Scribbling furiously with her dull pencil, the young woman’s eyes brightened thinking of
the perfect lead to the first paragraph in her novel. Once it was on the paper in front of her, she
frowned, flipping the pencil over, attempting to use the stub of the eraser. There were far too
many things on the mind of Lexi Anderson at the present time to be concerned with writing her
own name much less her own novel.
The golden Adonis pop star, whom she called her best friend, was leaving her again.
The simple thought of it turned her stomach. After all, she would be all alone in the world once
he left her. It wasn’t that she couldn’t live without him there, but the world seemed brighter when
he was around. For her entire 20 years, Lexi had been a loner. Some would choose to call her
an outcast, a nerd, a dork, or whatever the slang terminology of the moment happened to be.
One hot and dry day in Tennessee, she had been walking her dog at the young age of
four, and there he was. Lexi shouldn’t have liked him from the start. All the other girls that were
her age thought that boys had cooties. Even at four, Lexi had been a very logical person, and
was smart enough to see past the ficticious childhood disease. After a few months had passed,
Justin and Lexi coalesced over the common bond of a love for cereal, and were inseparable
from then on.
The years had flown by as though they were minutes, Justin growing into a teen pop idol,
and Lexi- then there was Lexi. In the years that Justin had moved on to bigger and undoubtedly
better things, Lexi stayed the same. Same strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes that shimmered
like crystals and a soft smile which defined her features. Her voice did not waiver when she
spoke about something that sparked her interest, but when spoken to, she was extremely meek.
Sticking to the silent vow she made at the age of 13, she wore no makeup, and unintentionally
held no sense of fashion. Although never attaining more friends than Justin’s bandmates, Lexi
remained content with her life. An inner beauty shone through her unkempt exterior to a select
few. She was simply Lexi.
Glancing at her watch, she jerked her hand back away from her desk when she saw what
time it was, and at the realization that she was going to miss saying goodbye to him if she didn’t
hurry. Unintentionally, she knocked over her mug filled with now cold coffee. Muttering aloud,
she mopped the dripping coffee up with tissues, not noticing the large spot of coffee that she had
spilled on herself. Keys in hand, she set off towards Justin’s house, not looking forward to what
was coming.
A young blonde sat alongside Justin on his front porch as he awaited Lexi’s arrival. In a
nasally tone, the blonde snidely remarked, “She must not want to see you that bad, baby. I
mean.. she’s not even here on time.”
He cast his eyes downward at the girl next to him, a sharp tone in his voice, “Look
Amber.. She’ll be here. She probably got caught up doing something.”
“Evidently not with friends. I mean- you know she doesn’t have any of those. She’s
always clinging to your leg like a little puppy, Justin.” Amber responded, a catty undertone
evident. Rising from his seat, Justin said nothing as Amber continued on, noticing Lexi making
her way towards the porch. “Why don’t you just tell her Justin? Tell her it’s not cute anymore.
Tell her she needs to get a life and stop bothering you. I mean, after all, you are Justin
Timberlake.” Amber took note of Lexi, and yet again continued, “I mean.. she’s nothing Justin.
Just a regular nerd. She doesn’t deserve to be in your presence. Get rid of her already.”
Justin turned, sensing Lexi’s presence behind him. “Leeeeeex! There you are!” He
glared down at Amber, hoping Lexi was unable to hear the things Amber said.
Her voice came out hoarsely, “Hey Justin. I just wanted.. you know. Uh.. to say bye and
all.” Her eyes studied Amber, her hate-filled gray eyes, pouty lips, painted face, and sly smile.
Amber embodied everything in the world that Lexi disliked, but she didn’t have the heart to tell
Justin that. After all, Amber was his girlfriend. Lexi continued, “And yea.. I just.. uh.. I’ll.. see
you later. And, good luck.”
Sensing the fact that Amber made her nervous, Justin looked down to Amber, who was
playing with her golden locks, uninterested in any comments that Lexi had to make. “Hey, baby.
Can you go get your bags? I want to say goodbye to Lexi alone.”
“Can’t the driver, just get them, Justin? I mean.. I may like.. They may be too heavy.”
He rolled his eyes, and growled, “Go!”
An amused smirk on her face, she answered, “Yea, well sweetcakes. Just remember my
little piece of advice. People need to figure out when they aren’t wanted.” She paused to look at
Lexi, “And they need to figure out just when they don’t belong. And Lucy.. that’s just a quaint
little fashion you’re starting there with that lovely shade of brown on your white shirt.” Lexi
frowned, twisting her stained shirt in her hands. The heels of Amber’s shoes clicked loudly on
the porch as she walked to the door.
Ignoring what had just occured, Justin said softly, “You don’t have to be so shy around
her, Lexi. She is my girlfriend. She’s not going to bite you.”
Lexi looked away as she thought to herself, ‘Won’t bite me? No.. Not hard anyway.’
Studying Justin’s face, she cleared her throat loudly and then spoke, “I have to get back home. I
was in the middle of something. Just... take care of yourself out there Justin. I’m just a phone
call away if you need me. I do hope that you know that.”
He nodded slowly, then took her into his arms in a tight embrace, “I will. You take care
of yourself too, Lexi.” Her light scent filled his nose, his cologne overpowering her.
“Yea. I always do. Sing your heart out Justin.”
Before he could respond, the door slammed open, as Amber appeared. “Oh. How
quaint. I am sorry I missed this little moment.”
Lexi bent her head, and muttered, “Goodbye, Justin.” Without giving him another
glance, she turned and began to retreat down the driveway.
Softly, Justin answered, “Goodbye Lexi.. Goodbye.”
Justin saw it. He would have been blind not to. Lexi was falling away from him, and as
much as he tried to ease the transition, she didn’t fit into his world. It was unlikely to think that
she ever would. Lexi was a plain Jane, and she more likely than not always would be.
