Chapter Text

I grew up in Eureka, California, a city that never gets snow. In winter, it just rains. It rains a shitload. When I moved to Oregon to attend Blackwell, I knew that I'd be getting just as much rain, if not more. I'd kind of hoped that the rain would come with snow, though; that maybe I'd experience one of those 'white Chrismases' that the songs always promised.

I glared out at the gray, rainy day from under my umbrella. It was the middle of December. Hunks of holly dangled from the walls, a tiny Christmas tree sat a little crooked in the TV lounge, the same old songs blared from shop speakers endlessly, ever-growing swarms of Stars of David decorated Juliet and Courtney's doors. There should be some fucking snow falling, dammit. But no, just rain. More goddamn rain.

"Oh my God, Taylor, move your butt," Victoria grumbled as she brushed past me. She was dressed to kill, in her designer leather coat, black gloves, and high-heeled leather boots. Her girlfriend stuck out like a sore thumb next to her. Max smiled sheepishly as they passed by, arm-in-arm with Victoria; the little nerd was wearing a dingy jacket over her usual hoodie, a dopey fishing hat, and honest-to-God rubber rainboots. She clung tight to Vic to keep under the taller girl's purple umbrella, the fashionista and the train wreck, the world's most unlikely pair.

They were so adorable together, it made me sick.

"Wow, it's coming down a lot harder than I thought it would be," a meek voice came from behind me. Turning, I saw Kate Marsh peering out from the Prescott Dormitory's front door, a long, tasteful coat pulled on over her conservative button-up shirt and skirt. She caught my eye and smiled. "Oh, hey Taylor. Do you mind if I share your umbrella? It seems silly to run back up just to get mine."

"Sure, no problem," I answered grudgingly. I swear to God, Kate's smile almost punched a hole through the cloud cover through sheer divine radiance. She pressed in close, and we set off together toward Blackwell's main building. I spent the whole walk doing my best to ignore the faint smell of mint coming from her, and the weird urge I got to pull her into my own coat to shield her from the elements.

Two months before, if someone told me that Kate Marsh would be nuzzling up to me under an umbrella on some random rainy day and my gut reaction would be to protect her with my life, I would've laughed in their face. But then that week in October happened, and things got weird. Max and Victoria got together, bringing peace to the two main cliques of the dormitory's second floor. Then Rachel and Chloe left, Rachel to her new job and Chloe on a journey of self-discovery (which apparently translated to "dropping Rachel off in LA, then couch-surfing around San Francisco for a while"). With the Dipshit Duo gone, Max just got folded into hanging out with me, Victoria, and Courtney, and at some point Kate started associating with us too. She even started teaming up with me in some of our drawing classes. Kate was a sweet girl, not the preachy Bible-thumper I'd expected, and I still owed Dana for scaring me into ending my campaign of total bitchiness.

But Christ, Kate made people want to protect her. I could feel my left shoulder start to get soaked as I shifted the umbrella to make sure she was covered from the rain. She didn't notice; she just smiled and chattered about something her rabbit had done earlier that morning. Alice was, like, the second best thing about being friends with Kate. Rabbits are cute as fuck. Everyone likes rabbits.

Kate paused in her story and waved cheerfully as Courtney drifted over to join us on our walk, under her own burgundy umbrella.

"Hey, Katie! Hey Taylor!" Courtney chirped, pulling up alongside us. She hesitated a moment and squinted at me. "Uh, Taylor? Your arm is getting kind of—“

"HELLO Courtney," I cut in, bowling her over before she could remind me of how cold and numb my left arm was getting. "What're you up to on this beautiful day?"

Courtney just raised a slightly misplucked eyebrow at me (the girl is terrible at it, seriously) and shrugged. "I was taking care of some Vortex Club stuff. Getting things settled for the end-of-semester party."

I nodded along, back on familiar ground. With Victoria focusing on her photo work and spending a ton of her free time with Max, Courtney had taken over a lot of her Vortex Club duties, and that meant that I saw her a lot less than I used to. It didn't help that Victoria still expected Courtney to act like her servant; poor girl had, like, no free time anymore. "Yeah, I'm totes looking forward to that. I'm gonna need something to help me unwind after exams are over."

"Right? I think everyone's feeling the same way." Courtney leaned over to catch Kate's eye. "You should come too! You're gonna be as burned out as the rest of us, and it'll be fun! Dana's running a Secret Santa for all the girls on our floor and everything."

Kate tilted her head thoughtfully, her bun shifting slightly with the change of orientation. "I don't know, I went to a Vortex Club party last year and I didn't feel very comfortable. It's not really my kind of thing, I guess?"

Courtney and I exchanged looks. Last year? Damn, it was easy to forget how much had changed since then. "This party might be more your speed," Courtney said carefully. "Last year, the Club was... a little crazier." There was an understatement. Last year, the Vortex Club had been way more focused on drinking, smoking, and experimenting with harder stuff provided by Nathan, especially in the VIP section. "But then Mx. Dog took over as our adviser, and... some other stuff happened..." —she meant that Nathan's hookup got harder to find, limiting us to booze and pot— "...So now the parties are a lot more mellow. Dana doesn't really do the more wild parties, either; she likes making sure everyone's comfortable, especially at this one. Something about the 'Christmas spirit', I guess? That girl gets way into her holidays."

"Oh, I didn't realize that," Kate said with a smile. "Well, if that's the case, then maybe I will stop by. Thank you for inviting me, and for making sure someone like me can be comfortable."

It took every ounce of willpower I had not to hug Kate to my bosom and tell her everything would be all right. The girl is damned precious.

Courtney grinned back, hopping up and down a little and sending water from her umbrella flying in my direction (she very rudely ignored my protests). "Great! Shoot me a text before the party, I can help give you a makeover! We can see how you look with your hair down, huh?" She wiggled her fingers at us as we stepped into the main entrance of Blackwell, before scampering off to... whatever classes she did in the morning; Courtney was in the school's science track, so she didn't have many classes in common with us artists.

"That was sweet of her," Kate said as she shucked off her coat. She glanced over, then gave me an odd look. "Wow, you got a lot more soaked than I did."

"Must've been Courtney shaking her umbrella all over me," I answered easily, trying not to let my teeth chatter; my arm was getting a bit numb. "C'mon, let's get to class. Those perspective lines aren't going to draw themselves."

Kate giggled and nodded, smiling again as we walked together to the art classroom. Arcadia Bay may have been more gloomy than I'd like, but at least there was one ray of sunshine to brighten up the winter months.

...Ugh, gross. I was spending too much time around Max and Victoria. Their cutesy bullshit was rubbing off on me.

***

That evening found Victoria's room packed to the brim with girls, which was a lot less fun than it sounds. Exam season meant cram season, and we were rallying together to get through our homework and bone up on our classes before the holiday break gave us a chance to forget everything again. Victoria and Courtney were hunched over at Vic's desk, trying to sort out some kind of chemistry problem. Max lounged on Victoria's bed, desperately attempting to catch up on some reading for her English class. Kate and I had the couch and an array of flashcards in front of us, pounding out memorization reps for art history.

"How about this one," she asked, leaning forward to tap a card. "Name, year and artist?"

I smirked at her. "The Girl with a Pearl Earring. 2003, directed by Peter Webber, starring Scarlett Johansson."

Kate giggled and gave me a little push on the shoulder. "Be serious! We need to know these for the final!"

"I'm very serious about my movie history." She managed to stifle her giggles enough to give me some faint imitation of a scowl, and I rolled my eyes. "Fine, fine. Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1660's, painted by... Uh... Fuck. Rembrandt?"

"Not quite, though it's the right country. It was painted by Vermeer."

I groaned, leaning back. "Great. Fuck the Dutch, what did they ever do for anyone? Except make New York, I guess."

"They also invented gin," Courtney commented from the desk.

"New York and gin. Great, fantastic, hooray for the Dutch."

Victoria's head dropped to thump against her textbook. "God, I'm even worse off than you are. Why do I need to know this chemistry shit anyway? I'm never going to use it."

"You're a photographer, Tori," Max said, looking up from her book. "You use chemistry every time you develop a photo."

"Correction, I'm a digital photographer," Victoria answered, sitting up straight and raising a finger in the air. "And this is exactly why. I know how to use a computer. I like computers. I don't know shit about chemistry, nor do I give a single solitary fuck. You don't have to develop digital photos, you just print them. It's a much more civilized process."

"You might know more if you—" Courtney cut herself off, looking pained. An awkward silence hung in the air as Victoria's eyes narrowed. I didn't know how much Max and Kate knew about our dynamic, but I was painfully aware of how much shit Victoria had Courtney do. That included a lot of her homework, especially science homework. Even getting that half a sentence out took a lot of guts. Guts that I wasn't sure Victoria would appreciate.

I broke the silence with a fake smile. "Come on, you're Victoria Chase. You're going to kick this test's ass. You'll do great."

"Yeah. Great." Victoria's glare stayed leveled at Courtney, letting the feeling of an impending storm linger a moment longer. Then she seemed to deflate, her head slumping down to thump onto the textbook, and the tension drained with her. "Ugh. Fuck me."

"I'm pretty sure that's Max's job," I immediately answered, then ducked. As expected, a pillow came flying at me from the bed; fortunately for me, Max was shit at throwing, and Kate squeaked as the pillow thumped into her head.

Max sat up straight, looking chagrined. "Oh shit, Kate, I'm so sorr—mmph!" The pillow cut her off by hitting her right in the face.

"It's fine, Max," Kate said pleasantly, like she hadn't just fired a laser-guided pillow missile at her friend's face. "I have sisters, remember? I'm used to the occasional pillow fight." Her smile widened, becoming downright fierce (I pointedly ignored the shivers running down my spine). "I'm used to winning them, too."

"Okay, I think we need to take a break," Courtney said, holding her hands up to call for peace. "We won't get anything done if we go to war." She turned to Victoria. "I've got a bottle of red that should settle our nerves."

A few minutes later, we'd all repositioned ourselves from study mode to hangout mode. A bottle of red wine stood in the middle of the coffee table, and glasses of wine sat in hands or on flat surfaces. Vic, Courtney, and I were the bigger drinkers, as usual. Kate's glass just held a little splash of wine, a phenomenon too common for any of us to say anything about it anymore. Max stuck to a can of soda; I wouldn't have expected her to be the teetotaler of the five of us, but she seemed to cling to it with conviction.

Victoria and Max cuddled up together on Vic's bed, oblivious to the outside world. Courtney lounged on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, and Kate and I stayed on the couch, which now also housed our study materials. The three of us were chatting, trying to ignore the room's overbearing couple. Two months in, they were still in the honeymoon phase, barely ever separating if they could avoid it. It was cute when it wasn't sickening.

At least my room wasn't right next to either one's dorm room. Poor Kate, the things she must hear.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one having trouble ignoring the two. Courtney rolled her eyes and loudly asked me and Kate, "God, do they ever stop?"

I shrugged in answer. "Not that I've seen. They're probably making up for lost time; they spent, like, a year pretending there wasn't something going on between them."

"I still can't believe you were right about that," Courtney grumbled. She'd lost ten bucks on a bet over the Chase-Caulfield Question. It wasn't much money, but I guess the blow to her pride still stung.

"I think it's cute," Kate opined quietly. "They care about each other, and they've been good for each other. I like seeing them happy."

"I like seeing them happy too," I said. "I just wish that their brand of happiness didn't also cause nausea."

"We can hear you, you know," Victoria called icily from the bed. She was sitting up now, her short hair messy, a faint flush across her cheeks.

"I know," I answered cheerfully.

"Jeez, fine, if we bug you that much, we can stop," Max said, faking a pout. She pulled away from Victoria and sat on the floor at the head of the coffee table. "See? No more cuddling."

"Hmph." Victoria sat down next to her, taking one of Max's hands into her own and smirking at us. "Don't humor them, sweety. They're just jealous because they're all single."

That prompted a chorus of protests from the three of us, which left Victoria grinning and Max giggling. We settled down quickly enough, taking a sip from our respective drinks.

Courtney was the one to break the silence. "You know," she said thoughtfully, "Victoria might have a point." She looked slyly over her glass at me and Kate. "You were the one to figure Vic's crush out before anyone, Taylor; a sign of some repressed feelings, maybe? And Kate, don't pretend you're as pure as everyone thinks you are. C'mon, dish, who do you two have your eyes on?"

I could feel my face grow pale. This was dangerous ground, because I knew exactly who the answer was. For years, I'd successfully dodged the ever-escalating drama of schooltime relationships. Guys, however cute, were also dumb and annoying, and most girls didn't even warrant consideration. It was way more fun and rewarding to watch, talking about, and occasionally fuck with other people's relationships, staying above it all as Victoria's aloof right-hand co-bitch.

But one person had managed to worm their way into my black rotten apple of a heart: Dana Ward.

In my defense, basically everyone had a crush on Dana. She was tall, she was hot as hell, she was friendly and kind to everyone. Hell, even animals loved her. She was basically a Disney princess, except with six-pack abs and an unfairly nice rack. I'd... appreciated Dana's hotness since I met her, but what started as a mild case of girl-boner had turned into a full-on crush since October; something about seeing her go mama-bear in Kate's defense made me go weak in the knees, and by December, I was having trouble keeping my wits around her.

No one else could ever know.

Dana was thoroughly straight (the rumor mill produced plenty of evidence for that), and the last thing I needed was for anyone else to know that I was yet another Dana groupie. She had more than enough horndogs of all varieties bugging her without adding me to the mix.

Next to me, Kate had turned bright red, and she was doing her best impression of a turtle as she seemed to try to withdraw into her sweater. That was intriguing; it suggested that she had her own answer to Courtney's question, but was no more willing to spill it than I was.

"The fuck, Courtney?" I asked, doing my best to deflect her question. "If you're gonna put us on the spot like that, at least answer your own—"

"Evan."

That shut me up for a second. I stared at Courtney, jaw hanging open. "That pretentious douchebag?"

A faint blush was creeping up her cheeks as she smiled smugly back at me. "You wanted my answer, there it is. He's not that bad once you get to know him, and I like a boy that can rock an undercut."

"She has a point," Victoria said thoughtfully. "There are certainly less appealing boys at Blackwell."

Max nodded in agreement. "He let me look at his portfolio once; he has a good eye, and he's pretty smart."

I glared at the two of them. "You're not helping."

Courtney leaned forward, smirking. "No more excuses. C'mon, spill."

I took another look around the room for any sign of support. Kate was doing her best to hide behind her mostly-empty wine glass. Victoria had a haughty little smirk and a single eyebrow quirked in interest; she was probably just happy to have someone else's love life put in the spotlight. Max looked a little torn, but she was staying quiet; she was nothing if not nosy, so I bet she was just dying to learn how Kate and I would answer this one.

Well, screw them. When in doubt, lie like a motherfucker. "For your information, I'm not interested in anyone," I said haughtily, "and I bet Kate isn't either. It's hard to even think of that stuff without getting queasy, thanks to that hot mess over there." I waved vaguely in Victoria and Max's direction.

Max put on an offended face, her hand over her heart, while Victoria huffed at me. "Oh, for fuck's sake Taylor, quit your bitching. It's your fault anyway."

"How is it my fault that you're a gross pile of sloppy PDAs?"

"You're, like, half the reason we're even together! Jesus!" Vic rolled her eyes at me.

That declaration was met with confusion from all corners. Courtney and I looked at each other and shrugged, while Kate tilted her head. Even Max looked confused as she turned to her girlfriend. "What do you mean, Tori?"

Victoria sighed and rubbed her temples dramatically. "Oh God, it's story time, isn't it? All right, to start with, contrary to what someone may tell you, I didn't even really think much about you when I first met you, Max. It was this one—" she pointed at me "—constantly yammering about what an oooobvious crush I had on you that even got me started thinking about it. Before then, I was entirely comfortable in my heterosexuality, but then that went out the fucking window."

"'Comfortable in your heterosexuality'. Riiiiiight," I said with a snort. "I'm the last person who's gonna buy that shit, Vic."

"Shut up, Taylor, I'm telling a story about you here. So after this bitch spends a fucking year nattering about this crush that she fucking created, the photo contest happens, and the bullshit gets cranked up to eleven." Victoria started ticking things off on her fingers. "Taylor just happened to have your number on hand to give to me."

"Wait, but didn't you—" Courtney said, eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh my God, I'm still talking! So she had your number on hand. She talked Nathan into lending me his family's yacht. She helped me pick out your outfit. When you fell asleep in here, I wanted to take you back to your room, but oh no, Taylor said we should put you on my bed—"

"Oh what the fuck—" I started to protest. Her story was getting further and further off track from reality, and Max and Kate were wide-eyed and lapping it up.

Victoria cut me off with a raised hand and an imperious smirk. "Oh no, this is my story, Taylor, you don't get to interrupt my story." She turned back to Max. "You know my desktop wallpaper? The picture of you and me working on our photos that you like so much? Taylor was sweet enough to take that."

"Oh, really?" Max smiled at me, beaming widely. "That's a great shot, Taylor. I know photography isn't really your thing, but you're still good at it."

I sighed, running a hand down my face, and muttered, "Thanks Max." God damn, the girl had no bullshit detector. It didn't help that Victoria was mixing her crap right in with the truth.

"Oh, and then there was the day of the contest itself," Victoria continued, "when she basically spent the whole morning talking me into doing something about my stupid crush—which she started in the first place, I'll remind you—insisting that you were into girls when as far as I knew you weren't into anyone—“

"She wears a fucking rainbow bracelet!" I burst out. The offending strand of cords was still there on Max's wrist, along with a spiked punk bracelet. Seriously, Max might as well have worn a sign saying "I'M A LESBIAN."

Max looked down at her wrist in surprise. "Oh, wowsers, I didn't realize that anyone would take it that way. It's just a friendship bracelet that Rachel gave me. I didn't even think that it would be a... I dunno, a gay thing."

The rest of us responded to her comment with stunned silence. Even Victoria's train of thought couldn't plow through that derailing. Kate's voice was quiet, but might as well have been a shout. "Max, even I know what a rainbow bracelet means."

Max's freckles were getting drowned out by the rising tide of red in her face. "Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"We just thought you were quietly coming out," Kate answered. "I was happy for you. Stella considered throwing you a party. But we decided that if you weren't going to make a big deal out of it, then neither would we. Then you started dating Victoria, and the point seemed a bit moot. Did you really not realize how it would be interpreted?"

Max's hand went up to rub the back of her neck sheepishly. "I... guess I never really thought about it? I'm kinda sad I never got a party, though."

"I think it's a little late for a coming-out party, Max," Kate said with a smile.

Victoria pointed at me. "See, it's your fault that I'm dating this dweeb. You started it and wingmanned for me every step of the way, so quit your bitching about your own fucking success."

I rolled my eyes and downed a bit more wine, leaning back into the couch. "Ugh, fine, it's my fault that you're a big gay sloppy mess." My eyes drifted over to Victoria's nightstand, and a wicked grin started to grow on my face. "Speaking of sloppy messes, I hope you've been using that gift I got you."

Victoria's eyes narrowed to slits. "Shut it, Taylor."

I snickered as Courtney rolled her eyes and directed the conversation in a less contentious direction.

We didn't get much more studying done after that. Between the wine, the aftereffects of the previous conversation ("So, Rachel gave you that bracelet," Victoria asked at one point in a tone that threatened eternal torment if Rachel Amber ever came back from LA and even thought of touching Max), and sheer lethargy, we were just ready to crash by the time Victoria kicked us out for some ill-concealed alone time with Max.

As soon as the door clicked shut and locked, Courtney whipped around to glare at me. "Don't think I didn't notice what happened in there. You wound Victoria up so she'd go off and distract us from my question. It was a clever plan, but I promise, I will pry the answer out of you. I don't believe your coy bullshit for a second." Message delivered, she turned on her heel and strode back toward her room, head held high.

I shrugged and commented to Kate, "Bitches be crazy. G'night," and started toward my room. It took me a second to realize that a set of footsteps was following my own. I paused as I unlocked my door, turning to see Kate shifting nervously behind me. "What's up?"

Kate took a moment to answer. "Do you mind if I come in for a little bit? I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Uh. Sure." I shrugged and opened the door, dumping my bag, textbook, and flash cards on my desk. Kate paused at the entrance, looking around my little dorm room.

I guess it was kind of a sight for someone who hadn't seen it before. My walls were covered with classic art prints and old movie posters, with a few more posters rolled up in a corner after I'd run out of wall space. A little tree sculpture sat on my dresser, holding my jewelry, to which I added my crescent moon necklace. A small easel on my desk held a half-finished charcoal drawing of a city street, and artist's models lined shelves wherever they could fit around books and DVD cases. My laptop sat on my bed, somewhat neglected since I'd gotten a big, powerful desktop computer and drawing tablet for my birthday, and a love seat with a low paint-spattered coffee table sat across from a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. My room had a lot going on, decoration wise, which was how I like it. But given how tidy and subdued Kate's room was, I'm guessing she found it a bit overwhelming.

To my embarrassment, posters and art weren't the only things on display. I did my best to casually scoop up dirty clothes from the floor and toss them properly in my hamper. "Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting company."

Kate broke out one of her big, warm, sunshine-and-happiness smiles as she stepped inside. "I don't mind; you should see Max's room. I like your posters." She held a hand over her mouth and stifled a giggle as she tapped one in particular. "No wonder you knew so much about this movie."

I glanced over. Girl With a Pearl Earring. Of course. "It's a good movie. I stand by my statement, though. Fuck the Dutch."

Kate giggled again, not bothering to stifle this one. I waved for her to take a seat at my desk, while I plopped down on the bed. "So, what's up?" I asked. "You've always been quiet, but I've never known you to act coy."

She shuffled a little bit in her seat, her fingers fiddling with the gold cross around her neck. Finally, she summoned up the courage to ask, "Was that true? What Victoria said about you helping her get together with Max?"

I tilted my head, a little puzzled. "Uh, kinda? I mean, she was totally into Max before I started talking about it, and I wasn't the one who wanted to stick a sleeping girl in her bed. Vic bullshitted some of the details. But yeah, I guess I was her wingman. Sort of."

"I see." Kate nodded, looking thoughtful, then dipped her head a little more, speaking quietly. "Do you... do you think you could help me like that?"

It took me a moment to really register the request. Kate Marsh was asking me to wingman for her. Kate Marsh. Asking me. To be her wingman.

The opportunity for disaster was immense. But so was the opportunity for truly epic levels of hilarity.

I grabbed my laptop and opened it up. "I can probably help you out, sure. Who's the lucky guy to catch the attention of the pure-hearted Kate Marsh? You're not trying to hop on Warren, are you? That boy's got issues, and he's like a baby. Maybe Daniel? He seems kinda your speed, and I'm pretty sure I've seen him looking at you in art class—"

"Um." Kate hesitated a moment. "I'm... not interested in any boys. Not right now. Maybe not ever."

I looked up, eyebrows raised. "Huh, well shit, speaking of coming out; good for you. I can't blame you, the guys around here are kinda awful." A thought occurred to me, and my face split into a shit-eating grin. I started opening tabs one after another. "Did you want to hop on the Chase-Caulfield bandwagon? Max would probably be cool with it, but Victoria's a possessive bitch, so that'll take more work; maybe we can appeal to the dumb harem anime that she thinks I don't know she likes. I thought something like this could happen, so—" I spun my computer around to show her the opened tabs, and finally caught sight of Kate's slightly horrified face.

"No! No! Oh God, no!" Kate was shaking her head so hard that her bun was coming loose, blushing to the tips of her ears. "Nothing like tha— ...Why do you have that many bookmarks about...?"

My open tabs revealed a truly exhaustive collection of sites discussing polyamory, threesomes, relationship advice, and more. On the side of my screen, many, many more bookmarks were obvious, all thrown into subfolders under the general header, "Lesbian Shit".

"Oh, that? Vic's big gay crush was so fucking obvious, like, as soon as they met. So I took it upon myself to do some research for her, to help her figure shit out. I grabbed the polyamory stuff in case Max was already together when someone by the time Vic was ready to do something about the whole mess. My search history is a little fucked at this point, but that's just the sacrifice you make for friends, right?"

Kate's expression was somewhere between awe, horror, and sheer soul-shattering embarrassment. "How many sites did you save?"

"Uh." I blinked, and started skimming the piles of bookmarks. I never had done a proper count. "I dunno. A couple hundred?"

"How did you even find...?" Kate shook her head again, cutting off that thought. "No, that's not important. I'm not trying to butt in on Max and Victoria, Taylor. What they have is sweet and healthy and wonderful. It just made me wish I had something like that. Then Courtney asked that stupid question..."

"She does have a big mouth," I answered with a nod. I set the computer to the side; its services wouldn't be necessary right now. "I thought you might have an answer you were hiding, though." I grinned again, leaning in toward her. "So dish. Who's the lucky gal tempting your sweet, innocent heart toward sin?"

Kate withdrew into herself again, the fingering of her cross going into overdrive (Displaced energy from wanting to finger something else? Bad Taylor, that's the kind of joke one of Dana's dumb jock friends would make). "I... wouldn't put it quite like that... But there is a girl... She's sweet, and caring, and funny and outgoing and really really pretty, but I don't know if she'd ever be interested in someone like me..."

I leaned in further. "A name, girl! A name!"

Kate whispered something.

"Huh?"

She whispered again, no louder or clearer than before. Fuck, if I leaned forward any more, I was risking falling off the bed.

"Speak up, I can't hear you."

Kate gulped, and spat out, "It's Dana."

I fell off the bed, making Kate jump and squeak in surprise. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I said as I picked myself up. I took a moment to think as I settled down, doing my best to calm the coiling feeling in my gut. "Dana, huh? I hate to tell you this, hon, but Dana is, like, way into the guys. Way into them." It was totally ungenerous to say Dana was a slut, but the rumor mill is the rumor mill, and the fact was, Dana was a woman in charge of her own sexuality. Her own thoroughly straight sexuality. "Besides, she's going out with Trevor right now."

"Um, not exactly." Kate apparently noticed how hard she was tugging on her necklace, and folded her hands in her lap, her thumbs twiddling. "We've talked a little about it, and Dana said that she... might be bisexual? She wasn't sure, but she said she'd be willing to give being with a girl a shot, if she were single. And, well..." Her head ducked a little. "She and Trevor broke up yesterday. I guess things just weren't working out with them."

I nodded, doing my best to think through the complete inversion of my worldview. "So, while Dana is feeling reboundy, grumpy about boys, and a little experimental, you thought you'd slip in and steal her away before the news got out and she became the most eligible bachelorette in Blackwell." I grinned to hide my unease, as Dana is single; Dana is into girls kept knocking around back and forth in my head. "Sneaky, sneaky little Kate. Courtney was right, you aren't as innocent as people think you are."

Ah, Kate was blushing again. That part was fun, at least. "I just... If there's a chance that she might be interested, I didn't want to let it pass me by." Kate looked up at me, and behind the embarrassment, there was a surprising determination in her eyes. I never would've figured Kate as someone with some iron to her, but looks can be deceiving. "Dana is just so... so wonderful. I really, truly adore her. I value her friendship, and the time I spend with her. But I can't just let my feelings sit there. I don't want to be the kind of girl who lets an opportunity for happiness pass her by. I want to be with Dana. And I want you to help me."

I leaned back, eyebrows high. "Damn, girl, you been practicing that speech?"

"...Maybe a little."

I smirked at that, before settling back to think. Fact: Dana and Kate were close, so there's no friction to overcome. Fact: Dana was now single, and the poon-hounds of Blackwell would be chasing after her soon. Fact: The fucked-up rumors about Dana would only encourage the poon-hounds, and the poon-hounds would encourage the rumors in a vicious cycle. Fact: Dana and Kate were the closest things to angels to walk this blighted earth, so they would be, literally, a match made in heaven. Fact: I stilled owed Kate a big favor for treating her like shit earlier in the semester. Fact: If Dana was bi-curious, then no one was safer for her to experiment with than Kate Marsh.

Fact: I still had a big, sloppy gay crush on Dana. But, fact: So did everyone else. And, fact: there was no way in hell that I would be a better match for her than Kate. Like calls to like, and if Dana and Kate were angels, then I was a demon trying to get upskirt shots from Hell.

But maybe a demon could redeem herself by bringing happiness to the angels.

...Fuck, I was going too deep down the metaphor rabbit hole. Time to get back to reality.

I took a deep breath, forcing my uneasy heart to shut the fuck up and let me make the grown up decision. I opened my eyes, to see Kate watching me with a big, watery puppy-dog expression. Fucking unfair. "I'll help you. I can't guarantee anything will come of it, but I'll do my best—oomph."

Kate practically tackled me, locking me into a tight hug. Fuck, for such a tiny girl, she had the gripping power of a bear. "Thank you so much, Taylor! You have no idea how much this means to me! God bless you for your kindness!"

Dammit, from anyone else, that last line would've sounded sarcastic. But this was Kate, so it was infused with nothing but pure sincerity. I reached up and awkwardly hugged her. "No problem, Kate. What are friends for?"

'Friends'. From the girl who had been tormenting her two months before. Life is fucking weird.

Kate said her good-byes, after promising to let me know when we could meet up for a strategy meeting. I flopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

So, to recap: My sweetest friend, who I'd been treating like shit for no reason not too long ago, just asked me to set her up with the girl of my dreams, informing me in the same conversation that this girl was a) single and b) not straight.

And, like a dipshit, I agreed.

Fuck me.