SSS: Alexandrite

Name: Alexandria  ‘Alex’ Evans

Age: 17

Height: 5’7




Alex never had a tragic story. Never had a reason to hate society. Never had abusive parents. Never had much of anything to make her unhappy.  

Except herself.

Alex grew up east of a city in a rural scene. Those who lived within a mile of her-a.k.a. neighbors- either spit up on themselves or mooed. Her parents believed in raising an independent child, and-although they loved her very much- didn’t spend a whole lot of time with her. This didn’t bother Alex, as her parents bought her many toys, books, and other creative tools to keep her independent and happy. And it worked. For a little bit.

When Alex entered kindergarten, she was used to doing things her own way. She was under the impression that her way was the only correct way. Her lack of social experience with other children hindered her.  Many children quickly learned to ignore her and her bossy ways, but this didn’t bother her. She enjoyed playing by herself. However, there were a handful of kids who were easily manipulative and would do as she said. They praised  her.

Praise. It was a foreign concept to Alex, as her parents never gave her much (wouldn’t want her to grow dependent on it.). But she liked it. She needed it.  She would do anything to get it.  She didn’t care who gave it, teachers, peers, strangers, she just wanted it.

That year, Alex took a turn on the path of destruction.

She became an over achiever. Anything to hear “Good job Alex.” or “Nicely done Alex.” and “You’re such a good girl Alex.” Volunteer for the teacher, open doors for people, work extra hard to earn that gold star-and later- an A. By the time she was seven, she didn’t really have any friends, but she didn’t mind. She had her independence. She had her praise. She slowly became conceited. She became the best and the worst at the same time. She started telling other people how to do things. Alex became a control freak. But the sad thing was that Alex didn’t really see the error of her actions. She didn’t see the monster she had become. So she continued along, oblivious to the others opinions’ of her.

That was before they stood up to her.

It really wasn’t tragic. Alex had it coming. Upon self reflection, she was happy it happened. But at age ten, she didn’t fully understand that she was at fault for it.   

It was so simple. A girl was tired of Alex. Tired of only hearing criticism from Alex when she decided to speak. Tired of her thinking she was better than everyone. Everyone was. But one day, someone decided to tell Alex.  

Now naturally, once one person speaks up, the rest follow. Alex was soon bombarded by insult after insult of people tired of listening to her.  

She was. . . Stunned.

People didn’t like her?  After becoming so addicted to praise, hurling the exact opposite at her crushed her.  

Alex tried to be accepted, but everything she said or did earned an insult from her peers. Eventually, she stopped talking all together, except to answer a question here and there. She absorbed herself in books and knowledge. Alex was desperate to win back respect she never had from her peers.

When she entered middle school, things started to turn for the better for Alex. After a few years of having no personality whatsoever, people began to forget about how annoying she was. Middle school offered new students that she befriended slowly, making sure not to be unpleasant in any way, shape, or form. Her intellect brought many people to her, asking for ‘help’ on their homework. Alex, not wanting to make anyone upset, went along with it. They thought she was smart. It was praise. Alex still longed for praise.  

As the years moved along, Alex started to feel . . . empty. Praise didn’t seem to bring the same joy as it did in the earlier days. It was like a void she had in her life that she couldn’t fill. Now fourteen, she had become skilled at analyzing and interpreting emotions. After a few sittings in quiet solitude, she realized that praise was merely a temporary fix to a much deeper need.  

She felt . . . inferior. Alex realized all she ever wanted was to feel needed. To have a purpose in this world. To make a difference in somebody else’s life. As she moved about day to day, she thought about how she could fill this need.


The answer she received was one she never expected.

On her fifteenth birthday, she roamed the streets of the city looking through various shops of oddities. Her parents-happy that Alex had turned so independent-had stuck with the tradition of Alex money to buy her own gift. Normally, Alex would’ve saved the money, but this year, she decided to buy something with it. She was trying her hardest not to buy a book with this money, as a family member had previously called her ‘predictable’.

One store in particular caught her eye. It was one of those trinket stores that sold all kinds of charms and other knick knacks. She strolled into the dimly lit store to see if she could find anything unpredictable.   

After a few moments of looking through the shelves, she came across a carousel that held trinkets of a smaller kind. As she spun it around, a small object caught her eye. It was a small black square of plastic with white swirls breaking up the monotony. On the end, a thick black cord had been threaded through the piece of plastic. At the other end of the cord was a small white stone with very light swirls that Alex could barely make out.  It was a bookmark.

Alex found herself drawn to the bookmark. She was sure she wanted to buy this. However, Alex hesitated briefly before making her final decision. Wasn’t a bookmark just a tad bit predictable? Alex finally decided to stop caring so much about what people thought and bought the bookmark.

When she got home that evening, she sat down to her normal evening ritual of reading. Around one in the morning, her eyelids began to droop, and Alex decided to retire for the night. She reached for her bookmark, but once she touched it, a freezing shiver was sent down her spine. It startled Alex so much that she was frozen in her spot for quite some time. After she finally got the courage to move, she realized her bookmark was missing. She started to panic slightly.  Knowing she couldn’t tell her parents about this, she began to pace frantically until she caught her reflection in the window.  

Is that. . .?

She moved closer to get a better look.

It is!
As she stared at her reflection, a silver tiara shimmered back on the top of her thick golden-brown hair. A lavender stone with the same swirls the stone on the bookmark had. Being a girl of intelligence, it didn’t take long for Alex to realize where the tiara had come from.  

The million dollar question though was why.  

The next day, she trudged back to the store and dropped the bookmark (which had changed back after a few long hours, only was now black and purple) on the front counter.  

“I need to return this.” Alex said nervously.  

“Any particular reason?” The young woman behind the counter asked.

“Uh-well. . .” Alex wasn’t sure how to tell her why. It was a pretty silly idea. And who knows? She was tired. Maybe she just dreamed it.  

“I do have other things to do today.” The woman said mildly impatiently.

“I took it out to use it and it was black and white but then I felt this cold feeling and then the bookmark was gone and then I realized it turned into a tiara with a purple stone! And now it the book mark itself changed color!” Alex said in one breath.   

The lady stared at her. Alex gulped slightly. Great, now she thinks I’m a nut!

“So-uh. . . does that happen a lot?” Alex asked, trying to be humorous.

“It’s only happened twenty six times.” She said blankly. That was odd. It seemed almost as if she wasn’t surprised by this.

Alex’s eyes widened. “R-really?”  That was even odder. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence?

Realizing her confusion, the shopkeeper corrected herself. “Well, not all here but-“

The next thing Alex knew, there was a puff of white smoke by the door. A young man with a mess of white hair and wild tattoos appeared out of the smog. He gave them a sly smirk.

“Finally got the message, eh?” the woman razzed.

“It’s been a long day, okay?” he replied. He turned to Alex.

“So. The last tiara was activated last night by you I presume?”  

“I guess so.” Alex said dumbfounded. “Pardon me for asking, but who are you?”  

He smiled slowly. “I’m Syd. Guess you could say I’m in charge of these tiaras.  This girl here is Turquoise. We’re from the Spectacular Spectrum Scouts. And you’re Alexandrite.”  

“Uh, it’s Alexandria. Or Alex.” She corrected, not bothering to ask how he knew her name.

“No no, that’s your gem name. For example, take a wild guess at what gem Turq over here has.” Syd explained.

Alex wasn’t sure if she was supposed to answer it or not. Turquoise finally broke it.

“So you’re name’s Alex, huh? Well that’s convenient. “She mused.

“No kidding.” Syd agreed. “Well, we better get moving, lots to take care of, what with a new scout and all.” He told Alex.

“I-I’m really confused right now. What are you guys talking about?”

“All will be explained if you would just come with me.” Syd answered.

“You expect me to just willingly go with a complete stranger? That doesn’t make any sense!” Alex said, her logical side taking over.

“Honestly, has any of this made sense to you?” Turquoise countered.

“Listen, I guess I understand how you can be. . . Uncertain. But why don’t you take another look?” Syd said calmly.  

Alex looked down at her hand and saw with surprise the bookmark had made it back to her grasp. She paused for a moment and felt something. She didn’t know why, but Alex realized that this could be the fulfillment she had been looking for all along.

“Okay. I’ll go with you.” She said finally.

“Sweet.” Syd said smiling knowingly, as if he had known this is what was going to happen all along. “Let’s go. Oh and Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome to the spectrum.”







As the last member of the spectrum to join, on top of her poor social skills, Alex found difficulties making friends with the rest of the scouts. She was often frozen with fear of what they would think of her, yet at the same time longed to really be part of the group. Her motherly and bossy nature caused her to drift towards the younger scouts, namely Triphane and Amythyst, who she became close to first. Her intelligence and help from Syd allowed her to pick up on combat skills quickly.  Eventually, Alex warmed up to everyone, allowing her bossy side to shine through ever so slightly past her shy and optimistic exterior. Alex made friends, rivals, and developed other relationships she would constantly cherish. She graduated high school at seventeen and moved in fully with the rest of the scouts. Although at one point she considered college, she decided to merely study on her own whenever she could. Alex enjoyed helping create the best battle tactics and maneuvers for combat, and even offered advice to other scouts who asked. And what made her happy was the fact that they we’re truly appreciative. Alex still refuses to talk about past, as she was ashamed of who she used to be, and would rather just leave it where it belongs, looking toward the future with optimism. But, on the occasion she looks back, Alex is glad those things had happened, believing they led her to something even greater.