Code Blue

Lexi vs. Microwave Popcorn

Inhaling deeply, I wrapped my fingers tightly around the strap of my tote bag as I lifted my free hand to knock three times on the door. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was nervous. On one hand, things between Max and I had been tense ever since his party two weeks ago, so the fact that I was currently standing on the front step of his house was just a tad awkward.

But on the other hand, I wasn’t even there to see him. Keeping up with his offer to tutor me, Trevor had invited me over for a study session before our first economics test. He seemed to find the fact that I was so easily flustered around Max to be extremely amusing, so he’d suggested we study at his house so that there was a possibility I’d run into the black haired blue eyed boy who frustrated me beyond belief.

For Quinn, the whole mindset of thinking my interactions with Max were hysterical made sense, but I was confused as to why Trevor would be so willing to allow someone l he barely knew attempt to get close to his best friend, especially considering the sensitivity of Max’s family situation. The whole finding it entertaining thing didn’t seem to be a good enough excuse.

Still, I wasn’t about to question my good luck, so I plastered a friendly smile on my face as the door began to pull open, only to have my expression freeze when the person on the other side turned out to be Max.

His eyes flashed with surprise and what I could have sworn was excitement before that natural cocky smile kinked his lips. “Evie, Evie, Evie. To what do I owe this incredible pleasure?”

Of course he would think I was there to see him, but considering what had happened, I didn’t know why he thought he deserved a visit from me at all. I briefly contemplated telling him just that, only to decide that he would probably find my indifference more bewildering than my anger and if I’d learned anything from my conversations with Trevor, it was that a Max that had no idea what was happening was a Max that was vulnerable.

“Is Trevor here?” I asked sweetly, standing on my tip toes to glance over his shoulder in search of my study buddy.

“Trevor?” his eyebrows lifted, this time allowing his surprise to settle in his expression as he stepped to the side and gestured for me to enter. “You’re here to see Trevor? How come?”

“We have a study date,” I replied nonchalantly as I stepped through the door. I knew my choice of words was misleading, but I got a sort of sick pleasure from the flash of disappointment which crossed his face.

“You guys have been hanging out a lot, huh?” he spoke softly as he shut the door and turned to face me.

“Not really,” I admitted. “We just study together. He’s a good teacher.”

I expected Max to continue looking saddened, but instead his expression brightened and he grinned as he shoved his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. “I know. He’s the reason I got an A in Macro last term.”

“So you understand,” I nodded, a little relieved that the initial tension between us was slowly dissipating.

Tilting his head to the side, he scratched his teeth lightly over his lower lip before responding. “I’m beginning to.”

That was f*****g cryptic as hell, but before I had the chance to ask what that meant, Trevor descended the stairs, shooting me a friendly smile and a wave. “Hey, Evie. Ready to study?”

“Yep!” I returned his wide smile, stepping towards the staircase to follow him up to his room. Over my shoulder, I lifted the corners of my lips into a small smile for Max. “See you.”

He pulled one hand from his pocket to send me off with a wave before I turned to climb the stairs behind Trevor.

“So that wasn’t tense at all,” he commented dryly once I’d entered his room, shutting the door behind him and plopping down in his swiveling desk chair.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied innocently, making myself comfortable by kicking off my shoes and sitting cross legged on his bed.

“Come on,” Trevor sighed, tangling his fingers into his thick curls and staring at me pointedly. “You can’t torture him forever. After all, you were the one who said that the two of you aren’t anything, so you can’t be mad about him and that other girl.”

“I’m not mad,” I insisted, pulling my notebook from my tote bag. “Why does everyone think that?”

“Probably because you’ve been avoiding him and hanging out with me,” he shot back.

That was true. But I wasn’t angry at Max at all. I was angrier with myself for getting to the point where seeing him with someone else stirred up feelings and I was afraid that if I let my guard down around him, I’d just end up back in the same place. Getting close to Trevor was just easier because I wasn’t constantly fighting the urge to kiss him.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure things will go back to normal soon,” I replied, eager to change the subject. “Can we start?”

Respecting my wishes not to continue with this conversation, he nodded and turned to grab his notes from his desk. He spent the next two hours quizzing me on terms and helping me with practice problems from the textbook until a loud rumbling sound coming from my stomach announced that it was time for a break. Laughing, he verbally directed me towards the popcorn packets in the kitchen and told me to bring him a soda from the fridge.

Getting him snacks seemed to be the least I could do, so I hopped off the bed and stepped into the hallway, padding down the stairs, but stopping short when I reached the kitchen at the sight of Max staring with a very focused expression into the open pantry. I wondered if I could sneak away before he noticed me, but he seemed to have some sort of second sense when it came to my presence, so he turned his head before I could take a step back, lifting his chin slightly in acknowledgement. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I repeated back softly. “Trevor wanted a snack, so I’m on a mission to find the popcorn.”

Nodding, he turned his attention back to the pantry, his gaze flicking over the shelves momentarily before he reached out to grab something, his hand coming back into my line of sight with a package of microwave popcorn, which was extended in my direction.

“He likes it a little burnt, so put it in for ten seconds longer than necessary,” Max muttered, reaching back into the pantry to grab a packet of Doritos before closing the door after I’d accepted the popcorn.

“Thanks,” I said, turning towards the microwave to begin the popping process.

There was exactly twenty-seven seconds of awkward silence as the kernels began to burst before Max’s voice filled the kitchen.

“I don’t like this.”

There were about five different things that statement could be referring to, so I lifted an eyebrow in response, turning my torso to face him. “What do you mean?”

“This,” he sighed, tossing his unopened Dorito packet on the counter before reaching up to tangle his fingers into his hair out of frustration. “Whatever’s going on between us. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t really know what you want me to say…,” I responded.

“You could tell me why the hell you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder,” he shot back.

“I haven’t.” That was a lie. “I’ve just been busy and stressed about econ.”

“And yet, you’re not too busy or too stressed out to hang out with Trevor,” he pointed out.

I shrugged. “He’s just tutoring me.”

“Right,” Max laughed dryly. “So you all of a sudden becoming chummy with my best friend has nothing to do with me?”

“Oh please,” I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “The entire world doesn’t revolve around you, Max. Maybe I just like hanging out with him, ever think about that?”

“Yeah, actually,” he said softly. “I think about it a lot.”

I had no idea what that meant, but I was completely frustrated with this conversation, so I sighed and set him with a direct stare. “What do you want from me, Max?”

He stared at me for a moment, his eyes unreadable, and then he took two steps forward, grabbed my waist, and kissed me firmly on the lips.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t spent a lot of time fantasizing about what it would be like to kiss Max. And of course, I assumed it would be amazing, but the fact that I was completely caught off guard made it even better. The fingers of one hand pressed into my waist, keeping me pulled against the length of his torso while the other ran up my side to gently cup my cheek. I felt my blood heat and my knees go weak and my head begin to spin, and every ounce of me wanted to tangle my fingers into his hair and return the pressure, but I knew that if I did, there would be no turning back, so I resisted until he pulled away.

If he had noticed my struggle to respond, he didn’t mention, instead staring straight into my eyes and whispering, “You already know the answer to that.”

By this point, I had forgotten the question and I was pretty sure if he wasn’t holding me against his body, I probably would have collapsed into a puddle on the floor. It was the beeping of the microwave and the smell of slightly burnt popcorn that alerted me to the reality of the situation and once I could feel my legs again, I took a step backwards, pushing myself out of his grasp and speaking as loud as I could muster, which ended up being just barely above a whisper. “I should get back upstairs.”

Deciding to forgo finding a bowl, I opened the microwave to grab the bag of popcorn and stepped around Max, holding my breath until I reached the top of the stairs, at which point I exhaled shakily, knowing that I was in a s**t ton of trouble.

I was in a bit of a haze for the rest of the study session, though Trevor didn’t call me out on it, for which I was grateful. Once it was time for me to leave, I sprinted through the bottom floor the house fast enough that I had no idea whether or not Max was around and then made a beeline for Evan’s apartment, the events of the day spilling out as soon as he opened the door.

“You kissed him?” Evan said disbelievingly a few minutes later from where was perched on the edge of his couch, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes wide.

“He kissed me,” I corrected defensively. “And I’m like seventy percent sure I didn’t kiss him back, but to be honest, it wasn’t as though I was capable of forming any coherent thoughts.”

“So it was a good kiss,” he noted with a nod, letting out a soft sigh.

“Yeah,” I wrinkled my nose apologetically as I paced in front of him. “This is bad, isn’t it?”

Technically speaking, seduction was a technique which was often used by agents in undercover operations to get information out of their targets. But the problem was that, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, whatever was going on between me and Max was much too emotionally charged to be classified as seduction.

“Potentially catastrophic,” Evan replied simply.

 Snorting, I rolled my eyes and stopped my pacing, fixing him with a pointed glare. “That’s a little melodramatic.”

“Is it?” he sat up a little straighter, deadpanning. “Look, historically speaking, engaging in a romantic relationship with the target of an operation has a high success rate of getting the necessary information, but it also has a high rate of heartbreak. You can’t fall in love with him, Lexi.”

“I’m not,” I insisted, partly because I’d only known Max for a month and partly because I wasn’t entirely sure I would even know if I was in love, seeing as I’d never experienced it before.

“I know you’re not now,” he replied reassuringly. “But you do like him, which is a problem, considering that when all is said and done, the ultimate goal of this operation is to put his father behind bars. Plus, we have no idea how involved Max is with his family’s businesses, which means we could end up having to arrest him as well.”

Of course, I knew all of this, but I hadn’t exactly been thinking clearly lately. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I dropped my arms to the side. “Okay, so what do we do now?”

He stared at me for a moment before speaking, his voice soft and filled with apologies. “Well, according to agency protocol, if I sense that you’re becoming too emotionally invested in the operation, I’m supposed to pull you out.”

“No, you can’t!” I cried out, causing him to lift his eyebrows in surprise. Inhaling deeply, I calmed myself before I continued. “Evan, I can’t be pulled off my first ever undercover assignment for becoming emotionally attached; I’ll never be allowed to go undercover again.”

His lips parted, mostly likely to tell me he didn’t have a choice, but then he decided against it and shook his head instead. “Then how do you propose we handle this?”

I thought for a moment. There really weren’t many options, given the circumstances. If I wanted to stay on this operation, I only had one choice: I had to reign in any feelings I had for Max. By kissing me, he had opened a door to a potential romantic relationship and I had to take full advantage of that, while still being able to differentiate what was real and what was part of my cover; be able to repress any feelings I have and not allow my emotions to compromise my decisions.

Standing up as straight as possible, I looked Evan straight in the eyes as I spoke with as much conviction as I could muster. “I can do this. Let me prove it to you, Evan.”

I could tell he wasn’t quite convinced, but he also didn’t want to be the one who shut my undercover career down after just one operation, so he sighed heavily and nodded. “Alright. But I can’t give you any more chances, Allie. You let your feelings for him get the better of you one time, and that’s it, I have to take you out.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded, partially relieved and partially terrified. “I won’t let you down.”

I left his place hoping those words would end up being true, but knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, because my lips were still tingling from Max’s kiss.