Luci stared daggers at Amelia, wrapped around Jason. She still couldn’t believe that they were dating. Again.
At least she wasn’t the only one. Liz stood alongside Evie across the walkway. Of course, Becca, Blake, and Silvia were trying to be civil and friendly, but she wasn’t feeling it.
So she just bit her tongue and let the conversation carry on without her. Instead, she opened the group chat on her phone.
Luci:
This girl is literally unbelievable.
Cyrus:
Isn’t she the same girl who started everything?
Matt:
Jason should really stay away from that shit.
Jae:
He’s allowed his mistakes.
Luci:
He can make any mistakes he wants.
Just not with her.
Cyrus:
Are you jealous??
Matt:
👀
Luci:
No
Don’t joke.
Jae:
You guys are evil
Leave the poor girl alone.
Cyrus:
I mean, just checking
Serenaded her and everything….
Luci:
You’re still not my boyfriend…
Matt:
👀
Cyrus:
🖕🏻you matt
I mean …
Luci:
I’m teasing
Maybe
Jae:
She’s got you there, dude.
Luci:
👀
Matt:
👀
Cyrus:
Anyway…
How’s Becca
Matt:
How’s Silvia?
Jae:
How are both girlies??
Luci:
Becca’s okay.
She’s glad her mom lost the custody battle.
As for Vee…
Well, seeing Olivia every day is a little hard.
Cyrus:
Have you spoken to Olivia?
Luci:
No.
I should.
I just want to talk to the school counselor first.
Matt:
That’s a smart bet.
“So Luci, haven’t heard from you?” Luci looked up from her phone and glared at Amelia.
“About what?”
“Well, how was your Christmas break?”
“It was fine,” she gritted out. She had absolutely no desire to talk to this girl.
They stood there a moment. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t like me?”
She said it sweetly, clearly not aware of the Pandora’s box she had just opened. Luci grinned, toothy and dangerous.
“Luci—” began Jason, pulling Amelia close.
“Because I don’t.” She took a dangerous step forward, ignoring Jason. “I think you’re a manipulative little slut. You went after my friend while he was in a relationship. You continue to just throw yourself at him—”
“Because that’s so different from you, right? At least my guy wants me.”
Luci didn’t even realize she slapped her until she saw her head whip to the side, her palm stinging.
“Luci!”
“For the record, your guy doesn’t really want you either. Just like last time, you’re just a pit stop.”
With that, she walked away, stopping briefly beside Liz.
“You’re welcome,” she said before continuing on her way to class.
In the empty hallways, she took a moment to compose herself. After she finished counting to three for the fourth time, the silence settled in. And that’s when she heard it. Crying.
Picking herself off the wall, she headed towards the sound, towards the bathroom.
“Hello?” She stopped short. There sat Olivie, on the floor of one of the stalls, blood beneath her.
“Jesus.” Luci dropped her bag to the ground, running to the stall, crawling towards her.
“Go away,” she sobbed. Luci stopped short, on her hands and knees, just where the blood ended.
“Olive, what the fuck.”
“I said, go away!” She clutched at her abdomen, the razor blade on the floor, a piece of wire beside it, long and bloody. But there was blood on the seat, blood on her pants, too much blood to have come from the long cut that ran from her wrist to her elbow.
“Olivia, that’s too much blood. We have to get you some help.”
“You’re not a hero.”
“I prefer to be the scorned villain, to be honest. But you’re still my friend. Please, let me help you.”
But Olivia didn’t seem to hear her, head falling back, her body finally slipping off the toilet seat that had been holding her head up. Luci swore, pulling out her phone, shooting a quick text to Blake. Gingerly, she reached over, stepping over the blood, pulling the passed-out girl from the stall when Blake came running in, Silvia beside him.
“I don’t know why there’s so much blood. I can’t—”
Silvia ran off, dropping her bag onto the floor. Blake bent down, lifting the unconscious girl off the ground, holding her close to his chest. Luci tried to make her, lightly tapping away at her face, trying to call her name.
Silvia returned with the school nurse and security.
Everything moved too fast. Someone called the ambulance, and Luci offered up some of her blood when the ambulance came, happy to be O-. The needle stung as they stuck her, as she sat beside Olivia on a gurney in the back of the ambulance. Blake held Silvia close, the last sight she saw before the ambulance doors closed.
It was too much blood, and she struggled to pay attention to the paramedics as they worked to stabilize Olivia. How long had she been bleeding before Luci had found her?
Arm bandaged, she sat beside Olivia’s bedside at the hospital, drinking orange juice to cure her lightheadedness. Not the best day to skip breakfast. But still, she perked her ears to listen to the doctor in the hallway.
She heard words like miscarriage and abortion pills found in her bag. A whole bottle of them, found in her bag.
“Lucita?” Her head shot up at the sound of Ms. Enno’s voice. She stood beside her mother, Olivia’s parents behind them.
“Mijita,” her mother said, bending down to her, holding her hands tightly. “Olivia was pregnant. Do you know anything about that?”
Lucita’s eyes widened, and she looked up at Ms. Enno, who nodded down at her, giving her the okay. “I—uh—” She stole a glance at the unconscious form of Olivia and the scared faces of her parents in the doorway. And then she told them everything about Evie, about Halloween, and Evie’s brother.
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