Page 163 of Vying Girls

‘Heeeey.’Her arms close around me from behind. ‘Tell Elly-Belly.’

‘You’ll hate me.’

She tuts. ‘Impossible.’

‘Okay, but you’ll be really bloody mad with me.’

‘I’ll be really bloody mad with you if you don’t hurry up and tell me.’ She turns me around and combs hair out my face. ‘Hm? Babe, you’re literally soaking. Let’s go get dry. Then you tell me whatever this big bad thing is.’

I let her pull me upstairs and into her room where she fetches me a towel, removes my clothes and dries me off. Then she does one of my favourite things ever and dresses me in her comfy, way-too-oversized pyjamas.

‘There. Cosy?’

I nod, closing my eyes as I bury my face into her fleecy top. It’s practically summer now but you’d never know it on Hazelhurst.

‘Good.’ She kisses my forehead, her warm breath making me tingle. ‘So, what’s up?’

‘I lied about something,’ I say quietly, leaning into her. ‘The other night I got a call from Skylar. You know that night Nic went to the Vaults? Well, she took shit, and her heart didn’t like it. Not a heart attack or anything, but she thought that’s what it was. But she was freaking out anyway and made Skylar ring me and go meet them.’

‘You went out?’

‘Yeah,’ I mumble into her chest. ‘On my own in the middle of the night. I brought a knife, but…pretty stupid. Anyway, we ended up being airlifted to hospital for tests. Obviously Nic was fine in the end, and we managed to get the ferry back before you guys knew we were gone.’

‘What—and this all happened just the other night?’ She looks into my face with a frown.

‘Yeah. She didn’t want to tell you because she thought you’d be mad, and she didn’t want me to tell Coach because of Varsity. I promised I wouldn’t say anything.’ I slump into Elly, soaking up her comfort. ‘But Haz found out, told Coach who kicked her off the teamagain,and obviously Nic thinks it was me.’

Elly’s quiet for a moment. It’s a lot to digest. ‘And where’s Nic now?’

‘Dunno. Legged it. Haz has gone to find her. Think she feels responsible.’

‘Maybe because she fucking is?’

I hum, keeping my eyes closed.

‘I’m so tired of fighting her,’ I whisper. ‘She just feels so far away from me. Like I’ll never get her back.’

‘I have hope. She’s seemed different lately. With you. And like, haven’t you two kissed?’

‘Bit more than that.’

‘Oh, really?’ Elly leans away, an uncertain smile on her face. ‘That’s kind of mega.’

I nod slowly. ‘Is that okay?’

She raises her eyebrows. ‘Yeah. I mean…yeah. Isn’t that good?’

‘Dunno. Is it?’

She lets out a laugh. ‘Well, I’m confused now. It’s all good with me anyway. I’d rather her fucking you than fighting you.’

‘Oh my god, me too.’ I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her hard. ‘I amsooooooodone with the fighting.’

She chuckles, pressing a few kisses to my head. ‘It’ll all be okay. I’ve got a vibe about all this.’

‘Yeah. Elly’s got a vibe?’

She nods firmly. ‘Just give it time. Might have to invest in a bigger bed though. Can’t all fit into mine.’