𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 ♫ 𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 ¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐒

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"Can we talk for a second?"

The familiar voice made Lexi's body tense for a moment before she turned to see Carter standing a few feet away from her. Her first instinct told her to turn away from the boy and completely ignore his existence. However, the look on his face made the Daniels girl's feet stay glued to where she stood as continued to stare at him with her mouth sealed shut. The redhead watched as the Wilson boy's face went from expressionless to conflicted as he glanced between the girl in front of him and his sister, who was glaring up at him from her place on the dance floor.

"I'm so not in the mood for one of your 'I'm better than you' moments," Lexi said to the boy while fighting the urge to run her hands through her hair before letting out a sigh, "can this wait until later?"

"Okay, first off, this isn't my 'I'm better than you' moments. Second, no, this can't wait because I'm actually trying to help you out here," the raven-haired boy responded, causing the annoyance that flowed through the girl in front of him to turn to curiosity as she stared up at him with a quirked eyebrow, "a lot of people down there are talking about how, and I quote, 'Dopey Daniels is ruining another dance.'"

Lexi's eyes slightly widened as she turned her attention away from the Wilson boy to look down at the crowd of dancing students. At first, she didn't believe the words that were coming out of Carter's mouth and assumed that it was just him trying to psych her out. That was until she began noticing how many of her peers were whispering and laughing amongst one another while pointing and staring straight at her. Her body became a statue due to the unwanted attention before she felt someone grab her by the arm and pull her back into the wings.

Carter escorted the younger girl as far as he could from his peers' eyes before turning her around to face him once again. His brown eyes studied the fearful look on her face for a long moment before a wave of guilt flowed over him, only for him to shake it off before letting out a sigh. "Look, this whole helping thing is a bit new to me so don't get used to it. But if I were you, I'd get out there with or without those holographic boys and show them that you aren't Dopey Daniels anymore."

Before the redhead could respond, the Wilson boy turned his back to her and left the stage. Lexi watched him until he was out of sight before she looked towards Julie, who was leaning against the wall with a blank look on her face as she stared down the phone in her clenched hands. After replaying Carter's words in her head one last time, the Daniels girl finally came to a conclusion that satisfied most of the thoughts that were running through her head. Lexi wasn't going to perform without Julie and the former knew her curly-haired friend wasn't going to get out there without Luke, Alex, and Reggie.