THE RECAP: Lexi left the boarding school, and Eve is miserable. Lexi went home.
Chapter 8LEXI
I was about ready to beat my head against a wall until I passed out. That was how bad it was getting living with my parents again. If only I was 18, then I'd be free of them... And they'd be free of me.
We'd been literally at each other's throats since the first night I got here, and it's only gotten worse with each passing day. They tried to enroll me in another all-girls boarding school up north, but they wouldn't except me. I had too much of a record. I laughed to myself when they informed me of that one.
See, that little bit meant that basically all of the decent boarding schools wouldn't take me. I was considered a "trouble maker with no respect for rules and authority". ...What teenager wasn't?
My record really had my parents in a situation. See, they would only let me go to the best of schools. Because, if they sent me to a half-ass school, that would reflect upon them. They didn't want people talking about how they weren't good enough parents to "sacrifice" a nice sum of money for the sake of their daughter's education.
That meant no second rate boarding schools, and above all: no public school. They were screwed. The only other option was home school, but that wouldn't get me out of the house.
"Lexi, your dinner's ready!" Called Colette from the kitchen, interrupting my thoughts.
"Coming!" I said, hoping up off my bed and running downstairs.
She'd only made something simple, a sandwich, and some other side dishes. She never needed to make full meals. My parents either ate out, or just didn't eat at all. Yes, this was the secret to my mother's lovely figure, not eating. It wasn't all that healthy, but she was still alive wasn't she?
"Thanks Colette." I murmured, as I dug into my measly dinner.
"Welcome." She said, as she rushed off to another part of the house to complete some chore or other. She constantly seemed busy, though, there mustn't be much to have to do in the house. There were normally only two people living in it. How could two people make much of a mess? Then again it was my parents... They left everything out. It wasn't that they didn't clean up after themselves, they just always forgot to put things away.
Stirring the contents of my plate around lazily, my thoughts began to drift back to Eve... I missed her every second of the day. ...More so since I was being treated like such crap by my parents. ...Though, lately it wasn't just Eve I missed. It was everyone. All my friends that I'd known forever, especially Charity. I missed her unbearably too.
I wondered what they were doing right now. Checking my watch, I figured they were probably either just finishing dinner, or in their dorms, or the common room, or something... Sighing I wondered if they missed me as much as I missed them...
Then a thought suddenly came to me. What if I gave them a call? There were phones there, and I knew the number. I'd had it memorized for years. I used to give it to the guys sometimes, for when they wanted to get a hold of us.
Jumping up from the table I ran upstairs into my room, snatched up my phone, and began to furiously dial the number... And then it rang. I listened to about four rings before I heard a rushed and very perky, "Austere Academy, this's Mrs. Hadlin!"
"Can I speak with Evette Solares, please...?"
"May I ask who's calling?"
"It's Lexi." I said, nervously.
"Lexi? Oh, Lexi! It's so good to hear from you! How are things going? Have you already started going to another school!? Oh, Eve's been just terribly down lately, maybe you'll cheer her up. She's been so sad. I haven't seen her smile since the day before you left."
"She's been that upset?" I asked, oddly surprised.
"Oh yes... Now, hold on a second and I'll get her."
There was a silence that was excruciatingly long, and then a very tired sounding "Yes?"
"She didn't tell you who was calling?" I asked, smiling to myself.
"No..." She said, soundly slightly confused. "...Lexi?"
"Yup."
"LEXI! OH MY GOD I'VE MISSED YOU SO SO SO MUCH IN THE LAST WEEK AND A HALF! I've been so lonely and lost..." She said, her voice going from excited, straight into a depressed mush.
"Ditto. It's been agonizing here at home. My parents hate me as much as I hate them."
"...You've called to break up with me haven't you? You've already found someone I'll bet. And I'll bet she's beautiful!" She said, starting to sob.
"Why would I do that? Evy I love you, and we're still together."
"B-because we can't see each other anymore..."
"I've never had a long distance relationship before, but I'm willing to try for you..." I whispered.
"How come we didn't discuss this before you left? It just seemed like you were going away for a while that day. Not going away forever. It took a day without you for it to really sink in that you were gone."
"I know what you mean... But look Evy, as long as you know that I love you, it'll be ok."
"I do... and I love you too. I really do."
"I want to kiss you so bad right now." I said, intentionally sounding a bit irked.
"Aww, is poor Lexi deprived?" She asked, laughing a bit.
"You mean horny? Hell yes!"
"Don't go substituting other people in my place while I'm not there."
"Well, our maid is pretty hot... I'm kidding. No one could take your place." I said, myself laughing, and for once in the time that I'd been gone, feeling remotely happy. No one could cheer me up like my Evy could.
"...I might have to go and kill her in her sleep if you keep talking like that..." Eve said.
I wasn't sure if that last remark was a joke or not... Though, it would get her here with me. Hmm...
"Ok, I'll stop. Hehe... Hey, you wanna hunt down everyone so I can talk to them all?"
"Sure, I'll go get them. They're all in the common room. I'll be right back."
After another silence that lasted forever, I heard someone pick up the phone.
"LEXI!!!! LEXI LEXI LEXI!!!" Screamed a female voice.
"...Charity, I can't talk to you if I've lost my hearing."
"I'm sorry, I'm just so glad to hear from you! We all are! How've you been?! I bet it's been terrible being stuck at home..."
"That's pretty much it. Terrible. My parents can't stand me, I can't stand them... That whole bit. And, the thing is, no decent boarding schools will take me because of my record."
"What're you going to do?"
"I don't know... I hope we can find some place. Preferably near there." I said, entirely too hopeful. A part of me knew that I'd never see any of them again. At least not until we all graduated. But, it was nice to think that things might work out.
"...Yeah... hey, look, everyone's whining at me to share the phone, so we're going to pass it around, and then let you and Eve talk."
Slowly everyone got hold of the phone, and everyone turned out to be quite a number of people. I didn't know I was so popular. I thought most people considered me weird, and generally tried to stay away from me. Apparently not. I needed to leave more often. Heh...
"Hey." Came Eve's voice again, finally. "...Go away, you guys." I heard her say to the others in a hushed voiced.
"Tell them they can't listen in on our phone sex."
"I... Think I'm going to pass on that one. You can tell them later." She said with a laugh. "...OK, they're gone now."
"Good... So why did they need to be gone?"
"I'm not sure. I figured we were going to talk about stuff." She said, sounding vaguely confused.
"I see. ...What sort of stuff did you have in mind?"
"Um, important stuff?"
"Well, at the moment, what seems to be important?"
"You seeing me again. I miss you..." She said pathetically.
We went on like this for another half hour till Mrs. Hathers had to cut our call short. We said our goodbyes, I promised Evy I would see her again, though not entirely sure if I would, and hung up.
Once more I was alone again.
Just like that, with the disconnection of the phone, my link to the only part of this world that mattered was gone. I realized I was getting depressed and didn't like it. Tossing myself on my bed I tried to sleep. Instead I ended up just lying there and thinking.
Would I get on fine if I never saw her again? I'd known her for such a short time, but she already seemed so very important to me. I wanted to trust that feeling, but those doubts wouldn't leave me alone...
After a time I fell asleep, but for only a few hours. I woke up to Colette bustling around my room putting things away.
"Oh, I'm sorry to wake you!" She said, noticing that I was no longer asleep.
"'s all right..." I said groggily, sitting up.
"I'll be done in just a moment."
I watched her as she puttered around my room, collecting some dirty laundry and then left, as quickly as possible.
Deciding that I should maybe move a little bit, I got out of bed and make my way downstairs, carefully listening for my parents' voices. I didn't want to run into them... However, there was no sign of them downstairs in the living room, or in the kitchen. I peered into the garage and saw that both of their cars were still parked there. Hmm. I curiously continued to search for them.
It was until I walked past the little hallway that led to the back yard, the guest room, and their office, did I hear anything. There were only a few words spoken right as I walked by, and then more silence.
As quietly as possible I tip-toed down the short side-hall and carefully pressed my ear to their door. For a while longer I heard nothing, until my father spoke up.
"Like you said. There's nothing else we can do. We'll just have to call Mrs. Rothcress again and ask her for yet another chance. If we do get another, though, what happens when she messes up again? It won't matter then, how much money we give to the school. She'll be too fed up..."
"Just call her." My mother said in her tight, "in control" voice.
"Alright..."
I heard some rustling, and then, I heard my father start to dial, and my heart leapt.
"Hello Mrs. Hadlin. This is Kevin Lontelle. I'd like to speak with Mrs. Rothcress if she's available... Yes. Thank you..."
"How much are you going to offer her?" My mother whispered.
"How ever much it takes, I guess... Mrs. Rothcress. Hello! It's Kevin Lontelle... ...Yes... ...Oh, Alexis in doing alright... ...Uhuh... ...Oh, really? Hmm... ...Well Mrs. Rothcress, the reason I called was because I need you to do me a favor. I need you to let Alexis back into your school... ...Please Mrs. Rothcress... ...Yes, I know, but we've straightened her out and I promise she won't cause you anymore trouble... ...Well, there will be a large sum of money involved, maybe not exclusively as a donation to the school. I understand how hard it is being a principal, and dealing with all the unruly children. They mustn't pay you enough... ...Yes... ...Do you understand?... ...Well, maybe not that much... ...Mrs.—... ...Oh. Well, alright. Whatever it takes... ...Can she be back by Monday then?... Yes. We will. Alright, you take care... ...Goodbye..."
"Did it work!?" My other asked frantically.
"Marvelously. It cost us quite a bit, but she's back in school..."
"Thank God..."
I let out a heavy breath, and scampered off before they could catch me eavesdropping. I was going back to Austere Academy! I was going home! I was going back to my Evy... I couldn't wait to surprise her.