[Alex Dunphy]
She gives me that look—eyebrows raised, lips pressed together in a knowing smirk. "Lucas. Your boyfriend. Don't look so surprised, Alex. I'm your mother. I know."
I groaned and then fixed myself in the front seat as we came to an intersection, nervously glancing at my mom. Haley must have told her about Lucas. There must have been something Haley got out of mom for snitching on me. I mentally reminded myself to get back my revenge on her.
I replied neutrally to her. "He's… good. He's really good to me, Mom."
She smiles, softer now. "I'm glad. You deserve to be happy, Alex. Just remember, don't lose yourself, okay? I want you to have fun, but still be responsible."
I nod, feeling a strange mix of relief and embarrassment. "I know, Mom. I promise." I looked out the window again, trying to collect myself before we continued our drive toward my high school.
I knew full well that my mother sensed I was having issues at school. While I did my best to hide it, there was only so much I could do to keep myself from carrying it all over my face. Besides, I'd made the mistake of telling Haley about it, and now that she was back from college, she was doing everything she could to get on Mom and Dad's good side—even if it meant playing informant.
It made me worry about what I told her. At the same time, though, Haley was really the only person I could talk to about things like this. While my mother hadn't brought anything up yet, I could feel her wanting to say something. Her motherly instinct was calling for her to make a move, to turn this into a turning point for trust in our relationship.
I was smart enough to know that sooner or later it would come up. If I could get ahead of things now and bring up the conversation in my own words, I could control it, steer it in my favor. If I let Mom make the first move, it could go south—words could get mixed up, and my life could get even more complicated. These thoughts ran through my mind, fueling a burning desire to make first contact and gain the upper hand.
"I have a problem," I said to her as we came to a stop at another light.
"What's wrong?" She looked at me immediately, concern etched on her face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Mom," I grunted out. "Just a bit of drama at school." I didn't want to explain the whole situation, but I had to give her something, or she'd be constantly trying to figure it out on her own.
She sat back and thought for a second. I could tell she was trying to come up with something profound, something she thought would fix all my problems. She's always been that type—putting all her effort into her children, wanting to make our lives as good as she could. It made perfect sense to me. So I let her think until finally, she opened her mouth.
"There will always be drama, Alex. Best thing you can do is not engage in it." Her advice was obvious, but it carried some meaning for me.
"Yet the drama keeps getting worse the more I try to avoid it." Our light turned green and we continued toward my school.
"Well, yes." My mother nodded. "When you're a child and you don't get what you want, you throw a bigger and bigger fit until you end up getting what you want." She laughed. "You used to do it all the time with me when I wouldn't give you candy."
I groaned at the analogy, even though I saw where she was coming from. "Eventually, you'd tire yourself out and not throw a fit anymore. If you don't give them the reaction they want, eventually they'll give up and move on to someone else who will give them the attention they want."
I nodded, understanding the simple analogy, but overanalyzing it to the point of not really thinking of it in that context. Of course, grown teenagers aren't like kids—they're much dumber and more vengeful. Wise advice nonetheless, I brushed it off, not focused on the semantics.
"If your analogy is right, then this person should have stopped by now, yet they continue to escalate their behavior. I've done all I can to ignore them and fend them off with non-answers already." I stated as we pulled down the street my school was on. "By all means, I should give it another couple days before worrying myself with coming up with another alternative."
"You're a smart girl, Alex. You'll figure it out." My mother smiled as we pulled to a stop. "You should talk to Haley. I'm sure she's had her fair share of high school drama experience."
"I'd go to her if the answer was pulling hair and calling people bitches." My mother cracked a smile. "Sadly, that's just not me. I have more important things to worry about than petty drama, only it seems to consume me more than I'd hope it would." I continued with my robotic answers.
"Well, there are a lot of different ways to deal with these kinds of situations." I grabbed my backpack and opened the door. "I'm sure you'll find the best way. If not, you know I am just one call away" Mom gave me a confident smile, and I couldn't help but smile back before walking up to school, feeling somewhat better about the situation I was going into.
It's been hard for me at times to relate to my mom on a personal level. Hard for me to understand that I am cut from the same cloth as her with some of the things she says to me. It sounds terrible that I actually think this way, but it's true. She's a Haley kind of girl, and I am nowhere near the two of them. I'm quiet, reserved, unpopular to sum it all up. They know how to deal with drama using behavior I would never even dream to use. Not so long as I am still on top of my game.
Taking a further look at what she said, though, I could see more and more where she was coming from. She told me I need to ignore this girl's behavior even more than I have. Although I know how psychotic she can get when the same thing happens to her. I know that she wants us to be better than her but I am not much different from her in that regard. This runs through my mind as I walk into school and immediately head to my locker.
Every day Lucas was the first one to greet me, but today he was absent from school because he had that chess tournament to attend. That's why I decided today was the day I would talk it out with Debbie.
I made my way toward Lucas' friends, who were sitting at the usual spot. There I found Josh, Leonard, and Debbie. I had figured out the group dynamics by now—Lucas was the glue that held the group together, otherwise they were so different from each other.
I approached them and Josh greeted me with his usual enthusiastic energy, Leonard did the same, but I was only looking at Debbie. She noticed my gaze and met my eyes, her jaw set, arms folded.
"We need to talk," I said to her, gathering all my courage. The air around us seemed to thicken. Josh and Leonard must have sensed the tension because Josh immediately made some excuse and said, "Uh, Leonard, let's go fetch that thing from Donald." The excuse was so bad because we didn't even have anyone named Donald at our school. But they left, and I turned to Debbie, my heart pounding.
"He is mine now and you have to let it go," I said, my voice steady but my hands shaking a little.
Debbie stared at me, her eyes cold and unblinking. "What are you talking about?"
I didn't back down. "Lucas is my boyfriend now. You had your chance and you lost it."
Her face twisted, pain and anger flashing across her features. "You think I care? You think you're so special, just because you're with him now?"
I kept my voice calm. "I don't think I'm special. But I know he chose me. And I know what you've been doing—painting slut on my locker, throwing away my books, starting rumors about me and Sanjay. It's got to stop."
Debbie's eyes narrowed, her fists clenched at her sides. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know what it's like to be friend-zoned, to watch someone you care about just taken by someone."
I felt a pang of sympathy, but I pushed through. "Hurting me won't bring him back to you. And if you keep this up, I'll tell Lucas everything. I know you don't want him to think badly of you." I used the only card I have against her otherwise she is more powerful in school hierarchy than me.
For a moment, Debbie looked like she might cry, but she just glared harder, her voice trembling with rage. "Fuck you, Alex."
I took a breath. "This is your only chance. Stop the bullying. I don't want Lucas to get hurt, and I don't want to hurt you either. But I won't let you keep doing this."
She flinched, her eyes darting away, and then just nodded, but the hatred in her gaze was unmistakable. "I don't like you, Alex," she spat, her voice low and venomous. Then she turned and stormed off, her shoulders stiff, her head down.
I stood there for a moment, heart pounding, but feeling lighter. I was proud—I'd stood up for myself. I sat down at the table until it was time for class, texting Lucas good luck for his tournament and letting myself breathe a little easier.
I chatted with him whenever I felt anxious, and it helped me calm down a lot. He was almost my antidepressant to the frustration in my life. For the first time in a long while, I felt like I could handle whatever came next. I knew that I would have to do better if I wanted to be someone worthy of standing beside Lucas. So I went to the class thinking of my future.
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AN: See, problems can solve themselves sometimes.
I want to be Power stoned.
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