Chapter 4

Lex awoke earlier than normal and was ready for work before the store was even open. He unlocked and got the store set up for the day. It had been a

long time since he showed up to work on time and since he actually did the opening duties but he remembered them none the less. He had an impeccable memory but only used it for movie facts and other nonsense.

Chloe showed up fifteen minutes before opening and was surprised to see Lex behind the counter waiting for her.

“Are you ok Lexy?” asked Chloe looking worried.

“Yes, I’m fine Lo Lo. I just had a good night, slept well and was up and ready for work. I can fane being responsible sometimes can’t I?” said Lex checking in the overnight returned movies. Chloe jumped the counter and pulled up a chair next to where Lex was standing and examined him.

“So you went on that date then?” asked Chloe interested.

“Yeah I went and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about” said Lex.

“Ok…” said Chloe turning her eyes away from him.

“She is a really cool girl Lo Lo, she is funny and smart and most of all she likes me” pleaded Lex. “And?” asked Chloe.

“And, I think she has the potential to be my new girlfriend but she won’t be if you don’t approve of her of course. I want you to meet her” said Lex trying to play nice about it.

“When do you want me to meet this potential girlfriend of yours?” ask Chloe not sounding too happy about the situation and not really trying to hide her dislike of the situation.

“Tomorrow night sometime” answered Lex.

“Fine” said Chloe standing up “Are you ready to open? I just want to get this day over with.”

Chloe was distant from Lex the entire shift they worked together and said that she wouldn’t be going to Hardly’s after work tonight either because she wasn’t really feeling well. Lex knew she was lying but he also knew not to poke that bear.

Lex was not sure how to handle this sudden change in Chloe and was worried that she was keeping something from him. He trusted her with everything. She knows all of his darkest secrets and he knew hers, or so he thought. They had been friends for so long and he had never seen this side of her. Lex didn’t want to put too much thought into it just in case she was just stressed about school or something and he was reading too much into due to the fact that he, himself, was stressed out of his mind about Sara. After the video store closed and Chloe parted ways without saying goodnight and leaving Lex with a feeling of doing something wrong, he went home.

Lex made himself something to eat and went and laid down to go to bed. He put in The Matrix to fall asleep to but he knew it would end up keeping him up until it was just about over like it always did. He was about an hour into when his phone buzzed.

Sara: Tell me somethin’ Lex: Like what?

Sara: I don’t care, just something, anything.

Lex: Did you know that all of the storm troopers in the original Star Wars movies were clones?

Sara: Shut up, you lie.

Lex: No for real. Remember the scene in A New Hope when Luke rescues Leia from the Death Star?

Sara: Yeah, how could I not?

Lex; Do you remember what she says?

Sara: Aren’t you a little short to be a storm trooper?

Lex: Yes! And that is in reference to the fact that all storm troopers are the same height because they are all in fact clones.

Sara: I don’t really know if I like or believe you.

Lex: You don’t have to believe me but it’s true.

Sara: Alright, what are you doing tonight?

Lex: Right now I am reading from the book of the dead waiting for Bruce Campbell to show up.

Sara: Oh? I bet you are lying in bed watching a movie?

Lex looked around his room half expecting to see Sara’s eyes peeking out from behind a pile of clothes or between the cracks in the closet doors but he saw nothing.

Lex: Are you a witch? Sara: We refer to ourselves as wiccan…

Lex: Are you channeling Fairuza Balk?

Sara: Oh yeah but from The Waterboy not the craft.

Lex: Haha, that actually made me laugh out loud.

Sara: Its LoL, are you new to texting lingo?

Lex: No, I just have a brain.

Sara: Ouch…

Lex: Jokes, I’m made of jokes.

Sara: I see this. Well I guess I should go to bed. Have a goodnight Lex and I’ll see you tomorrow night.

Lex: Ok Sara, I will see you then.

Lex sent the message and sat back wondering if his jokey nature was getting the better of him. He hated texting for this very reason; he hated not being able to hear her tone or her to hear his. Lex hoped that he hadn’t offended her but he felt it was probably better not to ask either. He went back to watching his movie and just before he fell asleep he said

“Today was an alright day.”

***

The next day at work was just as the previous day had been with Chloe. She was distant with him as soon as she got to work. He had been waiting all day for her to get there because he loved working with her. He hated this but he liked Sara so he knew it needed to happen and if he liked Sara so should Chloe.

The night was progressing fast and it was a lot busier than Lex thought it would be, which was nice because he wasn’t sure what time Sara would be coming in and she wasn’t responding to his texts. He was worried that he really had pissed her off and that she wasn’t even going to come in at all. Lex kept checking his phone obsessively through the night until Chloe scolded him and he had to resort to just staring at the wall clock.

“When is your new lady supposed to be here?” asked Chloe trying to be nice.

“She didn’t say” said Lex checking the clock again. It was eleven and the store had pretty much cleared out. It had begun to rain again and Chloe looked like she wanted to leave but wasn’t saying anything because she knew that Lex wanted her to be there. Lex stood at the edge of the counter watching the rain splash in the empty parking lot.

“A watched pot never boils” said Chloe rearranging the money in Lex’s cash register so it was all facing the same way.

“That’s a lie and you know it” said Lex.

“She better be worth it Lexy” she joked. Lex thought about the word “worth”. He never really understood how anyone ever judged another person by their worth. To him everyone was pretty much worth the same just some people chose to spend their worth killing other people or just by being assholes. It didn’t make them less or worse it just made them different. He generally hated putting people in categories but always ended up falling into that social convention anyway. He knew he hated hipsters and overly man-hating feminists and that putting everyone in those groups in the same category was just like being racist he tried not to really think about it like that. He had gotten in an argument once with an aforementioned feminist that didn’t really end well. He ended up just having to just walk away because she was getting so riled up that he was sure she was going to hit him and since she was one of Chloe’s art friends he thought better than to provoke her to her limits.

“Is that her?” asked Chloe. Lex didn’t realize that he was zoning out so hard while thinking about worth that he didn’t even notice her drive up.

“Yes, it is…Please be nice…Please!” begged Lex.

“No promises” said Chloe flatly.

“Chloe!” shouted Lex. “How do I look?” he said running his fingers through hair trying to get that messy but awesome look.

“You look like an ass, is that what you were going for?” asked Chloe laughing. Lex just glared at her as the bell to the door rang. Lex could feel his entire body getting hot as Sara walked up to the counter holding the copy of Lake Placid he rented her last week. Lex thought she was looking extra cute tonight.

“Hey Lex, sorry I’m so late, got held up at work” said Sara.

“That’s ok. I’ve only been waiting for like hours upon hours for your arrival. The white horse ate all of the rose petals and had to be taken to the vet though...sorry” said Lex with a purely straight face.

“Were they red? Because I specifically asked for pink” said Sara with her best valley girl voice.

Chloe laughed but Lex was sure she didn’t mean to.

“This is my bestest and oldest friend Chloe” said Lex motioning over to Chloe who was standing with her back turned to them.

“Hi Chloe’s back” said Sara. Lex cringed at her joke seeing as how she didn’t know about Chloe’s melt down.

“Hello, Farah was it?” asked Chloe with a bite.

“No, that’s my sister’s name. My name is S-A-R-A” she said spelling her name out loud. Lex was feeling awkward but had nowhere to run.

“I’m surprised you know how to spell it. Lex hasn’t really told me anything about you. I don’t even think he knows your last name” said Chloe.

“Paxton! Ha! Sara’s last name is Paxton!” said Lex a little too excited. Sara laughed but Chloe didn’t.

“Ok, let’s get down to business. I’m going to ask you a series of questions. You answer them as short and sweet as you can and at the end I will tell you if it is ok for you to date my friend. Deal?” said Chloe leaning on the counter in front of Sara.

“Deal” said Sara with a dry smirk on her face. “Where do you work?” asked Chloe.

“Ripped Records and Reading” said Sara. Lex didn’t know this but thought it was extra rad.

“Why did you kiss Lex without asking him?” asked Chloe stone faced.

“Because his is really cute and he makes me laugh like no one else I have ever met can” said Sara seemingly honest. Lex thought he saw the hint of a smile on Chloe’s face but it was gone in a flash.

“What are you real intentions with him? Are you just looking to hook up?” asked Chloe. Lex didn’t like this questions because he didn’t want to know the answer.

“I’m looking to turn him into my sex slave and never let him leave the house” said Sara. Chloe didn’t laugh at all but stood very still waiting for a real response. “I want to date him and possibly make him my boyfriend if dating goes well. Can we be done with this now?” asked Sara getting kind of fed up with Chloe.

“Lex is my best friend and I really don’t like the fact that you just come in here and kiss him and text him like crazy and just interrupt our lives. I don’t like you but Lex does and whatever makes him happy makes me happy so do what you want with him but if you break his heart I will kill you” said Chloe getting really serious. Sara turned her head toward Lex who was shaking his head and mouthing the words “she’s serious” to Sara.

“Ok, well I have nothing against you and I honestly don’t care what you think or how you feel about me because you don’t even know me. Lex is a grown ass man and he can make his own choices and I am pretty sure that I am sleeping in his bed tonight so please go to bed with that on your mind” said Sara trying to fight back. Lex knocked over a stack of dvds at Sara’s last comment.

“Ok fine. Just leave me out of it” said Chloe turning away and grabbing her bag. “See you tomorrow Lex?” she stopped at the door and waited.

“Yeah, bright and early” said Lex trying to hide his uneasiness.

“Wear a condom” she said looking at Sara and walking out of the store letting the door punctuate her statement. Sara turned an uncomfortable shade of pink and turned her face down to the floor.

“I’m sorry Sara, I don’t really know what’s going on with her” pleased Lex.

“Are you serious Lex? She is in love with you” she said not looking up. Lex laughed.

“No, she is not. She just cares about me like a sister” said Lex confused.

“If you say so” she said taking a few steps into the aisles of dvds. “What should I rent for us tonight?”

Lex’s mind went back to the sleeping in the same bed comment.

“Are you really staying at my place tonight?” asked Lex. Sara looked at him and smiled.

“Is that ok? My roommate is having a party tonight and I don’t really want to be there” she said.

“Yeah, that would be fine. You have to pick the movies we watch though, and I will approve them or not” he said winking at her.

“Did you just wink at me?” she asked. Lex froze. “I just mean, I don’t know if I have ever been winked at, and you are really good at it. I could almost feel it” she said walk towards him.

“I’m sorry, it was just a reflex. I don’t know why I did it…” Sara kissed him. Lex felt her hands grab the back of his head. He liked this. She ran her fingers through his hair and he melted in her hands.

“Whatever you want Lex” she said pulling away. “I’ll grab three of my favorite movies and two that I totally hate and see what kind of girl you think I

am.” Lex nodded wanting her to put her lips back upon his. She walked out into the store and pull 5 dvds systematically off the shelves and returned.

In the stack was:

Pride and Prejudice, Jaws, Up, Josie and the Pussycats, The notebook.

Lex held them in his hands and weighed what type of girl he wanted Sara to be versus the type of girl most girls were to him. He turned around and picked the two he loved hoping he was right and would just suffer the consequences of falling for a girl who likes stereotypical girl movies. He had seen all of them but he could never put something like The Notebook in his favorite lists and he could never put Pride and Prejudice on any list except for bad books and movies he never needs to see or read ever again. The weird thing was that he did have a special place for Josie and never really told anyone about it. He just loved Parker Posey.

He turned around with his eyes closed and handed her his choices. She took them from him and shuffled them in her hands. He heard her just standing there making him wait so he decided to open his eyes. She was standing about an inch from him with a giant smile on her face.

“Ok, so I’m glad you can read me, I thought I threw you a curve ball with Josie but you guessed right. Good job” she said. Lex let out a sigh of relief and smiled back.

“You really like Jaws?” asked Lex.

“That’s one bad hat Harry” she responded. Lex was impressed. “So movie marathon then starting with Up?” said pushing him back behind the counter.

Lex nodded and started to ring up her free dvds.

“Umm, I have to close the shop. Do you mind hanging out for a bit?” he asked.

“How bout I go get us something to munch on during our movie watching? Meet you back here in like twenty minutes” she asked. Lex nodded. She kissed him quickly on the cheek and left. Lex took out his phone and texted Chloe while he closed down the store.

Lex: Hey, are you ok?

Lo Lo: Yeah…

Lex: What’s going on? Why did you treat Sara like that?

Lo Lo: Are you serious Lex? She was a bitch first.

Lex: I don’t care who did what first I just don’t like seeing you like that. I just want to know what’s going on with you. Is everything ok at school?

Lo Lo: Yes Lex it’s about school, just school.

Lex: Are you sure? Can I help?

Lo Lo: No, it’s ok Lex, don’t worry about me I can handle my school stuff by myself.

Lex: Ok, but you know I am always here for you.

Lo Lo: Yeah, I know…

Lex waited for a follow up but thought it was best to leave her alone. He wanted to help her but he thought that he couldn’t be much help with school stuff since he hadn’t been to school in like seven years. He closed the shop and went outside to wait for Sara. Sara drove up to the front of the shop blasting Queen. Lex couldn’t help but smile at her. “Hey, double bubble” she said.

“Cheech and Chong, really?” asked Lex folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Hey, I don’t smoke but man that stuff is pretty funny sometimes, a van made out of weed, that’s pretty funny” she argued.

“Ok, I’ll give you Basketball Jones but nothing else” said Lex walking over to her car.

“Deal, now get in so we can head to your place, where is it by the way?” she asked moving stuff from the messy front seat to the even messier backseat. Lex cleared his throat and pointed to window above the store.

“Are you freaking serious right now?” she asked astounded. Lex nodded a yes. Her tires screeched and pulled into the closest parking spot to her. She hopped out holding two bulging plastic grocery bags.

“What the hell? Did you rob the place or something?” asked Lex grabbing one of them out of her hand. They walked and talked.

“No! I just didn’t know what a boy like you would like, so I got everything I love and we will see. Testing isn’t over yet bucko” she said hitting him rather hard on the arm. He was just about to put his key in the door when the state of his apartment flew through his mind.

“Wait here” he said running inside slamming the door behind him. Lex did a mad rush of picking up his place. He ran like a hurricane of clothes and old boxes of Frosted Flakes. He hid everything he could inside the closet in the spare bedroom. He did a once over and deemed it acceptable. “Ok, just had to clear the rat traps, you know the drill” he said opening the door and ushering Sara in.

The apartment was the same square footage as the store below so Lex had a lot of room for just one person. The kitchen was really big and nice, he always wished he cooked more but didn’t really have anyone but himself to cook for. The living room had a large flat screen TV hooked up to a large surround system with speakers that stretched to all corners of the room. In the center of the room was a large orange couch big enough for anyone to sleep on. Right next to it was a matching recliner. A desktop computer was sitting in the corner of the room also hooked up to bigger than normal speakers. Next to the kitchen was a big wooden kitchen table with a stack of board games taking up a big portion of it. Sara walked in and flopped down on the couch. She let out a sigh of pleasure.

“Is this place for real? Who do I have to kill to get this place?” she asked making snow angle like movements on the couch.

“I guess me?” said Lex uneasy.

“Or just marry you right? I think that’s more beneficial for both of us. Tour please” She said getting up.

Lex walked her into the kitchen where she drooled over the electric flat top stove and stainless steel refrigerator with water and crushed ice.

“I love crushed ice, I’m never leaving” said Sara touching everything.

They continued into the spare bedroom where Lex stood in front of the closest just in case she wanted to open it. She didn’t. This room was basically just bookcases full of dvds and books. You couldn’t see even an inch of the existing wall. In the center of the room was a small card table surrounded by four chairs. Sara was shocked at Lex’s movie collection. Lex had every movie or TV show she could ever want to watch. She was kind of mad about it due to the fact that she had one hundred free rentals but knew a guy that had a library like this.

She ran her hands along the sides of the books on the nearest case and repeated the titles as she went.

“You like to read I see. Too smart for me. I must be going…” she said turning and leaving the room but heading straight into Lex’s bedroom. Lex followed after her, feeling a bit out of place in his own home.

Lex’s bedroom as covered in movie posters and most of them were signed by actors from their movies. Just above his bed he had a Star Wars: A New Hope poster signed by everyone except for Harrison Ford. His bed was full size and was on the floor. Lex did this so that he wouldn’t have to clean out from under it. At the foot of the bed was another big TV. His closet was open to reveal a very neatly arranged set up. Sara liked this. She ran in and jumped on his bed. Lex cringed hoping that he hadn’t left something under the blanket that would hurt her. She landed and sighed again in pleasure.

“I am half surprised it’s not a waterbed but holy shit is it comfortable. How can you afford all of this stuff?” she asked confused.

“My boss doesn’t really charge me rent for some reason and I have been working here since I was sixteen. I don’t really have bills so I just buy the things I like plus when you work in movie store you get a lot of free or relatively cheap movies” said Lex trying to explain. “I’m not a pimp if that’s what you’re worried about, I stopped that a long time ago” he said pulling a cane out of his closet. The can had been part of his Halloween costume last year. She laughed and flopped her head unto his pillow. Lex stood awkwardly while watching Sara get acclimated to his bed. He had never met anyone like her.

“Ok, let’s do this thing. I have to run down to my car ok?” she said getting up and leaving the room. Lex just watched her go trying to find words but none came. She was gone for only a few minutes and came in with a backpack slung over her shoulder. “Bathroom?” she asked. Lex pointed to the room just off the hallway. She walked in and Lex could hear her through the door.

“Fuck off, spa tub!” Lex smiled he even liked the way she cussed. He sat on the couch and waited for her to do whatever it was she was doing. She came out wearing pajama pants, fuzzy socks, and an old looking t-shirt. Her hair was down and Lex saw her true beauty for the first time. She wasn’t wearing any makeup or a bra. Lex wasn’t sure what was going on. He liked Sara but it took 6 months to get to this point with Artsy girl. He started to feel weird about what was going on but she was so beautiful he was conflicted.

“Why are you so comfortable around me?” asked Lex.

“I don’t know, you just scream “safe”” said Sara grabbing the grocery bags and digging in them. She handed him a can of sour cream and onion Pringles, a thing of Redvines, a Dr, Pepper, and a box of junior mints. Lex was astounded. These were all his favorite things. He thought for sure that she couldn’t possibly be real. He leaned over and kissed her without warning. She grabbed his head again and pulled him into her. Soon they were lying on the couch locked at the lips. Things were moving fast and Lex tried to get his head together. He pulled away slightly and gave her a soft low pressured kiss on the lips and then pulled all the way back.

“That was nice, thank you” said Sara pulling herself together. “We should continue that later.”

‘Yes we should” joked Lex. “I’m going to go change too then, since you have made yourself right at home.”

Sara looked down at herself. “Oh this? Sorry but I live here now” she said sprawling out on the couch. Lex laughed while leaving the room. He shut his door behind him feeling a little weird about Sara. He changed into his old faded purple Power Ranger t-shirt and his customary board shorts that he slept in every night.

“I like your shirt, nerdiness is hot” she said with a redvine sticking out of her mouth. “I like the shorts too, not afraid to show some leg, slut.” She laughed at her own joke.

“I am so the essence of slut, I actually wear slut by Calvin Kline” said Lex opening the Dr.Pepper and taking a sip.

“Want to move this to the bedroom?” asked Sara abruptly. Lex choked on his drink and sputtered trying to catch his breath. Sara patted him on the back. “No funny business I promise” she said crossing her heart with her fingers.

Lex nodded trying to clear his throat while Sara pulled him to the bedroom with one hand and holding their snacks in the other. She threw Lex on the bed and put in the dvd. Lex’s bed was pushed up against the wall because he liked sleeping with his back against the wall. He positioned himself next to the wall and propped himself up by pillows. He grabbed the two remotes from under his pillow and turned on the TV. Sara jumped on the bed and got underneath the covers. Lex didn’t move to match her. The movie started and within seconds they were both weepy eyed even though they both had seen the movie countless amounts of times.

They didn’t speak much trough the movie but they both laughed at the same jokes. Sara snuggled closer to Lex and laid her head on his lap. She made a noise that sounded like a bird chirping mixed with a snort.

“Are you ok?” asked Lex as the movie was ending.

“When I make that sound I want you to touch my head with your hands” she said.

“Oh yeah? What am I to you, some sort of man servant” asked Lex rubbing his hands through her hair. It was soft and smelled like strawberries and cream. The smell was intoxicating and Lex loved the way her hair felt in his hands. It was like silk. Sara’s eyes closed and she hummed liked a small kitten.

“You are amazing, that’s what you are to me” she answered drooling slightly. Lex was falling in love. He didn’t know what love was but for some reason it just sounded right when it was applied to Sara. She made him feel good. She didn’t know him really but here she was in his bed feeling safe enough to have him touch her. He had never been in this position. The artsy girl hated to be touched and they only had sex once and it was so awkward that Lex was sure that sex in general was not worth all the words that had been written about it.

He had only been with that one girl so he was worried about Sara wanting to be with him. He didn’t know what he was doing in life let alone under the sheets. Sex was foreign and he kind of wanted to keep it that way.

Sara grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her head and turned over so that she could look right up at him.

“For real though, your eyes are stunning. I want to put them in my mouth” she said honestly. Lex laughed.

“You’re a fantastic weirdo, you know that?” he asked still laughing.

“Yes” she said still staring at him. “Kiss me” she said like a command. Lex obliged. It hurt his neck to kiss her this way for too long so he slid down to her level and continued. He liked kissing, it was simple. She grabbed him and pulled him into her. His hand grazed a spot on her side where her shirt had run up and skin was visible. It sent a shock through his entire body. Her skin was soft and clean. She pushed her hips into his and Lex knew he needed to stop this before it went any further. He wasn’t ready for this and he respected her too much to let this happen so early in their friendship. He wanted to know her before this happened. He did what he did before, he pulled away and kissed her softly and then pulled his body away.

“Is there something wrong with me?” she asked looking at him quizzically.

“No, I just like you” he said honestly.

“Good answer” she said smiling at him. “I knew you were a good guy. Most guys aren’t like you Lex” Lex’s face scrunched in thought. “No, that’s a good thing. Most guys would have taken this chance and ruined it, can we snuggle and watch Jaws now?” she asked rubbing the bed with her hand. Lex laughed and put in Jaws and sat back down on the bed, this time under the covers. Sara took her position back with her head on his lap. She made the sound again and Lex complied. Sara was asleep about ten minutes into the movie. She woke up when the movie was almost done. She sat up and looked around at the bed and then looked at Lex and said “We’re going to need a bigger bed” and then went right back to sleep.

Lex smiled and stroked her head until he could hear her breathing deeply. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and thought about what just happened. As he walked through the house shutting off all the lights and putting away the food Sara had bought he was happy. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time. He liked it, he liked Sara. Just before he laid down next to Sara in the bed he looked at her drooling on his favorite pillow and said to himself “The gloriousness of this day has no bounds”.