Innocence
By Sailor Pixie
Disclaimer: I don't own Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
Authors Note: I just want everyone to know that I know my character is a Mary Sue. Come on I'd have to be pretty dense to not know that. Well now that that is out of the way, feel free to review or offer constructive criticism. But I understand if you hate it so much you just have to flame me. ^_^ Also I've changed the story a little bit because last night my muses were yelling at me that I had gotten the story wrong. So chapter one and two are changed and the rest of the chapters will be changed because of the change in the story, as slight as that change might seem.
Chapter One
School was boring, but then school was always boring. Alexandria sighed, a little to loudly because her math teacher heard her.
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class Miss Masters?"
"No Mr. White," she responded while thinking about the really good book she had had to stop reading to pay attention in Algebra o.
"Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me the answer to number 7 on you work sheet."
Alexandria looked at the work sheet and spaced as she was confronted by a bunch of numbers in brackets, "Um, 22 and 67."
Mr. White looked at her with disgust, "No that isn't even close. I've warned you before that if you didn't start paying attention in class I would send you to the office and let them deal with you." She stared at him, "Did you not understand me pack up your things and go to the office."
"Yes, sir," Alexandria mumbled softly as the entire class stared at her and laughed, not trying to hide their enjoyment at her predicament. She put her notebook, math book, calculator, and pencil back in her backpack and left the room with her head bowed. She walked quickly down the hall to the office, and when she reached it the receptionist looked at her and sighed.
"Are you back again, which teacher kicked you out this time?"
"Mr. White."
"I'll let your counselor know you're here."
"Thank you," Alexandria sat in a chair on the wall opposite from the one that held all the offices and put her backpack on the floor beside her. Suddenly a fat woman with dyed blonde hair burst out of an office in a huff.
"Alexandria, why do you keep aggravating your teachers? If you would just be like everyone else and pay attention we wouldn't keep having these conversations. If you don't shape up I'm going to have to suspend you for three days."
"Why, Mrs. Harris? I get descent grades in my classes, why does it matter if I space out every once in awhile?" Asked Alexandria.
"Don't take an attitude with me child. Your teachers have asked that you be put on probation. If you don't start paying attention in class you will be suspended," explained Mrs. Harris as she smoothed her blue dress. "Maybe if you took your nose out of your books and made some friends you wouldn't be so out of place in class and you would pay attention more."
Alexandria shook her head; "I don't want to make friends with any of the people in this stupid school."
Mrs. Harris sniffed loudly, "I'll have you know that St. Catherine's is a very respected school."
Alexandria stood quickly the anger clear in her voice, "The only reason I go to this school is because my mother, who I don't even live with, paid for me to come here and my dad is so wrapped up in his new girlfriend he doesn't care what I want as long as I stay out of his way. I wear this stupid uniform." She pointed to her green plaid skirt, white shirt, and knee high black socks in disgust, "every day and I hate skirts. You are so strict you won't let me wear the boys uniform and I almost got suspended when I got my hair cut this short." This time she pointed to her boyishly short brown hair with blonde highlights, "This school is a joke I would love to get expelled but I know you won't because you love having the daughter of a supermodel going to this school. It gives you great publicity. Now if you're done lecturing me about my lack of friend and over enthusiasm for books I'm leaving." Then she picked up her backpack and walked to the bus stop outside the school and caught the one o'clock bus home.
When she got home her dad's current girlfriend, Monica, met her at the door, "What are you doing home so early. Never mind I don't care." She grabbed Alexandria's arm in a fierce grip, her sharp red nails biting into Alexandria's soft skin, "I'm entertaining go straight to your room and stay there. Make sure you keep quiet, read a book or something." She let go of Alexandria's arm and turned her tall slim body around and left to go back to her guests. Alexandria walked up the stairs to her large room and set down her bag on her queen-sized waterbed. Her room was one wall of built in book cases, one wall had a large bay window that covered the top half the wall, one wall held an entertainment center with TV, DVD player, VCR, and a large six disc CD changer, and one wall held the doors to her walk-in closet full of clothes that the popular girls at school would die for. She picked up the universal remote from her bed table and turned on her Andromeda soundtrack making sure the sound was down. She plopped down on the bed and began to cry softly. She knew she had it good, her parents were rich, her mother a popular supermodel and her dad an up and coming director, and made sure she had everything she could want and many things she didn't. Just because her father was a little violent didn't mean he didn't love her. The only thing she longed for was human companionship. Her parents were always involved in their own lives, the only time she spent time with them was when they wanted to look like good parents. She cried softly as she recalled all the birthdays and Christmases she spent alone. She softly cried herself to sleep until she was awakened by her father screaming for her.
"Alexandria Elizabeth Masters, you get down here and explain the phone call I received from your school." She sighed and slowly walked down stairs to be confronted by her dad. "Are you going to tell me what you did to be suspended from school for three days starting Monday, Hm." His violet eyes so like her own were hard and unyielding.
"Well you see I was in math and the teacher caught me daydreaming so he sent me to my counselor Mrs. Harris. She told me that if I didn't start paying attention in class she would suspend me, then she told me to take my nose out of my books and make proper friends," Alexandria shrugged. "So I told her I hated the school and everything associated with it and left in the middle of the second half of the day. She must have decided to suspend me after that." During her explanation her dad's face grew to a shade of red not unlike a tomato. Suddenly her father grabbed her wrist in a tight grip that ground the bones together.
"You weren't paying attention in class, were rude to your counselor, a lady who was only giving you some very good advice, and left school early and didn't feel the need to let me know before I got a phone call in the middle of a very important meeting from your school. I had to leave in the middle of the meeting it was very embarrassing. You are grounded young lady, during your suspension you are to stay in the house and not go anywhere. I also demand that you stay out of Monica's way; she is very busy and doesn't need you to get underfoot. Am I understood?" He tightened the grip on her wrist until she whimpered.
"Yes, father." He released the grip on her wrist.
"Good now go to your room, dinner will be brought to you." Alexandria nodded and walked back up the stairs to her room, cradling her right wrist in her hand and closed the door very softly with a small sigh. She took of her uniform and slipped into baggy sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt with the picture of a sleek looking ship and the word Andromeda Ascendant across the top in black. She took out a DVD and put it in the player. After skipping through the menus she picked an icon and sat with her legs crossed in front of her TV. With the DVD case in her lap she watched the first episode of the first season of Andromeda and let her tears fall unheeded on the case. She thought about the harsh words of her father as she watched Dylan Hunt betrayed by his best friend and felt an odd kinship with him in this shared pain of betrayal. She watched Andromeda and Dylan cope with being alone in a universe where they used to be surrounded by friends and felt a longing to belong in a world she could never survive in, a world where you were expected to stab friends in the back to advance your career. She ate her dinner when it was brought to her and watched the second DVD in the first season. She watched as Hunt received his first look at his ship made flesh, saw the joy and love in his eyes and she longed for somebody to look at her like that just once.
She crawled into bed at three in the morning after watching the first three DVD's in the first season. Her last conscious thought was of the crew of the Andromeda and how exciting it would be if it was real and she could be a part of it.
