Isolated Pleasures

Ashley stood in front of Zack’s front door with a sigh, her hands pressed to her sides fidgeting with her leggings, while Addison sat against her friend’s beat up VW Beetle and waited for their two dates.

As much as Addison knew Ashley was trying her best, she didn’t want or need her help. She didn’t want to get back into the dating game in the first place. She was going to get Connor back, but it was just going to take time. She was perfectly fine with waiting, although taking boys out during this time would set her back, especially is Connor caught wind of it. She just wanted him back, and this whole plan Ashley was trying wasn’t going to help at all.

Nevertheless, she had to admit she was a bit excited to talk to Alex tonight. That is if she could manage to get out any words.

Zack opened his front door quickly, a big ass grin plastered on his face. Ashley looked down at is attire, which consisted of black skinny jeans, and way too tight t-shirt to show off his muscles. What a contrast to Ashley’s outfit, Addison thought, as she giggled.

“Hey.” He beamed, leaning against the door trim attempting to look cooler than he actually was. “Oh,” He stood straight, “I got you something.” He quickly ran off back into the house, revealing Alex’s body behind him.

Alex didn't really seem to care about what he were to look like, Addison supposed as she watched him mumble to Ashley on the front steps. He wore a simple faded Rolling Stones shirt that seemed a bit too big on him, and the only reason she could tell the Rolling Stones logo was on it was by squinting as much as she could. That alone earned her a glance from the boy, and then another, and then another.

She watched as Zack arrived from his house with flowers in his hand. Ashley looked unimpressed but took them anyway. Alex took a step closer to Zack to murmur something in his ear, all while glancing back at Addison. It seemed he were scoffing at Zack for Ashley's date of choice for him. “You get what you get…” Addison whispered under her breath, as if the boy cold hear her.

The three walked over to where she stood, leaning her back against Ashley’s car. Ashley smiled to Addison, gesturing toward her friend while introducing her to Alex, “Alex, this is my main bitch, Addison, or as I call her, Addy. Addy, dear, this is Alex.”

Alex gave her a small, obviously fake, smile, while Addison managed to speak. “Uh, hey.”

A wave of silence passed through the group before Ashley muttered, Um, yeah so anyway, shall we?” They all nodded and Addison stood from her spot, about to open the door for Alex, but she noticed he had made his way to the other side of the car, leaving Addison to feel like a complete idiot. Why do I even bother? She wondered, getting into the car.

----

Ashley snuggled up close to Zack as soon as they squished themselves in the old diner’s booth. She had draped one of her arms around his shoulders while her nose was buried in the crook as his neck, and yes, she was giggling as she did this. Addison noticed the rolling eyes Ashley wore though, because of course, she knew Addison was doing all this for her own benefit.

Alex tried to put as much distance between him and Addison on the seat as he could. It was understandable to Addison; he barely knew her, after all. In some ways, she felt bad for him. He was probably forced to go on this date by Zack, and was incredibly disappointed to see his date was this creepy girl from his American Gov. class.

Addison was determined to help him realize he was wrong though, or at least, mostly wrong.

She watched the way he softly spoke to the waitress as she took their order. She spotted a necklace hanging from his neck and tucked into his shirt. “What’s that?” She asked, curious. He looked down confused and then realizing.

“Oh,” he said, pulling it out. “It’s just this necklace an old friend got me, for good luck.” He smiled slightly, remembering the friend and the memories that come with. Addison smiled as well, admiring the small dimples that formed on his face.

“Your shirt is pretty cool too.” She said, trying to keep up conversation.

“It’s not even mine. I borrowed it from my dad.” Was he saying he didn’t actually like the Rolling Stones? “But I like their music too, unfortunately I don’t have any of their albums on CD.” He looked down, disappointed.

Addison looked at him optimistically. “I have all of their albums,” she commented, “You borrow them?”

Alex looked up with what looked like a genuine smile. “Yeah, that’d be awesome.”

She grinned back, happy that he finally got him to give her a real smile. She liked his smile, a lot. It was adorable. He didn’t try to act cool, like Zack did to get her attention. He didn’t need to wear tight clothes to show off his body either, from what Addison could tell, his body was just fine and wasn’t all muscly like Zack. Addison always liked to take the time to appreciate the little things about people, and Alex’s smile was just...nice. It was really nice.

They all picked up their utensils as the waitress brought their food and set it on the table in front of them. Addison could have sworn she felt Alex’s eyes on her as this happened.

Notes