A shy girl in Polis High floats by unnoticed, following in her mother's footsteps. It's not until something happens in her life that causes her to go out of routine and people may start to see the girl that was once the Polis High ghost. What happen...
"How come you got here so fast?" I ask after a while of sitting there in silence. "I was still at school. I had soccer practice but I skipped it so I could come here." Lexa said. I pulled away from her and looked at her surprised. "Oh my god you didn't have to do that! I'm sorry... I didn't mean for you to-" I started before Lexa cut me off. "No, no it's alright. I didn't really want to go anyways." She said to reassure me. I relaxed a bit and replied "Still. You shouldn't have skipped for me." Lexa just shook her head and then changed the subject. "Where do you want to go? You said you didn't want to go home so we could go to my place... if you want?" She asked hesitantly.
My stomach twisted as the anxiety from before started to come back. I should really go check on my mom. "Sure." I say and then am automatically confused why I said that. Now that I had accepted my stomach twisted even more thinking about going to someone's house. I haven't been to someone's house other than mine or families probably since 1st or 2nd grade. "Cool. So... I don't drive. Could you drive us there?" Lexa asks. It gives me a bit of comfort when I see she's a little nervous too. I nod and we both stand up and start walking towards the car, side by side. "Thank you. I usually get a ride from a soccer friend but he isn't at practice today, so I would've had to walk." Lexa said, filling the silence of our walk to the car. Why couldn't her parents give her a ride home? "It's no problem. If you ever need a ride you could just call me, I'll pick you up. It's not like I'm busy like.. ever." I offer as we approach the car. We split off as she goes to the passenger side and she says "Thanks, but I couldn't ask you to do that." I unlock the doors and we both get in. "No really, it's no big deal. Or maybe I could stay and watch you play." I say as I go to start the car, wondering where all this confidence in speaking came from.
When Lexa hadn't responded I got worried and looked over to her. She was blushing and smiling sheepishly at her hands. How come she was the nervous one now? She must've noticed me looking at her because she looked up at me and tried to hide her blush. "Sorry.. yeah. That would be nice." She said and then continued when I started backing up. "But I don't have your number." I switch gears and start to drive before I realize I don't know where I'm going. "Oh ya I still need to text you. Where do I go?" I ask. She tells me the way and we have simple conversation on the way there. It may have been the most normal conversation I've ever had and it was actually calming, unlike when I talk to anyone else.
We arrived at Lexa's house and she tells me her dad's at work and shouldn't be home until pretty late tonight, maybe even tomorrow morning. I guess we're home alone then. I park the car and follow as Lexa leads me inside. "Sorry, it's a bit messy. It's usually just me home and I don't have time to clean it." She says as we walk inside. "That's alright I'm used to it." I say as she closes the door behind us. "The kitchen is right here on the left and the living room is straight ahead. There's a hall on the right of the living room that leads to a bathroom, my room, and my brothers old room." Lexa said as she walked to the living room and dropped her bags on the couch. Brother.. that must be Lincoln. I saw his comment on Lexa's post. I nod, looking around.
Lexa walks down the hall and motions for me to follow her. I look at all the photos on the walls, seeing baby pictures of Lexa and who I assume is Lincoln, and family photos. It's at this moment that I realize I know nothing about this girl. She's a complete stranger to me and I somehow am in her house after meeting her just earlier today. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves as we walk into Lexa's room at the end of the hall.
I look around, examining things to hopefully get to know Lexa more when I spot a guitar in the corner of the room. I walk over to it and look back at Lexa. "You play?" I ask pointing at the acoustic guitar. She gives me a smile that I see hides a bit of sadness. "No... it was my mom's.. Do you play?" She asks, avoiding the topic of her mom. "A bit. I haven't played in about a year though." I say, making Lexa smile wider. She walks over to the guitar, picks it up and then walks in front of me. She holds it out to me and says "Here. Play it." My mouth falls open in surprise. "Oh no, I can't.. It's your mom's." I politely declined. Lexa just looked at me and then wrapped the strap around my body, letting the guitar hand in front of me. "Come on, please? It just sits there untouched everyday. Plus.. I want to hear you play." Lexa says, sitting 'crisscross applesauce' on the bed and watching me.
She's waiting for me to play and I take a deep breath and let out a sigh before walking over to sit down next to her on the bed. I make sure it's in tune before begin strumming random cords. "What do you want me to play?" I ask. My nerves were fighting their way up as I tried my hardest to keep them down. "Whatever you want." She says making me search my brain for a song. She pulls out her phone and I know she's going to take a picture so I hide my face in the guitar.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I decide I'm gonna play Lean On Me by Bill Withers, it was a song my dad used to play for me.
I start strumming and humming the tune before the lyrics start: "Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow."
I then take a deep breath while strumming the cords, trying to relieve nerves and the sad feeling that's coming up. I was just about to start singing again when I surprisingly hear Lexa start singing: "But, if we are wise, we know that there's, always tomorrow."
I watch as she sings looking at me and smiling. She must've noticed my nerves. I sing the next verse: "Lean on me. When your not strong, and I'll be your friend... I'll help you.. carry on"
I stumble a little on the last words as it brings up memories of my dad singing this to me. He was the only one who understood me... my only friend. Lexa sees a tear falls from my eye and places a hand on my leg as she sings next: "For, it won't be long, till I'm gonna need, somebody to lean on."
I stop strumming, place the guitar next to me on the bed and just look into her eyes with my teary ones. I breathe in a shaky breath from all the happy memories with my dad that I'll never be able to make more of. "That was beautiful." Lexa says with a sad smile and sympathetic eyes. I gave the same smile back before looking where her hand was still on my leg. I see that she's thinking about taking it off when her hand twitches. I hesitate but then quickly place my hand on top of hers and squeeze, assuring her it's alright and giving me comfort from what just happened. "My dad... he used to sing that song to me when I was young. When I came home sad or angry he'd get his old guitar out and.. sing. The lyrics were so relevant to my life... I had no friends, and he was always there.. as a friend.. a father.. whatever I needed him to be. He was too good for this world." I said not looking away from Lexa and I's hands.
"Well guess what?" Lexa said as she moved her hand to intertwine our fingers. I felt a tingle go through my arm and looked back up into her eyes. She smiled as she said "You've got me now.. I'm here. Anyone who didn't want to be your friend is a dumb ass."
I smiled at her but had a very strong urge to get out of this social situation. My anxiety was over the moon at this point. "I should go home. As much as I don't want to see my mother, she needs me right now. And I didn't want to admit it but.. I need her too." I say shifting my eyes from hers to our hands and then back. "Awww. I was hoping we could play a game to get to know each other better." Lexa said with a pouty face. I thought for a bit before responding "What kind of game?" I asked. "Like never have I ever or two truths and a lie or something. Just something so we can learn a bit more about one another."
