Chapter 24: Alex

Someday, even a total dick can do something right.

I realized that later, after the graduation ceremony. Gracie and Peter were both graduating. Gracie, my sister, was salutatorian, meaning that she was merely the second smartest in her class and I had spent most of the month giving her shit over it. Not that I wasn't proud of her or whatever just that, you know, I can't actually tell her that, right?

Anyway, she had to give a speech awarding the Senior Class Teacher of the Year award and she'd been working on it for a month and since she had to be at the school early for the whole event, I figured I'd ride with her and met Peter there. I could have gone over to Peter's house and ridden in with him but...

But, in all honesty, I really wasn't looking forward to all this. I mean, yay, he was graduating and all but then he'd be gone half the summer and then off to college and that pretty much fucked him and me. Things were just getting good. I wasn't ready for them to end yet.

So I was sitting in the car, thinking about how much I wanted a cig so I didn't think about Peter leaving and Gracie was going on and on about how the committee had done everything wrong and nothing looked right or was planned right or whatever. Then out of the blue, I realized that Gracie was shaking. Her mouth hadn't stopped and she was driving fine but she was scared shitless. I thought, what the hell she scared of?

Of the future, of course. Of leaving high school and home - she was already in at Chapel Hill. And probably of having to speak to like a thousand people in the next four hours.

See, the thing is that Gracie never breaks a sweat. Not when she's at the helm, not at board meetings where she's actually gotten into arguments with Dad and lived to tell about it, not when she's kicking my ass bowling, not ever. For her to be freaked out was practically unheard of. It started to bug me. Here, she's going to be the big winner in the family. She's going to be the one everybody's proud of and she's dumb enough to be freaked out over a stupid five minute speech.

"Gracie," I finally groused, "give in uh rest."

She glanced at me. "What?"

"Com'on. Give it uh rest. Like you got a reason ta bitch." She stared at me until someone honked and she looked back at the road. "Seriously. What do you care, they can't seat everybody right?"

"Because!" she sputtered for a minute, looking for a reason.

"Look, they ain't take yor advice in the first place, they get what they deserve."

"What?"

"Just proves they too stupid ta know shit. You the smartest damn one anyway."

"Not smarter than Christie." The Valedictorian.

"Christie!" I smirked. "Christie got whale-size brains an' bait-size tits. She ain't had uh date since the birth uh Christ. You got brains, looks an' personality an' the only reason you behind that uber-dweeb in anything is 'cause you out that week and had to take a make-up test still sick." I shook my head and looked out the window. "Assholes lucky you show up at all. Then you sit here an' bitch 'cause you better than them an' they don't know it yet. You gonna get all uptight 'bout somethin' you need ta get up 'bout that stupid toad joke."

"The what?" She sounded confused and I shook my head again.

"That stupid toad thing at the beginning of yo' speech. Totally lame. The rest of it works. Well, I wouldn't uh voted Irwin jack shit but that ain't your fault." We pulled into the school parking lot and I opened the car door as soon as she parked. "Look, just 'cause you The Shit don't mean you gotta be a bitch about it, right?" I looked at her as I closed the door. She was sitting there with her mouth open. I didn't know what she was going to say but it was probably something smart. "Ima go see who here." I said before she could lay into me.

I found some of the smokers I used to hang with back by the 'smokehouse' which was a storage shed on the edge of the school property. I congratulated the seniors and hung out until the smoke began getting to me and I started itching. I couldn't take smoke for long anymore - the one time Peter caught me smoking after he told me to quit, he put a couple bandages under my armpit, waited a day, then ripped them off. He told me he'd do that every day for a week if he ever even smelled smoke around me again. Now, instead of coughing like a normal person, when I smelled cigarette smoke, my armpits got itchy-achy.

Wandering around the school grounds, it occurred to me what a bad idea it was getting there that early. I had squat to do so all I was doing was thinking about how bad the next two years were gonna suck.

At least, that's all until I reached the side door of the building. There were some picnic tables under a couple trees where people had lunch just to get out of the cafeteria. It was also a prime make out spot if you weren't trying to get naked. There were two couples there, taking advantage of the early hour to get some heavy duty lip locking done. One of them was wearing Missy's favorite hair clip. I only noticed the thing because Peter gave it to her right after they started going out and she wore it all the time.

I would have kept walking, even then, if she hadn't taken her fingers out of the guy's hair and been wearing Peter's ring.

"Oh you are so fuckin' kidding me!" I grabbed the hand before it could vanish again and took a good look at the ring - despite the couple's protests. The green and yellow stones sparkled, just the way Peter hoped they would. I felt the guy get up and heard Missy call my name.

"You're hurting my wrist, Alex."

Her voice was actually giving me a headache. Hurting her wrist wasn't even on the list of things I wanted to do to her. A hand tugged my shoulder but I ignored it. Then there were a couple hands on me, pulling. I couldn't hear anything clearly, like the whole world was nothing but white noise and I couldn't see anything except that ring. I wondered how hard it would be to get it off if I broke the finger under it.

But Peter would not have approved of that. Even if he'd caught her himself. Breaking her hand would just upset him even more. I let her hand go and shoved somebody out of my way. I got two, maybe three steps away when I realized there was one more thing I could do. "Missy." I snapped and by the way she froze, I guess it was loud enough. "You best come up with somethin' good. He don't need ta hear 'bout this." She swallowed hard then nodded. I went into the locker room, to the weight room and punched a couple bags for a while. I got a little sweaty doing it but it was going up to 94% before lunch today, so likely no one would notice.

Peter found me in there a while later. "What up?"

"Nothin'." I tried to look tired - which I was - not pissed.

"Try again."

"Peter ... Sir ... just ... nothin'. I'm just kinda ... y'know. Next year."

He nodded and looked thoughtful. He came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. "We'll make it work. Don't worry. Hey, worse case, I'll stay here til you graduate. Then we can go together."

I stared at him. "Fuck no."

He raised his eyebrows. He was only trying to lift one, but they both lifted anyway. "Come again?"

"Fuck no." I said clearly. "You ain't skippin' college 'cause uh me. Hell no." I looked away from him. "'Sides, how you gonna get married, you can't get rid uh me for uh year."

"Who say's I can't." He gave me a gentle shove. "Anyhow, I wouldn't marry uh woman, came between us."

"Yeah." I couldn't look at him. "Ain't no woman worth that."

"Come on." He stood up and checked his cap-and-gown in the nearest mirror. "I got two big dates coming an' I ain't tryin' ta be late for either."

"Two?"

"Graduation at noon. Then Melissa at 1:30." He grinned. "She wanna say yes in private."

"Yeah, right."

He caught my tone. "Problem?" I shook my head but I knew he wasn't going to let me off that easily. "You got uh problem with me an' Missy, get it out now."

"I just ... I mean, are you sure? You been datin', what, six months?"

"How long's it take?"

"I don't know! But, I mean, I know you sure you sure but how you know she sure?"

"An' this ain't about you thinkin' Ima cut you loose over her."

Actually, until he said it, that thought had never even occurred to me. Cut back, of course; we wouldn't see each other every day after that. But cut loose? Scary thought.

He stepped back over to me. "Alex." I saw his eyes pass over the door behind me. Then he leaned over and kissed me. Not a light peck but a serious, only-when-we're-alone, tongue down my throat, can-I-blow-you-now kiss that actually left me breathless. "You need uh shower."

"Yes, Sir." I breathed. One day, I'm going to figure out how he does that to me.

"Come On." He chuckled and headed out of the weight room. We were practically to the auditorium when I was finally thinking clearly. "I gotta go. Catch you after."

I managed to find the rest of the family - including Beth, looking hot in a blouse you could see her bra through. I pulled her aside. "Listen, Missy gonna say no."

She practically choked inhaling so hard. "What? How do you know?"

"I - saw her earlier. If she got any sense, she gonna say no."

"What did you say ta her, Alex?"

"I ain't say nothin' an' her lips too busy ta say anything ta me."