handmade heaven

alexa grainger 27 years old english teacher brit living in freeridge

[lexgrainger-blog]

    he’s only had one fat tire but he’s also not eaten anything since breakfast, so jamie’s head is pleasantly fuzzy just in time for eight o’clock to roll around. what might otherwise have been a trip to the bar with a friend or two had turned into a solo venture when his plans had canceled on him, and after what felt like the longest day of his life, jamie doesn’t much care whether he has company or not as long as he gets to be not-sober for a while. not particularly caring who it is he’s speaking to, he leans over to the first person to come up next to him, an excited grin on his face, and holds out a bracelet for them to see. “this?” he says, “is twenty thousand years old.” he giggles, sighs as though he’s been caught, and tacks on, “fine, this one isn’t twenty thousand years old, but it’s based on one that is! looks almost exactly the same, except these ones are plastic and the real one is snail shells from–um–twenty thousand years ago.” he laughs again. “cool, though, right? it’s kind of fashion if you’re into the prehistoric look.”

Alexa was in need of a drink. In fact, make that in desperate need of a drink. It had been one of those days where the kids in her classes just did not settle and were all hyped up. She didn’t think it possible for it to happen in a high school, yet there she was, trying to get 20 odd teenagers to shut the hell up so she could teach the work of Shakespeare.

Stepping into the bar was like a sense of relief. Here, she could relax. Here, she could temporarily forget about the world and her job and the like. Don’t get her wrong, Alexa loved her job, but it could be emotionally draining at times.

She was making her way towards the bar when a guy shoved his arm right out in front of her. “Huh.” It took a moment for her to process what the hell was happening and what the hell she was supposed to be looking at. Her eyes landed on the bracelet as he spoke. She gave her head a quick nod. Maybe if she had had a drink in her already she would be up for chatting about old bracelets, but right now she was sober, so bracelet chat was a no-go. However, being the typical Brit she was, she found it difficult to excuse herself. So she nodded again, pretending to be intrigued by what the guy was spouting at her. “Wow, yeah, that’s cool,” she said without much thought, looking from the guy’s wrist to his face and back down to his wrist again.

[lexgrainger-blog]

           ღ           odette was on a regular routine that she’d become accustomed to since she stepped foot in freeridge. having this routine helped her constant need to avoid any possible human contact outside of work. she hadn’t really allowed herself to open up to anyone since her mother had passed. although most would probably find what she is doing to be unhealthy, the routine helped ease her mood swings. she was right on schedule && everything was going perfectly fine until she accidentally bumped into someone, spilling her coffee all over their chest “ holy shit !! are you alright ?? ” she asked, voice heightened with worry. “ i am sosorry, man !! ”

Alexa was notorious for being oblivious to her surroundings. She liked to kid herself that she only became oblivious when she was engrossed in a good book, but she knew deep down that that wasn’t the case. She was just oblivious in general. That was why she didn’t see the girl right in front of her, carrying a coffee. Looking down at her feet, counting every other step, she suddenly crashed into someone. “Ah,” Alexa let out a small shriek, first out of surprise and then secound out of the realisation that the girl’s coffee had spilt over her clean shirt. Lucky it was her day off. She could not go to class looking like that. “Shit,” Alexa tugged at her shirt, fanning it out. The coffee was warm but not too hot that it would burn her. “I’m fine, but my shirt’s not.” Her voice wasn’t one of irritation, but a slightly tinge of frustration was there. Mostly because she knew it was her own fault for looking down at her feet instead of where she was going. “It’s okay, it’s okay. No real harm done!” Her typical polite, apologetic British behaviour coming into full swing. Even if she was angry, she probably would have reacted the exact same way; never making a huge deal and blaming herself before the other person. “It’s totally my fault. I was too busy looking at my shoes,” she gave an awkward laugh. 

[lexgrainger-blog]

Freeridge was her home, she couldn’t see herself living anywhere else but California, though she had been tempted by New York. It was a place that she loved, but she was still torn by the bright lights of a bustling city, despite being more suited to California’s more laid back approach. She was sat on the bench , contemplating moving despite having nowhere really to go when she caught sight of the blonde next to her. “Damn, you really are oblivious to the world huh?” she began out loud with a chuckle.

Alexa hadn’t even noticed that she had sat down next to someone. Or did she sit down after? She wasn’t even sure. The girl’s words gave her a bit of a fright and she jumped slightly. Her cheeks flushed, hoping she didn’t notice the startle she gave her. It took her a few moments before she remembered how to speak.

“Oh, yeah,” she laughed a little nervously, a bad habit that she did in awkward or new situations. “I just get so lost when I’m reading.” She glanced from her book to the space in front of her, taking in the surroundings of the park, which had definitely gotten busier since the last time she had looked up. “Probably not the best thing when reading outside in a park.”

[lexgrainger-blog]

“Well, you aren’t going crazy,” Samantha smiled, she didn’t know what was going on but wasn’t about to ask. She knew when to mind her business. With a raise of her eyebrow she turned fully towards Alexa. “Want to sit down?”

Alexa gave a brief nod of her head. “Thanks for the confirmation.” She collapsed into the seat closest to her, putting her head into her hands. She didn’t say anything for a good few seconds. Eventually she looked up, and met Samantha’s eyes. “I think I’ve done the most stupidest thing I have ever done since moving here.” It would be true that the ‘old Lex’ would have done this. 100%. But ‘new Lex’ had been making a fresh start here in Freeridge, and so far it had been going well. Until this.

[lexgrainger-blog]

                        It wasn’t often Astor was able to find time to relax, most of his mind was either on working on the bar or on his second, not as clean, occupation. However, he always made the time to take the fluffy German Shepherd to the park every single weekend. Every Saturday afternoon was their time, playing out in the grass and enjoying the sunshine, though making arrangements if it was raining and they had to stay inside. No matter what, they had their time together, just a grumpy man and his overly-excited dog.

Today had been a good day for going outside, that’s what brought them to the park. The male was found with a ball in one hand, toy rope in the other, and a bag of treats in his pocket, a real dog-dad. They had been there for a good fifteen minutes now, throwing a ball back and forth, playing miniature games of tuck-of-war, it was all going well until a thrownball was thrown far off the path he wanted it to go in.

And following the rolling yellow ball was a large, incredibly fluffy, dog with his ears up high and his tail wagging as he chased after it. ❝Billy,❞ the name came out in a shout as the male chased after the dog, not realizing the ball had rolled under the park bench, causing the large dog to practically pounce towards the female like a cat trying to chase a leaf. ❝Christ, I’m sorry, his ball got away from us.❞ The apology came as soon as he managed to get closer, immediately trying to gain control of the clearly, very vicious bundle of fluff.

Alexa was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t see nor hear of the dog bounding in her direction. It wasn’t until he had pounded towards her that her head jerked up in fright. “Oh,” he book nearly slid off of her lap. “Hi boy,” she grinned as her eyes landed on the German Shepherd. “Oh my goodness, you are just gorgeous!” She set her book aside and reached out to pet his fluffy head. Tearing her eyes from the dog to the man she smiled. “Oh, no, no need to apologise! Where did it go?” She looked around to see if she could see the ball and failing to spot it underneath the bench. “What’s his name?”

[lexgrainger-blog]

Alexa had been living in Freeridge for a year and a half, but still felt like a complete newbie. It probably didn’t help that she usually kept herself cooped up in her apartment or sitting in the corner of the coffee shop with a nose in a book. Between those two things and teaching English at the local high school, she didn’t really do much else. That was why she decided it was time for a change.

It was the weekend and she had pretty much completed everything she needed to have done for work on Monday so her time was hers to do whatever she wanted. Instead of heading to her usual spot in the usual coffee shop, she decided she would head to the park. Maybe she would stop off and get a coffee to go and she would bring her book too, but hey, at least she would be sitting in a change of scenery.

Half an hour later she was sitting on a park bench, her coffee sitting carefully next to her, her book in front of her nose. As time passed she hadn’t noticed that the park was getting progressively busier. She hadn’t stopped to think that it was a sunny Saturday afternoon. That didn’t seem to bother her though. Once she was sucked into a good book, it was hard to get her out, no matter what was going on around her.

[lexgrainger-blog]

Cynthia thought long and hard about the proposition that has been offered by the person in front of her. She wanted to help them out but she’d never offer her services for free. “What exactly do I get in return for doing this for you?” Cyn asked, sitting back and ready to hear what the other would come up with.

“The satisfaction of knowing that you have done a good deed today?” Alexa tried, a small, awkward smile on her lips. She hated asking for help; she was a typical Brit in that way. Suffer in silence was always the most polite way to get through life. However, since moving to Freeridge, she had been trying to drop that mentality and be more open towards people; friends, strangers and the like. “Look,” she collapsed backwards into her own chair with a sigh, “you know I’m usually fine with this stuff but I just need an outsiders persective. Someone who does not look at words and think of them critically.” This was the downfall of the English teacher.

The favour Alexa had come to Cynthia with was simple: have a quick read over an essay she was marking. She had never come across anything like it before and was struggling to wrap her head around it. She was reluctant to get a second opinion. After all, how is it possible to get a degree in English Literature and not understand a high school students essay?

“All I need you to do is tell me if it makes sense. Simple as.”

[lexgrainger-blog]

hailey’s mother called it a death trap, said a pretty girl like her didn’t need a pocket rocket like that, but she loved the galaxy painted thing, and now that she’d won the lawsuit and all her money back, she didn’t live with her mother anymore, and could do whatever the fuck she wanted. as she darted through the busy downtown traffic, probably not the best driving on her part, but when someone cut her off and caused her to dart down an alley way to avoid running into the back of them, she couldn’t help but scream a string of cusses as she ripped off her goggles. “you fucking asshole!” she added lastly, shaking her head and glancing around to see if anyone was around, “sorry, i’m not the best when people almost hit me.” she didn’t mean to freak anyone out.

Alexa had a bad habit for being completely oblivious to her surroundings. Even simple tasks such as walking down the street lead her to daydreaming and her mind being on anything and everything that wasn’t what she should probably actually be paying attention to. This was another one of those cases. Walking along the sidwalk, coffee in hand, she was planning her week’s teaching schedule in her head when her thoughts were broken off with a scream of swear words. Snapping back to reality, Alexa spun her head around to see where the string of swears had come from and was met with a girl on a motorbike. The bike pulled her in with a level of intrigue. “Are you okay?” As usual, Alexa wasn’t even sure what had entierly happened.

[lexgrainger-blog]

Samantha had just woken up from a nice long nap, feeling thoroughly refreshed and rejuvenated - a very rare occurrence. She was just finished changing out of her pajamas and into her day clothing when she heard a loud knock on the door. Sighing, she turned and called: “The door’s unlocked!”

Alexa, being the typical Brit she was, always felt awkward just walking into someone’s place. Even if they yelled that the door was unlocked, or to just walk in, the anxiety hit straight at her. Hesitating for a moment, hand hovering over the handle, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open. “Hey,” she brached herself for encountering someone other than Samantha, or for Samatha to give her a rollicking for coming in, despite her having told her the door was unlocked. If either of those things were to happen, Alexa didn’t give it time to sink in, for she launched right in on what the purpose of her visit was.

“I need someone to tell me I’m not crazy.”

[lexgrainger-blog]

there was a reason she didn’t do this. keep your distance, and stay professional, those had been a few of many rules lis followed in her occupation. but she had felt for this client –– lost his entire family in car accident. it sounded all too familiar to her. that pain she had hidden away after so many years, returned full force, causing her to turn on her own guidelines. to her credit, she HAD said ONLY ONE drink and they would part. but the man kept downing glass after glass so soon his inebriated state was beginning to affect the other customers.

“whoa!!”  with a jerk of adrenaline, the woman jumped from her seat to steady the older man, flashing an (out of character) apologetic smile to the one he had bumped.   “I’m sorry, he’s really…  well, he’s mourning.”

It was Friday and Alexa wanted a quiet drink. Yes, she was breaking her rule of not setting foot in a bar or touching alcohol unless it was for a special occassion, but after the week she had had, it was needed. She had been in two minds as she stepped into the bustling place, a small niggling of guilt present. But as soon as the alcohol touched her lips, that was all forgotten about. She’d have one and then leave.

She was mid-drink, perched on a stool, when a man bumped into her. Her drink jerked and spilt over her. “Fuck!” she cried, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned to see who the culprit was. Being met with a girl looking apologetic, she couldn’t help but notice how attractive she was, or was that just the alcohol? Considering she hadn’t even finished her first drink, she decided not.

Glancing back at the man she forced a smile. She could feel the vodka soaking through her top. Wiping at it with her hand (as if that would do anything but make it worse), she tried not to seem irritated. “Oh, it’s fine, no worries. It...it’ll come out.” She looked back up at the man and then back to the girl. “I’m sorry for his loss.”

[lexgrainger-blog]

hihi, my name’s elijah and this is my angel alexa. she’s one of the first muses I ever rp’d almost ten years ago so I hope y’all grow to love her as much as I do.

( ELIZABETH LAIL, 27, FEMALE, SHE/HER ). I just saw ALEXA GRAINGER running around Freeridge, I wonder what they’re up to? Maybe they’re busy working as an ENGLISH TEACHER. Either way, word around town is that they’re known for being BUBBLY, but also MISCHIEVOUS but I wouldn’t be so quick to judge them. + ( elijah, 23, GMT, she/her. ) 

Alexa Marie Grainger was born in Manchester, England to Isobelle and Harry Grainger. She was their youngest out of four girls: Chloe, Mika, Honey and then, Alexa. The girls’ father left when Alexa was only a few months old so she has no memories of him growing up. He made a brief reappearance in her life when she was in high school but naturally, he ended up running off again. She always had a close relationship with her mother and three sisters.

Despite having a pretty good childhood, everything started to go downhill when she started high school. She fell in with the wrong crowd and became rebellious and constantly getting into trouble. This naturally lead to tensions at home, made worse with the fact that her mother was a teacher at her school. She remained close to her sisters but her relationship with her mother became rocky.

During this time, her mother married another teacher at the school, Tom. He had always been one of her favourite teachers and so she never had an issue with him dating and then marrying her mother. She became very close to her new stepfather and started to see him as the father figure that she never had. He was more understanding in Alexa’s rebellion than her mother was.

In her final three years of high school, her whole life turned upside down. Her mother fell ill, during which time they set aside their differences and reformed the bond they once had, but due to complications of her illness she died. Alexa seemed to handle it as well as one could, but more tragedy lurked around the corner. Around a year later, her stepfather died in a freak car accident. She had no parental figures in her life, and just when it seemed that Alexa was starting to get her shit together, she spiralled out of control. She found a coping mechanism in alcohol and drugs, and after a few months of partying she spiralled into a deep depression and began self-harming. She felt a mixture of hate towards herself, towards her family for always leaving her and her sisters and a hate towards the world in general. It was also during this time that her boyfriend and first love, Paul, couldn’t deal with Alexa’s current state and the two broke up leaving her even more distraught and resulting in her planning her own suicide, but thankfully her sisters intervened before she went through with her plan.

This was a wake up call for Alexa and with the help of her sisters, she got the professional help and care she needed and managed to scrape through her exams and graduate high school. Taking a year out to focus on her recovery, she then went on and began studying to become an English teacher (the subject that both her mother and stepfather taught) and once she was qualified, decided that she wanted to leave Manchester and its ghosts behind.

This brings Alexa to where she is now: Freeridge. Moving elsewhere in the UK wasn’t enough, and although she was reluctant to leave her sisters and misses them like crazy, she took the plunge and moved to California. She’s been here for a year and a half now, teaching English at the local high school. She can’t see herself ever leaving and going back to dreary England.

However, despite how things may seen, Alexa’s past is catching up to her. She appears innocent, friendly, your typical polite Brit on the outside, but there’s an internal struggle between two people: the person she is in Freeridge and the person she was in Manchester. It’s only a matter of time before the ‘old Lex’ breaks out.