Recovery

Chapter 10

"You kay?" A deep voice penetrates my dire thoughts.

I groan in embarrassment. "Who are you?" I ask him, never uncovering my face or turning around.

"Bond. James Bond." I hear. Or at least that's what I think I heard. Wouldn't I have recognized James Bond? I turn around and gape. That is definitely not James Bond.

"Are not!" I half yell at him, wiping my eyes.

He chuckles. "No, I'm not. Made ya look though!" He grins at me.

I grin despite my dour mood. "So who are you actually?"

"Peterson. Ben Peterson." He says, modifying his James Bond impersonation. "And you are?"

I look down at my feet. "You don't know?"

I look back up at him. He looks confused. "Swift. Taylor Swift." I say, copying his first antics.

"No. Way." He breaths. He stares at me, his mouth gaping open. "Did you dye your hair?"

I look at him strangely. "Reynolds. Alexis Reynolds."

He looks relieved. "Okay. Phew, I thought you might have really been a celebrity."

"Really?" I honestly don't look anything like Taylor Swift.

"No. I've always wanted to be an actor. Trying out my skills." He winks at me. "Can I call you Alex?"

I wrinkle my nose. "Can I call you Benjamin?"

He feigns horror. "No! Please! Anything but Benjamin!"

I mimic him. "No! Please! Anything but Alex!"

"Fine, how about Lex?" He tries again.

I tense, only Brent is allowed to call me that. "Ummm, how bout Lexi? Everyone calls me that."

"Okay Lexi. Did you hear that girl singing back there in the store? She was amazing! I didn't see her, but everyone agreed with me."

My body tenses again as I realize he's talking about me. "You... You liked it?" I look at him incredulously.

"Ya..." He gives me a strange look. "Do you have a hearing problem?" He looks horrified, "no offence if you do, it's just that everyone else seemed to think she was amazing." Something dawned in his eyes before I have a chance to say anything. "Wait." He gestures with his hands and points at me. "You. You're the one that was singing, weren't you?"

I blush. "Yes," my voice drops, "you honestly don't know anything about me?" I glance at him as a look of horror crosses his face.

"You're not actually famous, are you?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "No, I don't usually sing in front of an audience. But, why don't you start watching the news?" My voice sounds bitter, even to me. "Sorry," I mutter, barely audible.

"No, it's fine!" He convinces me that he's not offended from the tone of his voice. "I'm new here, our cable was supposed to get set up today." He looks towards the store. "So, Lexi. What school do you go to?"

"Elmwood high. You?" I glance towards the store, and see Brent and mom coming towards us.

"Same here. What grade? Twelve?"

"Eleven." I correct him. "You?" This conversation seemed to have turned monotonous.

"Twelve." He stuffs his hands in his pockets, and I hear my car unlock.

"Bye Benjamin." I shoot him an evil smirk.

He smirks back. "See ya Monday, Alex." He says, stressing the Alex.

I duck my head as my cheeks turn a bright shade of red, and sit in the back seat of the car. I see Ben get into the car he was leaning against, texting on his phone. Brent and mom climb into the shotgun seats and pass back the brown plastic bags.

"So when're ya gonna meet him Lex?" Brent turns around after putting his seatbelt on, and wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes. "Never. He hasn't seen the news yet, but he will tonight and ignore me at school on Monday." I look through the bags of school supplies. Binders, looseleaf, pens, pencils, erasers, and almost anything else that you could possibly think of.

"Why do I need gigantic washable markers?" Sometimes mom can get a bit carried away...

"I thought that maybe you could use them..." Mom sounds... Shy? No, embarrassed would probably be a better word.

I'm not going to use those. Chances are, they're not going to see life outside of the box before they dry up.

I stare out of the window until we turn into our driveway. I pick up the plastic bags, and sprint up the stairs. I dump my school supplies on the floor, and pick up my guitar. I open the well-worn book of songs, and start strumming the complex chords and notes, my fingers moving skillfully across the strings.

After two more songs, moms voice carries up the stairs. "Alexis! This is the last time I am going to call you for supper!"

I stand up and trot down the stairs. "Last time? What are you talking about? That was the first time!" Brent and mom both give me funny looks.

"Mom, I told you she was in her own world when she plays guitar." Brent looks triumphant. Mom looks annoyed.

"That's the fifth time I called you, now you better eat fast because I'm going out tonight." Wait. What?

"Going out? As in a date?" I sit down on my chair and scoop myself some macaroni, and wink at mom.

"Well," she says, obviously flustered. "A date, I guess."

Me and Brent share a look, raising our eyebrows. We eat in silence for the rest of the meal, and I take my dirty plate to the counter. Mom follows me, and starts loading the dishwasher. I go up to my room , and start filling my binders with paper.

Chemistry, biology, maths, advanced music, English, phys. ed, and history. My favourite subject is probably music, although I am with the grade above me, because they needed someone who played guitar, and I was at a higher level than our other guitar player. I wonder if Ben takes music.

I hear someone enter my room as I fill my black pencil case with pens and pencils. I turn towards the door and I see mom there, looking gorgeous in a red dress, and I think she even did her makeup. Man, this must be a pretty fancy date.

"Lexi, do I look okay?" Mom sure has a bad case of the pre-date jitters. That's a little bit weird since she's been married before but... I guess that one didn't work out.

"Mom," I giggle, "you look amazing, are you kidding me?"

Her face breaks out in a huge grin, and she turns to walk down the stairs as the doorbell reverberates through the house. My mom calls out a quick goodbye, and I look out of my window to watch her leave. Why does the man look so familiar? I'm sure I've seen him before.

I get ready for bed, and as I'm staring at the ceiling it hits me.

Was it really him?