Chapter Seven

Alex spent the entire car ride with his head leaned back against the headrest and staring aimlessly out the window. It was still early in the morning, but by now the sun had illuminated the sky and the neighborhoods of North Elba were active with the life of a new day. People were pulling out of their driveways, heading to work or wherever the day would take them. The springtime dew on the blades of grass glistened in the early sunlight, as did the serene, blue water of Mirror Lake. The morning clouds cast a series of shadows all along the vast mountainside. It was one of the many beautiful sights of the great Adirondacks, but none of it swayed Alex’s mind to any sort of fascination.

Nickole, on the other hand, was always interested in the sights of her home. She and her older brother had spent their entire lives in the village of Lake Placid, rarely travelling very far outside of the county, and she would often stare out at the mountains and wonder what life was like in the places beyond them, just as she had been doing from the back seat of her mother’s silver Subaru Legacy.

The entire ride was little more than five minutes, but the silent atmosphere of the Subaru’s cabin always made it seem like a journey. Before long, several yellow buses could be seen merging into one area as they drew closer to the schoolzone. Each bus began piling behind one another in front of the school as dozens of children emptied out and scattered into the building and all over the school grounds. Within minutes the entire area was crowded with students and attendants, as well as countless vehicles pulling into the parking lots and alongside the curbs while parents dropped off their children.

Alex made his first movement of the short ride as his mother veered off the main road and approached an open spot beside the curb, by reaching over to undo his seatbelt. His mother discreetly glared at him from the corner of her vision. She always hated it when he removed his seatbelt before she parked the car, no matter how slow she was going, but like everything else, she did not bother to fight with him about it. Alex never did anything to recklessly endanger himself or his family in any way. Therefore, unless the time came to use any parenting skills, she sat back and allowed him to be himself.

As soon as the car was put into park, Nickole snapped out of her daydream, grabbed her backpack and hopped out of the car. Alex moved much more sluggishly as he exited the passenger side. He reached into the back seat of the car for his own backpack and slung it over his shoulder. As he turned to walk away his mother rolled down the passenger window. “Alex,” she called to him. Alex stopped in his tracks and grumbled to himself as he turned around. His mother leaned down to look at him through the open window and smiled. “Have a nice day,” she said, trying aimlessly to lift his mood. Without making the slightest gesture Alex turned back around and walked toward the school building. “I love you, too,” she mumbled as her son lumbered way. Feeling the awkward vibe, Nickole looked over and waved to her mother before catching up with Alex.

Some would describe the two siblings as complete opposites. Where Alex grew increasingly distant and downcast with every day passing, Nickole had always been secure and held her head high for the life that each morning would bring. Of course, everyone knew it was not always that way. Those days when Alex was the happy and energetic one, his little sister was too young and helpless to know anything about the world. He was always there beside her to offer a helping hand, yet for whatever reason, he continued to sink further away. The most interesting thing was that no matter how careless and moody he became, there was never any doubt that his caring for his sister held strong.

Nickole walked beside Alex, who was already fiddling with his cell phone, as they made their way through the large crowd of students and into the school building. This was the time of day when they truly separated. Their small family was a stagnant one. The two of them had grown up spending nearly all of their days together, and school hours were the longest they were apart from each other. 

Upon entering the school, Alex would always hang around the cafeteria with a couple of his friends, and everyday Nickole would follow and stay with them until the bell rang. Nickole had friends of her own, and they would often question why she bothered to spend her time before school hours with her melancholy brother and his older social clan. They would talk about their own lives and interests while she sat beside Alex and hardly spoke to them at all.

Alex was glancing at his phone during the majority of their navigation through the hordes of students. It was not difficult since they would walk this same path every morning for five days a week. Each daily routine was always the same. When they reached the edge of the crowds Alex and Nickole went to lean up against the wall. At this time Alex finally looked up from his phone, and at the same time he heard someone call his name.

“Alex!” a young male voice called out over the noise of the crowds of students. To his right, Alex saw one of his friends approach him. The boy’s name was Seth. He was slightly taller than Alex, with short fair hair and glasses. The two of them had been friends since elementary school and would always find themselves hanging out in the same spot by the cafeteria just before school hours began.

As he approached, Alex slipped his phone into his pocket and firmly grasped Seth’s hand. “What’s up, man?” Alex greeted him. Nickole just leaned against the wall and watched the two friends converse.

“Nothing much,” Seth responded as he removed his backpack and set it on the floor beside him. “Just gotta get through today and then the weekend is finally here. How you doing, Nicki?” he said, glancing past Alex toward his sister.

Nickole looked up at him. “I’m good, thanks.” she replied in a somewhat mellow tone.

Seth nodded slightly. “Ok then.”

Alex seemed to ignore their exchange and continued his conversation with his friend “You’re going over to Saranac Lake tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Seth answered excitedly. “To my uncle’s lake house. We’re gonna be there till next Wednesday. Haven’t been there in forever.”

“Lucky you,” Alex laughed to himself. “It'd sure be nice to get away from this quiet slum.”

Hearing his remark, Nickole looked up at her brother in shock. “Slum?” she repeated under her breath. She could not understand why he had such adverse conceptions about their home town. Lake Placid was no slum, at least not to her. It was definitely not quiet most of the time either, especially in the winter time when the skiers and winter sports enthusiasts would stop in town while heading up to Whiteface Mountain, which was about thirteen miles northeast of Lake Placid. In fact, their home town was a popular local tourist attraction all seasons of the year. It was one of the few traits Nickole resented in her brother.

Alex either disregarded Nickole’s comment or simply did not hear it, but he started looking around at the crowds in front of them. “Hey, speaking of which, where’s Danny?” he asked, referring to another of their good friends who would often meet them there at the wall.

“Out sick, I think,” Seth replied. “He sent me a text earlier saying that he probably wasn’t going to be coming in today. Either that or he probably woke up drunk again. Freakin’ redneck,” he laughed out loud. “Did he text you at all?”

Alex did not recall seeing any messages this morning. He shuffled into his pocket for his phone. “I don’t think so. Let me check.” He flipped the phone open. There were no notifications on the screen to inform him that he had any messages, but he opened up his message folder anyway and sure enough there was a text from his friend Danny. “Huh, how did I miss that?” he said, looking over the text. 

It was a short message that read, ‘Yo, I ain’t gonna be in school today. Had a rough morning lol.’ Alex snickered as he read his friend’s text. “That was kind of an unearned ‘lol,’" he mumbled as he put his phone away.

“Well hey, you doing anything after school?” Seth asked as he reached down to pick has backpack up and throw it over his shoulder.

"No, you know I never have anything going on," Alex answered mockingly.

Seth laughed and shook his head. “Well anyway, I heard from Danny that his brother Hetrick got his old truck fixed up and running again and we’re probably gonna take it out mudding up at the old quad path on the mountain.”

It was true that Alex never did have anything going on in his stagnant life at home, so he was always excited when he and his friends would go out to the mountain paths for cheap thrills like mudding up a truck. He nodded in approval. “Yeah, I’d definitely be up for that!”

Nickole interjected with concern. “But Alex, isn’t it supposed to storm tonight?”

Her brother just rolled his eyes arrogantly. “Well Nickole, part of the idea of mudding is that you get a little bit of rain to make mud on the dirt roads.”

Nickole narrowed her eyes, getting a little angry. “I know what mudding is,” she huffed. “But you know what Mom says about being out driving around when it storms. She doesn’t even like your friends to begin with!” Realizing what she said, she glanced over at Alex’s friend beside him. “No offense, Seth.” Seth waved his hand to signal that none was taken.

Alex was getting as annoyed as his sister was. “That’s none of your business, Nickole,” he scolded her. “When you’re old enough to start making your own decisions maybe you’ll understand. What you and Mom do is entirely your business, and what I do with my friends is mine. When are you gonna learn that? I don’t need you watching my back.”

It was exactly that sort of attitude rising in Alex that had the potential to bring Nickole on the verge of tears. It made it much more difficult for her to see through his moods and know if her old brother was still alive and well or not. A lot of times, there were mixed thoughts rushing through her head, making her wonder what to say next.

Her racing thoughts were interrupted by the reverberating sound of the school’s bell going off. Hardly more than a second later everyone among the crowds quickly shifted their attention and moved to wherever their day’s schedule sent them first. Alex and Seth situated their backpacks and went to fall into the moving hordes of students, with Nickole just behind them.