All Time Trouble

“Is it just me, or does Alex seem to be acting a bit weird?” Rian asked looking over at him as he and Jack talked. We could see them from where we were standing but we couldn’t hear them.

“He just has a lot on his mind right now and needs to talk to someone.” Jayde said popping out of nowhere making me jump.

“You’ll never gonna stop jumping are you?” Jayde laughed and I shrugged.

“I think I have a problem.” I said and everyone laughed.

“We all know you do Kay,” Rian laughed.

“And you have many at that," Jayde said and I kicked her.

“Stop being so violent! We’re in a public place, and I can have you arrested for abusing me!” she shouted and people started looking around to see who had said it and we all covered our mouths as we laughed. Some people had noticed us and just sneered, but we just kept laughing in their faces.

“That was PERFECT,” I said still laughing and Jayde nodded as her laughs turned silent and we continued to laugh until everyone took a break to breathe.

“And the havoc reeking starts now I suppose,” Rian said and we all chuckled.

“So where are we going first?” Jack asked bouncing over.

“Well I already suggested the water slides,” I said putting a hand to my chest.

“We know Kay, we know.” Jayde said putting her hands up and I just smiled.

“We’re not doing anything without Alex are we? That wouldn’t be fair if we went off to have fun and left him in his lounge chair by the pool,” Zack asked and we all nodded in agreement.

“You know what Zack, I think you’re right.” Rian said.

“When aren’t I right?” Zack said snorting a bit, earning him a slap upside the head from Jayde and I at the same time as we both said ‘be nice’ causing Rian and Jack to break out into laughter.

“OW!! Did you two plan that?!?!” Zack said letting go of my hand as he used both of his hands to rub the back of his head.

“Actually no, we didn’t.” Jayde said.

“But it worked out perfectly I think,” I said.

“Oh yeah,” Jayde said and we chuckled a bit but Jack and Rian were still laughing.

“Well let me go get Alex to see if he wants to come with us,” I said and they nodded, and I started walking towards my brother. He looked really stressed, which really upset me, so I decided to be over the top sweet.

“You coming on some rides with us Lexi? We don't think it'd be fair if we went to have fun while you stayed back here sitting in a lounge chair.” I said and he chuckled.

“Did you just call me Lexi?” he asked and I nodded, causing him to chuckle again.

“You haven’t called me that since you were four and Mom told you not to call me that because it was a girl’s name, and you could call me Alex because it’s short for Alexander, and you said Alex didn’t sound all that pretty, and you’d call me Lexi because that was pretty, but Mom told you not to call me that,” he said and I smiled as I sat next to him.

“Yeah, I remember that,” I said and I felt him hug me. And soon after I felt my shoulder become wet. I looked down and saw Alex crying.

“Aw, Alex! What’s wrong?!” I asked hugging him back as I was on the verge of tears myself because whenever someone else cries, I cry.

“I’m just so worried.” he said turning his head so his cheek was resting on my shoulder.

“About??” I asked stroking his hair.

“The whole you and Zack thing. I don’t want either of you getting hurt, and if one of you does something to the other I won’t know whose side to take.” he sobbed a bit.

“Aw Alex, please don’t worry. I assure you we’ll be fine, but I wanna thank you for caring, and being okay with this in general. Now I can see how hard this must be for you.” I said not really knowing what to say because this type of situation was new to me. I’ve never really seen Alex like this, and he has always been my shoulder to cry on, but this is only the second time I’ve ever seen him cry. The first time being when he fell off his bike when he was seven. He’s the one that never really let’s his emotions show, or wants people to see him cry or upset. But even though we’ve had these kind of moments before, the most I’ve ever seen him do is sniffle. I tried my best to keep him calm and it was kind of working.

“I kind of regret making this decision,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes a bit.

“Why? Your decision made me happy, and don’t you say you’re happy when I’m happy?” I asked looking down at him.

“Yeah, but it makes me uneasy. And didn’t you say it makes you uneasy when I’m uneasy?” he asked and I nodded.

“Of course it does. Why do you think I don’t kiss him in front of you?” I asked and he smirked a bit.

“Touché.” he said and I laughed a bit.

“And thanks for not kissing in front of me. That makes me feel a bit better.” He added.

“So you’re okay now?" I asked with a hopeful smile and he nodded.

“A bit, yes. But let’s go, I don’t wanna ruin our day of fun.” he said getting up and pulling me with him. I nodded and grabbed a towel and wiped his eyes and he took it and wiped his tears off my shoulder and I laughed.

“Let’s gooooo!” he whined and I laughed as he started pulling me towards the others.