A Sunrise on the East Side

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Should I lie? No... that wouldn't be good. I would just have to tell the truth. "To be honest... Mrs. X, I haven't had a lot of experience. Sure, I used to babysit my cousins every so often and the neighborhood kids, but nothing legitimate." I looked at her nervously and waited for her answer. I was expecting a frown, but she smiled.

"That's perfectly fine. I believe you'll be capable of taking care of Grayer, but if not, than you understand that I'll have to let you go, right?" Mrs. X looked at me and I nodded. "Good. Well, I have some more questions and then we'll be done..."

She asked more questions about my relationships with the guys and where I used to live and previous jobs. I didn't mind the questions. Sure, some were pretty personal but I wasn't huge on keeping everything a secret.

Some time later, we left her office and found Jack giving Grayer peanut butter with a spoon.

"Jack! What have I told you about that? I don't want Grayer to eat things like that." Mrs. X placed her hands on her hips and looked at Jack sternly.

"Sorry, Mrs. X," Jack mumbled.

"What is it with you and getting in trouble when you're around kids?" I asked, laughing.

"It's in his nature," Alex said and I nodded.

"Oh. That reminds me. Since Grayer and Elijah go to the same school, I'm sure there will be some days they'll want to have a play date and since Elijah is your nephew, I'm sure Zack and Allison would be okay with you bringing him here," Mrs. X smiled.

"I'll have to talk to them about that," I smiled back at her.

"Perfect. Now, let me show you your room," she said and I followed her through the large apartment. She stopped at a white door and opened it slowly. The room was actually pretty awesome [see picture on the side]. "I hope you like it, I designed it myself for Kristen when she was here. You can add anything to the walls, I really don't care."

Jeez, this lady was nice. "Thanks. This room is great. I like it."

"Oh, good!"

We didn't spend a lot of time in the room before going back into the living room to find Jack, Alex and Grayer watching TV.

"So, Athena, I'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know when I'm ready for you to start. I just need to get things ready. Thank you very much for coming today," Mrs. X shook my hand and smiled again.

"Thanks for offering the job, Mrs. X," I said.

Jack and Alex got up and I decided to walk over to Grayer. The guys and Mrs. X left us alone.

"Hey Grayer... so I'm Athena and I think I'm going to be your new nanny. I hope you're okay with that." I looked at him and he looked at me.

"You're not that bad. Just don't be mean to me. Kristen made me cry all the time."

"I promise I'll be nice to you if you are nice to me."

"Okay."

"See ya later, dude," I got up and walked to the door.

"Say hi to Eli for me, please," Grayer called after me and I nodded. He was a good kid.

--

"GRAYER. LET. ME. IN." I shouted through the door. Here I was, standing in the front of the front door of the X's apartment, locked out, my pants nearly falling down.

"Noooooope."

"Grayer. Pleeeease?" I pleaded with the kid with no luck. "Shit."

"You said a swear! I'm telling mommy."

"And I'll tell her you locked me out!"

"Athena?"

I knew that voice. Fuck. I turned around and faced Alex. I pulled up my pants and looked at him. "What are you doing up here?"

"I could hear you shouting. I've had to deal with it a lot before and I wanted to come save the kid." Alex rolled his eyes and then they widened. He realized what he said.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"Sorr-" Alex started to say.

"Shut up."

"Shutting."

I rolled my eyes. "Grayer, I'm begging you. Please just let me in." I heard the lock click and the door opened. "Thank God."

I picked up some of the things I had dropped and walked inside. Alex followed me, carrying everything else. He was trying to win me over. I knew it.

"Thanks Gray," I smiled at him and he blushed a little. Then he walked away and I heard the TV turn on.

"So, Athena, do you think we could talk?" Alex asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about what happened, Alex, and I don't forgive you for what you said." I started putting away some of the things I had brought in.

"Please, Athena."

"No, Alex. Not now, not ever."

"Will you just listen to the songs?" Alex asked.

"Songs? There is more than one?" I sighed.

"Yeah... one from The Party Scene and then one from Put Up or Shut Up." Alex scratched his head.

"I don't know."

"Fine." He said, angrily.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and turning away from him.

"Because I know I fucked up and I still love you, okay? I still do. And every day I regret what I said to you. You think it's been easy having to live with knowing that I lost the one girl that has ever meant something to me?" Alex grabbed my wrist and turned me back around.

"Do you think it's been easy having to live with the horrible things you said to me?" I looked into his eyes.

And before I could register anything, he was leaning down to kiss me. I froze. What the /fuck/ was he doing?!

I pushed him off. "Get off of me!" I backed away.

"I'm sorry," he looked down at the floor.

"Just go. Now." I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. My phone rang after I knew he had left and I answered it. "Hello?" I snapped.

"That is not the way to talk to your wonderful friend, Athena." Kacey's voice floated out of the phone.

"Oh, Kacey, sorry."

"Whatever. I'm here!"

"You are?" I asked.

"Yup. Now ask your employer if you can get the night off so we can hang out. I won't get you drunk, I promise, but I will get drunk." God, I loved this girl.

"Haha, okay, Kace, I'll ask her when she gets home."

"Good. Then call me. If she says no, then I'm coming there. See ya." She hung up and then the front door opened.

"Athena? Where are you?"

"In the kitchen, Mrs. X," I called and she appeared almost instantly.

"I just wanted to tell you that you can have the night off tonight, you've been working hard." Mrs. X smiled.

"Oh, thank you!" I smiled. Mrs. X nodded and then walked out of the room. I texted Kacey really quick and then dialed Allison's number.

"Hey, Athena! What's up?" I loved hearing Alli's voice.

"Do you have The Party Scene or Put Up or Shut Up?" I asked quickly.

"Ahh, you want to hear the songs. Why?" Allison asked.

"Alex came over today and talked about the songs and I want to figure out which ones they are." I explained.

"Yeah, I have them both. Did he say anything else?" Alli questioned.

"Yeah. He told me he still loved me and talked about how he feels horrible about what he said. And then... he kissed me."

"WHAT?" Allison shouted.

"Yeah..."

"What did you do?"

"I pushed him away and told him to leave." I bit my lip.

"Holy shit, Athena."

"I know."

"Wow. Okay, well, if anything else happens just let me know and I'll have Zack talk to him." Allison said.

"No. I don't need Zack. I can deal with this on my own. But I need those cds. I'll be around tonight to get them before I go out with Kacey."

"Sounds good. I'll get them out. See ya later." Allison said bye and then hung up.

I found Mrs. X in her office. "Mrs. X? I'm leaving now, I won't be out late."

"Sounds good!"

"Thanks again."

She smiled and then I went to leave.

"Where are you going, Athena?" Grayer asked.

"I'm going to go see an old friend. I'll see you tomorrow, Gray," I smiled and he nodded.

I let myself out and made my way to the elevator. When it opened, Jack was there.

"We need to talk, Miss Merrick." Jack said, very seriously.

I rolled my eyes. "Uh huh."

"What did Alex do?" Jack asked.

"He kissed me."

"Huh?"

"Alex told me he still loved me and then he kissed me. Okay?" I sighed.

"Wow. He's moving fast."

"This is not good, Jack. He needs to avoid me and not want to be around me! But the more I yell at him, the more he talks to me."

"Maybe he's turned on."

"What?"

"You are pretty sexy when you get mad, if I may say so myself." Jack blushed and I laughed.

"Oh, Jack."

"I asked Hunter out. That's where I'm going."

"FINALLY!" I hugged him. "And I know you're nervous, but I know she's so excited. It'll be great, Jacko."

Jack smiled at the nickname. "Thanks, Athena. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to pick up The Party Scene and Put Up or Shut Up from Alli and then I'm going to meet up with Kacey."

"You're going to try to figure out the songs? I think you'll get 'em pretty easily." Jack looked away and then the elevator opened.

"Okay. Well. See ya."

"Bye."

And with that we turned our separate ways. Zack and Allison's house wasn't too far away from the apartment so I just walked.

When I got to their house, I knocked on the door and Eli opened it. "Hi, Auntie!"

That was his new nickname for me.

"Hey, Eli. Where's your mom?"

"In the kitchen."

"Thanks, dude." When I walked into the kitchen, Allison was making dinner and the cds were on the counter.

"Hey, Athena."

"Hi, Alli. These the ones?" I asked and she nodded. "I can't stay long, but thanks. I'll let you know when I figure it out."

Allison turned around and smiled. "'Kay."

"Bye!" I laughed and then turned to leave. I was meeting Kacey in about ten minutes at a local bar. This was going to be interesting.

[Interlude: I'm gonna skip past the bar part, cos I really want to end this chapter. Don't worry, Kacey, you'll be in the next chapter with a bigger part. But I want to get to Athena listening to the cds.]

--

To say that we had a good time was an understatement. I wasn't even drunk and I had one of the best nights of my life. I was happy to see Kacey, definitely. But the cds in my bag were nagging me. I wanted to hear the songs so badly.

So when Kacey finally decided she needed to go [actually, I said I needed to go so Kacey agreed] I was okay. I knew I'd be seeing her the next day.

When I got back to the apartment, I was pretty sure every one was asleep so I tried to stay as quiet as possible. I put The Party Scene into my computer first and laid on my bed, listening to every song.

When the song Circles started, I knew by the first couple lyrics that this was the song. I was inquisitive. I was thoughtful. I was a challenge that Alex had had to work for. I was creative. I had dark eyes and so did Alex. I could go on forever.

It was a good song. It was a great song, actually, but not enough to make me forgive. So I popped in Put Up or Shut Up and started listening to that. Coffee Shop Soundtrack. That's the one.

The only reason I knew? A sunrise on the east side.

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