Sigh ... I wish this were mine, but alas it is not. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
To answer a few questions in the first chapter's reviews ... this story is loosely based on Into the Storm. Granted, I made some changes to the plot, improving it as it were. Adding romance (citrus!) and finding out what happened after the tornado.
Tornadoes can occur when a warm front meets a cold front, forming a thunderstorm, which then can spawn one or more "twisters."
Thursday, May 27th, 2021
8:22am
Elgin High School
Alec was filming people as he walked through the hallways of his high school. Filming was the only thing that calmed him down nowadays. He hated that his father was gone.
No, scratch that ... he hated his father.
Period.
He hated that his mom worked so much, ignoring Alec and his brother, Riley.
Okay, she doesn't ignore us. That's just the excuse you give to stay mad at her.
He knew that his mom loved him and his brother. She worked so hard to make up for the loss of their dad, Jasper, who had died suddenly in a car crash. Little did their mother know that her husband died while driving back from his mistress's apartment during a rare snow storm. Alec found out that Jasper had been fucking around his mother for years with his much younger secretary. Alec was editing in the living room late at night when his father came in, smelling like whiskey and some overly sweet perfume. His mother only wore fresh-smelling scents.
"Where were you, Dad?" Alec asked.
"I had a business meeting," he answered, his words slurring.
"Did that business meeting include getting a hickey?" Alec growled. "Dad, really?"
"It just happened, Alec," he muttered. "But, it was a business meeting that turned into more."
"I really don't want to hear it, Dad ... no, you're not my dad. You're just the cheating asshole who will break Mom if she finds out," Alec hissed.
"She won't find out," Jasper said, giving his son a hard look. "She'll never find out. It'll be our secret."
"No, it's your secret," Alec replied. "I hope it was worth it. That fucking a whore was worth it ..."
"Alec Charles Whitlock," Jasper snapped. "That language is unacceptable."
"So is fucking around on Mom," Alec snapped back. "Sleep well on the couch, asshole. If you go up to sleep in the same bed with Mom? I'll kick your ass."
Jasper saw that his son wasn't backing down, despite his tiny frame and nerdy exterior. He also saw the deep hurt and embarrassment in his eyes. He knew he fucked up, but he couldn't walk away from Alice. He loved Bella, but Alice was his soul mate.
Alec knew his father's secret and his father died before he could shatter his mother's heart. So, Alec just acted like an asshole to not fall at his mother's feet and tell her everything that her husband had done. He carried his father's secret.
It was killing him.
Torturing him to no end.
"Damn it!" came a sweet voice.
Alec put his vlogging camera down and saw the girl he'd been lusting over since they both were in kindergarten. She was scowling at her computer. "Jane, is everything okay?" Alec asked. He stopped filming and walked over to her, sitting underneath an elm tree. He made his way over to her, sitting down next to her. He looked at her computer and saw that it was beyond repair, but he was momentarily distracted by Jane's long brown hair and icy blue eyes. Focus, asshat. "Oooh, yikes."
"I know, right," she sighed. "I have my final project for my AP economics class saved on here. It's about the old paper mill and how reopening it would be good for our town's economy. It doesn't have to be a paper mill, but it should be something. I had this beautiful video with amazing editing and it was devoured by this glorified brick that school tries to pawn off as a laptop."
"Do you have your raw footage?" Alec asked. "I have my laptop and I could edit it for you."
"No, I had to delete it from the memory card since my mom needed it for something. She took pictures and filmed a new house tour. She's a real estate agent and has been since ... you know ..." Jane said, rolling her eyes.
"I can help you," Alec smiled. "We can go to the paper mill; get the footage and we'll remake your video. My MacBook is much better than this piece of shit. You'd have to drive since I came with my mom."
"Won't you get in trouble with Mrs. Whitlock?" Jane asked.
"I don't care about that. I want to help you," Alec said encouragingly. "Let me talk to my brother because I was supposed to get the final interviews for the time capsule project and I'm the head videographer for commencement. He'll do it. No big deal."
"Meet me at my car. It's the yellow VW Beetle," Jane grinned, hugging Alec. "Thank you, Alec. This means a lot to me!" She hopped up and scurried away.
Alec blew out a breath, allowing a smile to ghost over his features. It almost immediately went away when he saw Riley stomping toward him. He reached into his pocket to grab the AV room keys. "You need to do something for me, Ri."
"You need to stop being a douchebag to Mom," Riley growled, shoving his brother. "What the hell, man? You have been such a first-class douche since Dad died. Mom is working her ass off to provide for us because Dad left us. You could, at least, be nicer to her. She'd lost him ..."
"Dad was cheating on her," Alec snapped.
"What?"
"About six months before he died, I caught him sneaking back in. He had a hickey and smelled sweet, not at all like Mom," Alec explained. "You can't tell her, but I've been carrying this secret for two years, Riley." He looked up at his brother, seeing the sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry for unloading, but ... I've got shit to do." He pressed the AV keys into Riley's hand. "Finish up the time capsule interviews. There are three people you need to get. You also need to set up the cameras for the commencement ceremony."
"Alec, come on! I've projects and finals to study for," Riley argued.
"And, I've got an opportunity to have something good to happen to me for the first fucking time since our sperm donor decided to die because he had to get his freak on with a slut," Alec argued back. "Take care of it, Riley. I don't ask for much."
"You have to tell Mom about Dad," Riley muttered. "She blames herself for his death. She thought that it was her fault because she thought he was picking something up on the way home from work. It wasn't that. Was it?"
"No, Riley," Alec sighed. "I'll tell Mom, but not now. Now, she probably wants to castrate me and it'll be even worse when she finds out that I'm skipping school, but I need to feel something other than anger." He skirted past his brother. "I'll be back by the end of the school day. I think."
"Text me if you're not going to be here," Riley sighed, conceding to his brother. "You owe me, asswad."
"I know, I do," Alec breathed, turning on his heel and running to the parking lot. Jane was behind the wheel of her yellow Bug. He slipped into the front seat with a rarely used smile. "You ready?"
"Yeah," she beamed.
"Do you mind if I film as you drive? We can use it as the introduction of your project," Alec said.
"That's perfect," Jane breathed.
A/N: So, we've found out a little more about Alec and his reasoning for being a giant bag of douche to his mother. Not that there's any reason to be mean to your mom, but Alec is carrying a huge burden. You know? Anyhow, pictures of this chapter are on my blog. You can find a link for that on my profile. I'm also on FB: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation.
Leave me your thoughts!!
