[ iv. CHAPTER FOUR ]
Alex heard her phone chiming a couple of thousand times then she realized she might as well get out of bed. She reached over to get her phone from her night stand. A text from Jake.
Where are you?
She furrowed her eyebrows. "It's 7am and he's asking me where I am?" Alex muttered to herself. Then she just took in the time. It's actually 9am. Oh fuck, I'm late. She bite her lip nervously. "Might as well get breakfast. If I'm going to be late I shouldn't be late on a empty stomach." she mumbled to herself. Alex kept scrolling through her notifications.
Missed Call. Unknown.
"Why can't I get a break? Girl's got to sleep." she grumbled. She kept scrolling through her phone, a text from Brooke as well.
Need you. ASAP.
Alex made herself a quick breakfast and then took a quick shower. Tying her hair up in a ponytail because she thought her hair is just a big mess. Putting on a regular t-shirt and jeans with her ankle boots she was off to go. Alex checked the time once she was finished with everything. 9:41am. "Fuck." she swore to herself.
First period already finished. She scrolling through her contacts and called Jake. "Yo!" He answered. "Jake. Can you pick me up?" Alex asked politely but also in a rush as she was struggling to adjust her necklace that Brooke gave her for her 16th birthday which was a couple of months ago.
"Badass Alex, not going to class?" she huffed. "Jake just pick me up, I'm already late as it is." Alex demanded. "Demanding... I like that in a woman. Give me five." Then he hung up. One of the cons of not having a car anymore, always got to rely on someone to drive you or walk but majority of the time I don't feel like walking.
Alex heard numerous honks from outside seeing it was Jake obnoxiously honking his monster truck. She struck him the middle finger as she locked the door behind her and hopped into his truck. "So, what's your excuse?" He asks as he drove to school. "Slept in." Alex responded with a yawn, covering her mouth. "Seems like you had quite a sleep, dreaming about me?" He smirked, she threw him a light punch. "It's almost 10 and you're already acting violent towards The Jake. I say that's a world record." he stated.
"Profound to be exact." she fired back at him. They arrived to school, rushing. Fast walking to language arts. Seeing as only Jake and Alex were late. They hurried back to their seats and let Mr. Branson continue his lesson, seeing how the pair earned glares from Mr. Br.
"See Aristotle asked. 'Why are we here? What is the meaning of life in the face of death?'" Mr. Branson continues. "Bet Tyler's wondering same thing right about now." Jake interrupts. "Thank you Jake." Mr. Branson says as he is continuing his lesson looking around the classroom. Alex raised a eyebrow over his actions. Jake chuckles along with one of the jock members, Liam. She rolled her eyes.
"See, Aristotle also understood that volatile relationships, well they can lead to tragedy." As Mr. Branson looks over the books on his desk. "Looking for something, Mr. B?" Brooke questions in curiosity with a small smirk on her face. "We're all looking for something, Brooke." He vaguely answers.
"And I found what I was looking for." Jake whispers in Alex's ear. She giggled, seeing she caught a glare from Mr. Branson Alex apologized, then turned around glaring at Jake.
"See, desire that's the heart of drama. Desire for love, power, money. I'm talking about Jason and Medea. Talking about Antony and Cleopatra. I'm talking about Emma and Kieran." Mr. Branson points the two of them. Alex bursted out laughing. "Excuse me?" Emma looks up in embarrassment. "I'm talking about Alex and Jake." This time Alex didn't laugh but rather question. "What?" she asked.
She can already feel the smirks coming at her. "I'm splitting you all up in pairs... You and your partner will choose a dramatic scene to perform in class." Mr. Branson continues. Alex turned around towards Jake and he nodded. She smiled and turned back to the teacher. "Let's not limit ourselves. We can choose something contemporary, like movies. Audrey, and Will."
"If you suggest the pool scene from Wild Things. I will end you." Audrey threatens. That is a pretty good movie, it had the same vibe as Gone Girl. Will gave a weak smile and turned back to Mr. Branson. I let out a chuckle over what Audrey commented. "Or if that's too much for your attention span, pick a favourite TV show. Riley and Noah. I'll even allow popular fiction. Brooke and Liam."
"How about Fifty Shades of Grey?" Jake asks, Alex's eyes widen. "Fine, let's do the scene where you buy me an Audi" she snapped back. He curled his tongue at her, as she rolled my eyes.
"Alright everybody, let's go to the library. I'm going to pair the rest of you up there. Get going on these selections. Let's go." Mr. Branson announces as everyone grabs their things.
"When Harry Met Sally...?" Alex asked looking at the list of movies, and TV shows they could possibly do. She glanced over at Jake, seeing him smirk. "What?" she asked, looking at him weirdly. "Isn't that the movie where those two friends fuck?" Alex scoffed over his question. "No, it's about two people who are least likely to become friends actually become friends, then they fuck, and caught feelings for each other and end up together." she explained more in detail. "Mhm." He hums in response, kept on smirking at his best friend. "Okay, start." she told him. He cleared his throat and started to read the lines.
"You realized of course that we could never be friends."
"Why not?"
"What I'm saying is, and this is not a come on in any way, shape or form is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way."
"That's not true. I have a number of male friends and there is no sex involved."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"You only think you do."
"You saying I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?"
"No, what I'm saying is that they WANT to have sex with you."
"They do not."
"Do too."
"They do not."
"Do too."
"How do you know?"
"Because no man can be friends with a woman he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her."
Alex just bursted out laughing. "Yeah we can't do this one." she told him. "Why?" He asked, now taking his eyes off the screen, watching her. "This is just bs. Men and women can be friends with no sex involved." she stated.
"Actually the man Harry does have a point. How can a man be friends with someone who he finds attractive? It's impossible, there is always something between them." Jake argues. Alex opened her mouth and was about to argue back but she couldn't put her finger on what she wanted to say. She licked her lips. "How do you even know if there is something between them Fitzgerald." Alex giving him a self satisfied smirk, knowing well he can't answer her question.
"Well, Verona. You know when you feel something different in your heart... or in your pants." Alex chuckled. "That was real deep." she commented. The pair both laughed. "Okay so, you coming over to do late night dramatic scene work?" He questions, Alex nodded.
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"Okay so we can't do The Fault in Our Stars, mhm... how about Cruel Intentions?" Alex asked looking through the list she had found on google. "What scene?" as Jake scrolls through his phone. "You pick." she told him. "How about that scene where Sebastian calls Annette a lesbian." Alex gave him a look, furrowing her eyebrows. "What? It's the only G rated scene in the entire film." Jake replies, Alex bite her lip, and nodded. "True, true. Okay let's start." Jake cleared his throat.
"I read your manifesto."
"You did?"
"Yes. I must say, I found it rather... appalling."
"That's a first. Most people praise me for it."
"Most people are sheep. Who are you to criticize something you've never experienced?"
"I wasn't criticizing. I just think people shouldn't experience the act of love until they are in love and I just don't think people our age are mature enough to experience those kinds of emotions."
"Are you a lesbian?"
"No..."
"I didn't mean to offend you. I just picked up on a little bit of that lesbian vibe."
"I wouldn't expect a man of your experience to understand my beliefs."
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
"I've been very well informed of your reputation."
"What have you heard?"
"That you promise girls the world to get them in bed with you."
"Who told you this?"
"A friend wrote me."
"That's a bit tacky."
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's the truth isn't it?"
"If you say so."
Once they had finished their lines, Jake drove Alex back home. "Sorry, you couldn't stay long. I have to deal with a few things." Jake apologizes. "No worries, see you tomorrow." she looked over to his backseat and noticed a shovel. Alex raised a eyebrow. "What are you doing with a shovel?" she questioned him. "My dad took my car out, needed to get a few things." he lied. "Uh huh. I'll see you tomorrow."
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Alex sat by the bench, scanning the crowd. Then she felt hands covering her eyes so she couldn't see. "Christian Grey's Red Room of Pain awaits you." instantly recognizing the voice, she took his hands off of her. Alex made a gagging sound. "Ew, that would literally be like doing my brother." she told him. "So, Game of Thrones? I'm cool with that." He gave her best friend a smile. Alex grinned.
"Tell you what. I'll just pick the scene and email you the lines. Now run along, go find Will and continue tanking the school's collective IQ." she decided. Alex heard him sigh, looking uneasy. "What? Bromance on the rocks?" Alex questioned. He scoffs and looks over at her.
"I got one rule. I do not abide people I can't trust." Jake states. I gave him a look. "Please. Trust is a campaign promise. Real life? You're either the cat or the mouse." she licked her lips, flashing a smile. "So, that's how it works with us?" He looks at her up and down. "Well obviously I'm the cat in this friendship." Alex declared, raising a brow. "Mhm." He gives her a smirk. "Stop." She mumbled to him, giggling. His smirks are quite intriguing, she thought . With that, he left.
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"And just before Noah and I were about too... you know. Tyler finally texted me back. He wants our help." Riley starts. Alex looks over at Brooke. This can only end up badly, Alex thought. "And you just left the little dude hanging? Harsh." Jake interrupts. Alex nudged him, making him stop. "Jake, bigger issues." Will said. Emma has a worried look on her face.
"Wait, did you text him back?" Alex asks. "Yes." Riley replies. "He said he didn't do it, but he's afraid that no one's going to believe him." she continues. "I don't believe him. I told him to turn himself in." Brooke expressed. "I just said hasta la vista baby when he texted me." Alex told the group as she took a sip of her coffee.
"He texted both of you too?" Emma questions. Brooke and Alex nodded. "Same time as Riley." Brooke answers. "Here." Alex gave Emma her phone for her to check the time of the texts Tyler sent.
"Guys, I don't think this is Tyler." Emma admits. "It came from his phone." Alex told her confused. "It's not him." Emma repeated, looking at her. Alex gulped, feeling uneasy.
"Someone has been calling and harassing me." Emma continues, looking at the entire group. "Is that what was going on in the alley the other night?" Will questions, Alex raised a eyebrow, wondering what happened at the other night.
"He's playing games with me. He sent you that text pretending to be me? I'm pretty sure he's doing the same thing again." Emma finishes. "This is all so strange." Alex whispered. "Why would some weirdo pretend to be Tyler on us?" Brooke asks. "It's hard to explain. I promise, you can't trust him." Emma promises.
"Em, I have no idea who's screwing with you, but I know Tyler. He's afraid and we need to hear him out." Riley protests. Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Riley, what if Tyler really did kill Nina, and if he hasn't. If he's so 'innocent' why can't he come forward? You know how Tyler is with his foster parents, they would be the first to know if any." she argued back.
"Riley we need to go to the police." Emma told Riley. "So he can get shot like Brandon James?" Riley spat back. Alex scoffed, taking another sip of my coffee. "Riles, I love you. I do. But Tyler might have killed Nina." Brooke tries to convince Riley, but there's no good in reaching out. She was always naive, always saw the good in people. "I vote cops." Alex announced.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Riley was left mad and said "If they hurt him, it's on you."
Alex let out a deep breath, and went back to drinking her coffee. "You busy tonight?" she whispered to Jake. "No, why?" he whispers back. "Come over later?" Alex asked finishing my coffee. He nodded, wrapping his arm around her. Brooke and Emma followed Riley. She caught up with them and told them she's heading home.
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Alex decided to just wear a pair of grey sweat pants and just a black tank top. She was already yawning and rubbing her eyes with no fear of ruining her makeup. Alex absolutely love going bare face, though she thought she looks like a 12 year old boy. Alex noticed her cat, Salem returned home when she spotted him arriving through the cat door. She picked him up as she decided to watch some reruns of Friends to pass by the time.
Alex heard a knock on her door, looking through the peephole she saw it was Jake. She unlocked the door to let him in seeing him with a bag from 7/11. "I come bearing gifts." He spoke, opening the bag and handing everything Alex likes. "Sour skittles, two areo bars, and a bag of hot cheetos." she thanked him for her favourites munchies and they sat by the couch. "You truly are the man of my dreams." as she started to eat an areo bar. Alex glanced over to see he got himself the same but non sour skittles. He was never a fan of sour skittles.
"Do you really think it's Tyler?" Alex asked, popping a blue sour skittle in her mouth as she made a face. "Honestly, no. It's probably some kid that's pranking Emma." Jake answered. Alex bite her lip, and nodded. "I just have this feeling, I'm not sure how to explain it. I just feel as if this is only the beginning." she admitted, looking down.
"Alex, no one is going to even lay a hand on you. I'll kick some major ass before anyone even touches you." Alex looked up, studying his face. He's such a good looking guy. God, let's not forget that smile.
Alex heard her phone buzz. Seeing it was Emma calling her. Alex answered. "Hello?" she heard crying and police alarms. "Ril- ey..." She kept stuttering. "What? Emma? What happened to Riley?" Alex questioned, looking at Jake worried. "She's dead." Emma let it out.
"No, she can't be." she refused, shaking her head. "They found her body, at the station..." Emma cried. Alex bite her lip thinking it would stop her from crying. "Um, I got to go. My mom is driving me home." Emma said. "Okay." she whispered, hanging up.
Alex felt the warm tears reach down her cheeks. "What happened? Alex." Jake pulled her in a hug. Alex cried even harder. "Riley's de- ad." she responded, with her voice all shaky. "Come here, let me take you to bed." He picked her up bridal style and the pair entered her bed room with Salem following them behind the two.
Alex wiped her eyes with the tissues she has on her night stand, trying to calm herself down. Another one of my closest friends are dead. Jake tries to comfort her, and well it was helping most of the night but she still felt so much guilt and sadness. Maybe if I was there with Riley, she won't have died.
"Jake?" He hummed in response, slowly rubbing her back.
"Can you stay here? I don't want to be alone in this house." Alex asked quietly.
"Alex, try to go to sleep." He reassured her, tucking her in bed. He sat on the couch Alex had in her room, noticing how uncomfortable he looks, Alex got up and grabbed him a blanket and one of her pillows.
"Jake." he hummed in response, his eyes are closed so he didn't see the pillow and blanket she's carrying. Alex placed the blanket on top of Jake so he won't be cold and handed him the pillow. She bent her knees, lowering to his level so she could see her face.
Alex started to play with his hair, running her fingers through it. A smile grew on his face.
"Goodnight Jake."
Before Alex got up to go to sleep, he lightly kissed her forehead.
But his comfort doesn't change the fact that another friend of mine is gone, forever.
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NOTE: hope you all liked chapter four!!! kinda wrote this last minute. a little rushed but hope you all liked it anyways, the 2 scenes Jake and alex worked on are foreshadowing their friendship xo