TWENTY TWO.
❛ DAYS GONE BY. ❜

   'Shouldn't you be in school, girlie?"

Lexi shot her eyes up to the man standing over her. Despite being the larger of the two, Tallboy felt himself shift uncomfortably at the dark look she was giving it — it was all too familiar to FP's. "Do you really wanna stand in my way?"

Tallboy averted his eyes and stepped aside, letting her go through. "King's in his office."

"Thank you, Largeman!" She called over her shoulder sarcastically as she walked through the White Wyrm, not stopping to acknowledge any of the few people left in it. It was mid-day so it was practically vacant besides the few serpents sitting talking business.

It didn't take long to find her uncle sitting at his desk and looking more than stressed out at the amount of papers on his desk. Lexi lingered by the door, frowning as she saw the raw emotion on his face. FP didn't let anyone see him this worried which is why everyone called him the King, he was the only one that wouldn't crack under the pressure of being the Serpent's leader.

Hesitantly, she knocked on the door to let him know she was here seeing as he hadn't looked up from the bills in his hands. His worried face was quickly replaced with a cautious one, trying to ignore the knowing look in her eyes — it was the same one her mother used to give him before he helped her move to the Northside when she got pregnant with Toby.

"You need something?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and raising his eyebrow at her.

She sighed, wishing he would be a nice 'how can I help' uncle rather than the 'I'd shut the door in your face without a second thought if I could be arsed to stand up' uncle that he was.

"You know why I'm here, your majesty," she mocked as she took the seat across from him. "Did he make it?"

FP clenched his jaw, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer. "No."

Lexi felt the air being knocked straight of her lungs. "What?"

"Our guy missed his last transaction." FP stood up from the desk and walked towards the door. Lexi thought he was leaving but when she heard the blinds close after he shut the door, she turned to face him. His sharp eyes bored into hers, "I, uh, I found this in a car by the lake."

Lexi glanced down to see he was now holding a football jacket causing her skin to pale in dread. "What does that mean?"

She stood up and took the jacket from him and held it up to see what numbers were on the back. It was Jason's number. Glancing up to FP with glassy eyes, she managed to keep her voice steady as she asked again. "What does that mean?"

"It means he's run off with his girl and the drugs—"

"He wouldn't," Lexi cut him off with a fierce glare. "Jason hates drugs, he would never take them."

"Would he sell them?" FP snapped back, snapping the jacket back so that he could hide it after Lexi left. "Maybe your boy went solo and thought he could make more money selling someplace else."

"No, he doesn't have a fucking clue about drug dealing. He only knew the bits he learned from us!" She whisper yelled, knowing one of the few serpents downstairs would hear if she yelled.

"Well, the town thinks he's dead and he ain't coming back, Lex so what the hell am I meant to think? Huh? He covered his tracks, he's gone and now I'm out a couple hundred bucks."

Lexi bit her lip to keep from yelling back at him and instead ran her hand through her hair. "What if someone got to him first?" FP stilled at her suggestion before letting the guilt sink back in as her eyes lightened with another theory. "What if the Ghoulies got to him first?"

Her uncle shook his head, swallowing hard as he tried to keep the guilt of lying straight to his niece's face at bay. How was he supposed to tell her the truth? He couldn't and he wouldn't put her in that type of danger. Knowing too much got you killed and he wasn't about to out her life on the line because he couldn't keep a secret. He refused to look at her as he replied, "Then he could actually be dead for all we know."

"What's with that?" Veronica whispered to Betty as gestured with her eyes towards Lexi and Cheryl.

Everyone had watched a breathless Lexi walk in late to cheerleading tryouts with red cheeks from running from the tracks to school as fast as she could. FP had business to attend to meaning he couldn't give her a lift back to school himself, but he had made Sweet Pea do it seeing as the boy was hiding downstairs in the Wyrm in hopes he could avoid school at Southside High. But Sweets refused to cross the line into the Northside because it was 'too prestigious' meaning Lexi had to run to make it to tryouts.

"Hey," Cheryl greeted with a small frown, wondering what had her girlfriend so stressed. She could tell by the look of the Hale's face there was something on her mind.

"Sorry I'm late," Lexi mumbled, avoiding Cheryl's eyes. She had to pretend it wasn't as if she just had an argument with her uncle that ended with him pointing out Jason could very well be dead for real.

"Lexi," Cheryl called, trying to get her attention and failing. "Lex."

"What?" Lexi gave in, finally looking the redhead in the eyes. She felt her throat clog up and her heart beat blaring in her ears. What if Jason was dead? She would have to hold that with her for the rest of her life. Lexi was the one that got him into the deal with the serpents, if she had said no, the deal would have been a no go. FP would have said no and Jason would still be here in school with her.

The guilt clawed at her like a lion would it's next meal. If she agreed to go on the runs with him, she could have looked out for him. She could have made sure the last deal went through smoothly. She could have seen him through the end. But she didn't.

She felt like a wreck. Her thought never ceasing to give her a chance to breath. Cheryl seemed to sense that a little. She could practically see her falling apart from the seams — Lexi Hale, the strongest face in the entire town, and yet here she was looking like she was about to cry if someone said one word to upset her.

"Are you okay?" Cheryl asked softly, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around her and hug her girlfriend. She didn't even care about the fact everyone else in the gym was staring at them.

Lexi just nodded and forced a weak smile, hoping it wouldn't shatter too soon. "Come on. We got newbies to laugh at, Cherry."

The Blossom girl sighed as the other girl walked away from her and take a seat on the bleachers.

Betty turned her head and watched with Veronica as Lexi got off scot-free with Cheryl. Veronica had expected Cheryl to go ballistic on the brunette but instead it looked like she was worried about her.

"I don't know," Betty answered honestly. Now that she knew the two were together, she could only assume it was a lover's spat they were having. She kind of felt like an idiot for not being able to tell they were going out before she caught them red handed. They were quite obviously smitten with each other, the proof was in how they looked at the other.

Lexi barely paid any attention to the tryouts, her thoughts elsewhere as Cheryl, Ginger and Tina sat in the judges' seats. She didn't even manage to snap back to reality when Betty and Veronica were up.

"Ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" Cheryl snapped at the two after they'd finished. Her nerves were already away with how Lexi was acting, so she was starting the feel her anger pent up and now she wanted to take it out on others.

"Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet," Veronica smirked before turning to Betty and whispering, "Don't freak out. Just trust me."

Lexi did, however, manage to look up in time for Veronica pulling Betty into a soft kiss which nearly had her eyes bulging out of her head. Cheryl had a different reaction to her girlfriend and scoffed, offended by the action. The only reason why a girl should kiss another girl is if she likes girls in Cheryl's mind. Not to fake it to get people's attention. "Check your sell-by date, ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994. So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition. Betty, how's your sister doing?"

The brunette groaned from where she sat, but she refrained from interrupted their mean girls meeting. Lexi hated all the drama that went on in Northside High sometimes. Especially now that she had enough problems on her mind, never mind adding high school drama to the mix.

Betty shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Polly. "Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking."

"Veronica," Cheryl smiled insincerely. "Has Betty told you about her sister yet?"

"Uh, no."

"Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother," Cheryl asked, making Lexi feel sick to her stomach as her guilt came back to life when she heard Cheryl bring up Jason.

"Polly and Jason dated," Betty said simply, not wanting to go into detail but at the same time wanting to appease Cheryl so she could hurry up and leave.

Cheryl scoffed at her explanation. "I wouldn't say 'dated'. It didn't end well. In fact, Jason's probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home, isn't it? That's what my parents think. What do you have to say about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly, unleash it. Destroy me. Tear me a new one. Rip me to shreds. Annihilate me."

The Hale found it harder to keep quiet now, knowing the truth that Jason and Polly were clearly mad in love and even had a child on the way. She knew the pregnancy was the real reason Alice Cooper and her husband 'supposedly' sent Polly away, not for a nervous breakdown as Cheryl claimed. Jason was meant to get out of town with Polly after his fake death scenario but after the conversation with her uncle, she was starting to doubt they even made it across the tracks.

"I just..."

"Finally," Cheryl rudely interrupted.

Betty bit back her anger and instead forced herself not to fall for Cheryl's game. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through."

"Right," Cheryl nodded before smirking, "Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens. Betty, better luck next time."

"Wait, what? Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?" Veronica retorted, taking a step forward as she uncrossed her arms.

"I need girls with fire on my squad," Cheryl said simply.

"I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are. You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or, maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning — is me. Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take us both. You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherrybombshell, my specialty's ice."

Their glaring contest was interrupted by a loud clapping coming from the back of the hall beside the bleachers followed by a bitter laugh. "Okay, you can stop acting like you're in the fucking mean girls remake movie now."

Veronica felt her face retort in annoyance and confusion as the brunette walked towards them and had heads twisting face her. It wasn't often Lexi got involved in drama unless someone involved her which is why everyone's faces lit up with shock as she spoke up. Sure, she acted like she ruled the school but that was a way of making sure people didn't mess with her. She actually hated attention unless it was people parading her with compliments and even then it was only to silence what doubts she had in herself.

The Lodge girl crossed her arms across her chest again and huffed in response to Lexi's comment. When Veronica spoke to Lexi before she seemed nice but now the Hale was looking at her like she had just spat on her parents' graves. But she reserved her coldest glare for Cheryl who was still fuming in her seat at Veronica's speech.

"New girl's got what it takes to be a cheerleader. Cherry, stop overreacting. She's just as dramatic as you are, love and you deserved it for bringing up Polly and Jason. Betty, you're on the team, sweetheart. Everyone else pick your jaws off the floor and stop acting like you just watched a god damn murder."

Lexi left no room for objections as she silenced everyone with a harsh glare. Her uncle may be King of the Serpents but Lexi was Queen of the Snakes and Northside had far more snakes in their high school than the Southside had in their infamous gang.

A/N — well here's chapter twenty two... I'm quite happy with this chapter because I wanted to show how much Jason's disappearance is affecting Lexi and how close Cheryl and Lexi are that Cheryl's the only one that sees Lexi's pain is almost crippling her. Annnnnnnd I don't have anything against Veronica but I knew right from the start Lexi's character would clash heads with her so this is just the beginning of their differences. Lexi is slowly going to turn the the southside more and more for guidance as this story goes on but FP isn't going to just let her join the gang so we'll just have to wait and see where her southside roots take her.

also just in case anyone's interested, I made a cover shop. feel free to check it out! https://www.wattpad.com/story/165917317-wonderful-life-graphic-portfolio