A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. They're greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. :)

Please be Jane. Please be Jane, Maura thought as the girl who entered the bathroom stood motionless on the other side. Maura was still looking down at the floor, but the eerie silence that filled the room was enough to let her know that it wasn't Jane who had entered the bathroom to comfort her or a student who needed to use the facilities.

"Maura?" She heard her friend say after what felt like an eternity of silence. "Maura, would you at least look at me?" Not wanting her friend to see her cry, Maura refused to turn around, so Sarah decided to stand directly in front of her. "Now you have no choice."

Maura wanted to push her away and run out of that bathroom, but her need to know why one of her best friends could betray her prevented her from leaving. "How could you do this to me?"

Sarah tucked a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear and then started to play with the hem of her sweater. Maura knew she was stalling for time and, with each passing second, Maura became more upset with her. "It seemed like a good idea at first."

"Calling me a whore seemed like a good idea to you? You're supposed to be one of my best friends."

"I know. Maura, this isn't easy for me."

"This isn't easy for you?" Maura asked in disbelief. "I was so distraught that day. My mom had to leave work to pick me up. I told Jane I didn't want to date her anymore―"

"That obviously didn't last," Sarah interrupted.

"Does Allie know about any of this?"

"As usual, Alejandra is completely aloof," Sarah told her. "She had nothing to do with this. I paid some freshman to write on your locker because I knew you'd recognize my writing. I don't know what the condoms were about. I was desperate and didn't know what to do."

"You could have left me alone or you could have been my friend and talked to me," Maura said angrily. "Why are you so against me dating Jane? She's never done anything to you."

"Yes, she has."

"Did she tease you when we were younger? You've never mentioned her teasing you."

"She never teased me."

"Do you have a crush on her?" Maura asked although she knew that wasn't the case.

"God no," Sarah gave her a disgusted look. "Maura, let's just drop it, okay? I'm sorry. I did a shitty thing and I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."

"You owe me an explanation," Maura argued. "I need to know why you did this to me."

Sarah firmly placed her lips to Maura's. The kiss was forceful rather than passionate and, if she hadn't been so shocked, Maura would have pushed her away. "That's now how I imagined it happening."

Maura was still in shock. "You kissed me."

"I've been wanting to kiss you since we were fourteen. I just couldn't get myself to do it. You don't know how difficult it is."

"I was single all those years and you had every opportunity to kiss me. What made you think this was the right time to kiss me?"

"There was never going to be a right time," Sarah admitted. "But thinking about you and Jane messed me up. I can't compete with her and I don't want to compete with her. I love you for you and not for what's in between your legs. I've never even thought about you like that, not like she does."

"Jane and I are dating. She has every right to think about me, just as I think about her," Maura said, although she knew how much it'd hurt her friend to hear that.

"I can't compete with Jane. Nobody can. I just figured―I don't even know. I never factored Jane into any of this even though I knew you'd like her―every girl likes her. I guess I was under the impression that you'd start dating some random girl that you'd forget about after high school and then in college I'd confess everything to you and―yes, I'm aware of how all this sounds."

Maura shook her head. "You're even more arrogant than you claim Jane is. Did you want to make Jane look bad so I could run into your arms and be with you? And what about your boyfriend?"

Sarah reached out for Maura's hand, but Maura pushed her away. "He's an asshole, Maura. I'm not gay or anything like that. I don't feel this way about any other girl. It's just you. I thought being with him would help me forget about you, but I can't stop thinking about you. It was fine when you having a girlfriend was just some hypothetical situation but I've kinda always known you'd eventually like Jane. I just didn't count on her liking you back."

"You never thought Jane could like me?"

"You never thought it either," Sarah argued. "And once she gets what she wants from you, she'll forget about you. Or she'll cheat on you. What about Jessica? Yeah, she's a bitch to everyone else but you honestly don't think she cared about Jane? You don't think she was heartbroken because Jane was fantasizing about you? If she's done it once, she could do it again, Maura."

Maura was going to tell Sarah that she could say the same thing about her―how she had a boyfriend and still wanted someone else, but she stood there, speechless, as the bell rang.

Sarah reached out and touched her hand. "Just think about what I said."

The bathroom at the end of the hall was one of the least frequented on campus, so Maura was surprised to see Jessica walk in. Sarah let go of Maura's hand when Jessica looked at them, but Jessica did nothing more than roll her eyes as she walked past them and stood in front of the mirror so she could reapply her MAC lipstick. All of the popular girls wore MAC, which made Maura wonder if having a signature shade of MAC lipstick was mandatory for hanging out with the popular girls.

After mouthing "I'll call you later," Sarah left Maura alone in the bathroom with Jessica. If she actually cared about me, she'd have gotten me out of this awkward situation.

There, in front of the mirror, was Jessica Montez taking a selfie that Maura was sure she'd post on social media and get hundreds of likes within minutes. Her burgundy lipstick and winged eyeliner complemented her long, dark hair and olive skin tone and, the more she looked at her, the more self-conscious Maura became. Every day on Tumblr, Maura saw pictures of beautiful girls with flawless makeup but she always felt as if there was some kind of anonymity to them until that moment. She realized Jessica was one of those Tumblr girls whose selfies and candid photos were reblogged by thousands and, if she had ever included pictures of Jane on her blog, she'd have probably gotten dozens of anons asking about their sex life.

"What are you looking at?" Jessica glared at her.

"Nothing...sorry," Maura muttered.

"And you're who Jane wanted to be with," Jessica shook her head.

"I didn't make her leave you," Maura said, defensively. "I didn't even know she liked me."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Jessica responded as she started fixing her hair instead of looking at Maura. "Jane and I are finished and, now that we're not together, I feel so much happier and you will too once you have the real thing."

"What real thing?"

"The way Jane fucks is mediocre at best, but all these little girls fawn over her because they don't know any better. Then again, you'll probably have your mind blown by making out. Look at you. Everything about you just screams virgin."

Maura knew she'd be late to class if she continued talking to Jessica, but she had no intention of letting Jessica get away with what she had said even if it meant sharing the details of what she had done to Jane that morning. "It was mediocre with Jane because Jane didn't want you. She'd go through the motions with you and then go home and think about me. You don't even know what she tastes like, but I do."

Maura had expected Jessica to get offended, but instead she started laughing. "I don't even care about Jane. You don't get it, do you? I was trying to do you a favor by warning you. If she could leave someone like me, she could definitely leave someone like you."

It was a classic popular girl trick, or so Maura had concluded thanks in part to the hours of '80s teen movies she had watched with her mom and her friends, but―unlike the '80s teen movies―all of her problems weren't going to be solved in ninety minutes or less while the occasional pop song played. Jessica had no intention of warning her or doing her a favor. Although she no longer cared about Jane, their conversation was a form of petty revenge for the sole purpose of kicking Maura while she was already down.

Maura said little to Jane during the ride home and, when Jane didn't try to coax any information out of her, she realized Jane was letting her take the lead.

"Do you want to do our stats homework together?" Jane asked when they pulled into the driveway.

"My mom's home," Maura answered matter-of-factly. "I'm not going to go down on you."

"That's not why I wanna hang out with you."

Maura noticed the hurt in Jane's voice. "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven," Jane said as she leaned in to kiss her. "Do you want to tell me what happened earlier?"

"Do you want to hear about Sarah kissing me or the talk I had with Jessica?"

"Sarah kissed you?" Jane asked in disbelief. "Did you kiss her back?"

"Jane!" Maura said angrily. "No, I didn't kiss her back. Is that all that matters? One of my best friends came up with a horrible nickname for me and started rumors about me because she claims to be in love with me and then she kisses me. After that, your ex-girlfriend claims she's doing me a favor by telling me that you're going to leave me. I told her what we did and she laughed at me. She actually laughed at me. I know my mom told me not to play into their games but it's so easy for her to say that when thirty years have passed and it wasn't her best friend who tormented her behind her back."

"You know I'm not going to leave you for another girl, right?"

"I know, but it still hurt to hear her say that. Why can't people just leave us alone?"

"High school isn't high school without petty drama. I'm sorry I didn't follow you to the bathroom. I just saw you leave your table and then Sarah went after you so I assumed she was going to talk to you if you were upset. I didn't know she was behind any of this."

Maura wiped a tear from her eye. "I can't wait until college."

"Same. We should room together."

"You really think my dad would let us share a dorm room?"

"I don't see why not," Jane smiled. "We'll tell him it'll be more cost efficient."

"How?"

"Because we'll only need one bed."

"Jane," Maura laughed.

"I knew that'd cheer you up."

And it did cheer her up until she realized she'd first have to get through high school. "I need to go inside now."

She had expected some sexual innuendo from Jane and she was surprised when Jane's serious side came out. "I can stay with you for awhile. I wanna hold you while we talk this through."

"I need to be alone in my room for awhile," Maura said as she held Jane's hand. "I'm still your girl and you're still mine. Will you take me to school tomorrow?"

"I'll be here," Jane responded. "And if anyone is going down on anyone tomorrow morning, it'll be me going down on you."

"You're not over me licking your cupcake first?"

"That's not how it was supposed to happen," Jane pointed out. "But, just to let you know, I might not stop at tasting your cupcake. I might want to coat my fingers in the frosting and feel how hot it is."

"Like it is right now?" Maura's voice nearly squeaked. "I have to go."

"Can I give you a goodbye kiss?"

"It's best if you don't," Maura blushed. "I wouldn't be able to stop."

"And that's bad because…"

It wasn't a kiss on the lips, but Maura hoped a kiss on the cheek would suffice. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, my girl."

Bye, my girl. Jane still couldn't believe she had said that or that there was actually a girl in the world who could make her that sappy. But Maura deserves it.

As much as she wanted to, Jane knew she couldn't solve all of Maura's problems nor did she know if Maura would even want to talk to her about them the next day, but there was one thing she was certain of: she was going to take Mr. Isles's advice and woman up.

She pulled over alongside a curb on Maura's street and grabbed her phone from her backpack. "Come over," she said when her friend Brad answered the phone. "I'm going to do something for Maura at school on Friday and I need your help planning Tony and the rest of the guys I need their help, too."