Chapter 6: Chapter 6

LEXI

~I need to pee,~ Lexi Draya Fox thought, but she didn’t move. She stayed in a fetal position, watching the little mermaid swimming with her tropical fish as dramatic background music played.

It was an odd routine for a twenty-four-year-old woman to watch Disney movies every night before bed, and as soon as she woke up in the mornings, but Lexi didn’t care. Real life sucked, and the fairy tales brought a bit of color to her plodding eternity.

Every day was practically the same: Lexi would stay up late studying the books and notes spread across her bed, then dedicate two hours to watching shows on the laptop she got from her best friend. Occasionally she would take the bus to campus or volunteer at her friend’s small gynecology clinic.

Lexi was different. She had long auburn hair, bright-blue eyes, full lips, and skin so pale that everyone who saw her on campus asked where Edward was. The incessant ~Twilight~ reference was pesky; she would’ve smiled if they had compared her to a Disney character instead.

Not only was her appearance delicate, she also shared a tragic backstory with all the princesses Disney ever created. At times, it seemed as if she were Ella jumping off a storybook page and into a land of endless hookups, breakups, and bad decisions. She always felt…out of place. Not knowing what was really going on in the world she was born to live in.

Part of her naivete could be blamed on her best friend, Reece. The blonde-haired free spirit floated into her life like a fairy godmother and shielded her from all the crap life intended to throw her way. She could brave any army with her D-cup tits, perfect white smile, and sun-kissed skin.

Sometimes, Lexi wished she had even an ounce of her confidence.

The front door slammed, and Lexi heard her nickname called. “Dray!” It was six o’clock in the morning on Sunday, and Reece was just now back from another exotic trip or expensive date.

Lexi knew better than anyone that her best friend wore a crown that every man she ever met could see. They all took turns kneeling to her and spoiling her with gifts as if she was the queen of all their stories.

“I’m in my room,” Lexi murmured.

Not even five seconds later, Reece pushed the door open. Three luxury bags and a sack from Mo’s Bagel & Deli hung from one of her wrists, and she carried a cup of coffee in each hand.

“I’ve never seen a Disney princess look so depressing,” Reece teased, placing the bags on the floor and the coffee on Lexi’s empty bedside table. “They’re always cheerful and smiling. You look like you lost your Prince Charming.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.”

Lexi forced herself to sit up and smile. For the past few days, she’s been sadder than usual, her cheerful spirit fading faster than steam dissolved into thin air. She had no idea why she felt this way. Perhaps her menstrual cycle was about to begin, or maybe it was the hormones in her body banding together to vent their frustration.

“Happy now?” Lexi asked with a snort that—thank heavens—Reece did not catch.

“Much better… Here.” Reece gave her one of the luxury bags, the food bag, and a cup of coffee.

Lexi frowned. “I’ll accept the coffee and the food, but I won’t take whatever is in that bag.”

She was dead serious; Reece had done enough for her already. She took care of her while they were growing up, kept her safe from harm, encouraged her to go to college, and even paid for half of it. Reece owned the apartment they now lived in and ensured that Lexi had everything that she needed.

But this is where she drew the line.

Lexi already felt like a useless rat mooching off her friend; she didn’t want to take advantage of Reece’s kindness by taking luxury items too. She was perfectly content with the clothes she had picked up from the thrift store.

“Think of it as an early birthday gift,” Reece insisted.

“If you want to help me, I’ll accept a job so I can start helping you with the bills.”

Maybe that’s where her inner frustration was coming from. The lack of progression, as well as the lack of adult activities.

Reece rolled her eyes. “No”

“Please, please, please. I don’t mind if it’s a part-time job.”

Lexi had been begging to find a job for some years now, but Reece had strongly forbidden it. She would always say the same thing: ~I want you to focus on school.~

Lexi pouted as she opened the food sack and took a bite of a warm bagel. ~Yum!~ she thought as the silence in the room became uncomfortable.

“Dray, it’s a cold world,” Reece finally said. “The real world isn’t anything like the fairy tales you watch and read. I’ve been protecting you from all that shit so you can live in your safety bubble just a little longer.”

Her best friend wore a look that Lexi had never seen before—the look of someone reliving a painful memory.

“Men in real life aren’t nice and sweet. There’s no true love’s kiss, and they won’t bring you to a castle to live happily ever after. No relationship is perfect, and no sacrifice will ever be great enough to change a man who doesn’t want to change.”

Reece always presented herself as a strong woman who could handle anything, so this vulnerability was new. After a while, she continued, “Don’t get me started on the working world. Customers are rude and disrespectful. Bad shit happens left and right, and disappointments come at you faster and more consistently than you could ever imagine.

“You’re so meek and sweet—the real world would chew you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. I’m just trying to protect you. Can’t you just let me do my job?”

Reece always had a big speech to change Lexi’s mind. Always! And Lexi would always give in to her wishes.

But today was not that day.

It was fine when she was fifteen, eighteen, even twenty-one. But now that she was twenty-four, Lexi wanted to do more than just go to school, or volunteer at the clinic, or stay in her room on off days.

She looked her best friend in the eye once more, knowing how much Reece hated it. “Please.”

“Fine,” her best friend eventually caved. “I know the owner of Maker’s Café, which isn’t too far from here. They are looking for a female bartender. They have menus to follow for mixing drinks, so it’s not hard. I’m contemplating a sugar baby/sugar daddy contract with the owner, so let me know if anything happens, and I’ll fuck him up.”

Reece wasn’t at all joking, but Lexi laughed anyway to lighten the mood. “So, is it a night job only?” She took another bite of her bagel.

“Not exactly. He asked me for someone who could do an hour or two for some rich guy on Sunday mornings as well. Apparently, the guy goes there every week for a green smoothie and a bagel. The last girl who worked on Sunday mornings quit to be a singer.”

Reece took a sip of her coffee and then spread cream cheese on her own bagel.

“But today is Sunday,” Lexi said. “Who’s going to do it this morning?”

Reece finished off her bagel before she answering, “He asked me to go, but I guess you can do it if you want.”

Lexi squealed, bouncing up and down on the bed like a six-year-old who just found out they were going to Orlando for a surprise trip.

“How can you be this happy for a lousy job?” Reece asked, but she smiled at Lexi’s enthusiasm.

“What time do I have to go?”

“I was just going to drop this stuff off here and then go, so you’d have to get ready now if you want to make it on time. I can drop you off and give you the key.”

Reece had barely finished speaking before Lexi leaped from the bed and made a mad dash to the bathroom. In under twenty minutes, she was ready.

Reece looked her up and down, disapproval evident in her frown. “Is that what you’re wearing? You can’t go to Maker’s looking like that. I just told you that the café opens early for a rich guy to stop by. What if he’s hot? You want him to see you looking like a shrub?”

Reece would never be caught dead in slacks and a white T-shirt that had yellowed with age, but Lexi already knew that her best friend would try to give her a makeover or a fashion pep talk before she left.

“Whose business is it if I dress comfortably? And what does the guy being hot have to do with anything? He wouldn’t notice me even if I wear a neon sign.”

Lexi shoved her six-year-old tennis shoes on. “I’m not like you, Reece. ~I’m invisible~. Except for the douches in my class who call me Bella, no one else notices me, so don’t get all worked up. I’m sure he’ll just order his food and then leave.”

Reece ruffled her long, blonde hair in frustration. “Dray, please don’t stress me out. I can’t let you leave like that—I have a reputation to uphold. What if you see someone who knows me? They’ll think I’m the worst possible friend to let you leave the house like that.”

Lexi tied her shoelaces and grabbed her bag. “Besides you, I only have one friend. You have one hundred and twenty, and I’ve never been around any of them, so they won’t know who I am. And even if they did, it wouldn’t matter because you’re you, and I’m me.”

“But the guy will see you. Los said he’s super rich, and he might be handsome. What if he’s your prince?”

Lexi knew Reece was using the words she thought would convince her to change, so she replied, “I don’t care if he looks like Channing Tatum or Leonardo DiCaprio. I’m going to make him a green drink as instructed, toast his bagel, and lock up after he leaves. If he’s my prince, he won’t care about my appearance. Most of the Disney princesses were poor at first.”

Normally Reece did not give up easily, but perhaps today was an off day because Lexi got away…twice now.

“Do you want me to at least drive you there? It’s Sunday; I’m free until later.”

Lexi shook her head. “I love you for offering, but you said it yourself: I’m inexperienced, and the world we live in isn’t a fairy tale. I need to start learning how to take care of myself. Besides, it’s not far from here—I just have to take one bus.”

Lexi had rehearsed this conversation in the shower before walking out to face Reece. She wore a confident smile as she answered her friend’s questions and opened her palm.

Reece hesitantly dropped the key to Maker’s into Lexi’s hand. “Call me if any weird shit happens.”

Lexi placed the key into her purse and zipped it shut.

“I’m serious, Dray,” Reece said with a look so scary even the biggest bulldog would run and hide. “Don’t make me sit here and worry about you. If you’re not back here in three hours, I will drive down there with my Glock 43 and fuck shit up.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll text you when I get there and when I’m on my way back.”

Lexi blew her worried friend a kiss before walking out the front door.