Love Disorder (Lesbian, Girlxgirl)

Chapter 6. Assumptions

Chapter 6. Assumptions

At one point in their lives, people have kept secrets. I remember when Carter attempted his first lock picking. He'd done it countless times on dummy locks, but it was his first real attempt to break into someone's secret compartment, which turned out to be his sister's drawer in the closet. I wasn't there to witness it. He told me later that the closet was half-filled with homemade porn stash. He regretted knowing that about his sister, and he made me promise not to tell.

Mom kept secrets too. She'd sometimes leave in the middle of the night and made sure to come home before I woke up. Only I wasn't asleep in the first place, and I knew she was sneaking off somewhere. I never found out where she went and who she was with.

In a way, my own secret was a collection of other people's secrets. Knowing that Carter broke into his sister's cabinet. Knowing that his sister had a porn collection. Knowing that mom was keeping something from me.

All those secrets were nothing compared to Uno's. They didn't give me a chill on my spine. They didn't worry me. They didn't make me curious at all. Uno's secret, meanwhile, kept me awake at night. It made me second guess her, if she was every bit the good person that mom had loved. Finding a hidden door on her bedroom was one thing, but reading the message at the back of the picture? Now that was creepy.

I wanted to ask her about it. Sad as it was, I was still hanging on a balance. Half of me wanted to know why she was so shady. Another part made me zip my lips in fear of losing her trust and being sent to a foster home. You see my dilemma here? I couldn't assert myself without ending on my backside.

"I brought your lunch," I said, placing the tray just outside her bedroom door. On the right side so she wouldn't step on it accidentally. "I'm going out to see my friend. Want to tag along?" I wasn't surprised when she refused to answer. "Okay, I'm leaving. Call me if you need anything." I took one last reluctant glance at the closed door before turning my back.

Carter was waiting for me in the milk tea shop owned by one of his sisters. He was seated in the corner most part of the store, hunched over and concentrating on his phone. He didn't look up when I sat in front of him. "Don't I get a hello?" I asked.

"Hello." His eyes remained glued on the screen.

I frowned. "Yeah, ignore your best friend like that. Let's see who stays with you when you're old, wrinkly, and have no one to marry. You'll be stuck with me forever, so might as well be nice."

The corner of his mouth pulled upward. We had a running joke about how no one would be interested enough to want to marry us. That we'd be stuck together like old maids hitting each other with the remote till we die. "Bitter much?" he said. Carter switched his mobile off and tucked it in his pocket. I got his attention now. "Tell me everything."

I unzipped the blue backpack I brought with me. "There," I said, placing the picture of Uno in front of him. "Read it for yourself and tell me that it's not weird." He took the picture and read the message at the back. Since seeing it weeks ago, I've been torn whether to tell another soul about it or not. You could guess the answer. Carter gave the picture back to me quietly. "And she hasn't left her room in a while," I supplied.

"How long exactly?" he asked.

"More than two weeks. When I agreed to be her manager, she made me sign a contract as soon as we were home." I took the contract from my bag and showed it to Carter too.

"There's no sense in being worried with this because you're still a minor. Technically," he added while staring at the paper. "You can get out of this contract if you want to. I think it's more for formality sake, not the legal kind. And you'll be fine. You're mature enough to handle such things." He pushed the paper on the table to me. It bore our agreement- my name and signature, as well as Uno's.