MASK ON
—5. Homewrecker
That night, Alex found herself sitting in the passenger's seat of Kaden's car, the two of them eating fries and burgers. He was supposed to be in the grade above her, but due to all the moving, he had been forced to repeat sophomore year since he was so behind academically.
"I hope this isn't too lowkey for you," Kaden spoke up, causing Alex to smile as she took a bite of her burger.
"Nah, I like lowkey. I hate people knowing what I do in my private life," Alex admitted and Kaden nodded in response.
"Same," He replied, sighing as he turned to give her a knowing look, "I didn't tell my friends about this. They'd freak if I did."
"Why?" She asked, only to frown when he didn't answer.
"So, where in Texas are you from?" He asked, purposely changing the subject.
"Austin, then Fort Worth, and then Houston," She replied, causing Kaden's eyes to widen in surprise, "But that was just in the past few years."
"Damn. You move around a lot, even more than I did," Kaden replied and Alex shrugged, "Must be hard to, like, make friends and stuff."
"Nah, I'm pretty good with it. It's my sister who struggles with it," She informed him in a calm tone, seeing as though unlike Ginny, she didn't have a problem with constantly moving around.
"Have you had any boyfriends?" Kaden asked and Alex nodded, not going into detail with it, "And you weren't sad to leave them?"
"I got over it. I have commitment issues. I leave anyway before things can actually get serious," She replied, smiling as she turned to give him a playful look, "Plus, I usually have really bad taste."
"Why do you say that?" Kaden frowned, not knowing what she meant by that.
"I can't even count the number of times a guy asked me out on a date and I find out he already has a girlfriend," She admitted, causing Kaden to quietly chuckle as he turned to look out the window.
Noticing his actions, Alex frowned in concern. "What was that?" She asked him curiously.
"What was what?" He replied, purposely playing dumb,
"That look," She told him and Kaden smiled mischievously as he looked closer to her.
"I don't know what you're talking about," He argued and Alex stared deeply into his eyes as she tried to read him.
Alex groaned loudly and leaned back in her seat, the whole ordeal beginning to make sense to her. "You have a girlfriend, don't you?" She suddenly asked to break the silence between them, only to sigh when all she got was silence in return.
She was right.
"Why?" She finally spoke up, turning to give him an annoyed look, "Why are you on this date with me if you already have a girlfriend?"
"She's in college," He informed her and Alex laughed in amusement.
"Is that supposed to make it okay?" She retorted with an attitude, "What, you think she's not gonna find out? She will, you know. It's called Karma."
"I'm gonna break up with her, okay?" He assured her and Alex gave him a weird look, "I've been wanting to break up with her for weeks, even before you got here. I just don't think it's right to do it over the phone. She goes to NYU. I only see her, like, every other weekend, but she's been super busy lately so I haven't seen her in over a month. But when she does come back to visit, I'm going to break it off. I swear. She's trying to hold onto something that's been done for months, but it isn't working for me anymore. I hate this long-distance shit. I hate how she declines my calls for days at a time, posting pics of her with the guys who live in her dorm, and then calls me a week later like nothing's different. I'm done, okay? I'm done with her and I'm going to break up with her. I just don't want to do it over the phone."
Alex sighed at Kaden's words. She stared at him intently, studying his expression. He looked to be telling the truth. She could always tell when people were lying and from the looks of it, he wasn't lying.
"You could have told me that from the beginning," Alex finally told him, breaking the silence.
"If I told you that, you would have said no to going out with me tonight," He reminded her and Alex shook her head.
"No, actually, I wouldn't have," She admitted, causing Kaden's eyes to widen in surprise, "I hate liars. So look me in the eye and say you're going to break up with her."
"I'm going to break up with her," He assured her, looking her directly in the eyes as he spoke the words.
"Good," Alex replied, smiling slightly, "Then nothing has to change tonight. We're on a date and before the conversation happened, we were having fun, weren't we?" She asked and Kaden smiled and nodded his head, "So let's forget this conversation ever happened and continue having fun. You're cool and I feel like nothing something good could happen between us."
"Well, I liked you the moment I first saw you at school, so..." He trailed off, smiling as he placed a hand on the side of her face, "Can I kiss you?"
"Do it," She encouraged him, causing her to smile as Kaden pressed his lips against hers. She placed her hands on his chest, moving closer to kiss.
Slowly, she pulled away, staring into his eyes. "How was that?" She asked him in a low whisper and Kaden nodded.
She smirked, the two of them kissing once more.
____
When they returned to Alex's house that night, Alex had been surprised when Kaden walked to her side of the car to open the door for her.
"This was fun," Kaden admitted, the two of them grasping each other's hand as they walked closer to her house.
"Yeah, it was," Alex replied, smiling as she nodded in agreement, "Maybe we can do it again sometime."
"Definitely," Kaden agreed, moving closer to her. He stopped when he was standing in front of her and Alex stared up at her curiously.
He placed a hand on the side of her face, smiling slightly before he kissed her.
"Look at you go, my little mini-me! You get 'em!" A voice suddenly howled, causing Alex to immediately pull away to see her mom sitting on the balcony, "Don't go getting pregnant on me, you hear?"
"Can you not?" Alex exclaimed, quickly saying her goodbyes to Kaden before she rushed into the house.
___
That night, Alex had just returned from taking a shower. She had just finished putting on her pajamas when she turned, frowning at the sight of Marcus climbing through her window.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She told him in an aggravated tone.
Marcus smiled, looking around Alex's room. "So, this is your room, huh?" He asked, picking up a book Alex had on her nightstand, "Didn't think you were the type to read books."
"I'm not," She argued, snatching the book given to her by her father. She placed it back down on her desk and gave him an annoyed look, "Why are you here, Marcus?"
Marcus picked up another book and opened it, stopping when he found numerous paintings and drawers inside. "You paint?" He immediately asked, almost looking concerned. He turned to Alex, who simply glared at him, "Do you like him?"
"Who?" She asked, a puzzled look on her face.
"Kaden," He replied in a calm tone, "He's a total dick, you know. He has a girlfriend, too. She's in college up in New York."
"I know," She answered, earning a puzzled look from Marcus.
"And you still want him?" He asked, letting out a large scoff.
"He told me he's going to break up with her," She admitted and Marcus scoffed loudly.
"And you believed him?" He retorted, an amused look on his face, "He's lying."
"Why do you care?" She snapped at him, folding her arms across her chest.
Marcus sighed, placing Alex's book back down on her desk. He turned to her, a serious look on his face. "Do you like him?"
"So what if I do?" She retorted, smiling tauntingly as she moved toward him.
"Okay. That's that," He replied, smiling as he leaned against her desk, "He's a total tool, you know. He'll use you and discard you, just like all the others he cheated with while his girlfriend was away at college. You're not the first girl he promised he'd break up with Katie for."
"What's it to you, anyway?" She snapped at him coldly, "Why do you care? I'm just Maxine's dumb friend, remember? Isn't that what you said today? Who the fuck climbs through a window in this day of age, anyway?" She asked, pointing toward the window, "This isn't the nineties. And it's a total perv move, you know—"
Before Alex could finish her rant, Marcus moved toward her, cupping her face in his hands before he passionately kissed her.
Despite knowing that she shouldn't have, Alex kissed back briefly before she roughly pushed him back. "What the hell is wrong with you? What was that?"
"Sorry, sorry. It's just...I know you were on that date with stupid Kaden and I saw him kiss you earlier when he dropped you off and Maxine won't shut up about how perfect you and Kaden would be as a couple instead of him being with Katie," He ranted and Alex stared up at him, "And I...I can't stop thinking about you."
He walked toward her and Alex smiled slightly as she eyed him closely. "The other day when you kissed me—" He began to say, but before he could finish, Alex cupped his face in her hands and passionately kissed him.
Not breaking the kiss, Alex backed up until they reached her bed. She knelt down on it and Marcus followed soon after.
They continued to kiss as Marcus grabbed the hem of her shirt, just before helping her in removing it. And since she had been getting ready for bed, she had been wearing nothing underneath, which meant her chest was left bare.
Marcus briefly pulled away from the kiss, his eyes wandering to her chest. "Nice," He commented and Alex smirked slightly.
"I know right," She told him before gesturing to his shirt, "Take off your shirt. It isn't fair I'm the only one not wearing a shirt."
"So bossy," Marcus laughed and wasted no time taking off his shirt. He was about to kiss her when Alex moved closer to him, kissing down his neck and chest.
She stopped after a moment, placing her hands on the sides of his face before she kissed him on the lips. Her hand traveled down his chest, stopping at his abdomen.
The moment he felt her begin to unbutton his pants without breaking the kiss, Marcus pulled away. He stared down at her, a part of him looking surprised by her actions.
She knew what she was doing. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was why she was taking charge.
"Have you ever—" He began to ask and his assumptions were proven true when he watched her nod her head.
"Yeah, you?" She asked and Marcus awkwardly nodded, despite it being a lie.
He was a virgin, after all. But there was no way he was going to let her know that, especially now while knowing she wasn't one.
Pulling away from Marcus, he watched her casually remove her underwear and shorts, tossing them to the side. She climbed underneath the covers and watched Marcus as he nervously attempted to unbutton his pants.
She tried not to laugh, watching as after several tries, he finally removed his pants.
"Like the view?" He asked her sarcastically since it seemed like she couldn't take her eyes off him.
"Yeah, actually, I do," She replied, causing Marcus to quietly laugh. She literally had no shame whatsoever when it came to saying what was on her mind.
"Yeah, I can tell," He retorted as he walked over to the bed, "You can't stop staring. Who was the perv again?"
"Shut up," She argued, laughing softly as he climbed under the covers beside her.
As Marcus moved closer to her, Alex felt awkward. After several moments, it became even more awkward. Even her first time hadn't been that awkward and that was when Alex realized that Marcus was clearly a virgin.
He had asked her if it felt good when he fingered her and Alex found herself nodding, despite it being a lie.
He leaned forward to kiss her and it made the ordeal a bit better. She continued to kiss him, smiling slightly as he climbed on top of her.
"Hang on," He told her as he reached downwards and Alex instinctively looked underneath the covers to see what he was doing.
Finding him to be having a bit of trouble, Alex sighed and reached downwards. "Let me help," She told him, but unable to take it anymore, she leaned forward to kiss him before she flipped the position.
Marcus' eyes widened, surprised when he found Alex on top, straddling him. She smirked down at him, leaning downwards to kiss him. "We gotta be quiet. My brother and sister are asleep down the hall," She told him in a soft tone and Marcus nodded, groaning as Alex lowered herself onto him.
Alex didn't know how much time had passed but after she had given up, she laid back down beside Marcus. "Uh, so, I, uh—" She began to say, only to watch as Marcus sat up.
"So, I better get going," He announced, causing Alex to give him a weird look, "Our moms are gonna get back from that school thing soon, so, you know..."
"Uh, okay," She replied, trying to hide her confusion, "See you around, I guess?"
"Definitely," He assured her, smiling slightly as he placed his pants back on, "Hey, um...Can we keep this on the DL? I don't want this getting back to Padma and I'm sure you don't want to ruin your chances with stupid Kaden."
"He's not stupid," She argued and Marcus nodded his head.
"He's stupid, but it's whatever," Marcus replied, shrugging his shoulders as Alex glared at him, "So on the DL it is, right?"
"You read my mind," Alex told him, forcing herself to smile. Usually, she was Marcus in this scenario and she was the one who smashed and dashed, not the other way around.
What the hell was happening to her?
"Ok, then," Marcus replied, mockingly saluting her before he climbed out the window.
As she watched him leave, Alex sighed in frustration, unable to believe what had just occurred. And for what? It wasn't even worth it, anyway. It wasn't even good.
Closing her eyes, Alex took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool as she laid back down on the bed.
At their home in Houston, Alex stood on a mat with her mother the morning after the whole incident of her skipping school and her mother having to help her cover her bruises.
They were in the middle of doing yoga, which Alex found herself struggling with. "I hate this," She complained, an aggravated look on her face.
"Keep working on it," Georgia insisted and Alex rolled her eyes, "You should ask Kenny for some pointers."
"Uh, sure," Alex awkwardly answered as she tried to hide her uneasiness.
"Think the mung bean burgers are done," Georgia announced and Alex tried her hardest to hide her disgust.
"Mung bean? Ew. Gross," She complained as she scoffed in disgust, "I miss pizza. I hate this phony Stepford family crap. It's bull and you know it."
Just then, Georgia shoved Alex, causing the latter to turn and stare at her mother in shock after she nearly lost balance. "What the hell was that?"
"You will not bitch about family dinner," Georgia snapped at her daughter coldly, "We are a family, and we will have dinner."
"Kenny's not my family and he never will be," Alex argued in a cold tone.
"Oh, hell yes, he is," Georgia replied in a stern tone.
"My dad is—" Alex began to say, only to have Georgia cut her off.
"Your dad is where?" Georgia retorted with an attitude, "Where is he, Alex? Alaska? Last month, it was Nepal."
"I don't know and honestly, I don't care," Alex argued in a cold tone, "All I know is that no good piece of shit you're married to ain't my dad and never will be. You sure know how to pick them, though. That's for sure."
"What are you talking about?" Georgia asked, frowning in confusion.
"Hey, babe. When's dinner ready?" Kenny suddenly spoke up as he entered the room, causing Alex to feel uneasy, "I am starving."
"I'm gonna check on it right now," Georgia replied, forcing a smile onto her face before she walked out of the room.
Alex rolled her eyes at the couple and began to do yoga once more, wanting to keep her mind off of Kenny, who she knew was still standing there.
"You need to work on your form," He told her, causing Alex to roll her eyes.
"I got it," She assured him, only to feel shivers run down her spine as he walked over to her.
"How was night one in your new room?" He asked as he placed a hand on her lower back and another on her thigh.
"Fine," She replied with an attitude, flinching as she felt him place a hand on her abdomen while helping her with her form.
"You need to arch your back less," He told her and Alex turned to glare at him.
"I said, I got it," She told him with an attitude, only to feel him running his hand up her thigh, "I got it! Kenny, stop! Get off me!"
"You want a repeat of last time?" He told her in a low, threatening tone.
"Try it, I dare you. I'll slit your throat in your sleep. Don't tempt me. I got nothin' to lose," She snapped at him coldly and the two of them turned to see her mother standing on the stairs.
"Dinner's ready," She announced, a forced smile on her face.
Knowing the look on her other's face fall too well, the slightest of smiles appeared on Alex's face. Georgia knew and Alex knew it wouldn't be long before her mother did something about it.
After months, they'd finally be rid of Kenny and she couldn't be more happy about it.
_____
The following day at school, Alex stood near her locker before first period. She was in the middle of getting her materials when she turned, rolling her eyes at the sight of Marcus making out with Padma near some lockers.
She turned again when Kaden walked by with Press, Hunter, and some of his other friends. She smiled, sending him a small wave.
The moment he walked away, however, her smile faded and she turned, looking back at Marcus with Padma.
The morning after the incident with Kenny, Alex had stood in the doorway, watching as her mother cut off a flower from the plant she was always growing. She had looked it up several days before to find out it was a plant called wolfsbane.
She had walked back into the kitchen, making Kenny his daily protein shake as she always did. She placed numerous fruits before lastly placing the poisonous plant.
She had kissed him goodbye before sending him off.
Once he was gone, Georgia's smile faded. She turned and locked eyes with Alex, giving her a small nod before walking off. It was her way of saying she had handled it and Alex couldn't have been more happy.
Ginny would have been horrified if she had ever learned her mother had killed someone for her but Alex was different. She was thankful and loved her more even more to know she was willing to kill or even die to protect her children.
Georgia couldn't explain it but she had known it since the moment Alex learned how to speak. Her mindset and morality was far different than her twin sister's.
Unable to take it anymore, Alex slammed her locker door shut before walking over to Marcus. She watched as he quickly pulled away from Padma, the duo immediately turning to look at Alex.
"Padma, was it? There's something you should know," She declared, causing Marcus to look uneasy while Padma looked confused.
"What?" Padma asked, a puzzled look on her face.
"We're late for class. We should go," Marcus insisted, not knowing what Alex was about to say.
Alex smirked at Marcus tauntingly, just before turning to look back at Padma. "Nice shirt, but..." She trailed off, pointing down to the girl's belt, "Might want to get rid of the belt. It ruins the whole outfit. You'd look way hotter without it. Just wanted to let you know."
"Oh, thanks," Padma replied, smiling down at the girl. Most people would have taken offense for Alex's remark if it were coming from any other girl but since Alex and her mother had been the talk of the town since her arrival, Padma seemed to value her opinion.
"Anytime," Alex replied, backing away from the duo. She jokingly saluted Marcus, just as he always did to her.
With that, she walked off, a small smirk beginning to form on her lips.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
"Nice."
"I know right."
I DIED WHILE WRITING THAT IDK WHY LMAOO
The fact that Alex was only salty about Marcus ditching her after they slept together cuz SHES the one who usually smashes and dashes, not the other way around 😂😭
also, the flashbacks in this chapter were super sad. You could tell Georgia felt like shit after spending weeks waving Alex off whenever she complained about Kenny. She clearly felt bad that she didn't see the signs when she herself went thru the same shit with her own step dad.