The Diary of Lexi Ashford (Lexi Ashford: Part One) Read Online Free Page B

already and tell me before I decide to go get some excitement from a muffin.”
    Shaking his head, Flynn chuckles as he walks into the bedroom.
    I grin at a frowning Sophie. “Well, at least he thinks I’m funny.”
    She sighs, but then a smile lights up her face as she sticks out her hand. “Flynn just proposed, and I said yes!” She waggles her fingers, causing the huge-ass diamond to shimmer. “We’re engaged!”
    “Holy shit!” I throw my arms around her and hug her tightly. “I’m so happy for you!”
    I tell myself not to cry, but tears start to stream down my face. Sophie, who’s not a crier at all, calls me a baby, but then she ends up crying, too. She laughs through her tears, completely happy as she babbles on about their wedding plans, how they’re getting a bigger place just outside of the city, and how she wants me to be her Maid of Honor.
    I’m so happy for her. I really am. But deep down, some of my tears are coming from the fact that reality is crashing down on me. I’m so screwed. I know I am.
    Not only does it feel like I’m losing my best friend, but if I don’t get a job that will pay the bills soon, I’m going to have to return to the place I ran away from almost eight years ago, even though I swore I’d never go back.

Chapter 4
     
    Two weeks later, the inevitable happens. After getting a job at a fast food place, along with a second job at a grocery store, I still can’t make rent, and my bank account is still being looked into. I have no choice but to call my parents and tell them I’m coming home for a bit. Then, with a heavy heart, I pack up my stuff.
    “Good-bye, sink. Good-bye, floor. Good-bye, couch. You were an ugly, little bastard, but I’ll miss all the drunken talks we had. You were such a great listener.” I pat the couch and step back to give a pageant wave to my apartment, opting to keep the humor going; otherwise, I’m going to lose my shit. “Good-bye, all.”
    “You’re taking this surprisingly well,” Sophie says as she checks around for any remaining boxes.
    Since most of the furniture came with the place, there isn’t a whole lot, just enough boxes and bags to fill up the trunk, the backseat, and the passenger side of my car. It makes me sad that I don’t own much of anything.
    Mental note to self: When I get my life back on track, start buying my own furniture.
    “You know me.” I let my hand fall to my side. “I’d rather laugh until my problems become so much I have a meltdown. Remember the summer of 2014?”
    She shudders as she moves up beside me. “How could I forget?”
    How could anyone forget the summer of 2014? I had found out my then boyfriend, whom I thought I was in love with, was cheating on me. I pretended not to care for almost two months straight, but then, around July, all shit hit the roof after I spotted him one day in a café drinking coffee with the woman he cheated on me with. She was pretty, too: tall, curvy, with perfect hair and flawless skin.
    I ran in and sobbed that I missed him and that I still loved him. Then I pathetically added, “You can’t say that you still don’t love me. I know you do.”
    He looked around at the people gawking at us and his cheeks reddened. “Lexi, we had fun and everything, but that was it. You’re cool and all, but you’re kind of a walking disaster.”
    Okay, I was kind of a disaster—still am—but cool ? That word is the bane of my existence and something snapped inside me.
    I threw his coffee in his face then ran back to my place, locked myself in the bathroom with a bottle of vodka, blaring, “I’m Not Okay” by My Chemical Romance over and over again. I stayed that way for two whole days, which wouldn’t have been that bad except I had roommates. Finally, Sophie had Flynn pick the lock so she could get inside and drag me out of my funk.
    “But I’m not okay,” I drunkenly whined as she dragged me to my feet. “Listen to the song. It knows what I’m talking about.”
    “I