Coming Home

Chapter One

Alexa took a drag on her cigarette, she sighed and leaned against the doorway - running her free hand through her short, coloured hair. Bird song was carried through the wind and whistled through the trees.

'Alexa!' A voice shouted through the house.
'Yeah!' Alexa replied without turning.
'Can you help me with the shopping please!'
'Yeah, just give me a minute.' She stubbed her cigarette out and walked back into the house.
Once the shopping was all inside Gabbie and Alexa sat down with a beer each, Gabbie was relentlessly talking about the latest guy she was dating.
'... And the worst part is that he doesn't even drive so I've got to drive during dates, like I'm supposed to be a cabbie' She complained before taking a small baggie out of her pocket.
'You want some?' She gestured to Alexa.
'Sure, why not. If I have to listen to you go on about Vinnie, I guess I should be able to relax whilst doing it.' Alexa said, frustrated with her friend.
'Well excuse me for having a love life - more than anyone can say about you.'
'Well I'm sorry that I don't open my legs for just anyone.' Alexa laughed.
Gabbie opened her mouth, and pretended to be insulted by the comment her friend made, but laughed along side her. The rest of the night entailed of the girls talking, laughing and drinking.

The next morning the girls awoke with a headache.
'Damn. Never let me drink that much again.' Alexa said as she rolled herself another cigarette.
When she'd finished rolling, she stared at it for a minute debating on whether he actually wanted to smoke it. She knew that her hangover would be worse as soon as she took her first drag.
'Ha! You say that every time! Don't fool yourself!' Gabbie replied. 'Can I nick a rollie off you?'
'Sure, go ahead.' Alexa chucked the tobacco, papers and filters to her friend.
The girls sat on the doorstep to smoke. They talked of how they would eventually get out of the city and move somewhere better with a much lower crime rate. Alexa didn't actually believe they'd get out, but Gabbie remained hopeful as when they were fourteen.

The next day Alexa was woken up by her alarm which she had already snoozed once before. She threw on a dressing gown and walked down stairs to smoke a cigarette before getting ready for work. When dressed, Alexa stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom and admired her brown eyes - she wasn't the most beautiful thing since Monroe but Alexa definitely had her strong points.
'Hello and welcome to Chicken Delight, my name is Alexa how may I be of service today?' as repeated at least a hundred times within the same day. Alexa wasn't thrilled to have the job she did but at least it paid her money, at least she could afford her habits - whether good or bad. The young woman was eventually able to leave the fast food restaurant and go home.

This was her life; wake up, go to work, come home, get high, sleep - and if she's lucky enough to have a day off, she can talk about her childhood dreams with her housemate or potentially another friend if she had a visitor. Life was so simple, living any other way was overrated and unnecessary. Alexa rolled another cigarette and inhaled as she stood, waiting for another overdue bus at the crowded stop. Daggers were shot her way as cigarette smoke filled the air. The bus arrived minutes later, just before the rain started - Alexa thanked her lucky stars that she managed to stay dry.

Alexa flung herself onto her bed and stared at the cracked ceiling, wondering how it started. The walls began shaking, the analogue clock on the far wall vibrated.
'Geez!' Alexa heard an unfamiliar voice from the other room.
She rolled her eyes at the sound and then realised Gabbie was also squealing - probably a damsel in distress act through the earth quake. Alexa turned her bluetooth speaker on and played her music as loud as she could to protect herself from her housemates endeavours. She pulled a baggie from her rucksack and rolled a joint whilst singing along to her favourite 80's rock group. Debating whether she should offer her friend a smoke, Alexa laid back and sang along to a couple more songs until the wall vibrations that weren't connected to the earthquake passed.

She knocked on the door.
'Gabbie? Do you want a zoot?'
'Yeah, just give me a minute.' her friend breathed back, flustered.
'So who's he then?'
'Dom.' Gabbie replied, staring at the floor.
'How long have you known him?'
'A month and a half.'
'You've gotta stop treating yourself this way.'
'I know.'
They smoked the rest of the joint in silence.

It was ten in the morning when Alexa woke up, she knocked on Gabbie's bedroom door and tried to get her out of the house.
'Come on, let's go get coffee.'
The girls walked three blocks to a local café where they sat and enjoyed free time with each other.
'I think you might have an admirer.' Gabbie eyed towards a dark haired man, sat a few tables away.
Alexa ignored her and poured a sachet of white sugar into her coffee mug and leaned back on the plastic chair.
'I'm being serious Al. There's a seriously cute guy over there who's looking right at you.'
'I don't care - this is our time.' Alexa bluntly stated.
'You're never going to get a boyfriend if you keep ignoring guys who are actually giving you attention.'
'So how's work been lately?'
'Alexa...' Gabbie tried.
'Look, I'm just not interested in having someone in my life try and dictate what I can and can't do. I like being free, I like not having to worry about anybody else. People spend too much of their lives being obsessed with finding the right person, or where the next fuck is coming from that nobody actually knows who they are anymore - just pussys and dicks, walking around and pretending to be people.'
Gabbie rolled her eyes. 'You can't tell me you seriously believe that.'
'Can I not just be happy alone?' Alexa shrugs, putting her hands in the air.
'That's not...' Gabbie started.
'That's not what you meant? Then what did you mean? Honestly, sometimes I wish you'd stop being such a Becky!' Alexa's eyes flashed with fire.
'Ouch... Let me just take that knife out my back.'
'Oh screw off Gab.'

Alexa pushed out of her seat and walked out of the café. Gabbie smiled at the man across the room, picked her bag up and went after her friend.
'Why don't you ever want to let someone in? It's like you see a guy and you want to vomit!'
Alexa picked up pace and shook her head in annoyance.
'You know, it's almost like you're a lesbian or something.' Gabbie continued.
Alexa stopped in her tracks, flabbergasted by her friends words. She turned and faced Gabbie, her hand swung back and then connected with her friends face.
'What the fuck Alexa?!' Gabbie screamed.
'Even if I was a lesbian, what the fuck would it have to do with anything? Just because I don't want to open my legs to anyone who'd buy me a drink, doesn't automatically mean I bat for the other team.'
The girls walked home in silence and slammed their bedroom doors in protest of each other's existence there.

The next day there were flowers at the front door. The girls placed them in the kitchen windowsill and assumed that they were for Gabbie - she always recieved gifts randomly. Alexa didn't give it a second thought.