"Alex!" Bang, bang, bang. "Alex!"
I waited till I saw the sun, I don't know why I didn't come,
I left you by the house of fun, I don't know why I didn't come, I don't know why I didn't come,
When I saw the break of day, I wished that I could fly away,
Instead of kneeling in the sand, Catching tear drops in my hands,
"Alex, please open the door!" Alex could hear Travis perfectly well. She'd come home to find him getting out the ingredients for Chinese food and had attempted to sneak upstairs unnoticed, but it unfortunately didn't work. He'd asked her what was wrong and she'd ran upstairs, grabbed her robe and pajamas and ran into the bathroom. She need a deep bubble bath.
My heart is drenched in wine,
You'll be on my mind forever,
Alex sighed, just sinking deeper into the bath as she listened to the smooth tunes of Norah Jones's old, but wonderful CD, Come Away With Me. She plopped it in the CD player, before she got into the large vintage bath, filled with luxurious vanilla bubble bath.
"Alex!" There was a silence and she opened her eyes. Was he finally giving up? "Do you want dinner now?" She sunk further in the bath.
"No." she said quietly and she heard him sigh.
"Okay. Well, I was just going to tell you I'm not going to make it right now. There's a Gandhi special on TV so I'll watch that and make it at seven. Okay?" Travis's voice came through the door and rang in her ears. His mom and dad…her aunt and uncle…were away in London. She loved them, but they were hardly ever home and it was usually just her and Travis at the Strong residence. Not that she minded.
Out across the endless sea, I would die in ecstasy, But I'll be a bag of bones, Driving down the road alone,"Okay." She answered and she knew what was coming next.
"Are you okay?" he asked and she closed her eyes.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure…"
"Trav, I'll tell you later okay? Right now, I just need to think." She said almost impatiently. He was always so secretive, but he never would dream of interrupting ones thinking. Which in this case, was a great thing.
"Okay. I'll just be downstairs is you need me." He said quietly and she nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her. The warm water was calming her down…slowly but surely.
My heart is drenched in wine, You be on my mind forever,
River had kissed her. River Pierce…the most wanted guy in probably all of Roscoe had kissed her…said he had feelings for her. This was just all too weird. She stretched, getting rid of the kinks in her back and her neck. She sighed, sinking back into the bubbles and the water.
"How can I deal with this?" she asked herself, breathing in the scent of vanilla.
Something has to make you run, I don't know why I didn't come, I feel as empty as a drum, I don't know why I didn't come, I don't know why I didn't come, I don't know why I didn't come…
"Travis might know." She reassured herself. "He always has some good advice. But then Lily and Parker might as well…"
Travis set out two place mats on the small, black coffee table from China. He'd decorated it with Chinese themed cutlery and napkins, something to make Alex a bit happier than she'd sounded. Something had happened, and he thought it had to do with the date with River. His fists clenched at this. If he'd done something to hurt her…
"Travis!" Alex's soft voice cooed from the living room doorway. "You shouldn't have."
"Anything to make you smile." He said and she smiled meekly. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. What's wrong?" She fumbled with the cuff of her long silk robe she had on over her pajamas. She turned around and started walking towards the kitchen.
"It smells really good Trav. I'll put it out." Alex said and he chased after her. She was carefully dancing around the subject, but he knew he could chase her to breaking point.
"Alex, don't dodge the subject." He said as he reached the kitchen. She was ladling the steaming sweet and sour sauce out onto the chicken rolls he'd made. She'd gotten most of the stuff out onto the plates he'd set out and she paused, holding the ladle over the pot so the sauce wouldn't drip onto the stove.
"I'll tell you later Travis." She said quietly, looking up at him and looking back down. He went to protest but she stopped him again. "While we're eating." Travis helped her bring the meals into the living room. When they got there, he turned on the stereo and pressed the play button.
The smooth sound of Kelly Clarkson's song Low came on and Travis smiled. Alex's Favorites Mix she'd spent all summer making.
"So, what's wrong?"
"This is Lily." Lily answered her cell phone. "Oh hey Travis."
"Lily, I really need to talk to you." Travis said. Lily sighed.
"Sure. I'm just on my way to Parker's house. We're planning on going Secret Santa shopping." Lily said. She heard Travis sigh and she wondered what was so important. "So what's up?"
"She wanted to talk to you herself, but she was so pale. So I made her lie down and watch a movie." Travis said and Lily's breath quickened.
"Alex? Are you talking about Alex?" she asked and Travis scoffed under his breath.
"Of course I'm talking about Alex." He said and Lily moaned apologetically.
"Sorry." She said and he sighed again.
"It's okay. But it's about her date…"
"He what!" Parker exclaimed as she almost dropped a Zen candle she'd been holding in her hand.
"I know! He kissed her!" Lily said, picking up a coffee mug, then putting it down. They'd been shopping for about 10 minutes when Lily had brought up what Travis had told her.
"That's insane!" Parker said, putting the Zen candle down. She was concerned about Alex now. She'd been a wreck when she'd seen her before her tennis practice.
"Ooo, that's cute." Lily said, picking something up before shaking her head and putting it back down. "Never mind." Parker laughed, then returned to all seriousness.
"Well, I'll talk to her tomorrow. She what she feels." Parker said, looking up at Lily, who merely nodded and continued looking.
"Travis sounded really worried. He's such a good cousin." Lily said, smiling. "They've got such a strong bond."
"Yeah." Parker said, blushing a bit. She would tell Lily how she felt about Travis. She would. "Lil?"
"Yes?" Lily asked, looking up at her. Parker blushed even more.
"I need to tell you something."
Ray accepted the hard slug he received in the arm. He deserved it…but it wasn't entirely his fault.
"Ouch! Okay, Alex, I'm sorry I did that! I didn't know!" Ray yelled as he coward in front of another clenched fist. She paused, stopping and falling back onto the couch. The soft sounds of the romance scene in the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers played softly in the back round and Alex watched that for a minute. Her green eyes weren't glaring at him for once and she sighed, looking at the screen. Ray sat down beside her, watching the movie as well.
"Ray…"
"So he kissed you?" he asked her. She'd left his name hanging and she knew that she'd just gotten lost in thought.
"Yeah." She glanced at him. "I don't want to talk about it now though." She was beginning to sound sleepy. He looked at her and noticed her cheeks were flushed.
"Alex, are you feeling okay? You look kind of…flushed." Ray said, putting a hand to her head. "Alex, you're burning up!" She couldn't be her normal temperature. She was getting a fever.
"I'm fine Ray…honestly, trust me on this. I should know."
