Neighbors

White Lies

Alex, Zack, Rian, and Jack sat in Alex's basement sharing pizza and playing video games after finishing their band practice for the day.

"Wait, so what happened?" Rian asked with a mouth full of half chewed pizza. The three boys looked at Alex expectantly while he held up a finger to signal that he needed a second to swallow his food.

"She kissed me—"

"Madison?" Jack asked,

Alex rolled his eyes and punched jack in the arm "No, your mom. Duh, it was Madi you dipshit"

Jack punched Alex in resulting in the two of them bickering like school kids "break it up, ladies" Rian scowled and beckoned Alex to continue his story. They knew something was bothering him when he kept spacing out during their band practice which led to them ultimately giving up on actually practicing for a decent amount of time.

Alex reached for another slice of pizza and dropped it on his empty plate. "So, the other night Jack and I followed her to the art district, right? Basically, I felt guilty about it so I went to tell her that I went and to apologize for going behind her back. I thought she was going to be pissed at me but she kissed me and then apologized and ran inside before I could even react" Alex explained, trying his best to eliminate the more intimate details that ran across his mind as he recalled the previous night's events.

Alex began eating his slice of pizza while the other three boys silently stared at him, unsure of what was going on with Alex. It wasn't exactly a secret that Alex never got serious about girls so for him to feel guilty and apologize to a girl that he wasn't even technically involved with was just, different.

"Well, this is new" Zack finally spoke up breaking the silence that had settled in amongst the group. Rian and Jack silently nodded their heads in agreement and Alex scrunched his eyebrows, not understanding what exactly they were implying.

Alex opened his mouth to question them but was interrupted by the door bell ringing. He sighed and ran upstairs, without stopping to peek through the window he pulled the door open. He was surprised to see Madi's brother standing on his porch "Can I help you?" Alex asked unsurely.

He had never actually spoken to Nate before so having him show up on his door step looking disoriented was definitely a new experience. Nate ran a hand through his hair before looking up to meet Alex's eyes, begging for help.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked as he walked out onto the porch, pulling the door shut behind him.

"I know this is weird...but it's Madi—"

"Is she okay?!" Alex blurted out, completely taken over with worry.

"I-I don't....she's asking for you, p-please Alex" He begged, he knew there was a lot Alex didn't know but if Alex was what was going to make Madi feel better then Nate would do everything in his power to get Alex over to their house.

"Okay" Alex nodded, his heart was racing and he felt like he himself was about to have a panic attack but he pushed the feelings away as he dashed across the yard and followed Nate into the house. He threw a look at Nate, waiting for the okay to make his way up the stairs and into Madi's room. Nate gave a quick nod and sat on the bottom stair cradling his head in his hands. Madi had been doing so well for the past two weeks and now she was off the scales in pain and vomiting profusely even though she had nothing left in her to discard.

"Madi?" Alex cautiously called out as he pushed her door open. He stepped inside of her room and looked around before concluding that she wasn't in her room. He walked further in and stood in the middle of the room anxiously wringing his fingers before he heard coughing from the connected bathroom. Without a second thought he ran across the room and pushed the door open.

"Mads!" he fell to his knees and pulled her hair back from her sweaty pale face. Madi lurched forward again and began dry heaving until the small amount of stomach acid was escaping her mouth. Alex soothingly rubbed her back until she wiped her hand across her mouth.

"C'mere" he pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple as Madison violently shook with sobs. Her hands had twisted into the bottom of Alex's shirt and her forehead rested in the crook of his neck.

"It's okay, you're okay" Alex whispered over and over until she was calmed down, his lips lingering on her temple where he placed small kisses to reassure her that she was going to be fine. Alex helped her stand up and Madison braced herself against the counter while he put some toothpaste on her toothbrush and handed it to her. She sheepishly looked away and began brushing her teeth, all the while Alex stared at her with concern written across his features. Madison spit the minty residue out and rinsed her toothbrush before finally making eye contact with Alex.

He opened his arms and took a step towards her; Madi stepped into his embrace and inhaled his aftershave, instantly feeling a bit better. She didn't know why, but Alex made her feel safe. Alex carefully maneuvered the pair back into her room and gently pushed her down onto her bed.

"Why did you want me?" Alex inquired, looking up at the blushing girl from underneath his eyelashes. Madison half-heartedly shrugged her shoulders and looked away from the boy that had her stomach in knots.

"I don't know..." Madison admitted. Alex lifted his hand and placed it on her clammy forehead "do you have a fever? I could ask my mom to make some soup?" Alex offered.

Madi shook her head "It's probably just a stomach bug" the lie passed through her lips effortlessly.

"Are you sure? Nate seemed pretty freaked out..." Alex asked suspiciously but Madison refused to budge and stuck to her story. "I'm fine, Alex" she reiterated but Alex continued to stare at her skeptically "promise" she whispered.

Alex smiled and pulled her into his arms again "You had me scared" he shyly admitted, hiding his face in her shoulder. Madison tightened her arms around his waist and took in a shaky breath "I'm sorry" she whispered honestly. They sat like that for a few minutes before Alex pulled away reluctantly "I should probably go...the guys are at my house. Are you going to be okay?"

Madison nodded with a sad smile "yeah, c'ya later" she said as she watched Alex disappear from her room. She fell back onto her bed "I am getting into way too deep" she groaned into a pillow.