Page 8 of Try Hard

“But it is something,” she said, lighting up. I could only imagine how much she must love getting gossip out of her clients while they were on the tattoo table and feeling talkative. Sure, some people went quiet while they got tattooed, but I could imagine how much she must love the chatty ones.

I shook my head noncommittally. “I’m just… expecting a text.”

That felt too loaded. I’d tried to find a casual word but they’d all escaped me. I was hoping for a text, dreaming of one, desperately praying to gods I didn’t believe in for a message, but that was all far too desperate to own up to.

“Who’s the text from?” she asked eagerly, clambering awkwardly over the footboard to sit cross legged on the bed.

“Ha, well. That’s the funny part. Do you remember Ophelia Pendrick from school?”

She stared at me like she couldn’t believe me, waiting a moment too long before she answered. “Oh, yeah, Fia, my peer mentor, the only person who believed in me in that place?”

“Hey! I believed in you!”

“I know that. You get what I’m saying.” She shook her head. “Yes, I remember Fia.”

Fia. It was odd. Soph must have referred to her like that over the years but I’d always just thought of her as Ophelia. Perhaps because I hadn’t had the pleasure of knowing her like Soph had? She’d never told me to call her Fia, so I wasn’t… what? Allowed? In with her?

In fairness, she still hadn’t told me to call her that. Her dad had, though, and she’d been right there, so I was counting it as a win. Even if I couldn’t quite suppress the stab of jealousy at Soph having been on the inside with her decades before I had.

I shook it off.

“Great,” I said, aiming for neutral, as if I hadn’t been fully aware that she remembered Fia and believed her to be a huge force behind her career. I was being so weird today. “Well, she happened to be there this morning.”

Soph let out an unexpected laugh, quick and sharp. “ Fia was plane spotting.”

“Mm, yeah.”

“ Fia Pendrick? Are you sure?”

“No, Soph. I hallucinated a whole woman and just based her off someone we used to go to school with. Yes, I’m sure.”

She let out a whistle. “Definitely didn’t have her pegged as one of Dad’s weird plane buddies.”

“They’re not weird,” I protested, more concerned with defending Fia than the rest of them.

“They willingly choose to get up early on a Saturday. That’s weird.”

I relaxed. “Lots of people do that.”

“Yeah, and they’re all weird.”

“You just think anyone who isn’t you is weird.”

She laughed. “I don’t generally think Fia is weird.”

Something tensed in my stomach. “Do you… see her?”

“No.” She shook her head, monitoring me more closely than I wanted her to. “Not at all. I didn’t even think she still lived here, which is why I’m surprised she’s part of that group.”

“Oh. She’s not. Generally. She was just there today, like I was. She’s… visiting.”

“Oh.” Soph relaxed, adjusting her position to lie down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, that makes more sense. She was always too cool for group events.”

The corners of my mouth turned up involuntarily. I’d long had that read on her too. However, after speaking to her today, I wondered whether Fia had any idea that she came off that cool?

“People change, you know?” I pointed out, unsure why. “She could be a totally different person now.”

Soph scoffed. “Please, people who are that awesome as teenagers don’t lose that spark later in life. She wasn’t cool like peaked in high school .”

I laughed at her fake American accent, but I agreed. Fia had always been too cool for school, one of those people who belonged in the big, wide world and weren’t constrained by high school dynamics.

Soph propped herself up on one elbow. “Wait. So, that’s who you’re waiting for a message from? Fia Pendrick?”

My heart clenched. “Yeah. Yep.”

“For fuck’s sake,” she barked, flopping back down. “You always have the best luck.”

I stared down at her, confused about what was going on. “Sorry?”

“Can you give me her number? Give her my number?”

“Why would I—”

“Are you going to see her again soon? I’m coming with you!”

My head was spinning with the sudden change in energy. “Soph, what… is even happening right now?”

She laughed and sat back up. “Fia fucking Pendrick.”

“I don’t think that’s her full name.” I fought a smile at her earlier comment about her middle name. She’d said it like I was going to find out what it was at some point. I couldn’t wait.

It definitely wasn’t fucking, though.

Soph pushed me with enough force it was clear she was trying to knock me backwards, but I’d had years of physical training and, while she had a high tolerance for needles decorating her skin, she was not about physical training.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve masturbated over her? Fuck me.”

I blinked, my lips pressing into a thin line. “Say again?”

It wasn’t like Soph and I didn’t talk about sex. We’d grown up in a family where those things were openly discussed. Plus, we’d both come out as queer as teenagers, and we’d always been close. Still…

“Oh, come on,” she said forcefully. “You have to have known how gorgeous she was. You weren’t that busy with sports. And you were the lucky one, getting classes with her and stuff.”

“You had a crush on your peer mentor,” I said slowly.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like it was that weird. And it’s not even like I was that secretive about it.”

“You never said.”

“Sure, not outright, but I talked about her all the time.”

That was true. I hadn’t wanted to see it, though, that my sister and I had a crush on the same girl.

Sure, she’d talked about Fia a lot, but she hadn’t known much about Fia.

Bits and pieces, but it was all about how Fia supported her, praised her, made her feel…

Maybe I should have seen it. Being a queer teenager and having a pretty girl build you up…

I deflated. I really should have seen it.

“Is she still hot?” Soph asked demandingly. “Who am I kidding? Of course she is. I wonder how close my mental image of her is to reality. Does she have tats? Does she want some? I’d do her for free.”

I fought the full body wince that quivered in every one of my cells.

My sister and I had a crush on the same girl. She still thought about her. Still… masturbated over her, maybe. I didn’t want to think about that.

Fuck me . I really was in trouble.