Free Faithfully by Izzy Cullen

one final quick kiss before heading to the car.
                  “I’ll see you in the morning!” Alex yelled out as he was walking over to his jeep. Before he climbed in, Josie grabbed him from behind. Alex picked her up, gave her a hug, and kissed her on her cheek. Those two had a bond, and at times I was jealous of it. Josie was my quiet child, and it was hard to get her to come out of her shell and even share what she was thinking or feeling. 
     
     
     
     
     

~6~
                  Like clockwork, Alex was outside the bathroom door when I exited the morning we were to fly to LA. He was holding my coffee and had a smile on his face. He looked amused, and I wasn’t sure what could be so funny so early in the morning. “What is your problem?” I spat out at him.
                  “Nothing.” He handed me my coffee. “I definitely don’t have a problem. If anything, I feel like it is Christmas.” I gave him a puzzled look, because I was clueless at what he was getting at. “I get three whole nights with you and you have to show me how amazing you think I am.” He had a smirk on his face.
                  The thought of it was already making me feel tingly inside, and I needed to get out of the perimeter he was standing in. I was excited about being alone with him. After I got dressed, I grabbed my bag and headed down the steps. I quickly went over everything that I thought I would need in my head. I figured if I forgot anything, Sam was there and I could borrow from her. That was the one convenience of having her in the same house as Alex out there. I had been so busy the night before packing, and with the girls the confession of the lie slipped my mind.
                  I set my bag by the entryway and walked into the kitchen where Lily and Jasmine were asking Alex question after question about LA. Josie sat on the counter next to Alex, holding his arm.
                  “Do you see famous people every day? I mean, like really famous, not like you famous.” I was about to correct Lily on her rudeness when Alex started to laugh.
                  “Well, it depends. How famous do you think I am? I mean on a scale from one to ten, with ten being One Direction.” Alex was looking at Lily, and Lily was really concentrating on the answer.
                  “I think it depends. I mean, before you moved here I saw you on the magazines a lot, so I would say a seven, maybe an eight, but now since you live here and nobody asks for your autograph, I think you are a solid four.” She pursed her lips and started to bob her head up and down, as if she was telling us that was her final number and she wasn’t budging.
                  I stood there for a second trying to put a number it in my own head. I was having trouble with giving Alex a number, because I rarely thought of him as famous anymore. In the beginning it was something I thought about a lot. Not because I was impressed or thought the thought of Alex from Awakening was amazing, but because I was worried the fame was going to do damage to the girls, though so far it hasn’t. The only person it seemed to be affecting in the family was my dad and the business.
                  “A four? Wow, looks like I have some work to do if I’m that far behind a boy band.” Alex seemed amused.
                  “Don’t worry, I think you rank higher than Justin Bieber. He’s turned into a loser.” Lily was so sure of herself.
                  “Lily, are you eight or eighteen? My goodness, you are wise beyond your years. You should be talking about My Little Ponies and Barbie Dolls.” I knew the reaction I was going to get from her. Last week I got in trouble twice with her, once for putting Sofia the First fruit snacks in her lunch bag and the second for kissing her on the top of the head in front of her friends at the lunch