The Sinner's Saint

SUPPORT 2

She's still at the kitchen table when she hears the car outside and realises she's lost track of time. She goes to the door. Siena and Sasha are already out, backpacks bouncing, mid-argument about something that happened at school.

"...and then he said..."
"...he didn't say that..."
"He literally said..."

"Hi," Alex says. They both stop and look at her, like they're making sure she's okay and didn't somehow injure herself more, then back at her face.

"Still bad?" Sasha asks giving her the softest fist bump known to man.

"Getting better." He accepts this and heads inside. Siena holds the door without being asked. Aleyna is last out of the car, violin case in one hand, backpack dragging along the ground behind her cause she refuses to wear it properly, which is why she goes through so many bags. She looks up, sees Alex, and her whole face changes.

"Alex, Alex..." already moving, "...I learned the second part, my teacher said my bow hold is really good now,"

"Well then you've got to show me," Alex says, leading them both inside and waving at the chauffeur.

☀︎
The house settles into its after-school rhythm. Sasha disappears upstairs blasting music. Siena puts the kettle on, puts her headphones in, and sits down with her homework. Alex sits at the kitchen table while Aleyna gives her a full account of violin today, including a detailed section dedicated to a kid in her class who said violin was boring, about which Aleyna has a lot of thoughts and feelings.

"What did you say to him?" Alex asks. Aleyna considers this seriously.

"I said he was wrong."

"Good answer." A cup of tea appears in front of her, She looks at it and laughs. These Armani kids keep giving her tea. Siena sits down across from her with her own mug and doesn't say anything, just continues her homework. Alex looks at the two of them, Siena with her head down working and Aleyna still talking, and feels the good kind of tired start to settle in.

Her ankle is throbbing. Her arm aches the way it's been aching for days but she doesn't complain.

Aleyna eventually runs out of steam and wanders off to find something to do, and the kitchen goes quiet except for Siena's pen moving and the low bass of Sasha's music upstairs. Then Siena stops writing.

She stares at her page for a second, taps her pen twice, and then slides the notebook across the table without saying anything. Alex looks at it. It's Economics, A question about market structures that's been half answered and then crossed out twice.

"I keep getting the same answer and it doesn't match the mark scheme," Siena says, which for her is basically admitting defeat. Alex pulls it toward her and reads it.

"Your answer's not wrong." Siena frowns looking at the marking scheme on ur laptop.

"The mark scheme-"

"The mark scheme wants you to say it a specific way." Alex taps the page. "You've got the concept right, you're just not using their language. They want monopolistic competition here, not just competitive market." Siena narrows her eyes at her immediately pointing at her with her pen.

"How do you know that?"

"Im an intellectual individual thats why. Also, I've been in high school before." Siena pulls the notebook back slowly and looks at it for a second. She rewrites the answer, reads it back and finally she nods her lips curling upside down.

"Show off," she whispers. Alex looks around to make sure Aleyna isnt nearby then flips off Siena which makes her smile. She goes back to her homework while Alex continues with what she was doing before they arrived.