Thursday
"It's just a threat, right? That doesn't mean he'd go through with it," Forest suggested.
"We don't know that and there's no way we can be certain of it," said Marion.
Forest sighed. "There is one way. And before you freak out or anything, I want y'all to know that I know Marceline can set things on fire with her mind. I can read minds."
"You too?" Marion asked.
"You can read minds too?" Forest frowned.
"No, he means you're a freak too," said Marceline. "How did you know about my pyrokinesis?"
"The fuck is pyrokinesis?" Forest asked.
Marceline asked. "What I can do. That's the word for it."
"Troye told me. Told me he saw you do it," Forest stated.
"Yeah, that's not the matter at hand right now." Marion stepped in. "We have a potential rapist on the loose, alright? Forest, if you can read minds, can you find out if Esau is that dangerous or not?"
Forest sighed and sat down by the kitchen counter. "I don't know, man. I tried and he was all fucked up in there: loose screws and everything."
"You saw screws?" Marceline asked, intrigued.
"No." Forest shook his head. "I can't explain what I see, it just happens, alright? I've already been in Esau's head and he seems dangerous enough to do something like this."
Marceline raised an eyebrow. "So why are you defending him?"
"I'm not."
"'It's just a threat'-"
"I'm not," Forest cut in. "I just don't believe anyone would be barbaric enough to rape someone in an attempt to 'fix' them from being who they are. And believe me when I say I've got my own prejudices against homosexuality."
"Well, it's time you swallowed them up, 'cause this ain't nineteen twenty." Marceline moved from in front of the fridge. "Tell Troye to man up and deal with his shit. He's got a talent show to host and my kid brother's looking to dance on stage, I don't want him ruining that."
"Where are you going?" Marion asked her.
"I'm going to see if there's any reason I should be worried about Veronica's safety from Esau."
"She's like Nick Fury," Marion remarked as he opened the fridge and stared into it for a few seconds before shutting it. He looked at Forest. "So... superpowers, huh?"
Forest sighed. "Don't ask."
"I wasn't going to. I can rewind time," said Marion. "I think."
Forest nodded. "I'm gonna go ask Troye what Marceline said to ask. My sister's looking forward to this too."
"I'm gonna go home." Marion sighed. "And Forest. I'm sorry. It wasn't my place to judge you about what you do. That's you, man, and if that rings your bell, go for it."
"A'ight."
Friday
When she woke up, Tulip felt sick and disorientated. She didn't know where she was until she saw Lucien in bed, next to her. "Lucien?"
He just looked at her with a slight smile on his face. "Tulip. Good morning."
"What's going on?" she asked.
He sat up. "You slept over."
"What happened?" Tulip started panting when she realised she wasn't wearing any clothes. "Lucien, what the hell happened here?"
"Whoa! Calm down, alright?" said Lucien. "Everything is okay."
Then, it came back to her, but in bits and pieces. She remembered him telling her everything was okay. She remembered him taking her to his room and stripping her down. She didn't want it, but she couldn't stop it. She remembered him throwing her on the bed and getting on top of her. She felt his body against hers. She felt him in her.
Tulip looked at Lucien. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"Just calm down," he said, grabbing her arm.
"No!" Tulip screamed. It was more than just a scream. It came out like an inhuman shriek, breaking everything that was made out of glass and throwing Lucien out of the bed and into the wall.
"What the hell?" Lucien exclaimed, but couldn't even hear himself. All he heard was the loud ringing in his ears and he looked at Tulip, who was just as shocked as he was, if not more.
Her eyes partially blinded by her tears, Tulip managed to get her clothes and ran out of the room. She put on her clothes and found her phone before starting the walk home. She felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.
•
Marceline picked up her phone as soon as she heard it ring. It was Lucia on the other end. "Why did you call?" she asked.
Lucia sighed. "Forest and Marion are busy. I'm sorry about what happened between the two of us, but we could really use your help here."
"Nothing happened between us, okay? And it's been a week, your secret's safe with me," said Marceline. "Troye's still not coming around?"
"No, he locked himself up in his room."
"But you can-" Marceline started.
"I wanted to respect his privacy," said Lucia.
Marceline sighed. "I'd really like to help, trust me, but I've got something going on right now and I can't drop it. Sorry."
"Alright, bye."
Marceline hung up and turned back to her laptop. She'd traced Esau's residence to a town called Village, and she was going through public records and newspapers to see if there was anything about him being aggressive.
"You're a hacker, now?" Veronica asked after she put her phone down.
Marceline scoffed. "I wish. These things are all up there and public. I wish there was a sex offenders list, it would make this quicker."
Veronica sighed. "I bet. I also bet you won't find anything, Esau seemed harmless. I've come across dozens of guys like them."
Marceline turned to her friend. "Did any of them threaten to fix you?"
Veronica looked down.
"I thought so. Ron, you might be right. It might just be words, but I'm not willing to risk that."
"He doesn't even know where I live."
"Small town." Marceline turned back to the computer. "Whether you see it or not, I'm doing this for you. I could be studying or helping at Town Hall, but I'm here. With you."
"You know, we should go to Town Hall," Veronica suggested. "It's a public place, anyone who tried to hurt anyone there would be a psycho."
"Thing is, Esau is a psycho. I found something."
Marceline moved away from the laptop as Veronica got closer. "Holy shit," she said when she saw it. It was a news article about a man named Esau being investigated for sexual assault, but he was never convicted since his lawyers proved that the victim was lying. "But it doesn't say if he actually did it," said Veronica.
"That's enough to make us be careful," said Marceline. "And have you noticed the world we're living in? People like Esau almost always get away with shit, as long as they have am expensive, immoral lawyer."
Veronica returned onto her bed. "So what? My summer's over?"
"Seems like it." Marceline sat down next to her. "I could stick with you if you want. We could study and-"
"No."
"What?"
"No," Veronica repeated herself. "I can't just let Esau ruin my summer like that."
"Ron, summer's not all about parties, you know?"
"We have different ideas of how we enjoy our lives, Marceline!" Veronica exclaimed. "You can't force me into your world just because some random sicko is threatening mine."
"Calm down, please."
"No!" Veronica stood up. "Don't tell me to calm down. Can't we report him beforehand or something?"
Marceline sighed. "Boys will be boys. He must've been joking around, he's a man - let him! I don't wanna sound like a black cloud, but no one is gonna give a damn. They never do."
"How would you know?"
"Oh, I do!" Marceline stood up, glaring at Veronica. "Trust me, I do."
"I can't just stay away from everything," Veronica said softly. "I can't just put my life on hold because he might try to rape me."
Marceline sighed. "I'll deal with it."
"What?"
"Stay inside, just for the night. I'll deal with Esau."
•
After a few attempts at working with one hand, Marion finally admitted that it was best for him to stick to minimal jobs. "How long till you get it off?" Lucia asked him after he got down from hanging a banner.
He shrugged. "How long till you get those off?"
"I was supposed to yesterday, but..." She paused. "I think I'm kind of afraid of what I'll see."
Marion nodded. "I won't pretend I understand what that feels like, but with what I know about you, I think you'll be fine."
She smiled. "I appreciate that, but-"
"No." Marion shook his head. "No buts, let's get back to work."
Forest joined Marion as he walked into the hall. "This place looks great, man. But I have to say, you didn't really contribute to that. Like, at all."
"What can I say?" Marion chuckled. "I'm a pretty good supervisor."
"You think it's gonna do it?"
"What?" Marion asked.
"Troye," said Forest. "You think this is gonna lift his spirits? I know what heartbreak feels like, man."
Marion scoffed. "Quit that fairytale shit, they knew each other for barely a week."
"Finding out your crush is a mental case who's probably a rapist has gotta feel different, man. Neither of us have been through shit like that, so we can't say," Forest stated.
"Yeah." Marion nodded once they'd reached the stage. "Life, am I right? You never know what it'll give you. Sometimes, it's time travel; sometimes, it's a psychopath. You ready?"
"For what?"
"Your performance." Lucia was standing on the stage with some papers in her hand. "This is the setlist and your band is the last for tonight."
Forest smiled. "He did it."
•
He did it. He did what was possibly the only thing he ever wanted from her, and it wasn't even from her. Did he even understand that? Or was he too caught up in his own world and his own desires to realise that she was her own human being beside being his girlfriend? It was over. She was done. She wanted to break up with him, but she didn't know how she'd be able to face him.
She spoke the words as she wrote them. "They're winning."
"Tulip," came her mother's voice after a knock on the door.
She felt a lump in her throat as she said, "Mom."
"You gonna be out for breakfast? I'm growing a little concerned, baby."
"I'm fine, mom," said Tulip. "I'm just busy with something, right now. I'll..." She paused to wipe tears off her eyes. "I'll be out, soon."
"Okay. I love you, Tulip."
She looked up at her open window. "I love you too."