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True Part 7 Alexis shivered as Cameron banged on the door of the small diner. It was closed, but there was an older woman behind the counter, jotting notes in the ledger. When she heard the pounding at the door, she looked up and smiled. "Well, if it isn't Dr. Lewis's bright young son," the white-haired woman said, with a wrinkled, welcoming smile. "Hello, Ruby," Cameron replied. "I'm sorry to bother you after-hours, but I found this young woman wandering by the side of the road, and offered her a lift to Port Charles." Ruby looked Alexis over, and Alexis tried to smile, despite her nervousness. "I'd bring her to my parents' house, but…" "…But they'd think it was pretty suspicious, showing up with a girl they'd never heard of the night before Thanksgiving?" Ruby guessed. Cameron nodded. "No problem, sugar. I'll take good care of her." "Thanks a lot, Ruby. You always come through." Cameron leaned down and kissed the woman's cheek, at which Ruby smiled and said something about only coming through for handsome young men who flirted with her. Cameron turned to Alexis and said, "Do you want to come to our place for Thanksgiving tomorrow?" Alexis shook her head. "No, thank you, I don't want to intrude…" "She can have Thanksgiving dinner here, with my family!" Ruby offered. Alexis protested again that she didn't want to interrupt, but Ruby insisted, and finally Alexis accepted in gratitude. Frankly, although she would have preferred to be with Sonny in Brooklyn, she didn't care *where* she spent Thanksgiving, as long as it was far, far away from Helena. Cameron said good night and Alexis thanked him several times over. "You saved my life tonight, really," she told him. "It's
okay, honey," Ruby said, walking her into Kelly's, her arm
around Alexis's shoulder. "I've taken care of a lot of girls
who were running from something." "Sonny?" Alexis said excitedly into the phone at Kelly's the next morning. "Alexis! Where are you? I thought you'd be here by now!" Sonny's anxiety sounded through the telephone line. "I'm sorry, I tried. I had to hitchhike…" "You went hitchhiking?! You could have been…" "It's okay. *I'm* okay. But the person who picked me up could only take me as far as the little town, Port Charles. Sonny, I think it's the same place where my uncles spent this summer. Isn't that strange? It's like fate, or something." Alexis frowned at the thought. "Alexis, your only *fate* is to be with me as soon as possible," Sonny said impatiently. "I'm really sorry. I just couldn't scrape together enough for bus fare. But I really, really wish I could have spent today with you," Alexis said, and meant it with all her heart. Sonny sighed. She could feel his disappointment, even though they were hundreds of miles apart. "No, don't be sorry. The important thing is you got away from the old witch, right? That's what I'm thankful for today," he said. Alexis smiled through tears. Sonny was so generous, despite the life he'd had. "Happy Thanksgiving, Sonny." A loud noise came from the dining area, and Sonny asked what it was. "Oh, I'm having Thanksgiving dinner at this diner, and the owner's whole family is here. They're…very interesting people," Alexis said, not knowing how to describe any of them. Once again, she and Sonny said their farewells and promised each other they'd write soon, and often, and Alexis went back to her seat at the table, where Ruby's nephew, Luke, his pretty girlfriend, Laura, and Luke's sister, Bobbie, were laughing and reminiscing over old family stories. **** A few days later, Cameron drove Alexis back to her school. Ruby had let Alexis call her suitemate, Kristen, to make sure that Helena wasn't still waiting around for her; Kristen had reported that although Alexis's aunt was enraged that Alexis couldn't be found anywhere on the campus grounds, she'd left the same day she'd arrived, calling Alexis all manner of names. Cameron had stopped by Kelly's to visit with Alexis a few times over Thanksgiving weekend, and Alexis had told him a bit of her story, just enough to keep him pacified. He seemed sincerely curious about her, and Alexis felt bad about being so reticent with him, but she was preoccupied with horrible thoughts of Helena, and wistful thoughts of Sonny. Cameron managed to charm her into forgetting her worries for small stretches at a time, though, and on their drive back to New Hampshire, she thanked him for it. "So," Cameron said, "your Brooklyn friend isn't going to be able to escort you to your Holiday Dance next month?" "No, unfortunately. He hasn't got enough money to come, and I haven't got enough money to bring him," Alexis said, sighing. "Well, I'll escort you, if you like," Cameron said. "What?!" Alexis was shocked. "If you need an escort, I'll be glad to come. I wouldn't want you to go to your dance alone. It sounds like you've already had your share of hardships this term." Cameron said it in the same dry, almost-sarcastic, but winning voice he always spoke in, so Alexis guessed he was serious. "You *are* in college, you know. You wouldn't feel strange going to a high school dance?" Alexis asked, skeptical. "Not with you, I wouldn't. Look, we're here. Let me walk you up to your rooms," Cameron said as he pulled in the school gates. He left after making sure she was safely deposited in her suite. He shook hands with all her friends who were present, then said something to Alexis about calling him if she decided she needed a date for the dance, and kissed her on the cheek before he left. "Oh my GOD!!!" Bridget, Lisa, and Kristen screamed in tandem after Cameron closed the door behind him. They practically fell over each other, giggling and squealing. "Did you see how handsome he was?! Did you see his eyes?! Hear his voice?! Oh my GOD, Alexis!!!" Their girlish remarks came so quickly from all three, it was impossible to tell who had exactly said what. The head girl of their dormitory, Kim, who was a senior but was friendly with Alexis and her friends and happened to be hanging out in their suite, rolled her eyes skyward. "Eh," she said indifferently. "He didn't do *anything* for me." "Are you serious, Kim?!" Kristen wailed. "Did you take a look at his *hands*?!!!" "Okay, that's enough!" Alexis said. "None of us are ever going to see Cameron Lewis again, is that clear? So it doesn't matter how handsome he is." "So you *did* think he was cute?" Bridget prompted. "Even if I did, that wouldn't change how I feel about Sonny," Alexis said. "Oh, speaking of which, Alexis," Kim said casually, "someone named Sonny called for you. He said he'd call you tonight at 7 sharp." Kristen threw a pillow at Kim. "And you waited until now to tell her?! Meanie." "Hey, I told her, didn't I?" Kim said, blasé. Alexis shook her head at all of them and went to take a long shower. **** Sonny had begged Mrs. Cerullo to let him call Alexis long-distance and talk to her for fifteen minutes, just this once, and Mrs. C. had relented after Joey and Lois backed up Sonny's pleas with their own, citing the noble cause of "true love." Sonny and Alexis had been on the phone for ten minutes, during which Alexis told Sonny all about her adventurous journey to Port Charles, and her meeting Ruby Spencer, Luke, Laura, Bobbie, and Cameron. When Alexis got done telling Sonny about returning to her school, Sonny cleared his throat. "So, let me get this straight," he said, with an edge to his voice. "Some Ivy League doctor guy…" "Pre-med. He's not a doctor yet," Alexis corrected. "Whatever. Some pre-med guy, who rescued you when you were running away from school, and who has a black Mustang, and who all your friends think is 'cute'…" "Not all of them. Not Kim," Alexis interrupted. "Whatever. So this rich college boy offered to take you to your dance next month?!!!" Sonny sounded angry. "Sonny, it doesn't really matter, I mean, I'm not going to…" "Sonny!" Alexis heard Lois's voice shouting in Mrs. C.'s kitchen. "It's been fifteen minutes, you'd better hang up, or else my mom will never let you call her again!" Sonny cursed. "I gotta go." "I know," Alexis said, smiling but sad their talk had been so short. "I'll write you soon." And they hung up. **** The night before the big dance, Alexis was trying on her dress. It was lovely; sheer pink overlay matching satin. It made her feel like a fairy-tale princess, and Lisa and Bridget fussed over her and told her she looked like one, too. "I agree," a deep voice said from the doorway of her suite. All the girls turned around, and their collective jaws dropped. "Sonny!" Alexis beamed and flung herself into Sonny's arms. As they embraced, Lisa, Bridget, and Kristen looked wide-eyed at each other and silently mouthed, "Oh. My. GOD!!!" at the incredible hotness of Alexis's Brooklyn boyfriend. "Sonny, what are you doing here?" Alexis asked when she drew back. "I borrowed the tux that Gino wore to his prom," Sonny said, holding up a garment bag draped over his right forearm, "and Mr. Scully loaned me the bus fare. There's no way I was gonna let some Ivy Leaguer take my girl to her Holiday Dance," Sonny said, grinning. "Look at those dimples!" Kristen whispered, pointing, to Lisa and Bridget. Alexis hugged him tightly to her again, then said, "I'm so glad you're here, but what are we going to do with you? Boys aren't allowed in the dorm. They aren't even allowed on campus at night, except for tomorrow for the dance!" "We could ask Kim to switch rooms with you," Bridget suggested, and the others agreed with that plan. Kim had a single - a room all to herself, with a private bathroom. If Kim were willing to sleep in Alexis's bed in the suite, then Alexis and Sonny could be alone, keeping Sonny unseen, in Kim's room. Alexis blushed at the prospect of spending a night alone in a room with Sonny, and Sonny looked inordinately pleased at the idea, and they all plotted how they would make their case to Kim. As it turned out, Kim was a pushover for the idea. At first, she spouted something about regulations, and her integrity as Head Girl, but then Sonny's face - and dimples - came within her field of vision. Five minutes after he introduced himself and shook her hand, Kim agreed that Alexis and Sonny could have her room for one night. After the trade was made, and Kim was settling in to the bed in the same room as Kristen, she muttered, "Well, he's a damn sight better looking than that pre-med guy, that's for sure." **** Continued on the big girls' site
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