Lucita sat on the sofa, legs crossed under her, reorganizing her nail polish case. She needed to toss out some of this junk, pulling out a dark blue color named “Midnight Oasis.” It was so dark it could be black, a slight change for her. She was just about to put on the first coat when someone knocked on the door, sending her heart hammering. Lucita took a deep breath, willing whoever it was to go away. She didn’t know why unexpected people made her heart race, but they did.

The knocking, however, persisted.

Scrunching up her face, she approached the door, standing on her tiptoes to look out the peephole, her glasses pressing against her face.

Throwing open the door, she glared at Matthew, standing there with a smug smile on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here, Matthew?”

“That’s not a nice way to greet someone you know.”

“I hate you. You hate me. So again, what are you doing here, Matthew?”

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Can I come in? It’s hot out here.”

“We live in Florida, it’s always hot.”

“Come on, just let me in.”

“Give me one good reason why I should.”

He looked away thoughtfully before offering her another sly smile, the left side of his lips quirking up. “Tiffany.”

Lucita’s blood froze. Adjusting her glasses on her face, she stepped aside. “Just get inside.”

“How very nice of you.”

Slamming the door shut behind him, she leaned against it, as far away from him as possible. He stepped in, appraising the place, reaching out to pet her cat that sat perched on the mini bar her mother had set up.

“Nice place. Cute cat.”

“Get on with it.”

He rolled his eyes, pulling out one of the stools to sit. “Tiffany called me the other day.”

“How the hell did she get your number?”

“She stole it off of Cyrus’s phone. She’s a little miffed that you didn’t make a complete ass of yourself and tell Cyrus who she was. So now she wants to fuck with you. Apparently, Cyrus told her all your business. Including the shit with your dad and your unstable mother.” His blue eyes bored into her, unflinching.

Lucita’s heart was racing. “Why would he do that?”

“She’s his girlfriend, and he’s an idiot. I love the guy, but it’s not his brightest moment. But don’t worry about it, I’ll handle that. Can I just ask, why didn’t you tell him it was her?”

Lucita looked away, hugging herself. Suddenly, she felt very small. “Because he wouldn’t have believed me.”

This time, he sighed as he moved his hand through his thick black locks. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He stood up, standing close to her. His axe body spray flew up her nose. “I’m here to help,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, “believe it or not.”

This time, she glared at him. He was too close, making her skin itch. “Why would I believe you?”

“Cause I’m not helping you for you. I’m doing it because I don’t particularly like seeing my oldest and best friend manipulated and playing with just to get back at you.” Matthew practically spit out the last part of that, the anger in his eyes reminding her of all the times he had bullied her.

“Is that what she said?”

“Pretty much,” he said, taking a step back, letting her breathe. “She claims to like him, but how can you really like someone you lie to? No, I don’t trust her and like her even less than you.”

“Well, that’s saying a lot isn’t it.”

“Enemy of my enemy, right? Isn’t that the saying?”

Lucita studied him, standing there, glaring at her. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“He’s my best friend.” There was something soft and sincere that made her want to trust him.

“Okay, what do you want to do?”

“I’ll pretend to be on her side. That’s the only way I can get enough information. In the meantime, I’ll make sure she keeps her information to herself. My advice? Block her number.”

“Okay. Is that all?”

“For now. I’ll just keep you in the loop. I’ll see about talking to Cyrus. I can’t tell him who she really is, but maybe I can create a wedge between them.”

“Do you think he’ll listen to you?”

“He usually does…where you’re not concerned.” He offered her a small smile.

Lucita smiled back at him. She was almost tempted to hug him. Almost.

“Okay. I’ll trust you.”

“Cool. I don’t know. Maybe if I can make Tiffany slip up, I can make him see her for who she really is.”

“You really think that will work?”

“It’s gonna be hard, not like I’m there, but I think I can make it work. He’s hung up on you anyway, even if he won’t admit it. I can use that to my advantage.”

“He’s not hung up on me.”

“Whatever you say. He tells me you have a boyfriend and doesn’t sound too happy about it. How’s that going, by the way.”

Lucita was not going to talk to him about her personal life. “Ugh, get out already.”

“So not good huh. No spark anymore? Man, still hung up on Cyrus. How long have you been dating this dude anyway?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but two months. I think. I haven’t been keeping track.”

“Wow.”

“What, wow?”

“Oh, nothing, just most girls count the days and months and celebrate every month. Then there’s you. I bet you remember the exact moment you set eyes on Cyrus.”

“Get out, Matthew.”

He touched his hand to his heart, feigning hurt. “Oh, did I ruin a moment between us? I really thought we were connecting. You know, becoming besties.”

“I said get out!” She pulled the door open and glared at him. Matthew winked at her on his way out. Lucita didn’t wait; the moment he stepped outside, she slammed the door, hoping it hit him in the butt. For a moment, she thought they could put the past behind them, but then he had to go and be an ass…again.

She threw her hands up in frustration and sat back on the sofa, looking at her nail polish. She wasn’t in the mood anymore. Lucita wanted to talk to someone about all this, but who? Definitely not Jason, but Elizabeth? She knew about the shit with her father, something she had kept from everyone else. She picked up the phone, dialing her number. Thank god for wireless landlines, she said, lying on the sofa. They were almost as good as cell phones.

Jason sat on Liz’s sofa, his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. They were watching a zombie movie. Which one, he couldn’t tell her. He hadn’t been paying attention when she put it on. Zombie movies weren’t really his thing, but he could deal with it to be with her.

“So, what’s going on?”

“He turned his girlfriend into a zombie.”

“Cool, cool.” Liz snuggled up to him, and he smiled. Then her cell rang, and his vibrated. Shit, not now, he thought.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Luci. I wonder what she wants. Pause the movie.” Jason grabbed the remote, pausing the movie. “Hey Luci, what’s up?”

Jason faintly listened to the conversation, pulling away slightly to check his phone. Of course, it was Amelia. He wasn’t stupid enough to think her timing was an accident.

“Seriously?” He heard Elizabeth say into the phone. “That girl is a skank. Yeah, I think for now, you have to trust Matthew.” She looked over at Jason, who waved at her. “Jason says hi, by the way. Yeah, it’s date night. No, don’t worry about it. We’re just watching a zombie movie. Yeah. Okay, see you tomorrow.” Liz hung up, returning to him, snuggling up close, her head on his shoulder. She smelled like shampoo, nothing special, but it was her, familiar. That’s what he liked about her. She was just Liz, all attitude, always down to earth.

She pressed play, snuggling up even closer to him.

“Hey Jason?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

The declaration caught him off guard, but he still smiled anyway. Tomorrow, tomorrow he would end things with Amelia. Turning his head, he kissed the top of her head. “I love you too, Amelia.”

Jason froze, and Liz stiffened next to him.

What the fuck?

“Liz. I love you, Liz.” His heart was racing as she pulled away. The look she gave him made his blood freeze. If looks could kill…

“No,” she began, her voice hard, unwavering, “you said Amelia.”

“Only because she just texted me so—”

“What did she text you?”

Why the hell had he said that. “Liz, come on, it’s nothing—”

“No, it’s not! You said her name! I told you I loved you, and you said someone else’s name. What did she text you?

“Liz—”

“Give me your phone. If it’s nothing, then you have nothing to worry about.”

“Liz, please—”

“Give me the damn phone, Jason.”

Jason shut his eyes and handed her his phone. She snatched it away from him, standing up to read his messages. He should have listened to Blake. He should have listened to Luci. He should have listened to everyone. Watching her scroll through his messages, seeing Amelia’s texts, her photos, he knew he had messed up.

“Elizabeth,” he said, using her full name.

“Get out.”

“Eliz—”

“Get out!” she screamed, throwing his phone at him. “I can’t believe you. All this time, I thought I had to be worried about Luci, but no, you were fucking some other girl. Oh my god.”

“It’s not—”

“No! I do not want to listen to you. Those are her tits in your messages. Her texts hitting you up for a Plan B pill. Her texts telling you to get condoms, that she loves you, that she can’t wait to see you tomorrow!”

“I was going to end things! I swear!”

“Oh my god, and you think that makes it better? Get out of my house. Now!”

Jason stared at her, her eyes filling with tears. He’d never seen her cry before, and knowing he was the reason broke him. Picking his phone off the floor where it had landed, he shoved it and his hands in his pocket.

“I’m sorry, Liz.” He turned and left, half tempted to throw his phone into the street.