Do not own Orange Is the New Black or any of the characters.
Sweet Sixteen
March 1996
The Girls' washroom
First Period
She pushed her glasses up and on top of her head. Her green eyes pierced back at her through the reflection in the mirror. She let out a sigh at what she saw. She didn't look like the other girls, she thought bitterly to herself.
Every girl in her class either had bleach blonde hair and blue eyes or mousy brown hair with brown eyes. She was the only girl within her sophomore class of 100 to have black hair and green eyes, or so it seemed to her. Alex Vause had always felt different from the other girls in her grade. She had been in the same class with them since the age of four. This being one of the downfalls of living in such a small town like she did. You went through your whole school career together, from kindergarten up until senior year. And then some were only luckily enough to go on to a college or university outside the state. Most just ended going to the community college near by or not continuing their education at all and getting a job somewhere in town.
Forever living in the small town.
But, Alex didn't have plans on letting that happen to her. The moment they handed over her diploma, she was out of there. She wasn't sticking around any longer than she had too. She had big plans to go off and live in New York City, were her dad was. However, he had no idea she existed. But she would figure that last one out closer to the date. She was only just a sophomore. There were two more years still to go before she graduated, which she was going to. Alex wasn't the smartest kid in her class. She wasn't a nerd like Paula Raymond was, but she wasn't dumb either. She loved to read and get lost in books. Her best subjects were English, History and surprisingly Geography (Even know it was the lamest course going. She secretly loved it.) She hoped one day to travel and to see the world.
She had big plans for her life. She had no desire to live in such a small town were everyone knew everyone and their business. She hated it here.
Alex Vause, was going to be something.
She was going to go somewhere.
Her mother, Suzy had told her, that she was too much of a daydreamer, but she didn't think so. She just knew what she wanted and would go after it, no matter what. Unlike her mother, who had gotten herself knocked up at 18 by some drummer guy one summer and ended up back in the small town, she had been trying to get away from in the first place.
Alex knew better than to let that happen to her.
It wasn't uncommon for a girl in her high school to drop out because they had ended up pregnant. There were five girls alone, in just her grade, who were supporting beach balls of stomachs.
However, Alex's mother would kill her for sure if she wound up pregnant at just sixteen. Her mother had given her the sex talk when she was four and the old condom on the banana demonstration when she was twelve. She knew all about the risks that unprotected sex brought. And to always make sure that the guy wore a condom. And to never, never let him just pull out- for that never worked.
Suzy Vause had wanted to have an open relationship with her daughter about sex and how as a girl,she had the right to say no if she didn't feel comfortable and shit. Alex didn't no what the point of all of it was though, she was still a virgin. Yes, she had a encyclopaedia of knowledge on birth control and STDs but what good was it when she didn't even need it...not yet that was.
Alex had never had a proper boyfriend. She wasn't even sure if she liked boys to be honest. They were stupid, she thought. They were always way too loud and always had too much gel in their hair. At least the boys in her school did.
Plus, she found dicks to be repulsing. And don't get her started on blow jobs. That the idea of giving one made her want to vomit.
She preferred girls.
They were everything that boys weren't. Soft. Beautiful. They always smelt amazing, even after running ten laps in P.E. She loved girls. However, she wouldn't admit it. She was already labelled as a freak at her school. Admitting she was gay too would just make it ten times worse.
She didn't need the added attention, she thought as she continued to stare at her appearance in the bathroom mirror.
She hated how she looked.
She had been cursed with her mother's Irish side. Her skin was as pale as ever. Unlike every other teenage girl in her class, who had sun-kissed looking skin. She didn't tan or go to tanning beds like she knew the other girls did. Alex's skin stayed white all year long. Which was kinda a rare thing in New Jersey or at least it was in her town. Every teenage girl...or just women in general through out the place were some shade of orange.
Alex easily burned.
She tried to stay out of the sun as much as possible and tanning bed just scared her. She had tried self-tanning once with her cousin, Lucy but that had just made her look like a tall hompa-lompa. She now made an effort to stayed away from all tanning products.
Alex swore as she heard the bell go off in the hallway.
She was late for class.
She quickly then shoved her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and grabbed her backpack from off of the floor and bolted out of the girls' washroom.
She couldn't afford to be late-again.
Room 344
Fourth Period
Alex should be paying attention to what her teacher was saying at the front of the class but she couldn't concentrate. She could never pay attention in Math class. And it wasn't because she didn't try.
She did.
It was just that seated in front of her was Janey, Janey Swift.
Unlike everyone else, Janey hadn't been born here. She had moved to town last summer from Washington, D.C.
D.C. wasn't exactly different from New Jersey, but for people here, it like saying you were from Australia. And Janey might had well said she was from there because she was so different from everyone else. Not only did she talk a little differently and dress differently, but she looked different too, which Alex loved.
Janey was fucking exotic.
Janey was half Japanese and half Russian. She had a natural olive complexion to her skin. Her eye were this beautiful hazel colour and had a slight almond shape to them. Her hair was long and jet black. She was beautiful, thought Alex.
Alex had seen her around town a couple of times but it wasn't until the Goddess had been assigned to the seat in the very front of Alex, had she realized her true feelings. Alex was in love. Janey was not only beautiful, but she was smart too, not like lame nerdy smart but like hot under the radar smart.
She liked that.
But the only problem was that Janey didn't know she existed really. Well, she knew of her. They would sometimes say hi in the hallway and such, but that was it. Janey wasn't in the same social circle as Alex.
She was in with the popular crowd.
The blond bitches had snatched up the newcomer before anyone else could.
Alex hated that crowd. The popular girls. They were all blonde with big hair. Since the first day in kindergarten they had made Alex's life a living hell. All their families were rich and practically owned the town.
Alex, however lived in the low-income part of town. She didn't live in a trailer park but it was still pretty close.
She had always gotten made-fun-of for the over-sized black framed glasses she had worn since the age of five. Or her thift-shop clothes. Her mother, couldn't afford brand new clothes for her. Alex had always gotten her clothes second hand, either from the local Salvation Army or hand-me-downs from her cousin, Paulina. And as she had gotten older, the teasing and name-calling just seemed to get worse.
It hadn't helped that she had been the first girl to hit puberty at the beginning of middle school, having grown a good 7 inches over the summer and a pair of B-cups boobs to go with it. Earning her the nickname, Stretch. She had been not only the tallest girl but an inch taller than the tallest boy, Brody Williams. And she had continued to grow, height and chest wise. She now stood a full 5 feet 10 inches with a full hour-glass figure from boobs to hips. She knew that women around the world would kill to have the curves that she had, or so her mother would try and tell her every time she complained about her large breasts. But Alex would trade in her 36-Cs any day for a new pair of smaller, perkier, 34-As that Jessica Wench had.
Jessica was the most popular girl in her grade. Everyone seemed to love her. From the boys, to the girls, to the teachers. Jessica couldn't seem to do no wrong. And Alex hated every fibre of her. She was perfect and she hated that. But what she hated even more than how perfect Jessica was, was that she wanted to be like her. Jessica and Alex had never gotten along. Jessica had been the ring leader most of the times of Alex getting picked on in grade school for her knock-off brand shoes and for her mom working more than one job. And it had continued on all through middle school and now high school.
But no matter how much she loathed the blonde hairs on Jessica's head, she couldn't help but envy her and wanting to be like her. Not in the bitchy, cheerleader way. But she wanted to have not only the ring of friends that she had always around her, but the effortless confidence she had.
Alex didn't have many friends and she tried not to let that bother her too much. She much rather sit in her bedroom, getting lost in a book than go to some lame-ass house party and hang out with a bunch of people she didn't care one flying rat's ass about. She much preferred her own company to others, most of the time. But deep down, she couldn't help but feel jealous that she didn't have that close group of friends to hang out with like everyone else on the planet seemed to have. There were only three people in her life that she could really call her good friends. Michelle who was her next door neighbour. Eric, the only boy she will probably ever love and even then just as a friend. Then there was Nora. She was older then Alex by three years and was the daughter of one of her mom's friends. But Alex looked up to her like an older sister. And even know she didn't see her that often anymore since she had graduate, Alex still called her one of her very few friends.
Alex also loathed and envied that Jessica was friends with Janey, her true love.
"Hey, do you have a pencil?"
"Uh?" murmured Alex as she sat up straight in her seat and came out of her daydream.
"Do you have a pencil that I could maybe borrow?"
Alex was silent for a moment as she rapidly blinked her green eyes and nervously adjust her glasses as she stared into the hazel eyes of Janey. She could feel her heart begin to race as butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach.
"Um...yeah...sure," she whispered in a raspy, horsed sounding voice. She stared at Janey for a second longer before shyly dropping her gaze, causing a curtain of black hair to fall, shielding her face partly as she reached down into her backpack. She rummaged nervously into her bag, before her hand came into contact with her pencil case. She could feel Janey's eyes burning into her face but she didn't dare to look back up as she nosily placed the pencil case onto the surface of the desk and opened it.
A moment later she was handing over a freshly sharpened number two pencil.
"Thanks!" spoke Janey, a warm smile appearing on her face.
Alex tried to smile back but found her facial muscles had forgotten how too as she once again got lost in those beautiful hazel almond eyes. The best she could mange it seemed was a frown of sorts.
"No problem," she murmured with a shrug of her shoulders. She was trying appear cool and like it was no big deal that she was borrowing her pencil. But deep down, Alex insides were screaming with a mixture of excitement and nerves that Janey was even acknowledging her, let alone talking to her.
The two girls continued to hold each other gaze for a moment longer, which seemed to last forever in Alex's point-of-view of things, before Janey was talking again.
"I'll give it back to you at the end of class," Janey once again smiled at Alex.
Alex opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Janey had turned around in her seat again, once again ignoring her.
Alex could feel the heat in her cheeks as she continued to stare intensely into the back of Janey's head. She hated how fluttered she felt at the moment as her heart continued to race.
Janey probably thought she was a complete weirdo or something now, thought Alex. She wished for once she could keep her cool and act normal and appear nice. Instead of this moody, burn-out that she knew people saw her as.
She cursed in her head as she dropped her gaze onto her notebook and stared intensely at the math problem written. She had no fucking clue what the answer was and she didn't really care at the moment as a thousands thoughts raced through her mind at once, getting lost in her daydream again.
Birch Street
Afterschool
The air hung heavy of rain as Alex wrapped her over-sized jean jacket around herself and began to walk home. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she ducked her head and walked slowly along the sidewalk, dragging the heels of her feet with each step. Her mother had always told her to pick up her feet when she walked, but her mother wasn't here now to tell her off.
So she continued to shuffled her way home.
Alex chewed on her lower lip as a breeze of cold air washed through her, the wind had picked up. Her dark locks wiped around her face like tentacles.
There was laughter in the distance, but she tried not to pay much attention to it as she popped the collar of her jacket and hunched her shoulders. She was not only trying to appear shorter but keep warm. It was suppose to be spring but winter was still clinging on it seemed.
It was fucking freezing, she thought.
She heard laughter again from behind her but she pressed on. She knew who it belonged too and she didn't want to deal with them now or ever for that matter. She hated how she had to walk through the richer part of her neighbour to get to her house. But it was a lot quicker to do so then avoiding it.
"Vause!"
She stopped walking briefly as she heard her name be called out suddenly from the distance. She stood there frozen on the sidewalk for a second before continuing to walk.
"VAUSE!" The voice was louder and closer this time.
Again, Alex stopped walking at hearing her name. She let out a deep breath as she this time turned her head to see who this mystery caller was.
Her face broke out into a wide grin as she laid eyes on her best friend, Eric as he came running towards her on the sidewalk.
"Hey!" she cried back with a wave of her hand.
"Fuck! It took you long enough!" replied Eric as he stopped running and stood in front of Alex. His breathing was laboured. He had been running after Alex for a good block or two.
"Sorry," murmured Alex as she reached out and adjusted her glasses which had began to slop down her nose. She had tendency to get lost in her own world when walking home from school.
"I was practically sprinting just now trying to keep up with you and those fucking Amazon legs of yours!" explain Eric as he gestured to her long legs. Alex was only about two inches taller then Eric was, but that didn't stop him from execrating her height.
"Fuck off!" cried out Alex as she pushed Eric in the shoulder, causing him to take a step back. Eric was a tall lanky teenager with shaggy brown hair. He had beautiful hazel eyes and a easy smile. If Alex was in to boys, she would think he would make a good boyfriend. However, Eric knew she didn't float that way. Back in middle school, when they were all going through that dreaded change and such, Eric had confess his love for Alex. He had been her first kiss. He had kissed her out of the blue one day when she was over at his house. It's what first triggered something inside of her that she might not be straight.
Eric hadn't been too upset by Alex's rejection. He had mopped around for two weeks before things had returned normal between them. Eric was the only person that Alex had confessed to that she was gay.
The two friends just stared at each other for a second before breaking out into laughter. This was their routine of sorts. They would tease and make fun of each other until one of them got pissed off before breaking out into laughter. They had been doing this since they were kids. Alex and Eric had always known each other like all kids in the town did but they hadn't become friends until the third grade. They'd been assigned to sit at the same table in class and that's were their friendship had blossomed.
They also both hated Jessica Wench.
Alex studied Eric as he reached inside the windbreaker he was wearing and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
"You want?" asked Eric as he placed a unlit cigarette into his mouth and offered the pack to Alex.
"Sure," murmured Alex as she pulled a cigarette out and placed it between her lips. Her mother would kill her if she knew she was smoking- calling it a disgusting habit. However, Alex thought there were worse habits she could be doing at this moment then smoking. She knew there were plenty of kids in her class who smoked weed and other drugs. She had tried weed for the first time last week at Michelle's older brother's house party. She hadn't seen what the big deal was. Sure it mellowed her out and shit but she hadn't been impressed. Plus, she hated the smell of the stuff. She had practically had to burn her clothes before entering her house the next morning.
The two friends were quiet as Eric produced a red lighter from his pocket and lit his cigarette before lightening Alex's.
Alex closed her eyes briefly as she took a long drag from the cigarette before blowing out a long ring of smoke. This was the only high she needed, she thought as she flicked the end of the cigarette onto the sidewalk before taking another drag from it.
She had taken up the habit of smoking just last summer. Her and Michelle had decided on a sweltering summer day to try it out. They had stolen the pack from Michelle's mom purse and gone to the park to master the skill. Michelle had also wanted to impress some guy she had been crushing on. Alex had just wanted to look badass.
Eric, however had been smoking since he was thirteen.
Alex and Eric them began to walk and smoke at the same time down the sidewalk.
"So did you see the love of you life today?" asked Eric as he casted a sideways glance at Alex. "She was looking pretty fine in that baby doll dress she had on...don't you think?" He wagged his eyebrows playfully at Alex. He knew all about her crush on Janey.
Alex tried not to blush as she glared at Eric. She didn't like to be teased like she was now. No one knew about her feelings for Janey besides Eric. She was glad that Michelle wasn't with them like she usually was afterschool. But Michelle had recently gotten herself a boyfriend, Daniel Owens- who just last year had been considered a total eww was now a total hottie! Michelle was always with Daniel now. It made Alex a little jealous to see her friend so happy and in love.
"Fuck off!" whispered Alex as she shoved Eric hard into the side before began to walk briskly a head of him.
"VAUSE! Come on!" cried out Eric after her. "Don't be mad!"
Alex however ignored him as she continued to walk up the sidewalk. She took another drag from her cigarette. She could hear Eric approach her from behind but she made no effort to acknowledge him. She was still pissed off.
"Come on Allie...don't be like that. You know I'm hundred percent supportive of your lady loving!" Eric was now standing in front of Alex and walking backwards. He was the only person other then her mother who called her Allie. "I think it's awesome that you love the girls. I do too! Girls are amazing! They're not only fucking hot but smell like flowers all the fucking time! Guys never do...we always smell like...shit basically!"
Alex tried to stay mad but despite her efforts she was failing to do so. Her lips were slowly turning up into a smile. She could never stay mad for too long at Eric.
"You do smell like shit!" she replied.
They walked for a couple more blocks together before going their separate ways.
Eric didn't live in the same neighbourhood as Alex and Michelle did. His family actually had fucking money and lived in the decent part of town. Eric would tell you differently but Alex didn't think he should complain. He had it pretty good. Neither of his parent's had to work more then one job. His mom didn't even work, she was a home cooker.
Yeah, she would say that Eric had it pretty good. His mom even still packed his fucking lunch for him everyday.
Alex flicked the remainder of the cigarette into the trash bin next door before walking up the empty driveway of her own house. She slowly walked up the worn down steps to the front porch. Moving her backpack to the front of herself she reached into the small front pocket and pulled out her one lone key dangling from the Mickey Mouse keychain, her grandmother had brought her back last year from Florida.
She then opened the front door of the bungalow and stepped inside.
The house was quiet as she shut the door behind her and took off her backpack. She knew that her mom wasn't home. It was Friday, which meant that after her regular job as a postal carrier, she would be heading over to Muriel's, the local bar where she would do another eight hours of waitressing. She only worked at Muriel's on Fridays and Saturdays' nights when it was most busy and the tips were good. Sunday was the only day that Alex's mom didn't work.
It was indeed a day of rest in the Vause household.
Other then waitressing and carrying mail, Suzy Vause also had two other jobs. On Mondays and Thursdays she worked as a maid at the hotel just the next town over. And on Tuesdays, she taught Piano. She had tried to teach Alex years ago but she didn't have a musical bone in her body it seemed. She hadn't been able to get past grade 1.
Alex didn't see her mom all the time and when she did it was only for a few hours or so sometimes. She was always running from one place to another it seemed. But Alex was sixteen now and hoped to get a job in the summer. She wanted to earn some money to help pay the bills and such. She wanted to give her mom a bit of a break. Her mom never mentioned it but she knew that money was tight for them, it had always been that way.
Alex untied the laces of her beloved black Doc Martins boots and slipped out of them. She placed them on the shoot rack by the door before grabbing her backpack again and heading further into the house. She walked down the hallway, passed the living room and kitchen to the back of the house to where her bedroom was.
She pushed opened the door and stepped into the room. The curtains were drawn, making the room dark in the afternoon light. She flicked on the lights before throwing her backpack onto the centre of the twin bed that took up a good portion of the small bedroom. She next then shredded off her jean jacket and threw it onto the bed. She stood there for just a moment looking around at the mess on the floor before sighing and heading back out. She didn't bother to turn off the lights as she headed to the kitchen.
She was starving.
Vause Household
Evening
Alex let out a frustrated sigh as she tapped her pen rapidly on the notebook currently spread out on her lap as she looked towards her bedroom door. She was suppose to be studying. She had a major test on Monday for Biology and she had told herself that she would dedicate the whole weekend, including Friday night to studying for it.
Plus she couldn't afford to fail. Biology was one of her worse subjects and she needed to at least get a B- on the test to pass the course. She had already failed the last two tests they had. Her mom would kill her for sure if she failed another course this year. She had already failed chemistry last semester and was going to have to make it up in summer school.
It wasn't that Alex was stupid. She just honestly didn't care for science and didn't understand why she had to take it. It wasn't like she was going to be a chemist or anything. However, for so fucking odd reason, she needed Biology and Chemistry credits if she ever wanted to graduate, which she fucking did.
She continued to sit there, peering at her bedroom door as she listened to the dull thud of the base from the music coming from next door. Michelle's older brother was having a party again it seemed. Usually, Alex would be over there, hanging out and getting drunk with Michelle. However, Michelle wasn't there. She was off getting laid...Alex knew that pretty much for sure. Michelle had already filled her in on the details on how she had lost her V-card to Daniel a few weeks ago on Valentine's day. And it seemed like once she lost it, Michelle had become some horny bitch or something. Michelle was always with Daniel, doing it. And the only reason that Alex knew this was because she told her.
Alex sighed again as she drifted her attention back onto her notebook. She hated this, she thought.
She hated biology.
Just as much as she hated being home on a Friday night. But she didn't have anywhere else to go. Michelle was already out of the picture. Eric she could try to phone up and see what he was doing tonight but she figured if he wanted to do something, he would had already phoned himself or just had showed up. She assumed he was either studying himself...Eric was a bit of a nerd when it came to science. He actually enjoyed biology and all those other subjects.
Or he was on a date. Eric like Alex didn't have many friends. And she knew all about Eric's attempts of asking girls out. So she assumed that the later was possible but very unlikely. Eric was probably at home studying or watching Stars Wars. He was always fucking watching Stars Wars.
She wondered if she should phone him up anyways and ask if he wanted to come over. That way they could at least study together and Eric could maybe help her understand for once what was written in her notebook.
As she debated to call him or not, she reached into the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She shouldn't be smoking in the house but her mother wasn't home, and she was in need of a fix.
All this studying was making her anxious.
Thanks for reading!
Julie