Chapter 4 Lexi
Lexi
The cafeteria’s packed—families clustering around tables with paper plates piled high, parents snapping photos, freshmen laughing too loud to cover their nerves.
I wish I could have a functional family, but that dream left me years ago.
Thea doesn’t have the same story as me, but she doesn’t have her family, so we stick together.
We are each other’s family now. The fluorescent lights buzz overhead, casting everything in that harsh white glow that makes everyone look slightly sick.
Thea and I claim a corner table near the windows, away from the chaos. She’s already demolished half a burger, ketchup smeared at the corner of her mouth.
“Is your roommate weird?” she asks, wiping her face with a napkin.
I stab at my salad. “Scarlett? She’s... fine. Just really quiet. Like, unnaturally quiet. She organized her entire side of the room by color.”
Thea snorts. “Color? Like a fucking rainbow?”
“No, like... beige to white. It’s depressing.”
“Jesus.” She shakes her head, takes another bite. “Mine won’t shut up. Constant TikToks. Constant boy drama. She’s already crying over some guy from her high school who ‘doesn’t text back fast enough.’“ She does air quotes with her fingers. “I’m gonna lose my mind.”
I laugh despite myself. “Maybe we should just request to bunk together and start chaos.”
Thea’s eyes light up. “Honestly? Let’s do it. A whole year without you is going to suck.”
“You think housing will let us switch?”
“They have to. It’s a mental health emergency.” She grins, leans back in her chair. “We’ll tell them we’re co-dependent or some shit. Make it sound serious.”
“We are co-dependent.”
“Exactly.”
We clink our water bottles together like champagne glasses, and for a moment, everything feels light. Easy. Like maybe this whole college thing is going to work out.
The cafeteria door slams open.
The sound cuts through the noise like a gunshot. Everyone turns.
My heart races when I notice none other than my fucking brother.
The asshole who’s been ignoring me. Axel stands in the doorway, backlit by the hallway lights.
His hoodie is ripped at the shoulder, hanging loose.
One eye is swollen, puffy and dark, the skin around it turning purple.
His lip is split, still bleeding, blood smeared across his jaw and down his neck.
He looks like a fight walked through him and didn’t bother to end.
My fork clatters to the plate.
“Oh shit,” Thea mutters.
I stand so fast my chair topples backward, hits the tile with a crack that makes half the cafeteria flinch.
“Axel—” His name catches in my throat. What on earth happened to him?
He doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t even glance in my direction. He’s scanning the room like he’s looking for someone, his jaw tight, fists clenched at his sides.
“What the fuck, Ax?” I’m moving before I realize it, weaving through tables, past confused parents and gawking students. My heart races, wondering what the hell happened to my brother. It looks like he got jumped by a bunch of guys.
He still doesn’t acknowledge me. Just keeps walking, heading toward the back of the cafeteria where a group of guys are sitting.
I catch up, grab his arm. “Axel!”
He jerks away so hard I stumble. My nails scrape against his sleeve, catching on the torn fabric.
“What the hell happened?” My voice is too loud, too shrill. I can hear it echoing throughout the place.
He turns. Finally. But the look on his face makes me wish he hadn’t.
His eyes are steel. Cold. Empty.
He’s high.
“Don’t fucking talk to me,” he seethes.
The whole cafeteria goes quiet. I can feel every pair of eyes on us, hear the whispers starting, see phones lifting.
My face burns. My heart tears a little more down the middle. “What’re you talking about?”
He steps closer, close enough that I can smell the copper tang of blood, the sweat soaked into his hoodie. He smells so bad. His voice drops low, just for me.
“You don’t want a target on your back. So don’t call, don’t text, don’t even look at me.”
I flinch, anger mixing with fear as I really look at him. Shit, I didn’t know he wasn’t doing good. “What’s going on?”
He starts to walk away.
“Ax—”
“Leave it, Lexi.”
“Is it money?” The question bursts out before I can stop it.
He freezes. His shoulders go rigid.
The cafeteria is still silent. Watching. Waiting.
“Grandma—”
He spins so fast I step back. His voice is low but venomous, every word a blade. “Give it to me.”
I stumble, my heel catching on the leg of a chair. “What?”
“The money. Give it to me.”
My chest tightens. I’m staring at him, but all I can see is Dad. The same eyes. The same expression—that look he’d get right before his fist came up, right before everything shattered.
Axel used to stand between me and Dad. Now he looks like him. He’s approaching me like him. My chest starts to hurt seeing him like this. This wasn’t the plan when I pointed my entire life to this college just to be near him, rekindle our lost relationship.
Thea appears at my side, tense, ready to step in. But I shake my head. This is my brother. My mess.
“Axel, tell me what’s—”
“Now, Lexi.”
I feel the tears building, hot and humiliating in my eyes. “I don’t have it on me.”
“Then let’s go get it.”
He turns and walks out. The door slams behind him, and the noise in the cafeteria slowly returns—whispers, nervous laughter, the scrape of chairs.
I stand there, frozen, until Thea grabs my hand.
“Lex. Come on.”
We speed-walk across campus, past groups of freshmen carrying boxes, past parents loading cars, past everything that’s supposed to be normal. Thea’s muttering under her breath, a stream of “what the fuck” and “are you kidding me” that I can barely process.
My jaw is so tight it hurts. “ I thought things were going to be different.”
“Maybe he just—”
“Don’t.” I shake my head. “Don’t make excuses for him. Did you see him? Someone beat him, and he’s fucking high! I’m sick to my stomach right now.”
We reach my dorm. I fumble with my key, hands shaking, and finally get the door open.
Scarlett is at her desk, headphones on, typing on her laptop. She looks up, startled, as I storm in and throw open my dresser drawer.
The envelope is where I left it, tucked under a stack of folded shirts. I grab it, feel the thickness of it in my hands, and something in my chest cracks.
This was supposed to be emergency money. Textbooks. Food. Surviving.
The door bangs open.
Axel.
He doesn’t knock. Doesn’t ask. Just walks in like he owns the space.
“Give it to me.”
Scarlett stands, pulls her headphones off. “Um, excuse me—”
“Out,” Axel snaps.
She glances at me, terrified, and then grabs her laptop and bolts.
I’m clutching the envelope so hard it crumples. “You’re not even going to count it? Just take what you need?”
He crosses the room in three strides, rips it from my hand. Just shoves the envelope into his pocket and turns toward the door.
My shock hardens into rage.
“Are you fucking serious, Axel?”
He doesn’t answer. Just opens the door and slams it behind him.
Asshole!
I storm after him, Thea right behind me. We bolt down the hall, past open doors where people are peeking out, confused and scared.
“You’re just like Dad!” I scream after him as he hits the stairwell. “It’s fucking sickening!”
He spins on the landing, nostrils flaring. His face is a mask of fury.
“Shut the fuck up! I need this money more than you do!”
“For what?” I’m at the top of the stairs now, gripping the railing. “To pay for your fucking drugs?”
He hesitates. Just for a second. His fists clench at his side, jaw twitching as he looks up at me.
I see it. That flash of restraint. He wants to hit me.
The silence stretches, thick and suffocating.
Then he spits the words like acid. “Welcome to West Pointe.”
My breath catches. “I came here for my brother, but he’s not here, is he?” I point at my head, jab my finger twice on my temple.
He stares at me for a long moment. Then his face goes blank.
“Then you made a big fucking mistake.”
He continues down the stairs.
“Axel—”
He pauses, halfway down, doesn’t turn around. “Pretend you don’t know me. It’s for your safety.”
The door slams. The echo bounces through the stairwell, violent and final.
I stand there, breathing hard, cheeks burning. My hands are shaking. Everything is shaking.
Thea’s hand finds my shoulder. “Lex...”
I shake my head. The tears break, hot and furious, spilling down my cheeks.
We stare at each other for a beat. The kind of look that says we’re not dropping this.
I turn and run back to my room. Scarlett is still gone, probably hiding somewhere. I grab a hoodie from my closet, throw another at Thea.
“Come on.”
She catches it, pulls it on without question. “Where are we going?”
“After him.”
Thea grins—wild, reckless, the same grin she had when we snuck out junior year to crash a college party. “Now we’re talking.”
We slip out into the night.
The campus has settled down now. The families that were out ten minutes ago are gone, the cars packed and driving away. I guess they were all saying their goodbyes. Students are settling into their dorms, unpacking, probably nervous about classes starting. I would love to have normal problems.
We stay in the shadows, following the path Axel took. He’s ahead of us, maybe fifty yards, moving fast but not running. His hoodie is pulled up, hands shoved in his pockets.
Streetlights flicker overhead, casting long shadows that stretch and twist. The air is cold, biting, the kind that makes your breath fog.
He heads toward the rink.
The building looms at the edge of campus, dark and hulking. The lights are off. No one should be there this late.
But Axel doesn’t hesitate. He cuts across the parking lot, past the main entrance, toward the back.
Thea grabs my arm, whispers, “Lex, this is a bad idea.”
“I know.”
“We should go back.”
“Fuck no.”
I keep walking, keep following, because if I don’t do this now, I’ll lose him. I’ll lose the only family I have left.
We reach the edge of the parking lot, crouch behind a car.
Axel disappears around the corner of the building, into the service alley.
I came here to save him. And I won’t let him throw his life away like our parents did.
I take a breath. Stand.
Thea grabs my wrist. “Lexi—”
“Stay here.”
“Like hell.”
We move together, silent, creeping along the brick wall. The alley is narrow, dark, lit only by a single streetlamp that buzzes and flickers.
Voices.
I freeze, press my back against the wall. Thea does the same.
“—the fuck did you get this that fast?”
The voice is cold. Flat. Not Axel’s.
“It won’t happen again—”
That’s Axel. He sounds desperate, scared.
“Sorry doesn’t pay debts. This isn’t even all of it.”
There’s a sound—flesh on flesh, a grunt of pain. I flinch.
Thea’s hand finds mine, squeezes hard.
“Please—”
“Time’s up.”
Another sound. A body hitting the ground.
I can’t breathe. Can’t move. Can’t think.
Thea pulls me back, whispers urgently, “We need to go. Now.”
But I can’t. I can’t leave him.
I peer around the corner.
Axel is on the ground, curled on his side. Blood drips from his nose, pools on the concrete. A guy stands over him—tall, broad, built like he could break someone in half without trying.
He’s holding Axel’s phone. Scrolling through it.
“Lexi stopped texting and calling.” The guy’s voice is casual, curious. “This envelope hers? Is she your whore?”
Axel is in too much pain to answer.
The guy crouches down, grabs Axel by the hair, yanks his head up. “I asked you a question.”
“My sister,” Axel chokes out. “She’s—she’s nobody. Leave her alone.”
The guy smirks. “Your sister is a nobody, huh?” He flicks through the money. “This doesn’t seem like a nobody if she’s bailing you out with all this cash.”
He stands, throws down the phone, and looks down at Axel like he’s garbage.
“You’ve got until tomorrow to come up with the rest. Same time. Same place. And if you’re short again...” He lets the threat hang, unfinished.
Then he walks away. Just like that. Into the shadows.
I wait until his footsteps fade, until the alley is silent except for Axel’s ragged breathing.
Then I step out.
Axel is still on the ground, trying to push himself up. His face is a mess—blood everywhere, one eye swollen shut now.
“Axel—”
He sees me. His face goes white.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I followed you.”
“Jesus Christ, Lex—” He stands, wobbles, catches himself against the wall. “You need to leave. Now.”
“Who was that?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does—”
“Go!” He shoves me. Not hard, but enough to make me stumble. “Get the fuck out of here before he comes back!”
Thea grabs my arm, pulls me backward. “Lex, we have to go.”
Axel is staring at me, his face twisted with fear, rage, and desperation.
“Pretend you don’t know me,” he says again, quieter this time. He’s pleading. “Please.”
Then he turns and runs. Disappears into the dark.
I stand there, frozen, until Thea drags me away.
We don’t talk on the walk back. Don’t say a word until we’re inside my dorm, door locked, lights off.
I sit on the floor, back against the bed, and finally let myself break.
Thea sits beside me, wraps an arm around my shoulders, and doesn’t say anything.
Because what is there to say?
My brother is in trouble. Deep, dangerous, life-threatening trouble.
And I have no idea how to save him.
But I’m going to try.