Free Alex as Well by Alyssa Brugman Page A

mother. His mother! In the undies section! With the undies I was going to try on splayed across the floor! She’s probably forty-something. Voluminous skirt. Flat sandals. No makeup. A spinnaker wearer, for sure.
    ‘So you’re Alex.’
    ‘Hi,’ I say, blushing as she appraises me. She has a shirt on a hanger. She waves it in a way that indicates that she intends to try it on, and then she wanders off.
    I take another step away from the underwear, but Ty’s eyes slide back to the rack.
    ‘Do you want to catch a movie or something after?’ he asks. ‘I’m only going to be an hour or so.’
    ‘I have a thing,’ I say, crooking my neck to the side.
    ‘Oh?’ His eyes flick towards the knickers on the floor.
    I nod, but I don’t elaborate.
    ‘What about after the thing?’ he asks hopefully.
    ‘Not sure how long it’s going to take.’
    A shop assistant whizzes up behind me and gathers up the undies that I dropped. I think about stopping her, and then I change my mind. I’ll do it another day when I have money.
    ‘I could wait,’ he offers.
    ‘I’m fine,’ I say.
    He’s disappointed. ‘Maybe another time?’
    ‘Maybe.’
    Ty picks up a bra on the closest hanger. He holds it up in front of me, and then he raises his eyebrows. I know that look. It’s the noodle-tugging look. It makes me feel yuck.
    ‘Ty, I, umm, I like girls,’ I blurt.
    Idiot! Alex says. What did you say that for?
    Ty laughs. ‘No! Are you serious?’
    I scuff my foot. I don’t know why I said that. I’ve never been asked out by a boy before and I didn’t want to lead him on. I like Ty. He’s funny. I hope we can be mates. I guess I hoped that if I took the possibility of us being together out of the equation he might just like me for me.
    ‘You are serious!’ Ty’s mouth drops open, and I see the General Wood look cross his face again. He’s not deterred. He’s picturing me with another girl. If anything I’ve made it worse because now I am unattainable, and that makes me hotter. I know because that’s how I feel about Amina.
    ‘I haven’t exactly told anyone at school,’ I say, peeking at him from under my eyelashes. ‘But I know you like me, and I didn’t want you to think…I want us to be friends. And I’m not just saying, “can we be friends”. I like you. I actually want to be friends.’
    Ty doesn’t understand. My words are going into his ears, but he’s not listening. And I’m not surprised becausethey are stupid, empty words. It was a mistake.
    He will tell. I won’t get to go to the sleepover.
    ‘Can we keep it between us?’ I ask.
    Ty slides an imaginary zip across his lips.
    But he will tell.
    Of course he’ll tell, Alex snorts at me. He will text one of his mates before you’re even out of sight.
    ‘Well, I better go,’ I say, fleeing.
    As I make my way through the lunch shoppers, I put my hand up to my temple. I’m getting a headache.
    Ty took me by surprise, that’s all. I was having a day off today. I was having a dress rehearsal at being a girl, and he made me have to think about stuff I didn’t expect to have to think about.
    But it will be ok. Won’t it?

20
    I HAVEN’T MADE an appointment, but Crockett agrees to squeeze me in. When I go into his office, the desk is deeper in files. There is now a pile on the floor. There’s a dead pot plant on the filing cabinet. His eyebrows look even wilder. There’s a ladder in the corner, and the door to his office has been painted in a fresh coat of exactly what it was before. He has paint on his knuckles. He sees me noticing.
    ‘Renovating,’ he says, rolling his eyes, or maybe he’s looking at the ceiling or at the rooms upstairs. I can’t tell.
    ‘I’m glad you came back. It should be fairly straightforward. I will apply to the court to have a new birth certificate issued. The judge may want to talk to you.’
    I nod, taking a seat.
    ‘There is law in this area. It has been successful in the past when the judge felt that denying