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𝐴𝐹𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐽𝐽 𝐺𝑂𝑇 𝐵𝐴𝐶𝐾, he found Alexis sat on the floor crying with her head in her hands. JJ comforted her while she sobbed and supported her as they walked to her room after she had calmed down. As Alexis pulled the covers over her knees, JJ sat at the foot of her bed. It was darker now and the sun was setting. Every now and again, Prince, the rooster, clucked from the hutch outside her window. "What happened?" JJ asked as he watched the girl snuggle up in bed.
"My mom made an unwelcomed visit," Alexis answered, plastering on a fake smile. Lex was kicked out of her parents house about 4 months ago because she was being 'too rebellious'. Alexis used to leave the house and not come back for weeks. She would run off somewhere and not tell anyone. That was back when she thought John B and Sarah were dead. Nobody knew where she ran off to but she went somewhere. After a while, Alexis' mom got fed up of it. She had an ultimatum. She had to either be in the house, or out of it for good. Lex agreed to stay with her parents but one day, JJ needed help. His dad had beaten him up. Bad. After helping the poor boy, she returned to all her clothes scattered across the front lawn.
JJ intended to lean his hand on the edge of the bed to support himself but instead touched a pile of blue tulle, scrunched up beneath his fingers. As he picked it up, he took notice of the tears in the dress. "She wants me to bring Rafe to the wedding as my date," Alexis rambled on in the background. "I mean can you believe her? I don't even get a say in the matter." As Lex looked over at JJ, she noticed him holding her new dress.
"Why did you rip it?" he asked quietly.
Alexis sighed, "I couldn't get it off." As true as this was, there was more to it. When she was taking off the dress, the more she struggled, the more she panicked. She was itching to get it off and she ripped it to get the job done quicker. "That means I don't have the dress I want for the wedding. Great."
JJ took a hanger from her wardrobe and threaded the dress onto the hanger to hang it back up out of sight. "It's fine, we'll get you a new dress. Then you don't have to go to your Granddad's house," he smiled at the foot of her bed. "I know how much you hate lying to him." JJ then walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving Alexis to sleep.
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The morning after, Alexis woke up and realised, that if she was going to get a dress, then she was going to need a job. More than one job if she wanted a dress half as good as the one she got from her Grandfather. The easiest way to get two jobs without an interview was going to Heyward and The Wreck. She unplugged her phone from the wire on the bedside table and searched for Kie's name in her contacts. "Hey, Kie," she mumbled into the speaker on the phone as she whipped the dirt away from her eyes. "I need a favour."
"Sure, Lex. Whatcha need?" Kie answered in a cheery manner.
"A job? At The Wreck?" Alexis pleaded.
"Okay, be here in an hour."
The girl shot up out of bed and changed clothes. As she ran out of her room, she grabbed some food of a random plate and called out to JJ. "Yo, I'm heading to The Wreck. Meet us there later," she called to JJ who was brushing his teeth in the Bathroom.
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"You're just gonna take orders for now. We're really swamped and don't have the time to train you," Anna said, patting Alexis on the shoulder. She looked around before tying her apron around her waist. As she ajusted it, she picked up the pad of paper from the counter to go and take orders.
The Wreck was busy and almost all the seats were full. Alexis stood by a group of people and tried to listen to their orders over the sound of customers chatting. "Hi, can I have a salad and a lemonade?" a girl asked, handing Lex the menu as she spoke.
"Sure, I'll get you that right away," Alexis smiled. She took the menu and started walking to the kitchen to give Kie the slip of paper. As the new waitress strolled past a table, she heard a group of Kooks whispering. Upon closer inspection, Alexis recognised two of the Kooks, ones that she knew from parties and events when she was with her family.
"What is she doing here?" one of them whispered to another. "She's a Kook she doesn't need a job. Why work when you're rich?" They both shared the same confused look before making eye contact with Alexis as she stared at the pair. She strolled away, quickly into the kitchen when they noticed she was watching them.
Pretending to still be a Kook was eating her up inside. It was unfair for her parents to force her to not tell anyone. The only people she could be herself around were the Pogues because they knew the truth. She didn't have to lie or dodge questions from them. Ever since she was kicked out, she noticed whispers from people she didn't know. They were rumours about what happened to her and why she was no longer seen around the De La Cruz parents. They were the talk of the town and the girl hated it. Hearing them talk about her made her anxious and often paranoid around big groups. She would always feel like someone was judging her or talking about her.
Alexis walked into the kitchen and rested her hands on the counter, shifting her weight between her hands and feet. She took a deep breath and sighed. After a moment, she passed the piece of paper with an order on it to Anna who was stood by the stove. "You okay?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lex lied.
a/n: hey guys! this is a shorter chapter than usual, just wanted to get it posted because it took a while to write. sorry it's a little shit lmao. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. As always, votes and comments are always appreciated and if there are any ideas or things you would like to see in future chapters then lmk. see y'all in the next chapter!
