Justin; he said that his GPA has gone up since he started dating her.â
âYeah, he said. Have you seen his transcript?â
Beth didnât bother answering Alexandra, instead focusing on the sauce she was making.
âOkay, fine. Iâll invite someone else.â
Alexandra went upstairs and went through her conversation list on her phone, trying to find someone who would make the night more bearable. Jessica? Definitely not. Grace? Uh, obviously not. Taylor (ew), Kaitlyn, Mao, Aiko, Emily ⦠havenât hung out with her in, like, a year, would be too weird. Kageki, Keiko ⦠She gave up and started to look through her phonebook, through the people that sheâd never even texted. Julian. Hmm. She paused, considering. There wasnât that much time left to decide; it was already almost five oâ clock. âEeny, meeny, miny, moe â¦â Oh, whatever. She picked up the phone and called Julian.
âHey, Julian?â
âHey, Lexi ⦠whatâs up?â Julian sounded confused, and Alexandra didnât blame him. Sheâd never called him before.
âHey, Iâve got like a massive favour to ask you. This is going to sound really weird â¦â
âOkay â¦â
âYou know Anna?â
âUm â¦â
âSorry, stupid question. Sheâs decided to date my brother.â Alexandra waited for Julianâs reaction on the other end of the line. All she got was silence. âJulian?â
âUm, yeah â is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?â
âItâs a bad thing!â
More silence. âWhy?â
Alexandra held the phone away for herself for a moment. âUgh!â She put the phone back up to her ear. âIt just is. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner. Annaâs coming over, and I just know itâs going to be super awkward.â
âThings are only as awkward as you make them.â
âNot helping, Julian. Can you come?â
âUm, tonight?â
âYeah.â
âWell, Iâve got some homework I really need to do, but â¦â
âYou can do it here. Iâll go ask my mom if we can go pick you up. Phone you when weâre at your house.â
âOkay, do you even know where I live?â
âOf course. Everyone knows where Mr. Yu lives. Bye.â Alexandra hung up on Julian and ran back downstairs to where her mother was. âMom, can you please drive me to pick up Julian? He lives in Mr. Yuâs homestay.â
Beth stared at her. âLexi, are you insane? Mr. Yu lives way too far away, and I am in the middle of cooking dinner!â
âMom, please! Come on, youâre letting Justin date Anna, and Julian canât bus here, itâs way too far and the buses are stupid.â
Justin appeared in the kitchen door. âSo what are you planning now, oh crazy, rude, annoying, idiotic sister of mine?â
âI hate you, Justin.â Alexandra turned back to her mother. âPlease? If have to go to this stupid dinner, then I get to have someone over, too. Itâs not fair.â
âOh no, you donât,â Justin interjected quickly. âYou are not inviting Tristan over. Iâve heard you two talking about Anna together, and youâre enough of a bitch on your own.â
âLanguage, Justin,â Beth said automatically, putting the chicken in the oven. âAnd I already told her she couldnât invite Tristan, donât worry. Now she wants me to drive all the way into Vancouver, to the east side, to pick up that new boy.â
âWho?â
âJulian,â Alexandra interrupted, her voice pitching into a whine. âYou have to, Mom, otherwise itâs not fair.â
âI remember Julian,â Justin said, thinking. âYou know what? Go get your coat; Iâll drive you to pick him up.â
Alexandra stared at him. âReally?â
âYes. I like him; he seemed like