Safe

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Drake's POV

I stared after Lexi, shocked. I had no idea that she would react like that. I wasn't even sure what I was thinking, the words just tumbled out of my mouth. I had to apologize, if she would let me. I ran out to the garage, and started up my car. She couldn't have gotten very far on foot, but it was cold out and I didn't want her to freeze, or worse, get attacked again. I pulled out of the driveway, and quickly saw Lexi's short figure. She was walking briskly down the sidewalk with her arms folded over her stomach and her head down. I pulled up next to her and rolled down my window.

"Lexi!"

She ignored me.

"Lexi, please! I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. At least let me give you a ride home. I'll leave you alone after that, I swear."

She stopped in her tracks, and stiffly turned to face me.

"Drake, if you speak to me one more time, I will rip your eyes out through your ass. Now turn around, and go home, do you understand me?" she snarled. I gulped, surprised by her sudden ferocity. Was this the same, shy Lexi I'd seen at school?

"No. If you don't get in the truck, I'll just follow you home," I declared, not really caring about how strange that sounded.

"Fine. If you want to waste a bunch of gas to watch me walk three and a half blocks, I don't care. Just don't talk to me."

I nodded, slowly cruising next to her, trying to ignore the painful tug in my chest.

Lexi's POV

True to his word, Drake stayed next to me, gaining stares from a couple nearby joggers. When I finally got to my house, I gave Drake a very curt 'thank you,' and waited for him to drive away before letting myself inside.

I scurried up to my room, changing into some of my own clothes, and shoved the ones I borrowed from Drake under my bed.

"Lexi? Is that you?" my dad called.

"Yeah! I'm upstairs!"

I heard him make his way to to my bedroom, and he paused in the doorway, eyes closed.

"Are you decent?" he asked. I laughed; he got into this habit after he walked in on my changing once.

"Yes, Dad, I'm decent" I giggled. He opened his eyes and grinned.

"So how was your time with your friend?" he asked.

"Great! We watched a lot of movies," I lied. I felt terrible, my dad didn't even consider the fact that I might be lying. He didn't really have a reason to though, considering that I'd never lied to him before this point.

"Any good ones?"

"Yeah, I've seen most of them already though. How was your night?" I asked.

"Um, about that, sweetheart," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" I asked, confused. He started walking downstairs, with me falling closely behind. I gasped when I saw a gorgeous blond girl relaxing in my dad's favorite recliner, watching some nature documentary on TV.

"Lexi dear, this is Amy," Dad said nervously. The blond's eyes snapped up, and met mine. She quickly stood, extending a hand.

"Amy, this is my daughter, Lexi."

I nervously grasped her hand, and faked a smile at her.

"Oh it's so nice to finally meet you, Lexi! Your dad has told me all about you!"

"I-I'm sorry I can't say the same... So are you two... you know, dating?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, we are," Dad admitted. "We have been for a while now. I've just put off telling you for so long; I didn't want you to think I forgot about your mother."

I stared at Amy, drinking in her appearance. She seemed really nice, and a bit timid. The way her hand kept twitching in Dad's direction made me think that she wanted to hold on to him.

This time, I smiled for real; it looked like she cared for him a lot.

"I don't, don't worry, Dad."

I decided to give them some time alone, and went up to my room, determined to finish my Algebra 2 homework. I loved math, actually. It was my favorite subject! There's always a definite answer, and it gives me a challenge. I also hoped that it would help me get my mind off of everything.

I pulled my thick, puke-yellow textbook out of my bag, and some graphing paper. Then, since I can't work without a little background noise, I put my cracked iPhone on my docking station, and played Girl With The Red Balloon, by The Civil Wars. It was a relaxing, soft song, and I couldn't help but sing along to it under my breath as I worked.

I could hear my dad and Amy talking and laughing downstairs, so I turned my music up a bit. As if on cue, they got louder. What the hell?

I dramatically stomped downstairs, and into the living room, where I saw the happy couple laughing over a bottle of wine. My anger melted away instantly; how could I be angry at my dad when he was so happy? Since Mom died a few years ago, he hadn't seen or dated another woman. When we weren't hanging out together, he spent a lot of his time moping around.

"Lexi?" Dad called, craning his neck to peek into the hallway.

"Huh? Oh! Um, yeah, sorry! I just walked down here and completely forgot what I was gonna do," I laughed.

"Oh, that happens to me all the time," Amy commented.

"Yeah," Dad agreed. "Hey! We were about to play a game, wanna join in?"

"Oh I don't know, I really don't want to intrude. I also still have a few more problems left on my homework..."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun! We're playing Just Dance!" Amy said excitedly.

"Alright, I can't resist Just Dance," I caved. "I get to pick the first song though!"

I ran to turn the Wii on, quickly followed by an irate Amy.

"Aw, can't I pick the first one?" she whined facetiously.

"Nope! And I'm player one."

"Now that's just cold. How could you be so cruel?" she gasped dramatically; I giggled.

"Okay, we'll take turns picking the song," I said.

"Fair enough," she agreed, strapping one of the remotes to her wrist. My dad joined in as third player, and I scrolled through the song library, before I finally settled on This is Halloween.

"I loved that movie!" Amy exclaimed, referring to A Nightmare Before Christmas.

"Me too!"

I was beginning to like Amy more and more, that is, until she chose to be the vampire, which I had totally planned on being before. For some reason, I chose to stay as far from my dad as possible.

You're being ridiculous, I thought. Your dad is not going to hurt you! He's your dad for Christ's sake.

I ignored the reasonable voice in my head, and avoided eye contact with my dad, not that he really seemed to notice. He was having way to much trouble prancing around like the pumpkin man on screen!

* * *

Unknown POV

I watched her dance through the little window by the front door, hoping that no one would notice me peeking in. She had a gorgeous smile on her shining face, but she seemed a little worried about something.

I would have gotten into a better position, but I was still getting used to my newly broken arm. Just thinking about that stupid boy made me see red. Why did he have to barge in on us!? We were having a wonderful time together! My teeth ground together, and I tried to calm myself down.

Don't act too rashly, I thought, you'll be seeing her soon anyway, and when you have her, he'll never be able to take her away.

I grinned, and slipped away, glancing behind me. No one would ever know I was there..