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I CHOOSE A BROADWAY show that's starring one of my favorite actors, Colton Crane. About five minutes into it, I wish I would have picked something else. It's really boring. And I'm not just wasting Sander's time, I'm wasting Alyx and Phineas' time too, because they decided to come with us. I'm sure they're regretting their decision to tag along.
During the show, Alyx whispers to me, “Oh my god... Leigh told me about this crap. I can't believe I forgot about it.”
“Huh? Who's Leigh?” I ask.
“She's my friend and former roommate,” Alyx says. “She watched this show when she was in London. She told me she hated it. It has no plot, it's just a couple of guys chatting for three hours straight.”
“Three hours?” My voice squeaks at the thought.
“Yeah. I'm not kidding,” Alyx says. “Colton Crane is hot and all, but I don't know if he's worth this kind of pain.”
I couldn't agree more. Now I feel really bad for subjecting everyone to this rancid play.
“Hey,” Alyx hisses in my ear. “I'm meeting Leigh for pizza later on. You should come.”
“Okay.”
Even though I accept the invitation immediately, I'm a little worried. If Alyx and Leigh are already good friends, what if I feel like a third wheel?
My mind drifts about halfway through the show, and I start thinking about Grandpa. I've been so busy with spirit guide work, I haven't been thinking about him as much as I did. That doesn't mean I miss him any less, though. I keep thinking about the camping trips we had, our movie nights, and our pizza parties for no reason whatsoever. I used to take our time together for granted. Now that he's gone, even the inane memories feel kind of precious.
He probably thinks that I am the one who's gone, but I don't think his absence is any less painful for me.
When the show is finally over, Phineas says, “After the first hour, I wanted to warp myself out of the theatre, but... I was afraid Alyx would be upset with me. She seems to fancy this Colton Crane fellow.”
“Ehh... I don't fancy him as much as some girls,” Alyx says. “Also... I don't usually use a word like fancy. I guess that's a consequence of having a British boyfriend.”
Sander excuses himself as soon as we warp back Home. It almost seems like he's annoyed or angry or something. Maybe he wanted alone time with me? Maybe he was just bored? Or maybe I'm overthinking it. Grandma always said that men were uncomplicated creatures, and we should assume they're always thinking the least complicated thought. I don't know if I believe that, though.
Alyx and Phineas part with a kiss, then we warp to her friend's apartment.
“Wait until you see the interior of this place. Leigh's apartment is sweeeeeet,” Alyx says. “I think they hooked her up with a really nice place because she was such a model student. They don't tell you this in school, but there are a whole bunch of perks for completing all your missions.”
I tell her, “I've completed two out of two so far.”
“That's good. Keep it up. For real. You don't want to end up like me. I was on the naughty list,” Alyx says. “But... if I wasn't on the naughty list, I never would have met Phineas, so I guess it all worked out in the end.”
When Leigh greets us, I'm a little surprised that she looks nothing like Alyx. Leigh reminds me of a high school cheerleader, all trendy and smiling. She's like a brunette Barbie doll. Alyx looks wicked cool, like the kind of girl who could rock a giant mohawk and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I wear dresses, sometimes I wear jeans, sometimes I don't care, and sometimes I worry too much about other people's opinions.
“Hi! I'm Leigh. You must be Mikayla?”
“Yep, that's me.” I give her a slow nod, the kind of nod that says I'm chill. “Some of my friends used to call me Mikey, though.”
“Mikey? That's cool.”
“Lately, though, I'm getting used to Miss Frost,” I say. “Are the instructors always so formal, or do they ever let down their guard?”
“Nah, Phineas pulled that crap on me too. I think it's normal,” Alyx says. “The funny thing is, your instructor usually ends up being your best friend. Or... in the case of me and Leigh, they end up being your boyfriend.”
“Whoa. Seriously?” I exclaim. Hopefully I don't sound too shocked by that. I almost tell them about my grandma hooking up with her instructor, but I don't want to be that geek who starts talking about her grandma at a party.
“You spend a lot of time with them, so... sometimes it just... happens,” Leigh says.
“Leigh's boyfriend is hot as hell. He's got a big following too. He's almost an Archangel.” Alyx pulls up a picture of him, ignoring Leigh's bashful protests. “Here's a picture of Taishi in a kimono with half of his chest exposed. That's hot.”
“As if Phineas isn't hot!” Leigh says. “Oh my god, Alyx, you're so annoying...”
Alyx manifests an extra large pepperoni pizza and shamelessly continues, “Mikey's got a hot instructor. I swear he looks familiar, too. Maybe I'm trippin'.”
The pizza she manifested is amazing. It might even be the best pizza I've ever had. When I tell her that, she insists on fist-bumping.
“This pizza is from a little hole in the wall place that my mom and I used to go to,” Alyx says. “I should let you try the chicken focaccia pizza too. Leigh doesn't like it, but that just means more for us.”
Alyx manifests the aforementioned chicken pizza, and she's right. It's really good. When she sings my praises for enjoying her pizza, I suddenly feel like her new best friend.
Alyx casually says, “If you liked what you saw, there are tons of Taishi pics if you search the Archangel fansites.”
“Oh my god, Alyx!” Leigh facepalms and peeks at her friend through parted fingers. “Can you stop perving over my boyfriend? Like... seriously.”
“I'm not the only one. You should go to one of these sites, and you'd see what I mean. He's popular,” Alyx says, then she segues into a conversation about all the hot Archangels and starts naming her favorites. She talks so much, I don't know how she finds the time to eat.
“I'm not that familiar with any of them,” I admit.
“I still think one of my favorites is Gabriel.” Alyx shows me a picture on her LightTab. It's a picture of Gabriel, driving a spear through something that looks like a demon. “Would you rather see one of the shirtless ones?”
“No!” Between bites, I chuckle at her question. “I think I'm good.”
Without warning, she flashes a picture of a shirtless, winged man with black hair. “That's Azrael,” she says. “He's hot too. I hear he has a girlfriend now, though. That kind of sucks.”
“Alyx, you have a boyfriend!” Leigh reminds her.
“I know. And I'm totally and completely faithful to Phineas,” Alyx says. “But... sometimes, a girl just needs to drool over pictures of hot Archangels. So sue me.”
I feel like I'm not adding much to this particular conversation. I kind of figured this would happen. I'm always a little awkward around new people, especially in a group. Besides, I know absolutely nothing about Archangels and their supposed good looks.
“Here's Leigh's favorite Archangel,” Alyx says, showing off a picture of a guy with golden hair.
“Jophiel?” Leigh is so offended, she snatches the LightTab from Alyx's hand. “Uh... how about no?”
I must look confused, because Alyx explains that Jophiel and Leigh briefly dated, and it sounds like they didn't part on the greatest of terms.
“Check this shit out!” Alyx, having reclaimed her LightTab from Leigh, shows me a picture of another blonde man. Personally, this one is way too muscular for me, but I can understand why someone else might be attracted to him. “It's shirtless Archangel Michael. This one was my LightTab's wallpaper for awhile. That was before I met Phineas, of course.”
“I would be zero percent surprised if you had that as your wallpaper now,” Leigh teases her.
“You know who else is cute? He doesn't get much love, though. It's tragic.” Alyx's finger flies across her LightTab's screen. I assume she's pulling up another pic to fangirl over.
A moment later, she's showing me a picture of an adorable blonde guy in a suit, his jacket removed, his bowtie untied. His hair is disheveled, but in a really good way.
And then it hits me. Hard.
It's a picture of Sander.