Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Alex guzzled down the remainder of the black coffee in his mug, his eyes never leaving the harsh light of his laptop screen. Per usual, it was far too late in the day to be drinking coffee, but the winter online school semester was demanding more time from Alex than he had. It was seven in the evening. For once, he had the evening off from work, but he needed to meet Avery at the studio in an hour for a recording session, and he still had two quizzes left in his statistics class that he wanted to finish before he left.
"Hey," Ericka casually offered as she walked past the breakfast table and to the fridge. Alex glanced at her.
"Hey..." His eyes glued back to the screen. Ericka began to pull fajita ingredients out of the fridge, flashing another look in Alex's direction.
"Stat?" She closed the fridge.
"Mhm..." Alex nodded, his pupils tracing whatever he was reading, his hand scribbling numbers down on a note pad. Ericka paused long enough to begin chopping up a bell pepper.
"Where's Avery?" She asked over her shoulder. Alex made a half chuckle, half huffing sound.
"Where do you think?" Alex was smiling slightly as he worked. Ericka frowned.
"Of course..." She rolled her eyes. Alex's smirk meant that Avery was with Jake, like she had been every moment that he was home for the holidays, it seemed. Ericka wasn't jealous, or at least she didn't think she was, it was just irritating to see how those two stuck together like glue, Avery always in Frankenmuth or Jake always at the apartment... and when they weren't together, they were on the phone, or Avery was cackling over something funny he texted her, that sort of thing, "Doesn't that bother you?" She muttered absentmindedly. Alex looked up from his computer with searching eyes.
"What? Why would it?" His eyebrows pulled together. Ericka sighed, not realizing her question would have grabbed his attention like that. She shrugged as she stirred around sizzling veggies in a pan on the stove.
"I don't know... they're constantly together, like constantly... honestly, kind of like she usually is with you." Ericka tossed her words out so casually that it stunned Alex. He made a 'pft' sound, rolling his eyes with a smile.
"They're best friends... she never gets to see him while he's on tour, I'm glad they're hanging out." Alex nodded and turned his eyes back to his schoolwork. Ericka shrugged again.
"I guess. I'm just used to it being Alex and Avery, the inseparable twins... not Avery and Jake." There was venom in Ericka's tone when she said Jake's name. Alex squeezed his fists a few times and rolled the tension out of his neck. He had been sitting there too long, he thought.
"Ricky, trust me... it will always be 'Alex and Avery, the inseparable twins'." He laughed, slightly mocking her words. Ericka finished making her dinner and turned around with her plate with yet another one of her signature shrugs.
