The Unexplained Transformation

𝑇𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑢𝑝,𝐵𝑜𝑦

The next morning went by quickly. I had woken up feeling refreshed then showered and got myself organised for school. I sat out the front of the house on the sidewalk with my board while I waited out some time as I'd been up early.
"Well, when I said tomorrow, I meant at school. But this works" the soft spoken voice peaked my interest and I looked up from the black boots in front of me to her long, bare legs. She wore a thigh length, black skirt that went up to her waist with a white sleeveless tucked in.
"Are you sure you're not stalking me?" I joked as I stood up and dusted off my jeans. I slung my backpack over my shoulder as she lifted her sunglasses to rest atop her hair.
"I saw you sitting there on my way and figured I'd be kind and say hello" she started walking off down the road and I grabbed my board and jogged over before matching her speed.
"You haven't even said hello" I replied
"Oh, my apologies" she started as she stopped and turned to face me. She placed a hand behind her back and the other over her stomach and bowed down "Hello, Luka Stone"
My name rolled off her tongue with a smirk while she looked at me through her lashes. She stood up and continued walking.
What the hell was that? And why did I find that so attractive? I questioned internally. I watched her hips as they swayed with confidence for a brief moment before catching up to her again.
"Wait, how do you know my name?"
"Everyone has been talking about the new kid who shows up then disappears on the second day. Rumours spread like wildfire around here baby" she ran her tongue slowly across her lips while she eyed me from the side.
"How did you catch a rumour between now and last night?" I questioned her
"How did you forget three weeks of your life?" She retorted
"That's not fair. A friend told me I fell over and hit my head?"
"Where's your bruise?"
"I don't have one"
"Well you mustn't have hit it very hard. Heads bruise like a bitch. You would have at least had a black eye. And did your parents not notice you not around for three weeks?"
I repeated a mumbled 'I don't know' to each question before we continued to school in silence.
"When do I get to know your name?" I questioned as we rounded the last corner and the school building came into full view
"Alexis. Alexis Moore" she said with a sweet smile. I returned her smile as she turned and walked into the school building. Alexis Moore I repeated in my head.

* * * * * * * *

The day went by pretty smoothly. I spent my time talking with Ryan about what I had missed and avoiding Conor and his mates. Ryan said they were the notorious bullies of the school and a lot of the new kids never came back. And if they did, they became part of the extended "pack of bullies" as Ryan had called them. I saw Alexis a few times in the hallways talking to another two girls between classes but I didn't see her in any of my classes. Once home I had spent some time putting up some drawings I'd done over the years in my room, along with finishing the bookcase before I headed down to make dinner. After dinner I headed out the back to my now favourite spot to sit in the tree, I pulled out my phone and called Lily.
"Hello?" She asked with an annoyed tone.
"Hey Lil"
"Who's this? And why do you have my number?" She said sounding more annoyed by the second.
"Lily, it's Luka"
"Lu- oh! Luka!" I could hear a bunch of scrambling in the background, like she was getting out of bed.
"Sorry, is this a bad time?" I asked
"No, no, Not a bad time" she huffed as I heard a slap and a quiet, deeper voice say 'ow'
"I was just.. studying.. for class tomorrow" she muttered
"Oh, yeah okay. I just thought I'd check in and see how you were"
"Well, I mean, you don't get to ignore me for three weeks then act like nothing happened Lukey" she sounded annoyed again
"Yeah about that. I actually wanted to explain it to you in person. See, we have a free day coming up just after the weekend so I was thinking maybe I could come see you?" I asked her while I played with a stick on the branch I was sat on
"You want to come here? To see me? Like, soon?" She asked
"Well, if it's okay. I thought you'd be pretty excited to see your boyfriend" whist I never liked being her 'boyfriend' I have a sneaking suspicion she's not alone right now. And knowing her she would have had a line of guys waiting for me to leave.
"I'd love to see my BOYFRIEND" she said with quite the emphasis on boyfriend.
"Lil, if you've got someone over just tell me. I know you" I said as I held back a laugh.
"It's not like that Luka, I promise!" She whined
"Please don't try and promise me that. You can never keep those ones Lily. You always were quick to move on"
"So why'd you even bother to call me when you know damn right I've got someone new between these legs. Just last night I had two at the same time"
"Wow, Lily. That was harsh" I poked the stick at the branch again and it snapped in my hand.
I thought of a few different things I could say before deciding to just end the call and snapping the stick again.
"Sounds like a bitch" Alexis said as she rounded the tree in front of me.
"Always was" I said quietly as I looked at her
"Your girlfriend?" She questioned as she hopped up into the tree, rather gracefully considering her height. The branch sat around chest height for her but she easily lifted her body up next to mine
"Ex, now" I said as I continued to play with the now, quite small stick in my hands.
"Seems to me like you got yourself off the hook" she joked as she tucked a strand of her wavy locks behind her ear. I noticed a few small piercings on her ear with different coloured gems in them.
"She was always the type to pick a boyfriend just to show off"
"Well you're quite the trophy so I don't blame her" she quickly looked away after saying what I assume she meant to say in her head based on the pink colour that flooded her cheeks.
"Why do you keep appearing in my backyard?" I joked after she turned back around
"That's your backyard," she pointed behind us to the patch of grass behind my house
"This is free forest, remember?" she gestured her hand across the sea of trees in front of us
"True, but of all the 'free forest' there is, why the part right next to my backyard?"
"My house isn't too far down the road. The forest is an easy way of getting around here. Plus, there are some gorgeous rivers and lakes hiding out there just waiting to be disturbed" she giggled and hopped off the branch and started walking away from me. I quickly dropped down and stepped a little closer to her.
"Show me" I challenged
"Try and keep up, Boy" she laughed before disappearing into the trees with a laugh as sweet as honey.