Parker fails a class and is forced to take a summer Shakespeare workshop. He's assigned Lexi, a fiery redhead, to get him up to speed on all things Shakespeare.
Between co-directing, her part-time job, and staying in shape for the track team, Lexi...
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The slight rumble of the engine always felt calming. While my sister was a very tense and emotional driver, there was nothing in the world I loved more than being behind the wheel.
My truck drove down the highway naturally. There weren't so many potholes out here, and the campus was less than half an hour away from the old hamburger place billboard we'd just passed.
Lexi stared out the window beside me as we passed dry fields and old farm equipment. She hummed softly, and it almost sounded like Not Superman.
"Are you ready to be home?" I asked, breaking the silence that had lasted most of our trip.
She sighed. "I can't let fear control my life."
"Your friends will be there for you," I said.
"Emma Kate is leaving," Lexi said. "She's a finalist for a Hollywood role, and if she gets it, she won't be here for the semester. Riley's going to get into her SFX school and leave. Everything is changing so fast."
Change was hard. Even I wasn't good at plunging head-first into new situations. It had taken me almost a week to accept Uncle Justin's offer to work at his community center later this summer.
"You'll make new friends," I said. "You have me, and there will be others."
"It won't be the same," Lexi said. "Emma Kate is my best friend."
"And she still will be," I said. "Change isn't always bad. My sister and I became even better friends apart than when we lived together. She relies on me more when I'm not there. Maybe you and Emma Kate will be even closer."
Shayna and I had always been friends. Being our own little support system during our parents' divorce was all we could do as our world drastically shifted around us, but during my first semester away at college, she started calling me constantly. I wanted to be there for her, but it took her a while to learn that she'd need other support systems other than mine.
She still relied on me. I'd always need her, but now Shayna had her theater crew and Jack. She'd always put their friendship first before their relationship because she understood Jack in a deep way that I never would.
"You'll have to thank your sister for me," Lexi said. "She was so kind today."
I tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "I think she's just excited that I might have a girlfriend."
Lexi blushed. I probably should have said something else, but I didn't want to. Lexi was special. I couldn't lie or change the truth for her.
Jack encouraged me to ask her out at the concert. Even when he asked Carson about what he thought of Lexi, the guitarist had taken one look at us together and said, "I ship it."
"Since your sister's buddies all care so much about you, I'm guessing you were super popular and dated a lot in high school," Lexi said.
"I didn't date a ton," I shifted uncomfortably. "I had one serious relationship. She was a dancer and popular by association."
