MASK ON
— 25. Leeches
An hour had passed and Alex was standing at the front counter, taking people's orders there. A line had formed for takeout since all the tables were filled. It felt like forever until the line went down with only one person left.
"Didn't you and Padma literally just pay for the check?" Alex complained, rolling her eyes at Marcus, "Thanks for the tip. It's literally bigger than what I made during an entire shift."
"That was Padma," He assured her and Alex smiled slightly, "She really likes you. She's older than us but you're literally, like, her idol."
"And you're the piece of shit who was hooking up with her idol when she's in love with you," She retorted and Marcus shot her an annoyed look while Alex returned it with an innocent smile.
"You're no better. You have a boyfriend," He reminded her, causing Alex to quietly laugh.
"A boyfriend who views me like an object he wishes to always possess. And I hate his guts. But it's different with Padma. She's a great girl and you're constantly betraying her," Alex explained as she rang up a water for Marcus to make it look like she was actually working before Joe scolded her. Ginny was constantly conversing with Max while working. Alex was the only one who always seemed to be on task. She didn't want to ruin that by flirting with Marcus in front of the whole cafe, not while Max, Ginny, and the others were still there.
"Padma agreed to keep it casual. She should have known better than to catch feelings," Marcus explained, only to notice the way Alex smiled knowingly, "What?"
"You caught feelings the moment I kissed you for the first time and those feelings only grew stronger toward me since then," Alex reminded him and Marcus sighed, knowing she was right.
It annoyed him how she was aware of his feelings for her yet did nothing about it. "If you knew I liked you, why did you keep letting me come back? Why didn't you end things?"
"Why didn't you end things with Padma?" She retorted and Marcus shot her an annoyed look. He hated how she was always right.
"It's not the same and you know it," Marcus complained as he leaned closer to Alex, "I stay with Padma because she keeps my mind off of who I actually want. But what's your excuse? Why do you stay with Kaden when you know he treats you like his possession? Why do you keep stringing me along when you have no intention of breaking up with Kaden?"
"I don't know," Alex admitted and shrugged her shoulders.
Marcus laughed in amusement. He shook his head and Alex frowned in confusion. "That's a lie and you know. You told me before you were planning something. But what is it?"
"If you know I'm toying with you, why do you keep coming back?" Alex suddenly asked, causing Marcus' face to fall, "You changed the entire subject. We were talking about you and Padma, not me and Kaden. So tell me, Marcus, why do you keep coming back to me when you say all I do is treat you like shit?"
"You don't treat me like shit," Marcus complained and Alex nodded.
"I do. And you know it. You know I treat you like shit. I treat you no better than Kaden treats me. It's toxic. Both the relationships I'm in are toxic because I'm toxic. You know this. You know I'm toxic. I lie, I cheat, I steal, I intentionally hurt people. I'm an altogether bad person and even though you try to tell me I'm not, you know I'm not a good person. So why, Marcus? If you know I'm a leech just like Kaden and why do you still keep coming back?"
Because I'm in love with you, Marcus wanted to say. His lips parted and he was preparing to say the words, only to watch Max come over.
"What are you still doing here, Marcus? Didn't Padma leave, like, twenty minutes ago? You've been standing here, talking to Alex the whole time," She complained and turned to Alex with an annoyed look on her face, "Is he bothering you, Alex? 'Cause I'll gladly beat him up for you."
"Beat me up?" Marcus asked his sister and scoffed loudly, "The hell did I do?"
"You were born," Max retorted and Marcus found himself rolling his eyes.
"He wanted to see if I'd sneak him a bottle of chardonnay and some other shit," Alex suddenly spoke up, causing Marcus to turn to her in surprise, "He wanted to set up this picnic tomorrow for him and Padma at the park."
Marcus and Max gave her a weird look, knowing Marcus would never do something like that.
"It was my idea," Alex confessed and Max smiled slightly, "I'm sick of hearing Padma and her friends complaining that Marcus is taking way too long to ask her out. So I'm giving him a little push. And there's no way I'm letting my best friend's twin brother make a fool of himself by asking her out over text."
"That is something he'd do, isn't it?" Max remarked, causing Alex to nod while Marcus looked offended, "Don't look at us like that, Marcus. Alex is right. You need to hurry up and ask Padma out. She'd love a picnic. Maybe it'll convince her you're not the heartless asshole you actually are and she won't ditch you for taking so long to ask her out."
"Exactly!" Alex exclaimed, smiling widely, "What are Padma's favorite foods, Marcus? I'll make sure they're all prepped and ready for you tomorrow."
"Uh..." Marcus trailed off and Alex gave him an annoyed look since he didn't even know the girl's favorite foods. But he knew Alex's.
She liked to go to Mcdonald's and get a medium fries with an ice cream sundae. She liked to dip the fries in the ice cream and as gross as it sounded, Marcus once tried it after she told him about and he found it to actually be good, especially when he was high.
Now, he always did it, earning annoyed looks from his whole family and his friends.
He knew her least favorite food was steak since supposedly as a little girl, she lost her first tooth biting into some steak her mom had made her and it had traumatized her for life.
He knew she tried her first cup of alcohol at nine-years-old when she took a sip of her mother's cup of Jack and Coke when Georgia wasn't looking and since then, it had been her favorite alcoholic drink, even after growing older and trying numerous other types of drinks.
Marcus slowly turned to Alex, both of them feeling uneasy. The fact that Alex had only been in Wellsbury a few months and he knew random stuff like that about her but couldn't seem to even remember Padma's favorite food was concerning.
"Maybe you should break up with her," Max suddenly suggested, causing Alex to turn to the girl with an alarmed look, "If you can't even name her favorite food, how do you expect to have a relationship with her?"
"I don't—" Marcus began to say, becoming quieter as he watched Max walk away from them, "I don't want a relationship with her."
He turned to face Alex once more, only to sigh when he saw that she had walked off to serve some other tables. He looked down, the smallest of smiles appearing on his face at the sight of the ice coffee that was placed in front of him.
Black, no milk.
To make up for last time. :)
Marcus laughed quietly as he read the note placed on top of it. He turned, noticing how Alex briefly sent him a small smile before continuing to take the other of the couple sitting in front fo her.
____
When Alex returned home, she was shocked when she found her mother's garden on fire. "What the hell!" She exclaimed, watching Austin and Caleb run past her.
They were laughing holding cans of WD40. She was on the verge of calling her mother when she ran out of the house alongside Ginny while Max walked to stand beside Ginny. She must have been the one to text Ginny about the fire.
"My garden!" Georgia cried out as she ran to fetch the hose."
"It's on fire," Abby answered the obvious as Ginny walked over to them.
"What the hell happened!" Georgia exclaimed and as if on cue, Austin and Caleb ran past them, "Hey, you stop there!"
The boys immediately stopped where they were, watching Georgia put out the fire with the hose.
"Mom, the kid's starting fires!" Ginny complained, a worried look on her face, "I know a therapist that he can go to."
"What? No!" Georgia shouted before running over to the boys once putting out the fire, "Hey? What is wrong with you? No!"
"Can I go to your house?" Ginny asked Max, sighing in defeat.
"Fine. But nothing this fun ever happens there," Max admitted before turning to Alex, "You wanna come too, Alex?"
"I'll pass," Alex replied, smiling as she looked over at her mother scolding Austin and Caleb, "I don't want to miss any of this."
"You need serious mental help," Ginny complained, unable to believe Alex found a reason to smile during the serious situation.
With that, Ginny walked away with Max while Alex remained in place. The moment she saw her mother walking back in the direction of the house, Alex wasted no time following after her. "She's still at the cafe, probably getting drunk," She suddenly spoke up, causing Georgia to turn to her curiously.
"Good. Better that she stay as far away from us as possible," Georgia replied, on the verge of walking away when Alex spoke up once more.
"If I've learned anything, it's that if you supply someone with enough alcohol, they'll spill any secrets you want them to," Alex continued and Georgia froze in place.
She sighed in frustration and turned to her daughter. "What are you talking about, Alexandria?"
"She's up to something, Mom. I can feel it. I've seen it since the moment since she got here. And we need to do something about it," Alex insisted as she moved toward her mother, a determined look on her face.
"We?" Georgia asked, frowning in confusion.
"We," Alex confirmed, smiling up at her mother, "Us against the world, remember?"
Georgia smiled softly at her daughter's words. It warmed her heart. It was as though she rarely saw Alex anymore. Alex rarely spoke to her anymore. Only around to defend her when Ginny picked a fight with Georgia. They were best friends and partners in crimes once. Alex used to tell her anything. Now, Georgia knew nothing about her daughter's love life and Alex was never around for Georgia to tell her about everything going on with her own life.
It was an odd feeling but perhaps it was because normally, mothers and their fifteen-year-old daughters didn't act like best friends. Normal mothers and their daughters didn't commit felonies together or buy weed from the boy next door together. Normal daughters weren't supposed to be comfortable ranting to their mothers about the people they had sex with and normal mothers didn't tell their daughters about the guy she was fooling around with, either.
But Georgia had liked it that way. She liked how Alex trusted her and how she could always trust Alex. But now, her daughter was like a stranger to her. The fact that Alex was aware of Maddie being in town before Georgia did and never told her just proved that.
If Alex kept that from her, what else was she lying about?
Alex was slowly withdrawing from the family and Georgia hated it more than anything. She felt alone and since Alex was practically a younger version of her, Georgia knew Alex felt alone too. But if that were the case, why was Alex distancing herself from Georgia?
____
Together, Alex and Georgia walked into the Blue Farm Cafe. They walked over to where Maddie sat, talking Joe's ear off. Georgia set her purse down, turning to give her sister a scolding look. "WD-40 torches. That's what our sons were playing with," She complained and since he already had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going, he set an empty wine glass in front of Georgia.
"Oh, hi, sis!" Maddie greeted Georgia happily as she turned to face her.
"They almost burned my house down," Georgia snapped at Maddie, clearly not content with the whole ordeal as Maddie was.
"Well, all I'm hearing is that they didn't," Maddie retorted sassily as she leaned toward Georgia. She smiled, turning to face Joe once.
"JoJo, pour my sis a hulking glass of wine," Maddie insisted as she gestured toward Georgia and then Alex, "She clearly needs it. Oh, and a Shirley temple for the minor!"
"Shirley temple?" Alex scoffed in disbelief as she turned to Joe, "Who the hell do you think I am? I'll have some wine, too!"
"We're not staying," Georgia argued in a stern tone as she decided against Alex's suggestion of getting Maddie trust enough to get answers out of her, "Someone needs to watch the kids. I obviously can't trust my sister to do that."
"Oh, don't get your dander up!" Maddie snapped at Georgia before turning to Joe, giving him a innocent look, "Please pour."
"Please don't," Georgia spoke up in an annoyed tone.
"Please do," Alex butted in with a smile on her face, "And pour me some while you're at it."
"Joe," Maddie insisted as she gave the man a stern look.
"Maddie," Georgia warned her sister, who slowly turned to her.
"Georgia," Maddie replied and next, Georgia turned to Joe.
"Joe," She warned him and Alex loudly groaned.
"Run while you still can," Alex whispered to the man, who thankfully nodded before walking off.
He finally realized where Alex got her personality from. She was literally a combination of both Georgia and Maddie.
Maddie smiled and turned to Georgia, who was giving her a scolding look.
As the two women had their staredown, Alex smiled, using the opportunity to pour herself a glass of wine.
"Might I remind you that you used to chase me around the lawn with a WD torch?" Maddie reminded Georgia, who rolled her eyes while Alex smiled at the thought, "You called it Fire Dodge!"
And she thought she had been a wild child.
"We were kids!" Georgia complained, a serious look on her face while Maddie was laughing at the memory, "With no adult supervision! Which is kinda my point."
Maddie sighed, dramatically rolling her eyes at her older sister. "Would you stop fittin' and start sittin'?" She exclaimed as she aggressively patted on the seat to her right while Alex was more than willing to take a seat on the stool to the woman's left.
"You sound like a deranged Dr. Seus," Georgia retorted as she took a seat beside Maddie, who laughed in response.
"So uppity. I gotta pee," Maddie announced and Alex watched the woman place her phone in her back pocket before walking off.
As her sister went to use the bathroom, Georgia sighed in disapproval when she turned to see Alex in the middle of pouring herself a glass of wine.
"One glass, please?" Alex pleaded as she gave her best innocent-looking eyes. Little did Georgia know Alex had already gulped down two full cups of wine while Georgia was too busy bickering with her sister to see her daughter drinking right in front of her.
"One glass, that's all," Georgia replied, giving her daughter a pointed look, "Only 'cause I know we'll both need it to deal with my psycho sister."
Alex laughed and nodded, handing her mother back the bottle of wine. She took a sip of the glass in front of her, only to quickly place it down when she saw Joe walking over to them.
"In case this night is headed where I think it's headed," Joe informed Georgia as he set down two cups of water for her and Maddie.
"It's not," Georgia argued in a calm tone as she poured herself a cup of wine.
Alex smiled at the sight, knowing for a fact that it was a lie.
Joe chuckled, he and Alex watching Georgia fill her cup to the top, nearly overfilling it.
Alex glanced between her mother and Joe knowingly. It was so obvious that Joe liked her. She wondered if her mother could see it, though.
"So that's your sister, huh?" Joe asked Georgia, who hummed in response, "We were talking. Sounds like she wants to make things right, get to know you. She's a lost soul."
"Oh! Alert Ursula," Georgia remarked, causing Alex to nearly choke on her drink as she began to laugh.
"I'm just saying, family is family," He reminded her and Georgia lowered her as she sighed in defeat.
Joe turned to Alex, giving her a disapproving look when he saw the glass of wine she held. "You shouldn't be drinking."
"Come on, Joe. You were my age once. You know what it's like," She told him, smiling widely, "I have parental consent, too, Joe. I think I'm good."
Joe sighed, glancing over at Georgia before back at Alex. "Just this once," He reluctantly agreed and Alex smiled in satisfaction.
The moment he saw Maddie walking back over, Joe smiled up and Alex turned to watch Maddie walk over.
"That was a fast pee," Alex muttered under her breath, but thought nothing of it.
Maddie walked over, sitting between Georgia and Alex as Joe walked away. "He likes you," She told Georgia in a hushed tone.
"He doesn't like me," Georgia argued, clearly not seeing what Maddie and Alex did
"Would you do him in a box?" Maddie asked, moving toward Alex, "Would you? Could you? With a fox?"
Georgia laughed, despite trying not to. "Shut up."
"I am Dr. Seuss," Maddie continued, smiling as she, Alex, and Georgia clinked their wine glasses together. She turned to Georgia, smiling widely, "You're paying for this."
"I'm not paying for it," Maddie argued, smiling as she leaned toward Georgia, "He's not gonna let you pay 'cause he wants to get into your pantaloons."
"Ew! My god! My ears!" Alex exclaimed, looking disgusted as she covered her ears. She was in no mood to hear about her boss wanting to sleep with her mother, "My poor, virgin ears."
At the same time, Georgia and Maddie turned to look at Alex, both of them giving her a weird look. "If you're a virgin, then I must be the president of the United States," Maddie commented, causing Georgia to laugh despite not meaning to.
"Maddie!" Georgia scolded her sister, laughing as she lightly slapped the girls on the arm.