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Chapter 9
Alexis woke up in another cold sweat. She had another dream about Ryan. She looked over at Jaden sleeping next to her. She ran her hand through his hair, if he only knew. Alexis climbed out of bed. She decided to get some water to calm her nerves. She found Ryan sitting on the floor, poking at the fire, a mug of hot cocoa in his hand, and a plate of Oreo's sitting on the floor. He was wearing a wife beater, muscles showing, with long flannel pants, which sent other images through her mind.
"Couldn't get any sleep either eh'," Ryan said noticing her come in.
"Yeah," she said.
"Want some cocoa," he said gesturing to the pot sitting next to him.
"Sure."
Ryan got up and went to retrieve another mug from the cabinet, while Alexis sat and watched the bright yellow, red, and orange flames of the fire burn bright. Ryan came back and poured the brown liquid into the mug and handed it to her. There was a silence between the two.
"You know, for a long time, I thought I would never see Duel Academy," Ryan said.
Long pause . . .
"Why," Alexis said.
Long pause . . .
"Well, my family could barely afford to put me through regular school nonetheless a multi-thousand dollar academy, " Ryan said sighing.
Long pause . . .
"Oh," she whispered.
Long pause
"Why are you telling me this," she said grabbing an oreo off of the plate and biting into it.
"Because you're a great listener," Ryan said smiling. Both Ryan and Alexis reached out to get another cookie, their hands touching.
Long pause . . .
Ryan and Alexis looked at each other for a long time. Ryan reached his hand to her neck and brought her lips to his. In the back of her mind, Alexis knew this was wrong. She pushed herself away from him.
"I'm, sorry, I'm really so . . ." but before Ryan could finish his babbling, Alexis grabbed his face and kissed him. She didn't know why she did it, but he didn't oblige. When they broke for air, she finally came to her senses. She scrambled to her feet and ran outside, without a jacket, another stupid mistake. What had she just done? How could she tell Jaden? She couldn't tell him, absolutely not! A few minutes later Ryan came out with her jacket.
"Here put this on," he said
The two looked out onto the icy horizon. The sun was just peeking it's bright head above it.
"So what do we do . . ." Alexis said wiping her eyes.
Ryan sighed heavily, "Don't tell Jaden . . . and pretend this never happened?" he said shrugging his shoulders. Alexis just nodded her head.
