Glow Stick

And She Knows {Part 3}

My car sped down the empty forgotten road full blast. Juliana squealed in excitement and I joined her, rolling the windows down in the process. I looked at my best friend in the passenger seat next to me. She was so beautiful. The way her tangled ash brown hair curled in the wind. How her eyes crinkled when she laughed. Juliana started screaming again, but this time it sounded different.
     "Rowan, look out!" Whipping my eyes back to the road, I witness myself  barely dodging a stop sign. We both lean with the car as we turned. I felt my face heat up.
     "Sorry," I mumble, straightening the car out once more. Juliana laughs again, drunk from the rush of the wind.
     "Don't be silly Row! It's no big deal."
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     "Besides, you can't help but look at something as pretty as me," I swear that didn't happen before. I know I would have remembered her saying something like that. Juliana doesn't look away from me and I pull over the car. I don't know why I do, it just feels right. She murmurs something that gives me chills.
     "Believe me, I've made the same mistake many times before." I just look at her, trying to sort out if what she said was real. I study her face, searching for who knows what. She leans closer to me and my heart doubles its speed. It was all happening too fast. Without permission I leaned closer as well. Juliana's lips parted and her warm breath made my skin tingle. She smelt like honey, sweet and smooth. Our noses were so close that a small gust of wind could blow them together. But at the last second... at the last second I pulled away.
     "The mall's going to close soon," I tell her quietly. She just nods slowly and looks forwards at the road again. Crap. What was I doing? Why didn't I kiss her? I wanted to, I know I did. Maybe I was just too scared. Scared that if I did something different the future would change. Scared that if I kissed her today the magic of our first time would go away. Juliana didn't talk the rest of the car ride and I'm absolutely terrified that I had just screwed everything up. This was not supposed to happen. This past month I had done everything in my power to make sure that this exact thing doesn't happen. And what do I do? I say something stupid at the dang ice cream parlor. I had to find a way to fix this.
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     Juliana comes out of the dressing room and gives me a spin.
     "How do I look?" She asks, practically gushing at her gorgeous dress. I smile widely, feeling proud for some odd indescribable reason.
     "Amazing as always," I assure her. And it was the truth. But something about how she looked in that dress was utterly astonishing. Maybe it was the way the blue fabric complimented her eyes. Or the way the loose skirt danced when she moved. Perhaps it was how the light lit up the gold flowers embroidered in the fabric. But something from my heart told me that it was the way her eyes sparkled when she realized she was beautiful. It was how she smiled as she spun in front of me. It was how happy she was to find the perfect dress to wear at homecoming. "I think it's the one," I tell her, smiling. Juliana nods eagerly.
     "I think it is too."
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     I know what happens next. I remember the tears in her eyes when it had happened however many days ago. This is how I was going to fix the mess I was in. Or at least part of it. As expected, Lyla Renolds walks into the changing area just as Juliana steps out of her dressing room, having just finished changing back into her normal clothes. Her face falls when she sees Lyla coming.
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     "Oh that dress looks lovely." She coos, stepping towards us like a lioness hunting her prey. Juliana cautiously answers her with a measly
     "Thanks." The two of us had already fallen into her trap. Lyla lets out a shrill laugh.
     "Oh, honey I meant it's exactly what I was looking for." She says with mock sympathy.
     "I was actually planning to wear this dress to homecoming," Juliana informs her, shrinking back a little bit.
     "So was I," Lyla says. Her tone grows more serious now. "Give it here." I walk in between the two girls and glare at Lyla.
     "Jules had it first," I tell her. Lyla walks over to me and stops only when her nose is just inches from mine.
     "Well tell Jules here that I don't care who called the dress because it's mine now." She stalks over to Juliana and whispers something I can't comprehend. Her face immediately pales as she gives Lyla the dress she loved so much.
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     To my surprise, that doesn't happen this time. Instead Lyla Renolds looks directly at me and hisses from across the room.
     "I need to talk to you Rowan. Right now." In a form of shock I look over at Juliana who nods in encouragement. Lyla pulls me out of the room, looking for people surrounding her before speaking. "I know what's going on." She says. I just give her a puzzled look, forcing her to continue. "Look Rowan, I'm really hoping that you understand when I tell you this." She pauses, still not managing to get a reaction out of me. Lyla sighs again. "Okay." She starts. "The day after graduation did you wake up to see that it was just the first day of senior year again?" I swear I nearly pass out right then and there.
     "That happened to you too?" I ask in astonishment. She laughs awkwardly, relieved. I know the feeling.
     "Thank god. I knew there was something off with you! From the first day I knew." Lyla breathed. I thought about what she was saying before I remembered the first day of school.
     "When I put my bag on the chair next to mine during homeroom," I told her. She nodded in excitement, and I felt a strange urge to make sure she was sober before discussing this further.
     "Believe me Rowan." She says, returning to herself again. "I don't want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to me but we have to figure out what the heck is happening." I don't consider myself to be stupid, but I mentally facepalm myself when Lyla mentions this. I haven't even remotely thought about why this is all happening. I've been too focused on making sure that every move I make, every word I say is exactly right.
     "I agree," I say lamely. She smirks.
     "But what I failed to say to you on the first day of school still stands." I feel my hairs stand on end and it takes all of my strength to keep from shuddering at the memory. Instead of backing down I look the witch in the eye and say
     "On one condition." Lyla raises an eyebrow in genuine surprise.
     "Well look who grew a backbone." She scoffs. I ignore her and continue my compromise.
     "Juliana gets to keep her homecoming dress." Lyla narrows her eyes, thinking over my proposal.
     "Tell me Rowan." She starts, leaning against the wall. "Just exactly why would I do a favor for you just to leave me alone?"
     "Because it's not a favor Lyla! Don't you get it? I'm asking you to be a decent human being." I snap back. I can't help but notice how she takes a staggering step away from me. Unfortunately she recovers quickly.
     "Look honey." She starts again, folding her arms over her chest. "This." She spits, motioning to the two of us. "Is what I like to call modernized war. If you want to get ahead you have to be willing to cheat, lie, bribe, kill, and do whatever the hell you have to in order to get what you want." Memories of all the awful things Lyla Renolds made me do flood my brain. Out of all the other people in this world, she has to be the one stuck with me. It just didn't seem fair. I dig my nails into my palm to keep from crying.
     "I am not your pawn anymore Lyla." I tell her. The fiery tears come no matter how hard I will them not to.
"And what you did..." I say, jabbing a finger towards her chest. "Is enough to send you to prison. And believe me I have proof." I continue to step towards her and she continues to step back, her smirk disappearing as she does. "I have pictures of the bruises and old phone calls that can be brought up. I remember the names of every single guy that hurt me. How can you think I'd forget all of that?" Lyla jumps when her back hits the wall. I have her cornered. "You would be long gone if I grew enough balls to turn you in. But I didn't. I haven't yet. Why? Because you scare the hell out of me Lyla." I don't bother to wipe away the tears now streaming down my face. "And I am done letting that happen. You can't push me around anymore and I won't let you rule my life. Even if I wake up tomorrow to find that this happens all over again, you better be gone. And I'll play your game with you Lyla. But not the way you do. The way you play will get you killed one day and I won't be there to cry on your corpse." I stand frozen, not able to move. It was almost like if I did I would crumble into ten million pieces. I watch Lyla's face soften.
     "I'm sorry Rowan. I really am." On the surface this seems genuine but I know that it's not. She said it herself. In order to get ahead you have to lie, manipulate, and get inside everybody's minds. I shake my head slightly and whisper back to her harshly.
     "So let my girlfriend have her dress because it makes her happy. And frankly, right now, it's the only thing keeping me alive." Lyla nods and walks away. The second she disappears I slide down the wall and start to sob harder. Juliana hurries around the corner and sits next to me, letting my head fall onto her shoulder. She doesn't ask what's wrong. She doesn't pry or tell me I'm fine. She is just there. And she knows that it's exactly what I need.