Disillusionment
Disclaimer: Nothing's mine, so don't sue.
Rating: Hard R, for sexual and adult themes, controversial topics, and cursing.
Word Count: 2710
Summary: Pre "To Serve and Protect." Isabel's pregnant. Hers and Alex's worlds have been completely turned upside down and inside out, as have the lives of their friends. Friendships are holding by a thread, relationships are distant, and loyalties are tested. Can a group of friends truly come together when it's needed most? Through thick and thin? Predominantly A/I, but involves all characters.
Pushing the SLEEP button on his alarm clock, Max turned
over and wrapped his covers tightly around himself, not ever wanting to get up.
He very well knew it was Monday and that he had school today, but that didn't
stop him from trying to get a few extra winks of sleep. Though, he also knew his
mother or father would sneak in and switch on his blinding ceiling light and tell
him to either "rise and shine" or "to get his ass out of bed." Generally, it was
quite easy to guess which parent had woken him by said parent's voice and
greeting.
Hearing a knock on his door and the click of the light switch, he groaned and
pulled the comforter up over his head. "It's too early," he muttered.
"Come on, son. Not going to get anywhere with that attitude. Out of bed!" his
father's voice boomed as he snatched the covers from Max, leaving him in just
his boxers and coldness.
Max sat up, squinting his eyes and yawning, "Just a few more minutes . . . ."
"A little to late for that now, Max. Come on, or your breakfast will get cold."
"Not that it isn't already cold," Max said beneath his breath, not referring at all
to his breakfast. Rubbing his arms briskly, he carefully scooted off the bed and
stood. He looked on the floor and saw a pair of clean looking jeans and pulled
them on and grabbed a plain grey shirt from his closet. Seeing his father
observing his room and stifling a laugh, Max gave his a questioning look.
"What?"
"Nothing," his father replied. "Just know that when you get home from work
tonight your mother's going to want you to clean up this mess," he said,
pointing to the small piles of clothing strewn around the room, positioned like
mines in a battlefield. "They're probably booby-trapped, protecting the mass
amounts of buried treasure in this room," his father joked on his way out.
"Funny, dad," Max said, not very amused.
Passing the bathroom on his way to the kitchen, Max heard his sister's retching
and stopped. It wasn't the first time this week he'd heard her doing this, and he
couldn't imagine how it felt to be sick to your stomach and then throw up its
contents. Though Max had experienced the occasional stomach ache and many
a time heartburn (thanks to the massive amounts of Tabasco they consumed),
he shuddered at the thought of having his food projected back through where it
came. He felt sorry for his sister, to have never been sick like this before in her
life and then to suddenly wake every morning with nausea and once in a while
experience the vomiting that accompanied it.
"She'll be fine, Max," his mother said, placing a comforting hand on her son's
shoulder. "She should be out soon. She's been in there for a good hour . . . ."
And like clockwork, Max heard the flushing of the toilet and the sound of rushing
water in the sink. The door to the bathroom opened to reveal a pale Isabel,
who leaned tiredly against the doorframe, pushing a few strands of hair behind
her ear from against her clammy skin. His mother then softly suggested, "Max,
why don't you go eat? Your breakfast is waiting on the table, piping hot." She
smiled, urging her son to leave her so she could tend to Isabel.
Max looked worriedly at Isabel and glanced to his mother and gave her a small
smile: "Okay." As he walked to the kitchen, he gazed back over his shoulder to
see his mother soothing his fatigued sister.
I suppose I should get used to this, he thought.
Taking a seat beside his father, he continued to observe his mother and sister
in the hallway until they walked the other direction toward Isabel's room. He
looked to his father and noticed that he had been watching them as well, but
soon turned his attention back to the newspaper when he realized Max was
looking at him.
Maria and Liz sat in silence on their way to school that morning, both too lost in
thought to hold a good conversation. The two young women both had endured
hectic weekends, consisting of eight hour shifts, homework, and studying for
their finals. Though, studying had proven difficult, as thoughts of recent events,
Alex, and their respective significant others had preoccupied them.
"You know," Maria began, "It's not that I'm mad at Alex . . . . I just never
expected this from him."
"I don't think of any us did, Maria." Liz continued to stare out the window. "And
I know what you mean. I just . . . can't believe how he's suddenly changed. Like
. . . he's still Alex, but yet . . . not. God, that doesn't even make any sense."
"No, sweetie. This is me you're talking to. I understand what you're saying."
Maria glanced at Liz, whose eyes met Maria's, and returned her attention back
to the road. Maria turned into the school's student parking entrance and
maneuvered her way into a nice parking spot at the front. She turned off the car
and pulled her key out of the ignition and sat back.
Liz sighed and faced her best friend, seeking Maria's green eyes to meet hers.
"Maria," the petite blonde swiveled round at hearing her name, "Do you think
we're being stupid? Being so harsh on Alex? Because if you're thinking along the
same lines as I am, I believe we're both in need of one of Alex's great big hugs
and a shoulder rub.
"Yes, he's doing things we may not approve of and not like, but is that really our
busin—"
"Yes, it's our business, Liz! He's changed. You know that as well as I do! I don't
care that Queen Amidala has some hold over him now that he got her pregnant!
He's still our Alex . . . ." Maria stopped and turned back around, staring straight
ahead though not really looking at anything, a lone tear trailing down her
cheek.
It then dawned on Liz why Maria was so upset. "You're afraid of losing him . . .
."
Liz knew that Alex was not just a friend to both her and Maria. He was their
protector: Liz's brotherly figure and Maria's fatherly figure. If Alex wished to be a
good father, he'd be spending a good amount of his time taking care and being
a key male figure in his child's life. Where would that leave her and Maria?
Knowing that she and Maria feared the same thing, Liz wrapped her arms
around her distraught friend and cradled her. Don't worry, Maria. Alex won't
leave us in the dust.
Isabel leaned against the cool surface of her locker, tired and cranky after this
morning's display of digestive physics. She had begged her mother to let her
stay home another day, but having already missed four days of school this
month, her mother curtly answered 'no' and gently pushed her out the door. Her
mother had handed Isabel her things, waved to Max, and with a sympathetic
look on her face, closed the door behind her daughter as she told her children
to have a good day.
"Hey," Kyle said, coming up next to Isabel. "Think you're going to make it
today?" he asked, trying to be genuinely kind.
"I'll be fine, Kyle. I don't need you feeling sorry for me," she replied coldly,
opening up her locker and taking out her books for her morning classes.
"No need to be such a bitch, Isabel," a sultry, female voice sounded behind
Isabel. "Or is it those wonderful hormones causing you to be so?"
Turning around, Isabel stared into the eyes of Danielle Scrimgeour, a girl to
which Isabel had rivaled in popularity and looks since the eighth grade. Danielle
had a personality as fickle as sour honey and had the looks of a stretched
Barbie doll. C cup breasts attached to a girl that was thin to the bone who rose
at a height taller than Isabel's own five feet nine. Her dyed red hair, light green
eyes, and braces made her Isabel's opposite in more ways than one. Danielle
happened to be the same girl who had caught Isabel vomiting in the second
floor girls' bathroom a few weeks ago, to which she had begun spreading, then,
the rumor that Isabel was pregnant.
Isabel was not in the mood for Danielle's taunting or her cronies' snubbing left
and right. There were a fair few who either did not care or were sympathetic to
Isabel's situation, but others, like Danielle, found it the perfect opportunity to,
once and for all, knock Isabel off her high horse and dethrone her as West
Roswell High's Queen, or 'Ice Queen' as most referred her to.
"I don't know about hormones, but just seeing you cause me to be so," Isabel
answered, slamming her locker shut.
"Now that's not nice," Danielle crooned, a couple of her friends giggling behind
her. "There's no need to be hostile. I'm not the one who did this to you. You
might want to take it up with . . . what was his name? That geek you
supposedly said you had no interest in? Oh! I remember now. Whitman." She
placed one of her manicured fingers to her lips, pretending to be in thought.
"You know, I haven't seen him around . . . not that I want to, but whatever
happened to him?"
Kyle could tell Isabel's blood was boiling and remembered hearing somewhere
that anger and pregnant women, especially one with alien powers, did not mix.
Taking a moment, Kyle spoke, "If you don't care to see him around, why would
you care what happened to him? Besides, Alex has better things to do than
waste his time taunting others about things that aren't his business."
Danielle was taken aback, as was Isabel, by Kyle's retort.
"Come on, Iz," Kyle said, picking up her side pack and handing it to her. "Let's
head to class."
Isabel took her bag from Kyle, glancing at her watch and looking to Danielle:
"You might want to get going, too, Danielle. The bell will be ringing in a few
minutes." Glancing at Kyle again, Isabel turned back to him and pushed him
forward, forcing him to walk, and she followed.
Once out of ear shot, Isabel said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I can stand up for
myself, Kyle."
Kyle stared at her for a moment, not believing what had just come from her
mouth. "You know, it seems I'm always sticking my neck out for you freakin'
aliens; no matter if it's life and death or if it's my now slow lagging rep here at
school." He shook his head and looked Isabel straight in the eye. "Why I do it?
Because I understand that right now, you and Alex are currently lacking in
support from our little chain gang because we're all still trying to process what
the hell's going on. So really . . . a little 'thanks' would go a long way." Seeing
that Isabel was at a loss for words, Kyle turned around the corner and headed
to class.
Standing there, stunned for a moment, Isabel heard the warning bell ring
overhead and sighed. She had wanted to run after Kyle and apologize, but she
figured she could find him later. Right now, she needed to get to class.
Hiking her book bag on her shoulder, she steadily walked toward her first hour
class. As she passed the Eraser Room though, the door opened and two hands
reached out and pulled her inside.
"Don't scream!"
Isabel looked at the two and caught her breath. "Trying to give me a heart
attack?" She closed her eyes and composed herself. "What do you two want?
Shouldn't you be heading to class?"
"Yes, but we really needed to talk to you."
Isabel crossed her arms. "About what?"
"More like who . . . ." said Maria from where she sat.
"Alex," Isabel stated.
"Yeah . . . We were, um, wondering . . . how is he?"
"Bitter. Angry. And possibly many more feelings that I have yet to hear from him.
You guys should be asking him, not me." Isabel said, sounding like she didn't
want to be there. "Speaking of talking to him, how come you guys aren't?"
When they didn't answer right away, Isabel continued, "Is it because of me?
Because you feel like I've trapped him or something . . . ?"
"Not quite like that . . . . More like, he's changed because either he forgot to use
an effing condom or you overlooked your birth control prescription." Maria
covered her mouth. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded!" she quickly
attempted to recover.
"Well, I'm not going to say the first thing that comes to my mind, but to clear a
few misconceptions: One, I don't take birth control. Two, Alex and I got in the
moment; it's both our faults that neither of us had no form of contraception at
the time. Three, you can't change someone; a person changes on their own
accord. Last, take it up with Alex."
As Isabel opened the door to leave, she heard Liz behind her.
"You're not sure why he's acting like this either, are you?"
Isabel pushed the door closed and sighed. "No. I'm not." She turned around
and slid down the back of the door, her knees huddled to her chest. "All I know
is that I feel it's my fault he's acting like this and that I have no idea how to
bring him out of it."
"Maybe you could dreamwalk him?" Maria suggested, jumping down from her
seat.
Isabel focused her stare on an imaginary spot across from her. She had never
told anyone what she saw when she had dreamwalked Alex last year, nor was
she keen on doing so now. At the time, and even sometimes now, the feelings
she had felt during that dream were something that terrified her. She didn't
know if she could handle another walk inside his subconscious anytime soon.
Focusing again, Isabel replied, "No. This isn't some outside alien influence
causing him to change. It's him. And, to be honest, I don't want to know what
lies within his subconscious; I don't want to know if there's more hostility there
than I'm already experiencing from him."
"You don't want to know if that hostility is toward you . . . or if maybe his
feelings have changed," Liz responded quietly.
Isabel didn't answer, and used the door to stand herself up again. "Liz, Maria . .
. I know that we're not exactly the best of friends, and I doubt that will ever
change, but just so ya know, even if I may not like to believe it and would rather
blame myself, Alex is acting on his own accord. This whole thing . . . my
pregnancy, all the alien stuff, all these issues with his family—that I had no idea
about until recently—and the fact my father wants to castrate him . . . all of this
surfaced at once.
"Yes, I'm angry that he's suddenly started doing all these things that I would've
never guess he'd do, but after having lunch with him yesterday . . . and some of
the things he said to me . . . I have come to the conclusion that I need to stop
being so bitchy about the fact he's changed and just let him talk about it when
he's ready. Though, that's not to say I'm going to put up and shut up for
another three months, but for now, I think we both have other, more
important priorities to discuss rather than continue conflicting with his
current attitude."
Sighing, Isabel concluded, "He'll come around."
"I hope your right," Liz said.
"He better come around," Maria answered sternly, picking up her backpack and
crossing her arms, "Or he'll be getting a swift kick to the ass from Hurricane
DeLuca."