Three of Us

by Goode, Ella

  I regret that statement five minutes into shopping at the bra store. First, the place is tiny. Between Zeke and me and the display tables, there’s hardly any room to maneuver. Second, it smells good. Like some vanilla and flower mixture. Livvie likes it, too.

  “Are you burning candles here or some kind of scent thingy?” she asks.

  “Scent diffuser. We have a whole line over here. The one we are using today is Vanilla Breeze,” the sales lady informs us.

  “Oh, great. Erika, do we need this?”

  Fuck, no. I’ll associate that smell with an almost nude Livvie and nothing else. I don’t need that kind of hassle. “I’m allergic to vanilla,” I lie.

  “Since when?” Livvie asks.

  “Since right this second.”

  “Fine. No scents.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll just use the extra money to buy more undies. I like this nightie. What do you think, Erika?” Livvie holds up a pink and black lace get up that has ruffles and some kind of shoelace tie up the middle. I about swallow my tongue. Panic sets in and I rush over the bottles Livvie had just abandoned.

  “We’ll take a half-dozen,” I say, shoving them by the armful at the sales lady.

  “And I’ll take one of these in every color you’ve got.”

  I turn to see Livvie holding up a sheer bra in blue. There’s a tiny satin bow in the center of two cups and darker blue satin shoulder straps. Livvie’s lips curl up. “There’s not a piece of lace in sight.” She swings the bra toward me.

  I catch it because I’ve been cursed with great hand-eye coordination. I look toward my brother for help, but his face is tight and his pupils are dilated. The boy is imagining what Livvie’s beautiful tits would look like covered in the blue thing I’m holding. I realize then that we’ve been bested. If we spend another second in this store, we’re bound to attack Livvie right here in public.

  She’ll be spread across one of these round tables, with her legs draped over my shoulders and her tits in Zeke’s mouth. I’ll be tearing her panties off and getting her cream all over the new merch.

  I sag in defeat. “You win, Livvie. You can have your box back.”

  Livvie sets down the handful of lace and satin and bows and ruffles and gives me an angelic smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

  She waltzes over and plucks two bottles of the cursed vanilla air freshener out of my grasp. “We only need two. Thanks so much for your help.”

  Zeke collapses against a drawer full of bras. “We are so fucked, brother.”

  I grip the back of my neck and squeeze. “I know.”

  10

  Olivia

  I lie on my bed reading over my schedule and putting everything into my calendar, making sure I have the required items the professor said we need. I hate being unprepared for anything.

  Erika lies on her side reading her Kindle and swiping faster with her finger than I thought was possible. I’ve noticed her Kindle is never far from her. I’ve also noticed she never talks about friends or even her parents, except for the one time I asked. It actually made me feel a little guilty when my mom called an hour ago. She not only checked up on me, she then asked me to turn my phone angle so she could say hi to Erika too. Mom even asked if my roommate needed anything and what her favorite color was. I’m certain the next care package will have something for both of us in it.

  Erika smiled, clearly enjoying the fact someone was checking on her. Where are her own mom and dad? I’ve already put them on my shit list. It’s a short one containing Mr. Martin who threw away the box of cookies I’d been sneak eating under my desk in the fourth grade, and Julia Cranston, who stole my science project in fifth grade. My mom had made those cookies. I don’t care if she made me more and told me to let it go. Mr. Martin and Julie are still on the list and now they have two more people to hang out with. My men are going to be the next to go on that list if they don’t start touching me. I smirk to myself. I should tell them. Their offended reactions would be hilarious.

  “I’m missing a book.” I roll over to look at Erika. “I don’t know how I missed it, but I did.” I sigh, picking up my phone and seeing how fast I can get one shipped to me.

  “I’m sure it’s in the school’s bookstore,” she tells me. “They keep them all in stock.”

  “Good, because this is saying delivery will take two weeks. What takes two weeks to ship these days?” I drop the phone down onto the bed next to me. “What else do they have in this bookstore? Snacks?” Now I’m craving cookies. Thanks a lot, Mr. Martin, for once again messing something up for me.

  “Yeah. They’ve got some snacks, books, and some random school supplies you might need and even some school-branded clothing.”

  I sit up and throw my legs over the side of the bed. “Let’s go.”

  “Right now?” She sits up too, her long dark hair falling all around her.

  “What else are we doing?” I slip on my flip-flops. Maybe I can snag us some matching shirts. I felt like such a jerk yesterday after Levi, Zeke and I’d got shirts and left Erika out. I mean, I know she doesn’t want to be branded like us, but I felt rude for not including her. I’m going to fix that.

  She puts her Kindle on her side table and heads to the bathroom. She comes out a few moments later wearing a too-big-for-her shirt over the baby tee she was lying around in. She slips on her sneakers and pulls up her thick dark hair in a tight knot. I never get why she always does that. She has the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen.

  I grab my phone and purse and we head out. Everyone turns and stares in our direction. You’d think the novelty would be over by now. I get it. They want to see who snagged the Audley twins. What I don’t understand is that by now they’ve seen me multiple times, so why the continuous stares? And this time, I swear, a few are trying to sneakily take pictures of Erika and me. Just in case, I double-check my clothes to make sure I don’t have stains on them or that I don’t have toilet paper stuck to my shoe. I’m starting to feel self-conscious and that’s not something I’m used to. I put those thoughts to the back of my mind and focus on the task at hand.

  We head down the stairs and exit out the doors. It’s midafternoon and I wonder what we’ll do tonight. Levi and Zeke hadn’t mentioned anything in particular, but I’m sure they’ll be over soon enough. They want to be around me all the time but also at a safe distance so they don’t take what they think I’m not ready for. I’m so ready for this virginity to be gone, though it has been fun teasing them and watching them get worked up. From the hard-ons they are always trying to mask in their pants, I know I’m not going to be disappointed when I really get to explore them for the first time. I just have to figure out how to get them to stop resisting.

  “Is it just me or are people staring more than normal?” I ask Erika. They’re not just looking anymore either. They’re whispering.

  “Yeah. Probably talking about that Snapchat of you that’s going around.”

  I stop walking to look at her. “Snapchat?” I know the app, but I don’t use it. The boys and I message on our phones.

  “Yeah. You haven’t seen it?” Now she’s looking at me like I’m crazy.

  “I don’t have Snapchat. Levi and Zeke said no one needs to be following videos of me.” They always say that I’m pretty enough without adding filters. I roll my eyes. “I tried to download it anyway, but it won’t work. I’m pretty sure Zeke did something to block it on my phone.” He’s way too good with technology. It’s annoying and hot all at once. I’m not sure how that’s possible, but I long ago stopped questioning the things they make my body feel. I just go with it. I know that they always have my best interests at heart.

  She lets out a laugh but doesn’t act shocked by my comment. I’m guessing she’s getting used to them, too. She clicks away on her phone and pulls it up.

  On her phone is a clip of Levi carrying me across campus over his shoulder with Zeke right behind us.

  “Damn, my ass looks good.” I glance up at Erika. “They are never going to let me hav
e those shorts back now.” What a shame. Maybe Erika and I can plan a sneak operation to retrieve them one night. I smile, thinking that might actually be really fun. I have plenty of ideas of how I could occupy Levi and Zeke while Erika retrieves my shorts.

  “Probably for the best,” she laughs. “You do have a nice ass.” She nods, glancing at my butt.

  I look over my shoulder at it and nod in agreement. I hadn’t really noticed until the video. “Come on. I want some snacks. Maybe they’ll make my ass look even better,” I joke.

  “Not sure that’s how that works, but I’m so down for testing the theory.”

  We walk into the bookstore and stroll the aisles. Eventually, I find the book I need and we move toward the school shirts.

  “Let’s get matching shirts.” I glance to Erika, who raises an eyebrow at me.

  “You’re really into this matching shirt thing.”

  “Yep. And as my new best friend, you are now too.” I grab two shirts off the rack.

  “We’re best friends?” she whispers, glancing down at her sneakers. I’m not sure if she meant to really ask the question.

  “Well yeah.” I turn to face her. “Aren’t we?” I insist with one hand on my hip for emphasis. It’s not a question either.

  “Yeah.” She nods in agreement, full on smiling now. “Though I want a bigger size.” She reaches for one of the two shirts I’m holding.

  I pull them back out of her reach. “No way. You got a killer little body. Besides, I’m going to cut these up and make them look even better.”

  “Cut them up? They’re brand new.”

  “Yep.” I move towards the snacks and grab some as I go. “There are all these cool YouTube videos you can watch and they show you how to cut up shirts to make them cuter. We’ll pick a design and do it. It’ll be fun. Pretty please, BFF!” I pout, hoping I’ll get my way.

  “Fine, but we pick the design together,” Erika says in feigned defeat. I side hug her and tell her she’s not going to regret it.

  I drop all my stuff down onto the checkout counter. The man behind the counter starts ringing it all up. I give him my student card to charge it to.

  “You’re Olivia, right?” he asks, looking at my card that clearly says that.

  “That’s me.”

  He hands it back to me. “Zeke called when you got here and told me to put everything on his account.” I look around but don’t see either of them.

  “That’s creepy and is going to be hard to get used to,” Erika says, looking around with me. It’s not as if you could miss the two of them if they were close.

  I shrug. I know he’s only tracking me, but I wouldn’t be shocked if one or both of them popped up from somewhere at any moment.

  Clay, as his name tag reads, puts everything into a bag for us before we head out. Outside, there’s a large crowd of girls in front of the bookstore.

  A pretty blonde turns and smiles at me a little too brightly. For a moment I think we must know each other. She even says my name.

  “Olivia, right?” She holds her hand out for me to shake. Okay, maybe we don’t know each other. Thank god, because I couldn’t place her face. “I’m Hope.”

  “That’s me. This is my best friend, Erika.” I nod to Erika standing next to me.

  “Are you both freshmen?” She looks between the two of us. Maybe she doesn’t mean to be rude, but Erika has been here a couple of years. The school is big but not that large. The hairs stand up on my arm when I shake her hand, and I feel uneasy.

  “Hi, Hope,” Erika says, not answering her question. Hope looks to Erika and gives her that same smile she gave me.

  “Are you all coming to the party tonight?” she asks. I don’t know anything about a party. Though I also didn’t know the whole school was looking at my ass on Snapchat either. “You really should. Get to know everyone.” The girl standing next to Hope—she could almost be her twin—hands her a small pink piece of paper that she then hands to me.

  It has the address and time to a party tonight on it. From the logo at the top it looks like a fraternity house is hosting it.

  “Sure. We can stop by. This doesn’t look far from our dorm.” I show it to Erika.

  “It’s not,” she confirms but doesn’t sound excited about it.

  “Awesome! See you girls tonight.” Hope chirps before they all turn and leave together.

  “I’m not sure you want to go to that party.” Erika says when they are a good distance away.

  “Why? Is she the one who peed on your floor?” I deadpan. The sour look on her face drops away as she fights a laugh.

  “No, but she does have a giant thing for your boyfriends.”

  “I really can’t fault someone for that,” I admit. Erika is the only girl who never gives them puppy dog eyes when she looks at them. Though I don’t think she wants anyone looking at her. Most of the time she is giving them shocked looks like their behavior scandalizes her.

  “She even”—she uses finger quotes—“‘made’ them brownies and left them at the door. They didn’t eat them, though. In fact, Hope was furious when she found out they left the brownies on their porch for the animals to eat.” She adds the last part hurriedly. We start walking again, heading back to our dorm. “It’s a shame because they did come from the best bakery in town.”

  “What?!” I shout.

  “They didn’t eat them. They pretty much threw them away,” she repeats.

  I shake my head and pull out my cellphone.

  “Hey baby.”

  “Olivia.”

  “Livvie.”

  They answer the phone together.

  “I heard about Hope,” I snip at them.

  “It’s not what you think,” Zeke says.

  “Who’s Hope?” Levi asks.

  “Who just throws away brownies? Not just brownies but the best brownies in town?”

  “I’ll go get you brownies right now. Be there in five.” Levi says, and I can hear him moving around. Zeke laughs.

  “Laugh all you want, but we’re going to a party tonight.” I slip that in real quick.

  “Do not want to go to a fucking party,” Levi says in the background with a groan.

  “Mom is always saying I need to be doing all these college things. Finding myself.” I roll my eyes over the last part. The only thing I want to find is their cocks while I’m between the two of them, but I keep that to myself so Erika doesn’t turn cherry red. I’ve got to ease her into this sex girl talk stuff.

  The guys grow quiet on the other end of the line.

  “You all still there?”

  “Yeah, we'll take you,” Zeke relents, but he doesn’t sound thrilled.

  “We’ve never even gone to one of these parties,” Levi sighs in the background.

  “I guess it will be a first for us all.”

  11

  Levi

  After ten minutes of having my feet stepped on, beer spilled down my jeans, and my package being surreptitiously felt up by at least three different girls, I’ve come to the conclusion that a college party is basically a high school party on steroids. There’s more booze, more people, and louder music, but it’s pretty much the same thing we had going on back home. Except at home, we mixed better. It was a small town and so we couldn’t stand together in groups according to what our activities were. We all played ball. We all were in choir—well, Zeke and I dropped it after seventh grade—but the point is that we all did it or there wouldn’t be enough people for football or basketball or a play. So we all hung out with each other—the jocks, the smart kids, the drama kids, the potheads.

  It’s not the same in college. I think I’m supposed to be in the back doing beer bongs with my teammates and Zeke’s supposed to be huddled with the hackers playing League of Legends. I’m not sure where Livvie should be. No. She belongs here next to me or beside Zeke. Too many assholes are looking in our direction. I want to throw a sheet over Livvie’s head and carry her out of here, but she’s bopping her cute, little head.r />
  “Do you want to dance?” she yells to the roommate.

  The roommate’s face turns from interested to horrified in a second. She shakes her head so hard I think it’s going to come off her neck.

  “But you love dancing,” Livvie protests.

  “Not in front of all these people,” the roommate says. She hunches her shoulders inward as if she wants the floor to swallow her whole.

  “All right. If you don’t want to, I won’t make you.” Livvie can’t completely disguise her disappointment.

  “You’re up, Levi,” my brother says. “Or she’s going to go out there on the dance floor by herself and then some guy will think that’s an opening and then we’ll get thrown out for beating him up.”

  I let out a frustrated groan because that’s exactly what will happen. It’s not that I hate dancing. I don’t mind it. The problem here is that Livvie’s body looks fucking sick in her jeans and tricked out T-shirt—not the pink one that says she’s the property of the Audley twins—but a different one that matches with the roommate.

  “I’m about to come in my jeans just watching her and you want me to go out there and let her grind on me?” I ask in exasperation.

  “Yeah. That’s exactly what I expect you to do. I got you this though.” He produces a red cup filled with ice cubes.

  I take it but throw my brother a look of confusion. “You want me to look like I pissed my pants?”

  He throws his head back and howls. “No, you dumbass. You’re supposed to chew on it. Not throw it down your shorts.”

  “It’s not my tongue that’s on fire,” I say grumpily but take the cup anyway.

  “Use it however you want,” he suggests. “But take our girl out there and show her a good time. I’d do it, but we both know that’s a bad idea.”