Second Chances

twenty-two

a l e x

"You actually look like shit," Lexi commented on my appearance as I entered the hotel room my parents got for us to get ready in.

How nice of her to say that, as if I didn't already know.

I threw my purse on the bed and went to sit down on an empty seat in front of a mirror to start glamming myself up for my mom's favorite event. "Shut up. I'm allowed to be the ugly one out of the two of us sometimes."

"Hey, okay, rude," Lexi looked at me, exaggerating the offense she took from the statement. "I like to think I'm always the pretty one."

"Identical for a reason," Paige chimed in, focused on her makeup. "But seriously, Alex, is this still about what happened on Friday?"

"You know it," I pointed at her then started with my makeup. "It's just been two days, sue me. I can still be annoyed."

I noticed Julia stop what she was doing and look at me. "Whoa, whoa, what happened Friday? Why don't I know about this?"

"I don't either, what the hell, Alex. Tell us," Lexi prodded.

"Paige, you go," I instructed.

"Sister dearest went to work because mom told her to and had a bad day," Paige told the story for me. "So, she went to you-know-who's place, and they chilled, you know, just like they do literally every week. But, his ex came over and boom, awkward. I had to call her to get her out of there, and she went over to the house and told me everything."

Lexi abandoned her makeup, and I could feel the scowl on her face without even looking at her. "Seriously, Alex? Stop letting him affect you like this. You have no right to be jealous because you two aren't even in a relationship. I've told you this before."

"Let me have my moment," I groaned. "I just feel like crap because he wasn't even trying to include me in the conversation. Plus, he kept trying to stop me from saying things, but he never stopped her, even if he knew the shit she'd say would annoy me. And for fuck's sake, his hand looked very comfortable on her thigh."

I was getting angry again. You can tell by the swearing.

"Suck it up, A," Lexi deadpanned. "If you want him to do all the things you just said you wanted him to, date him. Admit you two are actually in a relationship. Stop saying 'oh, we're just friends' even if we all know you two are way more."

I rolled my eyes as I decided what to do with my eye makeup. "I'm not his girlfriend, and he's not my boyfriend, but, holy shit, can he just not be like that with someone else? We made it clear that we're basically a thing, just no labels. I'm a thousand percent sure he'd be just as mad, if not more mad, if I did the same thing."

"You won't win with her, Lexi," Julia warned. "Her feelings are too strong, so just drop it."

"Fine, come help me with this. I can't get these eyelashes on," Lexi dropped the topic and raised her hands up in defeat.

I did as she asked and continued with my makeup, deciding to keep it on the more neutral side because of the bold, green color of my dress. It wasn't a color I would usually pick, but my mom wouldn't let me wear the dress in black, so I opted for it in green instead.

Miraculously, we all heard a faint knock on the door through the music we were blasting on the speakers Paige brought to entertain us. "Time already? I thought we still had an hour."

"No, you're right. Jackson was annoying me in our room, so I thought I'd come here and maybe get a nap in," Ryder strolled into the room without question.