When They Come

Alex’s mom and dad came in ten minutes, just like they promised. Alex felt a pit in her stomach open up as she saw her parents roll up to the curb. This was going to be interesting.

Alex sighed and started walking toward her parents when John stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him.

“You’re gonna be fine,” he said reassuringly. “And if it makes you feel any better, I’m going to get myself kicked out too. I can’t let my best friend take all the blame,”

“How noble of you,” Alex said, giving a weak smile. “But you don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, I do,” John said firmly. “Now go. I’ll see you later,”

Alex nodded and walked to her parent’s pickup truck. She climbed into the back seat and immediately felt her parents’ eyes on her.

“What happened to you?” Her mom asked nervously.

“It’s a…long story,” Alex said quietly.

“Well, we have ten minutes in the car. So, explain,” Her father said, and the car began to drive.

Alex breathed out and began to retell the story. The prank idea. The plan. The action. The fight. All the while her parents hung on every word, remaining silent. Through the explanation, Alex had to wipe her nose because it kept dripping blood. She cursed Cassandra for that and was happy she broke her nose.

“And so, I’m suspended for seven days,” Alex said, finishing, bowing her head in shame. “I honestly didn’t start the fight. You know me. It was just supposed to be a harmless prank,”

“Alex,” Her mother began, keeping her eyes on the road ahead as she drove.

“I know. I’m in really big trouble. And I understand. I’m sorry,” Alex said, feeling the pit grow bigger.

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Her mother said, looking at her through the rearview mirror. “I was going to say, you look like you had a fight with a possum, and it won,”

“Well, you could say that in a way,” Alex nodded. “But, aren’t you guys mad?”

“We are a little,” Her father nodded. “You shouldn’t’ve provoked Cassandra. Because if you didn’t, this wouldn’t’ve happened.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Alex breathed. She had one more question on her mind. “And…my punishment?”

“I see no need of one,” Alex’s mother said simply. “Being suspended and sustaining injury because of your poor choices seems punishment enough,”

Alex internally sighed in relief. “Fair enough,”

Once they got home, Alex’s mother ushered her inside and made her sit down in the bathroom while she fixed her up. Her mother, before the Saimiens invaded, was a nurse in the town where Alex’s school was. So, she had a few medical tricks up her sleeve.

In about thirty minutes, Alex’s nose was fixed, and put back into place (which involved Alex crying out in pain) and some nose tape over the bridge over her nose, stopping the bleeding. Her minor cuts she received were also cleaned and taken care of. She looked a lot better now than when the fight finished. And Alex was glad she didn’t visit the school nurse.

As her mom took her first aid kit away, Alex stood from the wooden chair she was resting on and looked at herself in the mirror. All the blood from her face was cleaned, but her hair was a mess. It had strands of hair out of the rubber band and it was tangled from all the punching and wrestling.

Pulling out the rubber band, Alex picked up a brush to untangle her pale hair. She was really tired and wanted to just flop on her bed and take a nap. She probably would do that.

Addir was right. Alex shouldn’t’ve triggered Cassandra. But who knew that Cassandra would fight back? Alex shook her head. She was stupid to agree to prank the Ice Queen. Because the ice got her back.

Trudging out of the bathroom, Alex meandered into her room and flopped down on the quilted comforter. She gazed up at the canopy above her with its electric lightbulbs aglow. Such an innocent light.

It made her envious. But she shouldn’t be. She shouldn’t be envious of something she wasn’t.

“Listen to yourself, Alex,” She groaned and turned over until she lay on her stomach. “You sound stupid. Don’t be like that,”

Digging into her pocket, Alex pulled out her phone. She plopped it on her bedside table. she didn’t need it vibrating at her while she napped.

About an hour later, Alex’s phone rang, and she groaned. She had been in the middle of a good dream and she just had to be pulled out of it. She reached over and found it was a Facetime call from John.

She answered it with a sleepy, “What is it?”

“I wanted to let you know that I’m now officially suspended for seven days!” John declared proudly. He looked like he was in his room by the looks of his cobalt blue background. "I confessed that I was the one who came up with the prank to Principal Baldwin and he suspended me too,"

“Congratulations,” Alex said flatly.

John chuckled. “It seems like I caught you at a bad time,”

“Ya think?”

“Call it a hunch,”

Alex groggily sat up and sighed. “So, how’d your parents take it?”

He shrugged. “They used ‘the disappointment card’, but I’m in the clear. They’re really busy in the factory so they didn’t give it much thought. At least I’m not grounded. How about yours?”

“Surprisingly well. They said I shouldn’t’ve don’t it in the first place and that my injuries and suspension were punishment enough,” Alex said with a smile. “I’m not grounded either,”

John smiled back but suddenly squinted. “Has your badge always had that crack in it?” He asked, nodding to Alex’s badge.

“What? No, it’s—oh no,” Alex looked down. Sure enough, the silver, rectangular badge had a large crack in it. That was new. Alex fingered it and a quarter of it fell off. She gasped and John echoed it. “No, no, no, no!” Alex breathed, trying to put the piece back on. “Oh crap,” Alex muttered. “I think I just lost my rank,”

John’s eyes widened. “What now?”