"Wha—what are you doing?" she asked as he pulled her into the bathroom and shoved her onto the freshly cleaned tiles.
She had a sneaky suspicion of what the answer was, though she hoped it was wrong.
"What am I doing? What am I doing?" he asked, leaning in. "Whatever the fuck I want!"
"Okay," Lexi whispered, nodding. He scared her when he shouted. It made her feel thirteen again.
"Go on, take your dress off if you don't want to get it wet," he warned.
Lexi crossed her arms and pulled the dress off in one swift movement. Not wanting to get ruined any further, she folded it and hung it over the side of the bath before turning back to Jayce and looking up at him.
"Ready?" he asked, eyes wide and manic.
He didn't wait for a response, just grabbed her by the back of her neck and forced her head down, leading her toward the toilet b
Lexi repeatedly squeezed the can of beer between her fingers, listening to the satisfying 'ding' sound as it popped back into shape. She'd been hiding it from the bus driver under her coat, but since Jayce was drinking his openly, there seemed to be little point.He was also smoking, leaning forward every few minutes to tap the ash out the window of the double-decker. The driver had to know but was thankfully choosing to ignore it, probably for fear of his safety.As Lexi turned to Jayce she frowned at the 'no smoking' sign, placed ironically just above his head."Please be normal around my friends," she begged."Hmm." Jayce took a swig of his beer. "Define normal.""L—like... I... I don't know," Lexi stuttered, struggling to explain what she meant. "Erm, just be nice."This made him laugh so hard he sprayed beer all over the seat in front.
Lexi watched, helpless to stop him, as Jayce strutted over to their table. He didn't say anything to them as they looked up, their faces a mixture of expectation and surprise.He turned his back to them, planted both his hands on the table and jumped back, sliding himself onto the tabletop and knocking their food and drinks into their laps in the process."What the fuck?" one guy shouted as he stood the shake the dinner from his trousers."What are you doing?" the smallest guy asked in a squeaky voice. He hadn't been the one making comments and seemed confused and horrified by the situation."Well, now you can get a closer look instead of staring over and making snide remarks, right?" said, addressing the one who had insulted his hair.The guy ran a hand through his short hair and shook his head."What the fuck, man?" he asked. "We were just havin
'This is insane,'Lexi thought.'What are we doing?'She grabbed Jayce by the arm, clinging to his sleeve as he poised himself to climb over the back fence."What?" he huffed."Maybe this wasn't the best idea," Lexi said.Jayce shrugged off her concerns and her small fist. "You practically begged me to do this. And we're here now. Might as well follow through."Once he'd cleared the fence in a jump, Jayce strode across the garden toward the house. His pace was confident—no hint of doubt in his movements as he cleared the grass between the fence and the open back door. Lexi could see a man sitting inside, presumably the father of the boy. The one Jayce had his sights on.'He deserves it,'Lexi told herself.'What kind of man beats up their kid for getting bullied?'Her ski
'It feels like my head is full of sand,'Lexi thought as she woke and rolled over in the bed. The mental image made her thirsty when she realised her mouth was also dry as the desert. She slipped from Jayce's navy bedsheets and searched the floor for her dress before sneaking down the hallway to the bathroom. The sink she'd cleaned so thoroughly was now splattered with toothpaste. It took her a moment to clean it away before running the tap and guzzling the water like an animal at a trough. She remembered the sink cupboard had paracetamol, so helped herself to a couple, figuring they wouldn't mind. 'They only cost 19p after all,'she reasoned. When she opened the bathroom door Aaron was standing so close she almost screamed. "You were loud," he said. No hello. No small talk. "Sorry," she uttered and went to scoot
Lexi searched through the cupboards for some variety of breakfast food. As she reached into the top shelf of the pantry, feeling about for a box of cereal, a bag of oats tipped over and had plastered her face and hair in a white mist before she could take a step back.When she backed from the pantry, blowing oaty dust from her lips, she saw Sam look up from the table behind a fort of cereal boxes. He crunched on his mixture of honey nut hoops, frosted flakes and chocolate puffs while stifling his laughter.In a huff, feeling her right eye twitching, she grabbed the flakes and poured herself some milk. When Sam gave in to the urge to laugh in her face, she shook her head in his direction, covering him and his food in the oaty mess."Oh, I'm glad to see you've cheered up," Mum said as she breezed through the kitchen, fixing her earrings and puffing up her hair. She gave each of the children a kiss before filling her thermo
"What the hell?" Dave whispered. It was more a hiss than a whisper, coming out louder than the boy probably intended."Keep your voice down and act cool, okay?" Sam whispered without looking up."What's with you and Jayce Riley?" Kevin asked."Are you tight with him now?" Dave asked. "When on Earth did that happen exactly?"The boys were in his face, bombarding him with questions he couldn't even begin to answer. He had no clue as to why Jayce was suddenly acting so strange.Not knowing what to tell them, he tutted and shoed them away. After the whole fiasco with Angelica, he wasn't in the mood for a Spanish inquisition.His mates followed him through to the main building and there she was, standing in her usual spot with her best friend Kaycie.When their eyes met, he scowled and looked away. She looked pained and sad, as though she want
With his friends in tow, Sam ambled over to his usual table. When Jayce shouted him over everyone in the vicinity glanced up, some staring for longer than others. His friends froze briefly before muttering that it was okay."You best go sit with him," Kevin whispered. They didn't dare invite themselves along, knowing it wasn't a good idea to try to join Jayce without his expressed invitation.Jayce kicked out the chair next to him, smiling up at him like they were best friends. His return smile felt forced and strained, as if his lips were made of rubber not skin. Hopefully, nobody would notice.'Do they honestly expect you to not be nervous?'he wondered. As he looked about the table, he guessed the answer was yes. They looked back at him with the same expression as when they chatted among themselves.'Am I one of them now?'Sam wondered.
Lexi stared at her phone. It hadn't chimed all night. Chris had barely spoken to her at university—just curt responses to questions—so it wasn't likely that he would send her any messages.'Should I message him to apologise?'she wondered.'To tell him I didn't realise he intended the night out as a date?'There was little point. Even if she had realised, it wouldn't have made any difference. She was tied to Jayce. He could ruin her reputation and her brothers. Even if she didn't crave his attention, that wouldn't change.Jayce was yet to text her either. He hadn't said he would, so it wasn't as if he was wilfully ignoring her. Still... she'd been staring at that empty inbox for hours now.When the notification bell did finally chime, Lexi's heart almost burst from her chest. Her heart filled her being with delicious adrenaline as she read his name. That