The Gender Fall (The Gender Game #5)

“How do you like school?” Natalie asked.

“It’s fine,” Alex replied. He couldn’t really think of a better adjective than that. He neither loved nor hated school, though recently, it was becoming more and more of a distraction from his entrepreneurial endeavors.

They arrived within view of Middledale High. It was a large, very boring rectangular building, its exterior in need of a renovation. But it was a decent school by most standards—average, but decent.

“Do you have many friends?” Natalie asked.

“Mmm, not many,” Alex replied honestly, and decided not to embellish his answer. He tried to hide the fact from his mom that his social life had deteriorated along with her health. He was so busy these days and rarely saw friends outside of school hours, which resulted in him growing apart even from his best friend, Colin.

Natalie probably found his short answer a little odd but didn’t press. Instead, she moved on to a topic that was much more interesting to Alex—herself. She began to talk about what it was like to grow up in France, and the differences between there and America. She said she’d visited New York before when she was younger, and this was her second time in the United States. Alex had never been abroad—heck, he’d hardly been out of Iowa—but hoped to someday. When his mother got better.

Natalie came to a pause as they neared the mall, and her face took on a thoughtful expression. She spoke again after a few minutes. “I suppose I don’t have many friends either. I mean, there are people you see every day and are friendly with, but…real friends”—she smiled—“I think they are quite a rare species.”

Alex wasn’t sure if she was just saying this because she wanted to be companionable, or because she hadn’t found his response to her earlier question strange after all. “I agree,” he replied, in any case.

They were quiet again until they neared the mall’s parking lot, when Alex suggested they stop for ice cream. Natalie expressed her strong agreement, so he parked up and led her into the mall.

As they neared the ice cream parlor, he spotted four guys from his class. Phil, a blond-haired giant of a seventeen-year-old, with his three hangers-on, David, Sam, and Josh.

Their eyes drew to Natalie as though she were a magnet. Alex rolled his eyes internally. He could practically see the lightbulbs sparking in their heads as they exchanged glances, and then Phil walked over.

“Hey, Alex!” he said, throwing him a smile. This was probably the first time Phil had spoken to him directly all year; Alex had never been close to Phil.

“This is your new girlfriend?” he asked.

“Nope,” Alex replied.

“We’re friends,” Natalie added.

“A guest from France,” Alex clarified. He moved around Phil and Natalie followed as they lined up at the ice cream store. He sensed all four boys’ eyes on her.

“I’ll take a double mint chocolate chip,” Alex ordered. “And Natalie?”

“I’ll take the same.”

“Hey, Alex.” Phil came at him again, leaning an elbow against the glass counter. “Did you hear about the party I’m throwing this evening?”

Alex saw where this was going.

“No, actually,” he said. He paid, took a lick of his ice cream, and then turned away, Natalie walking beside him.

“Well, I wanted to invite you,” Phil persisted, catching up with them and arriving on Natalie’s side.

“You” meaning Natalie.

“Starts at eight p.m.,” he said. “I’ve got a massive back yard with a pool.”

“An American pool party?” Natalie breathed suddenly, as though the idea was almost sacred. Her eyes lit up as she turned to face Alex.

“It’ll be cool,” Phil jumped in, capitalizing on her interest.

Alex stopped walking and looked at him reluctantly.

“Lots of people are coming,” he went on. “Even your pal Colin might show up.”

Somehow, Alex doubted very much that Colin would be showing up.

Still, Natalie had gotten all excited about it now. She clearly wanted to go, and as her host, he figured he should probably acquiesce. It was her first day here, and it was unlikely that he was going to get any serious work done today anyway.

“Okay, Phil,” Alex conceded with a sigh. “Count us in, I guess…Thanks.”

“Awesome!” Phil slapped Alex on the back, before taking the liberty of giving Natalie’s shoulder a quick squeeze.

“Awesome!” Natalie mimicked with a giggle as Phil left to return to his friends.

Alex smiled faintly as they took a seat on a bench in front of one of the indoor fountains. He watched the four boys retreating from the parlor deeper into the mall.

Digging back into his ice cream, he thought forward to this evening and realized he could barely remember the last time he’d been to a party…

Touché, Mom. Touché.





Bonus Chapter 3





So, what was he going to wear for this thing?

He and Natalie had returned from their tour just after 2 p.m. Natalie had been feeling tired by then from her long journey, so she’d decided to take a nap before the party. That was several hours ago—now he could hear her in the shower, getting ready for tonight. His mom, of course, was delighted to hear that he had accepted the invitation and had given him her blessing to stay out late.

He examined the clothes in his wardrobe and ultimately decided to wear a slightly smarter shirt, while keeping his jeans. Then, seeing that he had some downtime, he figured he’d put it to good use and started on his homework—until a knock came at his door.

“It’s Natalie,” came her voice.

“Come in,” he said.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, bringing with her that heady floral scent. She had changed into a red dress that went down to just above her knees, and she had done something to her hair to make it look curly. She looked stunning, Alex couldn’t deny that.