“I hope she shows up,” Roxie said, wringing her hands together nervously. I nodded.
“I’m sure she will,” I said, and I really was sure of it. Alex wasn’t one to let any of us know when she’d been hurt, but lately she’d been vulnerable. Extremely vulnerable. She had to come. I didn’t want her to be alone.
“Did you say anything to Shayna about bringing Josh?” Lance asked, sitting down next to Roxie. I nodded.
MO<“She said he just wanted to be alone. She called a few minutes ago and said that he had fallen asleep as soon as they’d gotten home.” The eight of them nodded and the room fell silent. I looked around. Mel and Justin were curled up on the couch, Mel’s eyes red from crying, Claire was curled up in the corner, staring off into space, Roxie and Lance were seated on their sleeping bags, their hands gripping one another’s tightly, and Star was seated on the floor, Chris’s head in her lap with his eyes closed. I looked up at Joey from my seat on the floor. He smiled softly, leaning down to kiss my forehead.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I sprang up from my spot and ran to the front door. I paused with my hand on the knob, taking a deep breath. Opening it slowly, I saw Alex and JC standing on the front porch.
“I’m surprised Mel let you answer the door,” Alex said, softly, in an attempt to lighten the dour mood. I smiled slightly, giving her a tight hug as I let the two them in.
As I walked into the room, I felt everyone’s eyes upon me. It didn’t really affect me. It’d had been like that all day, everyone watching mine, Josh, and Chris’s reactions. Thankfully, we had all been able to keep her composure. Well, for the most part, anyway.
“Okay, now that everyone’s here,” Mel said, rubbing her hands together, “who’s up for a movie?”
“Not everyone’s here,” Elis said. “Jamie’s not here.”
“She’s not coming.” Everyone looked at me again. “She told me before she left that she was going to stay home with her family. I’m going out to lunch with her tomorrow.” I smiled weakly. “I also gave her Nick’s phone number.” Chris chuckled softly, his eyes still closed.
“I’m sure he appreciated it,” he said, sighing.
“She likes him,” I said, my voice becoming a little bit stronger as I continued to speak. “He also told me that he likes her, too. I think they’d look cute together.” Chris chuckled, again, opening one eye to look at me. He smiled slightly and I smiled back before his eyes closed.
“Okay, back to the movie idea,” Mel said. She held up two videos. “Drive Me Crazy or Tommy Boy.”
“Tommy Boy,” everyone said in unison. Tossing the other one aside, Mel slipped the video out of it’s case and popped it into the VCR. Sitting down on the floor, JC pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms securely around my waist. I smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose. He scrunched it up and made a face. I giggled and rested my forehead against his. He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me softly. Laying my head on his shoulder, I closed my eyes.
“Baby?” I nudged Alex lightly, trying to wake her. The movie had been over for almost an hour and she had slept through the whole thing. So had practically everyone else. Mel and Justin had fallen asleep against one another, same with Elis and Joey. Roxie and Lance had crawled into a sleeping bag and fallen asleep in each other’s arms. Chris was the only one still awake. Once Star had fallen asleep, he’d laid her in her sleeping bag, his eyes focusing back on the television, though I was sure his mind was somewhere else. His eyes had been focusing on the black screen for the past hour.
I gave up on waking Alex and looked over at Chris.
“You okay, man?” Looking up startled, Chris stared at me blankly before snapping back to reality.
“Umm, yeah,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You sure?” I asked, concerned. He nodded. “Anything you wanna talk about?” Slowly, he shook his head.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. I just need some sleep. Thanks for the offer, though. I might take you up on that sometime.” I nodded.
“No prob. That’s what I’m here for.” Yawning, he got off the couch and laid down on the sleeping bag next to Star, lacing his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling.
I looked down at Alex and kissed the top of her head. Getting up slowly, I laid her down in her sleeping bag and laid down next to her. Propping my head up on my hand, I watched her sleep, her chest rising and falling slowly. She looked like an angel. My angel.
If only I could have protected her from this, I thought, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. I wish there was something I could do. Something-
“Jay?” I gazed down at Alex, whose eyes were now slightly open. “Jay, stay with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I whispered, taking her hand in mine and squeezing it slightly, just to let her know I was there.
“Hold me,” she whispered. And I did just that.