Taking the Long Way
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't. If I did, there would've been a lot more Alex and a lot less Ryan.
Summary: School is back in session and Marissa is happy to be away from the Bait Shop and her evil boss. At least, that's what she thinks. Malex.
A/N: It's their senior year. Alex never dated Seth and Marissa is not with Ryan. Seth and Summer are together…not for any particular reason though.
A/N2: Thoughts are in italics.
Chapter One- That Bitch
"Ugh," Marissa groans as she flings herself into the desk of her first period class, right next to her best friend.
"That excited to be back, eh Coop?" Summer smirks rhetorically.
"Sadly, school is a welcome vacation from the Bitch," the taller girl groans in response.
"Now, your boss can't seriously be as vile as you make her out to be. Well unless you haven't yet told me about the tail and horns," she retorts, adding the last part with a thoughtful expression.
"She's worse," Marissa mumbles as she begins to relax into her desk.
"Look on the bright side: You now get to actually spend time with your bestest friend," Summer grins cheekily.
Marissa smiles fondly at her friend as their teacher enters the classroom and begins to pass out papers. "I don't even get why she's the manager in the first place. The owner must seriously be smoking crack to let her run the place," she concludes lowering her voice to avoid being overheard.
"At least now you have seven hours of Satan-free living," the darker brunette whispers back.
"You're right," Marissa agrees with a satisfied smile.
"Okay class, calm down," Mr. Bowen grumbles as he prepares to begin. "What I just handed out is the class reading list and course syllabus…"
Marissa tunes out the teacher and turns back to her friend. "Seven hours that I don't have to put up with-"
"Alex Kelly," Mr. Bowen greets with poorly concealed distain as the door swings open and slams back shut. "That was quite an entrance and you're late on the first day. That's impressive, even for you," he clicks his tongue in disapproval.
"What can I say, I aim to please," Alex drops her voice suggestively and smirks, earning herself a few scattered chuckles and more than a few lustful glances. She also finds herself on the receiving end of an angry glare from Marissa Cooper.
Ignoring the blonde's comments, Mr. Bowen continues on. "Here is your syllabus and reading list," he says as he hands them to her.
"Great. Thanks," she responds with mock enthusiasm and not bothering to hide the sarcasm dripping from every syllable.
"Just take your seat," the long-suffering English teacher sighs.
As Alex surveys the room, she smiles and waves at a few of her friends. After taking a moment, she spots Marissa, her favorite employee, trying to hide behind her purse as she sinks down into her desk. Making her way to one of the empty seats behind the brunette, Alex feels the annoyance of the first day of school lessening exponentially with how uncomfortable she is making the other girl as she gets closer.
Alex finally takes a seat two desks behind Marissa, "accidentally" hitting her with her messenger bag as she passed by. Once seated, she glances down at the reading list before flipping it over, pulling a pen out from behind her left ear, and writing on the back of it.
As the teacher drones on about something, Summer turns to her friend. "Coop," she hisses to get the other girl's attention. "You never mentioned how hot your boss is," she whispers in an accusing tone.
Marissa opens her mouth to reply, but never gets the chance. As Mr. Bowen's back is turned, Alex slightly rises in her seat, takes careful aim, and hurls her balled up reading list at the back of the other girl's head. It's a direct hit and the ball of paper bounces off Marissa's head and lands right in front of her on her desk.
Whirling around in her desk, she glares viciously at the smirking face of, the now seated, Alex Kelly. "What the fu-"
"Ms. Cooper!" The teacher interrupts Marissa's almost-expletive filled rant. "Something you would like to share with the class?" He asks, challenging her to actually say something.
"Actually…" she begins, pausing briefly to shoot the blonde girl a dirty look.
"Actually, Mr. Bowen," Alex interrupts. "Ms. Cooper is just a little cranky today. Feminine issues," she says the last part in an exaggerated whisper, a conspiratorial tone in her voice. "You understand," she smiles sweetly, gaining another round of laughter from everyone, including Summer, but not so much from Marissa.
The bell rings before Marissa gets a chance to protest. "You are a bad friend," she instead tells her giggling friend.
"Please, she probably saved you from saying something you'd regret," Summer reasons, earning herself a glare. "Or she's just an evil bitch?" She corrects herself, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
"I swear I'm going to rip that stupid purple streak right out of her obnoxious skull," the taller girl growls menacingly.
"See you tonight Princess," Alex sweetly smirks at Marissa. Upon seeing the look of confusion on the other girl's face, she furrows her brow. "Didn't you see the schedule change?" She asks innocently, pointing at the crumpled paper in the brunette's hand, the same paper thrown at the back of her head in class.
"What are you talking about?" Marissa grumbles as she opens up the paper and reads the handwritten schedule on the back of the reading list.
"Lisa and Jason were in a car accident last night. I would've called Sara, but her dad still has that whole 'coma' thing going on," the blonde shrugs.
"So now I have to work four days in a row?!" Marissa asks incredulously, her voice steadily rising with every word. By now, the two have started to cause a scene in the middle of the hallway.
"Okay now. Calm down you guys. At least you have Monday and Tuesday off Coop," Summer intervenes, trying to calm her friend down.
"We're closed Monday and Tuesdays," Marissa snaps back. "Why the hell couldn't you get Jodie to come in?" She growls at her boss.
"I tried, but she talked me into letting her keep the night off."
After a moment, Marissa's eyes widen slightly as she stares at the blonde. "You totally slept with her didn't you?!" She cries out, mortified at the idea of sleeping with Alex for the sake of getting a night off. By now, the two have the complete attention of everyone in the hallway, Summer being the only one to actually notice.
"Jodie can be pretty convincing when she wants to be," Alex shrugs with a mischievous smirk. When Marissa's face turns an even deeper red from anger, or possibly embarrassment, she sighs. "Look, Jodie is in L.A. until tomorrow. What do you expect me to do?"
"Fine," Marissa barks before turning and stalking off to her next class.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a little upset," Alex smirks.
"No, she wasn't upset," Summer says, to which the blonde quirks an eyebrow at the short brunette. "She was furious," she clarifies, at the other girl's expression. "Why would you do that?"
"I didn't really have much of a choice. It isn't exactly a treat for me to be stuck alone with her tonight either," Alex sighs.
"Right. You seemed to be getting a real kick out of winding her up," Summer points out.
"Yeah, well, I have to entertain myself somehow," Alex smiles slightly before disappearing into the crowd to make her way to her next class.
--
"No, Summer. You don't get it. That bitch is in six out of eight of my classes," Marissa whines at her friend in the passenger seat.
"Coop, if she gets off on making you mad, then just don't get mad. Eventually she'll get bored and leave you alone," the darker-haired girl wisely replies, recalling the tail-end of her earlier conversation with the blonde.
"Easier said than done. She's an asshole," the taller girl grumbles.
"Well, have you considered just asking her to leave you alone and stop picking on you?" Summer asks calmly.
"As if that would ever work," Marissa scoffs. She looks over and sees that her friend is about to say something, but she cuts her off. "Knowing her, she'd start acting like an even bigger bitch."
"Couldn't hurt to try," Summer shrugs.
"Maybe not," Marissa reluctantly concedes. "I guess I can just go in early and try talking to her." Summer smiles at her friend and they ride quietly in silence before the shorter girl thinks of something.
"Hey Coop," she says to get the taller girl's attention. "Maybe Alex liiikes you," she grins.
"Ew! Why would you even say that?" Marissa shrieks, causing her best friend to burst into laughter, which she soon joins in.
--
Marissa pulls into the Bait Shop's parking lot at 4:00, an hour and a half before she's scheduled to be in to help set up. She arrives fully expecting the parking lot to be empty so that she could prepare what exactly she was going to say to Alex when the other girl finally arrived. What she didn't expect to see was Alex's Jeep already parked in its usual spot in the back. The blonde never seemed to be the 'get there early' type as far as Marissa is concerned.
The brunette takes a moment to gather her thoughts and, with a deep breath, she makes her way to the entrance. She cringes as she accidentally lets the door slam shut behind her. Fortunately, the blonde is nowhere in sight to yell at her about it. Marissa furrows her brow in consternation as she finds no sign of her boss anywhere. Finally, she decides to check the manager's office.
She cautiously approaches the office door before knocking rapidly, perhaps a bit too hard. After hearing the sound of something being knocked over, as well as an impressive stream of expletives, the door opens wide enough for half of Alex's body to be seen. The blonde looks to be an odd mixture of exhaustion, irritation, embarrassment, and frustration.
After a moment, Marissa's shock of seeing the other girl in such a state wears off. "Uh, hey," she greets amusement evident in her voice, especially as a fleeting look of panic crosses the blonde's face.
"Shit! I must've fallen asleep. What time is it?" Alex blurts out in one breath before frantically looking for a clock…only to realize that she is wearing a watch. She checks it twice. "What the hell are you doing here so goddamn early?" She questions suspiciously.
Marissa's smile fades almost instantly. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something," she says seriously.
"You're not going to quit too are you? Seriously, it would really suck having to run this place on my own two nights in a row," she rants briefly.
"What do you mean 'two nights in a row'? And why would you think that I'd be quitting?" Marissa asks, briefly getting off track.
Alex sighs warily as she leans against the doorframe. "Sara's dad died this afternoon, so she quit…which I totally understand. And, I worked the place solo last night because of Lisa and Jason's car accident…Weren't you paying attention when I mentioned it this morning?" She asks irritably.
"No, I was too busy being pissed off," Marissa growls.
Alex closes her eyes and rubs the bridge of her nose, letting out another sigh in the process. "Didn't you want to talk or bitch about something?" She wonders, wanting to get to the actual point of this little visit.
"Look, I just…" Marissa trails off, unsure how to continue as she finds herself unexpectedly feeling bad for the blonde. "Could I maybe come in?" She asks hopefully, stalling for time and not wanting to have this conversation in a doorway.
The blonde narrows her eyes and watches her carefully for a moment before opening the door and stepping aside. "Don't touch anything," she warns as Marissa enters the room and begins to look around.
Marissa, for her part, is a little taken back by how comfortable the office is considering who it belongs to. She takes a seat on the worn leather couch and finds herself feeling immediately at ease. Glancing up at the bookcase behind the desk, she wonders, briefly, if the blonde has actually read all those books or if they are just for show. She immediately dismisses the thought. Who would she be trying to impress if no one goes in the office except for Alex herself?
"So?" Alex asks impatiently as she hops up to sit on her desk.
"Oh, right! Um…" the brunette takes a moment to get her thoughts back on track. "Why are you so mean to me?" She asks bluntly after taking half a second to think.
The blonde stares blankly at her for a moment before dissolving into laughter.
--
Let me know what you think and if I should continue or not.