CHAPTER FIVE: IF ONLY

                                    

                                          
Lexi and Jordan huddle up on Jordan's bed, Jordan's phone playing Marie's live interview with Hailey Miller. This was the moment of truth. If Marie told the truth about what they did then things might finally go back to the way they were before Luke died.
"Could you repeat the question?" Marie asks Hailey Miller.
"This is a lot, I know." Hailey sympathizes with her. "Golden Boy, the most powerful superhuman on campus, in a murderous frenzy, charging, and it was just you."
Marie stays quiet, only building up the tension in the two's small room. "I knew I had to stop Golden Boy, before he killed more innocent people." Marie tells Hailey. "It was down to me."
Jordan slowly drops the phone, turning off the broadcast, and for one of only six times Lexi had ever seen it, Jordan cried.
Lexi wraps her arms around them, allowing them to cry into her shoulder, until they eventually cry themselves to sleep, and Lexi followed soon after.
–
The next morning was a Saturday, so Jordan and Lexi slept until they woke up on their own accords without the sound of an alarm. Lexi, maybe for the first time in her life, woke up before Jordan.
She didn't feel like getting ready. She just threw on a sweatshirt and walked downstairs to try and find something to eat. She really wanted a strawberry donut.
She went to the little breakfast shack in the court and bought herself a strawberry donut and sat at one of the patio tables to eat it. Her original plan was to go through her phone but all that was on her platform was Marie's interview, and she was getting really tired of it.
She put her phone back in her pocket and decided to finish her last few bites on the way back to her dorm room, it was probably time for her to actually get ready for the day.
Finally, she makes it back to her room and opens the door but when she does it is a sight that scars her. "Holy shit!" She yells covering her eyes. "I need the bleach, where the hell is the bleach."
She walks over to the bathroom, not opening her eyes again until the door is closed. She did not need to to see Jordan having sex this morning, or literally ever. Jordan eventually makes their way over to the door and knocks on it. "Lexi."
"Why the hell is there no bleach in this dorm room?" She asks through the closed door. Jordan responds by opening the door, this time fully dressed. "You wanna tell me why you were having sex at nine in the fucking morning?"
Jordan doesn't respond, just stands at the door. "I'm really glad I didn't get you a donut."
"Wait, you got donuts without me."
"Sorry, but you were sleeping when I left." Lexi responds. "You have a real knack for avoiding questions. So answer me. Why the hell were you having sex at nine in the fucking morning, with Tyler nonetheless."
Jordan puts their head down, not wanting to look her in the eye. "She's going to be ahead of me when tomorrow's rankings come out with all of the publicity."
"Why does it matter, Jordan? Being in the Top 10 isn't what makes you a hero." Lexi tries to find a silver lining but what she didn't realize was that for Jordan being in the Top 10 meant everything.
"It doesn't bother you that she's stealing our credit." Jordan asks. A knock on the door is sounded but Jordan is still trying to make their point. "Go away!" They shout at the door.
"Jordan is that you?" A voice says through the door that the two are able to connect back to Jordan's mother. "Honey?"
Lexi goes to say something but Jordan puts their hand over her mouth, changing their voice to sound masculine. "Uh, just a second?"