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Summer 2016
It’s the summer Olympics in Rio, and Alex can’t help but have a series of complicated emotions. On one hand, it’s the fucking Olympics, but on the other, there’s a lot of controversies. The country itself is in shambles about the event, and whether it actually had the funds to support it.
Alex can’t pretend she hadn’t heard of the protests, of the people whose lives were negatively impacted by the Olympics. No matter how excited she was to be in attendance, in special seats no less because of her mother, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should join the people protesting.
She tries to sneak out, to join one of them in disguise. Alex has always been one for fighting against injustice. June tells her it’s because she is a fire sign, but Alex thinks it’s only a natural side effect of being surrounded by politics her entire life. At nine years old she even attempted to filibuster at SeaWorld (which, at 18, she still stands by.)
Alex has on a grey hoodie and black leggings, with a Georgetown cap on and RayBans to cover her eyes. It’s a classic disguise outfit. Alex’s short brown ponytail pokes out from the hole in the back of the cap, and she grabs her phone and hotel key, ready to dart out.
Unfortunately, when she tries to leave Zahra is standing outside her hotel room door, her coffee tumbler in hand, and a glare on her face.
“Where do you think you’re going?” She asks Alex, walking into the room.
“Uh, to grab something to eat?” Alex responds, watching as Zahra moves to sit on her bed.
“Oh don’t worry, I ordered room service,” she says, taking a sip of her coffee. Alex assumes, at least, it is coffee. She wouldn’t put it past Zahra to have straight whiskey in that tumbler though. “Thought we could have a girl’s day .”
She looks at Alex with her eyebrows raised, and Alex understands immediately. This is no fun hangout. It’s a ‘your mom is running for president you dipshit so don’t cause trouble’ babysitting session.
Alex sighs and gets onto the bed with Zahra, putting her baseball cap and sunglasses on the nightstand.
“Did you get chicken tenders?” She asks, choosing to ignore the real reason Zahra is holding her hostage.
“Unfortunately,” Zahra responds, pulling her phone out and scrolling through something.
“Should we invite June?” Alex asks, grabbing the remote and scrolling through the channels. “Or Nora?”
“If you must. But I can trust your sister to not do something fucking stupid .” Zahra says, still not looking up.
“No comment on Nora, I see,” Alex mutters, side-eyeing Zahra.
“Nope,” Zahra replies. “And you’re not going to get one, either.”
Alex pulls her phone out, texting June a quick come save me from Zahra , before choosing something to watch.
She finds Jeopardy, which works for drowning out the weird air of the room.
“So, Zahra, what events are you hoping to watch?”
“I’d love to be able to see your mom win the presidency.”
Alex rolls her eyes. Apparently casual conversations aren’t going to be an option.
That is, however, part of the reason they are even at the Olympics. Ellen running for president that is. Zahra is just trying to make sure she wins, which Alex wants too, of course.
Doesn’t mean it’s not a pain in the ass for Alex, though.
The door knocks and Alex rushes to grab it, anything to get away from the tense feeling of being watched by Zahra.
It’s room service, but right behind the cart and the seemingly maudlin boy working it, is June, wearing grey slacks, a red blouse, and an eyebrow raised clearly asking ‘ what did you do now?’
Alex shrugs, hoping to convey she did nothing wrong this time.
She hadn’t, so it’s true.
She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet .
They eat in the comfort of Zahra staring at her phone, Alex Trebek’s voice in the background, and June and Alex trying to speak telepathically.
Twin telepathy is a thing, so Alex had always hoped she could pull off sister telepathy with June, but she hasn’t figured it out yet.
It’s when the chicken tenders are gone that Zahra acknowledges them again.
Well, she acknowledges June, not necessarily them .
“Can you take care of this? I need to meet with your mother.” She asks, looking straight at June the whole time.
She doesn’t need to specify what this is.
June nods and Zahra gets up, coffee tumbler still in hand, and leaves the room.
“What did you do to screw up this time?” June asks, unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt.
“I did nothing I swear!” Alex says, standing up and going to her suitcase. She pulls out a pair of leggings and a lacrosse shirt and throws it to June.
“Oh thank god,” June says, taking off her shirt and replacing it with Alex’s clothes.
Alex lets her have her moment, assuming she’s not done with the conversation.
She hears Alex Trebek call out a category, sports for 200 , and looks up to see what it is.
“Okay, but really, what did you do to summon Zahra? She only comes when her Alex radar goes off.”
“Alex radar?” Alex asks, looking back at June, missing what the statement is.
“Yes. Alex radar. Something I’ve worked hard throughout the years to cultivate. Meaning the alarm that goes off in our heads telling us you’re about to do something stupid.”
“I don’t do anything stupid,” Alex frowns, reaching for an ice cream cup.
“Two words. Freshman Orientation.”
“Okay okay,” Alex says, hands raised. “Let’s not rehash any only stories, I get the picture.”
June reaches for an ice cream bar and takes a bite, looking up at the tv.
“Can we watch Parks and Rec? I can pull it up on Netflix.”
“Please,” Alex says, reaching for the remote.
She loads Netflix and skips to season three, and they spend a good amount of time watching and eating, only being interrupted when Nora comes with more food, and the desire to intensely discuss swimmers’ bodies.
***
The Olympics go just how Alex expects them too, better even. At eighteen years old in Brazil, Alex can legally drink. Ellen only stays for the first part of the Olympics, so she and Zahra leave Alex, June, and Nora (deemed the White House Trio at this point) to represent them. June tries to slow Alex down several times, trying to make her be more sensible and responsible. But there are rare moments when Alex gets June to join in on the fun. It takes Nora to persuade her, but it’s a magical moment nonetheless.
It’s when they’re at the diving finals that Alex sees the royal family in person for the first time.
There is Prince Phillip, the eldest, who is with another woman off to the side talking in whispers and seemingly trying to watch the divers. The second person Alex sees is clearly Princess Bea, who has short brown wavy hair, just a touch lighter than Alex’s own is. They’ve got a similar length, both choosing to not let their hair go beyond their shoulders. Then there is Princess Henry, full name Henrietta. It’s very much so a royal family type of name, and Alex can’t blame her for wanting to shorten it. It’s not like Alex goes by Alexandria ever, so she can’t judge. It’s not normal for a girl to go by the name Henry, but plenty of boys go by the name Alex too.
She has hair that goes past her chest, flowing in large curled waves and as light and golden as the sun in the sky. Henry has large sunglasses over her eyes, but Alex has seen pictures, she knows how blue her eyes are.
There’s something about her as well, that has always made Alex want to know more. She is both calm and soft, with a laugh that would rival any composer’s music, and has perfectly clipped nails.
Alex spent years trying to cultivate the demeanor Henry puts off.
Has it worked? Not necessarily, but she’s tried nonetheless.
Alex has even tried to have the perfect short and cute nails that Henry has, but instead, hers are bitten and unpainted.
It’s baffling to her that she can be in the same space as the entire royal family right now. There’s even a chance she may meet them.
Alex looks around at everyone who is casually talking or watching the event and decides to make it happen herself.
“Hey, June, check my teeth,” Alex says, turning to June and parting her lips.
“What the fuck?” June asks. She sighs and steps closer to look at her teeth. “You’re all clear.”
“Okay, cool. Do I look okay?” Alex asks. She’s fairly nervous, not knowing what to expect. It feels like her twelve-year-old nerves of finally meeting a princess are coming true.
It’s what most young girls want, right? To be a princess and help rule a country. Alex thought a lot when she was young about how she’d run a country.
Not that the royal family necessarily makes laws or anything, but there is power there.
Alex would be a fair and just leader.
June looks Alex up and down, reaching up to tuck some of Alex’s hair behind her ear.
Alex isn’t as dressed up as everyone else around her. Most of the other girls are wearing dresses, but Alex is wearing high waisted red shorts and a short-sleeved button-up top. She would argue that it is appropriate, especially for the heat, but some others (June and Zahra) would argue she could have looked more presentable.
“I mean you could have dressed up a bit more, but you look good nonetheless,” June responds, frowning. “What’s going on?”
Alex turns to the royal family.
“Oh fuck, Alex please don’t screw this up,” June says.
It’s too late, Alex has already started walking towards them. She hears June mutter goddamn it Alex from behind her, but ignores it.
There is security, of course, but everyone has security here. As someone who is a potential first-kid of the United States, it gives Alex a little more leeway as far as introducing herself.
She gets a glare from someone nearby but is allowed to step forward anyway.
“Hello, I’m Alex,” she says, hand outreached.
The princess turns slowly to look her way, slipping her sunglasses down to get a clearer look. She reaches a hand out and shakes Alex’s. Alex can’t help but notice how soft her hand feels in her grasp, and she wonders what lotion she uses.
“Hello, I’m Henry.” She replies, dropping her hand and moving her arms so they’re crossing over her chest.
“I’m the daughter of Ellen Claremont. She’s running for President of the United States.” Alex says.
She feels like a dumbass. She didn’t need to say that, why the fuck couldn’t she just keep well enough alone?
Where is June? She could save her.
Henry nods, and even with her sunglasses covering her eyes, Alex feels like she is being examined.
Alex stands for another moment, awkwardly trying to figure out what comes next.
This isn’t going according to plan. It’s typical of her to be able to charm the pants off anyone, but for some reason it isn’t happening at this moment. She can’t find the words.
Henry turns to a man to her left, an obvious member of their security team.
She thinks it’s supposed to be a whisper, but Alex hears it clearly.
“Can you get rid of her?” She asks the man.
Alex glares as the man steps forward, and turns around to walk towards June and Nora.
Who the fuck does she think she is?
Yeah, so what, she’s a fucking princess. That doesn’t mean she gets to be an absolute asshole.
Alex is still fuming at the end of the diving finals. She couldn’t recount who won or lost, who was awarded a medal or not, she just continued to glare at Henry, who was picking at her nails or making small talk with the people around her.
Some princess she is .
“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Nora asks from her right.
“Fucking princess twat over there.” Alex points in the direction of Henry. “I was trying to be diplomatic and introduce myself, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for her. She probably thinks I’m just a stupid commoner or some bullshit.”
“What did she say?”
“Not much. She let me introduce myself and then it was all of five seconds before she tried to have me taken out by one of her security members.”
Nora frowns and looks over.
“I feel like we all would have noticed if a security man was going to beat you up.”
“Well, luckily for us all I managed to escape.”
Nora rolls her eyes.
“Wanna go get drunk?” Alex asks.
“Oh for fucking sure,” Nora responds.
They sneak past security, and Alex takes one last look back at the princess and scratches at her eye with her middle finger.
Henry may never know, but Alex will always take solace in being able to do it.
They might not ever have to be around each other again, at least.
***
January 2017
When Alex’s mother wins the presidency and is inaugurated, they receive a gift and card from the royal family.
She hadn’t thought of it being a possibility before then. Interacting with the royal family, that is. But, when she sees Henry’s name on the card her face heats up and she’s irritable for the rest of the day.
The chances of running into her now are exponentially higher, and Alex determines the two of them will never be friends.
Rivals, however, seems to be the more likely option.