Mixed Feelings of Elation

Cleaned and mentally prepared to see Alex, Neon left from her bedroom. She didn't know if he had actually shown up. But if he was in her living room, she needed to be ready. Seeing Alex was always difficult for her. Their meetings could go well with both members being civil or the meetings could consist of them yelling at each other till they were out of breath. They may have "buried the hatchet" but that didn't mean they could always be nice to each other. Something about Alex just made Neon's anger flare. She guessed he felt the same way since he started a majority of their fights.

Then again, Neon could be to blame for those because of the comments she would make before he would explode.

Neon stepped into the living room. Alex sat on one of the lounge chairs, leaned back with a disgusted expression on his face. Jack and Arpeggio were on the couch, lips seemingly fused together. Neon wondered if Arpeggio could breathe with Jack's tongue jammed down her throat.

"Make them stop," Alex demanded, not taking his eyes from the couple.

He always knew when Neon was in the room without having to look at her. She never knew how he did.

Neon grabbed Jack's collar and hoisted him from his spot on Arpeggio. It was quiet difficult seeing as Neon had no muscles in her arm. And it probably didn't help that she managed to lose ten pounds over the course of the week.

"No sex on the couch," Neon said, letting Jack fall to the floor.

"Can we go have sex in Arpeggio's room?" Jack asked.

"After the party, you can do that in your house. Now, don't make me reconsider letting her live with you."

Jack pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. Neon rolled her eyes. He lived without sex for the entire time he and Arpeggio had been dating; he could wait till the end of the day.

"Okay, we need to get started on food and we can do some decorations while the food is cooking," Neon started.

"I thought we were ordering pizza," Arpeggio cut in.

"We have to make your cakes and prep for the barbeque."

"Why are we having a barbeque again?"

"Because you wanted a pool party."

Little Miss Arpeggio Lowry, the one who vowed never to step foot in a pool since her first hypoglycemic attack, wanted to have a pool party. It shocked Neon when Arpeggio asked her if they could use the pool for the party. What shocked her even more was that some kids from Arpeggio's school were going to be there. Apparently, some kids had seen the interview the band did almost a year ago and apologized for their actions.

Those kids weren't exactly the popular crowd but Arpeggio had some friends for the last months of her high school career.

"Oh," Arpeggio responded.

"Let's work on the cake mix first," Neon commanded.

"Okay," Arpeggio and Jack exclaimed, jumping from their seats and running to the kitchen.

Neon watched them and sighed. They couldn't be left alone in a kitchen for more than ten minutes without something going wrong.

"Should we go after them?" Alex asked, standing from his chair.

She noticed a glint in Alex's eyes. Where had she seen that look before?

"Probably," Neon answered.

Neon turned to walk from the living room to the kitchen. A hand grasped onto her wrists before she could take a step. She looked back at Alex, who was grasping her wrist in his hand.

"What?" Neon asked.

"Are you losing weight?" Alex blurted.

Oh right, she saw that look in high school when she stopped eating. He looked at her the same way everyday from the time her weight loss started to show till she came back from the psychiatric ward.

"No, why would you say that?"

"You just look like you've lost some weight," Alex said, "Are you sure you haven't lost weight?"

"I haven't, Alex," Neon pushed.

So she was lying. It didn't matter.

"Are you sick? Working out too much? I swear you were not this small last time I saw you," Alex said.

"Alex, I'm fine."

Alex opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by an explosion. Both turned to look to where the noise came from: the kitchen.

"Shit," Neon mumbled, rushing from the room.

Alex's footsteps could be heard behind her. He mumbled a profanity of his own. Neon didn't know why he was worried; it wasn't his kitchen that was in jeopardy. Though, she didn't doubt that Jack had destroyed his kitchen appliances a number of times.

Neon stopped in the entrance of the kitchen, mouth ajar. The microwave door was hanging off its hinges. A creamy substance Neon could only place as cake batter was dripping from the defeated microwave. The substance covered the floor and part of the counter.

"What the hell did you do?" Neon asked.

"We're cooking," Jack responded.

"I leave you alone for less than five minutes and this is what happens?" Neon yelled, "Of course, when I leave my sister and her boyfriend alone together, I don't end up with a pregnant teenager; I end up with a broken microwave."

"Sorry," Arpeggio mumbled.

Neon sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She would need to get a new microwave within the next few days. Cooking meals took too much time; she preferred using her microwave.

Her poor, destroyed microwave.

"It's okay. Just get out of my kitchen," Neon commanded.

The couple left immediately upon the request. They knew not to stick around while Neon was angry. Alex, on the other hand, remained standing next to Neon. Though he may have been too stubborn to leave her side, he knew not to say something rude. That would set Neon off simply because it came from his mouth.

He knew how her mind worked. He just didn't understand why it worked that way.

Neon took a deep breath and leaned against the doorframe. She did plan for this; she knew something would go wrong and alter their plans. That's why she made Arpeggio wake up so early.

"I'll help you clean up," Alex offered, causing Neon to jump.

Neon didn't realize he was still in the room.

"Thanks, Alex," Neon said.

"It's no problem."

These were the moments Neon liked, the ones where she and Alex didn't fight.