LOVELORN

36|Moonlight & happy birthdays

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

MONDAY TO Friday had been a rough couple of days. The same day we'd found out that Gael was arrested, Zora, her dad, and I had gone down to the police station. Both Zora and I had given statements. Even though I wasn't there when her drink got spiked, we'd explained everything from when Zora got cornered and I helped her, including the recording, to the threatening messages she'd gotten from him and when he'd once again cornered her.

I'd informed Avi of what was going on after noticing he'd tried to contact me a million times when I was at the police station. He immediately came down and gave his statement, hopefully serving as a useful witness.

While there was only so much the police could tell us, one thing we had found out was that he was eighteen at the time of both crimes. It meant that regardless of how severe it was deemed to be, he would be tried as an adult. Nothing about the situation was positive, but that at least increased the chances of a longer sentence.

Her dad had allowed Zora to take the week off, so she had. Rumors were circling like crazy around the hallways, so it probably was for the best. There was no way people wouldn't be nosy enough to try and interrogate her about it. Somehow it had spread that she'd gone down to the police station to make a statement. People would surely ask questions. They already had to me, but I'd simply ignored them.

I wished people would have enough decency not to gossip about a fucking sexual assault case, but I wasn't surprised either. Based on what I'd heard, Lilac hadn't been to school in two weeks. When, or if she returned, I hoped she wouldn't be bothered by those who just wanted to know what had happened, as if it was their business. Insensitive shits.

On Saturday, it was the 27th of February, Zora's birthday. It was exactly a month after mine, and upon discovering it, we swore that our friendship was meant to be. Originally, she was going to have a big party at her house, but she said it didn't feel right, not after how the week had been. Instead, it was just the six of us, much like it had been for mine.

I arrived at Zora's place around 6 pm with Mai and Caio. We'd been at Caio's place before, making the birthday cake together. When Zora opened the door, her eyes trailed over us as we wished her a happy birthday, staying on me for a second longer, before she ushered us in, thanking us for the cake and putting it away in the kitchen. I hadn't seen her since Monday. Except for some texts to check in on her, we hadn't talked. Not about her catching me making out with a girl, or about anything that wasn't about what had happened on Monday.

In the living room, Mara and Silas were already gathered. As Mara had told me she would, on Sunday morning she sat down and had a serious conversation with Silas. Later, she'd recapped how it went to me. Understandably, he had a lot of questions. None of them had come out mean or as if he was disappointed, but rather asked with curiosity. He wished that she would have talked to him sooner, but also seemed to get why she hadn't.

When it came down to it, Silas had been supportive. He'd hugged her when she cried and had reassured her that it wasn't a deal breaker to him, even if he wasn't asexual himself. They'd ended up discussing boundaries, what she was and wasn't comfortable with.

She'd admitted that a part of her still worried he would regret his words, but that she was hoping she could work through that and not be stuck on the what-ifs.

They seemed to be acting like usual now, that is, disgustingly cute. It only felt right. I never doubted that Silas would be supportive of her.