I was sitting alone in the hotel room. It was peaceful to be by myself. To be alone with my thoughts. Of course, my only thoughts were about Jamie . . . and our goodnight kiss.
I smiled to myself. We had had so much fun earlier that I regretted dropping her off at her house. I would have liked to take her back to the hotel and just talk, or even go to a coffee house or something. She was such an interesting person and despite the fact that they weren’t blood related, she had many of the same personality traits and interests as Alex. She liked swimming, dancing, and comedies. She had been in the color guard with Alex in her high school. Now, she was a junior at Boston University. She had been up there until she’d gotten the call from her uncle. Then, she had come down to be with her family.
All of the sudden, my thoughts were interrupted by someone banging on my door. I got up and opened it, only to be practically shoved against the wall as Brian ran past me and died on the foot of my bed. Raising an eyebrow, I sat down at the head of my bed and kicked him with my foot.
“She’s coming with us!” he exclaimed, immediately coming out of his dead state and sitting up. His face was so animated that it took all of me to stop from laughing.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Who’s ‘she’?”
“Alex, you doof!” Brian said, throwing a pillow at me. “She’s coming with us to Kentucky.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed. “When?” He shrugged.
“She said sometime this month. She’s bringing everyone with her, too.”
“Who’s everyone?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Claire, Elis, Star, Mel, Roxie . . . None of N’Sync are coming because they have some recording to do.” I looked down at my hands. “I also think she’s bringing her cousin.” Automatically, I looked up at him. He was grinning from ear-to-ear. “She and Jamie are really close. Also, she figured that you would be there and since the two of you got along so nicely . . .” I chucked at him the pillow he had chucked at me. Then, I cocked my head in confusion.
“Wait, I didn’t tell you anything about my date yet,” I said. “How’d you know I had a good time.”
“I can tell just by the grin on your face.” Brian grinned. “Also, when we went back to Josh’s house for coffee, Jamie had left two long messages explaining to Alex in detail about how much fun she’d had. It made quite an interesting after-dinner conversation.” I blushed, causing Brian’s grin to widen. “You are so pathetic.”
“Me? I’m not the one engaged to someone who walks around hotel hallways in a skimpy, not to mention pink, silk thing.” Brian blushed. He looked down at his hands. “You’re gonna break it off with her, aren’t you?” My tone was softer now, trying not to push him. After a moment, he nodded. “Because of Claire?”
“Yeah,” he said, softly. “That and the fact that she is just so damn whiny!” The two of us laughed.
“How many times did I tell you that?”
“I don’t listen to you,” he said simply.
“Ya think?”
“Wait, you’re going to Hicksville?!”
Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I’m going to ‘Hicksville’,” she said, using her finger as quotes. “I promised the two of them that I’d go meet Kevin’s family and I think I’m really ready for that.”
“But why are you dragging us with you?”
“God damnit, Elis, can’t you be the least bit supportive?” Alex growled. “I’ve been struggling with this for almost a year and now that I finally want to do something about this, you think it’s too much to ask to have my friends around for support?”
“You have Brian from support,” Elis growled.
“Elis, lighten up a little bit,” I said, soothingly.
“Yeah,” Mel said, “she just wants us there for support.”
“We should be there for her,” Claire chimed in. I saw Alex cast a thankful glance in our direction, then looking back at the red head. Roxie remained silent.
“Be there for her?” Elis growled, her voice growing louder. “Be there for her?!? I have done nothing but be there for her since the beginning and we’ve gotten nothing out of it!”
“We’re not supposed to get anything out of it!” Mel yelled, jumping out of her chair. “Friends shouldn’t expect anything back when they give support!”
“Wait, you’re telling me that it doesn’t upset you in the least that she just bailed on us in the middle of the tour?!” Elis asked, incredulously.
“Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here!” Alex yelled. The room was silent and the tension felt as if it could be cut with a knife. After a moment, Alex slowly turned towards Claire, Mel, Roxie and me. She spoke softly. “Why don’t you four go in the living room? I don’t mean to kick you out, but this doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“This has everything to do with them!” Elis argued. Alex snapped her head back around to face her.
“There is no need for you to take your anger for me out on them,” she said, sharply. Elis snorted, but remained silent. Alex looked back at us. “I’m sorry about this, guys, but please.” The four of us nodded readily, not wanting to get into another one of their fights. I gave Alex a quick hug before following the others out of the kitchen. Their voices were quiet for the moment, but deafening as we walked up the steps into Mel’s room.
“This isn’t something we need right now,” I sighed, flopping down on Mel’s bed. “This isn’t something Alex needs right now,” Claire added.
“Alex hasn’t ‘needed’ it since she found out Kevin was her half-brother.” The three of looked at Roxie in disbelief. It was the first time she’d spoken all evening. Her choice of words were not the best.
I took a deep breath and tried to keep my tone steady. “Look, Roxie. I know you’re upset about your breakup with Lance, but that is no reason to get mad at Alex.”
“She’s doing this for attention,” Roxie said, matter-of-factly, ignoring my Lance comment. “She just-“
“Attention?! You think she wants attention?!?” Mel and I just stared at Claire. We had never seen her this angry. “She found out she had a half-brother she didn’t want because she wanted attention? Her father died because she wanted attention? She came crying to me in Texas instead of being in the limelight with the rest of you guys because she wanted attention?!?!”
“Alex always loved being the center of attention and you know that,” Roxie yelled.
“She would never step on other people to do it,” Mel jumped in, glaring at Roxie. “She would never push other people out of the limelight, either, and you know that.”
“I’m getting sick and tired of you guys defending her!” Roxie sighed, exasperatedly.
“She has a right to be defended,” I said, firmly, from my spot on the bed.
“Why?” Roxie challenged.
“Because she had a rough year,” Claire threw back. “Hell, she’s had a rough life!”
“Like I haven’t! My life has been just as rough as hers!”
“I highly doubt that,” Claire growled.
“Well, stop doubting ‘cause it’s true.”
“Your life was only ‘rough’ because you made it that way!” Claire shouted. The room was silent and it suddenly dawned on me.
“That’s what all this is bout,” I said, softly, looking up at Roxie in disbelief and amusement. “You want the attention. You hate the fact Alex has any attention at all. Who cares if it’s negative? You want it . . . you’re jealous.”
“Hey! Don’t you go accusing me of-“
“Oh, just shut up!” Mel shouted. Roxie shut her mouth. “You’re jealous of Alex because she’s getting attention because her father died. She’s trying to get on with her life and you and Elis just won’t let up with the past."
Roxie’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she just shut it completely. She had nothing to say. She had no defense. We had found out her secret and she was left completely vulnerable. Finally, she scowled and turned on heel, stomping out of the room and down the steps. None of them flinched when they heard the front door slam. It was quickly followed by a crash.
A new set of footsteps were heard softly coming up the stairs. Moment later, Alex appeared in the doorway. Leaning against the doorjamb, she brushed her long hair off of her sweaty forehead. It didn’t take a genius to see that Elis was gone. She had led Roxie out the door.
“Umm, I owe your parents a new lamp,” Alex said, softly, to Mel. “Elis broke it when the door slammed."
“Don’t worry about it,” Mel said. “My parents will understand.” Nodding, Alex turned to the rest of us.
“Well, for one, it was not a pretty show we put on down there,” she began, shoving one hand in the pocket of her jean shirt. “Things were said that can never be taken back and probably never forgiven. It took a lot of words, but we finally let out our true feelings for one another.” She scoffed at her own choice of words. “We’re not going to be talking for a while, if ever.” She looked at Claire. “I didn’t mean to bring you into all of this. I heard some of what went on up here between Elis’s and my words. It took a lot of guts to do what you did . . . all of you.” She looked at the ground. “Thank you, all of you, for defending me. I hate that you had to jump in the middle of it to do it, but it really meant a lot to me. God knows, support is exactly what I need right now.” Looking at everyone, her face was serious. “Today was sort of like a mile-marker for us. What was said and done can never be taken back. Not with the kind of temper that Elisbeph has and I’m sure Roxie won’t be far behind her.” Looking each of us straight in the eye, Alex stood up straight. “We have a decision to make and it has to be stated now.”