II: In which we meet Alex and Xander

Alex sat under the willow tree, holding her book and trying to calm her nervousness.  Well, not her nervousness, exactly.  Xander had a job interview in an hour.  It was really important to him and he’d been worried about it all week.  Getting this new job would be great for both of them.  It was a job in Xander’s field, something he would enjoy doing, and he wouldn’t feel like he’d wasted four years of his life anymore.  The extra money he’d be earning meant he’d be able to pay his share of the bills easier, easing the strain on her.

They’d been struggling this past year, with him working the night shift at the gas station.

Some of her friends thought it was weird sharing an apartment with her brother, but it was a good situation for both of them.  They’d gotten the apartment when they moved to this town for college and just kept the arrangement after graduation.  Their parents had a bad divorce during their freshman year, mom had moved out of the house and gotten a small apartment, and dad had gotten remarried during their junior year and moved his new family in.  It would have been pointless to move back to their hometown, there was no place for them there.

After graduation, her part-time job in the evening had become full-time days and Xander had picked up more hours at the gas station, so they had a good life here.  There were advantages to living in a college town:  plenty of bars where Xander and his band could play on the weekends, and all-night coffee shops where Alex could work on her writing.

“Ouch!”

A sudden pain in her foot broke Alex out of her reverie.  She took off her shoe and massaged it, knowing it wouldn’t do any good, but doing it anyway.  A sudden pain in her foot broke Alex out of her reverie. She took off her shoe and massaged it, knowing it wouldn’t do any good, but doing it anyway. An evil, diabolical thought occurred to her suddenly. She took out her purple, feather-topped pen and brought it up to her face. Gently, she used the feathers to tickle her nose. She sneezed. "Hey! Stop it. I know that was you." Xander's voice suddenly said. "I don't know what you mean, Onii-san." Alex thought innocently in her head. "You know full well what I mean, so cut it out.  And don’t call me ‘onii-san’, you’re two minutes older than me and not Japanese.”  Xander’s voice replied in her head.

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone then.  Good luck on your job interview.”

“Thanks.  If it goes well, let’s go out to O’Flaherty’s tonight to celebrate.”

“Hai!  I heard Gnomedream is playing tonight, we can check ‘em out.”

“Hipster Weeb.”

“Square.”