Alexa's House, 8:30 P.M...

"Oh my God, why was Del Rey trying to kill us today?"

Cheerleader practice for Alexa was plain hell. She swore if she had to do one more backflip, or yell one more chant, she was going to straight up, deck someone right in the face. The girl was absolutely exhausted. Today, she didn't even wait for her friends to finish changing and get their stuff together. She just wanted to go home. Plus, she wasn't in the greatest of moods at the moment. Her parents had informed her this morning before she left to go to school, that they had reservations at some fancy restaurant tonight, and they weren't getting home until late. Like really late. Meaning, she would be in her house by herself... Again. This time, however, she didn't really care. She just shrugged off whatever feelings of sadness or anger she might've had. All she wanted to do was relax. That's it. And maybe, no one being around would help her do just that. She entered her home and without a care in the world, dropped her stuff on the floor.

"Don't give a shit. I'll pick up later." She thought.

Her only concern was to relax. Nothing else. Anything remotely resembling a chore or a physical activity, she wanted absolutely no part of it. She almost decided to stay downstairs and crash on the couch to avoid having to walk up the stairs to her bedroom. That's how dead set she was on trying not do anything. She walked upstairs and instead of carefully removing her clothes, and setting them aside somewhere, she practically tore them off and tossed them off in a corner somewhere with no regard for if she damaged them or not. Absolutely no fucks given. She snatched a towel, a washcloth, some clean clothes from her closet, and hopped in the shower. When it came to personal hygiene, Alexa didn't play. It didn't matter if she was relaxing or not. She finished showering and went to grab the clothes she brought with her to the restroom. While putting them on, she realized she had forgotten to bring a pair of her pajama shorts. As the petite princess stood in the bathroom in just a shirt, bra, and underwear, a thought crossed her mind.

"It's been a while since I've been able to walk around my house without having to cover up. Well, tonight's a perfect time. I'm the only one here, this is MY damn house, I don't see why it would be a problem. I'm doing it."

And so, she did exactly that. She didn't bother to pit on any bottoms. She considered getting rid of the shirt as well, but decided against it. Mainly because she really liked wearing that pink Harley Quinn shirt. At times, she felt she really was like Harley Quinn. Minus the psychotic murderer part. Also the being helplessly devoted to a guy who treats her like absolute dog shit part. She took a look at herself in the mirror.

"Yeah, I am like Harley in a lot of ways. We both have blonde hair, we're both really athletic. And to top it all off..."

She smirked as she did a little pose at the mirror.

"We are both ridiculously attractive. I could get any boy I want. Guys would kill to get a piece of this."

Right then, her mind went to the image of Bayley and Shane kissing. She shook her head.

"I don't care, I don't care. I've already said it like a hundred times, he's not my boyfriend. Plus, I've already proven that I could have him wrapped around my finger any time I want." She thought.

Another voice of hers crept into her subconscious.

"You must not have proven a lot, cause from what we saw, he's pretty preoccupied with another girl. Just saying."

She snapped at the voice aloud.

"Shut up! I know what I saw! I almost kissed him too! That means nothing! He's a teenage boy, it's not he's exactly in control of his hormones!"

The voice came back with a rebuttal of its own.

"True, but notice the key word in that sentence. Almost. As in, it didn't happen. When comes to Bayley, though, it did happen. If he really wanted you, he would've said fuck it, and kisses you even after revealed it was a prank. A guy doesn't get teased by the girl he likes, to the extreme like you did, and does nothing about it. Obviously with Bayley, he did something about it. Also, I thought you didn't care. He's not your boyfriend, remember."

"Aaahhh, stop talking! Get out of my head! Where did you come from anyway?!"

"I'm your conscience, genius. I've always been here. Did you forget that one time with the warehouse, and you following Shane, and all those people looking at you like you lost your mind?"

"Oh yeah, right. You tried talking me out of following him, but I did it anyway."

"Yeah, you did. And you ended up seeing Mr. Price in all his glory. Back then, I'd say it sucked for you, but nowadays I'm not so sure. Anyway, it's obvious you care a lot about this. In fact, I know you care a lot, I'm your freaking conscience."

Alexa sighed, knowing putting up a front would be a futile at this point.

"Why her? Why not me? I thought he said me and him had a special bond. He told me he didn't have any nicknames for any other girls, and then came up with one for Bayley, right in front of my face. That hurt a lot. I felt, I felt..."

"Replaced. That's the word you're looking for. You felt replaced. You were jealous of Bayley because of all the attention Shane was giving her. You felt like you weren't his special girl anymore, so you threw a temper tantrum, you cut Shane out of your life pretty much."

Alexa looked down in shame.

"Well when you put it like that, it makes me sound like a spoiled brat and a terrible friend."

"That's what you've been acting like lately. This boy literally refused to give up on you for months, when you did nothing but degrade him, insult him, and push him away. Now, you wanna start pushing him away again because he showed another girl affection? Like you said, he's not your boyfriend."

"Okay, stop! You're right, goddamnit! I'm being a bitch again. I'm just-"

"Really insecure and have a hard time accepting change?"

Alexa had a deflated look on her face.

'Yeah, that."

"Again, I'm your conscience. I know all this stuff already. And as your conscience, I'm supposed to help you determine what's wrong and what's right. And I think you know what the right thing to do is."

"Apologize at school tomorrow?"

"Exactly, sister."

"Okay, now can we please stop this conversation? I feel like a mental patient talking to myself out loud. It's weird."

"Kid, you are a mental patient."

Alexa chuckled a little bit.

"Shut up, Conscience."

Then, the little voice in her head stopped talking, and she took a good hard look at herself in the mirror.

She chuckled.

"You really are a mess aren't you?" She said to her reflection.

Just then, she heard the door bell ring.

"Well, guess mama and papa got home earlier than expected. Hope they had a good time."

The girl walked down the stairs and toward the door to let her parents in. At least, that's what she thought she was doing. She nonchantly opened the door, not asking who it was. To her surprise, who she saw was not her parents, but an extremely nervous looking Shane Price staring back at her with his hands in his hoodie pocket, shifting from side to side.

"Uh... Hey there, Alexa."

All Alexa could do was laugh. Not in a humorous manner, but more of one in disbelief.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Well, I- I came because I wanted to apologize. I'm not really sure what-"

"No, no. You didnt do anything. It was me."

Alexa was starting to emotionally crumble. Her voice cracked as she tried to hold back her tears.

"It- It was all me. All my fault. All- all you tried to do was- was... Oh god."

Alexa couldn't hold back her feelings anymore and started crying. Shane instinctively embraced her as the years flowed onto his hoodie. He didn't care though. He gently advanced forward, moving both of them inside of the house while he closed the door behind them.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's sit and talk about it." He said in that soothing voice he used for situations such as this.

The two teenagers sat on the couch, and Shane gave Alexa a few minutes to fully compose herself before he started asking questions.

"So. What happened?" He asked bluntly.

Alexa sighed and began to explain.

"Basically, I was jealous. I saw the way you treated Bayley and all I could think about was how you did the same things with me. Everyday, you would tease her, make her laugh, and just give her all the attention in the world. Remember the night before my parents came back and I asked If you liked Bayley?"

Shane nodded.

"Well, that was mostly jealousy speaking. It's just, you've helped me out a lot, and we've gotten really close, which makes me feel even worse for cutting you off for so long like I did. I got used to being your number one priority when it came to girls. When I saw you with Bayley, whether it be in the lunchroom before school, or walking with her to the bus stop, all I could think was that she was taking you away from me. And when I saw you two kiss the other day, I thought you'd completely moved on from me."

Shane had a serious look on his face and stared straight into the petite princess' blue eyes.

"Alexa. Listen to me. I have put too much time, too much work, too much emotion, and too much effort into this. Yeah, Bayley's a nice girl, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel anything for her, but come on, think about it. After all we've been through, why the fuck would I just up and leave you like that?! Look, no matter what happens in the future, I don't care if I get a girlfriend, I marry someone else, I don't give a fuck what happens, I will always be there for you! Goddamnit, Alexa, I love you!"

The world seemed to stand still for a moment. Neither of them said a word. The words, "I love you", rang over and over in the mind of Little Miss Bliss. Both of them felt extremely awkward at this point.

"Did- did you just say-"'

The boy rubbed the back of neck and laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?"

Another stretch of awkward silence passed the time before Alexa spoke again.

"I love you too."

Shane's eyes bugged out of his head.

"What?"

"I said, I love you too. You're truly the best friend I've ever had. Shane Price, I love you."

She lunged at him and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into to the same hoodie she had cried in earlier. Shane patted her head like he used to with a feeling of relief clutching his heart.

"Does this mean you're not mad anymore?"

Alexa looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

"What do you think, moron?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

Alexa got an idea.

"Although, you still owe me one thing."

Shane was confused.

"Owe you? What do I owe you?"

"This."

The petite princess grabbed the boy by his blonde hair and planted a smooch right on his lips. For the second time in 3 days, poor Price was blindsided by the lips of a female. Alexa released him, a smirk plastered on her face, while a look of shock was plastered on his.

"Whoa", is all he could say.

"Now, go home before my parents get here. Consider me and Bayley, even."

All Shane could do was nod and leave. When he left, Alexa laid across her couch, smiling a bright smile.

"He said he loved me. He really said it."