Something There

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One:

"Oh my God! Mac!" I gasp, totally surprised by the boy standing in front of me.

His dark hair is shorter than I remember it, but his huge smile is just the same.

"Hey, Lexi! I knew I recognized you. I keep forgetting that you're still in high school," he says, pulling me in for a hug.

I grin, wrapping my arms around him in the embrace.

"And I totally forgot that you go here! Wow. I feel so stupid. I definitely would've texted you if I had remembered," I tell him, and he rests his hands on my shoulders, chuckling.

"Don't worry. I know that you're too busy focusing on your Juilliard dream to care about what I may be doing with my life," he says, and I give him a weak smile.

He then drops his hands to his sides, continuing by asking, "When do you hear back from Juilliard anyway? It must be soon, no?"

I sigh, shaking my head at him. "Not until April first. It really sucks because my chances of getting in are just so low," I start, but he cuts me off with a shake of his head.

"Oh, you shush. You sound like such a Christine right now. Your voice is magnificent. I'm certain you'll be accepted," he compliments, and I bite my lip.

"And you sound like such a Raoul right now," I smile.

I get a laugh from my him, and even though we haven't spoken in months, it all feels so natural.

I suddenly feel a hand on the small of my back, and when I turn around, I see Bryce hovering behind me with a quizzical expression on his face.

I can see that he's finally got a grip of himself and has stopped arguing with Jordan.

"Who is this?" Bryce asks, his grip around my waist tightening.

His eyes are wide as he waits for an answer, and I realize that all my friends are probably insanely confused right about now.

"Hi, I'm Malcolm," Malcolm smiles, holding out his hand for Bryce to shake.

At first I'm concerned that Bryce is going to react badly, but by some miracle he actually does shake Malcolm's hand.

"I'm Bryce. Nice to meet you," he says, and relief washes over me.

I lean into Bryce, enjoying the warmth from his body as he keeps his arm around me.

Malcolm crosses his arms, seeming to find this all amusing, before asking, "You're not going to ask why your girlfriend knows a college guy?"

Bryce snorts. "I was just about to get to that," he says, directed to Malcolm.

He then looks down at me, asking, "Explain?"

I give him a small smile. "You know the production of Phantom that I did over the summer? Malcolm played one of the leads too," I answer, and he nods at me, fitting the puzzle pieces together inside his mind.

We stare at each other quietly for a minute, and when I look back to Malcolm, he's regarding Bryce and I closely.

A thought then hits me, and I realize that Malcolm has gotten the impression that Bryce and I are in a relationship or something.

"Wait, Mac, he's not my boyfriend," I say, and Malcolm blinks at me in confusion.

He opens his mouth to say more, but another boy walks up behind him before he can.

"Hey Mac, we really need to rally up these kids and start this tour or else we're going to get whooped by administration," the boy says, before turning to me.