I Bet it Stung

A few weeks passed and Alice settled into her job and school with ease. People at the arena were great and she didn’t really have much to do yet since the season hadn’t officially started. Alice was sitting on the couch in Jordan’s apartment with her laptop opened, waiting for Mia to sign onto iChat.

Her sister’s face appeared on the screen and she gave a smile and a wave. “Hey, baby sister!” she called from the inside of her bunk on the tour bus.

“One year difference!” Alice pointed out indignantly. “I don’t understand why you don’t get that.”

“I guess it’s the older sibling mentality. You’ll always be my little sister.”

Alice rolled her eyes and laughed. “So when do you come home?”

“Home or Pittsburgh?” Mia questioned. “Because I know you want me to come visit you in the Steel City.”

Alice shrugged. “Pittsburgh is my home now. So I guess it’s the same thing.”

Mia smiled and shook her head. “Silly me. Um, this tour wraps up in a few days, but we have a few shows left to play in Canada. So maybe in October? Don’t tell Sidney though, I want it to be a surprise.”

“I swear, you surprise him every time you come to visit him here. That poor boy never knows when you’re coming over, so he just mopes around all day and begs me for information that I don’t have.”

Mia raised an eyebrow at Alice. She was quiet for a second and then turned around, poking her head out of her privacy curtain to make sure that no one was around. “Alice, are you alone?”

“Why?” she narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to tell me you’re pregnant, are you? Because no matter how cool it would be to have Sid be the father of your unborn kids, I just can’t handle that kind of information right now.”

Mia burst out into laughter. “No, Alice. It’s nothing like that. I’m not pregnant. I just wanted to know how things with Jordan are going.”

“They’re great,” Alice responded with a smile. “He’s a gentleman, as always. And the sex is good.”

Mia covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God. And you complain that you can’t handle me hypothetically being pregnant, and then you tell me that? Thanks a bunch little one, I might have to claw out my eyes now because of these mental images I’m starting to get.”

Alice chuckled and regained her composure. “But why do you ask, Mia?”

She looked hesitant, but shrugged her shoulders. “No reason.”

Alice frowned and burrowed her brow. “Okay, so is there something I’m missing here? Because you’re asking questions about mine and Jordan’s relationship and my boss at the arena, Mark, was acting weird when I mentioned that Jordan and I were dating when I met him a few weeks ago. Is there something I’m missing here?”

“No, no,” Mia said instantly, waving her hands in front of her computer screen for dramatic effect. “It’s nothing, I swear. I was just curious. Don’t read into it too much. I should never have said anything.”

“Mia, you’re the worst liar!” Alice moaned. “You can’t lie to a psych major! Are you kidding me? What happened, did Jordan do something behind my back that everyone knows about except for me?”

Mia bit her lip. “I’m going to send you an email. Just check it, okay? And don’t get mad.”

Alice opened her web browser and logged into her Gmail account. She waited anxiously to receive the email from Mia, and when it finally came through, she was almost afraid to click on it. When she did, her face fell.

It was a link to an online article with a picture of Jordan holding hands with a very pretty brunette girl who definitely wasn’t Alice, fingers interlaced. The article itself talked about how Jordan was spotted all over Pittsburgh with this mystery girl, and that they were seemingly attached at the hip. Alice looked at the date when the article was published. It was posted while Alice was still in Toronto after her graduation.

She hadn’t realized her iChat window was still open until Mia called her name. “Ally, please don’t freak out. I’m sure it was nothing, maybe they’re just friends. You know Jordan would never do anything to hurt you. He loves you and you know it. Forget I ever showed you. Please?”

Alice felt tears pricking her eyes. “Fuck,” she mumbled, shaking her head. She clicked the print icon on the web page and let out a shaky sigh. “I can’t be here right now.”

“Where’s Jordan?” Mia asked tentatively.

It took Alice a minute or so to remember. “Um, I think he’s at Flower and Vero’s right now for lunch. Supposedly.”

“I’m so sorry, Ally,” Mia said again. “I’m so, so sorry. You have to talk to him about this. I’m sure it’s nothing though, just internet jargon that got out of control.”

“Maybe,” Alice sniffled, getting up to grab the papers from the printer. “But I still can’t be here right now. Bye, Mia. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

Mia sighed. “Okay. Bye, Alice. Be smart about this. Promise?”

“I promise,” she said half-heartedly before signing off. She grabbed her sneakers and headed out the apartment door, not bothering to lock it after herself. Her feet carried her to her destination, which was a decent thirty minute trek from Jordan’s apartment building.

She made it to the front door and pounded her fist against the finely crafted wood. It opened, revealing a surprised looking Sidney.

“Alice?” he questioned. “What are you doing here?”

Alice immediately shoved the papers in front of Sidney’s face, with the article and pictures printed on them. “I need to know what this is and I can’t ask Jordan about it.”

Sidney’s face fell and he tilted his head back, sighing loudly. “Come in,” he said, moving aside. Alice followed him into the Lemieux house and closed the door behind her. She knew that the explanation Sidney was about to give her would only make matters worse, but at that point, she didn’t care. She wanted answers, and she was going to get them.