The Gender Fall (The Gender Game #5)

“Oh dear,” Alex said with a small smile, before seating himself in one of the only two seats available, both—most likely strategically—positioned next to Natalie.

Natalie chuckled. “Only good things.”

Alex moved to busy himself with the pancake container, but before he could, his mom rose, supporting herself against the table with one hand, and served him.

“I told her that you’re a budding entrepreneur,” his mom supplied, and Alex looked back at Natalie.

He smiled placidly. “Budding being the operative word.”

“You know, I think that is so wonderful,” Natalie announced, beaming at him with genuine enthusiasm. “I don’t know anybody my age back home who is an entrepreneur. You make websites, yes?”

“Uh, yeah.” Alex glanced swiftly at his mom, who gave him a knowing look. He was a little surprised that she would’ve told her this already, since she didn’t usually encourage Alex’s extreme work ethic.

Though, Alex supposed there wasn’t much else to say about him at the moment. Other than working on his business and playing the piano, he currently didn’t have any extracurricular activities.

From Natalie’s build, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a member of a basketball team, or maybe a tennis player.

“Yes, websites,” Alex confirmed in a louder voice. “It’s not very interesting, though.” He’d been experimenting with building sites around narrow audiences in order to avoid competition and make it easier to attract traffic, which had led him to some very “niche” subjects that weren’t exactly sexy. From Halloween dog costumes to dating websites for farmers, Alex had probably thought of it.

“I find it very interesting,” Natalie replied. “I would love to see them—oh.” She paused, her eyes widening. “I completely forgot. I said that I would video-call my parents as soon as I arrived at your house.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and do that now?” Alex’s mom suggested.

Natalie ducked beneath the table, reaching for a backpack she had resting by her feet. She resurfaced holding a small laptop. She started it up and the sound of dialing filled the sun-streaked kitchen.

“Bonjour!” enthused a voice that sounded almost identical to Natalie’s, but older.

Natalie began speaking in rapid French, looking up constantly to Alex and his mom, smiling and flashing her pearly teeth.

Then she picked up the laptop and hurried to Alex, who had just been in the middle of his last mouthful of pancake. He quickly swallowed, managing not to choke as Natalie stood beside him, presenting him with the screen. Gazing back at him was clearly Natalie’s mother, father, and a younger girl who must’ve been her sister—perhaps middle school-aged, he guessed.

“Hello Alex!” the three greeted at once.

“Hi,” Alex replied, wiping his mouth with a tissue before giving a small wave.

“Thank you for having Natalie!” Mrs. Chevalier said. “I hope you both have a good time.”

Before Alex could respond, the young girl fired a bout of French at him. He blinked, uncertain of what she’d said, when Mrs. Chevalier laughed and translated, “Elena says to promise to look after her sister!”

“Ah, right.” Alex grinned. “We—I—promise. Don’t worry.”

Natalie chuckled and then moved on to Alex’s mom, where they had a similar, slightly longer greeting.

Alex’s mom eyed him with quiet amusement as Natalie ended the conversation with a flurry of air kisses. He averted his gaze to a strawberry.

“Now, have you had enough to eat, dear?” Alex’s mom asked after Natalie ended the call.

“Oh yes, certainly.” She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach.

“And you, Alex?” his mom asked.

Alex looked up, frowning. “Uh, yeah,” he replied, unsure of where his mom was going with this.

“Well, I was going to suggest you take Natalie on a tour of the town while it’s so bright and sunny outside.”

Natalie sat forward. “That sounds perfect!”

He was an idiot to not have seen that coming. He thought of all the work he had planned to do this weekend, including that stack of homework, but he couldn’t refuse without appearing extremely rude…and if he was honest with himself, he thought a break from his laptop screen might do him some good. It was a beautiful day, after all.

Pushing his plate and cutlery away from him, he glanced at Natalie and smiled. “Okay, let’s go for a ride.”

His mother winked at him as the two of them left the room.



“I’m gonna be honest, there’s not a lot to see in Middledale,” Alex said, as he opened the passenger door of his car for Natalie to slide in. She did so gracefully, pulling the small handbag she’d unpacked onto her lap. She had changed out of the clothes she had arrived in—leggings and a pullover—in favor of an outfit that oddly mirrored his; a casual t-shirt and jeans.

He moved around to the driver’s seat and got in, scooping up a pair of sunglasses from the dashboard and donning them before starting the engine.

“I mean,” he continued, pulling out of the driveway and swerving onto the road, “it’s a nice place. Some beautiful scenery”—he gestured to the sprawl of fields that was already coming into view behind the row of houses on their left—“and a lot of peace and quiet. There’s a mall in the center of town, which has a small movie theater, a bunch of shops, restaurants, a bowling alley…”

He trailed off as he caught a glance of Natalie. She sat stiffly, looking straight ahead and clutching her seat a little too tightly.

“Hey,” he said, drawing her gaze to his, “are you okay?

“Yeah,” she said quickly, offering him a smile. “You just, um, drive quite fast.”

“Oh, sorry.” Alex reminded himself what it must be like to be a first-time passenger in a vehicle he was commandeering. His style valued efficiency over leisure, as his mom would describe it. “I’ll take it easier.”

He slowed down, and Natalie instantly relaxed.

“I’ll take you past the school, it’s coming up just on our right,” Alex informed her as they rounded the corner.