by Tabatha Kiss
“You think?” I ask.
“Well, my first aid training didn’t cover nose injury by severe pelvic thrust, but yeah. I think.” She grins at her own joke as she rips open a butterfly bandage. “If it starts bleeding or becomes too unbearable, stop by the campus wellness center. Otherwise, they’d probably just slap a bandage on it and tell you to take ibuprofen... like me! Take some ibuprofen. You’ll be fine.”
“No, it’s okay,” I say as I lean forward. “I trust you.”
She lays the bandage on my nose with a careful, surprisingly gentle, touch.
“Leave that on for a day or so,” she says. “It might not do jack shit other than remind you not to touch your nose, but as someone who has broken her nose before, that’s a lot more difficult than you’d think.”
“I’ll do my best.” I pick up the ice pack again and rest it between my eyes. “How did you break your nose?”
“Neighborhood fight club,” she answers, then flashes a smile. “No. Tenth grade. I got punched in the face by the ninety pound farm girl at a school dance because she thought I was hitting on her date, Charlie Nolan.”
“Were you?”
“No. Actually, I was confronting him about what he did to Heidi.”
I lower the ice pack, suddenly filled with an urge to track down this Charlie Nolan... and making him pay.
“What’d he do to Heidi?” I ask.
Jenna takes a breath. “This might surprise you, but Heidi isn’t exactly a social butterfly. So, when Charlie Nolan, one of the hottest jocks in our class, asked her to the spring fling dance, she was so excited. We got all dressed up. I did her hair. I taught her how to do her make-up. We made a whole thing of it. Then, we waited for Charlie Nolan to pick her up, but he never showed. And it broke her heart.”
My chest twinges. “That sucks,” I say.
“Yeah, it really did. She stayed home. I went to the dance, mostly because she made me. She’s the suffer alone type. I walked in and there was Charlie Nolan, bumping and grinding and having himself a great time. I went right up to him, asked what the hell he was doing, and he just started laughing. His friends cracked up, too. It’s like the entire class was in on the joke except us.”
I bite down. “Assholes.”
Jenna nods. “Anyway, that’s when Princess Cow Patty wandered up and picked a fight with me. She punched me, I backhanded her, and she—” she snaps her fingers, “went right down. Charlie Nolan didn’t like that, so he tried to take me down, too. I kicked him so hard in the jewels, he got testicular torsion.” She sighs, nostalgic. “That was the night I knew I wanted to be a doctor.”
I squint, amused. “Was Heidi okay?” I ask.
“Eventually, yeah,” she says. “But she never went to a dance again. She skipped our senior prom even though, at that point, people had forgotten all about it. Three really nice guys asked her to go. She said no to all of them.” She pauses. “You know I almost went to Yale?”
I blink. “Really?”
“Full ride, not that I needed it. But I moved out here with Heidi instead because I knew that if I didn’t, then she’d spend four years alone in a dark room. I didn’t want that for her. I’ll have my pick of medical schools regardless, thanks to my mother’s name, but you know all about that. You’re privileged, too.”
“Yeah.”
She exhales. “You know what the cherry on top of the shit sundae is, though? The mastermind behind Charlie Nolan’s hilarious prank... was ya boi, Seth.”
“Seth?” My gut churns. “Why would he do that?”
“He used to pull shit like that all the time,” she says. “It was like he made it his mission to make her life miserable.”
I shake my head. “That’s not the Seth I know.”
“That’s the Seth we know.” She shrugs. “Sure, I guess it’s possible he grew up at some point over the last few years, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting her to come home in tears someday soon because Seth’s gonna Seth.” She studies me with sharp eyes. “Heidi really likes you.”
“I really like her.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” She looks at my nose. “I had my doubts at first, but you ain’t bad, Rose.”
“Thanks.”
“That’s why I think it’s important for you to know that I know the location of every major artery in your body.”
I smirk. Message received. “You know, I’m starting to see now why you two are friends.”
The front door opens as Jenna silently nods.
“Guys?”
“In here!” Jenna calls out.
Heidi glides through the living room. She enters the kitchen and exhales hard. “Sorry. I left as fast as I could.” Her mouth sags as she looks at my face. “Oh, god. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say. “Just a bruise. Right, Jenna?”
Jenna closes the first aid kit. “He’ll live,” she says. “For now.”
Heidi reaches out, her fingers gently hovering over the bandage. “I’m sorry,” she says, wincing. “I can’t believe that even happened.”
I chuckle. “It’s okay.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not really.”
“Are you sure?”
I hook an arm around her waist and guide her to sit on my lap. “Yes,” I say. “I’m sure.”
She settles on my knee and smiles.
“So, did he buy it?” Jenna asks.
Heidi sighs. “Yeah. He has questions, obviously. But... he bought it.”
“I’ll make something up,” I say. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Do we really want to, though?” she asks.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean...” She hesitates. “Maybe we should... just tell him.”
“No!” Jenna says. “You can’t tell him. You’re at the best part! Sneaking around. The near-misses. Almost getting caught is the best aphrodisiac!”
Heidi chuckles. “Be that as it may, this was pretty near for a miss. Add in the Jenna affair now, too...” She looks at me, completely lost. “What do you think?”
What do I think?
I think we should pack a bag, leave this place, and never come back.
“I think we should just keep doing what we’re doing,” I say.
I can tell she disagrees, but Heidi nods slowly.
She looks at Jenna and smiles. “Thank you, by the way. You really saved our asses.”
“You’re very welcome,” Jenna says as she takes a bow. “Always happy to assist.”
“I don’t know how I will ever make it up to you.”
Jenna presses her lips together. “Oh, I know exactly how you will make it up to me.”
Heidi nervously leans back. “How?”
“Number two.”
“Number two?” Heidi repeats. Then she gasps. “Jenna, no.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No!”
I chuckle. “I thought you guys already did your number two,” I say to Jenna.
“Not my number two,” she says. “Her number two.”
I grin as Heidi cringes in my lap.
“Please make me do something else,” Heidi begs. “Anything else.”
“Nope.” Jenna grins. “You and me, girl. We’re doing it. Today.”
“Today?!”
“Today.”
Heidi collapses her head onto my shoulder.
Chapter 31
Heidi
Ah, jeez.
Why did it have to be number two?
I stare at the options on the wall of the tattoo parlor as a pit grows even deeper in my stomach. A needle roars in the far corner behind a curtain, but I can’t help but picture that sharp bastard digging into skin and—
“Girl, relax,” Jenna says from behind me.
“I’m fine,” I squeak. “I’m relaxed.”
“Girl...”
I spin around to face her.
“Don’t make me do this.”
“Oh, come on.” She snorts. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Infection,” I blurt. “Or there could be an earthquake and he doesn’t pull the needle away in time, and then I’m scarred for life with some weird, squiggly line.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. That’d make a hilarious story.”
My shoulders sink even more. “Doesn’t this hurt?” I ask. “Like really hurt?”
“No,” she says, maintaining her smile. “It’s like a little pinch.”
I glare at the closed curtain again. “That doesn’t sound like a little pinch...”
Jenna sighs as she spins around. “Drew, help me out here,” she says.
Drew turns from the back wall where he was scanning other tattoo choices. “What’s up?” he asks as he strides over to us.
“You have a tattoo,” she says.
He nods. “Yes, I do.”
“Then, would you please tell her that it doesn’t hurt that much?”
“It doesn’t hurt that much,” he says.
“There!” Jenna grins in triumph. “See?”
I search Drew’s eyes for comfort. “Is it really not that bad?” I ask.
Drew chuckles. “Well, honestly... I don’t remember getting my tattoo. I was really wasted that night, but—!” He touches my shoulder as I start to lose my shit again. “It’s really not that bad. Many people actually like it so much, they get addicted to it.”
“Many people also get addicted to heroin,” I argue.
“That’s it!” Jenna snaps her fingers. “We’ll just get you wasted!”
I don’t say a word. I just glare at her.
“No?” she asks.
Drew takes my hand and leads me away from Jenna. “Heidi, it’ll be okay,” he says once we’re alone. “This place is clean and safe. Kenny’s been doing this for like thirty years. I’ll be right there holding your hand the whole time.”
“You really don’t remember it?” I ask.
“I don’t, but what I do remember is the morning after. I had just moved into the Delta Xi house. All the new recruits had done it the night before and it was like we were part of this awesome exclusive club together. I look back on that day sometimes and grin like an idiot.” He smiles. “Think of it this way: who’s your ideal Heidi? The girl who makes a memory with her best friend? Or the girl who doesn’t?”
I furrow with suspicion. “This question seems manipulative.”
Drew chuckles as his hands settle on my hips. “You don’t have to do it,” he says. “Say the word and I’ll back you up. I just don’t want you to miss out on something cool because you’re scared of a little pain.” He bites his lip. “Also, tattoos are sexy. Especially on girls.”
“Manipulative...”
He kisses my forehead. “What do you say?” he asks. “We crushing that vision board today or what?”
I take a deep breath, filling my lungs to the brim and holding it there. Five goals for a perfect freshman year, right?
What’s the worst that can happen?
I exhale all of it. “All right!” I say, pumping myself up. “Let’s do it.”
Immediately, Jenna swoops in and grabs my arm. “Okay, so...” She tugs me back to the wall. “I’m thinking the butterfly.”
I follow her pointer finger to the cute monarch above our heads. “That’s nice,” I say, letting my adrenaline guide me.
“It’s better than nice,” she says. “It’s a metaphor. You and me, emerging from our small town cocoons, and taking on the big, wide world together and looking absolutely fabulous while we do it.”
“Wow.” I nod. “That’s not bad, actually.”
“I know, right?” She smirks. “You get the left wing, I’ll get the right?”
Another deep breath. Another wave of adrenaline. I look at my best friend and smile, reacting to her contagious grin.
“Sounds perfect,” I say.
Chapter 32
Heidi
“Ow,” I say, wincing. “Ow, ow, ow...”
Drew chuckles behind me on the bed. “You’re the one who wanted me to do this slowly...”
“And I instantly regret it. Ouch!”
He yanks the rest of the bandage off the back of my left shoulder. “There,” he says. “It’s off.”
I crane my neck to try to see it. “What does it look like?” I ask.
“It looks really cool.”
“It does?”
“Yeah, here.”
He takes a quick picture with his phone and hands it to me. I stare at the shiny, new tattoo on my back. It’s just two inches large and only half a whole butterfly, but it somehow makes me feel like an entirely new person. I instantly smile when I think of the other half permanently etched into Jenna’s right shoulder. Drew was right. We made a memory, and a damn good one at that.
Get a tattoo. Check!
“Damn,” I say, admiring the orange butterfly wing. “It does look cool.”
Drew opens the bottle of ointment. “Hold still,” he says as he squirts a little onto his hand.
I face forward and he slathers it on the tattoo. It’s cold and sends a chill down my spine. Then again, that’s just how my body has always reacted to Drew’s touch.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod. “Uh-huh.”
“Doesn’t burn?”
“Not really,” I say, smiling.
He adds another layer, softly rubbing it in. Then, he leans over and kisses a dry piece of skin near it. “Kenny said to do this once every hour for the first day, so keep the bottle handy.”
“I will.”
“You don’t want it to scab.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Do it less as it heals.”
“All right.”
“Will you go to the mask ball with me?”
My breath catches.
“What?” I ask.
“Will you...” he kisses the same dry spot again, “go to the masquerade ball with me tomorrow night?”
For a second, I don’t move. I assume that I just misheard him — but how could I have misheard him twice?
The masquerade ball? The Greek masquerade ball?
I pivot to look at him over my shoulder again. “No,” I answer.
Drew smiles with a raised finger. “Now, before you say no again—”
“No.”
“—consider saying yes instead.”
I chortle. “What? No, Drew. The mask ball is for the Greek system.”
“Which I’m a part of, so you can go. I invited you.”
I pause. I scratch my forehead. I don’t understand why he’s evading the actual point.
“It’s... very public,” I say. “Not to mention a lot of those people know Seth. My brother.”
“I know,” Drew says with a shrug.
I bite down. “So... no. No, Drew. I won’t go with you.”
Still, he keeps his smile as he wraps his arms around my waist. “You let me worry about all of that,” he says.
“Wow, you don’t spend a lot of time with people with anxiety, do you?”
“I’ll take care of the logistics,” he says, leaning close. “All I want you to worry about is getting all dressed up and having a good night with me... as a friend.”
“As a friend?”
“As far as anyone else is concerned, that’s what we are. We just have to act like it for a few hours.”
“Friends or not, Seth made me promise not to go.”
He waves a hand. “He’ll pout at first, but Seth will not let that ruin his night. Believe me. After five minutes, he’ll be yanking you into the mosh pit with everybody else.”
I go quiet for a moment. “I don’t...”
“Just say yes,” he whispers.
Just say yes.
Just say yes to the pretty boy asking you to the dance.
Been there, done that.
“No,” I say again.
“Heidi—�
�
“I don’t want to go, Drew.”
His smile slips a bit. “Heidi, you know that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?”
The words bring warmth and comfort. I would like nothing more than to curl up in them forever. I would love to forget about all the reasons we’re hiding out in my bedroom right now and enjoy a night out with him under shining lights, but I don’t see how that’s possible. Not unless we came clean.
“Are you going to tell Seth about us?” I ask.
Drew shakes his head. “No. It’s not the right time yet.”
“When is the right time?”
“Soon.”
I raise a brow. He sighs.
“I promise,” he says. “Soon, we will tell him, but I want to enjoy this night with you first. Okay?”
I inhale sharply to answer, but my words fail me again.
Drew shifts a little closer. “Do you trust me?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Then, would you trust me on this? Please?”
I stand up off the bed, my mind already made up. “Drew, I do trust you. This isn’t about you. I’m sure you have some wonderful ideas for that night that most girls would fawn over, but... I’m not that girl. I don’t want to go, so I’m not going. I’m sorry, but I can’t make it any clearer than that.”
“No, you really can’t.” Drew nods slowly. “I’m sorry. I won’t push it again.”
“Thank you.”
“But I have to go,” he adds. “If I don’t, Seth is going to know something is up.”
“That’s fine.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.” I stand a little taller. “I said I trusted you, didn’t I? You can go to your dance. I don’t care.”
He looks down for a moment. “Okay,” he says. “Then, I’ll go.”
I exhale hard, exhausted. From that awkward breakfast with Seth to getting inked to this conversation tonight, today feels twice as long as normal days.
“Anyway,” I clear my throat, “I have an early shift in the morning, so...”
Drew stands up. “Yeah, I should get back to the house. There’s a party tonight and I have to work the door.”
I nod, though my head feels heavy. My excuse was a total lie. Was his, too?
Drew looks at me, quickly shedding the wounded eyes in favor of his usual smile. He bends down to kiss me goodbye. My body responds the same way it always does, covering me in a thin layer of shivers and goosebumps, and I kiss him back.
