letters to the boy who never cared

t w e n t y - s e v e n

"Lexi!"

This was really a deja vu moment for me, as my phone vibrated simultaneously with the call from under my window. I glanced at my phone's lit up screen.

reedie fresh: babe babe babe babe babe

I smiled, despite how rockily things had been going lately, just for the thrilling feeling of being called "babe". It would never get old.

I shivered as I opened the window and stuck my head out. "What?" I whisper-called, but I already knew. Reed was always getting caught doing something, so his dad had the tendency to kick him out a lot. Not really the most effective punishment, since he mostly just came to my place to stay the night and fool around. Or, he went to a friend's house.

"Dad kicked me out and you won't answer your doorbell," he replied, shrugging helplessly, but then flashing one of his winners to melt my heart. "Could I crash?"

"My mom's home."

"So we'll be quiet!"

My cheeks reddened at his lewd meaning. "Ew, you pig, I meant how are you supposed to get up here?"

Reed looked at me like I was dumb. "There's a trellis, like, right here. Who decided to put that there anyway? Has your mom not watched Romeo and Juliet? Or any cliche love story?"

I giggled, but pretended to be frustrated with him and huffed. "That's dangerous."

"So's dating me, but you do it all the time!"

I shook my head. "You're so full of yourself."

Reed smirked up at me. "Whatever. I'm coming up. It's freakin' cold, and here we are having a nice conversation. Will ya open the window a little bit more, Lex?"

I obliged and stepped away from the window, watching Reed haul himself through with his sinewy arms. A bit of his brown hair fell into his eyes.

As soon as he came into the window, Reed crossed the space between us and grabbed my wrists. He pulled me in for a kiss, then stopped. "Hi, Lexi," he whispered.

"Hi," I replied, breathlessly. 

He kissed me again, more and more passionately. We had made our way to sitting on my comforter when I came to my senses. I pushed him off me.

"Hold on. You don't just get to come in here, and pretend you didn't see all those texts on Saturday. No. Where were you?"

"Come on, baby, let's not do this now," Reed whined. He reached to put his hands around my waist again.

"No!" I whispered fiercely, remembering my mother in the other room. "My best friend's dad died, Reed. He died! And you couldn't even come to the wake. Everyone asked about you, too. I was so embarassed."

"Babe, I was busy-"

"No. You're never there when I need you! Grace's dad-"

"No," Reed said, placing a finger on my lips. "You listen, for once, okay? Who is my girlfriend?"

"Alexa Green," I answered, grumpily.

"Who?"

"Alexa Green."

"I'm sorry, are you sure it's not Grace Young, or Jen Salamander or whatever that redhead's name is? No, it's not. I'm dating you, Alexa, not your friends. I don't have any obligations to any of them. I never did, and I never will. I don't want to hear anymore of that."

I was quiet. He'd never acted like such a guy before. He was being really immature, and I'm sure he realized that, because he sank down onto the bed next to me.

"That was stupid," he sighed. "Let's not fight again, okay?"

I nodded. "Her name's Summer."

"What?"

"The redhead. Her name is Summer Hardy. And it's Jen Salazar, not Salamander. You knew that."

"I was making a point. Lexi, please."

"Sorry."

Reed's fingertips brushed my jaw as he gave me  a soft kiss on the neck. "Please don't be mad anymore."

"Okay."

He peppered more kisses along my face and neck, we messed around, and then he fell asleep. I watched him, lying shirtless half-under my white comforter and breathing deeply.

I thought about what Matt said at Summer's house. And I wondered if the boy in my bed really did  care about me.

A/N: be a dear and vote. i'll love you for eight years. or like forever.

peace out girl scout

xx janai