The "Girl Next Door" is Cliche for a Reason

Chapter 12: I Wasn't Watching My Step

The rain continued to pour into the week, putting a damper on most people's spirits. Lexi would normally feel more alive when it was raining, but she had received a text that morning from her dad stating that he would see her at her game then get a ride with her back home. She had gotten much too comfortable having the house to herself but had realized how lonely it was after she spent all of Monday alone after practice.

"Excited to play in the rain?" Jess asked Lexi, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

"You know it's my favorite weather to play in. I hope this continues for Thursday's game as well," Lexi replied, almost bumping into someone as they walked mindlessly through the bodies. She looked over to apologize and saw Nate smiling down at her. "Sorry, I wasn't watching my step."

"It's fine. How was practice in this weather?" Nate asked the girls. Lexi still felt awkward after accidentally spending the night at Nate's and finding herself much too comfortable next to him.

"Fun," Jess answered, "it's going to be even better for the game because we can slide tackle and call it an accident."

"Only good thing about playing football in this weather is that the other team is slipping around in the mud as much as you are," Lucas said with a frown.

"Come on, it's fun in this weather," Cole said with a large smile, "I enjoy tackling people and watching them slide in the mud."

"Offense versus defense. A completely different point of view," Nate said chuckling.

"Are you excited for your dad to come back?" Sophia asked Lexi, approaching the large group and passing her a hot cup from the local café.

"I'm not sure yet. It'll be nice to have someone in the house besides Max, but I want to see if things really changed," Lexi said, taking a sip of the hot chocolate before thanking Sophia.

The bell rang, signaling morning announcements, and ending the conversation. Lexi felt Nate's eyes on her but focused on her hot drink that was slowly bringing up her body temperature. When lunch time came around, it was still pouring so Lexi quickly made her way across campus to the cafeteria.

Her friends asked a lot of questions about her dad coming home, but Lexi didn't want to think much about it. Eventually Mary caught on and changed the subject. Her next three classes passed slowly as Lexi felt the tension between her and Nate.

"Did I do something wrong?" Nate asked on their way to calculus. He looked genuinely concerned and confused.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Lexi stated, trying not to look at him. "I just... I realized that I just want to be friends. I have too much going on to add something else to my life."

"And that's alright with me," Nate said seriously, but she could hear the hurt edge in his voice. "Just, let me be a friend and don't push me away please. I would like to be here for you especially since we live so close, and only as a friend."

"Thank you," she replied.

The field was so slippery that it was a bad game for both teams. Lexi constantly slipped, laughing at herself as she fell onto her butt during the end of the last quarter. Nate stopped to watch the last thirty minutes as he had every Tuesday and Thursday, catching Lexi's fall. Lucas was the only one who had stayed with him this time, all of the others wanting to go home and take a hot shower.

"What's going on with the two of you? Things seemed off this morning," Lucas noted.

"We were good all of Sunday and I think we non-verbally agreed to... move past our friendship and into a relationship," Nate started a frown on his face as he watched Lexi slide tackle someone, "she came over after and we fell asleep on the couch and woke up together on the couch. When I woke her up for breakfast though, she practically ran out the door when she realized we'd fallen asleep together."