𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭?
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 way to one of the stores that were nearby, thea being the one that was pedaling again while maeve held onto her. thea had to force herself not to think about how close her and maeve were. once they got there, they got off before thea leaned her bike onto the outside of the store. they went inside, walking the aisles of the store in silence before they went over to where the juices were.
"i don't get why people send nudes, anyway." thea mumbled, breaking the silence that had been surrounding them ever since they left.
maeve looked at her. "it's a thrill thing. you know, when you do something you're not supposed to, but somehow it makes it better." thea raised her eyebrows as she grabbed the orange juice. "not that i've done it, obviously. lone genitals aren't really my thing."
"yeah?" thea asked, a teasing smile on her lips.
"i'm just saying. i can see why people do it. it's like not paying for a train ticket. or finding a lost wallet and keep the money. you know it's wrong, but it feels good." maeve compared.
"i've taken money out of a wallet before." thea decided to inform.
"oh, so you have done something you weren't supposed to?" maeve questioned.
"i've done a lot of things that i weren't supposed to." thea answered.
"like what?" maeve asked.
"uh, i used to always get in trouble in school. starting fights and all that jazz." thea admitted, a small smile on her lips. "um. . . back in the states, i used to steal, like, little candy bars or little bottles of tequila. it's actually really easy to do."
"you used to live in the states?" maeve asked, earning a nod from thea. "i always wondered why you were the new girl when otis had always been here. i always assumed you went to another school."
"nope. got sent to live with my dad." thea said.
maeve hummed, "i don't believe you."
"what?" thea asked.
"i mean about you stealing. you should steal something." maeve whispered, making thea raise her eyebrows.
"no, i'm good." thea mumbled, going to walk towards the register.
maeve quickly grabbed her arm, pulling the taller girl back. "i dare you."
"how old are we again?" thea questioned, bringing her voice down into a whisper as well.
"i dare you."
"i don't want to."
"come on. if you're experienced, then should be easy, right?" maeve challenged, a smile appearing on her lips.
thea couldn't help but mirror maeve's smile, shaking her head slightly. "you're a bad influence."
"it's fine." maeve assured, her eyes flickering down to thea's lips before she walked away.
thea shook her head again, watching as maeve walked out of the store. thea rolled her eyes before she grabbed two candy bars, stuffing them into her jacket sleeve. she then walked over to the register, gently placing the orange juice onto the counter. thea saw maeve watching her closely from the window, holding up a middle finger. maeve only laugh at this, continuing to watch thea from outside the store.
"how much?" thea asked, pulling her wallet out from her jacket pocket. the cashier scanned the orange juice, eying thea as she did so. the milburn girl noticed this, raising her eyebrows slightly. "uh, is there something on my face."
"sorry." the cashier quickly apologized. thea looked down at her name tag. ola. "you - you're otis' sister, right? i saw photos of you two at your house."
thea nodded slowly, eyebrows raising at the information. otis had a girl at the house? "yeah, he's my twin brother. i'm - i'm sorry. he's never mentioned you before."
"oh, no. it's not like that." ola quickly shook her head. "my dad was the one that came by to fix your toilet on the first floor."
"oh, okay." thea nodded.
"you're a lot prettier in person." ola decided to say, completely taking thea by surprise.
"oh, you think so?" the blonde girl smirked, her flirtatious side immediately coming out. "you're not so bad yourself, ola." maeve watched from outside, a weird feeling appearing in her chest.
"you know what? it's on me." ola said, bagging the orange juice before she pushed it towards thea.
"are you sure? i - i can pay." thea asked, holding up her wallet.
"i'm sure." ola nodded, a smile appearing on her lis.
"thank you." thea smiled, grabbing the bag. "you have yourself a nice day, ola."
"you too."
with that, thea left the store, the smile still on her face as she turned to look at maeve. her smile dropped when she had seen the look on maeve's face, an unreadable expression on it. "why do you look like there's a stick up your ass?"
"you had fun flirting in there?" maeve questioned, her voice a little snappy.
"why? are you jealous, maevey wavey?" thea teased as she took her bike from off the wall.
"no." maeve mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
thea hummed, handing the pink haired girl the bag with the orange juice in it. she smiled when maeve had grabbed the bag, the both of them walking off. thea then shook her arm, making the candy bar in her sleeve fall into her hand. she held it up for maeve to take it, the shorter girl grabbing it with a small smile. thea repeated her actions, stuffing the other candy bar into her jacket pocket.
"you stole two candy bars?" maeve asked.
"yeah." thea nodded. "you're a really bad influence."
maeve rolled her eyes at that but didn't say anything. silence fell over the two as they made their way back to aimee's house. they had ended up walking instead of riding thea's bike, making them take longer to get back. neither one of them minded though, just glad that they were with one another. when they had gotten back to aimee's, the sun had gone down, being replaced by the moon and stars. maeve had given kyle the orange juice, which led to the boy downing the whole thing.
"i get sent images all the time." kyle started, looking at the two girls from where he was laying on the couch. "you know, tits, mines, the occasional butthole."
"kyle, the vagina. the one sent out this morning." maeve reminded while thea munched on her candy bar. "did you send it?"
"no. i nee all the pictures for my own personal collection. i'm more of a connoisseur of amateur erotica." kyle answered.
"kyle, that's disgusting." maeve told him.
"yeah, nothing to be proud of, bud." thea mumbled.
"yeah, i know." kyle mumbled.
before anyone could say anything, the door to the office they were in opened up. this made everyone look to see ruby standing there. ruby looked between thea and maeve, making thea turn to look at maeve as she stuffed the rest of her chocolate bar into her mouth.
"okay. get lost now." maeve told kyle, snatching the orange juice carton out of kyle's hand. the boy looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "go on." maeve urged, holding the carton towards the door.
kyle got up from the couch and walked towards the door, grabbing the orange juice on his way out. thea sent him a smile as he walked out, closing the door behind him. ruby then sat down on the couch that kyle was just on, looking between the two girls.
"well, was it him?" she questioned.
maeve shook her head, "i don't think so."
"well, we're running out of time. you're really shit at helping." ruby spat.
"she's just doing you a favor." thea jumped in, talking through the mushed up chocolate in her mouth.
"what's going on?" another voice asked, making everyone turn around to see olivia.
"my life is over." ruby answered.
"why? rubes, what's wrong?" olivia quizzed as she sat down next to ruby.
"that minge everyone's been laughing at all day, it's mine, and i'm fucked. i'm totally fucked." ruby explained.
maeve looked over to where thea was standing, the milburn girl looking back as she swallowed the rest of the chocolate bar. maeve looked over to where ruby was sitting before she looked back at thea. the blonde quickly shook her head, not exactly wanting to talk to two out of four of the untouchables. maeve rolled her eyes before she pushed thea over towards the girls. thea glared at her but sat down on the couch, leaving some space between herself and ruby.
"worse-case scenario, photo goes out, everyone in school know it's you, and you could be humiliated." thea started, choosing her words carefully.
"you're not making me feel better." ruby interrupted, looking at the taller girl with furrowed eyebrows.
"well, you - you didn't exactly let me finish." thea muttered, glancing over at maeve before she looked back at ruby. the wiley girl smiled at that, looking down at the carpeted floor. "i was gonna say. . . but only if you let yourself be. everyone has bodies and it's nothing to be ashamed of. uh, i have a weird ass birthmark on my stomach. it's really weird looking. like, really weird."
"bear." maeve chimed in, making thea look at her. maeve quickly shook her head.
"sorry." thea apologized, turning to look back at ruby. "sorry. the point is, whoever did this is intending to shame you, but it won't work if you don't let them."
"if they want to shame me, why haven't they revealed who i am already? this is torture." ruby pointed out.
"oh, my god." maeve mumbled, making everyone look at her. "it's a girl. we thought it was a boy. it's a girl. emotional blackmail, demanding an apology. this is some girl shit. what girls hate you, ruby?"
"all of them. i'm a bitch, maeve. i'm a bitch to everyone." ruby spat.
"yeah, maybe you should try to change that then." thea muttered, earning a glare from the girl next to her.
"i need to go home now." ruby said. "olivia, can you call me a taxi? use my phone."
olivia let out a hum as she nodded, digging into ruby's morse before she pulled out the girl's phone. thea looked at the phone in olivia's hand, watching her punch in the password. thea then turned to look at maeve, the pink haired girl looking back. the both of them thinking the same thing.
"who else knows your passcode, ruby?" thea questioned.
"no one. just liv." ruby answered, looking over at thea. the milburn girl looked at her with raised eyebrows, making ruby slowly turn to look at olivia. "you?"
thea quickly got up and walked over to where maeve was standing, deciding to give the two friends space just incase anything physical broke out.
"i wasn't gonna send it to anyone. i just wanted her to know how it feels." olivia quickly explained.
"what are you talking about?" ruby asked.
olivia let out a sigh, "you say mean shit to me everyday, ruby. 'you're bag's fake. your mascara's clumpy. you'll never have the right body type to get a proper thigh gap.'"
"you don't, olive. it's a fact."
"see? she's horrible."
"who the fuck even says that?" thea whispered to maeve, which earned her a nudge. "oh, right. i'm supposed to be in therapy mode." thea mumbled, turning to look back at ruby and olivia. "i think what olivia is saying is she feels overly criticized by you, which still isn't an excuse to blackmail someone."
"i only did it so she can feel what i feel just for just one day." olivia defended.
"you couldn't have said something cruel back? you had to completely expose her like that?" thea quizzed, earning another nudge from maeve. "ow! stop doing that."
"i don't say what's wrong with you to make you feel bad. i do it to be helpful." ruby informs.
"maybe olivia wants a friend that supports her." thea said.
"but we say nasty stuff about everyone." ruby reasoned.
"yes, but you have to accept the imperfect parts of people, too. how do you guys trust each other, if not?"
silence fell over them for a few seconds before olivia held out a pinky. "i'm really sorry, ruby."
ruby looked down at the pinky before she grabbed her purse. "i hate you. i'm going home."
olivia watched her leave, dropping her pinky. she then turned to look at thea and maeve, grabbing her own purse before standing up. "fine. she's such a bitch.
thea and maeve looked at one another, the both of them trying to bite back the laughs that were trying to burst through. when the door had closed, both girls immediately started laughing. thea bent down, placing her head onto maeve's shoulder. the shorter girl tensed up at that but didn't push thea away, she just kept laughing.
◂ ※ ⍣⃝ ※ ▸
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 home now, thea's bike being between them while thea walked it. maeve was still walking barefoot, which the both of them had somehow forgot about. thea had offered on giving maeve one of her shoes so that they could look stupid together, but the wiley girl turned it down. it was silent between the both of them, maeve nibbling on the nail of her thumb while thea just looked up at the stars. but then she remembered why maeve was in that situation in the first place.
"what are you gonna tell jackson?" thea questioned.
"diarrea attack." maeve answered quickly, earning a cackle from thea. maeve joined in, shaking her head. "he's never gonna speak to me again, is he?"
"why did you leave in the first place?" thea asked.
maeve shrugged, "i was letting him off the hook. they're not gonna want their golden boy dating someone like me anyway, so. . . why go through the fake stuff?"
"i think that if you can't be yourself around his family - or him, then you shouldn't be with him in the first place." thea mumbled.
"no. no therapy, remember." maeve shook her head.
"right. sorry. i'm still in therapy mode." thea apologized, making maeve smile. the wiley girl then shivered, quickly bringing her arms up to hug herself. thea immediately saw this, coming to a stop.
maeve noticed this, stopping a few inches away. "why'd you stop?"
"can you hold my bike for a sec?" thea asked.
maeve made her way back to the milburn girl, grabbing the bike. thea smiled as a thank you, starting to pull at the sleeves of her jacket. she then pulled the jacket off completely, quickly wrapping it around maeve's shoulders. she pulled maeve's hair from out under before she pulled away, grabbing the bike away from the girl.
"why'd you do that?" maeve asked as the both of them started to walk again.
"because you were obviously freezing." thea answered matter-of-factly.
"take it back. you're gonna catch a cold." maeve told her, starting to pull the jacket off.
"i've got a strong immune system." thea said. "now slip your arms through the sleeves before you drop my jacket and get it all dirty."
maeve rolled her eyes, doing as told. she then held out her arms, revealing how long the sleeves were on her. "why are your arms so freakishly long?"
"they're not freakishly long!" thea exclaimed, obviously offended. maeve bit back a smile, watching as thea stepped back before she gently placed her bike onto the ground. "just rolled the sleeves up, idiot." she mumbled, standing straight up before she started to roll the sleeves up.
"i still think that your arms are freakishly long." maeve mumbled, immediately noticing the small distance between their faces.
"well, maybe your arms are freakishly short. ever thought about that?" thea challenged, her voice barely above a whisper as she continued to roll the sleeves back. her eyes then went to maeve's hands, noticing that the pink haired girl had covered up her finger tats with concealer. "you even covered your tats?"
"yeah." maeve whispered, her eyes watching thea's every move.
"well, let's fix that." the blonde muttered, rubbing her thumb against maeve's fingers. she smiled when all the tats reappeared, her eyes immediately going to the small heart one that was on maeve's ring finger. she used her thumb to gently trace the heart before she looked up at maeve, blue eyes meeting light brown. "that's so much better."
thea quickly noticed the distance between them, her heart jumping into her throat. she watched as maeve's eyes flickered down to her lips, only making thea look down at maeve's. for a second, thea could see maeve slowly leaning it, still eyeing the taller girl's lips. the milburn girl's hands somehow ended up on maeve's waist, pulling her closer. their lips were about to meet but thea's phone started to ring. thea jumped away, somehow tripping on over her bike in the process. the girl let out a grunt as she his the ground.
"a - are you okay?" maeve asked, stepping forward quickly.
"my ass hurts." thea groaned as she got up from the ground. she then looked down at her bike, kicking it. "ow! for fuck's sake!"
"i'm gonna head off now." maeve informed as she started to walk away, making thea's chest ache.
"you don't want me to ride you home?" thea asked, not wanting to part ways from the girl yet.
"no, thank you. i'll see you tomorrow." maeve answered.
thea nodded, watching the girl disappear into the darkness. she then dragged her hands down her face, knowing that things were going to be weird between them. her phone then started ringing, making a groan escape her lips. she roughly pulled her phone out of her pocket, answering it and bringing it up to her ear without looking at the contact photo.
"what?! what do you want?!" she exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair.
"well, nice to hear from you too, thea." her brother's voice appeared.
"shit. i'm sorry. sorry. it's just - nothing. it doesn't matter." thea mumbled, her voice lowering. "what is it? what's with all the calls?"
"eric and i are back and we thought that you would want to watch a movie with us." otis explained.
"yeah. i'm on my way." thea mumbled.
"okay! see you when you get here!" otis yelled before he hung up.
with that, thea stuffed her phone back into her pocket. she then bent down and picked up her bike before she swung her leg over it. she started pedaling down the road, a disappointed look on her face.
daij speaks!
i love this chapter oh my god. i think this is my most favorite chapter i've we rotten for this book. but our girls almost kissed. i love them.
but i hope u guys enjoyed 🫶🏼