"Now what is it you were saying?" Justin asked as he walked alongside Leah, "we couldn't really talk much about it because of well ... class, but you were saying something about Lexi?"
"I ... I don't mean to come off as ... 'that girl'..." Leah rolled her eyes as she clutched her books tight to her chest
"Hey, science, am I right?" Lexi would retort in a spunky manner, catching up to the two as they had shuffled themselves out of the classroom a bit earlier than she. She, of course had a mission in mind, to find her friend Chrissy and console her by any means necessary, but she was still invested in the current budding romance (maybe?) between Leah and this newcomer. "I thought that would never end"
"It may never end for you..." Leah teased, "if Mr. Harpin makes you resubmit your lab proposal"
"I didn't think it was that bad..." Lexi frowned, crossing her arms.
"No no not at all, making jet fuel from baking soda and pickle juice ... certainly a new one..." Justin would tease
"You're lucky I'm in a hurry, Mister..." the contentious Lexi replied
"In a hurry? Oh? Work again?" Leah asked
"No ... well, kinda ... my friend Chrissy needs a pick me up" Lexi nodded
"Oh? Is she okay?"
"Um... not really, but I'm gonna do my best to ... yknow, cheer her up" Lexi nodded, sort of scurrying away a bit preoccupied.
Leah looked on with some admiration, watching Lexi depart. It was nothing new to her, of course. She was used to seeing Lexi pretty much give as much as she could of herself to raise someone else's spirits. She already knew Lexi herself was likely not in the best headspace, yet there she was again going all out for a friend.
"She's cool ... your friend Lexi" Justin repeated, watching her leave as well, "but I wanted to know more about you, actually ... if you don't mind of course"
"Me? Well..." Leah replied, suddenly flushed and a bit taken aback as one of her books would start to slide out of her wavering grip. Thankfully she caught it before it became a spill.
"Is that ... good? You seem ... surprised almost" Justin would nod, suppressing a chuckle. Not at the books almost falling but at Leah's flustered mannerisms.
"Well ... I was trying to say before ... as kids and even ... later ... my friend Lexi got all the attention from boys ... heck, from girls too ... she's uh ... bisexual" Leah nodded, explaining, "and I mean, I'm not jealous, she's really cool and yeah ... I don't blame them. Funny enough she hasn't really been in many relationships though, I don't know why I'm talking about this, I'm sorry ..."
"Heh, it's fine, really" Justin shrugged, finding himself more and more comfortable with the chatty brunette as they continued their walk down the hallway, eventually coming to the exit of the academic building and emerging outside where it was a fairly nice day for mid-autumn. "You uh ... have some extra time?"
"I might..." Leah blushed, trying futitely to hide her growing grin, "why's that?"
"Thought maybe we could grab a bite?" Justin asked, sounding a bit shy himself now
"That would be cool, yeah" Leah replied with a friendly nod and a smile, hoisting her books up again to try to keep them in a manageable position, "may just ditch my stuff at my dorm first"
"But of course" Justin smiled.
It's funny how life works out sometimes, Justin would think to himself.
-----
There would be a knock on a door on the other side of campus after a hasty Lexi made her way down there, stopping at the dorm room of her friend Chrissy. The one who had been so kind as to provide her with a job opportunity, friendship and a decent pair of University official sweatpants.
There would be a long pause, to the point where Lexi considered her friend may not even be present, so she began to walk away before the door slowly would jar open.
"Lexi?" Chrissy asked, her voice sounding strained and tired. It wasn't immediately physically apparent but the signs were there that she had been crying. "I told you not to ..."
Lexi wouldn't let her friend go another word further without throwing herself into her for a hug, laying her head on the warm shoulder of the caring blonde.
"You have done so much for me already, Chrissy..." Lexi would murmur, talking into Chrissy's shoulder moreso than towards her ear, "and I could tell right away you needed me, so here I am..."
The more the hug lingered, the more Chrissy would find herself turning red, while also noticing how long Lexi clung to her. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the feeling was mutual in that regard, so rather than break off the hug, she simply let it go on for as long as Lexi wanted.
Lexi would finally take a deep breath, allowing herself to return to a more stable emotional space and continue the chat
"You said you think you know who did it?" Lexi asked, sounding suddenly deliberate. It was quite the change in tone from the consoling girl she was not even a moment ago
"Well yeah .. I mean, I THINK anyway..." Chrissy nodded, "...actually yeah, it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, now that I look at it"
"Who then?"
"...Gloria" Chrissy said, crossing her arms, seeming none too happy to be accusing her fellow cheerleader but also one could see the derision on her face, the anger and the feeling that she had been cheated and betrayed.
"What makes you think it was her?" Lexi asked
"She reeked of weed that day, and she had a blunt in the locker room ... not her first time either but I finally called her out on it and she might've ditched it in my jacket or backpack or ... something I don't know ... but it's not like I can prove it ..." Chrissy sighed
Lexi turned away, looking a bit miffed. She turned back towards Chrissy after thinking some.
"Where is she now?"
"Huh? W-Well why does that matter?" Chrissy asked
"Please hon, where do you think she could be?" Lexi asked
"Pr-Probably at practice but ..." Chrissy stammered, not certain if she followed
"Okay" Lexi nodded
"Wh-What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about that" Lexi would say, sounding more determined than she had all day. "We'll get this straightened out, don't you worry"
-----
Lexi had but 2 plans.
A direct approach, and if that didn't work, a more ... shifty approach. She hoped she wouldn't need to use the latter but she already had a feeling her "guilty conscience" act wouldn't work on somebody like Gloria Graff. She hadn't known the girl too too well but in their few meetings, she always came off as hostile. She expected that to be the case right now, especially as she made her way into the open auditorium to observe the cheer practice.
As she watched, she wasn't focusing too much on the actual technique. I mean, sure a couple of the girls were off on their points and a couple landings weren't quite stuck correctly but most of the girls seemed fine enough. That was irrelevant though, she found herself staring down Gloria from her spot in the bleachers, about 4 rows deep so not exactly hidden from view. Gloria took note of this too, and also noticed Lexi was wearing a purple tank top and a skirt with a goldish hue.
After practice concluded, Gloria was seemingly making a beeline towards where the locker rooms were but Lexi had other ideas, going over to meet her. Not wanting to seem like the weaker party, Gloria would reluctantly turn and meet Lexi halfway, imposing her height over the girl, of which she had about 7 inches more.
"Yes? Can I help you?" Gloria would sneer, looking down at Lexi in her wannabe cheer outfit, "You realize the tryouts are over, right?"
"And? I happen to like our school colors..." Lexi simply shrugged, hopelessly reluctant to reveal the real reason she had dressed that way.
"Okay, nice talk" Gloria replied dismissively, beginning to walk away before Lexi decided to just go for it.
"I know what you did to Chrissy" Lexi snapped
"What?"
"I know what you did ... heck, I can smell it now..." Lexi shook her head, detecting some hint of marijuana, although very faint.
"I .... don't know what you're talking about" Gloria sighed, rolling her eyes, "if you're still bitter about missing the team ..."
"No, actually I'm not bitter ... but I am upset that you would try to set up my friend and I assumed yours too, Chrissy, by putting a joint in her jacket pocket" Lexi snapped. She had been through hell the last 24 hours and had already lost one fight. She wasn't going to lose this one, in the fight for Chrissy's innocence. "So you can either come clean and make this right or ..."
"Or what?" Gloria growled, turning away again after briefly acknowledging Lexi. For a split second, it almost appeared as if she'd spit on the poor girl but she backed off, knowing an altercation would only make things worse for everyone. Instead she retreated into the locker room as per her original plan. "....yeah that's what I thought"
Lexi sighed and just shook her head as she watched Gloria leave. Plan B it is then.
------
"So what was all that with you not remembering the chemical compounds we needed?" Leah chuckled a bit, having a late lunch with her new colleague Justin Wright.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked
"Cmon ... I'm not buying your whole ... oh I don't know science ... routine" Leah shrugged, taking a long almost excessive sip of her strawberry milkshake as they sat.
"I'm telling you, I'm a relative noob" he chuckled
"Uh-huh ..." Leah giggled a bit, "Justin I saw some of your notes from before class started"
"What?"
"When we started the lab, you had some stuff written down, like quadratic formulas and that kinda shit" Leah said
"No, those were just ... those were just doodles" Justin said, although now he felt he had been busted
"Dude, if you're good at science, it's okay ... just ... just say it" Leah giggled, "what's the big mystery?"
"I don't know, okay?" Justin smirked, "I guess I was just going to ask you if you wanted to ... study sometime? Y'know, show me the ropes"
"Me ... show YOU the ropes... in science?" Leah asked in total disbelief, "yeah, okay ... dude if you wanna ask me out, just go for it"
"Okay" Justin shrugged, matter of fact, "Leah, will you go out with me?"
-----
"That Lexi girl has totally lost it..." Gloria scoffed, now in the locker room and chatting with the other girls as they wrapped up for the day.
"Are you still on her?" another girl would ask, "just let it go ... what do you have against her?"
"I had nothing against her..." Gloria replied, "until she started straight up accusing me of framing Chrissy"
After a long awkward pause, another girl softly said, "You .. did frame Chrissy..."
"What?" Gloria snapped
"I mean, we all know it" another girl said, "chill, we won't say anything but we saw you put the blunt in her jacket pocket"
"What are you ... ugh...." Gloria sighed, before flopping her arms back in defeat, "Okay fine, I put the stupid blunt in her jacket, serves her right for being holier than thou ... like she's never done anything wrong ..."
Another long pause followed before another girl chimed in,
"You know she's going to get in serious trouble for that, right?"
"And?" Gloria sighed, rolling her eyes, "she'll be fine, she'll just bat those baby blue eyes and her daddy or something will take care of that"
"That's super cruel, hon..."
"I don't know what to tell you ... not like I'm gonna do it again, but yeah I did it... so what?" Gloria scoffed, slamming her locker shut and walking away.
The sound of the locker slamming shut though wasn't the only thing heard, as the dead silence in the room allowed for pretty much any perceptable noise to reach human ears. It was at that moment the sound of plastic thudding was heard, reverbating ever so slightly.
The girls would all pause for a second to look for the sound but they'd give up after a few moments, exiting the room.
In the very corner of the room was a cell phone, flat on the ground. It blended in on the concrete with its silver sheen. But there was something unusual about this cell phone, moreso than its mere presence. It rattled and shook from below as if something, or someone was under it. Finally, the stifled Lexi overcame her "captor" and slipped out from underneath the phone, growing back to normal once she was sure the girls had left. She flipped over the phone and pressed the "Stop recording" button.
She'd let out a heavy sigh. She had what she needed and wanted to clear Chrissy's name ... but then why did she feel so bad about it?
-----
Finally, after a very tiring day, Lexi would return home, her energy levels no worse for wear as she came into the kitchen still wearing the purple and gold. Her dad would look her over and seem confused
"I thought you didn't make the cheer team" he noted
"I didn't ... I was just hanging out with some of the girls" Lexi shrugged, "wanted to ... yknow, blend in"
At this moment, her mom would enter the room, having just watched the evening news. "Whoa!" she'd yelp, stifling a reaction of surprise.
"Wh-What? Too much?" the bashful Lexi would shrug,
"No it's just ... that's crazy"
"What?"
"On the news, they were just saying, there was a break-in last night at Jackson's Jewelers... one of the criminals they identified as wearing almost that same outfit" Lexi's mom explained.
As Lexi's eyes widened and her heart raced, her parents were merely mildly amused by the sure coincidence.
"Isn't that weird how sometimes you talk about one thing and then it relates to another?" Lexi's dad would postulate.
"Yeah ... " Lexi thought to herself, "It's funny how life works out sometimes..."
Giantess World
