Beware The Water

Trust Issues

Shorter's head hung low as the warm water trailed down his head and back. The hot steam relaxed his muscles and fogged up the mirror on the outside of the shower. He ran a soapy hand down his pecs and torso that was marked with minor scars and a few bruises. Regrettably a few new bite marks too.

The falling water and music from a speaker drowned out the sound of Shorter's ringing cellphone that was at his bedside.

"Hello?.... He's in the shower right now.... This is Nana. And you are?.... I can tell him you called.... Oh, well alright then. Have a good one, love."

Lux slowly pulled the phone away from her ear and looked down at her feet with watery eyes. He did it again. "What's wrong?" Yuji asked, tilting his head to the side.

Lux sniffled and cleared her throat. "Nothing. I uh, turns out I'm not busy today. I'd love to hang out tonight." She agreed. If Shorter was going to be with other girls then she was going to hang out with other guys. After all, not like he wanted to be exclusive or anything.

"Cool. It's the least I could do for helping me pass that make up quiz."
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Lux got dressed to hang out with Yuji at this bar and grill place that he had suggested. He knew the guy who worked the bar and said he could give them drinks and not check their IDs and all it would cost is an extra tip. Lux didn't drink but what would the harm be? It sounded a lot more fun than sitting in bed waiting for Shorter to finally respond to her.

The night itself went smoothly. Yuji was a lot more sweet than Lux had expected. At school he was such an obnoxious boy. Always talking loud down the halls with his volleyball teammates and such. He was one of those guys that just liked to hit on girls for fun too. Nothing sinister, he just enjoyed getting and giving attention. He was a natural athlete and a bit of a show off.

Since Shorter was too busy to answer her calls for whatever excuse he had this time, it felt nice for Lux to be the center on someone's attention. Even if it wasn't the boy she really wanted. The entire time she talked, Yuji's focus was solely on her. Not once did he check his phone, or say that he had to cut their night short because something came up. He made Lux feel special, which was something she had been wanting from Shorter. Now she was questioning if listening to her heart was the wrong decision. Maybe her feelings were for the wrong person.

"Oh crap." Yuji groaned as he patted around his pockets.

"What's wrong?" Lux asked.

"I left my keys on the bar table."

"Oh. I'll wait out here by the car." She suggested. "It's fine."

"Cool. I'll be quick."

Lux smiled as she watched Yuji hurry back inside. She pulled two phones out of her purse. One was used when she'd text Oz, her parents, or other students she'd help tutor. And the other was used when she'd text Shorter, Fang, and Sing. Her first phone had a text from Oz. It was the usual text of him checking in. She quickly responded with a "good. You?" And would more than likely forget to keep the conversation going if he replied back.

Next was her second phone. She had a few missed texts from Fang saying they should hang out soon and then proceeded to tell her how she got into another fight again. Lux responded back saying she'll give her a call when she gets home so they could talk about it and laugh.

To none of Lux's surprise there was nothing from Shorter. Not a good morning or good night text like how he used to send. Nothing. She sighed a dropped her phones back into her bag and leaned against the car door.

"Need a ride?" A guy stumbled his way over to Lux, letting his weight shift onto the car door to hold himself up.

"No thank you." Lux took a few steps back. The guys breath reeked of booze but he continued to be persistent. He was a bit taller than Lux, no more than 5'9-10 and looked to be a few years older. She assumed he must have been a college student who had a bit too much to drink with his buddies, that later on decided to ditch him. "My friends inside. He's just grabbing his keys."