by S. J. Smith
"Lex, it's your birthday. Your sweet sixteen. With everything that's been going on lately you've handled it better than most your age. Your mum and I are really proud of you. Just let today be about you okay."
"Why don't you ask the girls to come over early? You can watch movies in the theatre room. Your dad will make popcorn and I'll make some mocktails and then you can get ready together."
Alexis thought about her mum's suggestion and it didn't sound so bad. When she went to bed last night she'd been more than ready to just help out all day with party set up. She hadn't even thought to ask her parents if she could spend the day doing something else before people arrived.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh my God, if you don't call them, your mother will."
Holding her hands up in defeat Alexis agreed to message the girls after she finished breakfast.
◆◆◆
Half an hour later Alexis had tidied up her bedroom and deposited more blankets and pillows in the theatre room than was strictly necessary. She'd had her outfit for the night picked out for two weeks and practised her make up a dozen times just so she knew that she could get it right when it mattered. Everything was ready for when the girls arrived.
When Alexis sent out the messages to her friends, she hadn't been expecting any of them to actually be free at this late notice. She was happily surprised when they all replied that they were. Jess was already on her way and Em was coming soon with her dad. Apparently their dads had matters to discuss. It took all of her self-control to keep her nose out of it. Her curiosity could wait to be satiated until tomorrow.
Within the hour the three girls were sitting on the floor of the theatre room atop the pillows and blankets Alexis had brought down. There was a chick flick playing in the background that none of them were paying any attention to. They were all more interested in talking about the party and in particular who was coming.
"Is Seth still invited?" Jess asked.
"While I never formally rescinded his invite, he'd be stupid to actually show up. Besides we haven't actually spoken since he tried to blackmail me."
"Let’s keep in mind that this is Seth and stupid is his default setting," Em piped in, her words dripping in sarcasm.
"Exactly. What are you going to do if he does show up? Wouldn't he be coming with Brennan anyway?" Jess pointed out.
"As it is, I'd be surprised if Brennan showed up. He was barely speaking to me before. Since he found out about Seth and me, he's avoided me like the plague. I don't know if we're actually even friends anymore."
On the one hand, Alexis knew that Brennan was never going to be okay with her relationship with Lucas, but on the other hand she missed him.
She didn't dare to hope that he showed up tonight just in case wishing too hard jinxed it.
"Right... well... anyways... if Seth does show up then I have a plan," Alexis announced, breaking herself from her musings.
"Are you going to let us in on the plan?" Jess asked.
Em just shook her head, mostly to herself. Alexis would only tell them her plan if they were necessary for the execution.
"You'll just have to wait and see. Besides he might not even show up."
◆◆◆
The party was in full swing. There was still a half hour until dinner but everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves. Lucas had barely left her side since he arrived, looking hot as hell in his semi-formal attire which included a tie. Em and Alexis had shared looks of approval. Alexis' hormonally charged body wanted nothing more than to sneak Lucas into her bedroom and lock the door behind them.
Jess, who knew exactly what Alexis was thinking, sent her own look of approval. That was until she spotted Brennan entering the backyard over Alexis' shoulder.
Alexis, noticing the change in expression, turned around. The gate shut with a click behind Brennan. He came alone. She wasn't sure if she was shocked or not. She wasn't even sure if she was happy about Brennan coming or not. Just because he showed up didn't mean that they were friends again. She needed to know where they stood.
◆◆◆
"Luc, Brennan just got here. I'm going to go say hi."
Lucas was all too aware of his girlfriend's inner turmoil. She couldn't take back what she'd done, and while it hadn't ended well, he didn't think that she wanted to. They'd had a long discussion about past and future choices and the impact they had on forming the person one becomes.
Alexis had been quite adamant that there was no point regretting her choices thus far in her life since they had been what shaped her now. She knew better than she did a year ago and she didn't plan on making the same mistakes. If she'd never made the choice to pursue things with Seth, who was to say that she would've been ready to be in a relationship with Lucas. All of her choices might've been different.
When she'd said that to him, Lucas couldn't help but think about his own choices and wonder the same thing. Would she have chosen him? He had known from the moment he saw her that he wanted to know her. He hoped that his charm and wit would've been enough, but maybe she was right.
As he watched her cross the backyard to greet her maybe-friend, Lucas scanned the faces of the rest of the guests, his gaze always landing back on Alexis. That was until it didn't. Lucas was on the move the second it registered. Brennan was still standing where Alexis had left him, looking towards the house. Lucas fought the urge to look – he needed to find FJ.
◆◆◆
Alexis' confusion about Brennan's presence was short-lived. From the second she got there, he had been standoffish and distant. It was like he didn't even want to be there. He'd mumbled a happy birthday and just shrugged or gave one-word answers to every question she asked. By the fourth shrug and sixth one syllable answer, Alexis was ready to snap.
"Bren, seriously, is this how things are going to be from now on?"
He finally made eye contact with her, the first time in weeks. She almost wished that he hadn't. She could see the hurt, but she could also see the disgust. He was disgusted by her.
"I think you know the answer to that Lex, after all you are the one who hooked up with my best friend."
"In case you've forgotten, he hooked up with me too. I'm sorry that I hurt you Brennan. I never meant to do that. But I am not the only one at fault here."
"Yeah I'm pissed at Seth too."
"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that ever since I started seeing Lucas, you've been a shit friend. I understand and accept you being mad about Seth and I, but you've been holding a grudge since before you found out about that. I wanna know why."
It was clear by the expression on his face that he hadn't been expecting that particular line of accusation.
"Because – because you ditched us for him. As soon as you got a boyfriend you didn't have time for me anymore."
Alexis scoffed. "That's bullshit and you know it. I tried for weeks to hang out with you outside of school. You would always tell me that we could hang out if you didn't end up doing something with the guys. And when I finally did get you to lock in a time for us you cancelled last minute. Literally last minute. I was waiting outside of the movie theatre for you, tickets in hand as the movie started inside and you messaged me to say you couldn't come."
"Yeah and I'm sure you just called Lucas to come and see it with you."
"No Brennan, I didn't. I went home. I still have the tickets in my room."
Brennan actually looked taken aback. Alexis forced the tears springing to her eyes to stay put. She was determined not to shed a tear in front him. He didn't deserve that kind of satisfaction.
"I am sorry about what happened with Seth. I can't take it back. I will not apologise for my feelings for Lucas or the fact that I just don't feel that way about you. No one can control who they fall for. I loved you like the best friend you were meant to be and that wasn't enough for you I get that-"
"You knew!" Brennan interrupted. He practically spat the words at her.
"Knew what?" A
lexis asked, though she had a sinking suspicion what the what was.
"You knew that I liked you, and you hooked up with Seth anyway." And there it was. The first time that Brennan himself had actually admitted out loud to her that he had romantic feelings for her and they were said in anger.
"Yes and no. I didn't know when things first started. I only found out a couple of months in, and you wanna know who told me? Seth. Seth was the one to tell me that you had feelings for me, he was the one to say that we should end things between us, he was also the one to start them back up again."
She waited for him to digest what she'd told him. Later she would think about how she'd just put a nail in the coffin that was Seth and Brennan's friendship. She would also be able to acknowledge that Seth was the one who built the coffin to begin with.
"I don't believe you. Seth would never do that to me." But he did believe her. She could see it. There was a reason that they'd been best friends, she could read him like a book.
"You know wh- What is he doing here?"
Brennan turned to see who Alexis was referring to.
Seth.
"Happy birthday, Alexis."
Alexis walked away from Brennan, his smug words ringing in her ears. He'd brought Seth here, helped him sneak in. It's okay, you had a plan in place for this remember. The voice in her head that sounded like her mum was right. She did have a contingency plan for if Seth showed up. She reached into the pocket of her dress feeling for her phone. If anything happens, help is just a phone call away.
◆◆◆
He followed her through the crowd up to the house. He was far enough back that she wouldn't be able to tell he was following her. When he got to the side door he saw how she'd left it open. Not by much, but enough, almost like subconsciously she wanted to be followed.
He thought that he'd have to wait for her to get out of the toilet for them to be able to talk, but she wasn't in the powder room and the door that led to the rest of the house was open. She couldn't have gotten too far into the house. He was only a dozen steps behind her.
When he got to the hallway, he listened out for any sounds of movement, any sign of where she might've gone. Moving down the hallway he saw a lamp on in the living room. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen, all of them women, none of them were Alexis. It did occur to him that she might still be in there and just not talking, and if that were the case then he'd just wait for her.
The sound of a door closing came from his left. He headed for it. He could hear heels on the wood floors. He knew her footsteps when he heard them.
As he turned into the hallway, he saw the back of her turning into a room at the end of the hall. The door closed softly behind her, but it didn't matter. He'd found her.
Standing in front of the door, he had to take a moment to ready himself. He wasn't entirely sure what it was that he had been expecting by coming to the party. It had been so long since they'd talked or had a proper conversation.
He was ready to forgive her for the things she'd said. The things she did.
He opened the door.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see when he walked into the room, but it hadn't been Alexis standing there in the theatre room, her arms crossed as she looked him dead in the eyes.
"Hello Seth."
◆◆◆
Truth be told, Alexis hadn't really believed that Seth wouldn't show. He wanted everyone to believe that nothing had gone on between them. If he didn't show up to her party then people would know that something had gone down and no amount of denying it would keep them from believing that they had a history.
While she wasn’t at all surprised that he’d followed her into the house, she hadn’t necessarily thought he would do it. When she'd gone through the side door, she'd just been going to try and steal some food from the kitchen and maybe sneak a mouthful of her mum's wine. Then she'd seen him making his way through the crowd in her periphery. Maybe he was going to talk to someone else?
Nope.
As she turned to close the sliding door, she saw him heading straight for her. He was too focused on easing past people that he hadn't seen her hesitate at the door. Yes, she had a plan in place for if he showed up, but she hadn’t expected to execute it just yet.
That didn't matter anymore. Time to put it in action.
Alexis made her way through the house, slipping her phone from her pocket. It took her longer to find the person she wanted to text than it did to actually write the message.
Theatre room. Ten minutes.
Seth wasted forty-five seconds of that time in the living room. She had to quietly open the door next to her and then close it loudly just so he knew which direction to go. Not wanting to waste any more time she headed down the hallway to the theatre room, not daring to look back to check if he was following. She didn't have to wait long to know that he had.
The door opened, causing the light to spill out into the hallway.
"Hello Seth."
"Happy birthday Lex," he smiled at her like he used to, back when they had a secret that was just theirs. Last year she might've fallen for it.
"What are you doing here Seth?"
"You invited me, remember?"
"Was me breaking your nose not clear enough. Or how about the last conversation we actually had. You remember, at school, the hallway. Someone smart would realise that all of those things added up to no longer being invited."
"Yeah see, you say all of that, but if you really didn't want me to come tonight then you could've had someone else tell me. I think you want me here because you miss me."
"You're disgusting."
"You're playing hard to get."
"Are you serious right now? Do you truly believe that after everything I would actually want to be with you?"
"Well Brennan already knows about us, not like he's going to forgive either of us anytime soon so why not keep going?"
"Maybe because I have a boyfriend, you disgust me, oh and I don't want to."
"Careful Lex, after all, I am in your house, with all of your friends outside. Imagine what I could find and show them as proof that you're part of one of the biggest crime families on the West Coast."
"No Seth, I think you're the one who wants to be careful, because I have a recording of you trying to blackmail me to stay quiet about what you did to Jess."
Seth's eyes widened for a second before narrowing dangerously.
"You're lying."
"Oh really, you think so." Alexis unlocked her phone and brought up the recording of that conversation and pressed play.
"Who did you tell? For fucks sake Alexis just admit that you told someone."
"I don't have to admit anything to you."
"We both promised that we wouldn't tell-"
She paused the recording, not needing to go through the entire thing to prove her point.
"You stupid bitch, you recorded us?"
"Of course I did, you think that after Aaron's party I wasn't going to protect myself?"
"Look I'm sorry for what happened, I was drunk, and I missed you."
"You tried to force yourself on me."
"I was drunk!"
"That doesn't make it better, Seth. If you kill someone when you're drunk, you still killed someone. You don't get away with it because you were drunk."
"Funny that you of all people would bring up murder, considering your family's history."
"Get out of my house."
"Not till you delete that recording."
"Yeah that's not going to happen." The words had barely left her mouth when he lunged for her. Or tried to at least. With all of their arguing, Seth hadn't heard someone coming down the hallway and he hadn't noticed when that someone stood behind him.
FJ had appeared while she'd been playing the recording. It had taken all her self-control not to look at him and give away that he was there. She hadn't really wanted anyone else to know about what was going on but she knew that FJ would keep her secrets, it
's why she messaged him in the first place.
Seth struggled against the arm around his throat. He was tall but whatever extra weight he carried was just baby fat that he was yet to shed. FJ was two years older and had real muscle plus he was a trained fighter. Seth had no idea who or what hit him, literally and the more he struggled, the tighter FJ's grip got.
"Seth, you made a mistake coming here tonight, and you made an even bigger one following me into my own house. You just couldn't leave well enough alone could you? Did you really think that I would wave the only copy of this recording in your face? I release this and everyone knows what kind of person you really are. You think you accusing me of being a mafia princess is actually going to stop me from releasing it? Everyone already thinks that I am. I could tell them they're wrong until I'm blue in the face but they'll never believe me. Which is exactly what you'll be facing if I release this. No one will believe that you're not a sexual harasser. No one will trust you. Oh and just so you know, I recorded this conversation as well. You're screwed."
