Broken (Prequel to Beauty and the High-Functioning Sociopath)

She Technically Didn't Leave the Bucket

It had been several years since Alex was born. She and John got on well. She was in kindergarden now. She wasn't as well behaved as John and Harry had been at that age, though. She was what John would describe as 'sass on legs.' One day, he woke up and he wasn't feeling good at all. His throat was sore and his nose felt clogged.

"Oh, great. Now I'm gonna miss our unit on how to find the side of triangle." He groaned. 

John got up and stumbled downstairs. Harry was already gone. Alex was eating her breakfast. She got up to hug him, but John held up his hand to stop her.

"Not today, sis." He said. "I'm sick, so I don't want you to get sick."

"Are you gonna stay home?" Alex asked.

"Probably." John said, looking at his mother. She nodded at him.

"You can stay home." She said. "You'll have to stay alone, though."

"Me too?" Alex asked hopefully.

"No. You need to go to school." Their mother said firmly.

"No! I hate school!" Alex whined.

"You and me both." John said, taking a bite of toast.

About thirity minutes later, Alex and Mrs. Watson had left to take Alex to school. John was lying on the couch. He turned on the T.V. and watched for a couple hours.

Alex, meanwhile, was in the time-out bucket at her kindergarden class. She had been put in for eating someone's snack and then saying that he wasn't going to eat it and that he was fat anyway. She was in here for twenty minutes. It sucked, as John would say. She got bored and started shifting. She scooted foreward. She looked at the teacher, who was watching everyone else. Alex grinned. This was her moment to shine. She scooted to the door and pushed it open. She made sure no one was in the hall and then scooted to the next set of doors. She pushed those open and then made it to the parking lot. She was halfway across the parking lot when she heard the door open. She whipped her head around and saw the teachers running towards her. She started shifting as fast as she could to get away. The teachers got to her first, though.

"ALEXANDRA WATSON, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" The teacher yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU ARE IN?!"

"Hey, I never left the bucket!" Alex said.

The teacher dragged her back in the room. When in was time for recess, she stayed inside while everyone else went outside. The teacher sat across from her.

"I'm going to call your parents." She said. "Now, be honest. Are they home or are they at work?" 

Alex was struck with a brilliant idea. She fought back a smirk. "My dad is at home."

"Very well, then." The teacher nodded. She picked up the phone and called Alex's house.

At the Watson household, the phone rang. John checked the number and saw it was Alex's school. He answered quickly, worried that something had happened to his little sister who he was growing fond of. 

"Hello?" He said.

"Yes, is this Alexandra Watson's father?" The teacher asked. 

"Yeah?" John said, deciding to play along. 

"I am calling to inform you that your daughter was put in the time out bucket." The teacher said.

"Okay...I don't see how that merrits a call home." John said, making his voice deeper.

"She went out to the parking lot by shifting her body weight repeatedly." The teacher said.

"So she scooted out to the parking lot in the time out bucket?" John asked. "The rule is that your not supposed to leave the bucket, right?"