Alexa didn't expect Shay to respond to her nasty text by begging for her forgiveness. She was not that delusional. Still, she wasn't prepared for the message that appeared on her phone shortly after she sent hers off. She read it once, twice and three times, and with each time her eyes roved over the bitter words, she decided she hated her sister even more. By the time that she tried to read it a fourth time, her eyes were too blurry with tears that she didn't want to be falling. She was mad at Shay, for sure. Her sister had clearly done something with Carson for the media to find out about it, and she knew that picture had been taken after Alexandra had confessed to Shay about Carson. The timeline of yesterday made that inevitable. Even if Shay was right and Carson never wanted her, which Alexandra was back to refusing to believe to be true, what kind of sister did it make Shay to go after him when at that point, Alexandra might have still thought she loved him. Tinashé couldn't read her mind though, and Alexandra had not made it clear that she did like Carson. Hell, she hadn't even made it clear whether she really did or did not sleep with him! That didn't stop Alexandra from mentally crucifying Shay though. Tinashé couldn't believe that she was mad at her, and yeah, the comments relating to Owen were true, but she was ready to blame this whole night on her sister. If Carson and Shay hadn't been all over each other, Alexandra wouldn't have tried to recapture Carson's attention, Owen wouldn't have pulled her aside and she never would have confessed on him. That reasoning, as twisted and faulted as it was, allowed her to point the blame back at Shay.
Her first response to Shay was another impulsive and petty one. One that she used far too often when she had nothing better to say but still wanted to get a word into the argument. It was provocative and depending on the mood the person on the receiving end was in, she could usually get a heated response. However, she couldn't just leave their conversation at that. Not with the way Shay had spoken to her as if she was in the wrong!
To: Shay
Cry about it :(
To: Shay
And FYI I do remember it. At least in my case it was when I was 18 and not what???? 13 or 14 like you
She pulled the second text out of thin air, completely making up the claim that Shay had lost her virginity at that age but if she was going to pin her as a slut, she had to do it well. Shay had had a reputation of relishing in one night stands for years, anyway. How far off could she be? Tinashé's text had struck a nerve in her because she knew that everything her sister said was right, but wouldn't admit that. She needed one more text to make her response just as powerful as her sister's...
Before she could send a final message, the voices of the paparazzi got louder as the two front doors of the car opened and then shut, with Owen's slamming louder than necessary. She set her phone down beside her, knowing that she was about to be cut down by her other sibling now too. Shay's message seemed peachy compared to Owen's booming voice. She was now sure that she had never seen him this angry before. He was being condescending and sarcastic and ruthless. She didn't dare to open her mouth and give a smart ass comment similar to the ones she had sent to Shay behind the confidence of her phone screen. Instead, she tried to stifle back the tears that sobs forming in her chest and the tears in her eyes. She wasn't as affected by Owen's words as much as she was by Shay's but she never did well with being screamed at, and especially not in a space like this, where there was no where to run. She knew that Owen was going to get his anger out verbally rather than physically now, but with the way the veins on the side of his neck seemed to be bulging, she wasn't going to test it. She was going to take his tirade with her face buried in her knees because nothing that she could say would do anything but worsen it. However, that wasn't the case with Ariana, apparently. As soon as the brunette jumped to Alexandra's defense (or maybe not so much to defend her but to shut Owen down), her brother became the silent one. The rest of the car ride, in fact, was filled silence. The sharp tension was still there but at least Owen was no longer tearing her to pieces.
She would have to thank Ariana for jumping in at some point, but when the car slowed to a stop, Alexa decided that that time was not now. She took the opportunity and bolted from the car, hurrying into the house, upstairs and into her room. She had half a mind to stop in Shay's and break everything in sight, but she was drained and exhausted and in the back of her mind, she knew that Shay was the last person who deserved anymore of her anger.