"Shea Marino," he replied.
Alexis bit her lip, trying to summon a memory of Shea Marino. She threw up her hands in frustration. "Not in my mental file."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised. She was quiet and shy, probably the reason I asked her. Plus, we were friends from strings club. I knew she'd say yes."
"A quiet and shy rocker chick, huh? Pretty different from me."
"Shea played the violin. Not quite a rocker chick. She's a music teacher now, in
Atlanta. Three kids. A dog. Probably feeds stray cats, too."
Tyler unzipped his bag and handed her a blindfold. "For you."
She took the blindfold and held it at bay. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Alexis MacAdams, more vanilla than I realized."
"Nothing wrong with vanilla," she insisted, now worried what Tyler had in store.
"Relax," he said, "it's not what you think." He gestured for her to sit in the first row of the gym bleachers. Then he took the blindfold and placed it over her eyes.
"I guess this is the surprise, then." She heard him rifling through his bag and moving around the gym. Each sound echoed throughout the empty room. "Sounds like it's all under masterful control."
"Ah, that's the beauty of the blindfold. I look better and sound more organized."
"Christ, Barnes. Are you building me the Tower of Babel because need I remind you that God didn't love that token of affection so much?"
"Hey, cut me some slack. I'm trying to do something special before you disappear again."
Alexis stiffened. "I'm not a rabbit in a hat."
"Just keep those pretty peepers covered for one more minute while I finish setting up." He pulled down the large screen behind the basketball backboard and returned to remove her blindfold. "Ta da."
Alexis surveyed the scene. A laptop, a projector, and a large screen were now in view. "So what's playing tonight? Say Anything? Will you be whipping out your boom box at any moment?"
"Steady now. There will be no whipping out of anything...unless you want me to." Tyler wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Alexis shot him a warning glance.
"As I suspected. Anyway, times they have a'changed."
Tyler flashed his iPhone. Then he picked up another remote control device. He clicked it and the screen was filled with an image of Alexis. Her high school yearbook photo. Alexis's eyes widened in amazement. Quickly, she covered them.
"Oh my God, are you insane? That photo is hard enough to take when it's two by three inches."
Tyler laughed, enjoying her discomfort. He clicked again and then played his iPhone. "Now pipe down and enjoy the show. It's the director's cut, complete with musical commentary."