This will probably be the last chapter for a while. I'm moving soon−to college. Haven't even started packing. That's going to consume a lot of time. And then, I have no idea when I'm going to get a chance to write once I'm in college. Only time will tell. Bear with me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock or Wizards of Waverly Place.
"Are you serious?" Alex exclaimed, looking down at the paper in front of her. "It's that easy?"
"You've said that after every problem we've done." Mitchie giggled, amused by Alex's amazement. Mitchie had been helping Alex to catch up on the assignments for nearly two hours. After the girls got comfortable with one another, things flowed very easily. Alex caught on quickly and Mitchie was patient with her when she didn't. They saved Alex's weakest subject, math, for last.
"Well I can't believe you're able to make it so simple!" Alex was still staring at her most recently completed problem in disbelief. "Justin makes it so complicated, like he's speaking another language. But you," she gestured towards the brunette with her pencil, "you're definitely speaking English!"
Mitchie smiled, blushing a little. Praise always embarrassed her. "Well, why don't you try the next problem on your own?"
Alex looked from Mitchie, to the text book, then back to Mitchie. She shook her head. "I don't know about that."
"Come on." The singer stood up and moved behind the raven haired girl. She placed her hands on Alex's shoulders, rubbing gently, like a coach pumping up their athlete. "It's the last problem. You did the last one with no help without even realizing it. This is your problem. I'm right here if you need any help. You can do this, Alex!"
"Okay, you're being a little dramatic, don't you think?" She smirked, looking back at the girl standing over her.
Their eyes met once again, brown locked with brown. Mitchie stopped rubbing Alex's shoulders and moved her hands, letting one hang awkwardly by her side and bringing the other up to run it through her hair.
Mitchie cleared her throat. "Just… do the problem." She placed one of her hands on the back of Alex's chair, leaning her weight on it. The other rested on the table, Alex in the middle.
Mitchie's hair fell over her shoulder, close to Alex's face. As it swayed a bit, Alex took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of Mitchie's shampoo. It was flowery, with a hint of wild berry. She didn't know what kind it was, but she sure as hell liked it.
By clearing her throat again, Mitchie was able to pull Alex out of the trance she was in.
"Right, so…" Alex stared down at the text in front of her. The numbers and little symbols seemed to float off the page, jumbling themselves in a confusing mess. The pressure of doing this problem by herself was almost overwhelming. She really didn't want to mess up and look stupid in front of Mitchie. Alex blinked a few times and the problem was back to normal, flat and blank on the paper. But how to complete it? She had no idea where to begin. She looked off the last problem she'd completed, going to the first step. Suddenly, it hit her. "Oh!" Alex exclaimed without any warning, making the singer behind her jump slightly. Smirking, Alex began to work, her pencil flying across the notebook paper as the math problem unraveled in her head, coming together again as she worked through the steps. When she was finished, she slammed her pencil down and raised her fists in the air triumphantly.
Mitchie looked over the work carefully, grinning and nodding her head. "One hundred percent correct," she said, still smiling. "See? I told you that you could do it."
Alex smiled to herself and leaned back in the chair. By doing this, her body was somewhat leaning into Mitchie's, who had her body pressed up against the back of the chair. When both girls noticed this, Mitchie blushed and took a half step back while Alex leaned forward, pretending to have a coughing fit.
Alex finished pounding herself on the chest and sheepishly looked up. "So I guess I'm done, then," she said, a relieved smile stretching across her face.
Mitchie returned to her seat. "Alex, you just finished yesterday's work. You still haven't even begun today's."
Alex's smile dropped instantly. "Fuck my life." She let her head fall onto the table dramatically.
Mitchie giggled and ruffled Alex's hair. "Come on, I'll help you with the math, and we can do the rest together. It'll only take an hour."
"Only?" Alex lifted her head, her scalp tingling at the places Mitchie's fingers had brushed against the sensitive skin. She didn't know what it was. Nikki used to play with her hair all the time. Not once had she had that effect on the raven haired girl.
Mitchie simply smiled and placed more work in front of Alex. "You know, I usually don't like cursing," Mitchie said, handing the other girl a pencil
Alex's cheeks flushed as she took it. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I won't do it again." She slouched in her seat.
"No, it's okay. When you do it, it's kind of funny."
Alex gave her a questioning look. "Funny?"
Mitchie nodded. "Yeah, funny."
"Why?" Alex kept her eyes on the brunette.
"I don't know, because it's cute, I guess," Mitchie said as she started to flip the pages in the math textbook to get to the next set of problems.
"Did you just call me cute?" Alex raised her eyebrows, smirking to herself.
When Mitchie saw the look Alex was giving her, her mind instantly went blank. "Uh… N-no… I mean, yes… But no. Well, sort of…" Mitchie trailed off as Alex chuckled softly. She buried her face in her hands to hide her intense blush.
"Interesting," Alex said, smiling widely. "That's what I thought the first time I saw you."
Mitchie's body stiffened. She was used to playing around with Caitlyn in a similar manner, but it was never like this. She always knew it was nothing but a joke with Caitlyn. But with Alex, it didn't seem like she was playing.
Mitchie slowly raised her head from her hands. "Did you just hit on me?"
Alex snorted to hide her surprise. "You wish," she said, keeping that signature smirk on her face, but something inside her didn't feel right. Had she hit on Mitchie? She wasn't sure. She didn't exactly have a lot of experience with girls. The only girl with whom she'd been open about her feelings was Nikki. But then, it was always the older girl taking the lead. Alex had no clue how to flirt with another girl. So if she'd just done it, how would she know?
Mitchie looked away from Alex quickly, clearing her throat. "So, math…"
And just like that, the comfort zone was gone and the initial awkwardness returned.
An hour and a half later, Alex was gathering up her things and getting ready to head out the door. They had finished the work in mostly silence, only talking about the questions in front of them. Even though Mitchie was a little more standoffish, Alex still found that she was able to explain the material way better than Justin ever could. She just had a way of bringing it down to a level that Alex could understand, whereas Justin seemed to think everyone else in the world understood everything he did, which was a lot.
"Thanks for all the help, Mitchie," Alex said as the two girls stood awkwardly near the door.
"You're welcome." The singer smiled shyly. "You're really smart, Alex. If you actually try to learn instead of make Justin have a panic attack, maybe you wouldn't need my help at all."
Alex frowned a little. "Excuse me?"
"You just seem to go out of your way to make your brother angry," Mitchie pointed out.
"That's our relationship."
"That's not healthy."
"Uh, by the looks of it, you don't have any siblings." Alex waved her arm, gesturing to the empty apartment. Her bag slipped from her shoulder to the middle of her arm. She flung her hand about until the accessory fell to the floor. "So how would you know what a healthy brother/sister relationship is?" Mitchie had no answer. "That's what I thought. You don't. That's just the way Justin and I act towards each other. We like to drive the other one crazy and then have random touching moments every so often. It's weird, but it's us. And you don't know anything about us."
"I guess I don't," Mitchie said, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. She was getting a little defensive. After all, she'd just been trying to help, and now Alex was jumping down her throat. "Then again, maybe I don't want to know."
"Maybe if you stopped judging me, we could be friends," Alex said softly. Mitchie's only response was pressing her lips so tightly together that they were a thin, white line. Alex sighed a little. "I don't judge you. You're not exactly perfect, ya know. Look at you. You're sixteen and pregnant. I don't look down on you because of it. I don't think you're a slut or disgusting or anything. I just think you made a choice that may not have been the best. And that's what I did, too." Alex ran an irritated hand through her hair. "Smoking was stupid, and so was almost burning down the school. It wasn't my finest moment. And I have no idea what Justin told you about me, but he seems to have placed the idea in your head that I have serious issues. Okay, I'll admit that I have a few. But who doesn't? You have some yourself. But you had to go and be hypocritical and judge me without really knowing me."
"Oh, and like you didn't have a preconceived notion of what I'd be like before you came here?" Mitchie glared at the other girl. She no longer made the singer nervous. Now she just made her angry, but that was mostly because she was right. As much as Mitchie hated to admit it, Alex hit the nail right on the head about her being judgmental.
"True, I thought you were going to be a total dweeb." Alex crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring Mitchie, while nodding her head. "But I gave you a chance to prove to me you weren't. And guess what… You did. You're actually pretty cool. And how did I find that out? Because I gave you a chance!" She shouted the last part, uncrossing her arms and spreading them wide in exasperation. "But you didn't give me one in return. You formed an opinion of me from what my brother told you, writing me off as no good before you even met me. Then when you do meet me, you treat me like a disease or something. You didn't like me from the start!"
"It's not that I didn't like you!" Mitchie yelled right back.
"Okay, then what is it?" Alex took a small step closer, craning her head to make it look like she was listening better. "Please, tell me, Mitchie."
"You intimidate me, okay?" She yelled, finally uncrossing her arms and clamping them down to her sides, balling her hands into fists with frustration.
"I intimidate you?" Alex asked quietly, her features softening.
"Yes, you do," Mitchie said, her voice back to a normal level. "You make me really nervous."
Alex was struck dumb. She knew some people were scared of her, but no one had ever admitted it to her face before. "Why?"
"I don't know." Mitchie tore her eyes from Alex's. "Your gaze is just so intense. I feel like you can pick up on every thought going through my head. It makes me a little uncomfortable."
"If it makes you feel any better, I have no clue what's going through your mind." She scuffed her shoe on the linoleum floor. "All day I've been trying to figure out whether or not you hate me."
"I don't hate you," Mitchie answered honestly, looking up to meet Alex's eyes again. "I'm just a little frightened of you."
Alex winced. That comment stung… A lot. "But why? I haven't done anything to you, Mitchie."
"There's just something about you that unsettles me." Mitchie turned her head to the side, scrutinizing Alex. "I don't know what it is. I can't figure it out, but you are such an enigma to me."
"What did you just call me?" Alex gave Mitchie a confused look.
"An enigma." Mitchie laughed. "It's something that's puzzling or a mystery."
"So I'm confusing?" Alex rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, the confused look still on her face.
The singer nodded slightly. "I guess you could say that." She sighed. "And that scares me. Because I don't like not being able to figure things out." She ran a tired hand down her face. "Can we just start over? Pretend like this day never happened?"
"I don't know about that, but how about this…" Alex smiled a little. "I promise to try not to be so odd and mysterious if you throw your old opinion of me out and start trying to form a new one."
"Oh, but I already have," Mitchie stated.
"Really?" Alex asked, receiving a nod from the other girl. "Which is…?"
"That you're pretty okay." She smirked.
Alex's mouth instantly formed into a shy smile. For some strange reason, she felt very pleased. "You're pretty okay too, Mitchie," she said, her cheeks a delicate shade of pink.
The girls smiled at each other for a few moments before they broke eye contact, each looking at the floor while a comfortable silence fell over them. Mitchie checked her watch.
"It's almost five. Don't you have to be getting to work?" Mitchie asked, looking up.
"Crap!" Alex smacked herself in the forehead with her palm. "I totally forgot. And it's about to be the dinner rush. Dad's going to kill me if I'm late!"
"Think you'll make it in time?" Mitchie asked, genuinely concerned.
"I hope so." Alex picked her back up off the floor and flung it over her shoulder. "Justin isn't here to drive me, so I have to take the subway. I wish I could just go the fast way!"
"What's the fast way?" Mitchie curiously asked.
Alex wanted to slap herself for letting that slip without thinking. "Uh… A cab," she lied. She'd really meant zapping herself home, but she couldn't tell Mitchie that. "No money, so… No cab."
"Oh, okay." Mitchie nodded, accepting that answer.
"Yeah, I better go so I can hopefully jump right in a car and be on my way," Alex said quickly, eager to get out of there before she slipped up again. "Once again, thanks for all the help. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright," Mitchie said, a little sad that Alex had to leave. Despite the rollercoaster of interaction between the two, she really had been enjoying the other girl's company. Beat being alone in an empty apartment with nothing to do but unpack. "Bye, Alex."
"Bye." Alex flashed Mitchie one last smile before darting out of the apartment, praying her father wouldn't yell at her for being late. She had been doing homework, after all…
"I'm here, I'm here!" Alex yelled, running into the sub shop.
"Where's your brother?" Theresa asked, setting a tray of food down at a table that had been waiting for their food for almost a half hour. None of the children had been there to help, so Jerry was in the kitchen trying to fix all the sandwiches while his wife had to tend to all the tables, which were almost all full. Theresa also had to manage the cash register. Max was the only one of her children she'd seen all day when he came home after school. But they weren't about to trust Max with money. They weren't sure if he could count past ten, after all.
"He got called off on a mission with the monster hunters hours ago," Alex told her mother as they walked behind the counter. She stowed her bag under it. "He isn't back yet?"
"No." Theresa shook her head as she grabbed another tray of sandwiches. "And where have you been all day if Justin's off monster hunting?"
"At Mitchie's," Alex responded, grabbing an apron off the hook and tying it around her waist. "We were doing work."
Theresa gave her a look. "Yeah, okay. Sure. Try telling your father that one." She started to walk away.
Alex followed her mother. "We really were," she told her defensively.
"Whatever you say, Alex." Theresa placed the food in front of the irritated customers. "You're the one that's going to have to deal with your dad. So you better come up with a better excuse than that. We both know you weren't at Mitchie's." She picked up a glass from a table to refill it. "And if you were out committing any more felonies, you might as well start packing for military school now."
"I wasn't!" Alex exclaimed, making the entire restaurant go quiet and causing everyone to turn and stare. She felt her cheeks grow hot. "I was really at Mitchie's doing work," she said quietly.
Theresa gazed at her for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not to believe her daughter. In the end, she just shook her head and sighed. "Just get behind the register," she said as she walked away to fill the drink.
Alex's heart dropped to her stomach as she shuffled behind the counter, resting her elbows on top of it and placing her chin in her hands. Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back. She was used to her parents not trusting her, but all those times, she'd been lying. This time she was actually telling the truth, and her mom didn't believe her. And that hurt like hell.
Hours later, Alex flopped down on the living room couch, exhausted from spending all that time on her feet. She and her parents had been the only three working the dinner rush, which didn't slow until they closed. They had been so busy that Jerry hadn't had time to confront Alex about her whereabouts during the whole shift. And then when they closed up, Alex immediately went upstairs while her parents did inventory.
"Alex!" Jerry startled his daughter, who was about to fall asleep on the family's bright orange sofa. "Why were you so late coming into work?"
Before Alex could answer, the door flew open and in walked Justin, looking as tired as his family, as if he'd just worked that shift with them.
"I'm home," he said dully, taking a seat beside Alex.
"Where have you been?" Alex asked. She hadn't seen him since he'd rushed out of Mitchie's apartment hours earlier.
"Monster hunting, remember?" He rested his head on the back of the couch. "We had a bigfoot loose in Central Park. He wouldn't fall for any of the traps I set, so I had to wrestle him to try to tie him up. I won, though." He gave a weak smile. "After I was able to tranquilize him, that is."
"Alex, I asked you a question," Jerry said, standing over his child with his hands on his hips.
Alex looked up at her father. "I was at Mitchie's doing work."
"That's what you told your mother." Jerry nodded.
"Okay then…"
"Now how about the truth?" Jerry raised his eyebrows at her.
"That is the truth." Alex frowned. Was it so hard to believe that she had done something responsible?
"Alex." Jerry's voice was stern.
"It is!" Alex exclaimed, standing. "Do you want me to prove it to you?" She didn't wait for an answer, just went over to the kitchen table where she'd placed her bag when she came upstairs.
"By the way, I know I said I'd help you with the work, but I'm way too tired, Alex," Justin said, not moving from the couch. His eyes drooped closed. "Maybe tomorrow or this weekend."
"No need," Alex told him, unzipping her bag. "Mitchie helped me. She caught me up, and we finished today's work as well."
Justin's eyes shot open and he picked his head up to look over his shoulder at his sister. "You did not," he said, not believing it either.
"I did too." She pulled out all of her notebooks and carried them over to her brother and father. She shoved half the stack into Jerry's hands and dropped the other half on Justin's lap. "Feel free to check it. Everything's correct."
Jerry opened the first notebook and scanned the page, not knowing what he was looking for. He figured he had the science notebook, since there was something about photosynthesis on the page. Meanwhile, Justin was checking over Alex's math.
"This is all right," he observed, flipping the page over to look at the back. "What, did you convince Mitchie to let you copy?"
Alex angrily snatched the notebook out of his hands. "No," she said. "She did help me, though. Since I didn't have the books, we did the work together. She taught me all of yesterday's stuff and then we moved on to today's, which we worked on equally."
"Okay then," Justin said, grabbing the notebook back and taking a pen off the coffee table. He scribbled out a problem similar to the ones on the page. "Then solve this." He slid the notebook closer to Alex.
"Fine." She yanked the pen from Justin's hand and got down on her knees to work the problem. After staring at it for a few minutes, pen met with paper. Alex's hand was a blur as she wrote out the steps. "There. Check it," she said when she was done, handing the notebook back to Justin.
Stunned, he took it and looked down at the page. When he did the math out in his head, he gasped. "It's right."
"You're damn right it's right." Alex scowled as she took all of her notebooks back. She brought them back to the table and put them in her bag, zipping it closed. Without another look at her father or brother, she tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and marched up the stairs.
"Wow," Jerry said once she was all the way upstairs. "You know, I was worried about this homeschooling thing, but maybe it was a good idea after all."
With that, he clapped his still surprised son on the shoulder then went into the kitchen to get a leftover slice of pie. Justin continued to sit on the couch and stare off into space, once again wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.
I will really try to get another chapter up before I leave, but don't count on it.
Review.