Two scenes: One unseen one, and one with a little bit more detail: Conner and James getting suspicious about boys and a scene with Lexi talking to her mom about Thaddeus:):):)

 

Scene where Conner and James find out about Adam and Thaddeus😊😊

“Hey, guys! How are you?” Lexi greeted, happy to talk to her brothers, one of whom she only got to talk to once a week. James smiled at Lexi.

“I’m doing alright. You?” he replied. Lexi couldn’t stop the mischievous little grin that came onto her face.

“Well, I actually have some news for you both,”

“Oh, right! The Nutcracker cast list! Is it out yet?” Conner asked. Lexi shook her head.

“No, it’s not. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about, though,” Lexi said.

“What is it then?” James wondered.

“Well,” Lexi began. “Someone just asked me to the homecoming dance.”

Conner’s and James’s eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates. “What?” Conner said, deadly serious. “Who is he? What is his name? Where does he live?”

Lexi snorted. “His name is Adam and I’m not sure where he lives,” she said.

“How old is he?” James asked. Lexi smiled at the question.

“He’s 17. And he thought I was cute.” she sighed dreamily. Conner and James exchanged looks.

“Too old!” James exclaimed.

“Is he cute?” Conner queried. Lexi grinned as she nibbled her bottom lip. “Uh oh. That was a lip bite. What does he look like?”

“He’s blonde with blue eyes and tan skin. And his muscles!” Lexi exclaimed, twirling a lock of her own blonde hair around her finger.

“Oh, no.” James muttered burying his face in his hands. “Why have you noticed his muscles, Lexi?”

“It’s kind of hard not to notice.” Lexi whispered, blushing.

“Lexi, you’re like, ten. You can’t have a date!” Conner exclaimed.

“Add five to that and I’ll get back to you.” Lexi replied sassily.

Conner ignored Lexi, instead turning to James. “I’ll kill him if you hide the body,” he suggested while Lexi raised her eyebrows.

“Deal.” James replied.

Now for the Thaddeus portion

“Hey, Lexi!” Conner greeted. “Mom told us about Adam. We were right to be suspicious, I hear.”

Lexi nodded, frowning. “Yeah. But I’m better without him.”

“Yes, we heard that part, too,” James muttered. Lexi smiled this time.

“But I bet you didn’t hear this part. Adam dumped me in the middle of the school day and Thaddeus heard about it and he went and confronted Adam about it,” she explained. Conner and James looked at each other.

“Thaddeus Hawthorne?” James asked. Lexi nodded.

“Yes, that one.”

“So, did he punch this, Adam?” Conner asked. Lexi shook her head.

“He almost did, but-“

“Hang on,” Conner interrupted. “He didn’t actually punch him?”

“Well, no, but he-“ Lexi began.

“What a wimp!” James exclaimed. Lexi grumbled.

“Would you let me finish? And don’t call him a wimp!” Lexi said, exasperated.

“Sorry. Yes,” James said.

“He helped me through what I was going through, and then he defended me. He likes me just as I am and I think I like him, too.” Lexi confessed.

“No, Lexi, do not rebound like that!” Conner commanded.

“I’m not!” Lexi said. “He doesn’t even know I like him yet. But prom is four weeks away and I asked him to go with me.”

“Pardon me? You’re going to prom with him?” Conner asked. Lexi nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

“Why, yes, I am,” she grinned. Conner and James exchanged a seemingly dark look with each other.

“What day is prom, Lexi?” Conner asked.

“May 23rd,” Lexi replied uncertainly. Conner and James smirked evilly.

“Excellent.” They said, sounding as though they were plotting something that no one knew.

“Should I be worried?” Lexi wondered, sounding she already was.

Conner and James only grinned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A scene between Lexi and her mom with a little more detail.

“Hey, Mom?” Lexi asked uncertainly, finally deciding to say out loud what had been praying on her mind for months. “I think Thaddeus might have a crush on me,”

Lexi’s mom, who was in the kitchen cooking a delicious strawberry soup, nodded without looking up. “He does.”

“What?” Lexi replied, almost not believing her mother. “I thought I was in over my head on this,”

“Trust me, you’re not,” her mom said, stirring the soup as if nothing new happened. “In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out sooner.”

“Excuse me?” Lexi sounded a little bit offended. “So, you’re saying a lot of people have noticed this?”

“Well, your friends have.” her mom replied, pouring some soup into a bowl.

“How long have you known?” Lexi said, sitting down at the table as her mom placed a bowl in front of her.

“Since the first day they came to see you. You walked out of the door and I saw Thaddeus see you again for the first time since however long it was since he had seen you and I saw the way he looked at you.”

“How did he look at me?” Lexi questioned in a soft tone, her breath catching at the last word.

“Like he had never seen anything beautiful in his life. You should have seen the way his eyes twinkled when he met your gaze. It was from that moment that I knew he wasn’t over his crush you. Maybe he didn’t even know yet himself, but I can tell you his heart sure did.” Lexi’s mom set two other bowls of strawberry soup on the table before sitting down across from Lexi.

“I don’t know what to say.” Lexi muttered, her eyes wide and downcast. For the first time in her life, she was at a loss for words. If there was one thing she did know, Adam had never looked at her like the way her mom told her Thaddeus had. “What do I do?”

“Well,” Lexi’s mom began. “Do you have feelings for him?”

“Um, I don’t know. We’ve always been just friends. It’s been really weird lately, though. Like I’m in this halfway between land of just liking him as a friend and maybe something more,” Lexi described nervously.

“Does Adam know about this?” her mom answered. Lexi shook her head vigorously.

“Oh, no, of course, not! Seeing is how I haven’t even defined what I’m feeling yet, he can’t know yet either,” she enlightened her mother.

“Well, have things with Adam been going well lately?” Lexi’s mom wondered, awaiting an answer, but Lexi wasn’t sure what that answer was. She hadn’t seen Adam- like actually spent time with him in a long while. She couldn’t even remember the last time they had spent time together. Lexi sighed and when she did, her mom’s stare at her became more intense. “Lexi? Is everything okay?”

“No,” admitted Lexi reluctantly. “Actually, they’re not okay.” Lexi told her mother everything and by the time she was done, her mother was wide-eyed and speechless.

“He’s been doing all that?” her mom sounded horrified, but she didn’t sound surprised. Lexi nodded, her face getting hot.

“I need to break up with him.” Lexi whispered and her mom nodded.

“I think that’s a great idea,” she agreed. Lexi felt relieved as she took a deep breath and let it out before her and her mom both took a spoonful of their soup and smiled at each other.

The next day, however, they both didn’t remember anything.