“That’s not the point!” Alis’s voice grows louder with frustration. “Why the hell were you talking about my sex life in front of a nine-year-old?!”Sex life?That escalated quickly.
Alis covers her mouth with her hand and squeezes her eyes closed. Her cheeks burn brighter. I don’t think she meant to say that in front of Sunny. Or me. I try to stay quiet.I’m so glad I came over.
Skye laughs. “Be careful, Alis. Your word vomit is spewing.”
Alis gives Skye a death glare and Sunny takes that as her queue to leave. “I’m going to my room. To read a book. Dexter has officially inspired me. You guys have fun! Bye-eeeee!” And then she bolts down the hallway and shuts what I assume is her bedroom door behind her.
Alis is still fuming, her eyes matching her red cheeks; Skye is still laughing. I have no idea what all just happened, but I know that I definitely don’t want to leave.
I try to lighten the mood and nudge Alis with my elbow. “So,Sexy Dexy, huh?” I wink at her and she rolls her eyes, blushing again, and lets out a huff. “This is not happening.”
Skye walks across the room to Sunny’s previous sitting location and reaches out her hand before sitting down. “Hi, Dexter. It’s nice to see you again.” Ah, she must be the friend from the club.
“Nice to see you again, too. I like the hair,” I say, nodding toward her purple locks. “I don’t remember the purple from the first time we met.”
“Yeah, the purple is new. I think that night my hair was red? Or maybe black. I don’t remember.” She shrugs. “So, what brings you to our humble abode?”Our. Ok, so they all live together. Does Sunny belong to Skye, then?
“I just came to check on Alis. She’s been out for a while and I wanted to make sure she was feeling alright.”
“Aw, Alis! He came to check on you,” Skye croons, hands folded over her chest. “You are so sweet to think of her, Dexy-Poo. And now that you’re here, you should stay for dinner!” She claps excitedly. Alis isn’t having it.Dexy-Poo?
“Sorry, Skye, but Dexter was just leaving.” She stands and gestures toward the door. I don’t want to leave, but I take the hint, set down my mug on the coffee table, and stand to follow.
“Aw, but I just got home! I didn’t even get to talk to him!” Skye whines.
“You’ll live,” Alis replies and she opens the door and steps out into the hallway. I wave goodbye to Skye and follow Alis, pulling the door closed behind me on my way out.
Alis is leaning up against the hallway wall, watching as I exit her apartment. “I am so sorry about that. I swear those two have no filter. I hope they didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
I smirk at her. “I thinkyouwere the uncomfortable one. They’re hilarious! I didn’t realize you had a roommate, or a …” I purposefully leave the sentence hanging, hoping she’ll fill in the blank.
“Spitfire? Yeah. They’re both crazy.” Way to avoid the question, woman. Looks like I’m going to have to ask her straight up.
“Is she yours?” Alis looks at her feet. Her face doesn’t lookashamed, but worried about answering my question. Why would she be worried about answering?
“Yes. And, no.” I quirk an eyebrow at her. That makes no sense.
Returning her gaze to meet mine, a myriad of emotions fill her eyes. She seems to be wrestling internally about what to say next. Finally, she makes the decision to trust me and shares a bit of her story.
“I adopted her when she was a baby. Her mother was my sister. She and Sunny’s father died in a car accident when she was nine months old.” Nine months old, and she’s about to be ten, which puts the car accident around … eight? Nine years ago? Right about the time Alis dropped out of grad school.
“You left school to take care of Sunny.” It’s a statement; not a question. Alis nods her head.
“Yeah. I had a lot happening around me and ultimately decided it would be best for Sunny, and for myself, if I left school and focused on raising her. We lived with my parents until we moved here in August.”
This woman continues to intrigue me. Becoming an adoptive mother in her early twenties? Losing her sister and brother-in-law at the same time? I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been for her, for her entire family. God, this woman is incredible.
This is the most information she’s given me about herself since the night we met. It’s nice to see Alis, the woman, and not just Alis, my grader.
“Wow.” I don’t know what else to say. I’m overwhelmed by Alis, and I’m sure there’s so much more to learn about her. “Why didn’t you tell me that day in my office when I asked about why you left school?”
“Because I didn’t really know you, and I had no reason to divulge personal details about myself to you.” She makes this statement so matter-of-factly, so directly, that I don’t know how to respond. After a few seconds I recover from the jab her words aimed in my direction.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” Not knowing howto steer the conversation from here without prying, I look toward the exit and then back at Alis. “I should be going. I’m glad you’re feeling better, Alis.”
She stops me with a hand on my arm before I can take a step away from her and looks into my eyes. That’s twice now she’s touched me, casually, dare I say, affectionately.
“Dexter,I’msorry. I’m not trying to be rude or overly closed off; I just haven’t opened up to anyone new in a very long time. Aside from college, I’ve lived my entire life in the same place, with the same people. I’ve always had the same friends, interacted with mostly the same crowd. Moraine isn’t very large, so everyone already knew what happened with my sister. I’ve never had to explain things about my life to anyone because they all lived through it with me.”
