“You have to tell her, Elizabeth,” said Lucita following her to class. Her bag was weighing her down, slowing her down. Why or why did she insist on carrying so many books?

“Not really.” Bag over her shoulder, she kept on one step ahead of her. Luci hated being the follower. She hated having to chase after someone.

“Liz, come on. You can’t keep that type of information from Becca. One, it’s not right. And two, it’s not fair to Vee. She’s taking all the blame. It should be split between all of you.”

“Says you.”

She resisted the urge to grab her arm and yank her back. “You knew. You could have said something. You could have said something to Vee to force her to be honest, or you could have popped the bubble yourself and said something to Becca. But, instead, you stayed silent too, so you’re also in the wrong.”

“I don’t really think so.”

Lucita heaved a sigh as they reached French class. “Why the hell are you being so difficult?” Elizabeth spun around so quickly that it frightened her. She should know better than to be caught off guard. After all, she knew better than most that anyone could be violent.

“In my opinion, I am not being difficult. In fact⸻”

“Not mine,” said Lucita interrupting her. Elizabeth shot her an irritated look. Lucita rolled her eyes in response.

“Silvia could’ve and should’ve told her. She had so many chances to say something. But you know what, even before they started dating, she should have had the common courtesy to talk about her feelings with Becca. So really, Lucita, don’t feed me any bullshit.” Elizabeth turned her back to her and headed into class. Lucita sucked in the side of her mouth and clicked her tongue against it, making a clicking sound.

She hated that Liz was right. But what happened happened. The only thing that could make everything better would be for Becca to know the whole truth, not just snippets.

This was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. Lucita flipped open her phone and sent a quick text to Cyrus.

Cyrus sat in class, taking notes, when his phone vibrated. Looking up briefly, he made sure the teacher was not paying attention when he slipped it out. Cyrus had a feeling what it was about, and when he saw Luci’s name pop up, his suspicions were all but confirmed. He had told her to stay out of it, but she had ignored him and stuck her nose in it, as always. A small part of him admired it that about her.

Cyrus read her text and let out a breath. What the hell kind of mess did she get herself into? What kind of messed up people did she get involved with? He sent her a quick text to call him during her lunch period. Right now, he had to think of a way to help because, like an idiot, he had promised he would.

Lucita really hoped that Cyrus would be able to help. She was getting nowhere with Liz, and after promising Silvia she would help, she was beginning to feel like a failure.

Picking at her freshly done gunmetal silver nails, she looked at Liz, whose stubbornness was beginning to seriously piss her off. Liz had a point, but so did she. Liz could have said something to any of them and chose not to.

She tapped her pencil’s eraser against her half-done test in French test, unable to concentrate. She looked down at the test, and her mind froze up. Dammit, she thought, she shouldn’t get so caught up in other people’s drama.

She wrapped her mind around her test and finished it with ten minutes to spare. God, she hoped she hadn’t fucked it all up. As the bell rang, she gathered her stuff together and headed outside to wait for Liz, who was finishing up her test. Outside, she waited for Elizabeth and ran into Silvia.

“Did she say anything?”

Lucita shook her head. “No, sorry, she doesn’t think that she’s wrong to not say anything. On the contrary, she believes, strongly I might add, that you should have told her.”

“She’s full of—”

“Don’t, Vee. She’s got a point. You should have said something.”

“Seriously, everyone sounds like a broken record.”

“Really? Does anyone even use that saying anymore?”

“What are you, the quoting police.” Okay, that was lame.

“I like to think of myself as the grammar police, but who knows what I am. For all we know, I could just be someone you thought up. But, on the other hand, you could be asleep, which could be some twisted nightmare for you.”

“You’re insane.”

Lucita offered her a sly smile. “I know.”

Silvia stared at Lucita. One minute she was completely normal (and sane). The next moment, she was completely nuts.

“Okay, I’m going to class. Later.”

Lucita laughed. “Man, I’ve totally got you freaked.” She stopped laughing abruptly and looked over Silvia’s shoulder. “Gotta go myself. Hey, seriously, though, try talking to Liz yourself.” Lucita waved goodbye and ran out the double doors and down the stairs. Silvia turned around and was face to face with Elizabeth, who gave her a cold, empty look.

“No hi?”

“Let’s walk to class.” Elizabeth walked on past her, and Silvia followed her closely. They had the next class together anyway. Silvia tried to form her thought in her head, but nothing connected. Calm thoughts, she told herself (not that it was working).

“So you knew?”

“Yeah, I knew.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought you would.”

“And when I didn’t?”

“You should have.”

“So should you.”

“I didn’t have an obligation to.”

“No obligation!”

“Yes, no obligation. I’m her friend, yeah, but I never intended for you two to start dating. I was hoping he would be a jerk, you would tell Becca, and that would be the end of it.”

“So you should have told me something! At the very least!”

“Maybe. Whatever. This is your mess. You clean it up. Stop getting Luci and me to clean it up.” Silvia stopped briefly and watched as Elizabeth continued on her way. Silvia couldn’t believe that she was friends with her. Elizabeth didn’t care. This proved it.

“And he calls me selfish.”

Lucita sat at lunch, waiting for Cyrus to call. Luckily, she managed to get Jason to cooperate with her and come along to eat lunch with her. She just hoped that Silvia would hurry up.

“Do you not like me, Jason?”

“I think you’re full of yourself.”

“Really? Hmm, and to think I’ve never had any acting classes.”

“So what, you aren’t full of yourself?”

Lucita eyes him deadly. “You think I’m transparent, but I’m not. I’m a far more convoluted person than you give me credit for.”

“Why don’t I believe you.”

“Because you’re more convoluted than I thought.”

“Isn’t everyone?”

“Oo, is this an intellectual conversation, I sense?”

“Guess you’re more opaque than I thought.”

“Some people are very transparent. I am not one of them.”

He sighed and, to Lucita’s surprise, smiled. “So when is your friend gonna call?”

“Hopefully—” Her phone vibrated, and she smiled. “Speak of the devil. Hello Cyrus.”

“You are surrounded by some pretty messed up people. Did you know that?”

“I’m beginning to notice, so help, please.”

She heard him sigh. “So that girl Elizabeth won’t say anything?”

“No, but I’ve got a friend here who also knew and is willing to say something.”

“Well, that’s something. You need Elizabeth to say something as things are. It doesn’t seem like Rebecca will believe a word from your mouth.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve got that part down, Cyrus.”

“Why the hell did you get involved? I told you not to get involved.”

“Because I’m a semi-good person.”

“Keyword there being semi.” She heard him sigh again. “Somehow, you have to get Becca to overhear Elizabeth pretty much admitting to everything.”

“Um, okay, that’s easier said than done.”

“Well, duh Lucita, everything is easier said than done.”

Lucita groaned. “Hate it. Okay, you go eat lunch, and in the meantime, I’ll try to think of something.”

“‘Kay later Lu.” He hung up, and she looked around at Jason, who was staring at her, waiting for news.

“We need a plan.”

“What are we going to do.”

“Well, it’s obvious that neither Elizabeth nor Rebecca will listen to reason. So Cyrus told me to get Becca to overhear Elizabeth admitting everything.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“I have no clue.”

The stairwell door opened, and Silvia stepped through her face solemnly dark. She set down her tray and let herself drop to the ground, defeated.

“Elizabeth won’t say a thing.”

“Yeah, Jason and I kind of figured.”

“Has Cyrus called yet?”

“We just hung up.”

“What did he say?”

“We need to get Elizabeth to admit to everything, and Rebecca needs to overhear it. All of it.

“How are we going to manage that? They aren’t stupid.” Lucita shrugged. She didn’t have a clue.

“I think I may have an idea,” suggested Jason.

“What?”

“Blake is having a St. Patrick’s day party in two days. I’ll get Elizabeth to talk. One of you will need to make sure that Becca hears.”

“What makes you think Blake will invite us,” said Lucita feeling stupid at the question.

“He’ll invite you, don’t worry.”