The Book
of Alexandria
It was going to take some getting used to.
“Alex” was as close as she’d gotten to using her real name out loud, and only in settings where no one knew who she was otherwise. Like when the barista in the hospital cafe first asked what to yell when Alistair's Americano was ready.
Alistair always shuddered at the worn-out literary trope of “I’m a strong female character, so strong in fact, I might as well have a boy’s name,” but “Alex” felt and sounded like Alis, the name she’d imagined for herself with Bolden all those years ago. It felt like one safe step, one beam of light shining in the black void she’d been carrying with her all these years. She might not ever be Alexandria to anyone else, or even Alex, but just saying it out loud to a stranger felt like an acc
