Alexandra

The school bell rang and Alexandra practically ran from her final class of the day (Pre-Calculus) and headed for her locker. She usually met Peter there and the two of them would walk home together, seeing as though they were next door neighbors. But then, she remembered that Peter had detention after school anyway. Ms. Lewandowski had been pretty upset with him.

"See ya later, Alex!" Peter suddenly called, waving as he passed by her. Alexandra furrowed her eyebrows and pointed in the opposite direction down the hall.

"Isn't detention that way?" She asked.

Peter turned back to her and shrugged. "I've gotta go! But I'll see you at the library later today! See ya!"

Just like that, he was gone. Alexandra sighed, shaking her head. Peter was skipping detention now? What was going on with him?

Alexandra headed out of the school and for the subway station. Instead of taking the school bus every day, Alexandra and Peter usually took the subway. It was faster and more reliable than the bus, anyway; and there were only two stops in between their apartments and the school.

While she was on the subway, Alexandra pulled out her cell phone and pulled up her messages with Peter. Well, his contact name in her phone was 'Petey.' He always hated that nickname, especially when Alexandra used it.  "May only used that when I was like five, Alex!" He would always say.

"Aren't you still a five year old, Petey?" Alexandra would reply with a small smirk. Peter would only groan.

But in Alexandra's defense, Peter was constantly using the nickname 'Allie' for her, and she never complained. He shouldn't either!

Alexandra texted Peter on her way back.

where'd you run off to? you do know detention is mandatory, right?
2:45 PM

There wasn't a response immediately, so Alexandra sighed and put her phone away. He never seemed to respond to texts anymore, or phone calls. Alexandra thought maybe he was getting into some kind of trouble. It wouldn't be much of a surprise, Alexandra thought. Peter always seems to get himself into some sort of trouble.

Two subway stops later, Alexandra got off of the train and headed up to the street. She adjusted her book bag on her shoulder and walked a few more blocks before she reached the apartment building. Alexandra unlocked the front door and headed inside, towards the staircase.

When she reached her floor, she walked down the hall, almost to the very end, before reaching the second to last apartment on the floor. Alexandra inserted the key into the door and unlocked it, stepping inside. "Pa? I'm home!" Alexandra called.

"Hey, Alex!" Her Papa replied. He stuck his head out from the kitchen and smiled. "How was school today?" Alexandra's Papa was a tall man with dark hair, though there were several strands of gray. He was always complaining about the gray, though Alexandra and her other father were constantly telling him that it actually looked good; he never believed them, though.

"School was fine," Alexandra replied. "Peter was late to Biology again, though. Ms. Lewandowski was mad, she even gave him an hour of detention after school, but..." She trailed off.

Alexandra's Papa raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "But...?" He urged her to continue.

She sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table after setting her book bag down next to her. "I saw him running out of school when the bell rang, away from detention," She said. "I think he was skipping it."

Leo (her Papa) made a small noise of confusion. "Hm. Maybe he convinced your teacher to not give him detention? Or to move it to another day?" He suggested.

"Yeah, I guess he could've." Alexandra shrugged. "So, how was your day? Anything exciting happen?"

He laughed lightly, shaking his head. "No, nothing exciting for your old man," He replied. "Though, Mrs. Ramsey did give me this new casserole recipe to try out. I think it's going to be good." He smiled. Mrs. Ramsey was one of their neighbors across the hall; she was always giving Leo recipes to try. Alexandra and her other dad suspected that she knew Leo was a stay at home dad and wanted to give him something to do to pass the time.

"I bet it will," Alexandra replied. "Is Dad going to be home to try it?"

Leo sighed, looking at Alexandra. "C'mon, Alex, don't do that," He said.

She shrugged. "Don't do what? I'm asking a legitimate question."

Leo was quiet for a moment before he shrugged again. "I'm not sure; you know his job takes up a lot of his time," He said.

"I really don't get how being a lawyer at a small firm could take up a lot of his time," Alexandra said. While it was true that the firm her father had transferred to from Ellensberg was a smaller one, it was definitely successful, based on what her father, Colin, was always telling her and Leo.

Alexandra didn't hate her father for always working, she knew he was doing what he needed to do to keep them afloat. But sometimes... sometimes she wished that he didn't have to work all of the time. Some nights Alexandra didn't even see her father get home from work, and he left in the mornings before she woke up for school. She could remember times where she went days on end without seeing her father.

Leo sighed and walked over to Alexandra, gently combing a hand through her hair. "Baby, I know it's hard. I wish he could be here more often, too, but your father is doing everything he can to be here," He said. "You know that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Alexandra nodded. "Even if he was going to be home tonight, I wouldn't be able to hang around long; I have that study session at the library later, remember?"

"That's right, we'll have an early dinner tonight, then." Leo nodded. "We'll eat before you head out, okay? Is Peter going?"

"Well, he said he would be there," She began. "But Peter's been saying a lot of things lately."

"Maybe he'll surprise you this time." Leo smiled at her, ruffling her hair a bit. Alexandra smiled in return.

"Maybe."

🕷

"Thanks for dinner, Papa! I'll be back around nine, okay?" Alexandra said as she began to head out of the apartment.

"When it gets to be 9:03, I'm calling you!" Leo replied jokingly. Alexandra rolled her eyes and smiled fondly at her father, waving.

"Bye, Papa. Love you!"

"Love you, too."

Alexandra headed for the subway station, pulling out her cell phone as she did so. There was still no response from Peter. She sighed, but texted the group chat, which consisted of herself, Kai, Ned, MJ, and Peter (who never even responded to their messages in the chat, anyway.)

On my way to the library, be there in 5-ish min.
5:40 PM

Kai: just left my house. should be there in like 10 min
5:41 PM

Ned: Shit, I might be a few minutes late. I just started heading out! >.< u guys like to leave early jeez
5:41 PM

MJ: At least you're actually going to show up. Any word from Peter?
5:42 PM

no. none yet. he didn't go to detention after school today tho. i tried texting him but he didn't respond.
5:42 PM

Ned: Yeah, Ms. Lewandowski let him off the hook after he begged her after lunch lol. He'll be there tho. He texted me like an hour ago.
5:43 PM

Ned: He might be a couple minutes late tho
5:44 PM

Kai: of course. classic reliable peter.
5:45 PM

he texted you, ned?
5:45 PM

Ned: Yeah
5:46 PM

Alexandra felt a bit hurt that Peter had responded to Ned's texts and not hers, but let it go. He probably just hadn't seen her messages, it was fine.

The train came to a stop and Alexandra tucked her phone back into her pocket. She got off the train and walked directly across the street to the library. Alexandra headed inside and sat down at their usual table, towards the back. She, Kai, and MJ spend a lot of time at the library. This table was their go-to spot.

A few minutes later, Kai and MJ sat down at the table together, setting their things down. "How do you always get here before us?" Kai asked. "I live closer than you do!"

Alexandra laughed lightly. "I leave earlier than you do, and I'm more dedicated." She shrugged.

"Oh, how dare you!" Kai said in mock offense. MJ just rolled her eyes and pulled out her AP History textbook, flipping it open to the chapter they were going to test on.

Ned came rushing towards the table a little while later. He stopped at the table, trying to catch his breath. "S-sorry I'm late!" He wheezed.

Kai checked her watch. "Dude. It's 5:55, you're not late. We were just super early." She laughed. Ned sighed and sat down in a chair.

"Whatever." He breathed out.

"So, how did Peter get Ms. Lewandowski to let him off the hook?" Alexandra asked curiously. "She seemed pretty upset with him in class."

Ned shrugged. "I didn't get all the details, but from Peter told me, I think he got her to let him off with a warning. 'Cause it was only his second tardy of the semester."

"Ah." Alexandra nodded. "So, he texted you huh?"

Kai glanced over at Alexandra and sighed. "Don't be jealous, Alex," She said. "You know how Peter is. He never texts anybody back. If he texts one of us, he just assumes they'll pass the information along."

"First of all, I'm not jealous. And second of all, I know that," Alexandra replied, lying through her teeth. Of course she was jealous Peter had messaged Ned and completely ignored her own message. It was feeling more and more like he just didn't care. He never seemed to anymore.

"You guys know how much I care about Peter texting us individually," MJ said sarcastically, looking up at the others from the textbook, "but can we get started on the actual reason for the study session? Y'know, the studying bit?"

The others mumbled their agreement and began their studying. Half way through their session, Ned, inevitably, got bored. He groaned, throwing his head back and leaning back in her chair. "God, I hate history." He whined. "People exist, people create civilization, people get sick, they die. More people kill each other, and the cycle continues."

While Kai and Ned began arguing about how history was more than just death and how they could learn from their past mistakes, Alexandra pulled her cell phone out, checking for any texts from Peter. Ned had said that he would be a little bit late, but this was ridiculous. It was nearing 8 o'clock, he was two hours late.

Alexandra texted Peter. Again.

don't know where you are, but you're late.
7:50 PM
again.
7:50 PM

She waited a little while, but there was no response. Of course there wasn't.

you promised you'd be here, peter.
7:55 PM

Alexandra sighed. This was so stupid. What could Peter possibly have to do right now? Especially after he promised that he would be at the session. Alexandra set her phone down and returned her attention to studying.

Nine o'clock finally rolled around, and the group of friends began heading out of the library. Kai and MJ lived in the same neighborhood, so they would ride the subway back together. Ned waved goodbye to Alexandra before heading home.

She sighed again and started heading down the library steps. "H-hey, Alex!" Alexandra turned her head and saw Peter running toward her up the steps. "Sorry I'm late—"

"Peter." She cut him off. "It's nine o'clock. The study session's over!"

"I-I know, I just thought..." Peter trailed off.

Alexandra was passed being just mildly upset with Peter, she was angry. "You promised you'd be here, Peter!" She exclaimed. "This is what, the third, forth time you've flaked on us? First it was Homecoming, and now this?!" She took a deep breath. "If you don't want to hang out with us, then just say so."

She turned and began headed down the steps, but Peter grabbed her arm. "Alex, look, I'm really sorry, I was just—"

"Let me guess, busy?" Alexandra snapped. "Good night, Peter." She yanked her arm away and started walking down the steps again, towards the subway.