Can you tell us more about high school Alex since the show gives him very little background?
yes !! thank you sm for sending this in bc i was actually going to post a more in-depth headcanon about his high school years. [y’all remember that epi where callie & maggie (understandably) assumed he was a bully Just Because? h ah a]
it is very early on in high school that alex learns keeping people at a distance with a sharp tongue & the occasional fist to the face is what keeps him safe from prying eyes. it keeps him safe from people noticing that he’s had the same book bag since middle school, that some of his clothes are a couple sizes too big because he didn’t get many new ones after he lost weight, that sometimes he tends to wear long sleeves in the summer to hide marks left by his father from the night before, that he never seems to eat anything other than gas station food. it keeps him safe from his teachers thinking of him as anything other than a problem kid (who actually turns in all of his work) —— because if they do, they’ll find an abusive father and a crazy mother, and the few family members he cares about will be thrown into the system.
he fights at home, he fights at school, amber and aaron are kept safe, and he is okay.
things get better when he throws jimmy out at the end of freshman year. less bruises to hide and more money to buy necessities, even though most of his mother’s disability check goes to bills. at this point, he’s a social pariah. he’s made such a name for himself that no one wants anything to do with him, really. so he makes me most of it. he doesn’t just assume the bully role. he becomes a bully. he ingrains it into himself that this is what he is because it’s less lonely that way. it’s less lonely to claim this is something he can’t help, rather than accept that he’s alone because he chose to be.
things get worse when his mother becomes too much to handle on his own and he has to check her in to a facility. fortunately, the state still thinks they have a legal guardian, so they aren’t separated. unfortunately, the disability check they collected each month for their mother stops coming, and they’re back to stealing to survive. he steals too much one night, doesn’t bother covering by paying for a candy bar with change to throw the clerk off his scent (because no one suspects someone who pays of stealing), and he’s caught with a backpack full of juice and pre-made sandwiches. the tapes are reviewed, and it’s seen that he’s been stealing for years. alex winds up in juvie for the summer & his siblings go to a nice family who wanted them both because they were young and in need. sure, they move around some, but they’re okay.
alex, however, is older and has a record, so he is not taken in as warmly. he has food and his clothes are replaced, so he looks better at school —— but he is miserable. he failed to take care of his family. blame is fully assumed by himself but taken out on everyone around him. foster siblings are fought with, foster parents are disrespected, and kids at school walk on egg shells. by now, his home life has been made public to everyone. teachers talk and students overhear, and soon he’s getting looks of pity rather than contempt. somehow he thinks the pity is worse, and he rejects any attempts at friendship because he refuses to be pitied. he instead delves further into his studies, puts 110% into the wrestling team. a scholarship was mentioned long ago, but now it’s in sight. bouncing from home to home and waiting to turn eighteen so he can get his siblings back isn’t so bad when he has a way to get the hell out of this place.
