hearing damage | YELLOWJACKETS

six.

Talia Turner | 1996
Wiskayok, New Jersey

"Où se trouvent les toilettes? Now repeat it back to me."

"Oui se les toilettes?" Lottie repeats.

Talia's brows furrowed as she looked over at Lottie who was laying on her bed. The house was empty as her parents were having a date night in Atlantic City for the weekend and Taissa was at Jackie's or Shauna's and had no intentions of coming home which meant that Talia had a house all to herself.

"Où se trouvent les toilettes," Talia says once more.

"That's what I said," Lottie states.

"No, you said 'yes the toilet," Talia says and Lottie shrugs, "It's supposed to be 'where is the bathroom."

"Same thing."

Talia chuckles, "No it's not the same thing. Go to France and say that and when they kick you out I'll be there with a steaming platter of I told you so."

Lottie smiles as she lays on her side, "So what you're saying is you're gonna wait for me?"

"What?" Talia asks with a laugh.

"If I go to Paris you'll be waiting for me with a steaming platter of you," Lottie says.

Talia laughs as she grabs a pillow and throws it at Lottie, "Oh my god, shut up."

Lottie catches the pillow with a wide smile. Talia turns back to her homework as Lottie lies there, watching her. There had been a question sitting in the back of her head since their night at the lake house where they had made out in the pool but never let things get much further than that.

"Who was your first time?"

"My first time?" Talia asks with a laugh as she turns to look at Lottie. She abandons her homework as she sits on the end of the bed, "Why? Do you think I'm a slut?"

"No," Lottie answers quickly.

"How do you know I've even had a first time?" Talia asks. Lottie glances sheepishly at the bed and Talia smiles, "Hey, I'm kidding. I'm like a total sex addict."

Lottie looks up with wide eyes and Talia can't help the laugh that escapes her. Lottie realizes that Talia is fucking with her, and she sits up and hits her on the arm, making Talia laugh harder.

"Talia quit joking around!" Lottie exclaims, "I'm trying to get deep and personal."

"Yeah by asking about my past sexual partners," Talia responds, "How about you tell me yours first?"

"No one," Lottie answers with a shrug.

Talia's brows lift, "No one?"

"Not a single person," Lottie states with a shrug, "Now who was your first time?"

"Harry Johnson, sophomore year," Talia answers, "Taissa and I agreed to lose our virginities the same night."

"Oh," Lottie says as she looks down at Talia's bed, "You guys were doing weird creepy twin shit."

Talia nods her head, "Yeah we were. We uh read this book about these twins and they only talked to each other and when their parents attempted to separate them to get them to talk to others, they became catatonic. They like lost their virginity to the same dude and did drugs and other stuff. Eventually, they were committed, and they made a deal that if one of them died then the other would be normal. One mysteriously died and the other lives a normal life somewhere."

"That where you get the idea for your little plan? Leave Taissa and hope that she's be normal?" Lottie asks. Talia drops her gaze, and she feels a weird sense of shame. When Talia doesn't respond, Lottie crawls toward Talia, "Hey I'm sorry."