The two boys stood up. Tom went right, and Alex went left. Alex found an unoccupied bench and sat down. He leaned back and relaxed, propping his arm up on the backrest. He put on a bored, spacey look and waited. He didn't wait long before two girls walked by. Alex looked up. The girls caught his gaze and giggled. Five points each. Alex flashed the girls a mischievous smile. One girl blushed and whispered to her friend. Another five points. When the girls looked back at him, Alex gave them a brief wave. Both girls waved back and continued giggling as they passed him. Not even three minutes, and Alex had racked up thirty-five points. Alex continued this routine for a while. Once he got up to a couple hundred points, he decided that he'd had enough of sitting. Alex stood up and walked around a bit until he found a new place outside the Hollister store – very strategic placement – and leaned casually against the railing. A tan, brown-haired girl in a miniskirt walked out of the store with a bag hanging from her arm. She gave Alex an interested glance.
"Hey, there," Alex said as she walked by.
The girl stopped. "Hey, yourself. You talking to me?"
"Sure."
The girl walked up to Alex. "If you're trying to hit on me, I'll warn you now: I'm very picky about my men."
Alex shrugged. "I just thought that little glance meant something."
"Maybe it did," the girl said, tilting her head flirtatiously.
"So, are you interested?"
"I could be."
Alex smiled and chuckled a bit. "I need a yes or a no."
"Hmm…I'll have to say yes."
"Cool. So, do I get a phone number or something?"
The girl raised a carefully penciled eyebrow. "You're a cocky one, aren't you?"
"Am I keeping you interested?"
"Yes – very interested." The girl snuggled up to Alex and slipped a piece of paper into his pocket. "Promise to call me?"
"Of course."
The girl turned and began to leave, but then she looked back over her shoulder. "By the way, you're hot."
"That's what I've been told," Alex replied. He headed inside the Hollister store and started flipping through random racks of Polo shirts and jeans. All the while, he kept track of girls who had a reaction to him. A few of them were bold enough to approach him with a phone number. After a while, the same girls were giving him multiple, repeated reactions. Alex decided to move onto another place. On the way out, he bumped into another girl. She had dark, chestnut brown hair that fell just below her shoulders – just like Camryn. The girl yelped and stumbled backward. Alex's arm shot out and caught her before she fell.
"Thanks," the girl said as she steadied herself on her feet. "Nice catch, by the way."
"Sure, no problem. I'm really sorry about that."
"It's no big deal." The girl looked up at Alex.
Alex fell into the girl's deep, dark, blue eyes. She was incredibly beautiful. Alex hadn't seen such a beautiful girl since he laid eyes on Camryn.
"Um…are you okay?"
Alex snapped out of his trance. "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to stare. You just remind me of someone I used to know."
The girl blushed. Alex smiled at her reaction. She was so cute.
"So, you're okay?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okee dokee."
The girl giggled.
I can't believe I just said that, Alex thought in despair. "That was a little cheesy."
"Yeah, just a little, but it was cute."
Both were awkwardly silent for a while.
"So…"
"Can I have your phone number?" Alex blurted out. Oh! Stupid, Alex! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
"Oh, sure." The girl rummaged through her purse for paper and a pen. She quickly scribbled her number down and handed the paper to Alex. "So, I guess I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah."
The girl walked passed Alex into Hollister. Alex looked at the paper. The girl's name was Emily. Alex almost couldn't wait to dial her number into his cell phone.
About fifteen minutes later, Alex and Tom met at the food court again to compare scores.
"You first," Alex said.
"735," Tom gloated.
"No way! Me too!"
"Tiebreaker!" they both exclaimed in unison.
Tom looked around. He gestured to a girl who was walking towards them. "Whoever kisses her first wins."
"Okay."
"Get ready for grandpa, Rider."
"Up yours, Harris."
"Hi, there," the girl greeted. She had wavy blonde hair and brilliant green eyes. She wore a short jean miniskirt and a low-cut white tank top.
"Hey," Tom said. "Are you looking for someone?"
"Actually, yes." The girl turned to Alex. "I've been trying to find you. You left this at your table." She held out Alex's cell phone.
"Oh, thanks." Alex reached out for his phone, but the girl drew her hand back slightly.
"You're pretty cute. Why don't you kiss me first?"
Alex smiled. "Sure." Alex pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her slowly. He peeked over at Tom to make sure he was watching. Tom's mouth hung wide open like a clam on a plate. Alex closed his eyes and enjoyed the kiss. The girl was a great kisser – almost as good as Camryn. Alex let go once he felt that he had tortured Tom enough. The girl handed Alex his phone.
"There's a new number in it," she said as she walked away.
Alex turned up to Tom. "Hey, pucker up for grandpa."
Alex's cell phone vibrated in his pocket as he walked out of the airport with Tom two weeks later. Alex checked caller ID – it was Emily.
"Hey," Alex answered excitedly.
"Hey, Alex," Emily said. "What are you up to?"
"I just stepped out of the airport."
"Oh, I forgot you were on vacation. Where are you?"
"Montpellier, France."
"No way! I just got here yesterday!"
"That's crazy! We should meet up somewhere."
"That'd be great. Well, I'll call you later, and we'll talk about where to meet."
"Cool. I'll talk to you later then."
"Bye."
Alex hung up the phone and stuck it back into his pocket. He couldn't keep a grin off his face. This vacation was going to be great.
"So, are you ditching me for your new girlfriend?" Tom asked.
"Oh…uh…she's not really my girlfriend." Alex had just completely forgotten about Tom. "Well, you can come with us, wherever we're going."
Tom grinned. "I'm just kidding."
"No, really, you can come along if you want."
"Nah. I don't want to intrude on your date."
"But-"
"I'm really happy for you, Alex. You've been moping around for six months, and now you're finally getting out and seeing someone."
Then Alex suddenly flashed back to a conversation from earlier that year. Camryn had just found out that her ex-boyfriend had been dead for a month.
"No one bothered to tell me. I was the last to know," Camryn had said.
"It's okay; you can cry."
"He wouldn't want me to."
"It's what Camryn would have wanted me to do," Alex said solemnly.
"I think she would be glad to know that you've moved on and fell in love with another girl."
"I'm not in love. I just like her…a lot…"
"Oh, don't give me that crap!" Tom cried as he and Alex climbed into a rented car. Alex turned the ignition and began driving toward the hotel. "You are so in love, Alex. I can tell by the way you look at her."
Alex blushed.
"And I can't believe you haven't kissed her yet!"
"Well-" Alex started.
"You better have that girl kissed by the end of the week, mister."
Alex blushed hotter and brighter. Were his feelings that obvious that even Tom noticed? Tom was the kind of guy who didn't notice anything except for a pretty girl in a bikini.