The following is a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.
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Popular By: Michael Philips
Chapter Four
"Can you please explain to me again why this couldn't wait until a decent hour in the morning?" Lexie yawned again as she looked over at Leo.
It was a little after nine o'clock in the morning, and Leo had woken her up knocking on her door nearly twenty minutes ago. She pulled her exhausted butt out of bed to find him standing there in the same clothes he had on last night. The only thing that saved him was the bag of food he carried with him. Leo had stopped at a diner on campus before her wakeup call and picked them both up breakfast.
"Lexie, I haven't even been to bed yet." Leo sighed as he forked some egg into his mouth. "If you could have seen what he was like last night, you would totally understand what I'm talking about."
"You haven't been to bed?" Lexie thought he had just slept in his clothes. She was surprised that he hadn't had any sleep. Lexie started to get worried because she had never seen Leo like this. "What the hell is going on, Leo?"
"I couldn't sleep, Lexie." Leo rambled. "You didn't see how sad he was. Hayden really believed that last night was most likely a one time thing."
"Why would he think that?" That got Lexie's attention. She was wide-awake at that point. Leo was rambling so fast she could barely understand him. "Leo, you need to slow down. I've never seen you this worked up before. Calm down, twin, and tell me what happened."
Leo gave Lexie a blow-by-blow explanation on what had happened on the Court last night. Lexie was upset that Hayden had been so obviously hurt in the past. What really surprised her was how upset Leo was. She knew that he was a compassionate person, even if it was a side of him not many people saw, but he was really getting upset about the situation. Her suspicions grew in her head, but she decided that it wasn't the right time to bring them up.
"So we need to form a game plan on how we are going to convince Hayden we are going to be his friends." Lexie said after Leo paused to eat some more of his food.
"I knew that I could count on you, twin!" Leo finally grinned for the first time. "We need a good plan though. I don't want it to seem like we're smothering him or anything. We need to make sure that we don't make him so uncomfortable that we scare him off."
"If you don't want to scare him off, Leo, then can I suggest you going back to your room and taking a shower." Lexie wrinkled her nose at him. "You look like hell and I can smell the bar smoke and alcohol on you from here."
"I look like death warmed over don't I?" Leo grinned at Lexie after giving himself the once over.
"You look even worse, though I admit I didn't think that was even possible."
Lexie tried to look serious, but a giggle escaped from her lips. She was just cutting into a piece of sausage when she felt something hit her in the head. Lexie saw a piece of bacon fall down onto her plate. "You will pay for that, Leo, but not right now. We are NOT getting into another food fight in my dorm room. Is that understood, twin?"
"Yes, ma'am." Leo replied in a little boy's voice.
"Stop being cute, Leo. You know I can't stay mad at you when you do that." Lexie growled at him.
"If I stop being cute, Lexie, then I would cease to exist entirely." Leo looked at her with a small pout. "You wouldn't want that to happen would you?"
"Maybe you should hold onto the question until I'm done eating and I'm more awake." Lexie smirked at him and continued to eat her breakfast.
"See if I ever bring you breakfast again." Leo mumbled under his breath.
"See if I don't kill you the next time you come pounding on my door that early in the morning." She teased back at him. "You know we don't have classes today, and it's my one day to sleep in. I could have used it too after last night. Damn, that boy can move, and my body is feeling it today.
I haven't moved that much in years."
"Not even last night when Noah brought you home?" Leo ribbed his twin.
"You know Noah might be a man of many talents, but he's lacking in a few." Lexie's face looked perfectly innocent.
"That was a total over share!" Leo whined. "I'm still eating my breakfast here. You shouldn't be talking about such revolting things. I do NOT need to know about my twin's sex life."
"Or lack there of." Lexie said with a sigh.
"Is he still playing all hard to get on you?" Leo's voice was filled with concern.
"I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the word hard." Lexie was definitely frustrated with Noah. "We waited until we were out of high school before moving onto anything heavy. He'll get all excited when we make out, but when it comes time to do the deed, the wind leaves his sail so to speak."
"Do you think he's gay?" Leo cautiously asked.
It was a question that surprised Lexie. Another piece of information was filed away in her memory for later. She had considered that Noah might be gay before, but she knew that it wasn't that. Noah was definitely playing on team hetero.
"No, though I wish it that." Lexie said with a huge sigh. "At least if he was gay I couldn't fault him for anything. I think the problem is my money."
"His family has money. Why would your family's wealth mean anything to him?" Leo asked.
"I think Noah needs to be the one in control. I let him think that he is, but when it comes to finances and things like that, my family is ahead of him. I think he's really uncomfortable with that, and somehow it's subconsciously affecting his....performance." Lexie explained.
"You know that I would be heart broken if things didn't work out with Noah."
Leo said with a grin. "I think that if you were to move on I would know the perfect person."
"Let me read your mind." Lexie said rubbing her fingers on her temples. "Hayden."
"You really should work for a psychic network!" Leo said with a wink.
"I'm not psychic, Leo. You just seem to forget we share a brain." Lexie stuck her tongue out at him. "Hayden and I wouldn't work out."
"What the fuck are you talking about, Lexie?" Leo demanded. "I watched the two of you last night at Downbeat. The two of you practically set the dance floor on FIRE! The tension between the two of you was thicker than hell."
"We were both in the moment of the whole situation, Leo." Lexie explained to her twin. "There really wasn't any tension between us at all. Besides, if Hayden is trying to adjust to the idea of having friends, what do you think the thoughts of having a girlfriend would do to him? I thought you didn't want to scare him off."
"Alright, you have a point there." Leo agreed with her. "If you are ever on the market though, don't think for a second I won't try to get the two of you together."
"We'll see about that. So what should we do about Hayden?" Lexie changed the subject on her twin. There would be time later to talk about finding someone for Hayden, and Lexie had some ideas about that.
Leo and Lexie spent the next half hour going over ideas and plans for helping out Hayden. It was a bit surprising to both of them how quickly this quiet guy had worked his way into their lives. The amazing part of it was that Hayden wasn't even trying to. In fact, if anything, he was trying to keep them at arm's length. They finally agreed on a game plan and kept their fingers crossed hoping it would work.
Hayden was munching on an apple as he sat underneath one of the large trees that lined the edge of the Court. It was a cool, shady spot, but he left his sunglasses on in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone. He had tried to eat lunch in the cafeteria, but it had turned into an utter disaster. Hayden had felt as if every pair of eyes there were trained on him and inspecting him. He had forgotten about his new look until then.
A sigh escaped his lips as he took another bite of his apple. Maybe the whole makeover thing had been a bad idea. He didn't want to attract attention at Reynolds, but in his attempt to impress Leo, Lexie, and Noah he had ended up doing just that. Hayden escaped the cafeteria before people tried to make conversation with him. The previous night's events were too fresh in his mind for him to really deal with anyone.
"A penny for your thoughts."
Hayden looked up to find Lexie standing next to him. A smile appeared on his face before he could stop it. If he was going to run into anyone today, he was glad that it was Lexie. There was just something about her that put him at ease. Hayden motioned for her to sit down next to him.
"Thought you might want a sandwich." Lexie reached into the paper bag she was carrying and handed it to him after she sat down. "I hope turkey was okay."
"Why would you think I wanted a sandwich?" Hayden asked as he took the food.
His stomach had been grumbling, and the apple really wasn't cutting it.
"I was walking into the Cafe as I saw you make your escape." Lexie smiled at him and then looked out at the Court. "I don't blame you though. I wouldn't want to put up with all the stares either."
"It's a bit overwhelming." Hayden quietly replied as he bit into his sandwich. "Thanks for the food, by the way."
"No big." She replied with a wave of her hand. "I know what you mean about people being overwhelming, though. You should try being a tomboy that suddenly turns into a girl."
"What?" Hayden asked curiously.
Lexie smiled and leaned back against the tree next to him. Hayden was normally uncomfortable with people being that close to him, but it was different with Lexie. There was a calmness and serenity that almost surrounded the girl.
"I met Leo and Noah in kindergarten. I didn't really have any friends at that point." Lexie began her story. "All of the girls were into playing with dolls and dressing up, and that just wasn't my thing. I wanted to run around and play on the playground. So once I met the two of them my tomboy status just kinda kicked in. All through elementary school I was just one of the guys, but that all changed the summer before high school."
"Puberty?" Hayden asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt her story.
"You know it, Hayden." She smiled at him. "Mother Nature hit me, and let me tell you, she was a force to be reckoned with. My body was growing and changing so fast my mind could barely keep up with it. By the time our freshman year of high school was over I was taller than most of the boys, and let's just say I developed other things fairly quickly."
Hayden couldn't help but chuckle as Lexie gave her breasts a glare. It was surprising to him that someone who seemed so confident and laidback had gone through a similar experience.
"It was almost like the ugly duckling that turned into a swan." Lexie giggled. "Then once my braces came off and my mother started showing me how to put on makeup it just completed the transformation. All of sudden I had gone from the tomboy to the cheerleader."
"You were a cheerleader?" Hayden grinned at her. "Were you the head cheerleader?"
Lexie laughed and punched Hayden in the arm because of his reference to Jerrica. She was really enjoying sitting there with Hayden, and she was glad to see him relax and just be himself.
"I never got that far up in the cheerleading hierarchy, but I had fun with it. I've always had too much energy, so all the jumping and cheering was a good way to release it." Lexie explained.
"And based on last night, you had taken up dancing at some point?" Hayden continued to eat his almost forgotten sandwich.
"Most cheerleading teams do dance routines, so I guess it was inevitable that I took some dance lessons. I was fortunate though since I have a pretty natural rhythm. I took to dancing like a duck to water." Lexie made a quaking noise that caused Hayden to nearly choke on his food from laughter. She leaned over and patted him on the back. "Careful now, if I killed you there would be hell to pay. Leo would kill me."
"The two of you seem pretty close with each other." Hayden was able to finally reply.
"Neither one of us have any brothers or sisters, so we kinda latched onto each other early on." Lexie smiled at the memories that flashed through her mind. "It was pretty obvious from the start that Leo and I were on the same wavelength. By the time high school came around we were finishing each other's sentences and all kind of crazy stuff. We look so similar and with our birthdays being only a few weeks apart people thought we were brother and sister, twins in fact. The scary part it is, we are practically twins."
Lexie's laughter filled Hayden with warmth.
"It must be really nice to have someone that close to you." Hayden couldn't help the touch of sadness that crept into his voice.
"It's pretty wonderful actually." Lexie had noticed the sadness in Hayden's voice and decided to take a risk. "It sounds like you haven't had any close friends like that."
"I was the typical nerdy kid." Hayden said quietly. "I really didn't have many friends. I was the quiet kid, the one that people usually made fun of.
So I turned to other things for friendship, like books, and things like that. So I ended up staying in my house a lot, not really going outside to play or anything."
"It sounds kinda lonely." Lexie's voice was soft and comforting. She didn't want to interrupt Hayden because she wanted him to keep talking, but she didn't want him to think she wasn't listening.
"Actually it wasn't, Lexie. While all the other kids were playing on the swings or playing kickball, I was exploring all kinds of fun and exciting worlds." Hayden said with a small smile. "I thought it was stupid to be rolling around in the dirt when I could be fighting pirates or exploring outer space for alien life. Of course when I got to high school all of that caught up with me. Everyone had their little cliques of friends and I was the shy, kinda overweight smart kid." Hayden's face turned down in a sad frown. "They weren't the nicest of kids, but then again kids can be cruel no matter what the situation."
"I know that all too well." Lexie added with a sad smile of her own. "I was called a thousand things in elementary school since I wasn't like all the other little girls. It's tough as hell to deal with."
"How did you deal with it?" Hayden quietly asked.
"I turned to Leo, actually. He had become my best friend, and it was because of him that I was able to deal with everything." Lexie replied. "How did you deal with it?"
"At first I just ignored it. I figured that people would get bored and would eventually leave me alone." Hayden answered as memories passed through his mind. "Of course that wasn't the case. I finally just got fed up with it and decided that I was going to change. I started working out and getting into shape. I made sure to do things though that didn't require anyone but me. I got into swimming and running. I didn't want to have to deal with anyone else."
"And you started dancing. I remember you mentioning that last night." Lexie said.
"Yeah I did, and like you, I have a pretty natural rhythm so it was fun." Hayden answered her. "By my senior year in high school I had gotten into really good shape, which meant most of my clothes didn't fit anymore. So my parents made sure to update my wardrobe the summer before my senior year. I went back to school like a brand new person. They couldn't even believe it was me."
"Was that a good thing?" Lexie asked.
"At first I thought it was." Hayden glanced at Lexie and smiled. "Suddenly everyone wanted to be my friend or to hang out with me. I had a lot of fun, at first, but then I realized that they only wanted to be my friend because of how I looked. They really didn't want to get to know me or really be my friend. They just wanted to be seen with the new hot guy."
"That's fucked up." Lexie's voice showed the anger she felt. She glanced over at Hayden and something clicked in her head. "Those clothes you were wearing...they were the clothes you had before you started working out. You had those on here because you didn't want people to see what was underneath them. You wanted to be judged on what was inside of you, not what you looked liked."
"Yeah." Hayden replied with a sigh. "That lasted all of two days."
"What made you decide to change your plan?" Lexie asked curiously. It didn't make sense to her that he would go through all of that, and then suddenly decided to change course.
"It was Noah actually." Hayden replied with a grin as he remembered their conversation. "He was nice enough to point out that the three of you are kinda like the popular clique here on campus. I didn't want to embarrass you guys or have people talk about the dorky guy that was hanging out with you."
"When did Noah talk to you? You hung out with all of us and I never heard him mention it?" Lexie contained all of her anger deep inside of her. She didn't want Hayden to know she was upset because she didn't want to him to think it was his fault.
"He caught up with me right before I got back to my dorm after I left the Court yesterday afternoon." Hayden's smile faltered a bit.
Lexie was going to kill Noah. Her mind had already begun to formulate a plan on how to do it and where to hide the body. She couldn't believe that Noah would stoop so low. She was going to have a very, very long talk with him. Lexie reached over and placed a hand on Hayden's shoulder.
"Noah can be a bit too pompous and materialistic for his own good." Lexie squeezed Hayden's shoulder and smiled at him. "I want you to know, and this is the truth, that it doesn't matter what you look like or what clothes you wear. We want to be your friend, not because of the guy that danced with me last night, but because of the sweet guy that we had lunch with yesterday. Leo and I are NOT concerned with what other people think. You could have came out with us last night in exactly what you had on earlier in the day."
"Then why did Noah come to talk to me?" Hayden was confused.
"I don't know, buddy, but I can guarantee you that I am going to find out." Lexie was definitely going to find out. Noah had just better hope that he lives through the questioning. "Hayden, you were cute yesterday and you're still cute today. I want you to be comfortable, though. You be whoever it is you want to be, and I'm still going to be your friend."
"That's what I was getting from Leo last night." Hayden's eyes became blurry. He wasn't used to having people wanting to be his friend without there being strings attached. The fact that Leo and Lexie welcomed him just for being him was a bit much for him to handle. "I don't know what to say. This is just...just new to me."
"You're not used to friends caring about you, are you?" Lexie's voice was soft and gentle. She could easily see what Leo had been talking about that morning. Hayden had been hurt very badly. She could see the tears that threatened to spill down his face, and her heart went out to her new friend.
Lexie moved over and slid her arm around Hayden's shoulders. "It'll take some time to get used to the idea, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna find out that we'll grow on ya."
Hayden tensed when he felt Lexie's arm slide around his shoulders, but he allowed himself to relax. He even slid an arm around her waist and enjoyed the company for a few moments. Maybe things could turn out all right, and maybe last night wasn't as big of a mistake as he thought.
"You make it sound like you're a fungus." Hayden said with a small chuckle.
"We can be pretty contagious." Lexie laughed along with Hayden. She thought maybe putting her arm around him was too much too fast, but he had thankfully relaxed and put his arm around her in return. "Though I like to think we put the fun in fungus."
"Ok, that just was bad." Hayden's laughter echoed through the air.
"Well, excuse me, sir, that you don't enjoy my punny attitude." Lexie pouted at Hayden. "If you think that was bad, just wait until Leo gets on a roll."
"I'm sure it can't get any worse." Hayden grinned at Lexie.
"Oh really?" Lexie gave Hayden an evil look. She quickly moved her arm off of his shoulder and pinched his side. Hayden's body jerked and he chuckled, but he gave her a glare. Lexie's face broke out in an evil grin. "Is someone ticklish?"
"No!" Hayden wasn't very convincing.
Lexie lunged towards him and began to tickle the sides of his body. Hayden yelped and tried to back away, but Lexie had knocked him to the ground. He tried to defend himself, but her hands were just too fast. In a matter of a few seconds she had him laughing so hard he thought he was going to wet his pants.
"Say uncle!" Lexie had straddled his stomach and paused in her tickling attack. Hayden shook his head and she began to tickle him again. "Say uncle!"
In a desperate attempt to catch his breath Hayden quickly shifted his body, which caused Lexie to fall off of him. He quickly moved on top of Lexie and began to tickle her back. Her laughing and screams filled the air. Hayden quickly grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.
"Say uncle!" He said with a grin as he looked down at her.
"Aunt!" Lexie exclaimed with a laugh.
"That was close, but not close enough." Hayden reached down and began to tickle her again.
"What the fuck is going on here?"
The laughter immediately stopped and Hayden and Lexie glanced up to find Noah standing beside them. The situation could have been funny, except for the fact that Noah had sounded, and definitely looked, pissed off. Hayden quickly moved off of Lexie and tried to explain.
"We were just talking, and then she started tickling me, well attacking me really and..." Hayden hadn't meant to start rambling, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want Noah to think he had been making a pass at his girlfriend.
"I guess we should have warned you about that." Noah's face broke out in a smile. He was pissed off at first, but he quickly realized it was a playful situation. This could work out to his benefit because most of the people walking around the Court had to have seen their goofing off. People would definitely know that Hayden was part of their group now. His chances of winning the bet were increasing by the minute. "I'm sorry if I sounded upset. I had just expected to find Leo here, and was surprised to find it was you, Hayden. The two of them are constantly going at it, but I'm glad to see you're having fun."
"I don't know if I'd call practically pissing my pants fun, but it was interesting to say the least." Hayden stuck his tongue out at Lexie. He was so relieved that Noah wasn't upset. "I'll be better prepared next time."
"That's what you think." Lexie grinned at him. "The next time I strike it will be when you least expect it."
"I guess I'm just going to have to constantly be on alert then." Hayden laughed. "Then again, I might be the one to strike first."
"I'm not scared of you...much." As Lexie said the last word her voice was barely able to be heard. Hayden's laughter bubbled from his throat. "I'll make sure to have Leo around next time. He'll back me up."
"What am I backing you up for this time, twin?" Leo stepped from the back of the tree. "I heard Hayden's laughter and figured I would see what so funny." He grinned at his twin. Their plan had obviously worked.
"Hayden had started tickling me, and I was left completely defenseless." Lexie pouted and glared at Hayden.
"Why do I get the feeling that that isn't right?" Leo said with a grin. "I would guess that you attacked poor, unknowing Hayden, and he was forced to defend himself."
"That's exactly what happened." Hayden said nodding his head. "I was sitting here eating an apple, minding my own business, when she leapt from behind the tree and attacked me."
Lexie's jaw dropped as she heard what Hayden said. He looked so innocent, and he made the whole thing sound very believable. Hayden glanced over at her and stuck his tongue out. This caused Lexie to start giggling uncontrollably. She was glad to see that Hayden was warming up to them. Noah reached out his hand to her and helped her to her feet.
Leo was enjoying watching the banter between Hayden and Lexie. It made him feel really good inside to see Hayden opening up and having a good time. He reached out his hand to help Hayden up from the ground. Hayden grasped the offered hand and little bolts of electricity shot up Leo's arm.
Leo stepped forward to help pull Hayden up from the ground, but his foot got caught on one of the tree roots. His body suddenly pitched forward as he lost his balance. Leo fell forward and wasn't able to move fast enough, and his body crashed into Hayden knocking him back onto the ground. The air rushed out of off both of their bodies from the impact.
It took a moment for Leo to clear his head, and when he finally did the reality of the situation hit him full force. Hayden was laid out on the ground underneath of him. Leo's body covered Hayden's and he could feel not only the heat coming off of the body underneath of him, but he felt every muscle and curve of Hayden's body. Every nerve ending in Leo's body shook as the feeling rushed through him. His face was inches away from Hayden's, and Leo found himself staring into the sharpest, bluest eyes he had ever seen.
"We really need to stop meeting like this, Leo." Hayden's amused voice echoed in his ear.
Leo's mind finally betrayed some of his inner feelings as one single thought echoed through his head. What if he didn't want it to stop?