Xander

Alexander II

   It didn't take Xander long to fall for Nora. It wasn't as scary as he would have thought. Rather than a cannonball it felt like the gentle glide of a feather falling from the sky. So slow it was hardly noticeable until he couldn't go a day without talking to her. He had made peace with the fact that she was beyond him long ago but even so, 8 years after their first interaction, he couldn't help but be filled with excitement and anticipation at the thought of seeing her.

   Xander was just getting done cleaning out the last of the empty alcohol bottles from his living room. Nora had texted him a few hours ago saying that she would be coming over today. They didn't hang out much at each other's houses. She didn't like bringing people over to hers and to him, his own house felt cold and lonely. 

   Xander lived alone with his mother ever since his father had died the year before he joined Nora at school. His mother rarely made an appearance in the house they shared though. She worked an office job and went on business trips often. Even when she was in the city, she would sometimes prefer to stay at hotels closer to her work building than at home. He supposed that being home might be too painful for her to deal with. They never really discussed his father's death. She grieved for months and he was forced to take care of himself. By the time she had come to her senses, Xander had developed his own sense of independence and no longer needed to be "taken care of".

   Of course there were perks to being an 18 year old and living alone. He was able to fill the emptiness of his house with whoever he wanted. Because of this, he had constantly had girls in and out of his house. Meaningless hookups that be told himself Nora would never see the evidence of. 

   When she first showed up at his house unannounced, he had been asleep. He knew it she could have walked into a much worse situation since he had not been expecting her so that very day he forced her to promise to always let him know when she planned to pop in. That way he would have enough time to get rid of any evidence of what goes on in his house when on one is around. 

   He knew she had heard the rumors at school about what kind of person he was. He also figured she didn't care much (after all she'd never asked him about any of it). However, Xander knew that hearing about something and seeing it with your own two eyes are completely different things and he would be damned if he let something as stupid as an empty vodka bottle or a cigarette butt ruin his relationship with his best friend. 

  He was just sitting down on the couch in the living room when Nora walked in looking good as ever. Today she wore a pink sweater and light blue jeans her dark hair was unbound and the messy waves just reached her ribcage. 

   "Hey Alex" she said casually as she sat down. She's the only one who calls him that. He had introduced himself as Xander when they met. She didn't much like the nickname and decided not to use it. It used to irritate him but now he would feel strange being called anything else by her. 

   "Hello Nora. How are you this evening?" He replied. She studied his face for a second then smiled.

   "You're never gonna believe what happened at my house today. James brought a new girl home! She was cute but my mom stared at her as though she had just crawled out of the gutter. If I were her I would have turned around and walked right out. It was so awkward! You know, in my opinion, I think James actually told her what to say because she said all the right things even though..." she continued on to describe the girl known as Katie and explain in great detail how that lunch went. 

   Xander pretended to lose interest half way and look at his phone but he was, in fact, listening to every word she said. 

   "You came all the way over here just to say that?" He asked when she had finished the story.

   "Nope!" She replied with a smile. "I came all the way over here to spend time with my best friend in the whole world." When she saw him roll his eyes she sighed. "Fine. My mom's being a b***h again. The whole house is tense and I needed to get out."

   He looked at her. When she looked back up at him he said "You're always welcome in my house. Call me whenever you want and I'll come pick you up. You shouldn't walk here at night."

   She smiled at him.

   "What's on Netflix? Wanna watch The Office?" She asked reaching for the remote and kicking off her shoes.

   "Sure. Whatever you want."