“A WOMAN SOLDIER? Seriously?” Jennifer laughed so hard Alex wondered if she was about to fall off the bed.
The girls had spent the morning shopping for school clothes. Alex was trying on every possible combination trying to find the perfect first-day-back-to-school outfit. I need to look totally hot for Drake.
And maybe Beau Johnson too? Alex ignored that, doing her best to convince herself she cared nothing for that jock loser.
She tried to ignore the larger pile of bags belonging to Jennifer. Her dad had just gotten a promotion and a large bonus check and Jenifer’s mom had gotten her a debit card to use for school clothes. When Jenifer whipped out the card, Alex had to choke back her anger and jealousy. The little cash she earned over the summer and the even smaller amount her mom had given her meant she had to be much thriftier with her purchases.
Rather than trying on clothes, Jennifer was scribbling furiously in her time travel journal. She wanted every detail about the woman in the mirror.
“I didn’t think chicks fought in battles. Isn’t that what men were for?”
“There were lots of women who fought. Especially the Spartans. They were pretty awesome.”
“Wait, wasn’t that movie 300 about Spartans?”
Alex groaned inwardly. She had tried to get Jennifer to realize that history was so much more than some movie on the big screen. Most of the time, they get that stuff wrong anyway. Alex hated watching movies supposedly based on history. Most of the time, she wanted to stand up and shout out what really happened, and that it was much more exciting than what the movie was able to portray. Maybe that’s why I like action and horror movies.
“Yes, 300 was about the Spartans, but only one small battle they fought. You really should try to read an actual history book someday.”
“Ugh, no thank you! I’d rather just let you tell me all about it.”
Alex glanced at the bag from Barnes and Noble that held a copy of the latest vampire novel for teen girls. Alex couldn’t even remember what the book was called or who wrote it. She avoided those sections of the bookstore like the plague. While Jennifer had been drooling over the vampires, she had curled up in a big chair reading about Charlemagne.
“So what do you think about this one?” Alex asked.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “It looks about the same as the other four hundred outfits you have put together. I don’t see why you’re trying so hard. I mean, you already have Drake. It’s not like you have to work so hard to impress him anymore.”
“Ummm, hello! There are other girls out there. I have to keep his attention on me or he’ll go find someone else.” Alex turned to check out her backside in the full-length mirror. Maybe these jeans with that purple frilly top. She dug through her pile of clothes to find the shirt she was looking for.
“Will you stop digging already? I need to get all this information down if I’m going to write books about this someday.”
“I’ve already told you everything I remember. Hopefully, I’ll see her again before I have to go help her. Now, what do you think of this one?”
It took nearly another hour for Alex to settle on an outfit. It was only Thursday and school wasn’t starting until the following Monday, but she wanted to get everything planned out well in advance. No sense waiting till the last minute.
After dinner, she excused herself, grabbed her laptop, and settled on the bed. Drake was going to be online soon and she wanted to log in and be ready. It had been several weeks since she had seen Drake and she longed to see his smile, his beautiful eyes, feel his lips on hers, hold hands.
He had asked her out several times but with school just around the corner, she wanted to work in her aunt’s store as much as possible to get money for clothes. Alex was startled to notice that he called and sent her text messages much more in those two weeks than he had most of the summer.
She stayed up chatting even after her mom ordered lights out. It wasn’t hard to type in the dark. Alex was sad when she had to turn Drake down for a date that weekend. Her Uncle Mark was home for the next month and Karen had booked them all solid for the whole weekend.
-Well, I’m at least glad your mom gave in on the whole no-having-a-boyfriend thing, typed Drake.
Alex smiled. It had taken a lot of pleading on her part and reminding her mom that she hadn’t missed curfew once, that Drake always came to get her, and that she would be sixteen in only a few months. But it felt good to be able to admit that she and Drake had moved past the dating stage and had moved into exclusivity.
-Me too. Why don’t I see if you can come for dinner at Karen’s? Alex finished typing and hit enter, hoping he would say yes. Best hope Karen says yes too.
-Sure! That’d be great. Just let me know what time.
-K.
Alex yawned and reluctantly chatted to Drake that she needed to sign off. She quietly closed the computer and laid it on the floor next to the bed. As she drifted deeper into sleep, all thoughts of the evil time traveler were forgotten.