Game Changer

FIFTY-ONE

"Thank you, dad." I say sarcastically and he winks.

"I like that nickname. Just make it longer; daddy." He smirks and I roll my eyes.

I pull my phone out and show him the picture I took of the message.
Alex takes my phone and stares at it, pursing his lips.
"You have any idea of who this is?" He asks me and I shake my head.

"Not a clue."

"Maybe we're over-analyzing this message." He says and I give him a blank look.

"Do we really want to take that chance though?"
He swipes his tongue over his lip and reluctantly shakes his head.

I take my phone from him and slip it back into my pocket, climbing out the car and Alex following after me. When I open my door, the house is quiet once again indicating my mother isn't home. My mother must have one of the most unstructured time schedules ever.

We walk upstairs to my room and I place my bag on the desk and grab my laptop. Alex pulls his shoes off and gets comfortable on my bed. I take the seat next to him, opening my laptop and switching it on. We sit shoulder to shoulder, our arms brushing and when my laptop switches on, I head to the internet and open a tab onto Facebook.

"What are you doing?" Alex asks me. I smile at him.

"Everyone had Facebook at one point. And when they stopped using it, they usually didn't delete their account."

"And you're expecting to find something on Courtney?"

"Maybe."

"Alright. Well, lets give this a shot." Alex says, sitting up in excitement and rubbing his hands together. I chuckle at his antics and get to work.

****

I groan out loud. "There's absolutely nothing. It's like she's a ghost. She has a profile but nothing on it."

"Take a break Sophie. You've been at it for an hour and a half." Alex says gently.

I sigh and put my laptop on my bedside table as I lay down on my bed. Alex pulls me into his side and I rest my head in the crook of his neck while he wraps his arms around me and rubs circles mindlessly on my hip. I play with his shirt as we lapse into silence.

"Alex?"

"Mmh?"

"Can you tell me what caused the rivalry between the Elite and the Rebels?" I ask softly. It's quiet before Alex speaks.

"I don't really know what it was. Logan and I didn't get on ever since we first met. I had already, uh, slept with Courtney," he says awkwardly. "and I think she was upset that I didn't want any strings attached so of course she was pissed off. This was before her and Logan got together, though. They both had a mutual hatred for me and I guess everyone friends with them followed suit. They were dicks to me so my friends, the Rebels, automatically backed me up. From there we all just had this simple understanding that neither of us liked each other."

The way Alex puts it sounds so simple; like petty hatred between teenagers but at school it seems so much more intense- almost as if someone fucked the other one over. Yet it all sprouted from something as simple as cousins not getting along.

"Why don't you get along with Logan?" I ask.

Alex snorts, "Have you met him? He's an absolute dick."