MASK ON
—7. Promises
That evening, Alex was supposed to go hang with Max, Ginny, and the rest of her friends at Brodie' house. She could hear Max and Ginny downstairs, waiting for her to be all set to leave. Max had lied to her mother, telling her the reason she was going out on a school night had to do with AP English.
She could hear them calling out to her, asking if she was ready. She immediately told them she was coming and looked down at the box that held the plan b pill. She casually ripped it open, tossing the box on the floor.
She opened the package, popping the pill onto her hand. She stared down at it for a long moment, letting out a large sigh. "I really need to start taking my birth control pills correctly," She muttered under her breath, just before placing it in her hand.
She swallowed it without water, grabbing her bag before heading out the door.
____
When they arrived at Brodie's house, they went down to Brodie's basement. "Ok, we have two hours. I told our moms we were at the movies," She informed them and Alex couldn't help but chuckle.
"Wearing that?" Ginny asked, gesturing toward Max's outfit, "My mom knows we're not at the movies."
"Hey!" The group greeted them and Abby ran over to Max, tightly hugging her friend.
While Ginny and Max walked over to the part of the couch the girls sat at, Alex walked over to the end where Kadin and Press sat.
She sat between Press and Kaden, who immediately wrapped his arm around her. "Pass the bong, would you?" She told Press, who immediately handed the girl the bong.
She flicked on the lighter, wasting no time placing her lips on the mouthpiece. She took a large inhale, removing the bowl before blowing out the smoke.
She laughed, placing the bowl back with the bong before handing it to Max. She took a hit before holding it out to Ginny, who Alex knew didn't smoke.
"Uh...I never smoked before," Ginny admitted as she grabbed hold of the bong.
"Really, huh?" Press spoke up, sounding bored as he was in the middle of playing a video games, "You sound interesting."
Kaden and Alex chuckled at his words, causing Ginny to sigh in defeat as she felt embarrassed.
"Okay, you can ignore Pres because he's a literal sociopath, and only smoke if you want to," Max assured Ginny, causing Alex to roll her eyes.
"Smoke," Brodie spoke up, moving toward Ginny from his seat between Samantha and Kaden, "Peer pressure. Do it!"
The whole group laughed but Alex remained silent. She tilted her head, watching her twin sister closely. She never thought Ginny would be the type to smoke but by the look on the girl's face, she knew for a fact that she was going to try it.
Wellsbury seemed to be changing both of them and not entirely for the better, especially on Ginny's part.
Ginny went to light the bowl, her mouth wide. "Woah!" Jordan quickly spoke up alongside the others as they tried to stop Ginny before she did it wrong, "Uh, put your lips inside. Not outside. You wanna inhale, then hold it in. But...be careful. Pootie tang hits hard. I made it myself in Pottery Camp Manitou last summer."
"Where the hell's that?" Alex asked as she turned to smile at Kaden, "I wanna go there."
Kaden chuckled, shaking his head before they both looked back at Ginny. They watched Ginny take a hit successfully, causing the whole group to laugh.
"Nice start," Pres complimented Ginny, fist-bumping her before he walked over to the kitchen.
Brodie and Jordan followed soon after, just before Kaden did the same.
"Yo, does anyone know Vivien Leigh? She just requested to follow me," Max suddenly asked, causing Alex to immediately turn to her and smirk. It was the name her mother used for her fake account.
"No clue," Alex replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"I think she, like, dated Jimmy Ashinski or something," Samantha butted in and Alex groaned, a part of her regretting the decision to come since Samantha was there.
She knew the girl was bound to say something stupid like she did at school.
"So, Ginny, I hear you had a date with Hunter," Samantha spoke up, a fake smile forming on her lips.
"Here we go," Alex muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Just to be perfectly transparent, Hunter and I dated for all of eighth grade," She announced, much to Alex's annoyance, "But you totally have my blessing."
"Why the hell would she need your blessing?" Alex suddenly spoke up, unable to contain herself, "Middle school relationships don't count. Your brain wasn't even remotely close to being fully-developed to truly understand the concept of a real relationship. Even now, they're not fully developed, but we're mature enough to understand relationships somewhat."
The girls stared at Alex for a long moment, clearly realizing that the weed was making her more talkative than usual. She sounded smart, too, smarter than she usually let on.
"They were actually really serious," Abby spoke up, still on the topic of Hunter and Samantha, "I mean, they took each other's virginity and stuff."
"Abby!" Samantha scolded the girl as she lightly slapped her, smiling widely, "But yeah, we did. He made this picnic in a field. It was the perfect first time."
"Aww! Isn't Hunter the sweetest?"
"First times are rarely ever perfect. It's your first time, after all. It's supposed to be awkward and shit," Alex pointed out and Samantha turned, smiling at Alex.
"Where were you when you had your first time?" Samantha asked curiously, leaning closer to Alex curiously.
"Yeah, and how old were you?" Abby added in, a skeptical look on her face.
"It was the summer before seventh grade so I was, like, thirteen, maybe twelve," She informed them, causing the girls to stare at her in disbelief, "I think it was in the backseat of this boy's car. He was sixteen, I think."
"You think?" Samantha asked, a judging look on her face.
"I wasn't thinking straight," She told them and looked away, not daring to say the rest. The girls sighed and decided to change the subject, assuming that she had been high or drunk. What they didn't realize was there was far more to the story. What kind of twelve year old in their right mind would willingly sleep with a boy nearly five years older than her?
"On the subject of boys, Hunter actually has the second biggest dick of all our friends," Max spoke up as she turned to glance at Ginny, whose eyes had been on her sister as she continued to think about the story she had just told about her first time, "We measured this summer."
"Who's the first?" Alex asked curiously and Abby turned to look at her.
"Brodie's got the biggest. Probably why he's so dumb," She commented, the group of girls turning to glance at the boys.
They were standing on the stairs, throwing ping pong balls at Brodie.
"BDD!" Abby exclaimed with an amused look on her face, "Big dick dumb."
"What about Kaden?" Alex suddenly asked, causing the group to turn to her face.
While most of the girls were smiling, Samantha gave her a look that Alex knew all too well. She was judging her. "He has a girlfriend, you know," She commented, looking almost disgusted.
"I wasn't asking about that," Alex complained and Max quickly chuckled.
"We wouldn't know," Max admitted, wrapping her arm around Abby, "Having a girlfriend and all, he wouldn't dare to show us his dick. I mean, it'd be messed up, too, since she's not our friend and all and we're a bunch of girls."
"Oh, my God! Katie is so pretty!" Samantha exclaimed, smiling widely at the thought of Kaden's girlfriend, "I wish I had a body like hers. Kaden's lucky to have a girl like her. All the guys wanted her when she went here and yet, she only wanted Kaden. She was Kaden's first, too. His first everything, probably his first love, too. He never spoke about any other girlfriends. I could so see them marrying each other when Kaden graduates and the two of them getting a little apartment together in the city and having some adorable little babies."
"Are you done?" Max suddenly spoke up, glaring at Samantha angrily.
"What?" Samantha asked, playing innocently as she turned to Alex and smiled.
"You know, Samantha..." Alex trailed off, smiling as she stood up from her seat, "One of these days, you're gonna run your mouth to the wrong person and your ass is gonna get beat. I hope you know that. These fake ass bitches in this town might tolerate this petty and fake shit, but in the real world, they don't. So grow the hell up while you still can."
Scoffing, Alex walked over to the boys, smiling widely. The moment she walked over, Kaden smiled at her and wasted no time wrapping an arm around her.
"What, the girls too much for you?" Press asked her curiously and Alex nodded.
"They're talking about dicks and how sweet Hunter is," Alex admitted, beginning to imitate Samantha, "'Hunter this, Hunter that.' Nobody gives a shit if you were each other's first! It was middle school. Middle school relationships don't count. Everyone knows that."
"Honestly," Press scoffed, Kaden and Brodie nodding in agreement while Jordan remained silent since he and Norah had started dating in middle school.
"Got anything stronger than beer?" Alex suddenly asked, causing Brodie to immediately down at her.
"Yeah. Let me go get it," He told her, just before walking off to get her some.
When he returned, he handed her the cup and with that, the two of them and Kaden returned to the couch. They sat on the side of the couch they had earlier.
"You play?" Press asked, holding out the controller to her.
"Hell, yeah," Alex replied, smiling as she took the controller from her grasp.
The two of them beginning to play with Kaden sitting with them. The three of them could hear Ginny speaking with the girls about Hunter in the background.
"Where is Hunter? Is he coming?" Ginny had asked and while keeping his eyes glued to the video game, Pres decided to answer her question.
"No. Uh, he's at SAT prep," Press informed her in a calm tone, "Or Choir practice. Pretty much whatever the hell it is that he can do so he can be president one day."
There was a moment of silence amongst the group before Samantha glanced between Ginny and Alex, deciding to speak up. "So, Ginny, Alex, which one of your parents is white?"
Hearing the girl's question, Alex stopped playing the video game. She whipped her head to the side, giving the girl a look of disbelief. "Did you seriously just ask that?" She asked defensively. She was on the verge of snapping at her, only to have Ginny speak up instead.
"Um, our mom," Ginny answered in a calm tone.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Samantha remarked, smiling as she looked upwards, "I'm gonna marry a black man so I can have adorable little mixed babies."
"You sound like an idiot," Alex complained, turning to Pres and Kaden, "Is she serious right now?"
"Just ignore her," Kaden assured her, just as annoyed by Samantha's comment as Alex was, "That's what I do."
"So, Ginny, what, uh, kind of music do you like?" Norah spoke up, purposely changing the subject to avoid conflict between Samantha and Alex, who looked as though she was about to snap.
"Uh...I like Mac DeMarco, Lana Del Rey--" She began to explain, only to have Samantha cut her off.
"Lana Del Rey got so basic," Samantha suddenly commented, causing Alex to feel offended more than ever before.
How dare she hate on Lana like that?
"She's so mainstream now. She used to be alternative, but now she just, like, does whatever society wants her to do," Samantha explained, much to Alex's annoyance.
"Okay, but she's still whimsical," Norah replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"You want to know what else I think?" Samantha asked and Alex shook her head.
"No, not really. I don't think anyone cares," Alex muttered under her breath and by the looks on their faces, Press and Kaden seemed to agree.
"I think Lady Gaga got really basic since A Star is Born," Samantha admitted, causing Alex to scoff.
"Okay, you know what? That hurts my heart," Norah complained and pointed her finger at Samantha.
"Do you remember that meat dress that she wore?" Samantha asked, smiling widely, "That was groundbreaking."
"Wait, what meat dress?" Norah frowned in confusion and Alex gave her a weird look since she couldn't believe the girl couldn't remember such an iconic moment.
"Y'all are a bunch of uncultured swine," Alex muttered under her breath, causing Kaden to quietly laugh since he seemed to be the only one to hear her.
"It was a dress totally made out of meat," Samantha informed Norah, who stared at her in disbelief.
"Why would she do that?" Norah asked, clearly intrigued.
"To be groundbreaking," Samantha replied and Alex nearly choked on her drink.
"Maybe I just hate Samantha," Press commented, causing Alex to laugh.
"You love me," Samantha replied, smiling at Pres teasingly.
"Nah, he doesn't," Alex commented, gesturing to Pres, whose eyes were glued to the tv, "Look at his face. He hates you. The video game interests him far more than you ever will."
"She's got a point," Kaden remarked, earning a glare from Samantha as she watched him wrap an arm around Alex.
"A Star is Born is so good," Ginny asked, looking to be out of it, "I love the Janet Gaynor version because it was revolutionary for its time. But Judy Garland made it camp in the best way. She shows up, and she's like, 'Let's do a tap number.' But my favorite has to be Barbra's."
Staring at her sister, Alex quietly laughed. "She's so high right now," She whispered to Kaden, the two of them beginning to laugh.
"There was just this amazing amalgamation of the '70s and the women's movement and, and...ugh! Gaga's was great, but it didn't elevate the story," She continued to explain, only to turn to see everyone staring at her in a way that told Ginny none of them knew what she was talking about.
"I remember my first high," Pres commented, causing the whole group to laugh in amusement.
____
That night, Alex practically stumbled up the stairs to her house after Kaden gave her a ride home. Ginny and Max wanted to stay there later and unable to deal with Samantha anymore, Alex had wanted to go home.
Kaden immediately offered to give her a ride. They ended up smoking in his car and got some food, just before they finally drove to her house.
The moment Alex turned on her light, she jumped in fright when she saw her mother sitting in her bed. She was smiling at Alex in a way that made her look like a psycho.
"Jesus, Mom! What, are you trying to give me nightmares for the rest of my life?" Alex complained as she walked over to her mom.
"How was the movie, buttercup?" Georgia asked Alex in a sarcastic tone, "You must really want that extra credit but then again, you don't even take AP English. You take Journalism and Creative Writing."
"Mom, don't start," Alex complained, rolling her eyes as she removed her shoes, "I'm not an idiot like the rest of them. I know you know. Vivien Leigh? You and I literally made that Finsta together."
"But they don't know that we know they know we know!" Georgia exclaimed and Alex smiled at her Friends reference. She remembered all the times she'd fake sick just so she could stay home from school and have a Friends marathon with her mother.
Georgia knew the entire time Alex was never sick, but allowed it to happen anyway. She wanted to cherish those types of moments with her daughter while she could.
As her daughters grew up, she always thought Alex would be the one to grow older, mature, and not want to spend time with her anymore, believing herself to be far too 'cool' to be seen with her mother.
As it turned out, Georgia had her daughters mixed up the entire time. It was Ginny pulling those types of stunts while Alex felt proud standing at her mother's side. Who wouldn't be proud to have such a hot and cool mother?
Ginny never thought about it that way. It was as though she was afraid her mother would steal the spotlight from her.
Alex, on the other hand, shared the spotlight with her mother. She thought of her and her mother as an iconic mother-daughter duo that anyone would be jealous of.
Alex couldn't help herself and laughed. She removed her jacket, wasting no time walking over to her mother, who patted her hand on the vacant seat on the bed beside her.
"Come gossip to Mommy," Georgia encouraged her daughter, smiling widely, "Spill the tea. How are you and that hunky boy Kaden? I saw you on Maxine's Instagram story. He's totally in love with you."
"We didn't do much. We just chilled in Brodie's basement, which was actually kind of nice," She explained to her mother, who wrapped her arm around her and leaned her head on hers, "The whole basement was finished with carpets and had a ping-pong table and all that shit."
"Ooh, rich people," Georgia remarked and Alex nodded in agreement.
"I know right," She replied, smiling at the thought.
"They snort caviar and talk about Aspen."
"Nah, they smoked weed out of a bong," She informed her and Georgia pulled away to give her daughter a curious look.
"And did you?" Georgia questioned, raising a brow at Alex.
"Of course I did," Alex admitted without a care in the world, beginning to smirk, "Who do you think I am? It was strong, too. I was surprised. It hit hard."
"I bet it did," Georgia replied, beginning to laugh in amusement, "Did I ever tell you that the first time I had an edible, I pulled out all my eyelashes?"
"No!" Alex exclaimed as she laughed at the thought, "Well, the first time I had an edible was at the mall."
"When?" Georgia asked, raising a brow at Alex since she had never been told that story.
"I told you this before, Mom,' Alex reminded her in a calm tone, "Sixth grade. It's when I had my first real kiss, remember?"
"Ah, yes. Now, I remember that," Georgia responded, the two of them smiling. They spoke of such things so casually. Georgia loved it more than anything. She loved how honest her daughter was with her. Georgia was just as honest with Alex, too. She kept nothing from her. She knew everything and it warmed Georgia's heart how nothing she told Alex seemed to make her look at her mother differently.
If anyone asked Georgia who she trusted most in this world, she would easily say Alex without a second thought. What she didn't realize was Alex was keeping a secret from her. About what she did with Alex and about the plan b pill.
It wasn't that Alex didn't want to tell her. She did, but she didn't want her mother to worry and she knew Georgia would. She knew how much her mother sacrificed to give her and her siblings a better life. She didn't want her mother to feel like she failed when she learned Alex had been irresponsible enough to hook up with a guy and not use protection. It would mean everything she taught her daughters hadn't worked in the slightest. And Alex didn't want to disappoint her mother like that.
Despite all her faults, Georgia practically put Alex on a pedestal. She adored her firstborn and Alex didn't want to ruin that by telling her about what happened with Marcus.
"What about this Kaden guy?" Georgia suddenly asked, causing the slightest of smirks to appear on Alex's face, "He a good kisser?"
"A real good kisser," Alex corrected her mother, who began to smirk.
"Just be careful," Georgia warned Alex, staring down at her with a pointed look.
"I'm always careful. You know that," Alex commented and turned, only to see that her mother had taken it a different way, "Don't start. Please."
"Hmm," She hummed, leaning closer to Alex, "Ooh. Oh! Oh!"
"Please, I'm begging you, Mom. Please don't start," Alex pleaded and Georgia continued to taunt her daughter.
"Oh, my God! Sex," Georgia teased, beginning to lean closer to Alex, who tried to lightly shove her mother away, "And intercourse. And P in the V!"
"I'm gonna throw up, please stop!" Alex complained, beginning to gag.
"Oh, get over yourself!" Georgia exclaimed, smiling at her daughter in utter amusement, "If you can't talk about it without getting embarrassed, you should not be doing it, buttercup."
"A little late for that, don't you think?" Alex retorted, both of them smiling since they both knew it was far too late for that, "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I think so," Georgia declared, moving away from Alex. Her smile faded and she turned to Alex, giving her a warning look, "Just promise me you'll come to me before you start sleeping with that cute boy toy of yours 'cause I know you haven't been keeping up with the pill. I think it'll be better if you get the implant thingy."
"Alright, alright. Can we stop talking about it?" Alex pleaded in an annoyed tone.
Georgia moved closer to Alex, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Promise me, Alex."
"I promise," Alex assured her, sighing when Georgia placed her pinky finger out, "What?"
"Come on!" Georgia exclaimed, smiling widely, "Just like old times! You know you want to."
Alex smiled, playfully rolled her eyes at her mother. She moved closer to her mother and they linked pinkies. They leaned forward, kissing their hands before pulling away.
At the same time, they turned, imitating vomiting as they pointed their index figure at their tongues.
The two of them turned to each other, beginning to laugh. Georgia moved closer to her daughter. She kissed her on the forehead, grabbing her glass of wine before she headed for the door. "I love you, buttercup."
"Love you more," Alex replied, the two of them sharing a soft smile before Georgia finally left the room.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I love Alex and Georgia's bond sm