Fragile Heart

Unexpected Blow-Up

Alex showered and changed into basketball shorts and a band T-shirt she stole from her brother, despite not being into the same kind of music. He was into punk and rock bands while Alex liked listening to the music they played on Radio Disney, an AM radio station that only came in clear half the time, and when it did, there was usually some static in the background. But Alex liked the late 90s/early 2000s kids' stuff. Not that Jess' taste was bad. She liked some of it, just not most, and preferred her own, especially the Backstreet Boys, with Brian being her favorite. Liz loved it because it was the closest to Alex being a "normal" girl so far, along with liking The Rock. Liz saw it as her daughter's first crushes while Alex just really liked them and blushed in embarrassment whenever Liz would point it out while either of them were on the TV.

Once dressed, Alex brushed out her short, shoulder length hair in the bathroom mirror. For the rest of the late afternoon and into the evening, she would switch between Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel on the TV in the living room, while fighting her WWE fighters in their wrestling ring set on the coffee table until her mom got home.

Cartoon-wise, Alex's favorite to watch was Hey Arnold, because it was about a group of misfit kids living in the New York area like her. She had a soft spot for Arnold and a couple of the other kids, but enjoyed every single episode, regardless of who was in the spotlight. She even felt bad for Helga sometimes, despite her always being mean to everyone, including Arnold, the boy she had a weird crush on. Alex had asked Jess once what he would do if a girl secretly liked him, but would constantly be mean to him, and secretly kept a photo of him.

From what Jess saw of the cartoon character and heard from Alex, he told her, "I would run in the opposite direction and take out a restraining order," and explained that was what a stalker does when she mentioned Helga having a shrine of Arnold in her closet.

But knowing Helga was paid no mind by either of her parents a lot of the time made Alex still feel bad for her and comparing Liz to Helga's mom, Liz actually paid a lot more attention than hers does on the show. Not that Liz was Mom of the Year or anything. Alex still wished her mom would listen to them more. As Jess always tried to instill in her little nieve head: Liz is gonna do what Liz wants and neither he nor Alex had any say in it, especially when it came to the guys she sometimes brought home. As she was getting older, Alex could see what her brother meant. However, unlike him, she felt torn. She did not know why, but Alex did not want to let go of the hope she had for their mom. At the same time, she felt closer to her brother and uncle. Her uncle, being more laid-back and nicer than Jess, always told her not to be too hard on their mom, so maybe that's why she could never fully let go.

Alex jumped when she heard the front door being unlocked later that evening, twisting around in that direction. She heard her mom call for her to come undo the top lock. "Coming!" she called back and jumped up to dash over and let her mom in.

"You finally remembered to lock the door this time, sweetie." That was Liz's way of praising Alex for her efforts. She closed the door behind her. 

Alex offered to lock it back for her, but couldn't find the courage to admit she had forgotten and received a lecture from Jess already.

"How was school?" Liz called back over her shoulder while heading towards the kitchen.

Alex followed behind at a slower pace. "Good," she shrugged causally.

"Make any friends yet?"

She leaned her arms on the kitchen counter while Liz set the pizza down and grabbed plates from the cupboard. "Not yet."

"I got a call from your vice principal at work, said she noticed you stayed late before running off." Great, so that woman did see Alex there and called after all.