Lexi and Bobbi had finished organizing the casting calls for the play, the good thing about being close to Hollywood was the natural desire of students to pursue a career in acting. East Highland wasn't known for its natural academic excellence or commitment to school per se, but no one could deny jocks and theater kids gave their 100 percent to the activities they were passionate about.

The football team was going through a rough time without their star Nate Jacobs, especially since he was a senior and his last days with the football team were down the drain. It was a surprise that Nate seemed completely fine with it, the coach on the other hand was really going through it…

"If things work, we're going to be the main event this school year" Bobbi announced as they finished putting up the casting calls pamphlets "I guess we have Nate Jacob's to thank for"

"Oh, we'll thank him" Lexi smiled mischievously "I have in mind a special scene to honor his legacy in this prestigious institution"

Bobbi's eyes shined "So it is him, the Jake character…"

"Yes"

"I know he's a dick but seems like you have a bigger reason to target him" she pointed out.

Lexi looked over at Maddy's locker, the girl was alone fixing her hair and taking out some books, the lack of a backpack forced her to carry them all in her hands. When she first started dating Nate, he'd help her carry all her stuff, but little by little his chivalry attentions stopped and were replaced with emotional abuse and gaslighting behavior, everyone seemed to have forgotten about Maddy's physical abuse incident and the fact that Nate "had nothing to do about it", but Lexi still remembered it, so yeah, she had a bigger reason to target fucking Nate Jacobs.

"It's said that truth always comes out in the end" Lexi turned back to Bobbi "if no one's going to do anything about it, I might as well take care of it myself"

XXXX

Fez had never been on a date, yes, he had his fair experiences with girls, but nothing significant enough to even consider a date. Hell, he wasn't even sure if this was going to be a date.

He couldn't take Lexi somewhere nice like she deserved, or too public, he had to always stay low profile, besides being seen in public with her would only imply that they were close and the last thing he wanted to do was make her a target.

The barriers between his life and a normal one were stressing him out.

"You could take her to a park or something like that" Faye suggested "it's gonna be dark so an open space with little lighting works"

Asking for her advice hadn't been his first option, but he was going crazy and even if Ash didn't like Faye, he did, she was cool.

"You think she'll like that?" He asked, "that ain't too simple?"

Faye shrugged "If she likes you, she'll want to hang with you anywhere. My first date with Custer was at a gas station"

"Word?"

"Yeah"

Faye had set the bar way too low with the whole gas station comment, so he made sure that even if it was going to be simple, he'd show Lexi that he was making an effort to celebrate her achievements.

Lexi had mentioned in prior conversations that she loved strawberry milkshakes, so he made sure to find the absolute best in town plus some other things he knew she liked.

Ash had rolled his eyes when he changed his usual clothes to more put-up ones, that was enough proof that he was on the right track.

XXXX

Lexi had made sure to finish her homework as fast as possible and tidy her clothes and make-up. Fez had suggested they could go to the park, and she told him to meet her at the one a few blocks from her house.

"Where are you going?" Cassie asked walking into the bathroom while she finished applying her red lipstick.

"Just out with... Rue" she answered as casually as possible.

"Cute jeans" Cassie pointed out, but didn't seem to suspect anything "I need to pee"

She sighed and exited the bathroom for her sister to use, as if Cassie had ever interrupted her stupid 3-hour morning routine when Lexi needed to use the bathroom.

Fez texted that he was outside her house, she had insisted on meeting him there because Cassie had already ratted him out to Cal Jacobs, it was best if her sister didn't know they were hanging out.

Lexi said a quick goodbye to her mother and left the house, Fez was standing by the neighbor's car.

"Hey" she let out and looked behind to verify no one had seen him "you didn't have to come all the way here"

He smiled "I can't have you walk down the street alone when I was the one inviting you. Least I could do"

Lexi blushed and was thankful daylight had begun to fade so he couldn't notice all the shades of red her face was going through.

Once they reached his car, he pulled out a strawberry milkshake with more than 200 hundred positive reviews according to the internet. He kept on saying that he really hoped she liked it, and if she didn't, they could just go and find a better one. Lexi didn't know how to explain to him how happy he had already made her by simply remembering she had previously mentioned she loved milkshakes, it didn't even have to be a strawberry flavored one to impress her, but after taking a sip she couldn't deny that this was probably the most delicious milkshake she'd ever had.

"It's perfect, Fez" she assured him and insisted he tried his too.

He clinked his plastic cup with hers and began a pretend toast
"To Lexi Howard's first mother fucking masterpiece"

She blushed again, he seemed genuinely happy and proud of her.

They went to the park she and Cassie used to play in when they were younger. A small group of teens played basketball, and a few middle-aged men and women took a stroll around the walking track, so they decided it was best to keep distance from them and instead walked by the solitary playground.

"It's been a while since I came here" she pointed out "Cassie and I used to climb up the playground's slide"

"Climb up a slide?" He laughed "shit sounds dangerous for a kid"

"Oh, it was, but the rush of slipping down was the absolute best. I never successfully got to the top, though. Gravity's a bitch." she sighed, the sudden flashbacks of bruised knees and what felt like endless fun filled her mind. She turned back to Fez, he seemed to be studying the jungle gym "what about you? What was your favorite game to play?"

Fez took a deep breath and turned to her "Didn't go to the park, to be honest. Playtime was inside and just me with a random ass object I could use as a toy"

She bit the inside of her mouth. Fez had mentioned he lived with his grandma, so she knew that he was probably brought up without his parents but hadn't really thought about its effects on his childhood. Despite her dysfunctional family, she knew she was privileged.

Lexi remembered the way he had spoken about his accident and how he had made sure of making new memories. She stood up and held out her hand for him.

Fez gave her a questioning look but took her hand and let her guide him towards the playground.

She began climbing up the ladder of the jungle gym, she had to crutch down, but there was enough space for both.
"C'mon!" She called

Fez smiled and joined soon after, the two of them sat on the little area of the structure where kids wait for their turn on the slide.

"So this is the childhood experience" Fez looked around the old jungle gym, he looked cute trying to make himself smaller, his head was just an inch below the plastic roof, their shoes touched the other's sole.

"Minus the childhood magic that makes everything seem more exciting, yes" she laughed "but the smell of rusty metal does take you back"

He smiled and looked around the jungle gym as if she had shown him a precious treasure instead of just an old, smelly, and crampy place. "I like this"

"And you haven't even tried the slide" she pointed out "a personal favorite"

He chuckled "You sure? Kids are gonna be pissed if I break it"

"Fez, this thing is older than us. If it can take hundreds of sweaty and smelly children, I think you're gonna be fine" She assured him. The passage for the slide was behind her, so she scooted over to the side to make enough space for him to go down. Between laughter and clumsy movements, he went down the slide.

Lexi couldn't stop grinning, not only was he enjoying himself doing something childish and a bit ridiculous, but also because she knew he trusted her enough to be sharing all these little things with her. She cheered him as he reached the ground in less than 5 seconds because of his height.

"Your turn" he called.

To even see someone else doing it would have given her second-hand embarrassment, but right now she forced herself to not overthink, just enjoy things no matter their level of maturity. Metal screeches followed on her way down the slide, Fez placed his hands around her shoulders once her shoes touched the sand to steady her body, his arms pulled her up to her feet, she clumsily lost balance and leaned into his chest. PHYSICAL TOUCH. She calmed herself down.

Fez helped her find balance again and gently took a step back.

"You okay?" he asked concerned

"Yeah" she pretended to be completely chill about it "I guess younger me was better qualified for physical activities"

"You're not climbing up the slide then?" he teased.

"Oh, fuck no" she let out with a low chuckle.

They finally sat on the swings, Fez ran his finger through the swing's chains, he seemed lost in thought.

"Fez?" Lexi called him slowly, she hoped he hadn't felt awkward or uncomfortable during her brilliant idea of doing childish stuff.

His eyes shined and he offered her a smile "I think I remembered something from when I was a kid"

"You did?"

"Yeah" he closed his eyes in deep focus, she studied his soft and peaceful expression, "I think I was with… I was on a swing, and she…" he opened back his eyes.

"Your grandma?" She asked softly

"My mom…I ain't sure though. Could be nothing" he answered.

"Did she pass away when you were really young?"

"Yeah" he cleared his throat "no one ever talked about her, but I was like 3. It's probably nothing"

"Studies usually agree that the average age for the earliest memory is around 3, but there are some cases in which people can remember stuff from when they were 2 years old" she added, didn't know if it made things better or worse, but she wanted to help. Lexi reached for his arm and gently gave him a reassuring squeeze "I think it was her"

His blue eyes turned to her, and she could have sworn they glistened, he smiled, the sweetest smile. "Thank you, Lexi"

His hand moved on top of hers, they were so close she had forgotten how to breathe.

A police car passed nearby, they weren't doing anything bad, but it was no secret that cops liked to target young people for just existing in public areas. It was getting late so Fez took her home, he didn't play any moves on her, it was both relieving and a bit disappointing, but mostly relieving… possible feelings were new for her, and she had a lot on her plate right now, dealing with a one-sided crush wasn't the best thing to focus on, so she was thankful that there was no pressure from any of them to cut through that tension in the air…even if she really wanted to.

Even if he really wanted to.