Even Our Angels Looked Surprised

Chapter 5

"Ali?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

Finally Ali pressed the send button and turned her attention to Kyle, who looked exasperated. "Sorry... I missed that last part." She answered guiltily.

Kyle picked up the pillow beside him on the couch and whizzed it at her head. "I'm going to steal your phone if you keep ignoring me."

She knew the threat was not an empty one. "I'm sorry! I promise I'll put it away for the rest of the night. Just... give me a second..." She hurriedly tapped out another message.

gotta go. with Kyle. ttyl

When she looked up again, Kyle was watching her, but he looked more amused than annoyed.

"So who is this guy you're texting anyways? Some German dude? Because I want to meet him." She was crashing at Kyle's for just a couple days before heading back to Frankfurt. She hadn't thought much about it, but now that he brought it up she realized her and Ashlyn really had been texting a lot the past couple days.

Ali made a face. "It's not a guy. Just a friend."

Kyle looked disbelieving. "Who is it?"

"Um..." Ali didn't like that she hadn't told Kyle about camp or her and Ashlyn's new friendship. She just didn't know what to say.

"Don't mumble at me, Alexandra. Who is it?"

Ali thrummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "Do you remember Ashlyn Harris? That girl we met in Texas?"

"You mean the chick you spent like the whole night with?"

"That's not-" Ali started to argue but trailed off. "Anyways, she was at camp, and we hung out a lot." I can't believe I'm kind of lying to him about this.

As Kyle tried to read her face, Ali felt a blush creep up her neck. His mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. Did you hook up with her?"

"No! God, no! It was a kiss, I swear we just kissed!"

As soon as she said it, they both fell silent. They stared at each other for a few moments before he got up from the couch. "You can tell me over pizza." He said matter-of-factly as he dialed a number.
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After Ali had been back in Germany for a few weeks, frequent texts were joined by weekly phone calls. Once they started occasional Skype chats, Ali knew that she was going a little overboard. More than once she caught herself double-checking in the mirror before a Skype date.

They talked about everything, and they talked about nothing. It didn't really matter, as long as they got to talk.

Kyle warned her to be careful.
"How is it that you two are so close all of a sudden?" He asked her one night over the phone. She hardly ever talked about Ashlyn, but Kyle knew her better than she knew herself most of the time.

"I don't know. We just click, I guess. Sometimes I feel like we've known each other forever."

"It's not fair to her to send mixed signals."

"I know."

"And, Ali?"

"What?"

"Maybe you need to be careful about what this is for you, too. Don't play games - not with her and not with yourself."

Ali meant to be careful, really she did.
Sometimes, mostly for her own benefit, she'd tell Ashlyn about some cute guy she'd seen at the gym or ask if Ashlyn had been out with anyone that week. Ashlyn would always listen patiently as she raved about whoever she'd seen, and then she'd reply that she hadn't really been in the mood to go out lately. If she were honest, Ali was always relieved at her reply.
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