***CHERRY***
“Rochester!” I snapped as I approached her car. Lexi was just stepping out of her white sports model Mercedes-Benz and perked up upon hearing her name.
“Valentine,” she replied, grinning impishly. It was infuriating how facetious she could be.
“I see you’re not in character anymore,” I hissed, narrowing my eyes. Her honey blonde hair caught a gentle breeze, and with her sparkling grey eyes she really did look like the kind of girl boys would worship. I had to admit to myself that a large part of me was worried I couldn’t compete. Of course dad would be smitten, especially after she’d gotten him drunk like last night. My heart was thundering in my chest. First it was my mom, then Ms. Hammond, and now even Lexi was coming between me and him. When would it end?
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused back on Lexi, realizing she’d been staring at me the whole time. She didn’t look like she was waiting for me to answer, so she hadn’t said anything back to me while I stewed in my thoughts. She was just watching. And she looked… sympathetic? As soon as she noticed she had my attention again, whatever it was that was on her face was gone, replaced by an award-winning smile.