Seth’s brows did a quick lift. I’m not sure if he believed me, and I don’t know why. I hadn’t made a move on her.

I was glad Alex didn’t hear our conversation. She was in line with Lexy. When she turned, our eyes locked, but she turned away quickly, flashing a coy smile.

After our little break, we got back into the game. Alex was a trooper. She handled herself very well. I liked that little firecracker inside of her. I could tell she was a competitor and took on challenges well. Lucky for our team, we won the game.

Chapter 10

Alexandria

White board:

Stocked up the fridge

since you bought last time.

-E

After I had a short talk with mom, I called Emma. It had only been a week, but we could only talk at night since she worked fulltime. Sometimes our schedules didn’t match up, so our texts were delayed. Since she was off today, I couldn’t wait to hear her voice.

“Emma,” I squealed.

“Alex. It’s so good to hear your voice. How’s everything?”

“School starts on Monday so I’m a bit nervous, but other than that, I’m having fun with my new friends.”

“I’m so happy for you. So how’s the roommate thing going? Is she nice? You don’t like her better than me, do ya?”

I hadn’t told Emma about whom Ellie really was and decided to keep it that way for now. “Of course not,” I laughed aloud.

Emma told me about the new guy she was dating, and that she would try to visit me soon. After I hung up, tears blurred my vision. When I thought about Emma, I thought about home and my dad.

Feeling my stomach grumble with hunger, I walked into the kitchen. When I opened the refrigerator, I saw how full it was. Elijah had gone grocery shopping this morning. Then I saw the whiteboard and smiled. Sleeping late, I hadn’t noticed it until now. I guess he figured that since I stocked it up the last time, he should do it this time around. I was grateful, especially with not having a car.

After I had something to drink, I did laundry, got my backpack ready for my first day of school, and called Liam. He hadn’t texted me to let me know what time he would be here. It had been more than a week since I saw him last, and I realized that the less I saw him, the more I thought about just ending it with him. This long distance relationship wasn’t working out too well. Though he begged to differ before I left, he knew I was going off to college. I guess time will tell.

Since I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I decided to read my textbook and get a head start. Next thing I knew, the boring textbook made me fall asleep. I woke up to my phone ringing.

“Liam?” I sounded groggily.

“Hey, Baby. You sound sleepy. Did you just get up from a nap?”

“Kind of. When are you coming? I’ve been waiting for you all day.”

“I’m so sorry. I got tied up, but I’ll be there soon. Listen, I’ll be bringing a few friends so I don’t have room in the car for you. Do you think you could meet me at the Campus Karaoke? I have a reservation under my name at eight. I should be there in couple of hours.”

“At eight?” I huffed. “I waited for you all day. You know I don’t like going to those things.”

“Come on, Baby. Just do this for me. It’s my friend’s birthday. I’ll make it up to you.”

What could I say after that? I was just glad I didn’t start saying things I would regret. “Fine.” My tone became tender. “I know where it is. It’s not that far. I’ll probably be there first.”

“Thanks for understanding. I’ll see you there.”

I was just about to ask him if he was going to spend the night, but he hung up first. I don’t know why I was annoyed, other than the fact that we were supposed to have some quality time together. If I knew ahead of time, I would have told him not to come and I would have gone out with Lexy instead.

I didn’t want to be the type of girl that had to have the guy come pick her up, but at the same time, I wondered how much he actually missed me.

Elijah hadn’t come home all day. Not that he needed to tell me where he was, I was just curious. All I knew was that he went to the gym on a daily basis, but nothing more. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had a job or where he went when he wasn’t home. I had to stop being a nosy roommate.

Opening the door, the hostess greeted me, and then took me to the reserved seats. It wasn’t a secluded setting as it had been with my dad before, where we had a private room and nobody could hear us sing. This was a restaurant with a bar and a stage in the center.

It didn’t look crowded, but after ten minutes, people started walking in, including one particular crowd I hadn’t expected—Elijah, Seth, Lexy, and some members of the broom hockey team. Great! I sunk down as low as I could, looking at my watch. It was eight thirty and Liam was already thirty minutes late. He was going to hear it from me.

Thank goodness they headed to the opposite side, but sooner or later, they would notice me. Not that it was a bad thing, but having them see me alone would make Liam look bad. When I sat up, I saw another crowd of girls walk in. Heather and her friends headed toward Elijah’s table. I don’t know why, but I felt a little sting of jealousy.

“Alex?”

I turned at the calling of my name. “Lexy, hi,” I greeted, feeling guilty for trying to dodge her.

“I didn’t know you were coming here.” She sat down and gave me sideways hug.

“I didn’t know, either. Liam told me to meet him here at eight.”