Author's Note: Amazing reviewers, you are.
I'm glad you didn't forget about this fic.
Curse my lame updating skills. :P
"So," Dana said. It was surprising how her voice came out so calm despite what she had just heard.
In front of her, Lane was the complete opposite. She had dropped her cellphone, never bothered to pick it up, and was blinking through small grasping breaths.
"D-Dana," she managed to say. "Where were you? I was looking everywhere!" She tried to give her a hug, but Dana stepped away from her. Lane closed her arms awkwardly.
"Funny. I was looking for you. It's weird how things turn out to be, isn't it?"
Lane stared on her feet, her confident demeanor gone for the first time Dana had seen her. "I can explain," she finally said.
"Can you?" Dana replied snidely. She turned to leave, but Lane grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room.
"What the hell?" she exclaimed as Lane locked the door behind her. "Open that, Thoms."
Glancing at Dana, she sighed. "I had to do that. You were going to walk away."
"Yeah, and I'm still going to. Open it!"
"No." Lane stared down at her, silently persuading her to just stay for awhile and listen to what she had to say.
"Fine. You have three minutes."
A small smile of relief appeared on Lane's face, but she still looked pale. "What did you hear?"
Dana pretended to look thoughtful as she placed a finger on the side of her mouth. "Oh, let's see! Ah, I think I heard the whole shebang, but I think that's just about it."
Lane ignored the sarcastic dig. "Okay. Well, everything you heard... is true."
"Huh," she said questioningly with eyebrows raised. "And the whole connection with Logan?"
Lane nodded. "Yes. We are related."
"And you just happened to not to share that particular detail with me?"
Lane nodded again.
"Why?"
She swallowed, and took awhile to answer. "Before you arrived, I got a call from him. He said that this year there'll be a new girl at school, and I had to make sure I make her feel welcome."
Dana snorted. "Yeah, right."
"Well, it's not what you're thinking. Logan asked me to keep an eye on you. As in, watch who you befriend, keep you out of trouble. I had to do all that indirectly, considering that you and he aren't exactly fond of each other. He warned me that if you ever found out what he was doing, well, 'pissed off' wouldn't exactly cover it."
She was feeling incredulous on what Lane was saying. "And you just agreed? Like, no money in exchange or something?"
Lane shrugged and absently twirled her hair. "It's kind of hard to believe, but he and I went through so much together. He was by my side when Daddy left me and my mom two summers ago," Lane's eyes misted a bit at the memory, "and he beat the pulp out of my ex-boyfriend when he find out he was cheating on me. I think it's only right to not ask for anything in return for doing this, don't you think?"
Dana asked the question she'd been dying to say since she entered the room. "But why is he doing this? I left, for Christ's sake! He should be celebrating and drinking with his hoes, not go all CIA on me!"
Despite the tension, Lane laughed softly. "I think you know the answer to that."
Dana's lips tingled as those words reached her ears, and last night returned with a sickening blur to her head. "No, I don't," she insisted. "I should be going. Your time's up." She made her way to the door.
"Listen, Dana," Lane said before she can exit, "even if Logan was the only reason I became friends with you, I'm kind of glad he asked me to do it. You're a good friend, and I'm sure all those people you left at PCA will agree."
She should have rolled her eyes at that, but she didn't. The briefest of grins appeared on Dana's face.
"Thanks."
-x-
Twenty minutes later, half of Room 101 at Lange Hall was almost empty.
Her closet was void of clothes and the tons and tons of crap she bought. The bed she had slept in for a short time has been tidied, and this surprised her. Dana wasn't exactly the poster girl of orderliness back when she was living with Zoey and Nicole.
Might as well start now. She lugged her suitcase on top of Priscilla's bed. When she entered the room, she was glad to find that the spawn of Satan wasn't lying there anymore. If not, she would've done something more than a slap on his pretty little face.
The door burst open, and she jumped a little at the sight of Christi.
"Dana!" she exclaimed, her eyes wider than usual. Then her gaze fell on the suitcases. "Going somewhere?"
"I'm going on vacation." Anywhere far from this measly place, to be exact.
"Oh." She sat on the bottom bunk bed and heaved a deep breath. "I guess it's just me and Priscilla here, huh?"
"I'm afraid so."
Christi giggled. "Did you hear? She and Logan Reese broke up."
"Really?" she questioned casually, but inside the butterflies in her stomach was fluttering. That's just a lack of breakfast, she thought dismissively.
"Yeah, it was some scene. At breakfast today, she was going on and on about how she was going to be on this movie with Christian Bale and, like, out of nowhere Logan appeared and she was all, 'Honey! When's our shooting going to start?' and Logan grunted, 'Shut up, pretentious whore,' then left. It was hilarious!" She doubled over with laughter.
"Too bad I missed it," Dana sincerely said. "What did Priscilla say?"
"Nothing! She was speechless. Girl hasn't been seen after that. Hope she's bawling her guts out somewhere. She deserves it." To Dana's amusement, Christi kicked Priscilla's bed, hard, with her pointed toe boots. "Payback's a bitch, bitch!"
Perky or not, Dana was definitely going to miss Christi's antics.
"Listen, I just called the airlines, and my flight's going to be in an hour—"
"Oh, hey, did you tell Lane?" Christi asked. "I'm sure she'll be glad to drive you there or something."
She shook her head. "Nah, I'll be fine."
A silence ensued, and Christi looked hesitant to speak again. "You're not really going on vacation, are you?"
Dana looked at her sharply, but she conceded. What was the use, anyway? "Yeah, I'm going home."
Christi gasped. "That's... not good. I mean, don't you like it here? Is it me? Just say so, I promise I'll cut down on the sugar—"
"Christi, stop!" Dana said, laughing. "No, you're perfectly fine. It's just that..." Her voice trailed off.
"You miss them," Christi said simply. Dana shrugged. Christi was partly right, but she had her other reasons for leaving. That curly-haired, I'm-drunk-so-give-me-a-kiss reason.
"Well, if that's your decision, I'm not going to stop you." She moved closer to hug Dana, and she almost gagged at her perfume. Chanel was such a poison to her nostrils.
Nevertheless, she hugged Christi back, and sighed quietly.
I think the next chapter would be the last.
I hope you enjoyed this one, and I appreciate the feedback you'll give. Like, I can definitely make the last chapter as sexually explosive as possible. lol. Kidding.
Thanks for reading! ;)