Women's Studies Ch. 15

"Abigail never told me about that," Kennedy said quietly. They had shared so much about their lives with each other, all three of them, this was something she was sure she would have heard about.

"Abigail doesn't remember," he said. "I never told her. One of our security staff shot the man outside of her bedroom. She never saw, and when I got to her, she was sitting up in bed, asking me what the loud noise was. After that, I had to quadruple security just to make sure she was safe. I started buying, and bribing news companies to keep her photos out of the press, and those who couldn't be bought were blackmailed. When your mother and I discussed it, we decided to wait until you were older, until you could make the decision if you wanted the world to know that you were my daughter. We wanted you to have a safe, normal life. You know how Abigail has lived, private schools, security everywhere. She may have had a pampered life, but she's never gotten the chance to be a kid, or even gotten the chance to go out into the world on her own. The closest she's gotten is Mayweather, and let's face it, she hasn't exactly been alone there either."

"You said you were waiting until I got older," Kennedy said. "Exactly how old were you waiting for me to be? 20? 30?"

"Your mother and I thought sixteen would be old enough," he sighed heavily. "When sixteen came we thought it would be better if we waited until you graduated."

"And what happened then?"

"I..." he started, then shook his head. "The truth is, I was scared," he admitted reluctantly. "Your mother had told me about the fights you two were having about me, and then there was Abigail...would you two get along? What would I do if you hated each other? We decided to put it off a little longer, and then Skylar thought of a great idea, put you both in the same school, just close enough to get to know each other, and go from there. She practically brow beat me into doing it too. Wouldn't take no for an answer on anything."

"What's the deal with the two of you?" Kennedy asked. "Are you guys dating?"

"It feels like it sometimes," he barked a laugh. "No, she's just..." he began. "Have you ever met someone, and your personalities just click? We came from two different worlds, I was a spoiled billionaire, and she'd fought in wars, but we just seemed to click from the moment we met. I was so used to people walking on eggshells around me, always tentative, trying to feel out what I would think about something, and she just says whatever she thinks. Sometimes I think she even forgets that I'm her boss, and I kind of like that."

"I think I know what you mean," Kennedy said smiling. She'd had nothing in common with Abigail when they met, but they clicked. The same with Lexi. Abigail might have thought that Skylar was too young for him, but Kennedy was beginning to think that that girl was exactly what he needed. It was clear that they cared for each other. She would let that go for now though, not that she felt awkward setting up her new dad with a woman half his age, but hearing him talk about Skylar made her remember Lexi.

"This might not be the right time, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Kennedy asked awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" he asked leaning forward, his gentle eyes holding concern.

"It's our friend, Lexi," Kennedy began. "She's gotten herself into a bit of trouble."

"I remember her," he said. "She spent some time with us over Thanksgiving and had a bit of luck at the casino. Beautiful girl."

"Well, there's something you don't know about her," Kennedy began.

*** Lexi ***

"I received word last night that your arraignment will be tomorrow morning at 10am," Patricia Shaw explained. It was Sunday morning and we were back in the Shaw & Teller law offices downtown. "From there, they will set a trial date to determine if you should be sentenced."

"Will this really go to trial?" Audrey asked. "I've heard that recording. This Decker should be the one in jail."

"This will most definitely be sent to trial. She did technically misrepresent her situation when she enrolled, and for a trial to happen, all they need to do is show that there was a possibility of wrongdoing. It won't be until the trial that they will have to make their case," Patricia explained. "His offenses will not excuse Lexi's, no matter how vile. But rest assured, he will be on trial one way or another."

"So, what now?" I asked, not looking forward to a long court case that might end with me being in jail

"We make them realize that a trial is the last thing they want," Patricia smiled. "In truth, the verdict could go either way depending on the jury and the judge. The best and surest path to victory is to convince your opponent that they have already lost." She sounded as if she was quoting someone. "With your permission, I will set up a meeting with the school, and their in-house council. From there we can go about putting this all to rest," she said with a casual confidence.

"You really think it will be that simple?" I asked, disbelieving.

"I don't know, everyone seems hellbent on giving her the chair," Audrey interjected, before giving me a guilty look. "Sorry, Lex, but the news hasn't exactly been your friend these last few days."

"That will change shortly," Patricia assured us. "I've been making some arrangements and reaching out to some people I know. By tomorrow morning, the world will have a completely different picture of Lexi Allen."

Patricia wouldn't elaborate on the subject any more than she had, but she seemed overly confident in her strategy. Almost enough to make me forget about my troubles. Almost. There was nothing that could shut out that constant worry, and anxiety completely.

We still had two hours before my date when Audrey and I left to return to the hotel. My outfit, per Audrey's assistance, had been constructed meticulously with the objective to display all of my assets, while also playing into the hard to get mentality. It was also constructed to be suitable for riding on the back of a motorcycle. As fun as it was, a skirt wasn't exactly proper attire for such an adventure.

Together we decided on tight black stretchy pants that held a bit of shine, resembling leather, but feeling soft and breathable, with heeled boots, a small tank top that stretched tight over my breasts and left some skin showing around my waist. It was capped off with a short light jacket that barely reached the bottom of my breasts. It was something of Audrey's. Functionally, it was worthless as a jacket, but it was cute as an accessory.

The final piece to my outfit were hair extensions. I had been feeling awkward about my hair as of late, it being past the cute bob phase, but not long enough to really do anything with. Audrey, like usual, found us a solution. After she finally finished fitting them into my hair and began brushing them out, I was sold. I couldn't tell the difference between my hair and the extensions, and now my hair flowed down and around my shoulders in waves of blonde with black highlights. I had been contemplating cutting my hair short again, but seeing myself like this, my mind had changed. It was fun and cute with my sexy bob, but there was so much more I could do with long hair. And I had to admit, I looked gorgeous with long wavy locks.

I had flashbacks to the beginning of the school year when Audrey insisted on applying my makeup for me. We both sat on the edge of the bed, listening to music as she ran brushes across my face and applied liquid eyeliner.

When it was time to leave, Audrey gave me a kiss good luck, and smacked my ass on my way out the door playfully. I took the elevator down to the lobby, loitering as best as I could until I received a text from Trevor telling me that he was out front.

As I stepped outside, I immediately noticed the reporters. They were all looking around in anticipation. They recognized Trevor and were looking for me. One even leaned around me to peer through the glass doors behind me. I had to bite my lip at the absurdity. Did I really look that different with long hair? As casually as I could, I walked between them, and made my way up to Trevor's bike, he was still sitting astride with the motor running, anticipating the need for another quick getaway. Unlike the reporters, it only took him a quick double-take to recognize me as I approached. He shot me a quick smirk, and a shake of his head.

When I was close enough, I ran the last few steps and jumped on behind him, laughing giddily. The moment my arms were around him he peeled away, and I never looked back.

Of all the places I thought he might take me, the last would have been Killjoy's Raceway. I was expecting a movie and a meal, or something close. What I wasn't expecting, was an event at the world's largest indoor go-kart track and laser tag park. The structure was all made out of metal with no windows, closely resembling a massive aircraft hangar. Inside there was a winding half mile multi-level racetrack with karts that could reach 50mph, and required a health waver, and on the other side, a blacked-out laser tag arena under black lighting in a maze of buildings, corridors, and towers. The place was so popular that you had to buy entry tickets two months in advance.

"How did you get tickets to this place?" I asked excitedly.

"So, I made a good choice?" he asked, looking a little relieved.

"Yeah, this was a good choice!" I told him. "But how, it takes forever to get tickets."

"I bought them off craigslist," he shrugged, trying to play it cool, but I could see a little smugness for picking such a perfect place. It had only opened with the new year, and Kennedy and I had been talking about going for some time. Running around all day and getting sweaty wasn't Abigail's sort of thing.

The price tag on this caliber of fun didn't come cheap, but the best part about the high cost was the limited number of entry tickets they sold a day. That meant less time spent waiting to have fun. If you timed it right, you could sign up for a laser tag match, and run the track while you waited, and bounce back and forth with practically no time in between. There were absolutely no lines either. They gave you little wristwatch things that you scanned to sign up for an event, five minutes before the event started, it would buzz you. If you didn't show on time, they would give your spot to the next person who wanted it who was already there waiting. It was pretty ingenious really. Without the lines, it freed people up to pay for arcade games, or sit in the café spending more money.

What I thought would be a couple hour date, ended up being an all-day event. In the laser tag arena, we were back to back, slaying enemies like a well-oiled machine of death, and on the track, we zipped through turns and tunnels side by side or right behind one another. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had so much fun. It was hands down the best date that I had been on. Not that I had that much to compare it to. The only other real date I'd had was with Danny, and that ended in disaster. Somehow, I didn't see anything of the sort happening with Trevor.

At the moment, we were taking a breather from our latest laser tag match and grabbing a bite to eat at the Killjoy Café separating the racetrack from the arena. I was dividing my attention between my food and the scorecard for our latest match. I had 37 kills with 18 team assists, and only two respawns. Trevor had done even better, only having to return to respawn once. Our team name, decided by Trevor, Mr. and Mrs. Smith&Wesson. It was just a fun play on words, but the Mr. and Mrs. part did produce a funny feeling in my chest.

"So, are you having a good time?" Trevor asked.

"Yes!" I smiled after a pause so I could swallow my pizza. "This place is great. Thanks for this, I really needed it."

"It was my pleasure," he said. "I kind of wish they had something like this back in Tucson. It would be a great way to blow off steam from school.

"It would, but the price tag might make it hard," I replied. "Are you sure I can't pay you back for my ticket?" I asked. He had refused to tell me exactly how much he had spent on the tickets he'd essentially scalped, but I knew a single ticket at ordinary prices was nearly two hundred bucks.

"I told you, this one is on me," he insisted, pushing his fry basket closer to me while he took a sip from my vanilla shake. It was casual, yet familiar, making me feel even more at ease near him.

A buzz from my phone sent a jolt through my breast where I had tucked it away for safe keeping. It was hard to manage a purse in this place. Unused to this new technique, I had to take a couple of seconds digging around to fish it out while Trevor just grinned at the little show.

"It's just Audrey checking in on me," I said as I typed a reply telling her that I didn't know when I would be back.

"She seems really familiar," Trevor commented. "I mean, I only saw her for a second, but I had the impression that I knew who she was."

I had to choke back a chortle, trying to disguise it as a cough. This wasn't the first time someone had recognized my sister but couldn't quite place her.

"You might know her," I replied, having a little bit of fun as I idly played with my phone. "She likes sitting by the beach, and shopping with friends, and her turn-ons are hard bodies and men who take charge," I recited by rote.

"I don't think I get it," he replied looking puzzled.

"You sure?" I asked, turning my phone to him. I had pulled up her Playboy profile.

"Oh!" he blushed slightly. It was the typical response when people realized that they inadvertently admitted they looked at porn. I found it amusing.

"You sure you're on a date with the right sister?" I joked.

"I'm sure," he didn't even hesitate, reaching across the table to give my hand a squeeze. "I don't think there is another person I'd rather be here with."

It was sappy, and altogether the exact thing I wanted to hear.

"How did you get like this?" I asked, wondering how I'd gotten so lucky. "You never even flinched when I told you about me, and you keep...coming back."

"I guess I get it from my moms," he shrugged.

I wasn't sure if I had heard him right. "Moms?"

"Yeah, I have two moms," he said, casually taking another sip from my vanilla shake. "I always thought it was normal, growing up. I figured some people had a mom and dad, some people had two moms, and even some people had two dads. It wasn't until fifth or sixth grade when I learned different. Kids can be cruel. I didn't understand why either. My moms were great. In high school people joked about my hot lesbian moms," he said uncomfortably. "I don't know, maybe growing up knowing that the world isn't so binary, so black and white, made me like this. My parents always told me that one day I would fall in love and to never be afraid of it, even if it wasn't what everyone else thought of as normal."

It explained a lot, and I followed his logic all the way to the end, but that last part made my heart quiver. "You love me?" I asked. I had felt it, and I had hoped that he had as well, but we had never spoken about it. Hell, not counting the time apart, we had only known each other for a few days. How could we already be in love? Love was supposed to build from something else, not just happen in a flash. But I did, I loved this man.

"I..." he blushed, "I guess I do."

Not exactly the ringing declaration I had been hoping for, but it still made my heart soar. The muscles in my cheeks pulled into a painful smile, and I leapt up and into his lap, draping my arms around his neck and kissing him hard on the lips.

"I love you too," I said, pulling back to look him in the eyes.

"I know," he smiled back.

"Don't be an ass!" I said, giving him a little punch in the ribs for his cockiness.

"All right, all right!" he said, grabbing my wrist gently to forestall another attack. "I love you, Lexi Allen," he whispered to me.

It was everything I wanted to hear, and it felt even better than I had imagined. Butterflies raged inside of me, dancing on a warm wind that filled my soul. I pulled him tight to me and held onto him with everything I had.

"Thank you!" I said, trying not to test the bounds of my waterproof mascara.

Trevor just held me, rubbing his hands along my back as I sat in his lap with my head nestled in his shoulder. After a while, I finally opened my eyes. I could see people watching us, watching me, and I immediately began to feel self-conscious. Had they recognized me? Were those looks of judgment? I couldn't quite tell.

"People are watching," I whispered, shifting to get off his lap.

"Let them watch," he replied, pulling me back into his broad chest and giving me a gentle, comforting squeeze.

By the time our date ended, the sun was rapidly falling, leaving an orange and purple cast to the sky that could only be found in Arizona. It reminded me of a cartoon fairytale. It probably had something to do with how incredible I felt. Even with all of the bad things that had happened lately, Decker, being arrested and outed to the entire world, being expelled from school, in that moment my life felt perfect. Sure, everybody knew about me now, and most of them were judging me, and that was all a little intimidating, but I had a man who loved me and didn't care what anyone else thought. And as uncomfortable as it was to receive those judgmental stares from strangers, I felt...free. I wasn't hiding anymore.

We pulled up to the hotel, and I still felt like I was floating. I climbed off the bike, and ignoring the reporters, gave Trevor a kiss goodnight before walking inside. It seemed that they had just as many questions for Trevor as they did for me now. Questions like was he my boyfriend. I sure hoped so.

I had so badly wanted to bring him up to my room. Our date hadn't lit the same level of passion as the day before in the park, but it came damn close. I wanted him, all of him, and I knew that the second I had him in my room that fire would return like a raging inferno. My only problem was that Audrey was sharing my room. Sure, I could have asked her to give us a couple hours, but what I wanted from Trevor would take much longer than that. I didn't just want to sleep with him, I wanted to sleep with him. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms and wake up feeling him beside me. I wanted that, and so many more things that I couldn't describe.

I'd been more than tempted to ask to stay the night at his motel, however forward it made me look, but I had court in the morning, and something told me that it wasn't the kind of thing you could risk being late for.

"That must have been some date!" Audrey exclaimed, hopping up from the bed as I stepped into our room. "I expected you back hours ago. Did you get lost in his motel room?"

"No, but it did cross my mind," I admitted, putting down my purse and shrugging out of my short jacket. "Help me with these pants?" I asked.

"Sure," Audrey replied. I undid the fasten and tugged them down over my butt before sitting on the bed. Audrey grabbed ahold of them by the ankles and began pulling, with one foot braced on the bed for leverage. "So how was it?"

"He took me to Killjoy's," I replied, wiggling my legs in an attempt to help work them off.

"What's a Killjoy?" Audrey grunted. These pants were no joke.

"It's this go-kart and laser tag place across town," I said smiling.

"And he took you there for your first date?" Audrey asked. "That was risky."

"It was so much fun," I told her, sighing both from remembering the date, and feeling the pants finally pull free of my ankles. With the hard work over, Audrey climbed up on the bed and collapsed beside me to stare at the ceiling.