by West, Shay
“Well, that was...odd,” Patricia said.
“That’s just how the rich are, Mom. Too busy to even meet their own family.” Alex said, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice.
“Your aunt has a whole store to run. I am sure she would be here if she could,” Patricia sighed. “Let’s just get our things and get settled in.”
Alex dumped her suitcase on the bed of the smallest room in the guesthouse. It had a twin bed, a dresser, and a tiny closet. She yanked her suitcase open and stuffed some of her clothes into the dresser, hanging the rest in the closet.
She opened the first of many boxes containing her beloved books, glad her room had a large set of bookshelves. Instead of the type of books one would expect to find on the shelf of a teenage girl, Alex had dozens and dozens of books on her most favorite thing in the whole world.
History.
She had been a history fanatic since she could remember. Her grandparents had loved to tell her stories of their past: the War, the Great Depression, what life was like for them as they grew up. Alex had absorbed it all like a sponge and demanded more. She had received most of the books as gifts and she looked at them like most girls would look at the latest Twilight novel.
She had books on everything: medieval history, Spanish conquistadors, the Civil War era, Roman Empire, Egyptian pharaohs, WWII, and more. Alex had a gift for absorbing anything and everything about history.
Alex took each book out of the box, gazing at the well-worn covers lovingly. When all of the books were nestled in neat rows, Alex sighed and flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was still angry and hurt that she had not been able to bring any of her other belongings. Posters depicting historical events covered the walls of her old room. Her friends teased her, asking why she didn’t have posters of hot guys plastering her walls like other girls her age. Her eyes filled with tears at the unfairness of it all, and she wished for the hundredth time that they could have stayed in Longmont, and that her dad had stayed, and that her mother could have found work. I hate it here! She rolled over and grabbed her iPod, losing herself in the music blaring from the headphones, and dozed off.
***
She awoke with a start, momentarily frightened by the strangeness of the room. Her heartbeat slowed when she remembered that she was in her new room in her aunt’s guesthouse. Alex yawned and went in search of her mother.
She found Patricia sitting on the edge of her bed, holding a picture that the family had taken last Christmas. She was rocking slowly back and forth, tears rolling freely down her cheeks.
“Please God, give me the strength to move on. I need to be strong for Alex. But I don’t know who to be without him.” Patricia sobbed.
Alex ran to her mother, knelt on the floor in front of her, and hugged her tight around the waist. She suddenly felt guilty that she had behaved so badly about the move. She had not realized how hard the decision had been for her mother to make.
“It’s all right, Momma. We’ll be all right.” Alex held tight to her mother, wishing that she could wave a magic wand and make everything fine again. Anger and hatred filled her. How could he have left us?
“I know we will, Lexi. It’ll just take time.” Patricia used the special nickname that she had been calling Alex since she was a baby. She was the only one who ever called her Lexi.
Someone knocked sharply on the door to the guesthouse. They both stood and brushed tears from their faces. Patricia went to answer it.
“Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.” The same woman from before was there. She had changed from pleated slacks into a pair of dark blue denim. After delivering her message she turned and began walking back to the main house.
“Wait! What is your name?” Patricia called out.
“Cecilia. Miss Karen calls me C.C. If you have need of anything, use the intercom in the house and dial 0. That will page me anywhere on the grounds.” She gave them a brief smile before turning toward the main house again.
Alex and Patricia freshened up. They walked arm-in-arm to the main house, something they hadn’t done in some time. Alex couldn’t help but smile as her mom pulled her in for a tight hug.
Karen had not returned from the store, leaving Alex and Patricia to eat alone. Alex caught a whiff of the peppers, onions, and mushrooms as C.C. expertly stirred the vegetables in the large wok, keeping them from burning. The rich scent of the meat cooking made Alex’s stomach growl. C. C. served them plates heaping with steaming rice and stirfry. Patricia asked her to join them but she declined, saying she needed to work on Miss Karen’s financial documents.
When they finished, Alex placed their dishes in the dishwasher. They had not been able to afford one back home. Washing dishes had been her chore and she had loathed it. She hoped there was a dishwasher in the guesthouse. Hooray for never having to wash dishes again!
“Let’s go hang out at our new house and watch a movie,” Patricia suggested.
Alex thought that sounded like a good idea. “I wish we had some movie junk food...” she began, but was interrupted by C.C., who had come into the kitchen.
“I can show you where Miss Karen keeps her junk food stash.” The woman winked at the pair. “Miss Karen said that you both are to have the run of the house and grounds. Please, do not feel like strangers here.” C.C. grabbed bags of candy and boxes of caramel corn out of the pantry. She piled the loot in Alex’s arms and opened the back door, bidding them a good night.
Patricia and Alex shared a giggle as they made their way back to the guesthouse. Their living room had a large flat screen TV complete with a Blu-Ray player. There was a shelf with a few dozen movies.
“Let’s watch Time Traveler’s Wife.” Patricia fumbled with the many remote controls until she finally got the movie to come up on the TV screen.
As Alex watched the movie, her mind turned to the strange occurrence in the Burger King bathroom. She tried to shut the thought down but it was relentless. Alex wondered who the girl was, what she had been doing, where she lived. She shook her head. I must have been seeing things.
Her eyes felt heavy. She was exhausted after the long drive and the unpacking. She pulled herself off the chair and kissed her mom good night.
As Alex brushed her teeth, her heart beat faster as she waited for her reflection to shift as it had before. She was relieved when it stayed just plain old her.
She lay in bed, staring at the strange reflections on the unfamiliar walls of her new bedroom, hoping and praying that she and her mom would be able to return home, and she could get back to the life she had before her parents decided to mess everything up.
It’s not fair!
She fell asleep with the litany playing in her mind like a broken record.
***
She awoke to the sound of voices coming from the living room. It was her aunt and her mother. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized they were talking about her. She crept to the door and opened it slightly, her ear pressed to the crack.
“She is enrolled at Grand Junction High school. It is best she start on the first day of the year rather than wait. It won’t do her any good to get behind,” Karen said.
“I know,” Patricia sighed. “But she won’t like it.”
“She will make new friends. It will do her good to get back to a normal life and have something else to occupy her thoughts,” Karen said.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Her body shook with barely suppressed fury as she pictured them conspiring against her. She did not want to start over at a new high school, where she would not only be a freshman, but the new kid. Her heart raced at the thought of walking through the halls, trying to find her locker and her classes, sitting all alone at lunch.
She crept back to bed and buried her face in her pillow. She hoped they could not hear her crying. She was shaking with anger and apprehension. Dad, why did you have to leave and ruin my life?
CHAPTER 3
ALEX STEPPED OFF the bus, wiping her sweaty
palms on her jeans. She took a deep breath and tried her best to look like she belonged. She followed the mass of students filing into the main doors of the high school. She kept her head down, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found her locker quickly. Alex fumbled in her pocket for the slip of paper with her combination so she could test the lock. The lock snapped open with an audible click. She quickly closed it again.
Alex found her first classroom without incident and took a seat toward the back. She slid in and tried to be as invisible as possible. She was one of the first to arrive and she was glad to see that most of the other students also looked nervous.
One girl chatted with a boy sitting right behind her. She had long blonde hair and playfully wrapped it around her finger as she gazed at the boy. She had on a short denim skirt paired with a slouchy cream sweater belted at her waist. She wore cream-colored knee-high boots. Alex wished she had eyes as blue as hers.
Alex couldn’t see the boy’s face but he wore denim jeans and a Maddison concert T-shirt. She ducked her head and smiled. Maddison was one of her very favorite rock bands.
The classroom was filing up quickly and those students who knew one another greeted each other loudly. Alex kept her eyes on her notebook while she doodled.
“Hi. I’m Jennifer McDonald.”
Alex glanced to her right. She smiled. “Alexis Davenport. Most people call me Alex.”
Jennifer smiled nervously. “I hope we don’t have Mr. Gordon. I hear he’s super hard.” She twirled her brown, curly hair around her fingers.
“I don’t know Mr. Gordon or any of the other teachers. I just moved here,” Alex said.
Jennifer leaned closer. “I hear Mr. Gordon was hired after the last teacher, Mr. Jonas, left town suddenly. There is a rumor that he was in bed with the babysitter and his wife walked in on them.” Her brown eyes sparkled with malicious glee at sharing such juicy news.
Alex did not know what to say. She felt a little uncomfortable, and yet, she leaned closer to hear more of this juicy gossip.
“That’s not what happened! He caught his wife in bed with his daughter’s boyfriend. The cops arrested him because he beat the kid up.” A gangly boy sitting behind Jennifer spoke up. He had freckles and ears much too big for his face.
“Oh, what would you know, Simon? My mom heard it from this lady who knew his wife,” Jennifer retorted.
Simon looked at Alex and rolled his eyes. “Everyone has a different story. He probably just up and left town for no reason.”
His words hit a little too close to home for Alex. Jennifer noticed the change in her demeanor and swatted Simon. “Let’s just drop the subject, shall we?”
Alex smiled gratefully and decided she liked Jennifer. She was about to ask if she would like to sit together at lunch when the teacher walked in.
She was a petite redhead who walked with serious purpose. C.C. walks like that. The teacher took off her coat and turned to the blackboard. She wrote her name in large white letters.
Miss McDaniel.
And below that, English.
“If you’re not supposed to be in English class then you are in the wrong place. Take your schedule to the office and they will fix the mix-up,” Miss McDaniel’s voice rang out, and the classroom slowly grew quiet. “I need volunteers to hand out textbooks.”
Alex glanced at Jennifer who had screwed up her face. The look she gave Alex said so much for an easy first day. Alex bit back a laugh.
The rest of the morning passed quickly. She had American Government, and after that, History. She was looking forward to History class. Alex often daydreamed that she was the curator of a large museum, like the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, or the Smithsonian. She had been disappointed that neither Simon nor Jennifer had American Government or History with her.
After History class, she headed to the cafeteria, getting in line to choose her lunch for the day. The cafeteria filled rapidly with students, most standing awkwardly and looking for an empty seat or someone familiar they could sit with. Alex walked slowly, hoping to find an empty table. She spotted Jennifer who was sitting with a couple of other girls. Jennifer waved her over.
“Hi. How was your first morning?” She had pulled her brown hair up into a loose ponytail.
“Good. Yours?” Alex was glad that she had found someone to sit with. She noted that Jennifer had brought her own lunch to school. Alex admitted that Jennifer’s sandwich, yogurt, and small bag of veggies looked much more appetizing than her own lukewarm hotdog and mushy fries.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “I got stuck with Dwayne as a lab partner in Biology. The guy smells like fish.” She wrinkled her nose.
Jennifer introduced the other girls sitting at the table. Amy was a tiny plump blond with pimples dotting her face. She had merry blue eyes and an infectious laugh. Brittany had short dark hair that she spiked in the latest style and wore the most outrageous outfits that looked like something Madonna wore back in the 80’s. Alex was envious at how oblivious she seemed to the stares from the students walking past.
Alex ate her lunch in silence and listened to the other girls chat about their first classes. They all knew each other from middle school. Nostalgia washed over her, and she wished she could be eating lunch with her old friends. Alex breathed deeply, trying to swallow the lump forming in her throat.
“So where are you from, Alex?” Brittany asked.
“Longmont,” Alex mumbled, unwilling to say more. She was not ready to share too much of herself with these girls.
“Never heard of it,” Brittany tugged her lace gloves and flashed a fake smile. “Well, gotta run.” She took her tray and left.
“Don’t pay attention to her. She’s always cranky,” Jennifer said.
The bell rang and the girls headed off to their first afternoon class. For Alex, this was Biology, her second favorite subject. She felt more at ease in this class and sat in the front row. The same blonde girl from English sat in the very back, playing with her cell phone and popping a giant wad of hot pink gum. She glanced up and saw Alexis looking at her. She sneered and rolled her eyes before returning to her texting.
Alex looked away, blushing. She had not meant to stare, but the girl looked familiar. Alex frowned, trying in vain to figure out where she had seen the girl’s face before.
The classroom filled quickly and soon the seat next to Alex was the only empty one. She felt a little like she had the plague. She sat alone and waited for the teacher to begin class. Suddenly, someone rushed in and sat down next to her. She glanced up and was surprised to see the same boy that was in her first class.
He was the most handsome, adorable boy she had ever seen. He had blonde hair to his shoulders and his eyes were icy blue. He had chiseled features, like something you would see on a movie star. He smiled absently at her as he sat down and took out his notebook. Alex’s heart skipped a beat and her face felt warm. She tried to slow her breathing.
She looked away, blushing again, and saw that her hands were shaking. Get a grip Alex. He’s going to think you’re a freak.
The teacher asked the students to take turns introducing themselves. Alex was first to go. Her voice shook as she mumbled her name. She took a deep breath when it was over and glanced at the handsome boy sitting next to her.
“I’m Beau Johnson,” He said, grinning.
Beau. Alex said it in her mind, feeling a little thrill.
She did not remember much of the rest of class. Since she and Beau were sitting next to one another, they ended up being lab partners. Alex was both thrilled and terrified. She didn’t want to do something stupid and make a fool of herself. Oh God! What if I get sick during one of the dissections or something?
Then she had a terrifying thought. What if we have to study the reproductive system? She harbored thoughts of dropping the class until the teacher went over the topics they would cover. She sighed in relief. No reproduction!
The bell rang and she gathered up her notebook and
Biology book. She looked for Beau but he was already on his way out the door. The blonde girl stopped right in front of Alex, her hands on her hips.
“Don’t even think of putting the moves on my man just because he was late to class and got stuck sitting next to you.” The girl said curtly, poking her finger at Alex’s chest.
Alex stood in complete shock, unsure of how to react. Beau was the one who had been late to class. Alex thought this bratty girl should be angry with him instead. The other students walked past them, giving the pair a wide berth. Some snickered and Alex heard someone whisper, “I wonder if Catelyn will make her cry?”
Catelyn shot Alex a venomous look before sauntering out.
The blood rushed to Alex’s face and she hurriedly left the classroom, making for the nearest restroom so that she could compose herself before her next class. Alex sat in the stall until her galloping heart slowed. She could not believe that she had not even finished a whole day of school and already someone hated her guts. I hate it here! The usual litany did nothing to make her feel better. Alex doubted her mother would move away just because she had a bad first day of school. She sighed and exited the stall, walking past the mirrors.
She gasped and turned suddenly when she noticed that the reflection changed to the same girl she had seen in the Burger King restroom. Alex bit back a whimper of fear and burst out of the restroom, her heart once again thumping in her chest. She wanted to leave but knew she would be in trouble if she skipped school.
The rest of the day passed in a daze. Alex couldn’t concentrate and found herself becoming more and more frightened of the strange girl in the mirror. Jennifer and Simon were in her Spanish class, the last class of the day. She momentarily forgot all about the girl in the mirror when Jennifer asked about her encounter with Catelyn.
“Catelyn Montgomery is the snootiest, richest girl in the whole school. She thinks she’s hot stuff just because she did a few commercials. Too bad her family had to move here from California.” Jennifer rolled her eyes.