Lexi kicked back in the lounge chair of the airport waiting area and flipped through the rag mag she’d bought. Normally she didn’t read such crap, but she was desperate to escape all the thoughts going through her mind over and over. Jess’s flight was over two hours late and Lexi’d all ready fretted for one hour of it over whether or not she should re-emphasize to Jess that there was a good possibility that Nick Carter would be a no show. She couldn’t conceive that Angela was anywhere close to being as attractive as Jess – Gary would’ve surely mentioned any notable change in her after he’d seen her at the bowling alley. All he’d carried on about was some big-boobed redhead who was allegedly hitting on him. He’d asked her if she knew her, but she didn’t. Must be some college buddy of Sandra and Angela’s.
Lexi sighed and flipped through the magazine, glancing at the headlines and then the pictures accompanying them. A bold headline caught her eye and she shuddered as she read it: “Distraught Squad Leader Kills Friend In Lover’s Quarrel.” How eerie. How fucking eerie! She tossed the magazine into the chair beside her and squirmed in her seat. She knew Sandra would never be so violent about any potential situation to actually kill Jess, but she’d be pissed, if Lexi remembered everything correctly. Jess and Sandra had been cheerleaders and mutual friends and had hung out with the same crowd until Angela arrived on the scene. Lexi remembered all too well how the chain of events had unfolded daily at school until the final showdown. She hadn’t known any of them back then, but she’d watched, enthralled by each new turn of events, just like the rest of the school. You couldn’t hide such things in a small school. Everything was everybody’s business.
The rumors about Angela had started circulating before she’d even arrived. Jess had been in the front office when the staff was discussing the new girl and how she’d been in foster care after the loss of her family. Theories were developed at the discretion of the students talking about it and when Angela did arrive – sloppy, unkempt and extremely withdrawn – they were afraid to approach her. They’d never been exposed to such circumstances before.
Lexi felt a long-forgotten compassion for Angela sweep through her when she remembered how she’d been shunned from the start and never given a chance to find a place within the school where she might fit in. There had been a couple of times when she’d considered approaching her and welcoming her, but Angela’s increasing distrust and irritation at the whispers and gossip had put a very large and intimidating chip on her shoulder. The prospect of being humiliated by “the weird girl” had kept her and everyone else away.
Jess and the popular crowd, however, just couldn’t let things rest. They dubbed Angela “Carrie” from the movie by the same name and spent their days tormenting her verbally. It was a sick form of entertainment for them……for all of them, but Sandra. She had been very careful to distance herself when the hostilities would begin. Numerous times her lack of participation had been key in stopping the harassment, exasperating Jess. She never confronted Sandra about it, but everyone could see the obvious conflict that was growing between them. An inevitable showdown between the two builded with each disagreement over Angela’s treatment and when it finally happened, people weren’t surprised by it, just shocked by the explosiveness of it all.
“You reading this?” The woman’s voice jolted Lexi back to the present and made her jump. She laughed, embarrassed. “No, I’m done with it.” Maybe if the magazine was out of sight she could refocus on the present and forget about things that happened years ago. The woman thanked her and moved back to her seat. Lexi stared thoughtfully at the magazine as it flapped with each swing of her arm. What if it was an omen or a sign of some sort? “Nah,” she thought to herself. She didn’t believe in such things. Besides, Jess had always been cool to her. She couldn’t judge her by things that had happened when they were teenagers. People change. People grow up. Lexi relaxed a little as she reassured herself, but it wasn’t long before she went right back to where she’d left off before. It was if her mind HAD to finish the story.
It had happened during off hours at school, after squad practice had ended. Earlier in the day Sandra had told Jess to “knock it off” in front of everyone and a short squabble had erupted. By the time squad practice had arrived the tension between them had increased ten-fold and a confrontation was inevitable. Lexi wasn’t there to see it herself, but she had heard about it in detail from one of the senior cheerleaders. Jess had shoved Angela and told her she was weak and that nobody wanted her in the group anymore. Sandra had shoved her back and called her a cruel and heartless bitch that would turn on anyone as long as she benefited from it. A fight ensued and Sandra basically beat the shit out of Jess. The claw marks, puffy face and black eye were the talk of the school for weeks. Sandra was kicked off the squad, suspended for three days for fighting, and rejected by her friends for it. It didn’t appear to bother her, though, and she then devoted her time to befriending Angela.
Lexi couldn’t believe how Angela had treated Sandra the first few times she’d approached her. She would tell her to “fuck off” loudly, slide her books off the table if she sat them down, and just get up and leave without saying anything – all to everyone else’s amusement. But still she kept on trying and eventually Angela caved. Sandra was just that type of person. Jess had expected her to be groveling to her instead of Angela and it pissed her off when it backfired on her. She’d never truly wanted to lose Sandra as a friend – just show her that she was nothing without her popularity.
“Who would’ve thought,” Lexi said out loud, laughing to herself. Miss Priss and Carrie hanging out together STILL, after all this time. She wouldn’t have believed it herself if AJ hadn’t have mentioned it to her. She’d just assumed that both had graduated and moved on like everybody else. Hell, SHE didn’t even keep in touch with a lot of her old friends. Jess and her had met two years later when she’d switched colleges. She’d been reluctant at first to become more than acquaintances with Jess because of the high school situation, but over time it had just developed naturally into somewhat of a bond. Jess was still pushy and arrogant, but she could make things happen. She had connections to all the cool people and could get them into any party on campus. But not this time. This time, Lexi was now the one with the connections and it was thrilling, even though it made her uneasy. She wanted to retain her control of the situation and she all ready felt like she’d given it up the second she suggested hooking Jess up with Nick. If she could go back she would’ve finagled her way around it without having Jess in the mix, but her desire to impress Jess had clouded her judgment. The whole Sandra and Angela thing had only made it more enticing, too. She had to admit that she was kind of jealous that they were spending one-on-one time with the Backstreet Boys and that she wasn’t involved in it. Kenneth and Anne both knew she was in town staying with Gary. They should’ve invited her to help out with the Peace House. But instead, they’d asked to use the bowling alley and totally disregarded her. “Fuck ‘em,” she thought. “They can kiss my ass.” It’s not like Angela or Sandra had come down to invite her upstairs either, like she’d originally hoped. No, they were too concerned with themselves to let anyone else in on it. If Nick came with her and Jess it would be their own damned faults for not having been more considerate.
“Hey, babe, you got the time?” Lexi looked up at the young man who’d asked and checked her watch. “Ten thirty,” she said politely. He stood there and tried to initiate a more personal conversation with her, interested in more than the time, but she warded off each attempt with a short yet courteous answer until he backed off. She hated it when guys took so long to get the hint. He should’ve known better than to call her “babe” in the first place. How lame! She rolled her eyes and stared out the window, waiting impatiently for Jess to arrive. The young man’s approach spawned yet another more vivid Angela memory. Lexi had witnessed it firsthand and couldn’t believe it when it happened.
Lexi was sitting at the table beside Angela when Russ approached her. He was Jess’s boyfriend, so when he’d pulled up the chair and sat down beside her in the cafeteria Lexi had paid close attention to see what his intentions were…..
“Hi, Angela,” Russ said. “Whatcha doin’ there. Studying?” Angela looked up, squirmed a little, but said nothing before she looked back down at her books. Russ shrugged it off and continued as if she were receptive. “You know, I’ve been watching you lately and I have to admit, I think underneath all the baggy clothes there’s a gorgeous woman in there.”
“Fuck off, Russ,” Angela replied, still staring at her open book.
Russ leaned in closer to her face and carried on. “You’re probably a virgin. And you know what? That is a total turn on to me.” Angela swallowed hard but said nothing back. Lexi could see her legs shifting beneath the table with nervousness.
Russ reveled in his power over her and boldly pushed the conversation further. “You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about just catching you somewhere alone and showing you exactly how I feel. Would you like that, Angela?” He paused but didn’t expect an answer. “You’d probably resist at first, but I’d make you want me.” He reached out and slid his finger down her face and Angela’s lips pressed together tightly as she fought back tears of anger and humiliation. “Aww, baby, don’t cry. It would only hurt if you fought it….but you wouldn’t fight it, would you?”
A small sob escaped her and she refused to look at him. “Would you?” Russ leaned in close to her face and whispered something into her ear. Lexi couldn’t hear it, but she watched as Russ reached under the table and grabbed Angela’s hand. Why didn’t she leave? Why didn’t she just get up and leave?
Russ pulled her hand forcefully onto his crotch and held it there as she struggled to remove it. “Do you feel that? That’s what you do to me,” he said, gliding her hand back and forth on him. “God, that feels good.” By then, Angela was sobbing loudly and everyone was watching. Lexi looked at the girl beside her she was wide-eyed with disbelief. Lexi couldn’t believe that Angela had just frozen like that and didn’t scream or something to get him to leave her alone. Finally, a teacher stopped it. She slapped Russ on the shoulder and said, “That’s enough, Loverboy.” Lexi was floored. Surely, she could see what exactly was going on! That was ALL she had to say about it?
Russ grinned at the teacher and got up as if nothing had happened. “I was just having some fun,” he said. “Like I’d be interested in a freak like that.” Both he and the teacher walked away, laughing, and nobody even tried to comfort Angela who was shaking and crying.
“Did you SEE that?” the girl beside her had asked. Lexi had only nodded. She was speechless after the teacher did nothing to reprimand Russ.
Sandra had arrived into the lunchroom within minutes of the incident and tried to get the story out of her. Angela wouldn’t tell her, but with Sandra’s help she left the cafeteria.
When Sandra did find out what had happened to Angela she was furious and went straight to the principal’s office demanding justice. Unbelievably, the principal had insinuated she was a liar and a troublemaker, citing that she hadn’t even been there as evidence against her. Still, she persisted and persisted and a school wide investigation took place over the next few weeks to determine exactly what had happened. The teacher eventually caved and told the truth. Russ was suspended from all sports his senior year – taking from him his opportunity for the athletic scholarship he’d worked so hard for throughout high school. The teacher was suspended indefinitely and then forced to take a sexual harrasment class over the summer. And Jess had gotten off without so much as a slap on the hand because Russ had not implicated her as the driving force behind the incident, though everyone – including Sandra knew she was.
Ultimately, though, Jess paid the highest price when Russ moved over the summer to a different school district so he could pursue his hopes of a scholarship. He’d opted to not have a long distance relationship and broke up with her before he left. She was devastated. They’d dated their entire junior year and were the most popular couple in the school. Lexi’d always thought it would have ended whether Russ moved or not, though, because their relationship was strained the minute the entire community was alerted to the scandal. Russ’s family was very religious and the public humiliation had hurt them deeply. Everyone else ended up feeling sorry for Jess, too, when Russ was gone.
Lexi sighed and glanced up at the flight screen a final time – fifteen minutes. A feeling of dread had settled over her, but she fought it off. Jess had never treated her badly. Why was she even worrying about it? Besides, she’d paid her price for all that she’d done back then. If Nick came with them it would be of his own free will, not because Jess forced him to. Angela and Sandra would have no-one to blame but Nick…..and AJ. God, she didn’t like putting AJ in such a predicament. She almost hoped deep down, that Nick wouldn’t come and that everyone would be off the hook.
------
Jess came bouncing through the gate at Lexi, screaming all the way. “Lexi! I’m so FUCKING excited about all this! I can’t STAND it!!”
People glared at her because of her flagrant use of expletives and Lexi felt a need to play it down. “Will you watch your mouth?” she asked loudly, hoping to pacify those surrounding them.
Jess gave her a cold look and turned to face everyone else with the same glare. “Fuck ‘em!” She said loudly again, daring anyone to say anything to her about it. Lexi wanted to walk away, but she didn’t. If she were to say something again, it would only antagonize Jess even more.
Jess grabbed Lexi’s arm and pulled her as she headed to pick up her luggage. “You know, I’ve been thinking about all this, Lexi,” she said, oblivious to Lexi’s hesitation as she dragged her behind her. “I think maybe YOU should just go out with AJ alone the first night. I mean, you can introduce us and everything so he’s kinda familiar with me and can tell Nick what I look like, but I don’t want to pressure him right away.”
“WHAT?!?” Lexi was completely taken aback by Jess’s unselfish suggestion. How could this be?
“Yeah, I know. You probably wanted to do the double date thing for comfort reasons,” Jess continued as she tugged her three suitcases from the carousel. “But! Hear me out on this. If you win AJ over, and I win AJ over, he’s more likely to persuade Nick to come along the FOLLOWING night. Catch my drift?”
Lexi just stared in disbelief. “Am I hearing you correctly, Jess? You don’t want me to have AJ try to get Nick for tonight?”
“Yes,” Jess confirmed. “I want to get my hair done and stuff. Look at this shit.” She fluffed her fingers through her hair as they walked from the lobby to the parking lot. “Besides,” she added, “I don’t care if Nick screws Angela or not. It’s not like he’ll fall in love with her or anything, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s enough to go around.” The thought of even TOUCHING a guy that Angela had been with repulsed her, but she made a conscious effort to keep her poker face. “I’m extremely positive that he would choose me over her for Wednesday night. I figure by then he’ll be over the whole “hometown girl” shit and want a real woman….a REAL good time.” She was counting on it.
Lexi could care less about Wednesday night. She was ecstatic that she was off the hook for tonight. “Well, if that’s what you want,” she said slowly, calculatedly, feigning disappointment.
Jess plopped her suitcases into the trunk and then the backseat of the car and they were off for Edgell. Both Lexi and Jess were silent as they turned onto the main highway, their minds focused on two different situations and two different nights.
Jess eventually broke the silence. “So Gary’s got leagues both nights, right? He’ll be out late and all that good stuff?”
“Yes,” Lexi replied.
“Do you think you and AJ will stay at the house? Or do you think you’ll go out or something?” Jess asked. “Personally, I think you should go out. It’ll be too weird if it’s the three of us like that.” Instantly, her mind shifted from her original train of thought to the thought of a threesome with AJ. She rolled her eyes to herself for having even thought such a thing. Lexi would never go for it. Never in a million years. She was fun and liked her sex, but she definitely wasn’t that kinky.
“Actually, I was kinda thinking about going out, Jess,” Lexi confessed. “I don’t want to bore the guy to death by sitting at Gary’s house all night. You know?”
“I know,” Jess agreed. “Besides, that will give me time to get my stuff unpacked and get out of your way when you guys get back, if you know what I mean,” she hinted. “Should I set up camp in the guest room? Or will you just go for it in the living room?” She tried to sound like she was teasing, but she was serious as a heart attack. She wanted details.
Lexi was defensive immediately. She didn’t like Jess’s unwarranted opinions about her and AJ’s possibilities for later on in the night. “You don’t know that I’ll even sleep with him, Jess. I really resent you even saying such a thing. That’s private to me.”
“Hey!” Jess argued. “You wanna be private about it? You be private about it. But if I walk in on you in the middle of all the ballyhoo, I don’t wanna hear about it. I’m just trying to be polite and figure out where everything will be situated so I can stay scarce for privacy reasons.” She held her eyes on Lexi’s face to gauge her reaction to the line of shit she’d just fed her. Lexi smiled and a wave of relief settled over her.
“I’m sorry,” Lexi replied, blushing. “I guess IF we do anything it will be in my room. I mean, that’s always going to be my room and stuff and I would like to have the memory and everything every time I visit Gary.” She giggled a little. “BUT…..there’s always the potential that we won’t even MAKE it to the room and just go for the couch.”
Jess laughed and her mind raced…..she’d only brought two video cameras. It was all she could afford on such short notice, and it was all that the Walmart superstore had in stock of the small, digital ones. She would have to set one up in the living room and one up in Lexi’s room. Then, if they got Nick the following night, she could somehow get rid of Lexi long enough to move the one in her bedroom to the guest room. Yes, that would work. “You know, he’ll be expecting some serious sex, Lexi. You’d better not disappoint him.” Or her.
Lexi blushed a little. “I didn’t’ help matters last night, either. He was looking at my boobs and I just played it up bigtime.”
“Ah,” Jess commented to keep up the small talk and keep things seemingly normal, “He’s a boob man.”
“Actually,” Lexi replied, laughing. “I think he’s an ANYTHING man…..but then again, he seemed really nice.”
“Of COURSE he seemed nice,” Jess observed. “He’s wanting in your panties, you ass. ALL men are nice when they want some snatch.”
Jess’s crass comment pissed Lexi off. She knew deep down in her heart that it was probably true, but she didn’t want to go into it thinking like that. She wanted to have a nice time and feel somewhat special if she were to sleep with him. “You never know, though, Jess. He may be looking for something more than that.”
Jess wanted to attack Lexi’s theory immensely, but she held back. It bothered her that Lexi had a date and she didn’t, even though either way it would work out to her benefit. “You could be right, Lexi. I haven’t met him yet. You may just be in the right place at the right time.”
Lexi smiled to herself and continued driving. If Jess could say such a thing, then it must be a possibility. She still couldn’t believe that Jess had let her off the hook for tonight. No pressure, and just her and AJ. That was what she had been hoping for and now it was going to happen.
Jess stared out the window and continued plotting her plan of action.
AJ
and Lexi were a sure thing. It would be best anyway. She wasn’t
particularly sure if she wanted her ass all over the internet or not.
Of
course, hopefully it wouldn’t go that far. The only thing that
concerned
her was AJ’s current bad boy image and how that would affect their
management’s willingness to pay a hefty price for footage of him having
sex. Yes, she would HAVE to get Nick. She would have to. Nick would
be
the golden boy.
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