Punk Princess (completed) (being edited)

Chapter 7

West and I waited for over an hour for Alec and Lacey to show up. Neither of them did, and around five or so, I went home. I figured that West kind of wanted to be alone anyway after the whole thing with his mom and him getting mad and everything, which is more than understandable. Later, Alec texted me the sound file from our practice the other day, but didn't say anything about Lacey or what had happened. I assumed, from their Facebook accounts, that they were still together, but I didn't definitely decide that they were or weren't together.

"Hey, Lacey," I say, half-running down the hall to catch up with her. When she sees me, she rolls her eyes, but stops and waits for me. "Where were you and Alec yesterday?"

"Alec and I had a fight, so I just went downtown for a while, and then I went home, slept, and woke up and left before my dad ever knew I was there. I skipped practice because I figured Alec would go." 

"He didn't," I say. "But are you guys okay?" 

"Now? Yeah, I guess," she says. "We both apologized and everything, but he'll probably start another fight or bring something up again later." 

"West wants to do that Halloween battle of the bands contest," I say, trying to change the subject. I really don't want to talk about Alec and Lacey's fight -- it's not my business, and I feel bad about what I did this weekend, and I can't bring it up without causing a whole world of other problems. There's enough problems as it is between everybody. It's awkward, because I know I should bring it up, but if I do, it would just make everything more awkward for everybody, and probably lead to more fights between everybody. I think it's better, at least right now, to just not say anything about it. 

"I think it'd be good. I mean, I'm sure Alec would do it if I did, and I think we could win if it's like last year. Last year I went, and it sucked. There were only two or three bands that were at least decent, and there was one really good one. I think we've got it together enough now to do that, and I think we might have at least a fighting chance."

"Alright, I'll tell West at lunch." 

"No, I'll tell him. I won't be fighting with Alec today." 

"Okay... question: how do you know that?"

"We decided to take a few days to get it together for ourselves and decide whether we really want to be together. I mean, obviously, we're not breaking up; just figuring out what we want for ourselves, you know? I think we both need a little bit of a breather."

I don't really know what to say. I'm not even sure if what she's saying is true. I don't think she's lying -- she seems to be telling the truth -- but if I had a boyfriend and he said we should both have some space, I would most definitely take that as him breaking up with me. Then again, it's Lacey and Alec; maybe I could learn a thing or two about how calmly they take things when they aren't screaming at each other. 

"So... you're still together?" 

"I think so. I think we just need to take a breath and think instead of scream for once," she says, smiling a little bit too perfectly. Her make-up is a little bit darker and heavier than usual, especially the eyeliner. Her dark blue eyes seem to pop out a lot more from her pale skin than usual, and the whites of her eyes are a little bloodshot, like she didn't sleep last night or has been crying or something. She looks... different. And she's acting differently -- she's not herself right now.

"Are you okay?" 

"Me and Alec? We're fine. We just need to stop fighting about everything. We talked about it." 

"No. Are you okay?"

She takes a deep breath, glancing down at the ground. I suddenly realize that the hallway is empty, and that the bell for our next class must've rang a couple minutes ago. Crap. "I don't know," she says, her voice suddenly sounding brittle. "I honestly don't know. Like, when Alec's there, and we're not fighting...." she suddenly stops and takes a couple breaths. "Why do you care? It's not like you should. It's mine and Alec's business, and mine and Alec's business only. I have to get to class," she says, turning on her heel and walking off down the hallway.