𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐃 // 𝐇.𝐒.

03.

"Maybe you should fuck Harry."

I can't do this. I get up from the bathroom floor and stand in front of the sink. I turn on the facet after grabbing my toothbrush with shaky fingers. I ignore what she disgustingly suggests.

"Joelle, his tongue! My god, that man is amazing. Wait until you see his-"

"August, no!" I say through an overly aggressive brushing of my teeth. I spit my toothpaste out.

She giggles, finding pleasure in my uncomfortableness. I return to brushing my teeth as she slides her hands up my arms. "Jojo, I'm just teasing," she tells me. Her fingers then rake through my mid-length hair as she stands behind me. "You deserve better than my leftovers. You can have the hot tattoo artist, Zayn."

After rinsing my mouth clean, I turn the facet off and look at her through the mirror. That's just how she is as a person, I defend to myself. August likes to tease. She's comfortable with her sexuality and she isn't afraid to say what she feels. Sometimes, it's a little too much though.

"Jo, in all seriousness, you okay? It looks like you haven't slept."

I haven't.

August rests her chin on my shoulder when she meets my eyes through our reflection. She's hugging me from behind. "Listen, about what happened at the tattoo shop... I was out of line."

You think?

"I got excited, I think. So when you backed out, I grew a little disappointed. I ditched you for Harry just to spite you and that wasn't fucking cool. Best friends don't do that! You're my best friend, Jo. I love you. I guess I'm asking you to forgive me."

I sigh. "I love you, too, August." I turn around to look at my friend who's my complete opposite. I met her my freshman year of college and now we're seniors. We've been inseparable ever since. We live together and she is my best friend, after all. Though, something is still weighing heavy on me. Harry. "Yeah, I forgive you... but-"

"But what, babe?"

I can't tell her. If I warn her that Harry is a very dangerous man and to stay away from him, I'm afraid she will laugh in my face. My gut tells me Harry only slept with her last night as a way to warn me. I'm worried because I know how August gets when she sleeps with somebody new. Especially more than once. Right now, to August, she might see Harry as a God.

As long as I don't say anything, maybe it will all go away. Maybe Harry will leave me alone and forget all about me tomorrow when he isn't caught by the police. I swallow before saying, "Nothing, sorry... Hey, don't you have class today?"

"Oh, shit!" August steps out of the bathroom. "Why the hell did I choose a nine-thirty class?!"

I watch as she rushes into her bedroom that's right across from mine. She makes me break into a small smile. Morning classes have never been August's thing. "You tell me," I say softly when I follow her and stand at the doorway of her bedroom. I hug myself as August searches the pile of clothes on her floor for an outfit. "I suggested online classes but you said-"

"Online classes are for losers, bitch!"

"That's what you said." I nod and turn to the side. I give August her privacy by staring at the wall as she whips off her dress. "But I like it so far. I get stuff done on my own time."

She then gasps. "Wait, your internship! What was Fine Line Designs like? Have you stolen clothes yet?" August steps out of her bedroom in gray sweatpants and a cropped t-shirt. She heads into our shared bathroom again, carrying her makeup bag.

"August, I'm not going to steal clothes," I tell her with a small laugh. She's already playfully insisted that I steal only because clothes from the FLD collection are way too pricey for us. "It went well. I didn't get to meet Marjorie Horan, though. Her son, Niall, mentored me and the other three interns."