Lexi
October 10th, 2016 | 9:00 am
Lexi woke up as the sun started to fill the room. She glanced over at Liam who was still passed out on the couch. Lexi felt bad, she decided she would make it up to him by making him breakfast. She got up and was surprised to see her dad sitting in front of the broken pieces of the television.
"Hello."
He offered a small smile. He was too entrenched in the pieces. Lexi still had no clue what he was doing, but she didn't want to stop him either. He had made some progress, the frame was more or less back together, however, Lexi had no clue how he planned on fixing the electric parts that were beyond repair. Lexi figured it was just something to keep him busy, so she let him keep working on it. Although she was sure she wouldn't be watching television anytime soon.
Lexi got to work making pancakes and when she was done, she offered a plate to her father who came over and ate them at the table. Lexi brought two plates to her room, once again, if her father noticed he didn't comment on it. As she closed the door behind her, she saw Liam had woken up.
"Hey, I made you breakfast," she said softly, offering him the plate of pancakes.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
He took the plate and dug in. Lexi was surprised by how fast he ate them. She didn't think she was that good a cook, she thought they were going to taste bad.
When they were both done, Lexi took the plates and washed them, including her father's who was back to staring at the pieces. He had pulled out the hot glue gun again and was attempting to put more pieces together. Lexi went back to her room and found Liam cleaning up her stuff. She wasn't really sure why, she never really thought her room was that messy.
"So, what do you want to do today?" he asked, dropping the assignments from her bed onto the already made pile of schoolwork on the floor.
Lexi was surprised he wanted to hang out. "Aren't your parents going to wonder what you're doing today?"
Liam shrugged. "They'll probably think I'm at Josh or Ryan's house, it's where I spend most of my weekends anyway."
Lexi pondered this. "They aren't really around much, huh?"
Liam shook his head. "They're busy."
"Saving lives, yeah." Lexi wondered how Liam felt about that. Lexi missed her parents every day, she wondered if Liam did too.
"Our proposal for the project in philosophy is due on Monday, do you want to start it?" Liam asked her.
Lexi looked up at him. "I guess."
Liam didn't have his backpack or laptop so Lexi pulled out a few pieces of paper and offered them to him. She laid on the bed on her back close enough to the edge where she was hanging upside down. Liam stared at her for a moment.
"What?" she asked as she felt the blood rush to her brain.
"Sometimes you act so mature, probably because you have to be given everything that has happened." He shrugged. "Sometimes I forget you're still a kid like the rest of us."
Lexi rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "I know how to have fun, I just don't get to do it all the time."
"We should do something fun after the assignment then."
"Like what?" she asked.
Liam smiled. "Do you like running?"
Lexi shook her head.
"That's what we could do then," Liam said. "I am going to teach you to love running."
Lexi gave him a funny look but didn't object.
"Let's get this done then," he said, starting to write on the page. "Are you going to storm out of here if I ask you about soulmates?" Liam asked playfully.
Lexi threw the pillow in her hands at him. "Ask anyway."
Liam laughed. "Do you think soulmates exist?"
Lexi thought about it for a while. "You know what? Let's go for that run, it'll give me some time to think about it."
Liam chuckled. "Okay, let's stop by my place first."
Lexi got up and grabbed a pair of black leggings, she grabbed an old t-shirt and her running shoes. When she was ready, she walked out of the bathroom and found Liam in the living room.
"Like this," he said very patiently to her father.
Lexi watched from the hallway as Liam helped him put the frame of the television back on to the screen.
Henry nodded very excitedly at Liam.
"He's trying to say thank you," Lexi said softly now walking over to them.
Liam glanced over at her. "How is he going to fix the electric circuit parts of the television?"
Lexi shrugged. "I don't want to bother him about it."
She nodded towards the door and Liam got the message. Lexi decided not to bother her father who was still trying to glue pieces together. Instead, she wrote on the board that she would be back around dinner time.
When she opened the door, her father glanced back at them. "Bye, Austin," he said.
Lexi stiffened when she heard that, but Liam just smiled faintly and waved at Henry as they left.
"Sorry about that," Lexi mumbled as they got in his car.
"It's okay," Liam said as he started the car.
They drove in silence for a while until Lexi felt like she owed him a little explanation.
"Austin used to spend a lot of time with my dad," Lexi said quietly. "They watched sports together every weekend, even when I wasn't there. He doesn't understand that Austin broke up with me."
Liam nodded. "That must be tough."
"For both of us," Lexi agreed. "I know he wants to see Austin, but I don't have the heart to tell him."
"Is that why he is trying to fix the television?" Liam asked.
"Maybe," Lexi admitted. "I don't know how to ask him, he can't really explain things well."
They went to Liam's house and he quickly changed and came back in running shorts and a t-shirt, he was holding something. He gave her the bag when he got back in the car.
"What is it?" she asked as she accepted the bag.
"Open it," he said.
Lexi took the bad and opened it and her jaw dropped,
"A laptop? Liam, I can't take this."
"Sure you can," he said, shrugging.
Lexi gave him a look.
"I know it's a weird present, but I also know you don't have one and I figured it would be easier to do your schoolwork on it," he explained.
Lexi must have been red, her face felt hot. "I can't," she mumbled.
"It's my old one if that helps," he tried. "We were going to donate it anyway."
Finally, Lexi nodded, still a little reluctant though. "I guess if you aren't going to need it," she said. "Thanks," she mumbled.
He nodded and then drove to the park where they began to run. They were running at a pace where they could still talk.
"Do you run a lot?" Lexi asked.
She could barely keep up even with the slow pace they had set. The past year of drugs must have limited her lung capacity.
"Mostly to keep me fit for basketball, but it's relaxing too."
"Really?" Lexi asked. She thought it would be really draining.
"Yeah, eventually once you can keep a pace for a little it becomes so freeing."
Lexi thought about that as they finished their run. She wondered if she would ever get to a healthy normal place in life. She wondered what it would take, Macy had encouraged her to open up more and create relationships with people, but Lexi was apprehensive. Lexi also thought about soulmates, she hated to admit it, but she had thought she and Austin were soulmates when they were dating. It crushed her to think about it at times.
As they got to the five mile mark, Liam slowed down and they walked to a tree where they both sat under it in the shade. Lexi laid down on her back while Liam sat with his back against the tree.
"That wasn't so bad," Lexi admitted.
Liam smiled. "I knew you would like it."
Lexi looked up at the clouds lost in thought for a while as she thought about all the times her mom would take her to the park and sketched as she played. Her heart ached at the thought of her mom.
"I think my parents are soulmates," Lexi said softly.
Liam glanced over at her. "How do you know?" he asked curiously.
Lexi wanted to talk about it without crying at the thought of her parents. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to speak without her voice cracking.
"Well I can't remember either of them outright saying it, but my mom used to tell me that no matter how hard life gets, the perfect partner never willingly leaves your side, they make everything worth it, the good and the bad. My mom and dad had that."
"I think everyone's definition of a soulmate is different, but there are a few things that are universal about them."
"What's your definition?" Lexi asked him.
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "I don't even know if my parents are soulmates. I think they are, but they aren't really around enough to decide."
Lexi thought about that. "I used to think a soulmate was someone who loved you unconditionally, flaws and all."
"You don't think that anymore?" Liam asked.
Lexi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Not after Austin," she said quietly.
Liam offered a sympathetic smile. "I don't know if Rachel is or was my soulmate, it's so hard to know."
Lexi glanced over at him. How could he not see what she saw in Rachel and Liam's relationship? She didn't want to interrupt Liam's thought so she let him continue.
"Do you think we have more than one soulmate?" Liam asked her.
Lexi thought about it for a while. Logically, it seemed impossible that there was only one person on this earth for you. Although it did sound romantic to have only one person who loved you unconditionally. Lexi knew it wasn't possible, besides if one person didn't end up with their soulmate, technically who they did end up with would not end up with their soulmates and so on. Realistically, Lexi knew it was possible to have more than one soulmate, still her heart ached at the thought of it.
"I think so," she said finally. "I think you can choose to find love again. There are some people who probably don't want to love another person after meeting their soulmate. There are probably some who are strong enough to find love again though."
"But how do you know someone is your soulmate?" Liam asked her.
"I'm not really the one to ask," Lexi admitted. "I mean I thought Austin was my soulmate."
It got awkwardly quiet after Lexi admitted that. Lexi glanced over at Liam who was staring at the ground.
"I think there are different levels that our souls connect on," Lexi said to change the subject. "I think we can make connections with anyone we want, the type of connection is what makes them your soulmate or not."
Liam nodded silently agreeing with her. "Do you want to make that the focus of our presentation then?"
As they left the park that day, Lexi couldn't help but feel like one of those broken pieces inside of her had mended itself. She felt better, she was starting to feel whole again.