Luci, Becca, Blake, Jason, Olivia, and Silvia got ready at Blake’s place. He had two older sisters who gathered the girls and offered them their expertise.

“I’m the one in beauty school, let me,” said Isabella, his older sister, who was in her third and final year of beauty school.

Blake rolled his eyes and fixed the bow tie he had gotten to go with his suit.

“Shit is like fucking prom,” he muttered.

“Aren’t you a sour bag?”

Blake looked up at Olivia, making her way to him. “You know your tie is crooked.”

“Yeah, I’m trying—”

“Here, let me.” She sauntered into his room, undoing the bow and fixing it for him.

“Thank you.”

“Are you homophobic?”

The question was like a slap, catching him off guard. “What? No! Why—”

“Then why do you glare at me so much? You don’t seem to like seeing me together with Silvia.”

Blake grimaced. “That—look, that has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, okay. So you’re just jealous?”

“Olive—”

“I’m okay with that,” she said, waving him off. “Homophobia, not so much. Just wanted to clear the air.”

“Olive—”

“It’s okay, I get it. Vee is pretty great.”

“Olivia, can you shut up for a moment and let me talk?”

“I’m done anyway.” She stepped away, letting him glimpse the perfect bowtie he now had. “Olive, I just, yeah, I’m jealous, but I get it, okay. I get why you’re together. And Silvia deserves you —someone good and decent. I’m just…I’m mad I couldn’t be that person.”

“So you’re really mad at yourself?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I guess. That okay?”

“That’s fine. Just, can you be nicer? My ex was a bit of a bitch, and I really want this to work with Vee—”

“Who’s your ex?”

Olivia looked away, biting her lower lip, her earlier confidence shrinking. Her voice was so low that Blake barely caught her when she said it. “Evie.”

“No fucking way.” Not Evie, not the girl who was responsible for so much shit last year, the same girl he used to make out with in the hallways Freshman year.

“I haven’t told Vee yet, so please don’t say anything. But Evie…she hurt me physically. She’s not a good person, but I know she’s going to do something. She always wants to make everyone around her miserable. Really, I just need you, all of you, to be my friend.”

She was wringing her hands together in front of her. Blake grabbed them in his hand, holding them gently.

“Hey, look at me.” Her big eyes met his, her lower lip quivering. “I am your friend. We’re all your friends. None of us will let that bitch hurt you or ruin your relationship. I won’t let it happen. But you have to tell Vee about Evie.”

“I’m scared. I mean, after everything last year…we were still together at the start of all of it. What if Silvia doesn’t want me anymore?”

“None of that is going to matter to Silvia. I promise you. You know, here, sometimes she’s too good to be true.” He took a deep breath, stepping away. “Look, I’ll get my shit together, I promise. I’ll be there for you, no matter what. I promise.”

“Okay.” She sniffled. “Thank you.”

He studied her for a moment. “Do you really think Evie is going to do something?”

“Yes. She’s horrible.”

“What did she do?”

Olivia pulled her hands away from Blake’s. “I don’t want to talk about it, Blake.” She glared at him, and Blake threw up his hands in defense.

“You’ve been taking glaring lessons from Luci.”

“Yeah. She looks pretty deadly sometimes. Don’t tell her, but sometimes she scares me.”

“Yeah, agreed.” They were standing together like that, smiling, when Silvia appeared in his doorway.

“Hey, I was looking for you,” said Silvia, her hair in a long braid draped over her shoulder. She grabbed Olivia’s hand and pulled her in for a kiss.

“Blake needed help with his tie.”

Silvia looked over at him, eyebrows scrunched together. Blake just shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Bowties are hard.”

“Okay, whatever. Matt and Cyrus are here with their cars. We’re gonna have to pack in.”

Everyone split between the two cars. Lucita, Becca, and Blake chose to pack into Matthew’s car. Becca noticed how both guys stared at Luci as she descended the stairs. Her short black hair was curled, and her long black dress, simple and elegant with a high split, hugged all her curves. And with the heels, she had legs for days. Becca studied the guys, each with a look of longing and desire on their faces.
Whatever this was between Matt and Luci was evolving.

Cyrus made his feelings clear, yelling at everyone to get in his car. Cyrus slammed his car door shut when he got into the car, barely waiting for Silvia to close the door behind her before peeling out of the parking lot. He hadn’t looked from the car once, his knuckles white from where they had gripped the steering wheel.

It was hard to feel bad for him, but Becca did anyway.

Matt sighed, giving Luci a kiss on the cheek.

“He’ll be okay,” she heard him whisper as he opened the door for her, letting her slide into the passenger seat.

“All right,” clapped Blake. “Let’s get this awkward show on the road.”

Becca rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. Leave it to Blake to cut through the tension.

Sliding into the back seat beside her ex-boyfriend, she watched Matt pull up the directions on his phone.

“The Marriott, man, your school sure knows how to spoil you guys.”

“Yeah, the tickets were $12 a person. You’re lucky I like you enough to spend that.” Lucita winked at him, smiling.

“You also spend that on Cyrus, so I’m not that special.” Becca watched his hands tighten on the steering wheel, and Luci’s playful smile falter. Even as he smiled at her, there was little warmth in it.

“Yo, can I DJ?” said Blake, pulling out his phone once again and cutting through the mounting tension.

“Go for it, dude.”

“Alright. Any requests?”

“Daft Punk!” squealed Luci.

“Daft Punk it is.”

The ride was fun, jovial. But Becca could still feel that tension simmering in the car, familiar with the tension that filled the space between her parents. Matt liked Luci. He liked her. That much was obvious. This wasn’t some casual relationship anymore. She had suspected as much from her talk with Luci the other day, but now she saw it. Because there was one undeniable thing:

Luci was in love with Cyrus.

His best friend.

Matt stood next to Luci, his hand on her lower back. He shouldn’t be thinking about how beautiful she looked. They were not dating, not really. They were casual. And yet, whenever she laughed or swung up her arms dancing, all he wanted was her.

“You should tell her,” said Becca over the music, stepping up to his side in her light pink Lolita dress.

“What?” he asked cautiously.

“That you like her.”

Matt’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come dance with me,” she said, pulling him to the dance floor. It was a slow song.

“Becca—”

“You know she told me the other day she imagines you guys in an actual relationship.”

This information caught him by surprise. He looked over at Luci and Cyrus, who were suddenly together on the dance floor, her head on his chest, moving slowly together like an actual couple. Matt tried to ignore the tightening in his gut.

“When?”

“That day, you picked us up from the beach. She said being with you is easy.”

Matt looked away from the pair, his jaw clenched. “I don’t know.”

“It’s worth it, isn’t it, to be happy?”

Matt looked down at her. “Becca, I appreciate it, but—”

“I see the way you look at her. She wouldn’t be with you if she didn’t care. You should say something.”

The song ended, and she left him there. He looked over at the pair, slowly pulling away from each other. Maybe Becca was right.

Luci jumped off the dance floor when a slow song popped up. She was going to get Matt, but he was on the dance floor with Becca. In fact, everyone was on the dance floor except for Cyrus.

“Hi.”

He looked at her. He had let his light brown hair grow out, brushing the top of his forehead, curling just above his hazel eyes.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

Luci stared at him, caught off guard, butterflies swarming her stomach. “Oh, um, thank you. My mom had this dress lying around. A relic from her Champagne Formal days at MIT.”

“It looks good on you.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you want to dance?”

“Huh?”

He shrugged like it was nothing. “I figure that’s why you’re here, right? To dance.” He smiled down at her, his eyes smoldering, lighting her on fire.

“You’ll dance with me?”

“Yeah,” he said, reaching for her hand, “I will.” His fingers laced with hers and pulled her onto the dance floor. He closed his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.

Heart racing, she looked up at him, wrapping her arms over his shoulder. “You’re not high, are you?”

“Not tonight.”

“Okay.” She let him pull her closer, burying her head in his chest. “I miss us.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” He pressed his cheek to the side of her head. In the heels, she was almost as tall as him. “I don’t deserve it, Lu.” His breath was hot against her neck, arms tightening around her as if he would lose her. As if he could.

“Cyrus…” She lifted her head, her lips brushing against him. The movement made him shudder, and she thought about kissing him, her eyes roaming his face, taking in his few freckles from the sun before settling on his lips.

“Don’t, Luci, not tonight. Please, not tonight.” He shut his eyes as if in pain, touching his forehead against hers, fingers digging into her waist, his breath shaky.

“Okay,” she muttered. They let the music fill the silence between them, weaving through the tension, allowing them to sway together. God, she wanted him, wanted to kiss him, to lose herself in him. But when the music stopped just as quickly, Cyrus seemed to remember himself, pulling away, his eyes roving over her.

“I need some fresh air.” He walked off, leaving her alone on the dance floor, hands shoved into his pockets.

“Luci,” said Matt, stepping up to her side.

“Huh.” She spun around to face him, curls bouncing in her wake. “Oh, there you are. I was going to dance with you, but you were already on the dance floor with Becs.”

“Yeah,” he shoved his hands into his pockets nervously. “Hey, can we talk?”

“Of course.”

Matt took her outside the parking garage, towards the car, where the music couldn’t touch them.

“Matt, is everything okay?”

He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall opposite his car. “Becca told me. About how it’s easy to be with me. Is that true?” His eyes bore into her, taking her in, catching her off guard.

“I—what—I mean.” Luci took a deep breath. “Yes, I said that. But I don’t want that to make things weird.”

“What if I felt the same way?” He stepped up to her, pressing her up against the side of his car.

“Matt—”

“What if we gave this a real shot?”

Heart racing, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Matt—” She didn’t get to finish as he pressed his lips against her, kissing her, really kissing her, slowly, one hand on her waist, the other on her neck, firm but gentle. At first, she didn’t respond, but then her hands pulled him closer, and her mouth opened, letting him in.

This, her, this was what he wanted. He hoisted her onto the hood of his car, hand going up her leg.
He pulled away for a moment.

“Luci—”

Her eyes widened, looking past him. “Cyrus—”

Matt spun around, suddenly angry. There stood Cyrus, fury in his eyes.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt this fuck session.”

Luci jumped off the car. “Cyrus!” She ran after him, grabbing his arm, but he shoved her away. Caught off balance, Luci stumbled, falling to the ground.

Cyrus stared at her, eyes wide, fury gone. Matt moved to her.

Both guys tried to help her up. She took neither hand, dusting herself off, fury and rage burning her up, turning her cheeks pink.

“You’re an asshole,” she said, shoving Cyrus away. “What right do you have to be angry? To be jealous? All you do is break my heart every day. So go fuck yourself.”

She shoved him again as she made her way to the party.

Both guys stood there. Matt spoke first.

“It wasn’t a fuck session.”

“No, just the two of you making out.”

“Tell me to stop. Tell me you’ll go after her and tell her you want her. If you do, I’ll stop. I will. This means nothing to me.” The lie tasted bitter on his tongue, and the jealousy and anger bubbled up within him.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Well fucking figure it out. You keep leading her on. Don’t you think that hurts her? Either tell her you want her or not. But acting like a jealous ex, that’s not gonna make it better.”

Cyrus leaned against another car, facing him, hands shoved into his pockets.

“I don’t know how to let her go.”

“Well, figure it out if that’s what you’re gonna do.”

Cyrus looked at him, studying him. “Do you really not care?”

No, I fucking want her. “It’s just sex. We’re just friends, nothing more. Tell me to stop, and I will.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Cyrus turned away, heading back inside, and Matt remembered why it wouldn’t be real, why it couldn’t be real. Bitterness and anger filled him.

 

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