Chapter 23
Seb
What the hell was Alex thinking? It’s not okay to hurt my Sunshine.
I call E and fill him in on what happened.
He’s pissed too and promises to talk to Alex tonight.
I text Bay next, and Sunshine gave him the abbreviated version earlier, so I tell him the rest. Nick is last. He’s lying on his bed with headphones on, but he’s awake, so I wave my hand in front of his face. “What?”
“We have an issue. Sunshine is feeling hurt,” I tell him.
That gets an immediate reaction as he sits up and removes his headphones. “Why?”
I tell him what happened with Alex. “Idiot,” he mutters.
“The issue is that so many people have hurt Sunshine. It’s not the same as when Alicia was being a creeper with us and Alex dragged his feet.
Sure, she was disgusting, and you took the brunt of it, but there were four of us together.
We simply refused to go over there. Think of it from her perspective.
She’s the outsider here. She’s gonna worry about being welcomed now.
Wondering if or when she’s allowed to visit.
She was supposed to stay there once a month for the next 6 months.
What about sleepovers? She’s gonna worry about all our friendships now since we’ve been friends with Alex longer.
She’s gonna try to exclude herself now. Summer’s pissed at Alex for how he treated Reesa this morning, too. It’s a mess.”
“Let’s go,” Nick says.
I follow him out and let Troy know we’re going to see Alex for an hour or so. Hopping in the passenger seat, I ask, “we are going to see Alex, right? Sunshine is out to dinner with Zander.”
I get a nod, so I text Bay and E that we’re going over there. Bay is busy, but he wants me to call him so he can join the conversation. Easy enough.
E is waiting outside when we get there. I give him a peck before we go upstairs. “Alicia is shopping,” he tells us.
“Did you talk to him yet?”
“No, he’s been in his room since he got back here,” E says, unlocking the apartment door.
Nick walks straight over to Alex’s bedroom door and bangs on it, then takes a seat on the couch, so we join him.
Alex opens his door and sees us. “Hi. Is everything okay?” He asks as I dial Bay.
“No,” Nick says.
Alex comes over and takes a seat, looking at us. “What is wrong?”
“Explain why you upset Summer,” Nick demands.
“I’m sorry?” Alex replies.
This could take a while with these two, so I turn to E and ask if he wants to take this or if I should. He points to me, so I go through everything one more time for Alex. When I finish, he sits there contemplating. I give him a few minutes to speak, but he says nothing.
“You let her down,” Nick starts, “you are unreliable now, you put yourself before her, you created tension in the group, you would rather upset a friend again than deal with the step-monster, you’ve created a her versus us situation.” Wow. You know Nick is upset when he talks so much.
“Alex, something has been off with you for a while,” Bay adds. “All the extra workouts in the middle of our season isn’t like you.”
“I’m fine, Bay,” Alex responds.
“Please explain to us why Summer is uncomfortable now and why you chose for her not to stay here,” E says.
“Having one of you stay with her seemed the better option with Alicia here. Why is that a problem? You offered to stay at the Finn residence when Z asked us at the track meet.”
“We did offer, and we'll do that, but the plan was for her to crash here, Alex. Where do you draw the line?” E asks. “Is she unwelcome here now if Alicia is home? What about on weekends if we stay here? Do you plan to exclude her and let the rest of us stay if Alicia changes plans again?”
“Well no. That would not be right. We would need to figure something else out.”
“You’re not getting this man,” I say. “If we plan a weekend here and Alicia shows up, Summer is gonna exclude herself, so our plans don’t get interrupted. She’ll tell us to stay here and leave herself. I won't accept that kind of situation, and I’m telling you right now I’ll be leaving with her.”
“Me too,” Nick adds.
“We're all friends. We're a group. It’s not just us or Summer, it’s all of us,” I add, emphasizing that she cannot be treated differently.
Alex still isn’t saying anything, so E takes another turn.
“You aren’t considering her past either, Alex.
She’s still dealing with a lot of trauma.
She hasn’t been able to trust or rely on anyone for a long time.
We're the first friends she’s had since the accident.
Every other person our age she has had in her life abandoned her or bullied her.
Now here you are putting conditions on your friendship with her and creating conflict in our group. ”
“I see,” Alex responds.
We all sit and wait for him to elaborate, but it’s not looking good. “You need to say more than that, man,” I say.
“I have some thinking to do,” Alex replies.
“Think faster,” Nick growls.
“I do not believe there is a resolution available tonight,” Alex finally says.
“Alex. I’m guessing the reason Nick came straight here when he found out is the same reason I wanted to deal with it now.
If we go to school in the morning and there’s tension between us, Sunshine is going to pull away from us.
She’d never want to cause issues within our group. That’s not acceptable.”
“What do you expect of me?” Alex asks. He looks frustrated, or at least frustrated for Alex.
“I expect you to fix this,” Nick tells him, glaring daggers at Alex, although Alex doesn’t seem to notice.
“I could call and apologize for upsetting her, but I still believe it’s best she stay at her house this week.”
“Best for whom, Alex? You or her?” Bay asks.
“Both of us,” he replies. He seems so confident in his response.
“Wrong. It’s best for you, Alex,” I say. “It’s easier for you if she doesn’t stay here. Then you don’t have to deal with Alicia. You realize you’ll have to confront her about Summer at some point, right?”
“Yes, I suppose I will, but there is no guarantee she will listen.”
“So, what’s your solution to this situation, Alex?” E asks.
“If she causes problems, I’m not sure there is one.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“The best course of action would be to avoid interactions between them. That would ensure Summer would not have to deal with Alicia treating her poorly.”
Nick snorts at that. “The way the step-monster would treat Summer isn’t the issue. She can stand her ground. Your lack of support is what will break Summer, not the step-monster’s words.”
And right there is the actual issue. “You need to choose your friendship with Summer over Alicia. Did you learn nothing from the last time you avoided dealing with her? All of us refused to come over here. That won’t happen with Summer. She’ll just fade into the background.”
“I won’t let that happen, Alex,” E says, and I squeeze his hand in response.
“None of us will,” Bay adds.
“I do not want that for Summer either,” Alex concedes, looking down at his feet.
“Then fix this,” I tell him. “We’re all friends here, and we want to continue to be, but if one friend screws over the other, I’m siding with the one that wasn’t an asshole.”
Alex nods his head, finally understanding. “How do I fix this?”
“Talk to her,” E says. “Tell her you were an idiot, and her friendship matters more than Alicia being a pain in the ass.”
“Make her believe she’s always welcome here, no matter what,” Bay adds.
“Don’t ask her to stay here this week. That time has passed. Do offer for her to stay the rest of the times Z is away. She probably doesn’t trust you now, so expect her to be wary for a while. We know she doesn’t trust easily, and for good reason.”
“Don’t do anything to create doubt for her again, or I’ll kick your ass,” Nick adds.
“I hope I did not offend Z as well,” Alex says.
“Do you really think she even told Z? I’d bet anything Z doesn’t know what happened. She wouldn’t want to cause problems.”
“That’s true,” E says.
“I will speak with Summer tomorrow and resolve the matter,” Alex replies.
“Good. Now let’s get out of here before Alicia finishes shopping. I’m hanging up, Bay,” I say, before pocketing my phone. I give E a quick kiss on the cheek, then get up. Nick is already heading for the door.
“That went okay,” I say to Nick once he’s driving.
“Maybe,” he replies.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not convinced Alex comprehends everything.”
“Shit. I hope he does, or I’ll join you in kicking his ass.”