A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story! I want to send out a major thanks to that drama queen however, for believing in me and my writing in this story! You rock!
Alex watched as River pulled off the curb and waved at her. She smiled and waved back, watching the car ride off into the night.
"I'm not going to ask." Alex nearly jumped out of her socked feet as Parker emerged from behind the shrub in the neighbor's yard.
"Parker! You scared the heck out of me!" She hissed and Parker giggled before running up and poking her gently. Alex shivered from the cold and narrowed her eyes at Parker. She was grinning hugely and her brown eyes were dancing.
"I never figured you'd fall for River, A." Parker teased and Alex grabbed her by the shoulders.
"You can't tell anyone." She pleaded and Parker rolled her eyes.
"Hello? It's me, Parker." Alex nodded, rubbing her arms. It was really cold out. "I won't tell a soul." Parker smiled biting her lip. "Besides, you two are kind of cute together."
Alex gasped in embarrassment before pushing Parker playfully. She just giggled, making her way past Alex and opening the door.
"How much of the movie have I missed?" she asked as they walked into the Strong's spacious front hallway.
"Not much." Alex peaked into the living room and discovered they were half an hour in. "Per say half an hour." Parker nodded before waltzing into the TV room.
"Ray, you better not have eaten all the pizza."
"Travis!" Travis closed his eyes slowly as Alex blew up in his face. He'd just told her the unthinkable thing to say to Alex on the morning of a tennis tournament. "You can't do this to me."
"Alex, you're not well enough to go to the tournament!" He said firmly and she slammed her hand down on her bed. She was sitting up in bed, glaring at him with a passion. "You went to bed last night at 8:30. You've never done that, not even on the night of a tourney." She scrunched up her face in hurt, anger, and disappointment. A mixture of all. "Especially on a pizza and a movie night."
"I was tired!" Alex fought back, furrowing her brow. Travis crossed his arms, showing superiority to her maturity.
"You were flushed and Ray had to help you up the stairs because you kept on stalling at the bottom." He reminded her and she fell back onto her pillows angrily.
"Travis," She pleaded and he bit his tongue. She was trying to slip under his guard, something he could not let happen…again. "Please. This is my tournament. With River gone we've lost one of our key players-"
"Alex, I'm not listening anymore." Travis settled, standing up. "You're not going to school and you're not going to that tournament."
Alex almost screamed as Travis walked stiffly out of her room. So she woke up with a bit of a high temperature…went to bed early…and needed Ray to help her up the stairs and into her bed because she could hardly stand up on her own. What's the problem with that?
"There is no way he is making me stay away from that tournament." She spat coldly, looking at her phone. Who could she call? She could call Parker…but she didn't have a car, which is what she needed to get to the center without showing up at school. Lily didn't have a car either, and Robbie didn't, but he'd talk her out of going any ways…who else was there?
Ray. She almost hit herself in the head for forgetting about him. How could she be so stupid? Tim drove Ray to school on cold mornings like this…and she knew it was cold out. The dynamic duo would be back in action.
Alex silently prayed that Ray would still be in his room. She reached over and grabbed her cell phone, just in case Travis picked up the phone and listened in on her conversation. Hopping out of bed while she dialed Ray's cell phone number, she had to grab the bed to steady herself. So she was dizzy? She'd take a few aspirins and she'd be perfectly fine.
"It's go time." Ray's usual greeting made her smile.
"Hey Ray."
"Alex, hey. How ya feeling?" Alex pulled out her Roscoe Cougar Tennis Team hoodie and smiled, pulling it on over her head.
"Better." She lied, turning around and looking for her track pants. Her tennis gear was waiting to go in her duffel bag. "Listen, I need a favor."
"Sorry." Travis apologized for about the tenth time and Alex felt kind of bad for lying to him and sneaking out. But she needed to be at that tourney.
"It's okay." Alex mumbled from under the covers. She had them pulled up to her chin so he couldn't see what she had on.
"Do you want me to phone Stam? Or Nick? Tell them you can't make it?" He asked. She quickly shook her head.
"No. I'll…I'll phone them later, okay?" Alex said, sending a glance towards her clock. "You better be getting out of here, Trav. You'll be late."
Travis looked at the clock and jumped out of the chair he'd pulled over to her side. "You're right." He ruffled her hair and she smiled, wiggling further beneath the covers. "See you later A."
"Bye…" She smiled. "Mr. T." He narrowed his eyes before walking out the door. The second he had, Alex jumped out from beneath the covers and ran to the top of the stairs. She waited for him to walk out the door, heard the lock click, and ran to the window. Once he was down the street and out of view, she ran back to her room and pulled on her socks and tennis shoes.
"Sorry Travis." She muttered while pulling her thin jacket over her hoodie. She grabbed her bag and ran down the stairs, stopping at the kitchen to grab 4 aspirins. 2 for before she went on and 2 for after she got off. "Thanks Tim." She said after she'd reached the Brennan's driveway.
"No problem Alex." Tim said, climbing into the driver's seat. Ray met Alex on the side of the car.
"Since Waller's letting most of the school go to the Tennis Meet, I'm coming with you." Ray said, taking her duffel bag and lifting it into the back seat.
"Okay." Alex said, not really paying attention. She hugged Ray after this. "Thanks for doing this Stan-Man. I really appreciate it." Ray hugged her back before tickling her.
"No problem, Strong-Girl." She giggled and they both reached for the passenger seat door.
"Hey!" Alex crinkled her nose at him. "Ladies first."