A stray cat came up to Alex and the ginger furball stroked her legs. She stopped to pet it. It sat still under her touch, “I don’t think there is.”
“Are you sure?”
Alex knelt to nuzzle the back of its ears and the cat closed its eyes, “… no?”
Alex thought about it more. She tried to recall her albums and her files. Her emails and her social media were connected to Alex Carter’s persona. The soft copies in it were related to school. She didn’t save any messages. Her parents knew it was gone so they wouldn’t call it. Emily knew now as well. The only person left was her aunt but they rarely communicated by phone.
As Alex’ hand moved to its chin, the feline purred.
“Get it back just to be safe” Emily remarked. It was better to be sure. As far as Aunt Angie and Uncle Ethan knew, a random person had Alex’s phone… but since Logan wasn’t actually a random person, he’d expect the owner would want it back..
“But Logan’s conditions are ridiculous!” Alex stood up abruptly. She continued to walk, “How could I move around it?”
“Hmm… oh, I have an idea! Maybe have Xandra call him to give the phone to Alex?”
“Possible” Alex considered the idea but dropped it, “Wait, with what number though? I’d have to use this one as Alex’s number since we have a project coming up plus Alex isn’t the one who lost his phone.”
“Borrow someone’s phone?”
“Whose?”
“Aunt Lilly’s?”
“No, she’d be suspicious. What if Logan calls Xandra? And Aunt Lilly picks up? Gah, this is just too troublesome” Alex wiped her face. She really wanted to get this off her back.
“Guess, you have no other choice but to get it yourself.”
“Why can’t Alex just tell it to him on Xandra’s behalf again?” By this time, Alex was whining. That part of the plan sort of went over his head when they talked earlier. Maybe insisting once more would help.
“I thought he doesn’t trust you enough?”
“I could tell him Xandra will call to confirm it after she gets her phone back.”
Even to Alex, she sounded doubtful. Logan was persistent. The look in his eyes said it all. He wasn’t about to compromise. If they couldn’t think of a logical reason, he wouldn’t break.
“Then, when she does, he’ll ask why didn’t she get it herself if she was already in town?”
“Then, Xandra shouldn’t call him early.”
“If that was okay, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
…
…
…
Alex stood at the gate. The other end of the line was silent. They were at a lost and she knew it. She opened the lock with one hand and went inside.
Emily bit her cheek. She could sense her cousin’s reluctance to admit defeat. If only she could help more. Emily suddenly wanted to see Alex. She terribly missed her.
“No way around it, huh?” Emily finally spoke. She didn’t like it but they needed to move forward.
“None that I can think of that’s bulletproof” Alex whispered. She walked slowly to the front door, her eyes on the ground. Her shoulders low as if it had hug weights on it.
“All lies aren’t, Alex.”
“I know but…” Alex bit her lip. How did things turn out this way? This was something she’d tried to avoid but why was she caught in more strings instead? “I don’t want things to escalate more than this. It was a mistake to begin with.”
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You did what you thought was best. You did good.”
Alex sighed. Emily wasn’t sure what else to say. This was something her cousin needed to overcome herself, “Think about it more. Don’t decide yet.”
“Alright, I will” Alex unlocked the door and opened it. It creaked a little. The hinges needed oil, “I’ll keep you posted.”
“You better” Emily smiled mischievously. She may not be able to comfort her cousin but she could definitely distract her, “If I find out this guy has a crush on you—”
Alex choked on her own spit, unintentionally slamming the door, “Excuse me?”
Emily’s smile deepened. Oh, she loved catching her cousin off guard. The topic of romance was always a good teaser, “Don’t tell me it hadn’t occurred to you that he might be pulling this off just to see Xandra again?”
“That’s…” Alex paused mid-step. The gesture made her almost fall backwards onto the floor.
“Ha! You have! You’re just ignoring it!”
“Hey! It’s not right to make assumptions” Alex grumbled and stomped up the stairs to her room, “Stop talking about it, please?”
Emily bit her bottom to suppress her laughter. She could hear Alex’ footsteps which made it funnier. When she calmed down a bit, she said the following words, “Then… has any girl in school showed interest in you?”
“Why would that even happen?” Alex tossed her bag on the bed and placed the phone on speaker. She laid it down on the side table. Then, she walked to her closet and searched for a pair of pajamas.
“You’re cute enough to steal women’s hearts, missy” Emily smirked, “Even my classmates were jealous.”
Alex’ words came out slowly and precisely, “What… do you mean?”
A notification beeped, catching her attention. She took huge strides to check her phone, holding the pajamas under her right arm. Emily had sent a photo. She stared at it for five seconds. It was her and Emily except… Alex wore her male outfit, the first time she tried her disguise. It was sort of a test run to see if she could pull it off. As a joke, she kissed Emily’s cheek. Her cousin laughed at it, joking that she could be a cross-dressing female lead in a web novel, and her mom captured the entire scene on camera.
But… what did it mean? Why did Emily send it?
“What did you do?” Alex accused, glaring at her phone and imagining it was her cousin’s face.
