Lexi's Final Year

Chapter 17

***

Lexi didn't wake up until 8:30 AM the next day. Her eyes weren't as puffy as she had expected, but her heart was still heavy from everything that had gone down. She sat up in bed and hugged her knees.

I wish Nikita was here, just so I could vent to someone, she thought before getting up.

She used the bathroom and then left for the kitchen. She made herself a cup of coffee before returning to her bed. But before she could begin scrolling through her phone, her mother suddenly called. Lexi frowned in confusion.

It's like 5:30 in the morning in Cali. Why the hell is Mom calling me now? Is something wrong? God, I hope not, she thought as she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, honey! Did I call at a bad time?"

"Oh, no, you didn't," Lexi said. "Everything alright?"

"Everything's good," her mother replied. "I just wanted to call and wish you a happy belated Thanksgiving, dear. I love you so much, and I wish you were here."

Lexi suddenly got choked up. She set her mug down on her nightstand to run her hand through her messy long hair. "So do I."

"How is it at Isaac's?" her mother asked. "Are you still there?"

"I left yesterday," Lexi revealed. "I, uh...I was supposed to stay until today, but I left early."

"Wait, why? Did something happen?"

Before she could stop herself, Lexi burst into tears. She cried into the phone and curled up into a ball on her bed.

"Alexandra, my goodness, what's wrong?" her mother asked in a worried voice.

Lexi finally calmed down long enough to respond. "Isaac's mother doesn't like me at all."

"Why not?"

"She thinks that Isaac will have to support me after school, and even asked if 'Mommy and Daddy' will support me. She also called my dreams stupid and insulted me to my face."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. That's awful."

Lexi stopped crying and scoffed. "You don't have to lie, Mom."

"Pardon me?"

"You and Dad have never been supportive of my endeavours," Lexi snapped through her tears, her voice laced with bitterness. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe that you feel that bad about what happened. Yeah, you say nice things and amuse my dreams to avoid hurting my feelings. But I know you and Dad wish I wasn't like this. I know you wished I was pursuing a 'real career', so to speak. I'm not stupid, Mom. I don't know everything, but I'm not stupid."

Her mother sighed. "Sweetie, I...I'm sorry. You're right— your father and I haven't been as supportive as we should be. We talked a lot the last couple of months while you've been gone. I even told him about you getting a literary agent the other day. He was so happy for you, Lexi."

"He texted me to say congrats, but I figured he didn't really care," Lexi admitted.

"Well, he does," her mother said. "You know, I've come to realize that I don't want to just be a prosecutor. I have a dream of my own, believe it or not."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"To become a judge."

Lexi raised her eyebrows. Her mother had mentioned off and on before that being a judge was something she wasn't interested in. So, this revelation caught her off guard.

"I told one of my colleagues that I want to become a judge," her mother went on, "and he told me, 'Keep dreaming, Amanda,'— his words, not mine. I told him where to go and how to get there."