Alex

Everybody says the truth will set you free, but I watched it set fire to a friendship.

I told Mindy to wait until the dust settled before spilling every incriminating detail of the truth to my cousin.

But when Caleigh came marching towards her after talking to a noticeably upset Tanner, Mindy freaked.

She kicked off the conversation by crying, which Tanner picked up on as a cue to give her some much needed space.  He pulled me into a warm we'll-see-each-other-later-hug and handed me a breakfast bag from the hospital cafeteria. 

Whoever said you can't buy friendship never got a free Chipotle egg and cheese burrito. But as quick as he showed up, Caleigh's shaggy-haired, sharper-eyed version of Ashton Kutcher, waltzed out of the waiting room and headed toward his car.

Tanner had been in and out of the ER all night, shooting me and Mindy fading smiles before disappearing for little bits and pieces of time with Caleigh. I wondered what the two of them were like in their moments alone. If Tanner let Caleigh see him fall apart or if he hid his sadness behind a smile. 

Rory hid everything from me. Everything aside from the things he wanted moment to moment. But Caleigh and Tanner had the kind of unspoken understanding that wasn't built on fear, but kindness. Whenever they'd come back inside they seemed more whole than when they left. But this time, Tanner kissed Caleigh goodbye and left to deal with his problems while she dealt with hers.

Once the three of us were alone, Mindy made two stupid mistakes. The first? Starting out her story with the bad news.

            "So, I like, left Elias alone for a few minutes--"

            Worst. Opening. Ever.

            "—and when I came back he was gone."

            Truth.           

            "Next thing I knew, he'd figured out where I hid my stash of vodka—"

            Too much truth.

            "—and he got wasted and we fought so I drove off."

            Way too much truth.

The funny thing was, for all the truths she'd laid on the table, Mindy casually forgot to mention her slobber session with Elias and their fight over the mystery girl on his phone. Details. Juicy ones. But they were better left unsaid unless she was itching for a death sentence.

Caleigh stayed eerily calm while Mindy tripped over apologies, the kind of calm that stems more out of restraint than actual peace. Things seemed fine for a minute or so, until Mindy made stupid mistake number two and blurted out that she never would've forgiven herself if Elias had died. Caleigh stood up, took a deep yoga breath, and escorted Mindy on a one-on-one walk outside.

Twenty minutes later, Caleigh came back.

Mindy didn't.

Caleigh'd been quiet ever since. We sat in awkward silence while we waited for Tanner to come back. I'd never not known what to say to Caleigh to make her feel better until this summer.

When I'd visited her a couple years back the two of us stayed up every night gossiping and joking around for the month and a half I was in L.A. But we were different back then.

She was still in high school and responsibility free. I hadn't met Rory, so things were good, at least way better than they were now.

It's amazing what living through nightmares will do to people. I hadn't even been here a day and I'd somehow managed to step into one.

       "I'm sorry, Cal. If I hadn't gotten pissy with Elias earlier, we probably wouldn't be here."

She leaned over and rested her head on the slope of my shoulder.

          "Don't apologize, Lex. To be honest, I would've been surprised if you didn't. Elias isn't the friendliest—"

            "Yeah, he's a douche."

            "But a lovable douche, you'll get used to him."

The two of us came about as close to laughing as we could given the circumstances. But a steely look from the sour-faced nurse standing at her station stole our smiles away.

            "How'd you end up with him?" I asked.

            "Elias or Tanner?"

        "Both, and congrats on snagging a supermodel by the way. Thanks for keeping me posted on your love life."

She stared down at her flip-flops. We never kept secrets from each other—until recently.

       "I'm sorry, Lex. Your mom thought it'd be better if I didn't say anything."

Of course she would.

Ever since Rory happened, Mom walked on eggshells around me like I was the decaying rose from Beauty and the Beast withering away from my singleness.

For a while I was.

I didn't want to go back to school.

I didn't want to see functional couples or think about why Rory and I went off the rails. 

But as hard as things were, I would've liked to hear about Caleigh finding someone good. Maybe then I would've had a little more faith inthings eventually getting better for me back when my world was falling apart.

          "It's okay. Her and Dad have had a hard time dealing with everything that happened, so I expected as much. Did they give you any other ground rules?" I asked.

            "They want me to introduce you to someone nice."

            "Was Elias your idea of nice?"

            "He's a good kid underneath all the attitude. But he's banned from girls, and way too wild for you. You need stable, Lex."

            Rocks were stable. Maybe I could date a rock.

            "Tanner seems stable," I said.

            I got a hard jab into my less than toned jelly-belly for that one.

            "He's taken."

       "I'm kidding, Cal. I'm happy for you guys. But as far as my love life goes, I'm off the market," I said.

         "So, should I tell the cute guy in the glasses who's been staring at you that you're a nun in training?"

Sitting a couple rows away from us was an adorkably cute artsy guy running his fingers through his copper-kissed hair. Wearing chucks, skinny jeans, and an intentionally destroyed white-t shirt, he rocked the L.A. hipster look I'd only seen in trendy magazines.

In the middle of my not-so-subtle attempt to check him out, he caught my eye and smiled. With my luck, he was an axe murder, married, or another Rory. Even beautiful people can turn into monsters.

          "Tell him whatever you want. But when you find out he's been staring 'cause he's never seen a girl this ugly before, I'll blame you," I said.

          "We'll see, Lex."

Caleigh popped out of her chair and headed over to work her so-called magic while I frantically Googled how to not come off as a total weirdo when talking to boys. It wasn't that I hadn't talked to a guy before; I was just tragically out of practice.

I had steady stream of boyfriends in middle school But when high school hit, I got weird, most guys got interested in the non-weird, popular girls, and I disappeared off the radar.

Until Rory the "it" boy talked to me. I was stupid to listen. 

Second rule of survival: Pretty faces always lie. Don't listen if they tell you otherwise.

            "Is this seat taken or am I gonna have to fight your Chipotle bag for it?"

Somewhere in the middle of my Google session, British Adonis managed to make his way over to talk to me. My burrito was bench warming for Caleigh, not him, but he was a definite upgrade. The guy had glittery green eyes like the universe had sprinkled gold dust in them.

Some people are too good looking. Fact.

            "I don't know, I kinda wanna see who'd come out on top. My money's on the burrito," I said.

He cracked an out of this world white smile, and I practically threw my lunch onto the floor so he could sit down.

            "Kai," he said, his beautiful London accent lilting through the air.

            "Cool name. Mine's a lot less interesting. I'm Alex."

He had artist hands, warm and soft to the touch, not rough and dry like Rory's.

            "Your friend said she'd give me five bucks if I came over here, but I let her keep it 'cause I planned on talking to you anyway."

            "Good to know she thinks I'm bartering material," I said.

Kai laughed out loud like he wasn't a stranger to it, like he genuinely was okay with letting himself go in front of a total stranger. It was a nice change. Mom warned me about dating guys who never laughed. I ignored her the first time. 

            "So what are you here for, Alex?"

            "My cousin's friend got hit by a car."

He hid his face in his hands and sighed through his fingers.

           "I might've had something to do with that, actually. I'm so sorry. I tried to stop, but he just kinda came out of nowhere."

            "It's not entirely your fault. He was drunk."

        "Yeah, the cops mentioned that back at the airport. I followed the ambulance here so I could see if he was okay, or if there was anything I could do. Again, I'm really sorry. I've never done anything like that."

       "Oh I have—plenty of times—in Grand Theft Auto. I've run over loads of people, it's not a big deal."

            He cracked another dizzying smile.

       "A girl who likes video games is cool in my book. Did your boyfriend introduce you to that game? You don't look like a Grand Theft Auto kinda girl."

         "My ex did. He was into violence."

        "Then I'm glad he's your ex. Please tell me the guy I hit isn't your new boyfriend."

       "Oh no, never. Ever. He's my cousin's friend. I just met him for the first time twenty-four hours ago, so we hardly know each other. To be honest, I hardly know anybody, I just got here today."

            He knocked one of his fashionably skinny knees against mine.

            "You know me," he said.

            "I'm getting there. So, what do you do, Kai?"

            "I'm a photography student. I'm working on a photo series for my senior thesis. I figure starting before the school year will give me an edge."

            "That's  amazing. I don't even know what I wanna do with my life yet."

            "Don't stress about it too much. You'll figure it out. I'll give you a tip though, don't hit anybody with your car, it's not a great life path."

            "Point taken."

The same sour-faced nurse who'd nearly kicked me out of the hospital for laughing earlier waved Kai and I over to follow her into the ER.

            "Are both of you family members of Mr. King? I can't allow anyone else back but family," she said.

            "Yeah, I'm his younger sister and he's his—other brother."

            "Ma'am, his brother and sister are already with him in the room."

            "We're a big family."

She eyed the two of us like potential criminals before handing us two visitor's passes and shooing us down the hallway.

            "I know this is a little weird to ask right now, but if I don't see you later it'll bother me. The art gallery where I work is showcasing some of my photos next weekend if you wanna come by."

Was that a date? It sure sounded like a date. I couldn't go on dates. Spinsters did not go on dates.

            "Is this a quota thing? Like, one of those art shows where you have to bring a certain amount of people or else they'll never invite you back?"

            "Totally."

            "Okay, sure. I can bring my cousin and her boyfriend to help you out."

            He deflated a little, but like I said, no dates.

            "Sounds good. We can get dinner or coffee after," he said.

            "All of us?"

            "Just you and me. I think it'd be cool to talk, you're an interesting girl," he said.

            "Friendly talk? I can't really date right now."

            "Friendly talk it is then. See you Saturday?"

            "See you Saturday. Unless, Elias kills you before then."

I stopped in front of the door to Elias's patient room and prepared Kai for the worst.

            "Brace yourself, Kai."

            "He's that bad huh?" He asked.

            "He's a natural disaster."

            And that was putting it lightly.