𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 ♫ 𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 ¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔

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────── ♫♫♫ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓

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The music from the gym continued to fill Lexi's ears as she ran through the halls and away from the spirit assembly. She kept her head down while walking past her peers and teachers in the halls and trying to keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. When she finally found an empty classroom, the redhead locked the door behind her before pressing her back against the wood and sliding down until she was sitting on the ground. Memories from her last performance with Dirty Candy filled her head as the tears she was holding back broke free. After bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around them, Lexi placed her head within them and cried as hard as she did when the event that gave her stage fright first happened.

Due to her shedding tears at her past misfortunes, Lexi was unaware of Reggie appearing in the classroom a few moments ago. After watching the Daniels girl's happiness fade in an instant when she talked to that boy in the gym, the Peters boy grew concerned. So, as soon as he finished his conversation with Luke, Alex, and Julie, the bassist was able to sneak away from them to look for Lexi. What he didn't expect was to find her crying in an empty classroom on the other side of the school.

The ghost stood awkwardly on the other side of the room with a blank expression on his face, not sure exactly how to make himself known without startling the distraught girl. As her sobs continued to cut through the air, Reggie put his worries about scaring Lexi aside before walking over and sitting down next to her.

"Hey," the bassist greeted, causing the girl next to him to grow stiff before she lifted her head off her knees to meet the concerned ghost's gaze, "I, uh, I saw you run out of the gym when that guy whispered something to you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Silence surrounded the two once again as Lexi studied the boy's concerned face for a moment before letting a sigh pass over her lips. She brought her knees back up to her chest and placed her head back on them as she stared at the floor in front of her, trying to find the courage to tell Reggie exactly what made her react the way she did.

"To be honest, I don't know if I'm okay. The guy that you saw talking to me was Carter. We have...I guess history is the best way to sum it up," Lexi began as she fiddled with her fingers while keeping her eyes glued to her feet, "we used to write songs together for his sister's band, which was the one that performed right before Julie. I...I used to be in that band. About a year ago, I was getting ready with Carrie and the other Dirty Candy dancers to perform at our talent show. What I didn't know was their plan to humiliate me because I was 'stealing their spotlight.' Or at least that's what they told me."