𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 - 𝐋.𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐖𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐋𝐞𝐱𝐢 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The trio consisting of Maddy, Kat, and Stacey continued to walk down the hall and split up when they got to their classes. Stacey stood in the back of the English classroom with Jules and Rue. She glanced over at Lexi when she walked in who had made eye contact before looking away almost immediately.

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I noticed that awkward glance between Lexi and Stace, my two best friends. I didn't want to say anything, but it looked like Lexi had been crying. And Stacey looked guilty.

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"Yo Stace, meet me in the bathroom. We gotta talk." Rue whispered before slipping out of the room while the teacher wasn't looking. Stacey, as confused as she was, sneaked out of the classroom, not knowing she had gotten attention from Lexi. 

She walked in the bathroom and saw Rue smoking a joint on the bathroom counter. She offered the blunt and Stacey took it, taking a puff and then returning it after. "So what's up, Rue?" "What's that shit going on between you and Lexi?" She asked straight to the point, letting a short string of smoke escape her lips. 

Stacey immediately knew what Rue was referencing and decided to just tell her, not wanting to potentially lose another best friend.

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While Stacey was telling me about the kissing during a slumber party which I wasn't a part of, neither of us knew that one Lexi Howard was standing outside the bathroom door.

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"I freaked out, Rue. I hurt her, I could tell from her voice. Rue, I miss her." A couple of tears fell before the other tall lanky teenager pulled her in for a hug. "I'm not really good at this whole comforting shit, but you need to talk to her." Stacey shook her head. "I can't... not yet. Cassie's such a bitch. If she wasn't such a fucking slut then I could've had a chance with Lexi. I can't talk to her. She hates me."

"Well you can talk to me now."

Rue and Stacey simultaneously looked up, seeing the girl that Stacey was crying over. She couldn't bear to look Lexi in the eyes, so she studied her outfit. A striped mint-green and teal-green sweater with a little hot air balloon on the right and a caramel brown skirt that didn't quite reach her knees. 

The tallest girl in the room decided to leave before tapping her tear-stained best friend on the shoulder and returning back to the classroom to share with Jules. When Rue was about to leave, she announced, "I totally ship you guys. Please be one of those 'forbidden love' tropes." before putting out her joint and tossing it in the trash can.

Lexi had turned back around from looking towards Rue and her face was bright red. Stacey's was too, but she was more embarrassed than her. 

"I heard what you said to Rue..." Lexi stated after almost a minute of awkward silence. "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Which part?" "Look Stace, I don't hate you. Like, I understand why you stopped, but it just... it did kinda hurt..." 

"Fuck, Lexi, I'm sorry. It's not enough to just sit here like I'm Cassie or some shit and apologize, I know it." Stacey shuddered. 

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Now this is where her animotphobia comes in. At this exact moment, she knew she had fallen in love with Lexi Howard. Like fallen. Not the petty high-school cliche. She longed to be with Cassie's younger sister every second of the day. Lexi was always on her mind. She wanted her. Her laugh to fill her ears, her smile to light up her face, and the smell of her shampoo flooding her senses. 

It was disgusting to her. Love. She fucking hated it. All feelings to be honest. But we both knew that no matter how much Stacey wanted to, she could never let go of her hopeless love and adoration towards Lexi.

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"Shit, get Rue." Stacey whispered in short, panicked breaths. Lexi's brows furrowed and immediately left the bathroom, running down the halls to get to Rue as fast as she could. Now Stacey was alone. She slid down the wall of the school bathroom and sat on the floor, sitting in a fetus position, her forehead meeting her knees.

Count... one... two... 

Her head was banging, growing numb by the second. White noise filled her ears to the point where she couldn't hear anything. "Hey, hey Stace look at me." Rue whisper-yelled. "C'mon look, open your eyes. Stacey couldn't decipher what Rue was saying. It sounded like she was miles underwater.

"Please... Stacey, I don't know what's wrong and it's scary. I don't hate you, I swear. In fact, I fucking love you." Lexi said, trying hard to hold back her tears, but failing. She planted a kiss on the top of Stacey's shaking head. "I love you, Stacey. I'll probably back out later and say something stupid like I was saying anything to make you better, but it'll be lie. I already know it. Please, Stacey we all need you. I need you... Come on Stace." Lexi held the manic girl's hand and brought it up to her own face. 

Stacey finally opened her eyes, her vision was all blurred out. It was like looking through a pair of glasses of the wrong prescription. It was Lexi. She could make out the blurred image of the love of her life as if it was crystal clear. Another wave of manic washed over her after this, knocking the girl unconscious letting darkness consume her senses.

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞
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𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟗𝟐𝟏 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
 ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───