#THE HASHTAG

02 | Much Better

Now I got some enemies

And they're all friends suddenly 

BFF's eternally 

unedited.             

✝ Chapter Two | Much Better. ✝

   During the entire walk home, the anonymous comment was all I could think about.

   I usually never cared about what people thought of me, but this was different. I was pretty decent. But I knew I wasn’t nearly as stunning as most of the girls at school were.

   “Hey,” I spoke up, slightly nudging Adam’s side. “Who do you think wrote that?”

   Adam sucked in a breath as he gripped his books tighter. “That’s the whole point of it being anonymous, Lexi.”

   I fell silent, knowing he was right. A part of me was dying to know, while the other part told me that I shouldn’t care. After all, it could have been written by someone I hated. It was probably Lou Sanders, the linebacker. He was known for doing anything that walked on two legs, boys included.

   We stopped just outside of Adam’s house and his lips curled into a small smile. “My dad bought me a new game yesterday. Do you wanna play for a little bit?” His oceanic eyes gleamed with hope.

   Folding my arms against my chest, I cocked a skeptical brow. “Adam, you ask me that every single day and my answer is always no. I’m sticking with that answer.” Without saying anything else, I continued to stroll down the sidewalk until I arrived at my house.

   As I was about to enter my house, I heard Adam call out, “Lexi! Just so you know, I can never personally grow as a man if you don’t let me in!”

   An amused scoff escaped my lips. “I would hardly call a hard-on personal growth!” I yelled back, turning my keys into the lock and disappearing into the house.

   I slammed the door behind me and threw my keys on the coffee table. “Mom, I’m-” I stopped mid-sentence when I rounded the corner and saw my mother in nothing but a bra and panties. It was an unbearable sight considering my mother wasn’t close to being fit.

   “Lexus!”

   I cupped my hands over my eyes. “Mom!” I cried out. “Why are you naked in the kitchen? We cook food in there!”

   “Oh, hush up.” Her delicate voice traveled throughout the family room.

   When I uncovered my eyes, a robe was covering her small frame and all the other…parts. “Oh, thank god.” I let out a sigh of relief and pushed past her, heading towards the fridge. “I hope you cooked something good because I’m starving!” I leaned into the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of milk.

   “Lexi, I need to talk to you.” The tone of her voice was laced with concern as she pushed her short black hair behind her ears, only to have it fall back over again. She always did this when she had bad news.

   I stared at her inquiringly as I gulped down a few sips of milk.

   “One of your teachers called,” she began, avoiding eye contact.

    “Which one?”

   “Gregory.”

     I pulled my brows together. “Gregory? Who’s that?”

   “Gregory Lawrence?”

   When the realization hit me, I nodded. “Mr. Lawrence? The secret Nazi?”