Saving Lexi

Chapter 1

Happy Reading :)

When I had imagined getting my ex-boyfriend's attention, I hadn't quite pictured being kidnapped by a guy wearing a bedazzled purple shirt, as the thing that drew him back in. To be fair, it was his sister's kidnapping.

I can't even begin to explain how the hell I ended up in the basement of Peter "The Pill" Jones, but I can say that I did this to save Lydia Tonelli, my best friend.

To understand my relationship with the Tonellis, I have to go back ten years, to when I realized the Tonellis were not an ordinary family.

10 Years Ago

"Hey, Lexi!" Lydia smiled broadly at me, flashing her braces. She picked pink this month. "First day of seventh grade! Let's get to first period before my brother gets here and ruins our day."

When I met Lydia Tonelli in the second grade, I knew she was going to be my best friend. She had wild curly hair, a big family, and an irreplaceable sense of humor. She was the best person I knew and I wanted to be her. Isn't that how most friendships start?

Lydia had two wonderful, kind, and loving parents, who had a whopping 7 children. Lydia's fiver older brothers, herself, and her younger brother. She was miserable, as any girl with six nosy body guards would be, and I envied her. She had everything I wanted.

My parents, Donald and Laura Martin, were your average white picket fence, American family. My dad had a great job, my mom was a stay-at-home wife, and they had a son and a daughter— Lucas and Alexandra Martin. Luke and Lexi.

One day, my great aunt Gertrude died, and left her condo across the country in Florida to my dad. Suddenly, Luke and Lexi were left alone a lot.

Then Luke decided to stay with a friend most nights, so I was just... alone.

Lydia's brothers would never leave her alone like that, they wouldn't even let her walk to passing periods alone!

"Hello, ladies," Melvin ran up behind us and slung his arms over our shoulders— speak of the devil.

"Get off, Melvin!" Lydia tried to shake her brother off.

"You know Lyd, ever since you got to middle school you've been acting like you don't love me anymore. Are you too cool for big brother, Sorellina?" Melvin said, using the Italian word for sister. It was a cute thing all her brothers did to address her.

It was kind of like since she was the only girl, they wanted the extra acknowledgement that she was their sister.

Luke called me shit for brains once.

"I don't love you anymore. Get off!"

"Lexi still loves me, don't you, Lex?" He flashed me a grin and my breath caught.

Melvin was a grade older, tall, tan, messy dirty blonde hair, and had blue eyes like mine. They changed when the sun hit, turning yellow in the center.

"Oh, she does love me," Melvin grinned wider.

Oops! Was I staring?

"Get off!" I huffed and pushed him off. "I was stunned by your bad breath."

"Ha! Good one!" Lydia laughed and linked her arm to mine again and we walked toward first period.

The day passed in a blur until it was lunchtime, my least favorite time of day.

Mom was still home in elementary school, so I had packed lunches and home-cooked meals. Now, we just had her card saved in Postmates to order food. We weren't allowed to deliver to school, so I would use a lunch card, which mom forgot to fill most of the time. Most days I would just pretend I wasn't hungry until I could go home and eat.