Five Girls, One Mission

Chapter 6

Courtney’s POV

“Or for laughs…” Izzy mumbled as she brought the tray along with her to pass the food to the others.

“You shouldn’t be even playing with these things!” I scolded Alex, who happened to be my murderous best friend with the saddest of the sad back stories, and pretended to be like an adult trying to discipline a six year old naughty little boy. “You know how dangerous they are, Alex!”

Alex let the blowtorch go and it made a big clank of its metal on the floor. “Okay, okay… I give up. I’m sorry. I’m just too… destructive. I can’t help myself. My life is pretty miserable”.

“Well, I analyzed the procedures and calculated the results of…”

“Speak English please”.

I groaned. Why doesn’t anyone understand my sentences? They won’t even let me finish. “Ugh… I just noticed that blowtorching the door was not self-defense”.

“Look, Courtney, I don’t trust many people, especially the ones in this hotel, not you or the rest of us. I’m just scared that I’m about to lose…” her mischievous heart-warming smile turned to a sudden grim. “Never mind, how about let’s just eat lunch, shall we?”

“Okay, fine”, I agreed but I decided I still had to talk to her. She is my best friend after all.

If some of you might be asking why I’d pick her to be my best friend even though there are millions of people out there who understand and are like me (which would make it a pleasure to make their acquaintance), it’s because Alex is unique. She has a different life from mine which makes us exact opposites, like coffee and cream. She’s had a hard life and I want to help make it change, even just a little. I want to make her understand that somebody at least cares for her even everyone she used to care about, I think already left her, except for me.

Alex tried to give me a short grin. “Come on, I know you’re hungry”. She put her arm around my shoulders and we walked back to the living room where the rest of us happened to be eating in.

I caught my eye on some corn frosted flakes and started to munch, you know, the proper way, with a spoon and some non-fat milk. “It’s been a while since I’ve eaten these flakes”, I said, scooping up three flakes in one spoon with the right amount of milk.

“Wait, cereal in lunch?” Izzy asked. “How cool is that? I never did that before”. She got an apple and took a slightly large bite. “And, by the way, these apples were grown in Germany”.

“How’d you know that?” Coleen asked.

“Back at home, my uncle always brought German apples every time when he came for a visit. He has a grove of them in his backyard when he planted some from Germany so I could always taste these apples”.

“Oh, so that’s why. I thought you became a genius like… Courtney”, Addison came for another pathetic joke.

“Oh, hahaha…. Real funny, Addison…” I laughed sarcastically. I looked to my side and I noticed Alex wasn’t there. No wonder she’s not saying anything. “Hey, where’s Alex?”

I faced the balcony, through its glass door. I saw Alex there, her arms around one knee, the other relaxed and her back was laid against a wall.

Thinking about what to do next, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl, filled it up with non-fat milk and corn flakes, put in a spoon and walked over to the balcony. “Hey, Alex…” I called, sitting beside her. “Are you gonna eat or what?”

“Oh, Courtney, it’s you”, she faced me, but then stared back at the air from the building.

“What are you thinking about?”