A Suite and Magical Life

Chapter 13: Life is about finding the people worth suffering for

New York City, New York, United States

August 10, 2008

Alex Russo walked away from the dance floor and towards the refreshment table. She had, by this point, simply given up on trying to hold back her tears and let them flow from her eyes freely. As hard as she had tried, her feelings were too sharp to avoid shedding any tears at all. The dry tears were clearly visible on her poofy pink dress, but she didn't care about that at all.

Her Quinceanera had at first been held only in front of family members, and extremely close friends. But now that all the traditions had been dispensed with, Jerry Russo, feeling guilty about nearly destroying the chance of his daughter having a Quinceanera, had given into Alex's demand of a second Quinceanera, this time a party which included her other school friends.

Alex had been in a bad mood before the party, thanks to Zachary Martin and his news. She was furious at what he had told her. She had suffered so much because of him: panic attacks, nightmares, unhealthy relationships and not having an extremely close friend to talk to. More than it all, she hated that Zack, the boy she loved, was in another city, disconnected from her. And now, Zack would be touring the world, making new memories and having new experiences, all without Alex. It made her livid; she promised herself she would punch Zack if he turned up.

Alex had been extremely jealous of the fact that he would be dating other girls, and the exploits Zack's close friends had told her about at the twins' 15th birthday had confirmed her worst suspicions and fears: he had dated a lot of girls, all of them being breathtakingly beautiful. Sure, none of the relationships lasted, and Zack clearly still loved her, but that had just made Alex even angrier: why date anyone when you knew that it would finally end in a break-up? And now, as if to anger her further, he would be dating pretty girls around the world instead of just Boston.

Alex calmed herself down: she had been gripping a glass too hard, and it had begun to crack. She couldn't risk shattering something at this event and revealing her true feelings. Besides, he hadn't turned up so far, and she was hoping desperately that he wouldn't turn up. She was feeling optimistic Zack wouldn't turn up to the party, but that hope was shattered instantly. 

Alex felt a familiar presence and inhaled a familiar cologne behind her. She turned, hoping against hope, that she was dreaming, but there they were: Zack and Cody Martin, dressed to the nines in pinstriped gray three-piece suits, wearing 1930s British trilby hats. She hated the fact that Zack had the audacity to turn up, and more so that she was so attracted to him just then.

"Sorry we're late, Alex, we had to complete our homework." Zack said, grinning at her happily.

"Which someone took unusually long to complete due to his daydreams." Cody said pointedly.

"But we're here now." Zack said. "And so is our gift to you. Happy second Quinceanera, Alex."

Alex had not realized how much tighter her grip over the glass cup had gotten until it shattered loudly just then, sending shards of glass in every direction. Mercifully, nearly all of them missed, landing harmlessly on the floor, but two hit their mark: one cut Zack's right cheek, just enough to draw blood while the other cut Alex's left cheek and just narrowly missed hitting her left eye.

Alex had felt pain before, but this was on another level: both the physical and emotional pains blended into one and drew blood and peace of mind from her. Zack, trying to wipe away the blood and tears from her face, put his hand on her cheek. She turned and ran away from him, away from the party, and towards her bedroom. She just wanted some peace and quiet now.

She reached her bedroom and threw herself onto her bed, before she started sobbing inconsolably. The salty sting of the tears on her open, bleeding wound made absolutely no difference to Alex Russo: her feelings hurt her worse than shards of glass and the salty whiplash of tears had no effect on her. She embraced the pain as part of her new life, all thanks to Zack.