Chapter 4.

Alex's home.

Alex walked into the diner to find her mother, father and older brother Justin standing waiting for her. Her first instinct was to turn around and never look back, but she knew she couldn't do that because she would never see Jenny again. With that giving her some courage, she walked right up to her family, set her purse on the counter and motioned at them with her hands, "Well, let me have it."

Her mother noticed the purple mark on her eye and rushed over to her daughter, "OMG, what happened to you? Who did this to you?"

"Mom, it's nothing." Alex said, pulling away from her mother, "It was an accident. There was a little fight at the party and I got in the middle of it."

Her mother shook her head and stared at her daughter, "It's just one thing after another with you isn't it? You lied to us again tonight? I thought you were making progress with this. I thought you were becoming more mature and then we get these pictures sent to us and I can't even fathom what made you wear that dress in public."

"I wish you hadn't seen those. I really, really wish you hadn't." Alex said, turning away from her family, "I'm sorry I lied. I should've told you where I was going. I was afraid you'd say no and I couldn't take that chance."

"Just what was so important that you had to be at this party?" Her father asked.

"Okay, I guess I should start from the top." Alex turned around and sat back down at the counter, "I met this girl Jenny on Thursday, we hit it off and she invited me to this party tonight. I guess you've seen the other picture of me and Jenny in there, right?"

"Oh yes, the one with you kissing a girl." Justin said with a smile on his face, "I guess the next question is, did you like it?"

"That's enough Justin. You can go to your room now." His mother said.

Alex couldn't help but smile as he walked up the stairs, leaving her one less person to deal with, "Okay, what I didn't tell you about Jenny is that I really like her. I know that's probably hard to hear or understand, but it's pretty strange for me to. I've never felt like this about anyone and that's why I lied to you. I just couldn't miss this party."

"That kiss is the least of your problems young lady." Her mother said, "Obviously you still can't be trusted and whoever this girl is, she's clearly a bad influence on you. If she causes you to lie to us, puts you in dangerous situations and has anything to do with you wearing such an inappropriate dress, then I do wonder what type of person she is. I think two weeks of being grounded should give you lots of time to think about all this."

"Fine, I accept my punishment, but I have to be able to call her. She feels horrible about all this. She thinks it's her fault, but it's not, it's a bunch of idiot kids from her school and even her own brother is part of it. I need to talk to her."

"Well, you should've thought of that before you lied to us again."

"Mom, come on, I'll do all my work around here, I'll do everyone's work, but I have be able to talk to her." Alex pleaded, before getting into angry mode, "You can't keep from talking to her."

"I didn't do this, you did. Now please go to your room."

"This isn't fair. I need to talk to her. Just give me one phone call." Alex begged.

The door opened at the diner and Jenny walked in. Alex rushed over to her and gave her a hug, "Are you okay? Why are you here?"

"I needed to talk to you and since your parents are here I guess it's a good idea if I talk to them first." Jenny walked past Alex and walked up to Theresa and Jerry, "I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened tonight. Alex was an innocent bystander and everything that happened to her was my fault. I'm sorry I put her in a position where any of this could happen. I was on my way home when I got to thinking about everything that had happened tonight and I just had to come here and apologize for everything."

Alex's mother smiled, "I appreciate you doing that, Jenny is it?"

"Yes, it's Jenny." Jenny nodded but didn't smile, "Your daughter is a wonderful girl and I really do like her and we had a lot of fun together, but after I saw all the damage I'd done to her in one night I realized she was better off without me."

"What?" Alex yelled, rushing up to Jenny, "What are you talking about? I've done nothing but smile since I met you. I've never been so happy in my whole life and you're talking like you want to end this before we've even started. All because of some idiot kids."

"Yes, those same kids that are part of my life on a daily basis." Jenny said, turning her attention back to Alex, "You said it yourself, I'm a vindictive girl who needs to get her revenge and I guess that's true. I just can't be responsible for you getting hurt like this. It kills me to know I did this to you."

"Stop talking like that." Alex screamed, "I'm not ready to end anything. We just started. Stop letting one bad night make you do such a stupid thing."

"Alex, don't talk to your friend like that."

"Oh goody, now you're sticking up for her." Alex groaned, "I actually like it, but you're wrong, because she is stupid and I don't care how many times I have to say it."

"You're right, I am stupid. Stupid to think that we were compatible." Jenny said somberly before turning her attention to Alex's parents again, "Anyway, I shouldn't have brought Alex that dress and I should've have let her wear it to the party, but I wasn't thinking about her, I was thinking about how good she'd look to my ex. I was selfish and this is what happened and I guess that's all I came to say. I won't be around to put Alex in anymore bad situations, so I hope you go easy on her."

Alex's dad nodded at Jenny, "I appreciate you coming down here to say all this. That couldn't have been easy for you. I can tell that you feel bad about all this and that shows you are a good person."

"Yes, she is a good person and this isn't her fault." Alex said, frantically trying to get through to Jenny, "Make her see that mom."

"I'm sorry Alex, I have to go. I really wish things could've been different. I have to go." Jenny mumbled as she began to lose her composure and made a dash for the door.

Alex chased after her but lost her when she turned the corner. Still reeling from what Jenny had said, Alex walked back into the diner, slammed the door and stood staring at her parents, "She's not a bad person. I don't know why she's doing this. Why would she give up like this? I don't understand."

"Oh Alex, she was trying to do the right thing. I know you don't understand that part, but I think what she did was quite sweet in a way." Alex's mother said, "She's just trying to protect you."

"It's not sweet. It's giving up. It's quitting. You don't get it do you?" Alex said, kicking the chair beside her, "I don't even care about what happened tonight, it wasn't a big deal, but she's acting like I got shot or something. I'm not giving up on her. You may not like it, but I know she's the one for me. I know it. You can ground me forever, but I'll find a way to talk to her. I will."

"Alex, you need to stop and breathe for a second." Her mother said as she tried to reason with her daughter, "I'm not blaming her for what happened. I get that something got out of control and I hate that you got hurt, but she isn't the issue here. You are grounded for lying to us. As for talking to her, I think that might be up to her right now."

"You'd be really happy if you she never called me again, wouldn't you?" Alex snapped, "That's great. It's nice to know my mom is happy if I'm miserable. Whatever, I won't be 17 forever and then you can't stop me from seeing her."

"She has her reasons. I'm not keeping you from anyone."

"Can I call her then?" Alex said, sensing a glimmer of hope.

"I think you need to go upstairs and think about what you've done. Your dad and I will discuss this further." Her mother said without looking at her.

"Is that a yes? Alex asked, her despair fading for a moment, "Say it's a yes. Please?"

"To your room Alex."

"Okay, I'll go, but this is too important to me, ground me until I'm 18, but please let me talk to her." Alex said, pleading her case one more time as she slowly moved up the stairs.

"We'll talk about this in the morning."

After feeling she'd made some progress Alex was ready to go to bed, "Alright. Goodnight then."

Theresa sat down at one of the empty tables and looked at her husband, "What are we going to do about this? She's acting like she's in love with this girl. She's not ready for that. They just met."

"I don't know what to say about it." Jerry said, sitting down and grabbing a sandwich from the fridge, "I still don't know if this girl is good for Alex. If she helped pick out that dress for Alex I really question her judgment."

"Oh Jerry, you need to let that go. Alex is a beautiful young woman and she's going to wear things like that from time to time. Hopefully not too often, but she's bound to try out new fashions." Theresa said, not giving the matter much thought, "I'm more concerned with her feelings for this girl. It's all too fast. She's never been in love before and she just met her and that's how she's acting right now."

"She can't be in love. Is this really possible?" Jerry asked rhetorically, more than a little confused by everything he'd seen and heard tonight, "She's had boyfriends before. I know I'm no expert in this, but doesn't that make her straight?"

"No, of course not." Theresa said, quickly dismissing her husband's old fashioned notions, "We are raised straight. It's just how the way things are, so it takes time for people to discover their sexuality and it's not a fast and simple process for the most part. I don't know if she's going to be into girls for the rest of her life, but even if she is, being in love after being with someone for 6 hours of actual time is just not right."

"I'm trying to remain open minded about this new development in Alex's life, but I'm still not sure what to make of it."

"I think it's pretty clear that she has very strong feelings for this girl. Surely you saw that." Theresa said, more as a fact than a question.

"I saw it, I just wasn't prepared for it."

"Well, if our little girl is in love than we need to support her."

"I know, I was just hoping it would be when she's 30." Jerry said with a sigh as he gave his wife a hug.

Tuesday May 25th, 2010.

Alex's Bedroom.

Alex made another call to Jenny, paced around the room waiting for her voice mail to click in, but this time someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is Jenny there?"

"I'm sorry, she's grounded and she's not allowed to have any calls for two more days. Can I take message for her?"

"Yes, could you please tell her Alex called and tell her that I really need to talk to her. It's very, very important. Urgent really. Thank you."

"Okay, I'll give her the message." Serena said politely. She sat Jenny's phone beside Jenny on her bed, "She really wants to talk to you. You can't avoid her forever."

"I have to. I told you why."

Serena sat down beside Jenny, "Yes and I told you that you were wrong."

"How is doing what's right considered wrong?" Jenny asked, confused by Serena's reaction.

"Because you are not responsible for Alex's black eye." Serena said, smiling as she tried to get through to Jenny, "If you think that she's going to get hurt every single time she's with you then you're more than a little delusional."

"Does it matter if it's every time? Isn't once enough?"

"Not if it's an accident and not if you want to be with her and she wants to be with you. Your logic is pretty messed up."

"I don't agree." Jenny said stubbornly. "If I decided to see Alex again and something happened to her I couldn't take it. I just can't stand the idea of hurting her."

"If you think like that you'll never date again. People get hurt all the time in relationships, maybe not physically, but emotionally. It's the sad part of life, but you can't just avoid it, because then you're not living." Serena got up from the bed and walked towards the door, "Call her or you're going to regret it forever."

Alex's Bedroom.

Harper knocked on Alex's door and after a couple grunts from Alex she walked inside. She let out a sigh as she saw Alex curled up in her bed in a little ball, "Oh Alex, I was hoping you'd be up by now. We're supposed to be going to a movie tonight, maybe that would help cheer you up?"

"I don't want to go." Alex mumbled under her pillow.

"Okay, what about a video? Why don't we watch something funny? Let's see, what do you have in here." Harper said as he got to her knees and shuffled through Alex's DVD collection.

"I don't want to laugh." Alex said, sitting up in her bed and tossing her pillow at Harper.

"No laughing then." Harper smiled, "Maybe a sad movie would be good? You could cry all night and then watch another and cry all day tomorrow, well after school of course."

"I'm not in the mood for your mocking." Alex said, smiling at how funny Harper could be when she wanted, "If I want to be unhappy then I'll be unhappy. One day Jenny will take my call and we can straighten all this out, but until then I don't want to do anything."

"I just want to cheer you up. There must be something I can do? Did you want some chocolate?"

"No, I don't want chocolate. I don't want to eat or drink, I just want to lie in peace."

"I hate seeing you like this, but okay, I'm going to give you one more day of wallowing, but that's it. Tomorrow you are going to get off your butt and do something with me. That's an order." Harper said as forceful as she could.

Alex cracked a tiny smile, "Fine, tomorrow we'll do something, but don't expect me to be fun to be around."

"I never expect that." Harper said with a straight face.

"I'm not sure I like the smart ass Harper very much. She's too much like me."

"I miss you, that's why." Harper said as she gave Alex a hug.

"I know and I'm sorry." Alex said as she hugged her back.

"It's okay. I will leave you alone, but I'll be back tomorrow. Bye Alex."

"Bye Harper."

Jenny's Bedroom.

Jenny opened the door and stepped aside as Harper barged into her room, "Can I help you?"

"No, but you can help Alex." Harper said as she gave Jenny one of her evil eye looks, "What you're doing right now is so mean. You may think you're doing something good, but you're not."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Jenny asked, "Did you not notice her eye? Did she even tell you what my brother said to her?"

"I saw her eye and it's almost healed now. As for what they said to her, I didn't get the details, but she doesn't care what people think. She never has and never will. Maybe you just don't know Alex very well and it's pretty clear you don't care enough to get to know her."

"That's not fair." Jenny snapped, "I like her. She knows that. But come on, we go out together one time and a chain reaction of things happen that are all bad. That's life in Jenny's world. I am one of those people, I do those things to others. Maybe the real truth is Alex doesn't know me very well either."

"I don't buy it." Harper said with a nod, "Someone who is bad wouldn't come apologize for what other people did. A bad girl wouldn't own up to this in front of someone's parents no less. A bad girl wouldn't care if someone got hurt around her. So I don't see some evil girl standing in front of me. I see a coward. A selfish coward, who would rather hide from the girl she wants to be with rather than face the real world."

"Alex never said you were so outspoken, but she thinks highly of you, so I'm going to try not to take that personally." Jenny said as she grit her teeth, "I don't think it's selfish to try and protect someone."

"Oh it is, because you could change all this. You admitted you were part of the reason your brother or step brother did this to you in the first place. Here's an idea, stop doing things to him and maybe you wouldn't have to protect Alex from the fallout."

"It's not that simple." Jenny said, wishing she had a better argument to use, "I came from a place much like Alex is from. A humble home and then I was tossed into this new world and at first I got eaten alive, but then I learned to play the game and I got good at it. I'm sure it sounds sick that I enjoy being on top, but without it I'm a nobody and I hated being a nobody and I won't be one ever again."

"Well, then I can see that you're not worth Alex's time." Harper said in a huff and then began walking towards the door.

"You are really harsh."

Harper came to a stop, "No, I just really care about Alex, but any girl or guy who thinks some silly high school power is more important than a girl you really care about doesn't have her priorities in order."

"I do care about Alex, that's why I'm staying away."

"I think you're staying away because you care about some absurd high school power base more than you'll ever care about anyone else."

"No, I don't." Jenny denied in a flash.

"Let me tell one thing about Alex before I go." Harper said as she stood right in front of Jenny, "She's someone who spends her life trying to take the easy way out. She is so fun to watch when she's trying to figure out the best way to do nothing. That's just how she is. She's adorable, but if you look at this situation, the easiest thing for her to do would be to just say, whatever, see ya later Jenny and move on with her life. She's done that before with the guys she dated and it was easy. She doesn't want the easy way out with you. She cares about you way more than you obviously deserve and when Alex Russo is willing to take the hard way out, then you know it's important."

"What happens if she gets hurt again?"

"That's her call to make, not yours. If after spending more time with you she comes home with more black eyes and broken arms, then yes, I'd say it's a tad bit too dangerous, but I don't think that'll happen. Not if you grow up and look at what's important in life. Alex is the best thing that will ever happen to you, that I know for a fact. She is a special girl and for whatever reasons she likes you and she wants to be with you and if you want to throw that all away, then so be it, but you remember that you did this because you were too stubborn to give up your pathetic little power base even for a girl as amazing as Alex." Harper turned and walked out of Jenny's bedroom and never looked back.

Jenny walked over to her bed and fell back on it, eyes tearing up as she played back every word Harper had said to her and wondered how much of it was true.

Alex's Bedroom.

A knock at her door caused Alex to burrow her head in her pillow even further, "I'm not coming out. Go away."

"Well then, I guess I'll have to come in." Jenny said, pushing open the door and stepping inside.

Alex sat up in her bed and wiped her eyes a couple times, not believing what she was seeing, "Is that really you? Why didn't you call first?"

"I need to be here and I couldn't wait." Jenny walked over and sat down beside Alex, "I've been an idiot and I'm here to say I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, I'm just glad you're here." Alex said, giving Jenny a big warm hug, "But, I need to know why you're here. Please tell me it's not for more bad news."

"I suppose it depends on who talk to." Jenny said with a grin, "I have missed you every second since Saturday night. I tried telling myself I was doing all this for your own good. I thought I was doing the right thing. Honest I did. The more I thought about it and the more I talked to people about it, the more I realized I was being very unfair to you."

"I don't care about that now. I can't believe you're here. I didn't think my parents let you up here."

"They are pretty cool people really." Jenny smiled, "They just want to see you happy and that's all I want for you to. I'm here because I want a chance to make you happy."

"You have. Just being here makes me happy."

"I want to be with you. I want us to be a real couple." Jenny said, nervously fidgeting with her long blonde hair as she tried to continue, "I'm not sure you still feel the same about me after the way I acted the last 4 days, but when you're done being grounded I want to take you to a very boring dinner and movie and then I want to spend the night holding hands and walking in the park. I don't need my silly crown anymore. I wanted so much to be queen of my little clique, but I gave it up today because you are so much more important than a silly crown ever will be."

"I feel the same way I did when we first met, I would love to go out with you no matter where we went or what did. I'm just so happy you're here. I was beginning to lose hope."

Jenny smiled and pointed at her head, "Well, I have a pretty thick skull and sometimes it takes a lot to get through it, but I really didn't want to blow the chance to be with the girl of my dreams."

"I'll have to make sure this is one decision you never regret." Alex said with a big wide smile as she leaned in and kissed Jenny softly on the lips, knowing her destiny was only just beginning.

The End.

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