First Day of Summer Break
Tuesday, June 2nd, 1992
Alex was ready for the day, wearing a red spaghetti-strap tank-top, blue denim short-shorts, and brown sandals, at 8:00 A.M. From here she wasn't entirely sure what to do. On her average Tuesday she would be in class right now, but there wasn't any class. She was on summer break-no class for three months.
"Al?" Alex heard Gracie call from a few feet away.
"Yes?"
"What are you going to do today?"
"....I don't know...." The ravenette answered honestly, sounding a bit lost. She was lost, to be honest, and maybe more than just a bit. She had no idea what to do or where to go or who to be with. It was a mess, and Alex did not like messes.
"You can come hang out with me, if you want." Gracie offered with a smile, noticing her twin slowly unraveling.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know, c'mon. We can walk and talk about it. Figure out where we want to go on the way there."
Alex eventually agreed, following the older girl out the front door with not much more than some borrowed money, despite hating not having clear plans. She only agreed because she had nothing else to do and was sort of panicking, but....This might end up being a great bonding opportunity for her and Gracie.
"Alright, where do you think you'd like to go?" Gracie asked once the pre-teens were a bit down the road, walking on the sidewalk.
"I don't know." Alex's voice went high in worry.
Did she have to choose? She didn't know where to go! That's why she was with Gracie!
"The theater?"
"No! Too cold, too dark, too crowded, too loud-"
"Okay, then, what about the park?"
"Nothing to do. Lots of little kids." Alex wanted to say something else but couldn't think of a single other thing, so just went into an uncomfortable silence.
"I'm guessing you haven't gained a sudden love of the bowling alley or arcade? And I know anything animal related is off the table."
"No. None of that. I don't like that stuff."
"You like history, right? What about the museum? I mean, we'd have to get a ride, but that shouldn't be too hard."
"I don't like museums. They're too big and half the stuff is stolen and-"
"Breathe, Al." Gracie cut the other off when she began breathing faster, wringing her hands, and shaking her head 'no' quite aggressively. "Do you want to go to the library?"
"No."
Gracie raised her eyebrows in shock. "I have never heard you say no to the library, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Alex was still wringing her hands in an effort to keep them from doing more self-destructive things. It only helped a little.
"Really?"
"Don't feel good." Alex admitted voice quieter now, weaker.
"Hmm. You look fine and don't seem to have a fever, so that's good. What feels bad?"
"Everything."
"Can you tell me how it feels bad?"
Alex was quiet for some time, and Gracie didn't press, but she finally responded. "Nauseous, head hurts, feel...icky...."
"And how long have you felt this way?"
Alex shrugged. "Few minutes."
"And before that you were fine?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want to go home?" Gracie asked, gently stroking her sister's arm in an effort to comfort her.
"Yeah, but....You wanted to hang out."
"We can hang out together at home....Do you wanna play Sorry?" The blonde remembered the younger's favorite board game, it had been the same for about five years after all.
"....Okay...." Alex conceded and the two began the short trek home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex was laying in bed, under her covers, with Gracie next to her.
When they got home Petunia looked over her middle child, but couldn't find anything wrong. So, she gave Alex some apple juice to stay hydrated and ordered an easy day in. As promised, Gracie had played a few rounds of Sorry! with Alex before the two just began cuddling.
Alex felt a lot better now, but she still didn't want to get up, especially since her mom told her to rest. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened before, but some dark crevice of her brain insisted it was horrible, humiliating. So, Alex was humiliated.
Even still yet, it was nice to be able to spend this time with Gracie without having to worry about keeping up appearances or making choices. Winning at her favorite board game also didn't feel terrible.
Like that morning, Alex didn't know what to do, but she sort of didn't care. Maybe it was okay to just lay here in silence with her sister.
It felt good at least.