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"Yo, Lex, what're you doin'?" Rue said as she entered the school's bathroom to be met with none other than her childhood best friend, Lexi Howard.
"Oh, just putting up fliers for this play I'm doing," the shorter girl replied cooly.
"What play?"
The only thing is... Lexi hadn't told anyone about the play... including Cassie. She turned to Rue with wide eyes. "I'd actually love for you to read it."
"Yeah, for sure. Just, uh, send it to me," Rue replied.
Just then, Cassie stomped into the room, donning yet another extravagant outfit. "Hey, Rue-Rue."
"Hi, Cass. Wait, are you in the play?" Rue asked upon noticing her outfit.
"What play?" Cassie said, though there was no confusion on her perfectly painted face.
"Lexi's play."
"What do you mean, Lexi's play?" Cassie turned to the curly-haired girl.
"Uh, the play that Lexi wrote. Oklahoma."
Eliana walked in, her ashy blonde ponytail swinging from side to side. She wore a white long sleeve crewneck with the Chanel logo all over it as a black Steve Madden purse dangled in her elbow as she looked on, confused. She traded her pink glossy lips for a matte red today, but her lips still looked full and plump. Maddy and Kat walked in behind her.
"What? The play's called Oklahoma?"
"No, the drama club's doing Oklahoma."
"Oh my god. Do I look like I'm in Oklahoma?"
"Why would your play be set in Oklahoma?"
"You thought I was auditioning for Oklahoma?"
"I haven't read it, so..."
"Are you making fun of me, or did you actually think I was auditioning for Oklahoma?" Cassie nagged.
"Why the fuck would you audition for Oklahoma?"
Cassie turned away from the mirror in a huff, exclaiming, "I'm not!"
"Then why the fuck do you look like you're auditioning for Oklahoma?"
"Do I?"
"Yes," Kat nodded.
"Has everyone read Oklahoma but me?" Cassie asked no one in particular. But between the six girls in the bathroom, it was getting chaotic. Really, it always did whenever they were in the same room, which was hardly ever.
"Oklahoma's not like a play you read..." Rue dragged.
"But like, you didn't write Oklahoma, right? Like this is some other play?" Eliana asked.
Eliana's question was overlooked. "Rue, are you on drugs?"
"Yes."
Everyone turned to the curly-haired girl in the corner with shocked faces. "You relapsed?" they all asked simultaneously.
"Wait, what?!"
"Oh, I've just... Nah, I've just been smokin' a little bit of weed," Rue clarified... or tried to. Eliana more or less saw through it.
"Oh, Rue..." Eliana tilted her head, rubbing her own forearms in an attempt to comfort herself. Her nails were coca red with little black cherries on the ring fingers this week.
"Wait, I don't understand. If you're not auditioning for Oklahoma, then why do you look like that?"
"Like what?" Cassie whined.
"Like a country music star," Maddy said.
"In a good way or a bad way?" Cassie stomped around. Honestly, she was reminding Eliana of a child, the way she was whining and complaining this past week. More in the clouds than usual.
"Bitch," Maddy cocked her head, hoops swaying as she moved. "You better be joking."
"Are you okay, Cass?"
But Cassie didn't say anything. She just stood there in front of the mirror, running her fingers through her huge curls as she took deep breaths in and out, ignoring the other girls. They just shared a couple of quick looks before going on with their day, walking out of the bathroom after they were done with their business and forgetting Cassie.
"I think being single's really stressing you out."
Maddy, Eliana, Cassie and Theo were laid out on tanning beds on the side of the pool at Theo's house, which was becoming a common ground where the girls would hang out whenever his mother wasn't around. Which was a lot, obviously. Maddy was the first to speak out about Cassie's ongoing behaviour, which was slowly but surely becoming an elephant in the room.
"No, I don't think so," Cassie maintained. Eliana tugged on the bottom of her navy blue bikini top, trying to tan as much of her cleavage as she could.
"I hate it," Maddy admitted.
"Really?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah," Maddy sighed. "I think Nate really fuckеd me up." Forgetting the little boy had been there until he loudly gasped, Maddy turned to correct herself. "I said, messed me up."
"No, you didn't," Theo looked on in shock, turning to Eliana in disbelief. She chuckled at the boy's actions.
"What do you mean?" Cassie asked. Eliana turned away so she could roll her eyes in peace. She couldn't believe her, asking something like that knowing everything that Maddy had gone through with Nate. Of course, Maddy would be messed up from that. Those kinds of relationships damage you forever, leave you second-guessing forever.
"I keep trying to figure out if I feel worse now than I did when I was with Nate," Maddy explained.
"I mean, you were really unhappy," Cassie said softly.
"Like, I remember how the good parts felt," Maddy went on. "But when it was bad, was it really that bad? Or am I just telling myself that because I'm lonely and bored?"
"I'm gonna be honest," Eliana sighed. "I think you are extremely bored because you've been so used to the drama all the time. Even if you didn't think it at the time, it was all this whole extra shitshow thing and you didn't see it because you think it's normal. And it's not, I'm sorry, but it's not."
"You... you deserve someone who's passionate and loving. Who yearns for you, and, and can't wait to see you, who... who you're not gonna fight with, and just who's gonna love you. Like... really, truly love you," Cassie added.
"What was it you just said..." Eliana tapped her chin, pretending to be lost in thought. "Bitch, you better be joking? Yeah... you better be joking because that ⎯ what you had ⎯ wasn't love."
"Yeah... I don't know," Maddy turned to Theo. "Do me a favour... when you get older, don't be an asshole to girls you like."
