Inaudible ↛ Jake Fitzgerald [MTV's Scream]

02

chapter two ; real life horror story

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The scalding water from the morning's shower had done wonders for Alexa's sore back, the muscles no longer feeling as tense as they did when she woke up earlier. Grateful for this, she walked down the steps to the kitchen with ease, her stomach emitting a low grumble upon smelling cinnamon and sugar.

"Good morning, sweetie," her mom hummed delightfully as she pulled a tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls from the oven and placed them on the countertop, next to the other two trays of iced rolls. Alexa cringed at the pet name from her mother.

"Morning," she mumbled back whilst selecting a pastry to devour, still eyeing her mother warily. She couldn't recall the last time she saw her mother using any of the appliances in the kitchen, not even to get a glass of water.

"Alexa, sweetie, can you pick Jeremy up from school today?" her mother asked as she began to ice the newest batch. "He has his bags from the sleepover last night at the Hawthorn's and I would hate for him to drag all of that on to the bus."

Finishing the last bite of her roll, Alexa nodded slightly. "Yeah, sure."

Her mom paused, her eyes narrowing as she stared solely at Alexa. The young girl shifted uncomfortably under her mother's gaze as she recognized the look her mother always used in court. "Alexa, have you seen Tyler this morning?"

Furrowing her brows, Alexa shook her head. "Nope. Why?"

"Well, when you took a shower this morning, I went into his room to wake him, but he wasn't there. And that boy never gets up early," her mother explained, returning a portion of her attention back to the cinnamon rolls. "Also, his car's not in the garage."

"He wasn't here when I got home last night," Alexa supplied. "I think Jake said they were both doing something with Will for an English assignment. They must have fallen asleep or something," she lied smoothly for Tyler, hoping her mother's attorney skills wouldn't kick in.

Her mother simply nodded along with Alexa's statement before her head snapped back up, "Oh, sweetie, how was your date last night?"

Upon seeing Alexa's jaw tense, her mother frowned, "I'm sorry, honey. But why do you even stay with Connor if you're not even happy?" Alexa stared at her mother coldly as she continued speaking, her mother venturing off in her own thoughts. "It's not fair to yourself. Soon you're going to end up in a position where you're stuck and have no way out besides a simple escape and-"

"We try to make it work," Alexa interrupted, stopping her mother's rambling. Her eyes fell to the table before she quickly scrambled to her feet, "I have to go to school. Don't want to be late."

"Alright," her mother said as she watched her daughter curiously. "Oh, wait." The brunette spun on her heels as her mother handed her a container filled to the brink with cinnamon rolls. Her mother gave her a bright smile as she pushed them further into Alexa's grasp, "For you and your friends. Have a nice day at school, sweetie."

Without a word, Alexa took the container and left the house, tossing it into the passenger seat of her car once inside. "Sweetie this and sweetie that," she grumbled bitterly, mocking her mother to herself as she pulled out of the garage and onto the road, "I'm going to act like I'm the perfect mom who does nothing wrong."

Alexa sighed as she glanced at the container, "I wish you were."

It didn't take long for Alexa to reach George Washington High School, parking her car and walking the school grounds until she spotted Brooke Maddox perched on top of a picnic table, their friends sat beneath her.