Lucita sat in the library studying for her French test. She was passing by the grace of her teacher… and because her mother did her French homework for her. But she still needed to take the test. Next year, she promised herself, no French.

A book landed on the table, jerking her from her studies.

“Go away, Evie.”

But Evie didn’t budge, just took a seat across from her and sat there, picking at her cuticles.

“Did you know that back in freshman year, I was so in the closet I made out with Blake?”

“Don’t care.”

“I mean, I let that icky boy grope me. But you would know all about how handsy he is, wouldn’t you?” She gave Lucita a slimy grin.

Lucita wouldn’t take the bait. Instead, she closed her notebook, meeting the girl’s stare evenly.

“You know you do such a disservice to the LGBTQ community.”

“As if you care.”

“I do care, actually. Not only are two of my besties part of the community, but the person I’m closest to in my family is my aunt and her wife. She’s the best person I know. So, fuck you.”

Evie just glared at her, then popped a stick of gum in her mouth. “You know,” she started between chews, “I saw something exciting the other day. Quick question, how does Cyrus feel about you and Matthew?”

“Cyrus isn’t allowed to feel anything. Actually, you know what, he can feel whatever. This judgment, on the other hand, is completely unwarranted.”

“Hmm.” Evie blew and popped a bubble. “Okay, so these pictures I took of you and Matthew in and on his car, Cyrus won’t mind those?”

Lucita’s blood froze. Evie grinned, gum pressed between her teeth, and slid her phone across the table.

And there she was, topless in Matthews’ car, his mouth on her breast.

“Gotta love iPhones, they take great pictures, even when you zoom in.”

Lucita glared at her. “So go ahead and send them.”

Evie stopped chewing and just blinked at her, confused. “Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter? Send them. Cyrus is not my boyfriend. I’m not doing anything wrong here. I can sleep with whomever I want. So go ahead and send them.”

Reopening her book, she looked back down. Lucita hoped that Evie couldn’t tell she was bluffing. It was one thing for Cyrus to know, but another thing completely to see that. She missed him; she didn’t want him gone. But Tiffany. Ugh, even gone, she was ruining things.

“God, you’re no fun.”

“Go away, Evie.”

“I just wanted to talk.”

“And yet you came here to threaten.”

“I miss Olivia.”

Lucita slammed her book shut, disgusted. “Don’t talk about her. You drugged her. You were going to rape her. You don’t want a relationship, you want a toy.”

“I want her. I just wanted to remind her how well we fit together.”

Lucita could not believe this girl, how warped her mind was, her ideas on love and intimacy. “Fucking stay away from her. If there is a shred of decency within you, stay away. The way she tells it, you never fit together. All you did was traumatize her.” With that, Lucita packed up her stuff and left. She was catching the bus and going home.

***

Blake was sitting by the pool when Olivia sidled up to him.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Oh, okay, um—” She caught him off guard when she quickly straddled him, pressing her lips against his.

“Whoa!” Blake shot up, shoving her off him and back onto the seat. “Yo, what the hell?”

He didn’t know what to do here, didn’t like the way her eyes looked, sad and beaten.

“Blake,” she started, her voice breaking, “Come on. I feel safe around you.”

“You are dating my friend. My friend, I happen to care about deeply.” My friend, you know, I have feelings for. But he left those words unspoken as he stared down at her.

Olivia gripped her hair so hard that Blake was sure she was going to pull out some of those wild red locks. “I know! Oh god, I know. I love being with Vee, I do. But I can’t, god, I can’t stand to be touched by her, knowing how she saw me, found me. God, it’s just Evie.

“Every time I’m with Silvia, I try, I try so hard not to think about her, but it’s like she’s haunting me, every time she forced herself on me, every time she made me…I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t stand it, and I feel so dirty, like I can’t get clean, like I can’t wash her off of me.”  She was crying now. Blake stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Bending down, he looked at her, trying to keep his distance. “Olive—”

“I just can’t be touched. But I want so much to be wanted.”

“Olive, I think you should talk to someone.” He didn’t know how to handle this.

“You love her.”

“Olivia—”

“You do. I’m glad you do. It’s why I trust you.”

“Okay. So trust me. We’ll go talk to Silvia—”

Olivia wiped away her tears. “No, I…I’ll talk to her.” She sniffled, pulling herself together. “So when are you going to take those pictures?”

Talk about a change in subject. “Oh, well, I was thinking about this weekend.”

“Okay, sounds great.” She smiled at him. “I’m gonna go home. Please, don’t—”

“I won’t say anything, I promise. But please, talk to her, okay? She’ll listen, she cares about you.”

“Yeah,” she sniffled, “I promise.”

Blake watched her walk away, pulling out her phone on the way. Something twisted in his gut, leaving him with a bad feeling.

***

Lucita got off the bus and headed to her apartment. She had just crossed the parking lot and stepped onto the walkway when she heard two people really going at it. At first, she assumed it was coming from one of the apartments, but as she walked farther onto the property, she realized it was coming from the laundry room.

Her plan had been to run by the room and go unnoticed until she recognized one of the voices. Creeping along, she peeked through the window and quickly covered her mouth to stifle her curse.

There was Olivia, legs spread, on top of the washing machine, with some guy Lucita did not know and who was, most certainly, not Silvia.

Stumbling away, she ran off, catching sight of Blake by the pool. Gripping her bag tightly, she ran to him, hissing his name to get his attention. Blake just stared at her, confused, as she flopped on the seat, pushing his legs off to give herself space.

“Lu, what the—”

“Why is Olivia having sex with some dude in the laundry room!?” she blurted, eyes bugging.

Blake stared at her, mouth gaping open. “The hell.” He ran off, leaving her there to catch her breath, then returned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Well? Who is that? Did she and Silvia break up? What’s going on?”

“Deep breaths, Lu. One, that is Evie’s older brother. Two, no, they are not broken up. Three, fuck if I know. She’s…earlier, she was here trying to make a move on me.” He told her everything that had happened, everything she said, and Lucita didn’t know how not to feel sad and angry at the same time.

Lucita sat there for a moment, thinking about how Silvia and Olivia had been recently, hw Olivia always seemed to pull away just a little. But this? She never expected this.

“This is so messed up. I just…do we say something?”

Blake moved his hand over his face, exhausted. “I don’t know. I just, I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe we should talk to her? Maybe this is a one-time thing. I mean, I just—” Lucita let out a deep breath. “I’m gonna talk to Ms. Enno.” Blake nodded, staring at the pool, Lucita by his side, each conflicted and confused, their own worries washed away.

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