Understudy Sisters - Chapter 3

Alex was a little shocked to find that the article from the school paper was hanging on the front of the refrigerator the next morning.  He stared at it briefly, and gave a slight jump when the twins’ father Laurence spoke up.

“A girl named Regina stopped by this morning to drop that off,” he said, and laughed.  “Sorry.  Didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, cup of coffee in one hand, smiling proudly as Alex slowly turned to look up at him and then back at the article, where, sure enough, ‘she told this reporter’ was right there in italics under the picture of him getting measured, wearing Alicia’s athletic gear.

“Oh, um, yeah,” Alex said sheepishly.  “She said she’d make sure I got a copy of her article.  It’s just the school paper.”

“Don’t be so modest,” Dad said.  “You’re a good person who does the right thing because it’s the right thing, and people see that sort of thing.  And getting your name in the school paper when you’re not even in high school yet is the sort of thing recruiters will notice too.”

“Recruiters?” Alex asked.  What on Earth was he talking about?

“Oh, you know, talent scouts, agents, the kinds of people who look for promising students to give scholarships.  You and Alicia don’t have to worry about that for a while, but, for example, you can get free money for college for athletics, music, and even citizen science scholarships are becoming popular these days.”

“Ohh, that kind of recruiters,” Alex said and nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve met a couple of them at big competitions, usually when they’re looking for someone like Coach Gwen and they see me wearing a school athletics tee shirt.”  He had to catch himself from saying ‘top’.  It wasn’t that Alex and his father had a bad relationship, quite the opposite really.  His relationship with his parents and extended family was great.

But he couldn’t help feeling like some things just shouldn’t be talked about.  He didn’t know why he felt that way, exactly.  It wasn’t like someone had ever said anything apart from some teasing when he was younger, from older cousins, but they teased everyone.

To the family at large they were “the twins” and since Allie had joined the spirit squad, and made the varsity dance squad, the ‘cheer twins’ despite Alex only being a trainer.  They were a package deal for better or for worse, but, in truth, Alex never complained.  He always had someone to talk to, be it Allie or one of their friends.  If he wanted to go bike riding with someone, Megyn was always up for it - not to mention helping each other studying music.

But more and more it seemed like everyone wanted to see him ‘pick a side’ as it were.  Well, everyone except Mom and Dad.  They just seemed proud that their kids were good people, now that he thought about it.

“Hey hon,” Laurence said, breaking Alex’s thoughts as the package deal’s mother Debrah stepped into the kitchen, wearing a smart pantsuit, makeup applied, and ready to face a new day.  “Take a look at what Regina Scoffield dropped off this morning.”  He nodded toward the refrigerator.

“Oh ho ho,” Mom said, “Getting an older girls’ attention are we?” she said jokingly.

“Mo-om!” Alex groaned.  Mom of course, being a school administrator, knew who all the more prominent students were in both junior high and high school.  Dad on the other hand was a software engineer at Google, working remotely as often as he actually went into the office, for completeness’ sake.

Mom skimmed the article, glanced at the photo, glanced back at the article, and then, accepting a freshly poured cup of coffee from Dad, turned and put an arm around Alex.  “I am so proud of you,” she said.

“I keep telling people it’s no big deal,” Alex mumbled.

“Bull,” Mom said flatly, but grinned.  “You are as smart as you are generous, and to hear Coach Whitehead talk, Alicia’s just as dedicated as you are.  I couldn’t be prouder of the both of you.”

“Thanks Mom,” Alex said as Alicia came padding into the room.

“What’d I miss?  All I heard was proud of us,” she said, giggling.

“Reggie dropped off a copy of the paper this morning,” Alex said, pointing at the fridge as he helped himself to a leftover slice of bacon.

“Oh cool!” Alicia bubbled, stepping over to the large double door refrigerator to read it.

“So,” Mom said thoughtfully, leaning against the breakfast bar as she sipped her coffee, “Have you decided what you want to wear for the big concert recital?”

“Oh um,” Alex said, “Not really.  Megyn said slacks are fine, but um, she asked me to go dress shopping with her.”  He tried to phrase it so that it sounded like he’d just be a tag-along.  Mom saw right through it.

“Well, just let me know ahead of time if you decide to, so we can put a little bit of extra cash on your debit card.  Formal dresses can get a little pricey, but it’s a good investment with so many school dances coming up.”

And there it was, laid out right there for Alex to grab and run with it if he so chose.  He stared blankly at her for a moment.

“Huh?” was all he could manage.

Mom shrugged.  “If you want I’ll go with you, too.”

“Ooh yeah,” Alicia said, still reading, “Mom helped me pick out that cold shoulder forest green dress I wore to the Christmas party, remember?  She’s got a nose for cute dresses on discount.  Just a shame I couldn’t get those 3” heels that matched it.”

“Maybe when you’re 15,” Dad laughed.  “13 is just a little too young for high heels.”

“Oh, Dad,” Alicia said, rolling her eyes.  “It’s not like I’m getting a tattoo yet.”

He nearly choked on his coffee, causing Alex to giggle.  “She did say ‘yet’,” Alex said reassuringly.

“Yes, that’s what worries me,” Dad said, shaking his head.  “Hon, I’m leaving this one in your capable hands.  I’ll be working late with Dahlia tonight.”

Alex looked from Dad to Mom.  Mom giggled.  “Project Dahlia, remember?”

“Oh yeah!  That cool half-Linux OS,” Alex nodded.  “Um but yeah, I’ll give it some thought.”

Before Alex could turn to head back upstairs, Mom pulled him into another hug, and kissed the top of his forehead.  He blinked, looking at her, but she just smiled and let him go.

“There’s a bit of a surprise coming this weekend,” Alicia said.

“Oh, what’s that?” Mom asked.  Alicia giggled.

“Well, I got a look at the notes for Alex’s uniforms.  Let’s just say, I hope she’s comfortable in a skirt by the time Nationals get here.  In public, I mean.”

Mom laughed.  “Oh dear.  Well your Dad and I support Alex 100%, whichever way this plays out.”

“I know you do,” Alicia said, and giggled too.  “I just wish she’d realize it.  At least she forgot to take off her nail polish again.”

“I saw,” Mom said.  “I thought that was you in the photo for a second there earlier until I saw the different colored nails.”

Alicia looked down at her iridescent purple nails and giggled.  “Yeah.  It’s not that I hate pink, I just really love purple.”

Upstairs, Alex picked up his backpack and glanced at his phone.  He pulled up Megyn’s number and started to text her.  He stopped, deleted it, started again, stopped, sighed, and texted ‘U busy 2nite?’

‘No y?’

‘Mom’s going 2 give me xtra $ 4 a dress.’

‘Omg srsly?!’

‘Ya she said she’ll go too if we want.  She helped Alicia find that cute af Christmas dress.’

‘Omg yas!  K i’m @ ur door ;)’ and at that, the doorbell rang, causing Alex to jump slightly.

By the time he’d gotten back downstairs, Megyn was in the kitchen talking excitedly to Alicia and Mom.

“So it worked out perfectly,” Megyn was saying.  “There she is,” she said, giggling.  “I was just telling your mom about the new Touch of Style’s grand opening this week.  They do both boys’ and girls’ fashions, everything from casual to swimwear to formal,” she said, for Mom’s benefit.

“Oh wow, they’re all over Tik Tok,” Alex said.

“So,” Mom laughed, “What I’m hearing is, ‘Mom can we have an advance on our allowance?’, huh?”

“Mom,” Alicia said sweetly, “Can Megyn and I turn Alex into a girly girl?”

Megyn cackled at that, and Alex started to protest, but Mom just laughed.  “Oh, I suppose so.  You’re about the same sizes anyway, so you can share closets.”

“Yay!” Alicia said.  “I promise we won’t go overboard.”