The Shift

18

'Beth' I called down the hall. 'What?' She asked as her head popped out of her room. 'Come here' I said. 'What's up?' She asked her. 'I need your help' I said. 'Okay' She said. 'So If I said you owe me for doing this project for you, would you consider that fair?' I asked her. 'Um, probably' She said. 'Okay, well. Cat knows' I said. 'Knows about your life?' She asked. 'Yeah, she found out at that concert with Caitlin' I said. 'Are you kidding me?' She asked. 'No, and that's why I turned Justin down. Because she's blackmailing me' I said.

'Fuck Cat, Jesus' She said. 'Yeah' I said. 'So, what is it you need me for?' She asked. 'This is messed up considering she's been your friend for a while, but I can't tell Justin. You know that, you need your project to be finished, and I need time to ease him into it' I said. She nodded and I was glad she agreed. 'I need your help to keep Cat's mouth shut, but I don't want to stay away from Justin at the same time' I said. 'You're asking for a lot Chan' She said. I gave her a lot, she asked a lot of me the first fucking day I moved in here.

'But you're my sister, and I do owe you. Look, Cat's a complicated person, you just need to find something she wants more than Justin' She said. 'That's where you come in' I said. 'Chan this is going to be hard' She sighed. 'I know Beth, but I need this' I said. 'Alright, I'm going to tell you something, and you have to promise to keep it between us until we figure out how we're going to handle this situation' She was double checking no one was in the hallway, and closed the door behind her.

'Alright, so you know Johnny's endless crap about loving the single life?' She asked. 'Yeah' I said. 'Well it's utter bullshit. He's had a thing for Cat for the last two years, but he has too much pride to chase after her since she's so into Justin' She continued. 'He's never even hinted at it' I said. 'Well, that's how I found out. Last spring break, he was drunk and I couldn't take care of him because I was with Kent, and we were planning on having sex for the first time that same night. So, Cat took care of him for me. The next morning she told me her confessed how into her he was and then passed out. The next day, he didn't remember anything, so Cat sort of left it at that' She said.

'Are you serious?' I asked her. 'So, of course I couldn't just leave it that way. I waited a while, and then I finally asked him if he liked her. He told me it didn't matter as long as Justin was in the picture' She said. 'Wow' I said. 'So basically, we have to get Justin out of the picture?' I asked her. 'Well, technically he is. You have him, which is why the best way to get her to move on is for you to date Justin' She said. 'No, she'll just tell him everything' I said. 'Not if you guys don't say you're dating' She said. 'You lost me' I said. 'Keep it a secret, or just from her at least. While that's happening, I'll do my best to convince Johnny to make his move. If he can shift Cat's interests off of Justin and onto himself, then it shouldn't matter anymore' She said. 'I don't know' I said.

'We really just need to hold her off long enough for the project to finish, and for you to show Justin who you really are. If by then, Cat still wants to blow you up, the damage shouldn't be half as bad as it would if she did it now' She said. 'That does make sense' I said. 'But how do we know Johnny's still into her now, she's been so much more of a bitch lately. Or, how do we know Cat would even give Johnny the time of day, since to her Justin's technically single?' I asked her. 'Trust me when I say Johnny still wants Cat' She said. 'Look, you focus on getting Justin on your good side and go from there. Whatever you tell him to get him to keep it lowkey is up to you, but the least I can do is deal with Johnny and Cat. I am the reason you're in this situation' She said.

'This isn't your vault, I agreed to this' I said. 'Well, I do feel responsible' She said. 'I don't even know how to get on Justin's good side again' I said. 'I'm still pissed about the whole him and Cat thing' I said. I was sort of hoping it was like my dream, and they didn't actually have sex. 'Oh yeah, them fucking' Beth said. Well, nevermind. 'Well, you can use that against him' She said. 'You'll be fine, just think about the fact that you do want to be with him. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so anxious to have him learn the truth your way. You care about him a lot' She said.