Alex felt a surge of youthful pique within him as he opened the book and pulled out a pen.
"I deserve more respect than what I've gotten," he wrote, "I know that Mom is trying, and I don't need people to fall down and worship at my feet or whatever, but if somebody destroys my work, at least they can try and make up for the value it had."
There was a strange ringing in Alex's ears as he penciled in the final period. His heart pounded, setting off a strange twitch in his eyelid. For a second, Alex worried that he was having a panic attack. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before, but there had to be a first time for everything right?
The world around him wasn't physically shaking, but Alex could have sworn something was happening. It was as though there was an earthquake in the fabric of reality itself, but nothing around Alex moved so much as an inch. He closed his eyes, begging it to stop, when--
Everything returned to normal. Alex's heart slowed. The world around him was as tranquil as ever. And there was no sound in his head save for the faint hum of the air conditioning and--
There was a knock at the door. Alex paused, not trusting his own senses. He was about to just dismiss it as a passing hallucination, when the knock sounded again.
"Who is it?" he asked, voice shaking.
"It's your mother, honey." Melanie's voice was soft and sad. "Can I come in?"
"I--sure."
Melanie walked into Alex's room, eyes downcast. "I--I'm genuinely really sorry about spilling my coffee on your notes, Alex. I know it meant a lot to you."
Alex's anger faded into a vague guilty feeling. "I--that's alright, Mom, I--"
"No, no," she said, insistence creeping into her voice. "I need to know how much it was worth to you."
Alex paused. "Well, I mean, um." He shook his head. May as well tell the truth. "I don't remember a lot of the stuff I'd written in there. I can't get that back. I guess it was kinda priceless."
Melanie nodded solemnly. "So there's no way I can fully make it up to you, is there?"
"I guess--I guess not."
"Alright." Melanie pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just have to--"
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