The Bad Girl And The Queen

Chapter eight

Lexis POV
I woke up early the next day, I couldn't get that kiss out of my head all night. What did it mean? I know I enjoyed it but it can never happen again. I'm not ready to let my guard down again. 
I got up and got ready for school when all of a sudden I hear thumping downstairs. I try not to panic but I can feel my chest start to tighten. I grab my emergency only gun from under my bed, then decide it best to go down with just a baseball bat.
As I creep down the stairs I hear laughter and a familiar voice. It's Theo!!
"Theo is that you?!" I can barely contain my excitement.
"Lexiii!!!" I can hear his tiny little footsteps. Theo is my little brother, well half brother but I don't see him that way. My mum got  knocked up 10 years ago by some guy we hardly know. She left a couple of years later and no ones seen her since. That was until she turned up a few months ago, looking to see Theo again. He's been staying with her a little over a month. He wasn't supposed to return for another two. Typical.
"I've missed you Lexi, did you miss me?" He asks excitedly, but i can see a trace of unease in his expression.
"Of course I missed you little man. Where's your mum?" I was concerned of how he got here, he's only 10 he shouldn't have been travelling alone.
"Mum dropped me back in a friends car, she's going travelling." I know this isn't true, she's probably gone away to see some new scum bag boyfriend. 
"Guess it's just you and me buddy, what do you want to do?"
"Lexi it's school today we can't do anything. Mum called up yesterday to tell them i'm coming back today." His expression is sad, he gets picked on at school because he's more sensitive then most boys. I put a stop to any violent bully's but I know he still gets called names.
"Well then we best get you to school. Come on I'll buy you an ice cream on the way."

Bethany's POV
I wake up to a note by my bed.
'Bethany dear, I've gone out for the weekend, there's food and money on the side. Love you."
Perfect just what I need. A house to myself to get my mind together. Crap as I check my phone I realise I'm going to be late for school. I throw on my joggers and a crop top not caring what people think about me today. I grab some fruit for breakfast and head out in one of my many sports cars.
As I pull into school, I see Lexi leaving looking more pissed off then usual. Behind her is a scruffy looking guy, I can't deny the fact that he's good looking. He's shouting at her, but I can't make out what he's saying. All of sudden she stops mid stride and swings at the guy knocking him to the ground. She runs off before the guy even knows what hit him.

Lexis POV
After I dropped my brother at school, I headed to my own school thinking about what I'm going to do about Theo, I'm barely home and he can't stay by himself all the time. I could hire a babysitter with the money left over from the weekend.
Before I know it I'm at school. I see all the usual stares followed by whispers. Who knows what it's about today and I'm not in the mood to find out. I head to my locker before going to registration. Standing there is Declan. Declan is my ex boyfriend. Good looking guy, but he has the most dry personality. Not to mention he's a total creep. He hasn't left me alone since our break up. Which was over years ago now. Just the sight of him pisses me off.
"What the hell do you want?!"
"Just to talk Lexi please." I know what he wants and it isn't to talk. I met Declan almost five years ago. I was just a kid then young and stupid. I fell for his usual tricks but now I'll be damned if I let him get the best of me.
"Just go home Declan." I say rather calmer then intended.
I turn to walk away but I see he's following me saying some bull about how he misses me and still loves me. Yeah right, more like his latest fuck buddy left him so he's looking for a new one. But it sure won't be me.
As I'm leaving the school trying to get away from him, he says something that stops me in my tracks.
"Fuck you lexi, you're just a cheap shag. Plenty of girls like you around. Except most girls don't cry like you do during." I cried because I was 12 you sick fuck. That's what I felt like saying but instead Without hesitation I swung at him so hard he was knocked to the ground, his nose bleeding instantly, I would have stayed to admire my work but a crowd was gathering and I wasn't in the mood for drama.

Bethany's POV
As I watched her disappear into the distance I knew where she was heading. To her special spot. I put my car back into ignition and drove off after her. I spotted her a few blocks away catching her breath. I pull over and roll down my window. To my surprise what I see is Lexi crying. As soon as she sees my face, her's hardens up knowing she has a reputation that doesn't include crying.
"Lexi? Are you okay?" I know she's not but the question hangs in the air waiting for her response.
"Fine. Twisted my ankle is all." She replies bluntly.
"Do you need a lift home then?"
She doesn't respond, she just gets in the car. I'm not bothered, she looks rather shaken.
As I'm driving her home her pained expression seems to fade and the hard look in her eyes is back. As I pull into her drive, there's a boy sitting on her doorstep. Expecting it to be another confrontation I ask if she'd rather go back to mine. She looks at me blankly then notices the boy sitting on her doorstep. She looks surprised and concerned. As I step out I see the boy in the light. You can tell he's young but you can tell he's been through a lot, his experiences have aged him. He's a good looking boy with curly blonde hair, dark blue eyes and faint dimples in both cheeks.
As we get closer, I can see tears running down his face. As soon as Lexi sees this she seems to be able to tell what is wrong. The boy picks up on this and nods to confirm her suspicions. Without even speaking Lexi runs inside, I follow behind her shocked to see that there was a women there, she looked a mess, her hair was untouched, her outfit old, worn in and stained in multiple places. On her hip was a young child. She couldn't have been more then a year old. Lexi looked at me, a look of anger on her face. Then I realised I was obviously staring disapprovingly at this women. I look down instantly feeling ashamed of my behaviour, my mothers ways clearly imbedded in my own.

Lexi's POV
Standing there in my living room I had never felt further from home. I felt unsafe and unwelcome. The instant I saw Theo sitting there I knew something was wrong. Normally he is afraid to sit outside alone after boys in his year told him made up stories of old men coming and snatching young boys away. Sure it's happened but never in this neighbourhood, sure we were all rough and mostly criminals but we looked out for each other. One time when I was younger and stupid, some uptown boys must have been following me home. Stupidly I continued to walk on trying to pretend they weren't there. A bunch of boys from my neighbourhood saw them and they scared them (and maybe beat them up a little bit) back into their own territory. They all walked me home to make sure I was safe after all I was slightly shaken but even then I never would have let them know that. The oldest boy in the group was Declan. The youngest, who was my age, was Adam.

When I ran in, the sight of her stopped me in my tracks. Not only was it a rare occasion to see her in this house but I was not expecting to see a young baby on her arms. Especially looking the way she did. Had she been starving her? I wouldn't be surprised she can barely afford to feed herself let alone a child.
I hear shuffling next to me, that's when I realise Bethany came in after me. The look on her face makes me angry, she's looking at her with such disgust. I can't blame her. But it's the same look people often give me. I can't take it. I decide to turn my aggression elsewhere. Towards my mother.
"How dare you come back here, and with who? Is this your latest project? How long until you leave again and leave me to raise another one of your children?"
I basically raised Theo, she walked out on us when he was only 2 and I was 9. It didn't come as a big surprise, she never looked after us well, her and my dad were always arguing. They're both as usual as each other. But at least my dad never abandoned us. At least not forever anyway. 
"Don't you dare give me that cheek, you ungrateful bitch. I'm here to collect a letter of mine that got sent to the wrong address."
"Really? Go on get it then and then get out."
"It won't be coming for a few days."
"That's bull and you know it."
If my dad was here she would leave. He never laid a hand on her. He idolised her and what did she do? Leave suddenly to live with her latest fling. After that my dads drinking got worse. Once it got so bad that he hit me. He apologised straight after. That one time. Now it comes like second nature to him.
"Why is Theo outside crying?" I ask aggressively. He normally adores our mum, it takes a lot for him to leave her company. She puts the baby down in her pram. 
"I slapped him, told him to man up and stop being such a fairy." She says this with venom on her lips knowing I will fight back with words, little does she know that in the years since she's left, I've grown up a lot. I lunge at her, knocking her on the floor, I punch her repeatedly in the face until I see blood pouring from her mouth and nose. I would have continued but I felt someone's soft hand on my shoulder. It was Bethany.