The Gender Fall

  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.

  “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.

  He rose to his feet, realizing that this was the first time she had ventured into his room. She gazed around at his bare walls, her eyes traveling over his single bed, then to his desk, chair, and bookshelf—the only four pieces of furniture he kept in the room.

  “Wow. Minimalist.”

  Alex smirked. “That’s one way to put it.” The truth was, he just didn’t like any form of clutter. It crowded his brain, and he could think much more clearly without it.

  “And your bookshelf”—she walked over to it—“is alphabetized.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Interesting,” she remarked, pulling down a book on marine biology and flipping through the pages. Alex noticed her eyes glossing over the text completely and focusing on the vibrant pictures.

  He let her continue perusing his books for another minute, and then since they were due to leave in only five minutes, he suggested they head down to the car.

  His mom came to the door with her walking support and kissed them both goodbye on the cheek.

  “Have fun!” she said as they closed the door.

  “Will do,” Alex murmured, sucking in a breath as he led his pretty French date to the car.

  As Phil had promised, the party was packed. Natalie stuck close to Alex as they milled through the teeming living room toward the back garden. She turned almost every guy’s head they passed, but seemed completely unfazed by it as she chatted away to Alex about how excited she was to be here.

  Phil strode over as soon as he spotted them by the pool and, predictably, angled for a dance with Natalie. To Alex’s surprise, she blew him off, albeit very politely—citing jet lag as an excuse.

  “He’s not my type,” she informed Alex with a grin as he walked away. Which left Alex to wonder exactly what her type was. From his experience, most girls seemed to fall over themselves for butch guys like Phil.

  Alex searched the crowd for Colin, or someone else he was close to at school, but couldn’t spot anyone. So he and Natalie found themselves sitting together by the pool, continuing to snack and talk. He guessed that she would expect him to ask her to dance at some point, but she still seemed to be happy talking, so he decided to delay that thought a little longer. It had been a while since his last dance.

  About two hours into the party, Natalie needed the bathroom. She claimed she could find it herself, which left him sitting alone for the first time.

  He took a slow sip from his drink, feeling the cool crackle of carbonation trickle down his throat, then lowered the can to his knee again. He focused on the scene around him now that his attention wasn’t consumed by Natalie.

  He actually liked parties, in general, even when he found himself alone. There was something intriguing about the ways people let their guard down; he might see some of them every day at school, but at a party he got to see a completely different side of everyone. In the darkened room, with music blasting its throbbing bass through an expensive PA system and colorful lights pulsing rhythmically, dancers dropped their inhibitions and personas, becoming freer, wilder.

  Though most likely nobody could tell from his relaxed demeanor, he found the room’s energy engaging, observing the scene with bright, interested eyes.

  His eyes fell on a girl named Sarah, who was glowering darkly on the sidelines of the pool. Not unusual for Sarah, but a little out of place amid the revelry surrounding her. He followed her gaze to Josh, who he was pretty sure was Sarah's boyfriend, dancing closely with another girl. Mindy, he thought, from the basketball team. He felt a jolt of sympathy for Sarah, but it quickly dissipated when she seized Terry, a small boy with thin brown curls and bad posture, and pulled his arms around her. Hm. Interesting.

  Dull, ghostly light was filtering up from the splashing water, throwing shadows of the swimmers up across the house like contorting dancers. The air was hot with the last embers of summer, and it hung heavy and wet against his skin as the smell of smoke drifted into his nose. Alex closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the earthy nighttime scent.

  “Hey, Alex.”

  Alex turned to see Phil approaching him again, his face dappled with watery light. Alex raised an eyebrow, wondering what he wanted.

  “So,” Phil said, drawing close and putting an arm around Alex, turning him so they were both surveying the party. “Got your eye on anyone, seeing that Natalie is just a friend?”

  “Uh, no, not so much. Just hanging out tonight. I'll bet you do, though."

  "No, no, no. I'm here for you tonight, bro. Gonna show you how to live a little."

  "Is that so?" Alex had to stifle a chuckle. He'd always thought Phil something of a brute, and they had never been what he would call friends, but in this more liberated environment, he found his behavior amusing. "All right then, do your worst." He was actually morbidly curious to see who Phil thought was his match.

  "Okay," said Phil. "Well…" His gaze swept the sea of figures, and he frowned a little as he tried to decide how, exactly, Alex should live a little. "All right," he declared after a moment. "There's your girl. Constance. She's smart, right? Like you." He boldly p
ointed straight at Constance, who was seated primly at the pool's edge, chatting to her friend Jamie in an undertone.

  Alex was surprised. He'd expected a much less thoughtful match from Phil. Constance was indeed smart, and quiet, and pretty. But she was also terribly shy, even now keeping her arms close to her and talking only to Jamie. And she was a little odd, too. Alex doubted Phil had noticed, but Constance often wore tiny pentacle earrings and a leather hex bag, or something like one, around her neck. Someone like Constance was unlikely to appreciate being bothered by a guy like Phil, and Alex threw out an arm to stop Phil lurching over to her. Luckily, she was too absorbed in her conversation to notice.

  "Woah, Phil." He clapped Phil companionably on the back and steered him around to face the Jacuzzi instead. "Constance is pretty great and all, but—"

  "All right, all right," interrupted Phil. "Tough customer, okay. Let's see…yeah! Check out Julia!"

  Julia was sitting by the Jacuzzi, a towel drawn around her shoulders, bare legs glistening with pool water. Her laugh tinkled prettily, the noise clear and carrying, but Alex detected a note of insincerity. She was clever, friendly, and beautiful, yes, but a little self-absorbed. Nothing out of the ordinary for a girl her age, he supposed, watching the practiced way she flipped a shiny lock of golden hair.

  He glanced at Phil again, noticing the way his eyes lingered on Julia's legs, the way his pupils dilated ever so slightly. He smiled to himself.

  "Yeah, Phil, that's more like it. I think she's perfect for you."

  "For me? Nah, I'm not—"

  "She's looking over here! Go on, go talk to her!"

  "What? Is she really?" She actually was, to Alex’s delight. She flashed them a smile before turning back to her friends, chatting a little more animatedly than before.

  "Yeah, go on, man. You got this."

  Phil collected himself fairly quickly and started for Julia, but stopped mid-step, seeming to remember he was supposed to hook Alex up.

  "Okay, buddy, but come on…You really are going out with the French girl, right?" He grinned widely and gave Alex what was probably meant to be a light nudge before squaring his shoulders and heading in Julia's direction. At least Julia could handle herself if she wasn't as interested as she seemed.