"What did you do to the tree?"
Alex's eyes sprang open. In the harsh light of morning, it took a moment for them to focus properly and for her to realize that she had been here all night. Her joints aching from the cold, she forced herself upright.
Her heart thudded at the shadowy figure lurking a few feet from her. She backed up against the wall of the treehouse, trying to get as far away as possible. Her bare back pressed up against the wood; she could feel splinters digging into her skin.
"I am the Lorax! I speak for the trees!" the voice continued. "You know, trees are alive too. Not in a Triffids kind of way—that would be cool though, right? Until they killed us all, I mean…"
Alex peeked out the small hole in the wall that acted as a window and wondered if she could brace her fall, or if she could climb down this way instead of trying to dart past the intruder.
"Hi," the voice said finally, sounding much closer this time. A hand stuck outwards. "I'm Suzanne. Mommy says I should start with that, but sometimes I forget. What's your name?"
Alex let out a little breath as the voice's face finally came into view. She stared at her for a moment, still feeling wary, and then tentatively shook her hand.
"I'm Alex," she said, a little self conscious laugh escaping. "Jesus, you scared me."
Though the girl in front of her looked the same age as her, she wasn't acting like it. Alex watched for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say or do. Do I run? She thought. Yet her feet stayed planted to the ground, and she found the pounding in her heart starting to abate. In fact, she found it hard to believe she'd ever been afraid of the girl acting like an excited puppy in front of her.
"Hey...I know you!" Suzanne said after a moment of unflinching, uninhabited staring. "You're Nate's girl."
"No, no I'm not," Alex said back, crossing her arms firmly against her chest. "I was helping him out for a while with business...but that's over now."
"It's never over with Vee," Suzanne said.
For the first time, Alex noticed the Barbie in her closed fist. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back. "How do you know Vee?"
Suzanne didn't miss her glance down.
"Do you like her?" she asked, holding the platinum blonde doll up for her to see. She stroked her hair gently and grinned. "Vee got her for me."
Alex offered up a weak smile. "Did she?"
"Mhm." Suzanne made Barbie walk across the wooden planks, her plastic legs stiff. "She said it was my reward." She said the word with a flourish. "Vee says lots of things. She says I'm special. Mommy does too, but Vee says Mommy wouldn't understand this. Because she's white, and rich, Vee says." Suzanne looked up at Alex, whose pale skin practically glowed in the morning light. "No offence."
"None taken," Alex said as she leaned back against the treehouse wall. It was hard to be intimidated by someone playing with a naked Barbie doll. "I'm not rich, though."
Suzanne said no more, but Alex wasn't done.
"Reward for what?" Alex pressed on. "And what happened to her clothes?"
Ssuzanne's face darkened. "I'm not really supposed to talk about it," she said softly, curling a finger around strands of blonde hair. "I get her clothes when I do the next part though. I hope that's soon. It's getting cold. And she doesn't want Ken seeing her like this before the wedding."
From her other pocket she pulled a Ken doll, missing a leg but otherwise brand new.
Alex smiled. "Did he get into a fight with Action Man?"
"No, with Vee," Suzanne said, a sad note to her voice. "That was when I did the other thing, the thing I really didn't want to do."
"Oh," Alex murmured. "I see."
A silence fell between them for a moment, Suzanne fiddling with the dolls and Alex watching.
"You know what I saw on the TV, Suzy? Can I call you that?"
"Yeah!" Suzanne said, jumping up from the floor. "Of course you can, friend! Mommy says friends give you nicknames. Does that make us friends?"
"Mhmm," Alex agreed, pulling out a cigarette from her pocket. She took a lighter out and lit it, letting out a cloud of smoke. "Anyway, the TV...I saw this really cool mermaid Barbie doll. Did you see it?"
"The one that really swims?" Suzanne grinned at the memory. "That would be so cool."
Alex nodded.
Suzanne smiled. "Mommy says I'm a little too old for Barbies. She wants me to fit in," she continued, pulling a face. "I don't think I'll ever fit in."
"I know the feeling," Alex commiserated. "It's not easy."
Suzanne looked her over with a skeptic gaze. "Really?"
Alex nodded as her phone buzzed in her pocket. She flashed an apologetic smile to Suzanne. "Sorry," she said quickly, as she pressed it to her ear. "Nicky, I'm busy. Is it important?"
"It's always important," Nicky shot back. In her voice Alex could hear the not-so sober slurring she was all too familiar with. "There's a party tonight, did you know that?"
"No, I did not," Alex said, a sigh peppering the end of her sentence. "Am I supposed to care?"
Parties seemed like something she'd left behind. They felt so far away now they might as well be in another lifetime. Most fun things did.
"Don't you wanna have fun?" Nicky asked, as if reading her thoughts. "Don't you wanna let loose, drink a little, smoke a little..? I can't have fun without you, Al. You're like...my bestie." She laughed, a raspy bark down the phone.
Alex rolled her eyes. "It sounds like you've already started."
Nicky let out a sigh. "Well, maybe a little."
"Maybe a lot," Alex replied, wondering why she had started drinking before the sun was up properly. "What party, anyway? Where is it?"
"A party?" Suzanne's head snapped up. "Can I come?"
"One minute," Alex mouthed, holding her hand up.
"Polly...what's her face? Blondie's best friend. You know." Nicky paused for a moment. "Mousy hair. Always wears weird dresses. Boring as fuck."
Alex scoffed. "Why would I want to go to Polly's party? Why would you?"
"It's better than nothing."
"Mm."
"Come on. Don't you think Piper would like to see you two getting along? Don't you want a bit of normality for her? Ever since she met you it's been drug dealing and crazy shit. Let her have boring parties, beer pong, showing her ex what he's missing…"
Nicky had a knack for pushing the exact right buttons at the exact right time.
"If I come, will you shut up?"
"Probably would have anyway, sooner or later...I have no idea what kinda cocktail Luschek made, but it's going to my head."
"You're still with Luschek?"
"Why would I leave? His stash is pretty good and his parents are out of town again."
Alex cringed. "Tell me you didn't, Nicky."
"Just a kiss," she said with an unabashed chuckle. "Well, maybe not just a kiss...but no, I didn't. You know he has a crush on me?"
In the background, Luschek could be heard protesting.
"Yes," Alex said. "I think everyone in a ten mile radius knew too."
"Oh," Nicky said. She hiccupped. "Well, I'd love to stay and talk, Al, but I've gotta go. Thanks for calling."
"I didn't-" Alex started, but the phone went dead. She sighed, shook her head, and then put her phone back in her pocket.
"You're so lucky to be invited to a party," Suzanne said. "My friends are going to a party tonight too. Taystee, and Nate, and RJ-"
Alex's head snapped up. "Are they?"
"Mhm. Nicky…" Suzanne dragged out the name as she recalled Alex saying it. "I know her too."
"Do you?" Alex replied. "Maybe it's a different Nicky."
"No, I don't think so," Suzanne said, chewing on her thumbnail. "She's Taystee's friend. She used to come around a lot, but she doesn't anymore. Taystee told Vee that she didn't pay her bill, and so Vee wouldn't sell to her anymore."
"Taystee said that?" Alex asked, her voice dripping in skepticism. For all of Nicky's faults, not paying bills wasn't one of them. Money wasn't an issue with her. She threw it around like confetti. Alex knew that for sure; Nicky had paid her bills on more than one occasion. She pursed her lips.
"Mhm," Suzanne insisted. "Nicky came around and went crazy after that. She called Taystee a liar. Vee had to get Nate to get rid of her. And then more bad things happened. Nicky didn't come around after that."
Alex's head span. She said nothing for a moment. "You know what, Suzy? You should definitely come to that party with me."
"Really?" Suzanne squealed.
"Yeah," Alex said, pressing her lips together. "Definitely."
Piper raised her eyebrows. "Why would I want to go to Polly's party? Why would you?"
"Call it networking," Alex said, one eye open as she curled her eyelashes in front of the mirror in Piper's bedroom.
"Why don't I call it a bad idea?" Piper replied with a sigh. "It might not even be the same party they're all going to. Why would they be at Polly's party?"
"I don't know," Alex replied. "Maybe they wanna steal stuff. Polly's family is kind of rich."
"That's kind of racist," Piper remarked, scrunching her nose. "Besides, Polly's family isn't rich. They just sold their vacation home because they couldn't afford the taxes."
"How is it racist? Vee is a fucking drug dealing kingpin. I wouldn't complain if someone was worried about me stealing their fancy shit. Which they do, by the way. No doubt Polly will be counting the silverware before she lets me leave. Besides, I was talking more about Nate, and he's white."
"I think he's Mexican or something, actually, but I'm not-"
"Jesus fucking Christ, Pipes. I really couldn't care less. Can we stick to the plan?"
"I don't even know what the plan is," Piper admitted.
"Well, I'll tell you when we get there," Alex skirted around answering.
"You don't even have a plan yet, then," Piper said bluntly.
"Well, not exactly. But it's something, isn't it? With Suzanne we finally have someone on our side. She knows stuff that no-one else does. And she'll give it all up so easily."
"I really don't like the sound of this," Piper said, but she shimmied into a sparkly black dress she'd bought a while ago anyway. Hiking it up and slipping her arms into the long sleeves, she looked at herself in the mirror before turning around. "Can you zip me up?"
Alex looked at her in the mirror, admiring the sequined mini-dress that showed off quite a lot of leg. "I'd rather leave it unzipped."
Piper rolled her eyes. "Flirt."
"Tease," Alex shot back. "You...you don't regret last night, do you?"
"What?" Piper frowned at her reflection and then reached out to turn Alex round to face her. "Why would you think that?"
Alex shrugged. "I'd probably regret it if I were you. The list of shit is ever growing. I know this party is gonna be awful, but -"
Piper cut her off by pressing her lips against Alex's. "No. I don't regret last night. I'll never regret last night. I promise that. Okay? I love you. You know that. Don't you?"
Alex nodded. "I love you too."
"Now zip me up."
Cold hands against Piper's back, Alex chuckled as she shivered at her touch.
"You look beautiful," she said, resting her chin against Piper's shoulder. "I wish we were going somewhere else. I wish we were going to London. No. I wish we were going to Paris. Standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in the moonlight." Alex sighed.
"One day," Piper said as she tugged on her knee high boots. "Maybe in five, ten years from now."
"Yeah," Alex agreed. She hugged Piper's waist. "In ten years, I'll take you to Paris. I'll have my own business. A real, legit one. I won't have to worry about bills, nor will you. Or my mom. And we'll go to Paris. Just you and me."
"Just you and me," Piper said. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."
"I expect nothing less," Alex chuckled. She gave Piper a squeeze, softly kissing her neck. "Here's to the future," she murmured. "Our future."
"To the future," Piper agreed. "But first…"
"Polly's party," Alex sighed. "I know."
A/N:
Thanks for reading. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I don't plan on abandoning this fic, I will finish it even if it takes me a while. Sometimes life just gets in the way. Anyway, I hope you're all safe and well. Let me know what you thought, if you want to.
- Star xo
