Riddle Me This

SIX - ALEX

What am I going to do?

I really did not need this today after a long day of school.

Connor was running around the house. He should give up searching. He wouldn't find what he was looking for.

Adelaide was sitting in the corner of the room silently, head in her hands.

Our father treated us terribly. He did not give us the help we needed, the support we asked for, or the love we deserved.

So why did it take everything in me not to cry?

What am I going to do?!

Connor ran by me, still frantically searching. I grabbed his arm. He looked at me. I could see fear in his eyes, something you almost never saw on Connor. He was trying to hide it. He felt like he had to be strong for us.

I looked him in the eyes and shook my head.

He sat down across from me.

"What am I going to do to?" he said, echoing my thoughts.

"Calm down," I said, "we'll figure things out,"

At that, Connor grabbed his phone, which was lying face down on the counter. I noticed what must have been hundreds of missed calls to Dad in his history.

"What are you doing?" Adelaide said weakly from the corner of the room.

"Calling the police," Connor said, standing up as he dialed the number into his phone.

That's when it hit me. Connor was calling the police. He had to, because we were alone, no parents, no nothing. Dad was really lost.

"What are we gonna do Alex?" Adelaide asked while Connor was talking in the other room.

"Yes sir, just disappeared. We've looked everywhere, no sign of him at home sir." I heard the muffled sound of his voice from the next room.

"I don't know Addy," I said, wishing more than anything that I did, "I don't know."

"No sir, that's not a possibility."

I gently banged my head on the counter a couple of times, just to express my frustration, before laying it down completely on the cold surface.

I was exhausted. My mind was spinning from school today, and to top it all off, Connor was pacing around in the other room, on the phone with the police.

Why was this happening to me? Why did my dad hate me? Why did everyone at school hate me? Why did the universe hate me? Why did Mom leave? Why did Dad change? Why wasn't my life normal?

Why wasn't I normal?

"Why do you dress like that?"

"Why do you sound like that?"

"Why do you act like that"

I shut my eyes tight as a lump formed in my throat. My head hurt and I wanted to scream. I balled my fists, my breaths short and hollow as I tried to hold back tears.

"Why can't you just be normal?"

"You'll never be like us, you can try and try and try but in the end your just a nerdy, weird, freak."

I stood up and rushed into the bathroom, sitting with my back against the door, tears streaming down my face as I remembered all of the things the people at school had said to me.

They were right. I dressed weird, I sounded weird, I looked weird, I acted weird. I wasn't normal. I was just full on weird.

"Alex, are you okay?" Adelaide knocked on the bathroom door.

I wiped the tears off my face and said as steadily as I could manage, "yeah."

"You don't sound okay," she said. Of course she'd heard the sniffles I'd tried to muffle. Maybe I was not as good a liar as I thought. "Come out, we can talk about it ."

I didn't respond, just sat down against the wall and stared at the floor.

It wasn't long before I heard my brother's voice, "Alex, its okay. Come out, I want to help."

Connor had such a soothing voice. He knew how to use the right words at the right times, and he said them calmly, in a way that told you he wasn't going to judge, he just wanted to help.

I stood up slowly, avoiding the mirror, not wanting to see myself with puffy red eyes and tear streaks down my cheeks. I opened the door to find Connor standing, waiting, looking worried and sad. Adelaide was right behind him, looking the same.

I just stood in the doorway for a moment. I made eye contact with my brother briefly, before walking into his arms. He taller then me, not much, but it made a difference. His embrace was one of the very few places I felt comfortable.

I buried my head his shoulder and cried silently. He rubbed my back, knowing better than to ask what was wrong.

"It's all gonna be okay." He said. I knew the he didn't mean it, but he was a decent actor.

"Why?" I asked, "Why does all if this stuff happen to us?"

"I don't know," he said sadly. I knew how much pressure Connor put on himself to help us. It was like he was trying to be the father we hadn't had. I appreciated him, and I loved him, needed him, more than anything, but I wish he knew that we were there for him too. He didn't tell us when school had been hard, because he was more focused on making sure we were okay.

I understood the feeling of bottling up emotions. It doesn't work. He should be open, to us. We want to help.

But I guess I shouldn't give advice I can't take myself. 

"Connor," I said, "what are we gonna do?"

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Authors Note

Hello everybody! I really hope you liked today's chapter! From this point on in the story, I'm going to have to take some creative license in order to make the plot work, so apologies if it is a bit nonsensical at times.

Also, don't you guys think that Alex's storyline is kinda tragic so far? Don't worry, he comes to a pretty good resolution, but my gosh. I never thought I'd feel bad for a fictional character I made up!

Thank you guys endlessly for all of the support this book has received! One hundred reads is something I never expected. I know that there are stories out there with millions of reads and such, but for a lousy writer like me who does most of their work on a phone in their bed, it really does mean a lot.

Okay then, look forward to hearing from Adelaide on Monday!