by Kirby Hall
“Alexa, do you have a minute?” Mrs. Brale asked.
Alexa grabbed her bag and made her way to where Mrs. Brale sat waiting behind her desk. The room was empty now, so whatever Mrs. Brale had to say Alexa was ready to hear. She was fairly certain her father had made good on his promise. Not that there was any way she could know for sure. He still wasn’t speaking to her. Their little family of three seemed to be shrinking.
Mrs. Brale leaned back in her chair and removed her glasses, leaving them to hang off a silver chain around her neck. “Alexa, I received a phone call from your father yesterday.”
Here we go.
“He was very upset. I’ll have you know, he wanted to pull you out of my class. Now, I was able to talk him out of it . . .”
Alexa’s eyes widened and Mrs. Brale held up a hand.
“You’re going to be allowed to stay in the class because it’s almost the end of the semester. Your father agreed it’s too late for you to transfer to another class, but you won’t be performing. You will help with props, costumes, wherever I need you to do, but that’s it.”
Alexa’s shoulders sagged under the weight of the new terms.
“It isn’t ideal, I know, but it’s the best I can do.” Mrs. Brale leaned forward. “He told me about your math grade and the truth is you wouldn’t have been allowed to perform at state anyway. It’s a school policy. A failing grade will put you on the bench, so to speak, for a state competition.” She slid her glasses back onto her nose. “I’m very disappointed you won’t be able to participate in our Christmas concert and knowing you the way I do, I’m sure you are as well.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Go home and get your grade up. I want you in here for the spring semester. The musical wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Alexa swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t believe what Mrs. Brale was saying. She wasn’t one to pay a compliment or be nice about most things. She was too driven, too focused on the win. The truth was they were a lot alike.
Alexa nodded, thanked her, and turned. Megan was watching her with a satisfied smile. Instead of dying of embarrassment, Alexa raised her chin and marched out of the room. Megan was a distraction she couldn’t afford. She only had couple of weeks left to turn things around.
Later in the week, with West beside her, she penciled in her final answer and rolled onto her back. Her eyes were dry from staring at the paper so long. While he checked her work, she stared at the pattern the setting sun was making on her ceiling. The orange and purple streaks were muted by her sheer white curtains, but still beautiful. The way the colors blended and moved reminded her of the way the lights danced on the stage.
West dropped the pencil and sat up. “I’d say you’ve got the hang of this set of functions.”
“Yea, does that mean we’re done?”
“For this week, we are.” He lay down on his side and propped a hand under his head so he could look at her. “So, what’s the word? Still grounded?”
“Yep. I’ll be lucky if I get out by the end of the year. Which sucks because there’s a bonfire tomorrow night.”
West groaned and rolled onto his back beside her. “No thanks.”
“Why don’t you ever do anything? You know, parties or sports or date?” She was glad he wasn’t looking at her when the last option came out. She would’ve turned red for sure.
“Who says I don’t do anything?”
“Do you?” she countered.
“No, nothing social anyway, which is what you mean, isn’t it?”
She rolled to her side and propped on her hand to look at him. Now he was the one staring at the changing colors on her ceiling. “Yes, that’s what I mean. I never see you with anyone. You never mention what you did over the weekend. What do you do?”
He turned his head to look at her. “Why are you so interested in my life?”
She traced a line in the carpet with her fingers. Why did she want to know? Curiosity? No, it was more than that. “I guess because our relationship feels so one sided.”
“Our relationship?” he asked with his brows raised. “Explain.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever this is we have. Anyway, my point is you know everything about me, down to how I look without a shirt on, and I know nothing about you.”
“Alexa, I don’t know what you want from me. Are you trying to make me some sort of charity case? A one-woman crusade to get me a life?” He sat up, his eyes turning dark. “What makes you think I don’t like my life the way it is?”
“West,” she sat up so they were facing each other, “I’m trying to be your friend, for some insane reason, and yet you have this crazy hostility toward me. One minute you’re nice, and the next it’s like you can’t get rid of me fast enough. What am I supposed to do or think?”
He shook his head and pushed to his feet. “Listen, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong impression, but the truth is I’m screwed up.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t want to know me.” He grabbed his bag and paused when he reached the door, “I’ll see you next week.”
She remained on the floor stunned by West’s outburst. What was he talking about? She thought he was angry with her, but now . . . as usual when it came to West, she didn’t know what to think. He’d gone from annoyed to angry to sad in the span of about ten seconds. And, people said girls were emotional.
Alexa got to her feet and crossed to her bedroom window. West was almost to the end of the driveway, his hands in his pockets and his head down. Her chest tightened. She should be mad, but she wasn’t. What she wanted was to wrap her arms around him, to feel his warmth and let him know he wasn’t alone in the world the way he seemed to think.
She turned away from the window and collapsed onto her bed. He didn’t want her help, hell he didn’t even want to be her friend. He seemed to get annoyed by simply being around her, although, she understood why. She was failing, her dad had been less than welcoming, and she’d pulled him into her family drama. She threw her arm across her eyes. He had it backwards. He wasn’t her charity case, she was his.
~ ~ ~
“So, where’s dad now?” she asked. Graham was sitting beside her on the couch watching TV because it was too cold to go outside.
“He’s in his office.” Graham flipped the channel. “Are you guys going to start talking soon?”
She turned her face toward her brother to study him. He was a quiet kid, happy with video games and drawing, and like the artist he was, he didn’t miss details. She hadn’t thought about how the strain between her and their dad might be affecting Graham.
“I don’t know. I guess. He’s still pretty mad at me.” Like everyone else, she thought.
“Why don’t you talk to him?”
She didn’t answer. How was she supposed to explain to Graham that she was afraid to talk to her own dad? Afraid he’d look at her with disappointment reflecting in his eyes. A look that could cut deeper than any knife.
She changed the subject instead. “What’s Eric doing tonight?”
Graham shrugged.
“You ought to invite him over.” When he didn’t move, she changed tactics. “You could probably even talk dad into pizza.” She nudged him with her elbow.
Graham grinned. “You think?”
“Yeah, why not? It’s not like dad’s going to cook.” They both laughed. She was pretty sure her dad would burn toast if given the opportunity.
Graham jumped to his feet. “I’m going to go call Eric.”
“Maybe you should ask dad first, you know, just to make sure.”
Graham hunched over like a zombie as if asking their dad would be an insurmountable amount of work. She understood the feeling.
“Well, you could always not ask, but then you might end up on lockdown like me
,” she growled and then grabbed Graham by his sides and tickled him.
He broke out into fits of giggles as he tried to squirm out of her grasp. “No,” he gasped between fits, “let go.”
“What’s going on out here?”
Graham stopped laughing and Alexa dropped her hands. Her dad stood filling the doorway with his broad shoulders and his hands on his hips. Her eyes roamed over to Graham and she could see his nerve dissipating under the weight of their dad’s stare.
“Graham was thinking about asking Eric to come over and spend the night.” She breathed a sigh of relief when her dad’s expression softened.
“Graham, you should go call him. Come get me if you need me to talk to his mom.”
Her brother darted out of the room and left the two of them alone. The quiet stretched on between them, making the room feel bigger and emptier. They were less than six feet from each other and it might as well have been a mile. When had they stopped talking to each other?
When she was younger, her dad had tucked her in at night and they’d talked about their days. They used to make plans for the weekend, but now they were more like strangers. And, she hated it.
“I told Graham we might be able to order pizza, if that’s okay?”
“It’s either that or we heat up the eggplant parmesan.” Her dad smiled. “I’m not sure how that would go over though.”
Alexa smiled too and scrunched up her face. “Not very well would be by guess.”
“I have some more work to do. Come let me know when the boys are ready to eat, and I’ll order us all some dinner.”
“Okay, Dad.”
He hung around the door a moment longer. He didn’t say anything, but the air between them wasn’t tense anymore. They’d made it over the first hurdle.
Later that night, as the four of them sat around eating pizza and talking, life seemed to have returned to normal. Alexa laughed again as Graham and Eric took turns stealing pepperoni’s off everyone’s pizza when they weren’t looking. Her dad was more relaxed than he’d been in a week and Graham was clearly less mopey. She was glad he’d called Eric. His presence filled the gap and forced them all to surrender to happiness.
Alexa snuck her hand across the table and stole one of Graham’s last pepperonis while he took a drink. She waited with a straight face for him to set his glass down and pick his slice up off the plate.
“Hey,” he complained and everyone erupted into more laughter.
Alexa waved it in front of him and then popped it in her mouth. “Delicious.”
Graham scowled at her and then smiled. It was good to know she hadn’t lost her touch. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it half out and glanced at the screen. It was a text from Bekah.
Call me when you get a chance.
Alexa took a final bite and then carried her plate to the sink. “You punks don’t stay up too late.”
Graham and Eric stuck their tongues out at her as she left the kitchen to head up to her room. She smiled as she walked down the hall. Her heart was lighter than it had been in days.
Alexa closed her door and hit send. “What’s up?” she asked when Bekah answered.
“Jay picked me up for the bonfire, can you believe it?” Bekah’s voice came out in a squeak. “And he looks so good. He’s wearing his signature blue, you know the shade that makes his eyes glow.”
Alexa refrained from mentioning they glowed because he was the antichrist. Instead, she kept it light. She didn’t want her mood spoiled by thoughts of Jay. “That’s great. Where is he right now?”
“Getting us drinks. Things are just getting started.” Bekah had the decency to add, “I wish you were here,” in the middle of all her gushing.
“Me, too, but you go have fun.”
“Thanks, I’ll call you tomorrow.” Bekah ended the call.
Alexa sat down on the edge of her bed. She wasn’t overly sad about missing the bonfire. For the first time in a long time, she was happy to be home. She wondered what West was doing. He wasn’t at the bonfire; he’d hate everything about it. Maybe the cemetery? Her gaze drifted to the window and she shuddered. It was cold. She didn’t want to imagine him out there alone.
She leaned back on her pillows and sighed. A new picture formed in her mind of him lounging on her floor. That she liked. She could rest her head on his chest and listen to him talk in his deep baritone. Not that he talked much, but she liked it when he did.
She awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing on her bedside table. An open book was resting on her lap and the lamp beside her bed was still on. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the time. It was eleven. She hadn’t been out long, but she had another text from Bekah.
911 ASAP
Alexa sat up and called her back. 911 texts were not to be ignored. Ever.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, Alexa,” Bekah’s voice was teary. “I need some help.”
Alexa’s heart sprang into her throat. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m supposed to be home by midnight, but Jay’s wasted and we got in a fight.” She paused to sniffle. “I need a ride.”
“Beks, I’m still grounded.”
“Alexa, please.”
Alexa closed her eyes and tried to come up with a solution. “What about Josh? Is he there?”
“He was,” Bekah said, her voice breaking, “but he left a little while ago and now he won’t answer my calls.”
Crap. “Okay, Beks, stay where you are. I’ll get to you.” Alexa swung her legs off the bed. “Just give me a little time.”
She slipped on her shoes and flipped to the contacts section on her phone. “Okay, think, Alexa.” She tried Josh first. Straight to voicemail. Her eyes slid over to her window and she shook her head. Stupid. This was not a movie. There was no trellis to climb down. A minute rolled by as she continued to flip through her limited options. Almost everyone she knew was already at the bonfire, and most likely, not in any position to take Bekah home.
Wait. There was one person who was sure not to be there. She scrolled down to his name and her thumb hovered over it. Of all people. Even if West agreed to help her, she was still going to have to find a way around her dad. She hit call. One thing at a time. Bekah was going to owe her big time.
Chapter 15
The music was loud, the way he liked it. The blaring noise made the stillness of the house easier to tolerate. He clicked his mouse and made a careful maneuver. He needed to score on this turn. DarkLord696 would not beat him again.
“Come on, come on,” he said aloud in his room. A vibration played across his desk sending a sensation up his arm. He took his eyes off the computer screen and glanced down to see Alexa’s name. The computer flashed, signaling an attack maneuver from his opponent.
“Dammit.” West slammed his hand down. His avatar lay dying while his opponent’s avatar laughed manically above it. Most likely controlled by some middle-aged guy living his parent’s basement, West grumbled as he reached for his phone.
A message appeared on the screen:
DarkLord696: better luck next time – I guess
He clicked off without responding and hit the green button on the screen. “Yeah.” He didn’t mean to sound as annoyed as he did, but he’d been so close.
“I’m sorry to call you like this, West, but I need help.” Alexa’s voice was hurried, but quiet.
The game forgotten, West stood. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Bekah. She’s at the bonfire, and she needs a ride.”
He ran a hand through his hair and tugged. To think he’d almost been worried. He gritted his teeth and spoke. “Alexa, as much as I’d like to play taxi driver for your friend, my mom’s working.”
Alexa hesitated. “West, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. A
nd, we can take my car. I may need some help getting out of the house, though.”
He could feel his resolve crumbling the same way he could almost hear the gears in her head turning.
“I’ll head over,” he began tugging on his shoes, “but you’d better have a brilliant plan by the time I get there. Your dad isn’t my biggest fan.”
“Please, just hurry,” she whispered.
He slid his phone into his pocket and headed out the back door. As he jogged down his street and across the cut-through, he tried to determine when he’d become Alexa’s go-to guy for getting out of trouble. And, why did he keep agreeing?
The cold air burned his lungs, but the cold wasn’t what was bothering him as he slowed next to Alexa’s driveway. She didn’t exactly live on a street where random people were out walking around at all hours of the night. He bent over from the waist to catch his breath, hit send, and threw a glance over his shoulder.
“I’m here,” he panted. “Hurry up and tell me what you want me to do,” he took another breath, “preferably before your neighbors see me out here and think I’m about to rob somebody. I’m not looking to get arrested over this, you know?”
“No one is going to get arrested. Now, go to the door and knock.”
“What?” He stood upright too fast causing a wave of lightheadedness. “Shouldn’t you be sneaking out the window or something?”
“West, shut up and listen. Go to the door. My dad will answer and he’ll be pissed, but explain your mom’s car wouldn’t start and she needs a ride home from work. I will appear and offer to give you a lift and say we can jump your mom’s car.”