"Little Girl" - lrh

24

"Well, shit," I mutter. "you're all on your own."

"I have Luke, you asshole," Alice wipes her eyes on her sleeve. She called me earlier after sounding like she gargled nails, wanting to meet up with me. She technically stole Luke's car to get here and told her grandma she'd be back later to get him.

"I get that, but both of your parents are gone. That's both unfortunate and a little weird."

"Are you trying to say it was set up?"

"Yes," I reply with as much sarcasm as I can retain. "it was completely set up that your dad would fall off a cliff in the snow trying to plan his wedding with your mom who died of cancer." Alice rolls her eyes and mumbles a 'shut up, Michael' before I continue. "I'm just saying, it's weird that both your parents died. It isn't fair."

"Well, what happened to your dad? Why aren't you ever around him?"

"Well, that's simple: my dad is a complete prick and ran away with some 20-something-year-old so he wouldn't have to take care of me."

"That's unfortunate and a bit cliché, Clifford."

"Shit happens," I shrug, leaning back in the booth. I told her the only way I'd meet up with her is if she bought me pizza because I'm sick of the food they serve on campus. "so, you're an orphan, with a glorified babysitter that you occasionally give oral sex to and receive a little action yourself. You're like a fucked up Annie."

"I'm so glad I chose to speak to you, Michael," Alice rests her hand on her cheek and looks at the table.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to handle situations like this."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Why didn't you talk to someone who would be more sympathetic instead of someone who would basically just make fun of your misfortunate life?"

"Because I can't talk to Calum about the relationship I have with Luke, he'd just tell me to go live with him so I'd be away from that 'perverted asshole'," Alice shakes her head. "it's literally so ironic, or hypocritical, he calls Luke a perv just because I made the mistake of calling him daddy my entire life but Calum still tries to make me have sex with him. It's unbelievable."

"And attempted rape."

"What?" Alice looks at me like I just said a word she's never heard. "Calum wouldn't do that." I stare at her for a second, my eyebrows together and my mouth gape. "What?"

"That's literally what Calum is doing, is attempted rape. He keeps trying to force you to have sex with him after you say no. Even if you let him finger fuck you then say no to actual sex, it's revoking consent and it's attempted rape, Alice," I'm trying to keep my voice as low as I can but I'm so annoyed that she doesn't understand what's going on. "did Luke ever try to force you into having sex with him?"

"No," she whispers. "he usually just does the finger thing and he'll eat me out but that's it. He never really lets me do anything to him, I have only given him two blow jobs."

"Okay, TMI, but I get it. Luke is a good guy and Calum is an asshole. Worse than that."

"But aren't you and him best friends?"

"Yes, we are, but I'm not going to justify what he does as okay just because he's my friend," I sigh, rubbing my face. "when Luke first told me about it, I just thought Calum was being Calum, but hearing it from you is different." She stays quiet, scratching her nail into the table. "Why are you still friends with him even if he keeps trying?"

"I'm not," I'm waiting for her to continue, because I know there's more to it. "he wanted to come talk to me today, apologize for being a jerk, then somehow it got miscommunicated and he kissed me."