Chapter Six
"Chloe, wake up."
"Mm.."
"Chloe!"
Victoria shakes Chloe for perhaps the fifth time, but the blue haired girl is impossible to wake, simply mumbling in her sleep.
"Chloe!" Victoria tries again, shaking her a little harder.
No luck.
Victoria sits up and moves to lean over Chloe. She lowers her face to the side of Chloe's and bites down on her ear. Hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to make her bleed.
"OW, what the fuck?!" Chloe yells, jolting upright in bed and jerking her hand up to soothe over the pain on her ear.
"Finally," Victoria says, rolling her eyes, "you're impossible to wake up."
"So, your solution is to bite my ear?!" Chloe snaps, shooting a death glare at Victoria through one half-open eye, the other still firmly shut in her sleepy state.
"Well, I'd have thrown a drink over your face, but the sheets are already a fucking mess."
"What the fuck is that-" Chloe starts, but is cut off when she notices Victoria lowering her gaze down towards the bed.
Following Victoria's gaze, Chloe looks down to see the sheets are covered in patches of blood, as well as on her own chest, too.
"Your cut must have bled in the night," Victoria sighs, "you tend to toss around a lot."
"Ugh," Chloe grunts.
Chloe raises her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes, but as soon as she does, she finally notices the dull, throbbing pain in her head. Booze coupled with a headbutt from a psychopath, does not equal fun the morning after.
"It's all over your face again, too," Victoria says, shifting around and causing the sheet covering her to drop slightly.
Chloe turns to look at her, but quickly looks away when she realises Victoria is naked. They both are, having both passed out not long after their early-morning-workout. The memory makes Chloe recall Max's appearance in her mind during the big finale, too.
'Shit', Chloe thinks, a blush fast forming on her face.
Chloe can't help but feel slightly ashamed with herself, leaving her with a disgusted feeling. She hasn't seen or spoken to Max in five years, yet, that still happened. It's never happened before, but then again, there's a first time for everything. Chloe just hopes it was the last time, too. She has enough on her mind already, without the mind fuck of reaching orgasm to someone who was once your best and only friend. Even if Max has grown to be attractive.
Victoria has noticed Chloe lost in her own thoughts and despite the blood on her face, she can still make out a slight blush on her cheeks.
"What? Are you shy all of a sudden?" Victoria snorts.
Hearing Victoria's voice snaps Chloe back to the present and she turns to look at her with her shit-eating grin.
"No," Chloe scoffs, before moving her arms up into the air and stretching.
The pain in her side when she stretches reminds her that the cut on her face isn't the only injury she received from the previous night. Chloe winces slightly, lowering her arms to hold her head in one hand and grasp her side with the other.
"You look like shit," Victoria says.
"I feel like it," Chloe mumbles, silently wishing she could curl up somewhere quiet and die.
"You should take a shower."
"I think I kinda need one," Chloe sighs, shooting a small half-smile in Victoria's direction.
"There's an en-suite over there," Victoria sighs, pointing to a door in the corner of the room.
"Right," Chloe mutters, slowly moving her legs over to the edge of the bed and placing her feet down onto the floor.
Standing up slowly, Chloe uses her hands to push herself up from the bed, the sheet covering her body falling away from her as she does. The dull throb in her head intensifies, causing her to sway slightly and stumble, but she manages to correct herself and stay standing.
"Oh, God," Chloe groans, feeling a familiar rising sensation from her stomach, her hands grasping at her head again.
"What?" Victoria asks, with slight concern in her voice from having seen Chloe stumble.
Chloe doesn't stop to answer Victoria, instead quickly doing her best to run to the bathroom in the corner of the room, her hands now clutched over her mouth as she does. Victoria understands what's about to happen and rolls her eyes to herself, throwing the sheets off herself, before grabbing for her shirt and underwear.
Chloe is almost at the bathroom, but clumsily catches her foot on the leg of the bed, stubbing her toe in the process. She doesn't have time to shout and swear from the agonising pain that comes with it, though, and carries on running, only now with a slight limp and a lot of internal screaming.
Thankfully, she manages to reach the toilet in time, throwing herself down onto her knees and the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Victoria has finished slipping on some clothing and is making her way towards the bathroom, where the sound of Chloe's violent retching is loudly emanating from.
Seeing Chloe with her head in the toilet bowl, Victoria shakes her head in disgust and walks over to the medicine cabinet, retrieving more painkillers. Finding another glass by the sink, she fills it with water. Chloe is still busy tossing cookies, so Victoria being Victoria, takes some time to check herself out in the mirror. Her make-up is smudged and her hair is a mess, especially after Chloe's tugging on it from their roll around. Sighing to herself, she pats her hair down and into place the best she can with her hands.
After a few minutes, Victoria is satisfied that that is the best she can do for in the meantime. The retching sounds have stopped, so she turns to look at Chloe and is amused to find her lying flat against the bathroom floor by the toilet.
"You done?" Victoria asks, doing her best not to smile.
Chloe simply groans and turns her head so she can see Victoria from where she's lying. She notices Victoria now has some clothing on, whilst she's still completely bare. How dignifying. The realisation elicits another groan from Chloe, causing her to shut her eyes and turn her head away. The cold, bathroom tiles feel nice against her flushed and hot skin, though. Thank the Gods for small mercies.
Victoria quietly snorts and moves towards Chloe, carefully stepping over her sprawled body, before flushing the gross contents in the bowl. Chloe is now starting to sit up, clutching her head in her hands as she does. Victoria notices and turns to grab the painkillers and glass of water she retrieved before, holding them out in front of Chloe's face for her to take. Chloe doesn't hesitate, taking the pills and slowly chases them down with some water, doing her best not to gulp it, despite how parched she is.
Victoria takes the glass from Chloe's hand and sets it aside, before leaning forward slightly and placing her hands under Chloe's arms. This time, Chloe doesn't shrug her off or try to fight it, resigning herself to pushing herself up and letting Victoria help. Victoria smiles to herself at this. Mainly because she can't be dealing with Chloe's childish games first thing in the morning after a party. She's also grateful she doesn't lose her footing this time, too.
Standing to face her, Chloe shoots her a quick half-smile. She's never felt so physically shitty in her life, with pain in her head, side and now her foot, too. Victoria still hasn't let go of Chloe's arms.
"How are you feeling?" Victoria asks, gently squeezing Chloe's arms.
"My head actually feels a bit better now," Chloe sniffs and clears her throat, dropping her gaze down from Victoria's face to the floor. Her throat feels like it's on fire now, too.
"Cool," Victoria nods, letting go of Chloe's arms.
Victoria reaches for something to the side of the sink and thrusts it in Chloe's direction.
"Mouthwash?" Chloe asks, doing her best to raise an eyebrow at Victoria, despite the huge gash in it.
"Erm, yeah, I don't want to smell your puke breath," Victoria scoffs, her face serious and her free hand on her hip.
Chloe sighs and takes the mouthwash from Victoria's outstretched hand. In all honesty, the taste in her mouth isn't a pleasant one either, so, fuck it. Uncapping it, she takes a decent swig and swirls it around her mouth, making sure to suck it in-between her teeth, before turning and spitting it into the toilet.
Victoria sighs and shakes her head. "You know there's a sink right there?" she says, gesturing towards the side of them.
"Toilet was closer," Chloe shrugs, twisting the cap back onto the mouthwash and handing it back to Victoria.
"Right," Victoria says, placing the mouthwash back by the sink.
Chloe turns and starts to make her way over to the shower. She suddenly feels Victoria's hand on her waist, supporting her along. Had she been in a better state than she is now, she would have shrugged her off. Stepping inside the shower, Chloe immediately finds refuge against the shower wall, enjoying the feel of the cold tiles against her skin once more. Victoria stands and looks at her, waiting to see if Chloe makes any moves to actually start showering. Chloe has her eyes closed and is simply unmoving, looking exhausted and completely worn down. A hot mess. Victoria has an idea but she's not sure how Chloe would react. But, fuck it, Chloe is clearly in a useless state right now.
Reaching down to the hem of her shirt, Victoria lifts it over her head and drops it to the floor, then slips her panties off, kicking them to the side. Chloe is still oblivious and in her own little world against the shower wall, when she feels skin lightly brush against her arm. Peeking one eye open, she sees Victoria has joined her in the shower and has closed the glass door behind her. Chloe closes her eye again. She doesn't have the strength to move, let alone argue and be clever with Victoria, so she just stays silent. If they can fuck one another, then what's a shower together, really?
Victoria isn't making any moves to turn the shower on, though, so Chloe forces herself to open her eyes and look at her. She seems... Nervous. Like she's uncertain of herself and the situation. Victoria meets her gaze, biting on her bottom lip and Chloe smirks at the sight, before slowly reaching for the shower knob and twisting it. Victoria breathes a sigh of relief at the action, but the relief quickly washes away when she feels the full force of freezing cold water hit her.
"Fuck!" Victoria yells, hurriedly sliding to the side and out of the water's reach.
Chloe can just about muster a small chuckle at the sight. She wasn't stood underneath the shower, but some splash back got her, too.
Victoria hears her and shoots her a death glare, "you did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Chloe closes her eyes and leans her head against the wall again, smiling to herself.
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't?"
"No," Victoria scowls, adjusting the knob so the water's temperature doesn't leave her nipples hard enough to cut glass.
Chloe chuckles again, but otherwise stays unmoving, whilst Victoria steps under the water and closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth washing over her face and body. After a minute or so, she opens them to see Chloe still half-dead against the shower wall.
"Price?" Victoria says, splashing water in Chloe's direction and smirking when it hits her face.
"What?" Chloe mumbles, flinching slightly at the water hitting her unexpectedly, but otherwise not complaining about it, either.
"Come on, already," Victoria sighs, taking hold of Chloe's arm and gently dragging her under the flow of the water.
"Mm," Chloe groans, letting the water flow over her, feeling her hair grow wet and starting to stick to her face.
Chloe opens her eyes and looks down at her body and feet. She can see blood running down the length of her body, forming pink water droplets that work their way south and disappear down the drain. The hot water sends a small shiver down her spine and sparks some reserved energy in her, giving her the sudden strength to reach up and wipe her face with her hands. She winces slightly when she grazes the forgotten cut on her eyebrow with her fingertips. Victoria has been stood watching her and notices. Without thought, she raises her hands and pulls Chloe's away from her face. Chloe lifts her head to look at her, her facial expression sporting confusion.
Victoria ignores her look and reaches for a wash cloth sat by an assortment of various shampoo and body wash. After running it under the water that they're both stood under, Victoria hands the cloth to Chloe.
Chloe eyes up Victoria suspiciously, but takes the cloth anyway.
"What?" Victoria asks, noticing her look.
Chloe lifts the cloth to her face and gently starts wiping down it, taking a few seconds to answer Victoria, despite her eyes burning a hole into her face.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Chloe finally asks, moving the cloth away from her face and wiping the crusty blood from her chest instead. "You've never been nice to me before."
Victoria flinches slightly at Chloe's words. She doesn't like this question. It makes her feel uncomfortable. She really doesn't want to answer it. So, Victoria being Victoria...
"Why did you help me yesterday?" Victoria counters with a question of her own, hoping Chloe won't notice the change of subject.
Chloe stays silent and simply looks at Victoria. She's contemplating how to answer her... With a witty remark? Or... With the truth?
Sighing to herself, Chloe resigns herself to being genuine for once. Plus, it's been too long for a witty comeback to really land successfully.
"Erm," Chloe starts, clearing her throat slightly and avoiding Victoria's gaze by looking down at the shower floor, "a few years back, when I was still a student at Blackwell... There was this guy. I'd been friends with him for years and had known him since kindergarten. One day, he sorta... Stalked me and confronted me by cornering me in this room. He started acting really threatening and aggressive with me. I got kind of scared and luckily, I was able to distract him and make a run for it. He got arrested by the police and I haven't seen him since."
Victoria wasn't expecting Chloe to actually answer honestly and now she's stood staring at her with her mouth partly agape. Chloe looks up and notices Victoria's expression. The awkward silence makes her feel... Well, awkward as shit. She needs to break the silence.
"Anyway," Chloe continues, "I guess when I saw Nathan acting like that towards you, it got me angry because I can relate and I know how it feels to be in the position you were in. So... Yeah," Chloe says, trying to sound more nonchalant than she actually came off.
'Say words, Victoria. Say words! And for the love of God, shut your fucking mouth!' Victoria thinks to herself.
Victoria quickly snaps her mouth shut and looks up at Chloe, willing herself to find the words to say in response to that.
"You don't think I deserved it?" Victoria blurts.
'Nice one. Any words besides those ones would have sufficed. Like, maybe a thank you' Victoria thinks, mentally kicking herself.
"Er... What?" Chloe asks, her eyebrows raised in confusion. There's water dripping down her face and some goes into her eye, but she barely flinches and continues to search Victoria's face for some sort of explanation.
"You know," Victoria starts, averting her gaze from Chloe's and biting her bottom lip, a small blush forming on her face, "because I'm not exactly nice."
Chloe can't help but let out a small laugh after hearing those words leave Victoria's mouth. Victoria snaps her head up and scowls, not knowing that Chloe's laugh is actually one of disbelief and immediately grows defensive and embarrassed.
"S-Sorry," Chloe stutters slightly, trying to suppress her laughter when she notices Victoria's reaction, "it's just that, you're a bitch, yeah, but... No one deserves that sort of treatment, not even you."
"Oh," Victoria mutters, her mouth agape again.
Victoria wasn't expecting to hear that, either. Part of her was expecting Chloe to agree and say yes. Instead, Chloe just reaffirmed Victoria is a bitch, but despite that, she doesn't deserve that sort of mistreatment from someone. Now she doesn't really know what to think or say, but she knows that Chloe's words have brought up a weird swelling feeling inside of her chest, even if she doesn't know whether to take them as a compliment or not.
Victoria's lost in thought again and Chloe lifts her hand to rub the back of her neck, feeling awkward once more. She doesn't know what someone like Victoria could possibly be thinking about, considering she's always assumed people like Victoria don't think often... Or ever.
"Yeah, I- I mean, I guess if you ran your mouth and said something shitty to someone and they slapped you... I wouldn't say you were completely undeserving of that," Chloe says with a smirk, doing her best to break the silence once more.
Hearing Chloe speak again, Victoria snaps her attention back to her. She just about catches what Chloe says, but she can't seem to stop her eyes lingering over her lips, instead of meeting her gaze. Victoria is suddenly fighting an overwhelming urge to kiss Chloe and stop the swelling feeling that's pressing heavily on her chest, almost as if it's suffocating her.
Feeling the conversation has ran its course and not wanting to stand and do nothing in complete silence any longer, Chloe moves to pick up some shampoo.
"You missed a spot," Victoria says, suddenly snatching the cloth from Chloe's hand.
Chloe turns to look at Victoria, only to feel the cloth being gently dragged across the side of her face. The action takes Chloe by surprise, her body shifting in reaction and accidentally moving closer to Victoria. Not that Victoria minds, she wants Chloe closer because it makes it easier for her to do what she wants to. To finally stop fighting and just let herself feel what it is she feels.
Victoria brings her hand to a stop against Chloe's face, but she doesn't move it. Instead, she just looks Chloe in the eyes, before letting her gaze fall back to her lips again. Victoria slowly starts to inch her face closer to Chloe's and before long, her eyes are closed and her lips are gently pressed against hers. Victoria doesn't push it, she's simply testing the waters first and seeing how Chloe reacts. Chloe's lips stay unmoving, but she's not moving back or away, either. This stirs Victoria on, causing her to press her lips harder against Chloe's, praying she reciprocates and doesn't leave her feeling totally humiliated.
Chloe's eyes stay open and if Victoria's were, she would see the shock in them right now. Chloe can't help but wonder what the fuck is happening right now. Having casual and drunken sex is one thing, but being kissed like this is something else entirely. Surely Victoria knows that...right?
"Are you still trashed or something?" Chloe asks, moving her face away from Victoria's as she does.
Victoria instantly feels the blush quickly forming on her face at the realisation and steps away.
'What the fuck were you thinking?!' Victoria thinks, wishing she could melt and wash away down the drain with the rest of her dignity. 'You weren't, that's what'.
Victoria suddenly bursts out into feigned laughter and shakes her head before cocking it to the side and looking back at Chloe.
"I think so, you know," Victoria says, doing her best to sound casual and aloof, before turning away to grab some shampoo.
"Thought so," Chloe snorts, taking the shampoo Victoria has in her hand from her.
Victoria frowns and raises her eyebrows, which Chloe just about notices through half-shut eyes. One of her hands is already busy forming a lather in her hair and the other is still clutching onto the shampoo bottle.
"Oh, my bad," Chloe smirks, lifting the shampoo and squirting it over Victoria's head, "here you go."
"Gee, thanks," Victoria snipes sarcastically as a glob of shampoo falls forward and slides down her face, narrowly missing her eye.
"You're welcome," Chloe winks, her shit-eating grin making an appearance.
Victoria fights her hardest not to die at the sight of it, keeping her face serious and her wits about her instead.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Where's Nathan?" Victoria asks, her eyes searching the room in hopes of seeing him passed out asleep somewhere amongst the trash and few fellow party goers that are left.
"He left last night after your fight," Courtney says from behind a make-up mirror she's holding out in front of her face.
"Fuck!" Victoria snaps, the volume of her voice causing Courtney to jump and nearly fall from the bar stool she's sat on. The make-up mirror, however, falls and smashes against the kitchen tiles.
"Shit, V, my mirror!" Courtney cries out, before standing to reach down and pick it up.
Courtney quickly realises the silence and snaps her head up to see Victoria looking down at her with a stern look and her hands on her hips.
"Seven years bad luck, you know?" Courtney giggles nervously, before standing and crossing her arms defensively in front of Victoria.
"Oh, bite me," Victoria snaps, "I'll buy you a new one. Do you know where Taylor is?"
"She had to leave early this morning because she's visiting her Mom again. Why? What's the problem?"
"The problem is Nathan and I came here together. He was my ride back to Blackwell," Victoria sighs, slumping against the side of the kitchen counter.
"Oh, right," Courtney says, "you know I would give you a ride, but I promised Sarah I'd stay and help her clean up. Then we're going out for lunch after."
"Right, whatever, it's fine," Victoria says with a roll of her eyes, before turning to leave, being sure not to trip or slip on any of the trash strewn about.
Standing on the front porch, Victoria contemplates her next moves whilst letting her eyes roam over the mess on the front lawn. Staying to help clean up is definitely not an option for her. This shit is going to take hours.
Pulling her phone out from her handbag, she types up a quick text.
Victoria: Thanks for leaving me here, asshole.
Sighing to herself, Victoria thinks she may as well at least ask what she's doing...
Victoria: Hey, have you left yet?
God, this is really pathetic. Turning to her for help after that fucking embarrassment before. Victoria supposes she could get public transport, but the thought alone horrifies her. Moving towards the railing of the porch, Victoria hears her phone go off and feels her heartbeat increase slightly.
Nathan: shit vic im sorry. I can come get u if u want?
Victoria sighs loudly and leans over the railing slightly.
Victoria: No. I'll be fine, no thanks to you.
"In answer to your question, no, I haven't."
The sudden sound of someone speaking makes Victoria jump, causing her to lose grip on her phone which falls over the side of the railing.
"Ow."
"Price?!" Victoria asks, looking down to see Chloe sat against the side of the porch, stroking her head where the phone must have landed.
"Yeah," Chloe squints, looking up at Victoria from where she's sat, "thanks for the concussion to my already existing one, by the way."
Victoria snorts and makes her way down and round the side to where Chloe is sat.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"Oh, you know, just sobering up with some fresh air before I leave," Chloe says.
"You're smoking," Victoria points out, watching as Chloe exhales a small plume of smoke.
Chloe just raises an eyebrow and a middle finger in reply.
"I need a ride back to Blackwell," Victoria says, crossing her arms across her chest.
"That's nice," Chloe smiles, taking another drag from her cigarette.
"Ugh, come on, you know what I mean," Victoria snaps.
"You could try asking nicely, you know?"
Victoria scoffs and rolls her eyes, but Chloe stays unmoving, moving the cigarette around inbetween her fingers instead.
"Fine," Victoria sighs, "can you please give me a ride back to Blackwell?"
"No," Chloe snorts.
"Why not?" Victoria snaps.
"What's in it for me?" Chloe asks, before taking a final drag and flicking her cigarette away.
Victoria pauses for a second and shakes her head in disbelief at the hot mess in front of her when a thought comes to her.
"Breakfast," Victoria says.
Chloe looks up and cocks her head to the side, shielding some of the sun from her eyes so she can see Victoria's face better. Victoria looks serious and that's enough for Chloe to slowly push herself up from the ground.
"Cigarettes, too, I hope," Chloe smirks, "I'm all out."
"Maybe that's for the best," Victoria retorts.
"I guess walking back is also for the best then, too," Chloe says casually as she brushes past Victoria and makes her way towards the street.
"Fine!" Victoria calls after her, picking up her own pace so that she's stood by Chloe, "I'll get you cigarettes, too."
"Awesome, my truck's this way," Chloe smirks, gesturing further up the street as she does.
The walk to Chloe's truck is a silent one, but Victoria can't help stealing side glances at Chloe. The cut on her eyebrow has scabbed over again, but a nasty bruise has now formed around it, too. The sight reminds Victoria of the nasty bruise on Chloe's side and she feels her heart sink slightly. Her and Nathan were going to have a serious talk at some point, once she was done being pissed off with him.
"Your truck looks worse in daylight," Victoria snorts as they approach the parked truck.
"Same could be said for you," Chloe snorts back, before turning to make her way around to the driver's side.
Victoria is ready to fire back with a witty remark of her own, but she catches Chloe stumble slightly and lean against the truck briefly.
"Are you even fit to fucking drive, Price?" Victoria asks.
"I'm fine," Chloe snaps, rummaging for her keys in her pocket, before accidentally dropping them.
"That's real cute," Victoria says, quickly making her way around and snatching the keys up from the ground before Chloe can, "but I'm not dying in this truck and definitely not with you."
"Hey-" Chloe starts.
"Shut up and get in," Victoria snaps, unlocking the driver's side door and getting in before Chloe can argue.
Chloe gawps at Victoria for a moment, but quickly moves around to the passenger side and hops in out of fear of her driving off without her.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Chloe snipes.
"It's a stick shift," Victoria says, staring down at the clutch pedal by her feet.
"Well, no shit. We can't all afford forty thousand dollar cars that drive themselves." Chloe spits, "Just get out and let me drive."
"No, I can do this! I've been to Europe lots of times," Victoria snaps, shoving the key into the ignition.
Chloe stares dumbfounded at Victoria. "What the fuck does that even mean?!"
"It means I can drive a stick, okay?!"
Victoria pushes down on the clutch and puts the truck into first, before releasing the handbrake and pressing down on the gas pedal. The truck suddenly jerks violently forward and stalls when she eases off the clutch too quickly, causing Chloe to be thrown slightly forward, almost hitting her head against the dashboard.
An awkward silence fills the truck. Chloe sits shaking her head in disbelief, whilst Victoria awkwardly stares ahead, her face bright red.
"So... Is that how they drive in Europe?" Chloe asks, a deadpan look on her face.
Victoria turns to look at her with a 'fuck you' face, before starting the truck again.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
"I feel sick," Chloe groans, stretching her limbs as she she steps out of the truck.
"Shut up, it wasn't that bad," Victoria snaps, moving her way around to the passenger side where Chloe is stood.
"You stalled six times and nearly got us killed twice," Chloe retorts, snatching the keys from Victoria's hand.
"We're here aren't we?!"
"I had to help you shift gears."
"Whatthefuckever," Victoria scoffs, turning to make her way towards the Two Whales Diner.
"Just for that I'm ordering the most expensive stuff," Chloe says.
"Nothing here is expensive. This place is a fucking dive," Victoria sighs, opening the door for her and Chloe to enter.
"Then why were you here?" Chloe asks, before strolling towards her usual booth.
"The others like the food here. I don't know why," Victoria replies, taking a seat opposite Chloe.
"Probably because my Mom cooks a lot of it," Chloe smiles smugly behind a menu.
Victoria rolls her eyes whilst Chloe is distracted picking out what she wants.
"Makes sense your Mom would work here," Victoria mumbles.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe asks, slamming her menu down and making Victoria jump.
"Nothing, it's just you're here a lot," Victoria frowns.
"Stalking me now, too?"
"No!" Victoria glowers defensively.
A little too defensively.
"Right, that explains why I saw you watching me outside Blackwell the other day when I dropped Rach off," Chloe rebukes.
Victoria can feel herself starting to sweat under Chloe's interrogative stare. Her hand busies itself drawing circles on the inside of her other palm under the table, wondering how she should approach this.
"I didn't know you were going to be there," Victoria says.
"Whatever. I'm hungry."
Chloe motions for the waitress to come over to their booth. She proceeds to purposely order more food than she's capable of eating. At least that's what Victoria thinks, who's staring silently at her with her mouth slightly open.
"Do you want anything?" Chloe asks, snapping Victoria back from her staring trance.
"Erm," Victoria clears her throat, "I'll just have a coffee, black."
The waitress takes their menus and moves away to another table. Chloe sits back and spreads out, her arms hanging off the back of the booth. She glances around the diner and remembers Joyce has the day off today. Probably just as well, she doesn't want to explain Victoria to her. Turning her attention back to said blonde sat in front of her, Chloe notices Victoria is busying herself with wiping the table down with a napkin. Or a wet wipe. Who knows, who cares. Chloe rolls her eyes and sighs, turning to look outside the window instead. The sun is shining down on the lighthouse in the distance and thoughts of Max enter her mind. What the fuck even was that last night? It was nothing. It's only because she was recently stalking Max on social media, that's all. Right?
Right.
"What the fuck are you even doing right now?" Chloe snaps, noticing Victoria is now wiping down the cutlery too.
"Do they even clean here? I swear I saw a cockroach before," Victoria says, her head still lowered and her eyes focused on the task.
"You're hella paranoid," Chloe sighs, sprawling her legs out and kicking Victoria slightly under the table.
"And you're hella irritating, but here we are," Victoria mocks, adding extra emphasis on the 'hella'.
Chloe grunts and shifts in her seat, looking down and flicking at her nails.
"So, what do you do exactly? Besides selling drugs," Victoria asks, resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.
"Not a lot, why?" Chloe asks in reply, her face uninterested and looking down at her nails still.
"You spend a lot of time with Rachel," Victoria says, shifting slightly in her seat.
"Yeah, so?"
"Why?"
"Why not?" Chloe retorts, snapping her head up to scowl at Victoria.
"How come she wasn't at the party last night?"
"She's vsiting family out of town," Chloe sighs, moving her hand to fidget with her fork.
"Right," Victoria nods, being sure not to give herself away that she doesn't believe a word of that.
"Why are you so obsessed with Rachel?"
"I'm not!" Victoria frowns.
"Seems that way," Chloe smirks, knocking her fork against the table.
"I just don't get why you like her is all," Victoria says.
"Good thing it's not for you to get," Chloe replies.
Victoria is just about to push the topic further when the waitress makes her way over with their order and interrupts them. The next ten minutes are spent in silence as Victoria stares in awe as Chloe puts away a plate loaded with extra bacon and eggs, toast and two cups of coffee. Victoria is only halfway through her single coffee by the time Chloe leans back again and lets out a burp.
"Ugh," Victoria scoffs, "you eat like you've never been fed."
"I'm aware," Chloe says, flashing her shit-eating grin.
"Gross," Victoria says.
"So, what do you do then?" Chloe asks, finally leaning forward in her seat for the first time since getting here.
"Oh, what? Now you feel like talking?"
"I'm always in a more talkative mood after a meal," Chloe snorts, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I don't do anything, I just go to Blackwell," Victoria answers, leaning forward in her seat, too.
"Oh yeah, I forgot your Daddy pays for everything for you," Chloe says, running a finger around the rim of her cup.
"It's the least he could do for never being around," Victoria mutters, a small frown forming on her face as she looks down into her lap.
"At least you have a dad," Chloe says, her brows furrowing.
"What?" Victoria asks, looking up to meet Chloe's stare.
"My dad died when I was fourteen," Chloe says, her face scrunching up.
Victoria stays silent and staring. She can see a sadness in Chloe's eyes she's never seen before. It doesn't feel good to see it and she doesn't know what to say in response.
"Oh," Victoria mutters, "I'm sorry."
"S'fine. Why don't you see your dad?" Chloe asks, quickly changing the subject.
"Him and my Mom are always busy with work. They always have been. I hardly saw them when I was living with them, too."
"Least you guys have money, though, right? My Mom and Step-shit are always working, too, but like that makes a fucking difference."
"Step-shit?"
Chloe lets out a small chuckle and leans back in her seat again, draping her arms over the back of the booth again.
"Yeah, David Madsen. Head of security at Blackhell."
"That's your step-dad?!" Victoria asks, shock clear on her face. "That guy is such an asshole and his moustache gives me the creeps," Victoria feigns a shudder.
"Tell me about it," Chloe laughs, nodding her head in agreement.
Victoria lets out a small laugh of her own and takes a sip of her coffee, savouring the sound of Chloe's laughter. Not the taste of the coffee – it tastes like burnt horse manure.
"Wow, I feel sort of sorry for you," Victoria says, shooting Chloe a small apologetic smile.
"S'fine, I feel sorry for myself enough," Chloe replies, shaking her head slightly, "I swear if I wasn't already kicked out of Blackhell, he'd find a way to make it happen. Dude hates me as much as I hate him."
"Why did you get kicked out?"
"Ditching mainly and my grades dropped," Chloe sighs, "Turns out finding decent work in a hick-hole town such as this is hard when you were kicked out of a prestigious school."
Chloe rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her coffee. Victoria can't help but smile.
"Is that why you help Frank?"
"Yeah," Chloe says, placing her coffee down and cracking her knuckles, "easy money. Plus, I kinda owe him."
"What do you mean?" Victoria asks, her interest piqued.
"Nothing, it's a long story. Just something that happened years ago," Chloe says.
"Oh."
"Plus, even if I wanted to tell you, I can't trust you to keep your mouth shut, anyway."
"I can keep secrets," Victoria frowns.
Chloe doesn't say anything, noticing Victoria's frown, she just shrugs and looks out the window at the lighthouse again. Victoria notices her eyes growing sad again when she does and she can't help but wonder what she's thinking about everytime she looks at it. After a minute or two, Chloe turns back to see Victoria silently staring at her in a strange way and it gives her a funny feeling in her stomach.
"Anyway, I should probably take you back to Blackhell now," Chloe says, clearing her throat as she does.
It takes Victoria a moment to process that Chloe has just spoken to her.
"Oh, right, yeah," Victoria says, pulling out a small wad of cash from her purse and placing it on the table.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The drive back to Blackwell is a silent and calm one, especially with Chloe driving this time. Unbeknownst to Chloe, Victoria keeps stealing side glances at her and unbeknownst to Victoria, Chloe is doing the same at her. The silence would be an awkward one if they weren't both content with not talking to one another. Chloe is exhausted and the pain on her eyebrow is coming back around again. Victoria couldn't help feeling guilty every time she looked at it when sat opposite Chloe before.
Both girls also can't help feeling confusion over the fact they've spent the morning together for a non-sexual or drunken reason and they've both made it out alive and no worse off for it. What the fuck is that about?
Pulling up outside of Blackwell, Chloe brings the truck to a stop and looks over at Victoria.
"Thanks," Victoria says, reaching down to grab her handbag.
"Thanks for breakfast," Chloe nods, turning to look away and waiting for Victoria to get out.
After a moment or two, Chloe notices she still hasn't heard Victoria open the door to leave and looks back at her, just to see her sat looking back at her.
"Look," Victoria starts, "I know I can be a huge bitch, but-."
Chloe interrupts her with a loud snort and a shake of her head.
"But," Victoria carries on, ignoring Chloe, "you can always talk to me if you need to."
Chloe's face turns into a serious one after hearing those words and she sits staring down at her hands, nodding her head slowly.
"Right. See ya, Chase," Chloe says, shooting Victoria a small half-smile.
Victoria shoots back her best-bitch smile, though it looks slightly more friendly this time, before moving to open the door and get out.
"Later, Kari!"
Chloe sits there blinking for a moment, before looking ahead, pulling away and speeding off.