Solo- First Lies
It was weird, now that she had time to stop and think about it. She’d thought she was going to die twice in the last fifteen minutes. There had been a dark alley, a mysterious stranger, magic, more things than she could imagine, really… and now she was here, in grimy lamplight about a block from her house. She was alone, and once she ducked behind a trash can and thought really hard for a few minutes about the outfit she’d carefully planned that morning, her new uniform faded and she wasn’t even Sylvite anymore. Just Alexa… but she was an Alexa who things had happened to. The streaks of mud and blood on her fluffy pink sweater were proof of that. Also, they were ruined, which really wasn’t okay. Being a normal human with gross clothes was disappointing after being a member of the Negaverse for a few minutes. But anyway, she was tired. That was why she was here. She needed to go home. She started towards her apartment without the usual spring in her step. (There was a gash on her foot from the rat she’d tried to fight. It hurt. Her chest throbbed, too, although it already felt a lot better. Mentally, she was bouncing, and thinking about the Negaverse. Mentally, she was doing great.)
Halfway there, she remembered why she was out in the first place. The milk she’d been sent for. The milk she’d gotten, and then promptly splashed against an alleyway as if it could be a weapon. Well. There was nothing she could do about that now. She made it to the apartment. The stairs were not fun, but she managed them. Outside of her door, she at her skirt, but nothing really. There was probably hope for her clothes, but not without a soak in detergent. Her shoes, on the other hand… yeah, they were probably beyond hope. Her mom was not going to be happy. She cracked open the door. First, the smell hit her- Tuna casserole. Slightly stale tuna casserole. Eww. It had been good, but the smell was going to haunt the house for days. Their first floor was open, so she saw her mom immediately on the other side of the room, loading the dishwasher, her frizzy red hair pulled back with a bandana, head turning at the noise and eyes widening as she saw her daughter. Alexa found herself wrapped in a tight hug, which wasn’t super normal, which was weird, since she hadn’t been gone that long. Her mom pulled away, face scrunched a little with worry, and ran her fingers over a hole in Alexa’s sleeve. Oh, that was why, duh… she was a mess.
“Hi, mom,” she said, grinning.
“Alexa! What happened? Are you okay?” She was worried for no reason. Alexa thought. She was fine- great, actually. Better than ever, but she couldn’t just say that. She had a secret identity and a secret mission. This whole thing was a secret, really.
“I fell,” she said. “Pretty badly. It busted the milk, sorry, but I’m okay.” She smiled. Her mother’s frown deepened. She really didn’t like lying… but…
“I told you to be careful,” said her mom.
“I know, it just happened! Uh… here’s your change.” She dug a few bills and some pennies out of her pocket and handed them over, then said, “I need to take a shower, I’m really gross. Then I have homework.” She fled up the stairs as she talked, and her mom let her go. Mentioning homework usually shut her up… but that was a lie, too. Alexa was probably just going to shower and sleep.
Word Count: 608
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