Lexi Reed is so much more than what they see. Ask anyone, and they would describe her as an over-confident and egotistical girl obsessed with vanity. Some would even go so far as to call her the Regina George of Webster High School, and sometimes in much crueler words. That's only because they know nothing about Alexis Taylor Reed. They know that she is student council president, that she is best friends with the gorgeous, albeit not very bright Paisley Houndstooth, that she is on the cheerleading squad and loves performing of every kind, and that she really doesn't like Chyna Parks, who to be fair, can be quite pushy and annoying. In comparison to what there is to Lexi Reed, they really don't know anything.
In fact, if they found out the real Lexi Reed, there would be one of two reactions. Either they would take back every mean thing they every said about her and feel pity, or Lexi would instantly be demoted to the popularity status of Cameron, which was basically the insect portion of the food chain. In other words, bad, bad, bad. She wasn't going to allow that. She wouldn't let it out that she wasn't perfect, and she especially wouldn't show them that she was so imperfect that she didn't even deserve her spot as student council president. Who would listen to someone so flawed? So Lexi hides her secrets, and it was a blessing that she was such a good actress. It was better for everyone that they don't know anything.
For instance, they don't know that Lexi spent three hours in Barnes & Noble last week and loved every second of it. She loves the way that a book can make everything disappear, and for a few hours, she can lose herself and nothing else matters.
Nobody knows that she wears glasses at night, but only when in her room by herself because there is no way she is letting anyone else see that her vision isn't perfect; a sure clue that she herself has flaws.
No one knows that she is a closet Lord of the Rings fan, and went to the Hobbit midnight premiere by herself. She told her parents that she was going to a party, and of course they believed she-who-claims-to-be-the-prettiest-girl-in-school-even-though-she-doesn't-believe-it-herself because it isn't as if they fully pay attention to anything she does anyways.
Nobody knows that sometimes, she really hates her parents, and not in the way that every teenager kind of hates their parents. Lexi can't remember the last time they acknowledged her talent or said they were proud of her. With an older brother who might as well be a professional athlete by the way he talks about his varsity games and playing on a varsity college basketball team, they don't really acknowledge her at all, and it is very annoying. Her parents are very caught up in all of that, and if she's being completely honest with herself, she doesn't blame them. Damon is really good and she could easily see him being professional, especially with the way that they had been training and paying for very elite coaches since he was seven; the perks of her father being loaded. As much as she gets the commitment they have to his career, what about hers? Why don't they pay attention to her? She knows she has talent, and she knows she could do so well if they only gave her a chance. So why don't they care about her that much? Daddy Reed could easily get her a manager or contact a talent agent, and he could easily book her auditions, so why doesn't he? Oh, right. He doesn't have time to train a future Broadway star when he has a son's career to worry about.
It was precisely this reason why Lexi was so excited once high school started. She wasn't in the shadow of her brother, and finally it would be her chance to shine, and for a short time, she did. She was the lead in all the school musicals, and rightfully so. It was perfect, and she was perfect, and finally she got what she wanted: recognition. Sure, she would have loved if her father actually came to her performances, and of course she would have preferred if her mother stayed off of her phone during her dance recitals, but she at last got attention, and she loved it. Then came Chyna, and bam! Her shining moments were over and it wasn't fair.
Everyone knew that Lexi hated Chyna Parks. That wasn't a secret. She jeopardized her chances at winning, and losing to a kid who had just recently graduated elementary school just wasn't okay. They didn't get it though. Lexi had spent her entire life being outshined by her perfect brother, and school was the one place where she wasn't being compared to him. She could finally be her own person and show everyone that she was good enough. She reached high school, and discovered that the A.N.T. program existed, and while she was very annoyed at all the little kids littering the halls and her classes, she grew used to it because they weren't messing with her. They didn't steal her roles and they didn't try to drive her delirious. They were just there, and she dealt with it. The A.N.T. kids were like her annoying little cousins. She didn't bother them, they didn't bother her, and it was a beautiful ignorance.
The little diva, Chyna ruined everything. A little eleven year old music prodigy comes and steals her roles, and her attention, and quite frankly, even a little bit of her dignity since Lexi tends to freak out a bit whenever she suspects Chyna is hogging all of the spotlight. It really isn't fair at all. Lexi has to admit to herself that the girl can sing, and there really isn't an instrument that she couldn't play. What kind of music prodigy would she be if that weren't true? The thing that really bugged her is the girl got everything. Stealing the spotlight during HER party? Check. Stealing the leads in the musicals, even though her acting wasn't even near up to par? Check. Somehow joining the band TRIFECTA, even though she is a child who knows nothing about stardom? Check to the twenty third power. Not cool at all.
There is so much more that people don't know, and they just assume that she releases these crazy outbursts for no reason. Oh, she definitely has her reasons.
They don't know that she really would rather not be popular if given the choice. Sure, she loves the constant attention, but all that acting got old. Having to try so hard to please everyone is a pain. Okay, maybe she was a little obsessed with vanity, but when she had an image to keep up, she really didn't have a choice in the matter. Besides performing, which might as well have been stripped from her by the way things were going since Chyna decided it was a good idea to take over what wasn't rightfully hers, it was all she had. She clung to it, and sometimes she went a little overboard protecting her physical image, but it was really the only thing she had going for her right then.
They don't know that she used to be best friends with Cameron Parks up until sixth grade. He got her. He knew what it was like to have parents who favored a sibling over him and he knew how it felt when everyone else got praise. He did have a musical prodigy for a sister, and still not having found something he was good at was really hard some days, which was why Lexi and him used to get along so well. They were practically living the same lives, sans the gender barrier. No one knew that sometimes she forgot that they were supposed to hate each other now, and when that happened, it tended to confuse him to no end (which to be honest, wasn't that difficult to do). It wasn't her fault. She had a lot of things to remember, and remembering who she was supposed to be mean to all the time is not as easy as it looks. It's pretty low on the importance scale, actually.
A really important thing that people didn't know was that sometimes she stops eating and hopes that maybe then she will be perfect. If she is skinnier and prettier and more perfect, no one is even going to notice that she's losing a little bit of herself every time she pushes away her food because they will be so focused on everything that is flawless and beautiful her. Nope. Nobody knew, and that was how she was going to keep things. Shhh. It's a secret.