Thin As Water

16.

"So, how'd it go?"

Lil glanced up from her homework at Daisy. "It was ok."

"Anything happen?" Daisy prodded slightly.

"Nothing interesting. No one resisted too much."

"You look upset." Daisy noted.

"I'm not. Just tired." Lil forced a smile for her friend.

"Ok." Daisy hopped off her bed and headed for the door. 

"Where are you going?" Lil asked.

"Oh, I have to meet Tate. We're doing our english project together."

"What project?" Lil asked with a confused look.

"Ah sorry, I forgot. It was assigned today. Prof says come talk to her and she'll let you know about it."

"Oh." Lil looked back at her desk.

"Lil, I would've worked with you, honest, but we had to partner up to get started."

"No, no. It's fine. I'll go talk to Prof." Lil gave another forced smile.

"Ok, good luck!" Daisy gave her a wave and scampered out the door without looking back.

Lil slumped back in her chair, the voices in her mind warring louder than usual.

She's going to pick a side.

She'd never do that.

She'd choose Tate.

She'd choose you.

Lil sighed and pushed herself to her feet. May as well talk to Prof now.

The head girl wandered slowly down the hall towards the classrooms. As she passed Tate's door, she heard a burst of laughter from inside. Daisy's laughter.

Lil nearly paused, but then took a deep breath and kept going. 

As she neared the english wing, Lil made a quick decision to take a detour. Her eyes scanned the number plates on the doors until she reached the correct one, and she knocked. 

Nothing.

Lil knocked again, then realized the door was unlocked. She pushed the door open a crack.

Hazel and Raven were sitting on Hazel's bed. As the door creaked slightly open, Hazel's head jerked towards the door and she practically leapt off the bed and over to the door. 

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Hazel spoke lightly but Lil caught a slight edge of her voice.

"I did knock. Twice." Lil raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." Hazel sighed. "Sorry, didn't hear you. What's up?"

"I..." Lil trailed off, She'd had a question, hadn't she? Hazel's reaction had thrown her off. 

"I had a question, but I don't remember what."

Hazel smirked, her usual sparkle back in her eyes. "I probably have an answer."

Lil shook her head slightly, trying to remember why she'd come here. 

"Hey, what happened with the U3's? You said you had four to deal with today."

Lil let out a deep sigh. 

"That good, huh? Wanna come and sit down?" Hazel pushed the door open wider and Lil entered the room.

"Hey Lil." Raven was now at her desk, gathering up a sketchbook and several pencils. 

"Hi Raven. I hope I didn't interrupt you guys."

"What?" Raven glanced over at her quickly.

"You and Hazel looked like you were talking about something. I hope I'm not interrupting."

Raven laughed. "Oh, no. It's fine, it wasn't anything too important."

Hazel glanced at her roommate, rolled her eyes, and went over to her to pick up a pencil that had fallen on the ground. As she handed it to her, Raven said something quieter than Lil could hear. Hazel slapped the girl's arm. "Shut it, Rave."

Raven smirked. "I'm gonna go do some sketches for art, have fun talking." She slipped out of the room and shut the door.

"Come on, have a seat." Hazel sat on the edge of her bed and motioned for Lil to do the same.

"Thanks. Are you sure this is a good time?" Lil asked nervously.

"Yeah, you're fine. So, spill the tea."

Lil relaxed and began to tell the story, starting with her talk with Tina the previous week, and ending with a summary of the detention. By the time she'd gotten there, nearly 20 minutes had passed and Hazel was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Tina set all this up? I can believe it from Alissa, but that girl must've really changed."

Lil looked sideways at her. "She has, haven't you talked to her recently? You were friends with her."

Hazel gave a short laugh. "We were never close. After I got to 4th year, I really only stayed friends with you and Daisy. And Lia comes and jumps on me sometimes."

"Oh."

Hazel smiled sympathetically. "It's ok Lil. Besides, you guys are great friends. You're really lucky to have Daisy, you know."

Lil stared down at her feet, trying to force out that image of the betrayal on Daisy's face a month before.

"What's wrong?"

"Tina said some things. I think she was trying to make me mad."

"Did it work?"

Lil shrugged. "I didn't react."

Hazel nodded slowly. "That wasn't my question though."

"Alright, it maybe made me a little upset."

"That's ok. What'd she say?"

"She said Daisy's hanging out with Tatum more and implied that if one of us made Daisy choose, she wouldn't choose me."

"Well, first, don't make her choose." 

"I would never." Lil protested.

The older girl was quiet for just a bit too long for Lil's liking. "Do you have an issue with Tate?"

Lil shrugged. "Not really. She can be mean sometimes. Tina said the reason I don't like her is because she's edgy and she likes girls."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Is that true?"

Lil glared a bit at her friend. "Whose side are you on?"

Hazel let out a breath. "There are no sides, Lil. I'm not implying that I believe Christina over you."

With a short nod, Lil looked over at the clock. "Sorry, I've really got to run, I need to catch Prof before she leaves. You know, since I was in a closet during english."

Hazel nodded curtly. "Yeah, you'd better hurry. See ya."

Lil hurried out of the room with only one backwards glance. Hazel was watching her with a serious look on her face that Lil couldn't quite read.

As Lil walked towards the english wing, she couldn't help but feel a tightness in her throat and chest. She paused, took a deep breath, pushed down the emotions, and readjusted her mask. Then she continued forwards.

AN: Oops, not really fluff. Sorry about that. There's not long until the climax gets started, and I'm very excited for that, so keep your eyes out!

Please leave a comment! It's really encouraging to see what y'all are enjoying. Or just, like, tell me how your summer is! I'd love to hear about it :D