8. The Other Side of the Coin

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

***

 “Alex!”

 The girl spun her head to see Bree behind her. Alex grinned when she saw that Bree was already ready to go. The two had decided to work on their Social Studies project after school.

 “Thanks for letting me go to your house,” Alex said as she stuffed her books into her backpack.

 “No problem.” Bree, despite not having actually known the Bailey twins for long, more or less knew about their financial situation. She decided to avoid that topic completely with the twins as not to make them uncomfortable.

 “Hey Alex!”

 The familiar voice rang into the semi-empty classroom and Bree's heart stuttered. Conner's orange head popped into view, a somewhat sheepish look on his face. When he caught sight of Bree, he immediately looked away. She was too shiny and bright for him, and if he looked at her, he would be blinded by her awesomeness. And he would probably do something stupid, like smash into a wall.

 “Alex, can you give me the key?” Conner called.

 Alex stared at her brother. “What key- oh. Our house key.”

 “Yeaa…” Conner bounced on the soles of his feet, his bangs swaying slightly. “You're coming home late, right? Which means I'll have to go home by myself.”

 Charlotte had given one key for the twins to share. As Charlotte came home late, there was no one to open the door for the twins. Usually, Alex was the one to keep the key (as Conner had an oddly high risk of losing items), but occasionally, after school, Alex would want to go to the library and Conner would just want to chill at home. In those cases, Conner would go home with the key and when Alex returned, she wouldn't be locked out. That arrangement had worked pretty well for them so far.

 “Ah yes, the key.” Alex nodded. She rummaged in her jean pockets, and was surprised to find they were empty. “Strange… I usually put it here…”

 “Perhaps you put it in your bag?” Bree suggested.

 Mild panic ran through Alex as she hunted in her bag for that small, but important key. Packets of tissues and even the occasional tampon flew out of her bag, but there was no key. Sometimes Alex wished she could actually execute magic so she could just Accio the key like they did in Harry Potter. It was especially unnerving that Alex was usually very organized and rarely misplaced or forgot anything. Defeated, Alex flopped down on her seat, feeling like a complete failure. “I forgot to bring the key,” she muttered.

 Conner's face fell slightly, but he hid it as not to upset his sister. “Alright, guess I'll just hang out with Freddie until Mom comes back.” He shrugged his shoulders, flexible with new predicaments.

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