"Yeah, but...is it an excuse? Really? 'Cause Rue has lied to me, to Jules, to her family so many times, it's hard to guess where Rue begins and the lies end." Because Rue had said time after time that she was sober, that she wasn't doing anything. Only for those words to turn out to be total lies. And the last thing she knew, Rue said she was doing only pot, which Lexi knew was bullshit.

And Lexi had given up on explaining her own comparatively mild issues with mental health given that so many others seemed to have it so much worse and what was Lexi upset about anyway? A little sibling rivalry and being abandoned by her dad? Who didn't have those things to deal with?

And Lexi drew Luz's hand closely, hugging it to herself.

"I--well, I know you have a lot of friends here before you met me. So I get it. The putting yourself out for them," so Lexi didn't want her to be holding Luz back in any way, shape, or form. Just know that Lexi had her back.

That made happy tears well up in Lexi's eyes. "Really? So I wasn't making a total idiot of myself?"

And Lexi laughed, "No, I don't. Unless it's supposed to be a 'Children of the Corn' reference? Seriously? A bad movie I haven't watched? Seriously?"

That made Lexi caress Luz's cheek. "You're not the only one. Even the crushes I had who were into girls chose other girls before looking at me."

But..."An effect? I almost feel like the description label of an anti-histamine," Lexi said with a grin.

"And...I'm the same. I had a crush on Rue since I was a kid, but she never saw me that way. Even after years--a decade--had passed, Rue saw me as her trusty friend, Lexi, the one who'd always be there to pee in a cup so Rue could cheat a drug test or take extensive notes in the classes we shared so Rue could have them, too. Good ol' Lexi, right? More like good ol' Yeller, complete with the depressing ending." Rue couldn't help but be self-deprecating, given the subject. For years, she'd thought that Rue would wake up and see what was right in front of her. Lexi was wrong.

And the same could be said for Luz, even though Luz depended upon her outer abilities rather than her blood ones.

Lexi winced, too. "I can't give it up, either, not completely. Though the whole 'no shellfish' rule is putting a serious harsh on my vibe." But anyway, as long as Luz didn't keep kosher or halal, no one should mind.

Reluctantly, Lexi said "I know. I know you are. But the messing with others' heads thing? Is kinda violent by nature. I mean, how to you carefully mess with the perceptions of others?"

Giving a minute~~

"Okay. I'll take that as a description and not whine too much. Only a little. Meaning, how on earth did I get that name?"

And Lexi giggled as well. "oh, oh, oh, you're asking me to bring up the really obscure shit, aren't you?"