doomsday. [ yellowjackets ]

cinquante-cinq.

xxx.

chapter cinquante-cinq.
chapter fifty five.

2021.

xxx.

        After Alex had managed to gather her bearings once they'd been rescued, she made sure she had carved out enough time to meet and speak with Jackie's parents. She initially had been unsure if she should tell them the grim truth about her death or make up a more lighthearted (which was a crazy word to use when describing someone's death) lie that could put them at ease. In the end, Alex told them that Jackie died of hypothermia, and they'd burned her body to prevent her from being eaten by the wildlife animals.

         Half of it was true, at least.

         Secondly, Alex also set aside time to talk to Jeff Sadecki. She had no relationship with him prior to the crash, unless you counted her shooting paperwads at the back of his head in class when he wouldn't shut up his stupid giggling whispers with Randy Walsh. Honestly, Alex rarely ever paid him mind, even though he was Jackie's boyfriend; you would imagine that maybe she would've been jealous of him, but the only person she was ever envious of with Jackie was the same girl that had caused her death.

       Despite the lack of friendship between her and Jeff, Alex felt obligated to talk to him about Jackie, too. Taissa told her she wasn't in a good place to do that, but Alex gave up on caring what Taissa thought of her a while ago.

       The two of them sat on the front steps of the Sadecki's house in silence. Alex had been there a few times for parties that Jeff sloppily threw, she always had an inkling that Jackie was actually the one that planned them, though. It seemed like a thing she would do since her parents thought she was a goody two shoes, she could only sneak a few parties at her house once in a while. Jeff's elbows touched his knees, his fingers fidgeting and his head hung low, but not low enough for Alex to miss the tear streaks down his face.

       Maybe Alex was a horrible person for being surprised at how much of a reaction Jeff had. She didn't know much about he and Jackie's relationship, she assumed it was shallow and just for show, but when Alex first saw him, she instantly saw the evidence of how hard the news of her death had hit him.

      It almost made Alex not want to tell him the truth, more than her agreement with the Yellowjackets.

      Almost.

     She could hear him quietly sniffling, his fist pressed to his lips as he tried to process her revealing to him how Jackie ended up freezing to death. Alex slouched her shoulders, blowing out a puff of air as she murmured, " I'm sorry, Jeff. "

      Alex wanted to say that she had tried, that she wanted to wait outside with Jackie until she went back inside, but she couldn't. It wasn't about her and her guilt, it was about telling her classmate that his girlfriend froze to death, and it was her team's fault.

     " Fuck..fucking hell. " Jeff exasperatedly breathed, rubbings his palms into his eyes before he finally sat up straighter, disbelief written on his face. " Christ, you guys were friends, weren't you? I mean, Shauna? "

     " I know. " Alex nodded, recalling her own disbelief and anger in the midst of the argument that would later kill Jackie. She exhaled again, feeling like sinking into the concrete step as she clutched her hands into balls, " I know. "