Ceasefire {girlxgirl}

Quatorze

Lacey and Sidney sat awkwardly on their beds later, glancing at one another and wondering what to do. For my part, I was sitting, slumped and staring into the middle distance, on my bed, not paying attention to them and trying to get my brain to think productive thoughts, redeeming thoughts, redemptive thoughts.

                After Molly’s friends had awkwardly stood and wandered away, thankfully deciding to leave their vicious assassination of my character until they were out of earshot, Lacey had caught me by the elbow and steered me back up here. We were going to get in trouble for skipping classes when the teachers’ complaints managed to work their way through the administration but for now the only thing I was worrying about was how on earth I could possibly fix this. It had been four hours since the incident in the common room and she was refusing to answer my texts or calls, or the door when I went down there and knocked for twenty minutes. She didn’t want to see me, she didn’t want to talk to me, she didn’t even want to listen to me apologise.

                ‘Can we get you anything?’ Sidney eventually asked tentatively. I shook my head. ‘Do you want us to go and see if Molly will talk to us?’ A novel idea, but I knew it would hurt pretty badly if she would talk to them and not to me. I shook my head again.

                ‘Why don’t you see if you can get some sleep?’ Lacey suggested – ironic considering she was usually the one trying to keep me awake. ‘You might have a better idea of what to do once you’ve had some rest.’

                I didn’t really want to take advice from anybody just then but the fact was I didn’t have anything better to do and part of me was desperate to take my mind off my own fuck up. So I nodded slowly after a moment and rolled onto my side, facing the wall, as Lacey closed the curtains and she and Sidney left the room.

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When I woke it was dark. I knew this from the fact that I could see a sliver of moon through the gap in the curtains, and from the sounds of Lacey and Sidney’s soft, even breathing in the other beds. For a moment I was groggy and couldn’t figure out what had woken me but then the memory of the rustling from the corner of the room pricked sharp in my brain and I sat up straight, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and padding over to the door.

                Sure enough, a piece of paper folded once had been slipped under the door, standing out garishly in the light from the moon. I picked it up, feeling surreal and wondering if it was still a dream, opening it and squinting at the scrawled note.

Stairway at midnight. You’ll be there if you know what’s good for you.

T.

I glanced at my watch half-heartedly. It was already ten past. Hesitating – the last thing I wanted to do was give Twitch any more ammunition against me to pour into Molly’s ear – I realised that either way she’d find some way to destroy me and I may as well take the easy option of giving her what she wanted.

                I slipped on a pair of Sidney’s ugly Ugg-like slippers and opened the door, shutting it softly behind me before making my way reluctantly to the security blind-spot on the stairs where Twitch and I had met before. I hoped it wasn’t some misguided attempt at romance – if her torture techniques were some twisted way of wooing me then the incident with Molly was bound to drive her even crazier.

                I frowned as I neared the top of the stairs, hearing hushed but agitated voices coming from the shadows halfway down the steps. There were people arguing down there and as I concentrated I realised I recognised those whispers – it was Twitch and Molly. I felt my stomach clench and my heart drop, straining to hear what they were saying even though my feet had frozen in place.