Chapter Twelve
| Alexa’s home|
Alexa was sleeping in her room after everything between her and Jace.
She was so tired from the job hunt that she forgot to make dinner.
Jace came down from his room and went straight to the kitchen.
He was hungry and he didn’t try to hide it.
“Strange!” He thought.
There was no food there.
All the pots were empty.
“Oh, maybe she put it in the fridge,” He thought and hurried to the fridge.
He got disappointed when he didn’t see any container holding solid, cooked food in it.
No matter what section of the fridge he opened, they were all fruits and vegetables yet to be used.
He picked banana and hungrily swallowed and ate it in one bite.
He picked up an apple and dug into it.
“These should be able to hold my tummy for some while.” He said.
“But where on earth would Lexie go without making dinner?” He asked and took a glance at the clock.
It was almost 8 pm.
“Alexa! Lexie!” He called out as he peered into their bathroom and toilet before deciding to head to her room.
He knocked and when there was no reply, he went in.
“Alexa?” He asked as he took a peek. When he saw something that looked like someone on her bed, he entered fully and walked towards her bed.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
“Oh, she’s sleeping.” He said when the realization hit him.
Her hair was loose and on the bed in a *hairy mess* (if yunno what I mean that is ) with her limbs flung across the bed.
Jace laughed at her sleeping position.
She formed a starfish posture and it looked funny as hell.
Jace tucked her in bed well and made sure he tied her hair.
It was still a little bit lose, but it was better than having her hair all over the bed and some of it breaking off due to her sleeping posture.
He knew how much Alexa loved her hair and how much she freaked whenever her hair started thinning.
She didn’t have money to take care of it, but it didn’t thin unless she braided it too tightly or used the wrong soap (she couldn’t afford to waste money on hair wash) on it.
Thinking about this, he remembered one of Alexa’s funny hair moments.
(Flashback)☄
She had been in a hurry to catch the bus to her restaurant ex-work. When she wanted to take her bath, she didn’t find any soap in the bathroom.
Turned out Jace had told her to buy some the previous day, but she forgot and came home without the soap.
She went into panic mode that particular day.
The heck!
She couldn’t go to work with her hair smelling all sweaty. If only she had a hair oil or perfume.
She quickly dashed into the kitchen not wanting to lose the next bus and grabbed the dish soap.
She had put it as a reminder not to use the soap on her hair, but when she started bathing and singing Alan Walker’s FADED, she got carried away and forgot.
She already formed a habit of washing her hair during weekdays and trying to not do it in a day was hard… Of course.
Alexa used the soap on her hair without knowing and after she was done bathing, the results came out to play.
Each time she thrust a comb in her hair, it came out with a handful of hair.
She didn’t notice till the third time when she felt unusual hairy activity on her palms.
‘Why the fvck does my palm feels hairy or did I become a Big (or pig) foot overnight?’
Then she looked at her palm and behold… Her precious hair… She had stage 1 fright by now.
She took a slow look at the comb and was at stage 2 fright.
Her eyes darted to the floor quickly and she hit the peak!
“Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” Alexa screamed in horror.
She bent down and started picking her broken hair from the floor.
Jace rushed at the moment he heard her scream.
“What happened Alexa?”
He asked and hovered over her.
Alexa couldn’t find the right word to say. She only picked a handful of her hair and cried.
“Holy moly. What happened to your hair?” Jace asked half worried, half amused.
“I don’t know… I don’t.” Alexa replied and sat on the floor with tears dropping down her cheeks and her hair in her hand. She was mourning her hair.
“What did you use on your hair?” Jace asked and Alexa sobbed the more.
“Soap… I used a damn soap” Alexa said in between her tears.
“Which soap? I thought I told you the bathing soap had finished, and you forgot to buy some. Where did you get the soap you used?” Jace asked critically like an adult.
Then it dawned on Alexa that she had indeed used the wrong soap on her hair.
She ran to the bathroom and grabbed the soap she used.
Jace came in moments later.
“Isn’t that the dish soap?” Jace asked confusion written all over his face.
“No. No. No!” Alexa screamed and sat on the floor with her face in her palms.
“It’s alright Alexa. Your hair always grows.” Jace patted her shoulder.
Alexa turned and looked at him before grabbing the rest of her hair from her head.
“Is my hair thin?” She asked.
Jace looked at her hair and no matter how much he felt for her, he was going to say the truth.
“It’s thin. But don’t worry. It’ll grow thick again.” Jace encouragingly said.
“Oh, my poor, poor hair.” Alexa sobbed.
(End of flashback)
Jace smiled and made his way towards the door. After using it, he closed it behind him softly.
He was hungry and though Alexa had forbidden him to go near the stove, he had no choice but to use it.
If Alexa didn’t eat dinner, her ulcer would come back, and not wanting that… He was going to cook and made sure she ate. Going close to a lit stove could cause more damage for him, but he quickly discarded the thought and placed Alexa’s health as a priority before his (I so want to awww here ).
He grabbed a stool, placed it in front of the stove, got on it, and when he could reach the stove properly, he lit it and placed a pot over it.
He wasn’t gonna make much. He’d just make noodles and some pickle soup (I know y’all may think this is absurd, but try it and tell me how it is, because it’s pure fiction) as a side dish.
He made the soup first.
He put in some pickles from the pickle jar and put in some onion, red bell pepper, and a slice of beef (diced into tiny pieces).
Then he went for the noodles.
After making the two, he put them on 4 different plates… Two for Alexa and two for him.
He set the food on the table and went to wake Alexa up.
“Lexie. Alexa!” He shook her vigorously, but she only stirred.
He understood she was tired and had fallen into a deep sleep because, under normal circumstances, she was a light sleeper.
If she wasn’t gonna wake up shaking, he knew what to do.
“Cockroaches, Alexa there are cockroaches everywhere.” He said in panic mode and Alexa jumped out of her bed.
“Where are they? Where are they?” She asked as she looked around in fear. Her hands were fisted to show toughness, but all that was a charade.
Left to her, she’d run out of the room and leave her younger brother behind.
Jace started laughing so hard, that his ribs started to hurt and he had to cower and hold his tummy. Though his ribs were hurting, he couldn’t stop laughing and Alexa knew what just happened.
The 10-year-old fvcking tricked her!
“Jace!!!” Alexa shouted in frustration and humiliation mixed and Jace took this as a cue to run for his dear life.
“If I get you, I’m gonna kill you!” Alexa threatened and ran after him.
“Come get me then!” Jace challenged.
Alexa ran after him and soon, she caught him and pinned him on the floor before getting on him.
“What’d you do that for?” Alexa asked amidst pants.
“That!” Jace laughed-said and pointed up the table.
“Omg Jace! You cooked.” Alexa said and rolled off him before standing up.
She was surprised and it showed on her face.
“Yes. I did.” Jace said while dusting his clothes.
“But I thought I told you not to use the stove because of… You know what.”
“Well, I couldn’t let you skip dinner. You didn’t make any.” Jace replied.
“But…”
“No buts sis. Let’s eat before the noodles go soggy.” Jace interrupted and Alexa smiled.
“Thanks, Jace ” Alexa thanked.
“For?” Jace asked.
“For everything. For being the best little brother in the world. For taking care of me, not just any type of care. For taking very good care of me and always being there for me. I love you Kiddo ”
“Awww ” Jace awwed.
“I love you lots big sis,” Jace said and melted willingly into her warm embrace.