay?"
"I like that idea," Lexi said.
The couple shared a brief kiss before finally focusing back on the birthday party.
***
Cassie and Mariana sat at the small dining table in their apartment, eating a late breakfast. While neither were particularly hungover, they still slept in later than expected. But they weren't about to complain; it was a nice change from having to get up super early for classes.
"Last night's party was a lot of fun," Mariana remarked out of the blue.
Cassie looked up from her plate. "It really was. I had a good time. I saw you chatting with DeShawn— everything alright?"
"Oh, yeah," Mariana replied. "We were just catching up 'cause we hadn't spoken in a while. That's all."
"Cool," Cassie said. She paused while her face darkened a bit. "I saw Lexi and Isaac together last night."
"Oh, Jesus. Please tell me you didn't—"
"No, I didn't do or say anything to them. Well...that's not totally true. I did give them a dirty look. But that's it, I swear to God."
Any tension that had built up disappeared in an instant. Mariana exhaled loudly, causing Cassie to smirk. Upon seeing that, Mariana's light green eyes hardened.
"Can you blame me for thinking that you pulled another stupid stunt?" she snapped.
Cassie shrugged. "Do you see me getting upset?"
Mariana fully relaxed. "At least you understand where I'm coming from."
"But I'm not done with them. I'm not about to let them relax."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh...nothing."
"Please tell me, Cassie."
"I just did."
Marianna scoffed but decided to not push it. She was too tired to start anything, even if there was a part of her brain that insisted otherwise. She promptly got up and placed her now dirty plate and cutlery in the sink before going to the bathroom.
Lexi and Isaac haven't heard the last of me, Cassie thought. They're gonna regret getting together in the first place.