Miss, Do I Know You?

17 - Monday, December 14

"How do you do it?" I heard from behind. "I'd never think to wear all that together, but you somehow made it look stunning."

"I might have to start stealing your clothes too," I said, standing in front of her closet. It was an absolute paradise. Her outfits and styles kept doing three-sixties every single day, so it was captivating to see where the magic happened. "By the way, where is this jacket from? There's no tag."

She peeked out of the bathroom. "That's a blanket I found at a thrift store. I don't even remember."

"What?"

"Take it if you want," she said with a laugh, returning to the mirror. "I haven't worn it in years."

I stood silent for a moment with a wide smile on my face. "An original Alexandra Martin in my closet? It would be an honor, ma'am."

"One more ma'am, and I'm about to change my mind."

We bantered back and forth all morning. I enjoyed the casualness between us and couldn't keep the cackles inside when she cursed me out each time we bumped into each other while getting ready. And as I leaned over to get my toothbrush, I accidentally nudged her and left a streak of black on her cheek. In return, Alex shot me a deadly look in the mirror.

"Oops. Sorry."

She pushed me out the door. "You're such a nuisance, Kayla. If I'm late because of you, you're gonna be mopping the floors during detention."

"It's like six thirty. There's no way you're going to be late."

A towel came flying, and I deftly caught it before it could strike my face. "Jesus, woman. Can't even brush my teeth without being attacked."

Alex abruptly set everything down. Her hands came to rest on my shoulders, gave me a spin, and proceeded to push me through the apartment until we were at the kitchen sink. "Brush your teeth here," she said. "I don't trust you not to projectile-toothpaste all over me and my bathroom."

"Do you think I'm five? And you have mascara on your cheek."

She scoffed. "I wonder why that is."

The three of us were out the door in no time and drove for a few minutes until we arrived at Gabi's lovely house not too far from Alex's apartment. I said my goodbyes to Benji before Alex led him inside, and then we were off to school.

"Do you usually drive in this grim silence?" I spoke up. "Or maybe you've heard of a thing called music?"

A slight flush of embarrassment crossed her face. "Uh, I don't really listen to music anymore."

"What?" I muttered in horror. "I better keep my mouth shut or your students will definitely lose all their respect for you."

The sudden shock of her statement was enough to wake me from my slightly hazy state of mind. But when she pressed a button on her steering wheel, every ounce of sleep left my body. For a split second, I thought that she had crashed the car, but it was just the music blasting from the speakers that made me jump.

She laughed, her voice overpowering the melody. "You're too easy."

"Alex!" I exclaimed as I heard the song. "You were the one who showed them to me!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Was I?"

"You don't remember? We prepared that whole concert for my parents! But I kept messing up the chords because I couldn't play that well yet, and you kept messing up the words, and then we just realized we were so terrible that we stopped."

She burst out laughing. "I can't sing for shit! You made me do it!"

"Oh, please. Could an eight-year-old really pressure you into that?"