[June 1994]
"You couldn't even be bothered to wear a button up shirt and some slacks?" Casey's girlish voice screeched, making Alex grit his teeth. He looked down at his attire. He was wearing his best shirt and some clean, proper jeans. No holes, no anything. His heart sunk and he sighed, his mood quickly washed away by annoyance.
"I'm here, aren't I?" he grunted at his date who was wearing a fancy – again flowery – dress with a bow around her middle. She looked cute. Casey sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes at him and walked towards the entrance without him. He followed her, trailing behind a bit, hands in his pockets. When there were only a couple of girls in line in front of them, she turned around and hissed at him.
"The posters said formal. Do you even know what that means?" she gave him another once over, playing the drama queen. Alex just grunted. "Hope they'll let you pass wearing this," she said pointedly, smiling back at the chaperone sweetly. The woman looked over at Alex and he recognized the 8th grade counselor. When he saw her sympathetic eyes, he turned away and flicked his tongue.
"Are we going in or what?" he ranted, pushing her a bit. Last thing he needed was that pathetic charity look he had gotten from all the grown-ups he had met all his life long. So, what? He couldn't afford fancy clothes. He surely wasn't the only kid at the dance wearing jeans and a shirt. Casey found her way through the crowd, directly heading towards her girlfriends, uncaring about her date who was already regretting even agreeing to come here. He lurked a few feet behind for a while before approaching her again, asking her if she wanted to have a drink. She gave him a dismissive grunt, all her girlfriends turning towards him, scrutinizing him. Alex rolled his eyes and went over to the stands to retrieve two cups of punch for them. When he came back, Casey snatched one out of his hands and sipped on it, still pouting.
"Are you gonna be mad at me all night or are we gonna have some fun?" Alex tried to stir her a bit when her girlfriends had gone out to the dance floor. She just shrugged her shoulders and steered ahead. Alex sighed. "Come on," he said, snaking his hands around her waist, trying to cheer her up a bit. "Let's make this night entertaining and get it over with soon, so we can dedicate ourselves with other stuff," he whispered, running his hand dangerously close to her bottom, pecking her upper arm, trying to match their eyes. Alex wasn't very good at this, he had never really tried to be… a boyfriend…even though he wasn't even sure that's what he was trying to be. He was very inexperienced. He could feel his nerves experience a little high when she didn't react momentarily, not knowing if he had made it better or worse. When she turned her head towards him, her face was stone-still. He smiled at her lightly, even though he was pretty pissed himself. He at least wanted to be rewarded for coming here tonight, whatever happened.
"Let's go dance," Casey decided without further ado and grabbed his hand, dragging him out to the dance floor. They stood opposite each other, Casey having put her hands on his shoulders while he was holding her sides awkwardly, swaying to the music. Bo-ring. But Alex gave her a smile, every time she looked up at him and even dared to pull her a little closer during the slower songs. She seemed happy. After a while, Casey decided she wanted to go have a drink. Alex brought one to her dutifully, sitting down next to her, putting his arm around her cautiously.
"So, how long do you think we have to stay?" Alex murmured towards her, already anticipating a fast move forward. Casey shot him an annoyed face.
"You really only think about one thing, huh?" she asked him, angrily.
"What? That was the deal, right? I come here and then we go there, right?" Alex told her the facts, not seeing anything wrong with that. Casey rolled her eyes.
"You know what? I changed my mind. You go find someone else to go there with," she got up and stormed off, leaving a perplexed looking Alex sit with two cups of punch in the corner of the school's gym. Great, that day couldn't have gone any better. Alex got up and carelessly put Casey's cup down, spilling half of it, before moving towards the exit. The woman from before had gone somewhere else so it was an easy pass. He walked around the school premise for a while, not wanting to go home yet, his curfew still out. He sat down on the benches next to the outdoors basketball court and sipped his punch, brooding.
"Wanna make this more interesting?" Alex startled when he heard a female's voice whispering behind him. He yanked his head around to face a girl he had never seen before. She was older, though, maybe a sophomore, or even a junior in high school. She had dark long hair and was wearing a jeans skirt and a black top.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm chaperoning. But it's boring in there. So, I thought, I'd make it a little more interesting… as said, if you want, you can join me," she smirked at him, getting a silver flask out of her oversized purse and pouring some clear liquid into her own punch. Once she was done, she looked over at him expectantly, and he nodded. Alex immediately took a big gulp of his punch, coughing wildly for he hadn't anticipated the clear liquid burning down his throat so strongly. The girl chuckled, stretching out her legs and sipping at the cup with relish. He gave her another once over before going back to leaning forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and brooding.
"So, did your date ditch you or what?" the girl engaged him in some small talk. Alex just grunted, making her laugh. "Oh, young love," she cooed sarcastically, punching him lightly.
"Why are you chaperoning then? How old are you anyways?" Alex asked her dismissively.
"I'm 17. And my mother thinks she's such an important parent and my little sister needs to have cool parents who babysit 14 year olds on a night out, so she thought it'd be fun to make a family thing out of it," the girl explained cheerfully, immediately losing her fake face when she was done, rolling her eyes. Alex grinned. "So, you an 8th grader?" Alex nodded. There was a short silence in between them. "Wanna have some fun?" she asked him, raising one eyebrow, giving him a daring look. Alex hesitated. Well, he did come here to have some fun, right? He never said it had to be explicitly Casey, right? Alex wriggled his eyebrows, smirking, and shrugged his shoulders. "Good," she said, emptying her cup, Alex copying her. Before he had the chance to even put his cup down, he felt how the girl had put her hand on the inside of his thigh and he groaned, widening his eyes. "Oh, okay, so do you need me to baby you through this or are you gonna be okay by yourself?" she mocked him wickedly. Alex looked at her madly before realizing how much her unapproachable demeanor turned him on. It took one second and even though he had no idea what he was doing, he took the initiative.
Alex grabbed her hand and moved it over his parts before pulling her closer and kissing her. The girl smiled against his lips and sighed when he let his hands roam underneath her shirt. "I knew you weren't a beginner when I first saw you," she murmured against his lips, chuckling and moving over to straddle him. "I'd have mistaken you for a junior if it weren't for the unspiked punch you were carrying around," she said between exploring his mouth with her tongue and bothering herself with making him hot downstairs. Alex had reached her boobs and fumbled his right hand underneath her bra, flicking her nipple slightly, pulling them apart an inch, looking at her with determination.
"Just shut up, alright?" he told her, seeing the corners of her lips curl up before pulling her in again to kiss her madly.
A short while later, Alex panted heavily when he climbed from the girl, looking around for his boxers which turned out rather complicated, keeping in mind that they were occupying the backseat of the girl's car at the moment. When they had both clothed themselves properly, he smirked over at her, seeing her mirroring his expression.
"That was fun," he commented, getting out of the car, her following. She raised her eyebrows.
"Short," she said, making him roll his eyes, both laughing, "but fun, yeah," she gave him a half patronizing half entertaining gaze. "You'll need some practice but you definitely have a lot of potential," she told him matter-of-factly, laughing again. Before she could await a reaction, Alex had grabbed her hand, backing her against the car and rocking his hips against hers, making her feel just what she could have. She inhaled sharply, biting her lip before he kissed her seductively.
"Well, I'm always up for more practice," he whispered into her ear, making her close her eyes. Then she chuckled.
"As much as I'd love to," she said, sounding a lot more reasonable now, pushing him away. "I gotta go back in. You know… family trip and all," she rolled her eyes again, both laughing. They walked towards the entrance together, hovering awkwardly when they reached it. "So," she asked. "Are you coming in?" she pointed at the gym with her thumb.
"Nah," Alex decided. "It was a fun night but I think it's time to go home," he said, minding his curfew. She nodded, looking at him still finding him extremely handsome. Alex smirked. He wasn't all that bad, huh?
"Alright," she said. "See you around, I guess," she smiled at him before turning to leave.
"Hey," he called after her. "What's your name?"
She turned around chuckling. "Jen," she said, laughing. "What about you?"
"Alex," he chuckled, already taking a few steps away.
"Nice to meet you, Alex," Jen chuckled before waving to him and they both went their separate ways.
Alex smiled all the way home. The day had started out horribly. He had gotten into a fight at school and when he had come home, Ms. Morgan had informed him that they had granted their parents custody of him again. He was going home. He was supposed to be happier about it. However, after their last talk, he had really thought Ms. Morgan had understood that they all needed to move to a different home rather than their own. So, he was disappointed. And he dreaded going home. So, that night would have been the last night before going home again. Alex had tried to make the day better but at the group home, some stupid kid had barfed all over the dining room and his appetite had minimized to zero. After that he had genuinely tried to pick out what best to wear to the dance only for it to get trashed again by Casey. He had thought that his date with Casey would have saved the day. It hadn't. It had only made it worse. But then, luckily, he had met Jen, and now he was smiling all the way home. Hey, he couldn't have been perfect, right? It had been his first time, granted. But hey, she sure hadn't sounded like he had done anything wrong. Alex smirked. Yes, some things he apparently was pretty good at.
When he rang the bell to let him into the yard, he looked up towards the dark windows, instantly making out a pair of green eyes on the top floor. He sighed. Of course she was watching him come home late at night. He made a hand movement to shoo her from the window before the intercom buzzed and he walked in. Once he hit the mattress, it didn't take two seconds before he had closed his eyes and deep sleep engulfed him. Finally, a little contentment.
Alex' good mood held on for the best part of next day, even though he had to sit in with Ms. Morgan and their individual social worker Ms. Jolanders for hours it seemed, to finalize everything and go through all kinds of formalities again. He had done this so freaking many times, he didn't even think when he answered their questions. Ms. Morgan looked at him exasperatedly, and Alex knew exactly why. He was the reason she had to come in on a weekend. When they were all done, he went to have lunch in the dining room and packed his stuff – which wasn't all that much but still, he needed a while, dawdling before deciding to wait for his dad who was supposed to pick him up sometime in the afternoon outside in the yard. On his way out, he could already hear commotion coming from outside and he scrunched up his face from afar to make out what was going on. A bunch of kids had gathered way back at the fence bordering the field he had used to get some peace now and again, watching three kids tumbling around wildly, punching each other and yelling. Alex rolled his eyes when he passed Ms. Morgan's office for nobody had noticed what was going on. When he strolled closer, he could finally make out the individuals engaged in the fight. Alex groaned as he saw Jo jumping on one of the older boys' backs and biting down on his shoulder forcefully, making him yelp. The other guy had just picked up a pretty huge stick from the ground and was about to hit down on the obviously inferior girl, when Alex snatched it away from him and stared him down burningly, the boy immediately ducking away. Alex took one step towards the still struggling Jo who was clinging to Kevin's back, as he could make out now, a high school freshman that he knew from experience liked to provoke younger, smaller, inferior victims to fight with him. Of course Jo had bit onto his bait.
Alex took another step closer, grunting at Kevin to make himself heard who immediately gave him big eyes and stood still, Jo not realizing what had happened. He took one of his arms and slung it around Jo's waist, forcefully pulling her away from the perpetrator. In the seconds that followed, she yelled and kicked out in frustration, not meaning to let herself be dragged away from the fight, struggling against Alex' arm which was still wrapped tightly around her waist, carrying her away easily. Alex had put on a stoic face and ignored Jo's yells. When he had brought reasonable space between Jo and the guys, he put her down in the grass, staring at her.
"Who do you think you are?" Jo immediately spat out, her face angrier than he had ever seen it before.
"You need to quit causing scenes like that," he told her, rubbing his face before squatting down to look at her legs that were all busted and bloody. When he inspected the wounds, she winced.
"Don't bother, I didn't ask you for your help," she barked, pushing him away.
"I'm gonna go get you some disinfectant and gauze," Alex got up, looking at her sternly. "Stay, or else," he threatened her mockingly.
"I told you, I'm not scared of you," Jo replied, still breathing heavily.
"Good, you shouldn't be. But you should be scared of a lot of other people out there. For example the nurse who is an unbelievably bitchy person and will be ratting you out to Ms. Morgan instantly and you know how that ends most of the time…," he told her half exasperatedly, half understandingly. When Alex turned the corner, back with the gauze and the alcohol, he actually found himself surprised for Jo was still sitting there, waiting. He sat down in front of her, making her lay her leg out on the rocks. The mood in between them was tense. "Alright, this is gonna sting a bit," he told her, having done this a thousand times on his siblings and mom.
"Don't baby me," Jo shot back, wincing again for Alex had put the alcohol on her wound, trying to sterilize it, making her bite her lip. He looked up at her smirking.
"Oh, so, you're not invincible? Wouldn't have thought…," he mocked her heavily, Jo narrowing her eyes at him.
"I'm not scared of them," she argued again, sounding like she really did need to state that very fact numerous times. Of course, trying to tell that she was invincible. Well, if that's what helps you survive, so be it.
"I know that, Jo," he told her, inhaling deeply, already exhausted of talking to her. "That doesn't mean you need to pick a fight every time they say a word in your direction," he pointed out to her weakly.
"If he wants to fight, I'm gonna fight him. He's wrong thinking that a girl can't hit just as hard," she told him.
"That's not something to be proud of, you know," Alex said again.
"As if you're not cut from the exact same cloth," Jo told him in annoyance, pointing at his knuckles. "If you wanna give me a pep talk about non-violent manners, you gotta clean your act beforehand. I'm not dumb, you know," she pouted. Alex sighed.
"True, I shouldn't let myself be provoked either. Difference is, Jo, I'm 14 and strong. You're 11 and well… you're tiny. They won't, because it's more fun for them than anything else, but if they had wanted to, they could have snapped you like a twig. I could snap you like a twig if I wanted to," Alex tried to make her see.
"Do you wanna go find out?" Jo had put on her smug face once more while Alex wrapped the gauze around her shin. He sighed, rolling his eyes.
"You need to stop biting every chance you get, Jo. You need to stop punching every kid that crosses your way. You need to stop. It's not gonna get you anywhere. And you don't wanna stay here forever, right?" he tried to be reasonable for her. Again, he didn't really know the girl but she had sparked something within him and now he couldn't refrain from… looking after her. Or at least trying to do so.
"You need to stop believing that you need to protect me or something," Jo raised her eyebrows at him.
"Well, good for you, I'll not be here to protect you anymore, anyways," Alex informed her matter-of-factly, making the girl look up in surprise, seeming a bit like the air had been punched out of her systems. They matched eyes for a bit until Jo realized what she was giving away and turned her eyes down to the ground, chuckling in a fake joyful voice.
"Good for you. Did you finally find a family that wants to love you?"
"No. I'm going back with my parents and siblings," he told her soberly, still staring at her now turned down head. She looked up at him and for a moment he thought he could read compassion in her eyes. What was it lately with all those snaplike moments in which Alex imagined people care so much? Jo nodded curtly, her lips a thin, white line. They sat in silence for a while, Alex finishing with Jo's wounds and putting the remaining gauze aside, staying in the position he was, squatting in front of her.
"Look, Jo," Alex sighed after a while, Jo's eyes finding her way towards his again. "I don't wanna sound like the reasonable big brother who has had it all. I really don't. I don't wanna give you pep talks or care for that matter. I believe you got it together pretty good and I know you can fight for yourself and survive. I know that. You are tough. I appreciate that. But let me tell you this," Alex pushed himself back up, making her look at him in confusion. "We've arrived in 1994 and as dumb as it sounds but they have now invented something that's called oppositional defiant disorder. They label everything now. A little bit of angry, a little bit of moody, not befriending anyone, not talking to anyone – generally, antisocial behavior. And there's not only that, there's conduct disorder, there's antisocial personality disorder… there's a whole lot you can get classified with. You know Ms. Morgan, she's not gonna be the one letting you act up with her. Sooner or later she's gonna have you diagnosed – and trust me, they are gonna diagnose you no matter what; I mean, did you know they had almost diagnosed my brother as developmentally challenged? – so, I'm just saying, once they diagnose you, they're gonna put you in a residential treatment center and once you are in there, you are going to be locked up, and there won't be anything left for you. No long walks, no climbing trees, no irritating other kids, no nothing. And once you're eighteen, they won't just free you or something, no, they're gonna run tests on you again and again and they're gonna keep you there until you can make them believe that you are well and capable of caring for yourself. And trust me, once you're in there, achieving that, making them believe that you're actually good, that you can live without the pills and the carers, that's gonna be the achievement of your life," Alex rambled on, Jo following his every word closely. "So, no, I don't wanna protect you. I just wanted you to be aware of what consequences your acting out will have. And also, you need to know that it's not a bouncing between group homes and foster homes and the slight chance of adoptive homes eventually… it's a lot more than that. And I'd rather go to juvie than to an RTC. I'm serious," he ended his sermon, already walking away slowly.
"Where are you going?" Jo called after him, still a little dazed and confused from what all Alex had told her a minute ago. She didn't know what to think. He looked back at her, smiling about her face, pointing towards the yard door.
"That's my dad. He's here to pick me up," he told her nonchalantly. She nodded curtly, matching eyes with him. "Keep out of trouble, alright?" he winked at her cheekily. Jo smiled back before chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah, go play house with your family," she countered, balancing on the very fine line between making a good joke and going too far, hurting someone with her words. "I'll be waiting for you to come back and join me at the stream," she whispered after him hesitantly, surprised about him having heard every word. He turned his head back to hers one more time, looking at her straightforwardly. Then he smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Be prepared for three instead of one Karev annoying you, then," Alex smiled, hoping so badly that that would be the case for them. Jo chuckled, already getting up and running over towards the fence, vanishing through the hole towards the woods. Alex turned back to look at his dad who smirked at him before rumpling up his hair.
"You ready to go home, buddy?" Jimmy asked him seeming to be sporting an extra good mood that day. Alex nodded, reaching for his bag and throwing it on the backseat of the car, getting in the passenger seat. When Jimmy kicked on the engine and they slowly moved passed the premise, he looked back and saw Ms. Morgan stand on the top of the front steps with crossed arms, watching him go – and for a minute Alex actually thought he could read grief off of her face.