Alex didn't get a crack at Millie before she left the Sub Station for the night - which was probably a good thing, because the way Alex was feeling right then, she probably would have turned Millie into a toad. Or maybe a rat. Definitely nothing cute like a guinea pig, though.
Deprived of immediate revenge, Alex went up to her room, carefully locked the door behind her, then went to her closet and dug into the piles of stuff at the bottom of it. It took a bit of shifting things around (and the discovery of a pair of shoes she'd thought she'd lost), but Alex pulled out what appeared to be a "Candy Land" game box.
Standing up, she took it over to her desk, sitting down in the chair, set it down in her lap, then lifted the slightly-dented lid off, dropping it onto her bed. On top was her birthday cards from last year, but she set those aside, taking a degree of care with them that few would have thought Alex would take with any form of written material.
Beneath those were last year's Valentine cards - the one from Riley (I should burn that), a "Forever Friends" one from Harper, a "To Our Daughter" one from Mom and Dad, and Justin's. She set that one aside, kept digging through until she had a stack of all the Valentines cards Justin had given her. There were ten of them, and seeing them all together like that, Alex felt a momentary pang of guilt over the fact that she'd still never gotten one for him.
Well, this year, I'm doing something better than a card. I'm going to save him from that bitch Millie. She flipped through the cards, letting the question of exactly what to do to Millie simmer in the back of her mind as she did. The early ones were hand-made and block-printed, in Justin's neat hand. The fourth one was the first to be written in cursive, and the fifth was like it. A few store-bought cards followed, then a big, hand-made one.
Alex smiled, remembering that one. She'd been in middle school, and he'd moved up to high school, and she'd pestered him practically every evening. They'd had their first real fight that year, screaming and yelling at each other until their Mom had ordered them both to their rooms. She flipped open the card, read:
Alex,
I'm sorry I've been so testy this year.
A giggle and grin escaped Alex at that, as she remembered how she'd seized on that line, tormented Justin about "testies" until their Dad had heard her saying that. She'd gone to bed an hour early for a week for that, but it had been so worth it. And really, who said 'testy'? She was doing Justin a favor, getting him to update his vocab.
I want you to know, it's not your fault.
You're my little sister, and I love you.
Even when I'm yelling at you,
I love you.
Even when I refuse to talk to you,
I love you.
Even when I'm telling Mom and Dad
about the latest thing you've done to me,
I love you.
Justin
P.S. That doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate it if you were nicer.
P.P.S. You should know, my underwear drawer is now booby-trapped. Stay out of it.
That reminder brought another grin. The last cards were store-bought again, but always carefully picked, fancy ones, and with something personal written inside. The other things he'd gotten her weren't there - the flowers (well, the real ones, at least - the paper ones he'd made with the first card were there in the box), the candy, the teddy bear he'd gotten her when she was in third grade...
Flashback: 1998
"This one's my Justin-bear," Alex said, picking up the big brown bear and showing it to Harper. "Justin gave it to me last year."
"Oh, he's cute!" Harper said, nodding.
"Yeah... I really like his eyes." Alex turned the bear around, looked at its face, smiled at the shiny black beads that were its eyes, the way the cut of the material around them made them look wide open and trusting...
"Oh, his eyes are wonderful," Harper gushed, lifting her hands up. "They're such a nice green -"
"What?" Alex shook her head, turned the Justin-bear back around to face Harper. "Justin-bear's eyes are black."
Harper looked at Alex for a moment, then blushed. "Oh... I thought you meant you liked Justin's eyes..."
"Ewww, no!"
Two quick raps sounded on the door, followed by "Alex?"
At Justin's voice, Alex snapped out of her reverie and quickly dumped the cards back into the Candy Land box, then flipped the lid over to shut it, saying back "Just a second!" as she did.
She moved to the door, then said, "What?" through it, not opening it.
"Can I come in? I want to ask you something."
"I can hear you just fine," she replied. "Ask me the question."
There was a moment's pause, and then Justin said, "It'll be easier if I can show you something."
Sighing, Alex said, "Okay... just a minute, then." She stepped back over to her bed, grabbed the Candy Land box, then shoved it under before returning to the door and opening it.
"You're a girl," Justin started, and there was no way Alex could resist an opening like that.
"Awww, you noticed!" she said, smiling brightly. "And it only took you what, fifteen years? Wait'll I tell Mom you figured out the difference! She'll be so proud!"
Justin looked at her for a moment, then asked, "Are you through ridiculing me?"
"No," Alex answered honestly. "I'm just waiting for some more material to use."
Rolling his eyes, Justin stuck out a folded newspaper to her. "Which of these movies would you like to see?"
Alex took the paper from his hand and looked. Of course, she knew perfectly well that he was trying to ask her what movie she thought Millie would like, but he was trying to be clever by not actually saying that. Well, that's just going to backfire on him, isn't it?
"The Valentine Killer," she said, then stepped forward and hugged Justin tightly. He froze in surprise for a moment, and Alex said, "And thank you so much for taking me to a movie. You always know just what to give me for Valentine's Day."
"Oh, uh, um -" Justin's arms went around Alex, returning the hug as he tried to find some way to back out of it, but Alex was having none of that.
"I can't go until Friday, though. Mom's got me grounded until then." That was a lie, but as much as she was grounded, Alex was sure Justin would believe it. She let go of Justin, stepped back from him. "You know," she said then as another idea hit her, "I've seen the way you've been watching Millie. Do you know what girls really like?"
"What?" Justin asked, all ears now.
"When guys are attentive to their sisters. It makes them think the guy will treat them well too."
He gave her a doubtful glance. "Really? Are you sure about that?"
"Justin... didn't you just say I'm a girl? Of course I know what girls like." She took his hand, pulled him into her room, pushed the door closed behind them with her foot. "But remember, you shouldn't throw yourself at a girl. You should ignore her to start with. If she already thinks she has your attention, then she's going to ignore you. Haven't you ever noticed how girls go for guys who treat them like jerks?"
By this point, Justin was frowning and blinking. "But you just said that they like it when guys are nice to their sisters, because -"
"It's a carrot and stick thing," Alex said, rolling her eyes as if it should be obvious to any idiot. "The carrot is them hoping you'll treat them well. The stick is treating her like a jerk. Or is that the other way around?"
Justin opened his mouth, but Alex kept going. "Anyway, trust me. I'm the girl here. Just take my advice, do exactly what I tell you, and you'll have Millie following you around in no time. Okay? Okay," she answered herself, still not giving Justin a chance to protest. "So, here's what we're going to do tomorrow..."