"I can't believe you two dragged me into this," said Gigi. She was in the library with Alex and Harper, reclining in a chair.
"This is our fault?" said Alex. She was pulling staples out of a beat up magazine.
"Yes, this is your fault," said Gigi. "Thanks for admitting it."
"Oh no no no," said Alex. She tossed the magazine in the recycling bin. "You are not blaming this on us. You were the one who started this."
"I started this?" said Gigi. "How?"
"Well you were the one who sprayed juice on my pants," said Alex.
"Really Alex?" said Gigi. "You're blaming me for your poor bladder control. Isn't this a new low?"
"You know what?" said Alex. "I don't see why you're complaining. You haven't been doing any work. It's been all us two."
"Mostly me," said Harper as she tossed another magazine in the recycling bin. Alex shot her a dirty look. "I mean you're right."
"Thank you," said Alex. "You have torn the staples out of a single magazine. You haven't picked up one piece of trash. You haven't so much as lifted a finger."
Gigi tossed her head back and stared at a ceiling. "I should be at the mall right now. Or getting coffee with my friends."
"Or visiting a plastic surgeon for a consultation?" said Alex.
Gigi sat up in her chair. "Hey! The only surgery I had was to fix a tragic birth defect."
"Must've been one big defect," said Alex.
"Okay, come on guys," said Harper. By now most of the magazines were gone. "Maybe we should just take a step back and calm down."
"You know, I don't get why you have a problem with me," said Gigi. "Are you just lashing out at me because I'm popular? Are you just ashamed of being a loser, so you blame all your problems on someone who's got it all going for them?"
"What's my problem with you?" said Alex. "Well maybe it has something to do with the time in Kindergarten when you poured apple juice on me during nap time and told everybody I had an accident."
"That was years ago," said Gigi.
"So you admit it!" said Alex.
"I admit that you had an accident during Kindergarten and you're trying to blame it on me," said Gigi. "But you know what, get over it. There are worse things than having poor bladder control."
Alex marched over to Gigi. She was standing over her. "Admit you lied."
"No," said Gigi. "Wait, what're doing?"
Alex grabbed Gigi's chair and tipped it so that Gigi fell on the floor. "Just confess."
Gigi got up. "You've lost it Russo. You could've seriously hurt me."
"Well then you'd have had an excuse to see your doctor," said Alex.
Harper dropped the magazine she had in hand. "Okay, okay. This has gone too far."
Gigi shoved Alex. She didn't push too hard, but it caught Alex by surprise and she fell down. "Whoops."
"Yeah whoops." Alex grabbed Gigi by the legs and pulled her to the floor. This was a mistake. Gigi came tumbling down on Alex. She began slapping her in the face. Gigi didn't hit too hard, but it was still annoying. Alex raised her hands to protect herself. She wrapped her legs around Gigi's waist and flipped her. Now she was on top of Gigi. Gigi flailed her arms around. Alex ducked her head to avoid getting hit. She grabbed Gigi's hands and pinned them to the floor. "Whatcha gonna do now?"
Gigi bit Alex on the neck. Well, it wasn't quite a bite. She didn't use her teeth or anything. She kind of just put her lips on Alex's neck and sucked on it. Alex was stunned. Harper grabbed Alex by the shoulder and pulled her off of Gigi. She put herself between the two girls. "Okay that is enough. Alex, you go back to recycling magazines."
Alex moaned. "But Harper, she started-"
"I don't want to hear it," said Harper. "Go."
Alex trudged off to the pile of magazines that they were supposed to be recycling. Gigi got up and dusted herself off. "Thanks for that Harper."
"And you," said Harper. "You're going to pick up the trash."
"You want me to pick up the trash?" said Gigi.
"Yeah," said Harper. "Because you have been sitting in that chair the whole time. You need to get off your butt and do some work."
"But," said Gigi.
"If you don't start picking up trash in the next ten seconds," said Harper. "I'm not going to hold Alex back."
"Okay." Gigi slumped and went over to pick up some candy wrappers that were under a nearby table.
Harper went over to where Alex was. By now, there was only one magazine left to recycle, which Alex was already ripping the staples out of. Alex was smiling as Harper sat down next to her. "Wow Harper, I'm impressed. I've never seen you so assertive."
Harper blushed. "Thanks. I only wish I'd done it sooner."
"Well, better late than never," said Alex. She tossed the last magazine into the recycling bin. "And it looks like we are done with that."
"Did she bite you?" said Harper.
"Oh yeah," said Alex. "On my neck."
"Huh," said Harper. She leaned in to examine Alex's neck. "I'm not seeing any bite marks. Just a red spot."
"I didn't really feel her teeth," said Alex. "I guess she was too dainty to actually do any damage."
"I guess she just gave you a hickey." Harper giggled.
Alex giggled, but half-heartedly. "Looks like I got my first hickey from Gigi."
Soon their teacher arrived and told the three girls they could go. They left the library and headed down the hallway. Gigi went one way, while Alex and Harper went the other way. "Do you want to hang out at my house?"
"Sure," said Alex. She turned around to watch Gigi walk away. Her neck tingled where Gigi had bitten it.
A few days after the fight, Gigi approached Alex. Alex was getting her things from her locker. She closed the door and saw Gigi standing there. She was alone. Her friends were nowhere to be seen. "Hey Alex."
"Hey Gigi," said Alex.
Gigi looked at Alex for a while, looking like she was going to say something, but she hesitated for a while. Finally, she spoke. "I'm sorry."
"About what?" said Alex.
"You know," said Gigi. Alex stared back at Gigi blankly. "About biting you."
"Yeah," said Alex. "Apology accepted."
"Did it hurt?" said Gigi.
"No," said Alex. "Not one bit."
"Right," said Gigi. "Well sorry about that."
"Like I said, apology accepted," said Alex.
"That's not like me," said Gigi. "I just lost control of myself."
"I understand," said Alex. She turned to walk down the hallway. "See you around."
Alex was halfway down the hallway when she heard Gigi's voice again. "Hey Alex, do you have any plans for the weekend?"
Alex turned around. "No. Why?"
Gigi's eyes turned to the floor. She shifted her body from side to side. "Do you want to do something. Like maybe see a movie?"
"What movie?" said Alex.
"Whatever movie you want," said Gigi.
"Okay," said Alex.
"Great." Gigi smiled and headed off in the opposite direction. She was practically skipping.
