Fragile Heart

Unexpected Blow-Up

"Am I in trouble?" Alex asked nervously.

"No, sweetie, of course not. I guess I should have called the school to tell you to walk home." Liz passed Alex a plate. "I was so busy thinking of what to do with your brother. I'm surprised I thought to write it on the message board."

Alex took the plate. "Why did you send Jess to Uncle Luke's?" She asked, curious to hear Liz's side of what happened, if it matched Jess'. Of course, she'd believe Jess over Liz. 

Liz opened the pizza box to grab a slice. "Well, he's been getting into trouble lately and not listening to reason. I have to work. I can't just take time off to deal with the bullshit he keeps getting into, so I figured since your uncle is good at fixing things, he would know better than me. And I don't want his bad influence to affect you. One problem child is enough." She took her plate over to set it on the table and headed to the fridge. "You want anything to drink, sweetie?"

Alex was grabbing a slice of pizza for herself while listening to her mom's lame excuses, not realizing Liz had asked her a question even when she repeated herself.

"Alex!" Liz raised her voice, but only so Alex would hear her better.

It still made Alex jump once more. "What?" She jerked her head over in her mom's direction.

"I asked you if you wanted anything to drink," she said, holding the fridge door open.

"Oh, um... Is the milk bad yet?"

Liz reached for the milk to check the date. She took the cap off to sniff it, instantly turning her head away. "Yeah, smells like it." She took it over to pour down the sink. "I'm off Sunday, so we can go shopping then."

"What about breakfast?" Cereal was the only thing she could make to eat in the morning.

"Well, take some cereal in a baggie or eat it dry here. I don't know what else to tell you. I can't get off before then and the store closes in about an hour." Liz threw away the empty jug and grabbed a beer for herself.

Alex watched her mom head back over to sit down at the table out of her side view. Since she had her pizza, Alex carried it over to continue watching TV. The cartoons were over with the Nick at Night time slot playing those TV shows like Full House and Family Matters.

"Why don't you turn that TV off and come have dinner with me?" Liz called over to her when Alex sat down on her legs at the coffee table. "I wanna hear all about your day."

"No, thank you," she told her mom politely, while also trying to be defiant.

"Come on." Liz tried to convince her youngest some more. When she couldn't, she went over to grab the remote and do it herself.

"I was watching that," Alex protested, looking up at her mom.

"You were probably watching this all evening since you got home. Come have dinner with me for once." Liz tossed the remote onto a nearby chair. "We haven't done it since you were little."

Alex muttered, "Yeah, because you're never here," under her breath.

However, even though she didn't catch exactly what the kid said, Liz heard her mumbling about something. "What was that?" She turned back on her heel, placing her hands on her hips.

"Nothing." Alex picked up her slice of pizza and took another bite.

"Alex Amelia, get your behind over to that table." Liz pointed a finger at the table with her other hand still on her hip.

Alex remained sitting on her legs, now staring at her pizza slice while she chewed.

"What has gotten into you tonight?" her mom asked. "Why are you ignoring me? This isn't like you."