MARY

The next night I was sitting on the sofa with Lexi watching some crappy reality show and ignoring my phone as it rang for a second time. I had an idea who it might be and I was avoiding him on purpose so I made no effort to pick it up, ignoring Lexi as she stared over at me. Just then the doorbell rang and when Lexi didn't move, I shoved her legs off of me and went to answer it myself.

I was a little surprised to see a good-looking stranger standing at our door in a pair of dark, worn jeans and a faded red flannel. I was even more surprised when he introduced himself as Jasper and asked if Erin was home.

"Lexi!" I called over my shoulder. "Go get Erin. She's got company." I heard Lexi let out an exaggerated groan and mumble something about 'why was she the one who always had to get everyone', but I ignored her. Smiling up at Jasper, I invited him inside, taking the time to check him out while he waked into the house.

Lexi turned the corner at the exact same time he stepped through the door and she came to a screeching halt. Her mouth popped open. "Oh! Wow. Who's this?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of Jasper.

"This is Erin's friend, Jasper." I turned towards Lexi and gave her a look that Jasper couldn't see, one that said 'Omigod can you believe this'. Her eyes widened and she subtly shook her head, answering my silent question. She took a moment and looked Jasper up and down, wrinkling her forehead up in confusion.

Like me, I'm sure Lexi couldn't figure out what was going on here. Jasper didn't seem like the type of guy Erin would ever be interested in. The few boys she had dated had always been preppy, like they just finished a round with the debate team, or were waiting to take over their daddy's fortune five hundred companies. Jasper however looked like he probably just rolled out of bed every morning, maybe got high, and then played guitar and hacky sack for the rest of the day; he wasn't at all what I was expecting when Erin said she'd met a guy.

I mean he was good looking, don't get me wrong. He had that whole laid back beach vibe going. He had great eyes, his skin was smooth and tan, and his hair was streaked from the sun. But he looked like he could use a haircut, and the flannel he wore was wrinkled like he just picked it up off the floor; this wasn't like Erin at all.

"Lexi, go get Erin." I gently nudge my sister on the hip when I realized that she still hadn't moved. She startled and then nodded her head, not taking her eyes off Jasper while she headed for the stairs. When she finally disappeared I offered Jasper a seat and asked if he wanted a drink. He thanked me but declined, sitting down on the love seat in the living room, looking completely relaxed. 

"So you and Erin just met?" I asked, taking the seat across from him on the couch. He nodded his head, tucking his sun kissed hair behind his ear and flashing an incredibly white smile. Maybe I could see why Erin had fallen for him. "And you live in town?"

He nodded again. "On Maplewood Drive."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Oh." Erin was twenty-one, old enough for him, and old enough to make her own decisions. Jasper was way out of the norm for her though, but maybe that's what she had meant when she said we were all finding ourselves. Maybe Erin was discovering something about herself with Jasper and the very idea of that made me smile.

We both heard feet bounding down the stairs and both Jasper and I looked up at the same time. Erin turned the corner with Lexi at her heels. Her cheeks were flushed and she was out of breath as she looked over at Jasper with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked in disbelief, self-consciously running her hands through her hair.

I wished she'd stop that. She looked adorable in short denim shorts and a tight, black tank top. Jasper seemed to appreciate it anyway. I saw his eyes run up her legs when he stood up.

"He's here to see you, you moron!" Lexi nudged Erin forward, ignoring the fact that Erin looked like a deer in headlights.

Jasper stepped forward and took her hand and Erin's whole body started to relax the moment he touched her. It was amazing to see the effect he had. I looked over at Lexi and she grinned and nodded. 

"I was hoping you'd be up for going out," Jasper said.

"Now?" Erin squeaked, looking down at her outfit.

"You look fine," I told her. "Go!"

Erin blushed and it was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen. I don't think I'd ever seen her blush like that. She looked up at Jasper and quickly nodded her head as a shy smile played at her lips.

Lexi came and stood over by me and we said goodbye to them,watching while they walked out the door together. As soon as the door shut behind them, Lexi and I looked over at each other and burst into a fit of giggles.

"That was the best thing I've ever seen!" Lexi laughed, walking back into the living room and settling back in on the couch. "That beats her dancing on the bar by a long shot!"

"Something's gotten into her..."

"Yeah, him, hopefully."

I swatted at Lexi and we both got comfortable and started the movie back up again. It was some romantic comedy that I was only half paying attention to. I wasn't really in the mood for a romantic comedy, but Lexi had me pick and I just grabbed the first thing I came across. We were just at the part when the boy and girl have their 'cute-meet' when my cell phone began to chirp again.

"Oh my god! Can't Matt even let us watch a goddamn movie in peace!" Lexi complained, stretching out over my legs and grabbing my phone up off the coffee table before I could stop her.

"Lexi don't!"

She pushed my hand away and her eyes grew in shock when she looked down at the screen. "Oh my god Mary! It's Ian." She flipped my phone around so that I could see Ian's name before she turned it back to her, and broke out into a wicked grin.

"Why is Ian Malcolm texting you?" Her thumb moved around, hitting some buttons; I probably didn't want to know what she was doing but it still worried me all the same.

"Lexi, its nothing--" I pushed myself up from the couch but Lexi stood up and hovered over me.

"It's nothing? You were supposed to have dinner with him tonight?" She let out a shocked breath, looking down at the phone and then turning it back in my direction with the evidence-- the first text in which Ian asked if we were still on for dinner was there on the screen. Two more texts and two phone calls followed, all of which I'd been too chicken shit to respond to.

"I wasn't supposed to go out with him," I told her, snatching my phone back. "He just asked. That's all. I never said yes."

"Yeah." She turned my phone back to her and stared down at it again. "According to this you just didn't say anything."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't know what to say."

"Well, do you like him?"

I shrugged again but then slowly nodded. I mean, what was there not to like? Ian was smart, kind, and handsome. My body felt like a live wire around him and that was something I'd never experienced before. But he was Ian Malcolm and I was Mary Callaghan. That didn't make sense.

I began shaking my head. "It's complicated Lexi."

"Then tell me."

I looked over at my sister sitting across from me on the sofa wearing no make-up and a pair of ridiculously short shorts that exposed her long legs. She had pair of fuzzy slipper-boots on that were hot pink and black and stopped around mid-calf and her hair was pulled into two braids on either side of her face. She looked so young right then that it wasn't difficult to picture the old Lexi-- the little girl who couldn't go to sleep without hearing a story first, the brat that used to trail Matt and I around, or the child who'd spill all of her secrets because she was incapable of keeping them.

I was guessing she had her fair share of secrets now. I wasn't sure what had made Lexi change so much. It had sucked that she was so young when mom left, but I always thought it also protected her in a way. She couldn't have many memories from those first few painful years.

But she'd always been tough, not afraid to speak her mind. The only time she'd ever get quiet is around Erin and Will, but I think that was because Lexi used to have a huge crush on him back then. I remember finding one of her notebooks when she was in fourth grade and she had written Will's name all over it. It was adorable. I never said anything though; I didn't want to embarrass her.

Around the end of eighth grade is when Lexi started getting into trouble. She was hanging out with a group of girls that weren't the best influence. She'd come home late, smell like cigarettes, and lie about where she was going. But I was a senior and about to graduate; I had a lot on my plate and didn't know anything about disciplining a thirteen year old. I remember Matt tried to help. He sat Lexi down on the sofa in the living room and flat out told her that she was headed down the wrong path. I sat in the recliner across from her, letting him attempt to handle things since I certainly didn't have a clue what to do.

Lexi sneered at Matt and told him that maybe she wanted to go down that path. I remember Matt looking back at me, totally lost for a second. We were both in over our heads and I think it hit him at that moment. He turned back to Lexi and stared down at her, refusing to let her get the best of him.

"You wanna go down that path Lexi? Fine. But know this, we're going to do all we can to try to stop you because people don't respect liars and cheaters, and you'll be nothing if the people you love don't have respect for you anymore."

I remember feeling so proud of Matt at that moment. He handled Lexi better than I ever could. It's ironic now considering that he's both a liar and a cheater, but back then he meant every word of the advice he was giving.

Of course, despite our best efforts Lexi continued to get into trouble. It was nothing major, but it still had all of us concerned. By the middle of Lexi's junior year she changed though. Her once trampy clothes were replaced by black, saggy shirts and jeans. She started dying her hair and kind of stopped speaking to Dad and me all together. Then, the summer before her senior year she changed yet again. She dropped the baggy clothes, opting to go back to wearing more revealing ensembles, but still in all black of course. She chopped her hair off, pierced her nose, and got a tattoo. Something was going on with her, but Erin was away at school and I was about to finish my last year in college. I've always wondered if Lexi pulled away because no one was really around for her back then.

"Uh-uh. That's not how this is going to work," I looked up at my sister and teased her with my eyes. "If you want me to spill about Matt and Ian, you've got to give me something too."

Her eyebrows bunched together. "I don't have anything to say."

I cocked my head to the side and smirked at her. "Really? You don't have anything you need to talk about? Nothing's going on? You wouldn't have any reason to explain why I found your bag partially packed up in your room?"

Lexi's mouth popped open and she stared at me, completely befuddled. She knew I had her. I admit I was pissed when I found Lexi's bag. I wished I'd been surprised, but I wasn't. When things got tough Lexi usually bailed; she'd been that way for a while now. I knew she hadn't planned on talking to either Erin or I about it first. It was selfish of her. It was inconsiderate. It was so Lexi.

"We all have our problems Lexi. It's not fair of you to expect me to tell you mine when you're just planning to take off again without even telling me why."

She looked like she was thinking about something so I didn't say anything else; I just let her think. Finally she let out a frustrated sigh and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine. I'll make a deal with you. You get dressed and come have a drink with me instead of sitting around here depressed all night, and I'll tell you all about my lovely problems at the bar."

"Lexi, it's almost ten o'clock."

"So? We have almost three hours before everything shuts down and neither of us are watching this movie." She pointed to the TV screen. "Besides we know how it'll end. The girl gets the guy."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

She shook her head and pulled me up with her. "No, but it's not a realistic thing, and us sitting here all night wallowing in our problems, that's a bad thing."

"So if I get dressed and go get a drink with you you'll tell me what's going on?" I asked, looking for a confirmation before I even contemplated getting out of my comfy leggings. Lexi nodded.

"Promise?" I asked, raising my pinky up like I used to when she a kid. She let out a small laugh and smiled back at me, locking her pinky in with mine and sealing the deal.

"Promise."