Apparently, Zoë knew a crap ton about Nyx Atwood. The girl could practically write Nyx's autobiography.
She knew Nyx's entire history with Declan from A to Z with details in almost perfect bullet points. She knew all about Nyx's family, her daily schedule, and every situation that ever occurred involving her.
Selene gasped as she stared up at her best friend once she had finished. "That's... a lot."
Zoë shrugged. "I don't think it's that much."
In that hour Selene had learned that Nyx was bi, and exactly how she and Declan had first started dating. Zoë had started talking about how they lost her virginities to each other but Selene cut her off. Nyx was a fencer who spent almost everyday fencing and yelling 'en garde' or whatever the hell fencers did during practice. She had won a few competitions so according to Zoë , jumping her was already out of the question. Nyx was riding high on a scholarship to University of Alberta that she had gotten back in November so according to Zoë she walked around thinking she was top shit and apparently everytime Nyx had seen Zoë she had asked her if she had gotten her acceptance to Ryerson to which Zoë had begrudgingly always responded 'no' and Nyx had always given her a fake pity look with a 'I'm sure you'll hear something soon' and proceed to talk about her scholarship to UofA.
Selene decided, half asleep, that Nyx was simply a bitch. And it made her even more repulsed by Declan. How could he have dated someone so arrogant and then date Zoë and then Selene but still--according to Verona--be unable to let her go?
She had been ignoring Declan since the party the week before. And she knew that he knew. She kept their snapchat streak alive but refused to respond to any of his messages and all his calls got sent to voicemail. Though she didn't particularly like his presence, she grew bored without it. She had slipped into a routine that consisted of Declan's mere existence and now that routine had been broken.
At school, she sat next to Verona, with earbuds in, ignoring Declan's mere existence.
Carlos had even messaged her--she had no idea how he had gotten her number--to ask if they had broken up.
Selene had only responded with an 'idk. Ask him since he obviously wants to be with other people'.
Carlos had sent back a grimace emoji in response.
It had been a whole week when Declan called her. She sent it to voicemail, after all, she was still supposed to be mad at him and it was Saturday so Zoë was over and Selene was becoming increasingly hesitant to have Zoë listen in to her conversations with Declan.
Declan called twice more before Zoë reached for Selene's phone and answered for her, turning it on speaker phone.
Selene was so shocked all she could do was stare at Zoë . What the absolute fuck?
"Selene," he said. "Sel?"
"Yeah?" she asked, then shook her head. "What do you want?"
"Come outside."
"You're at my house?" she exclaimed running to her window.
Declan, who was looking up at her window, smiled in the darkness before turning on a boombox.
"What the fuck?" she asked softly.
Zoë quickly hung up. "What did he do?" she asked.
Selene shut the curtains in case Declan caught a glimpse of the girl's pink hair. "He has a fucking boombox. I think he's trying to apologize."
"Well, go," she said.
"What if he tries to come in? You're here. "
"I'll hide in the closet."
Selene gasped. "Your car!"
Zoë had a distinct car. Pastel pink vintage Corvette.
"I took the bus," she reminded Selene. "Now go!"
Selene nodded before grabbing a sweater and sprinted down the stairs as she zipped it up over her pyjamas.
She took a deep breath and readied her mask then threw open her front door.
From the boombox, a slow love song from the early 2000s was playing.
Declan grinned at her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe. "You're lucky my parents aren't back from date night yet."
"Sucks," he said. "I would have loved to meet your mom."
Selene's heart was in a vice-like grip and she took a shaky breath. "Why are you here Declan?"
"I came to apologize," he started. "You haven't talked to me since I dropped you off after the party last week."
"Well, I figured you had your hands busy with Nyx and Zoë ."
"It's not like that with Nyx," he said.
"And what is it like?"
He sighed.
"I don't like looking stupid, Declan--"
"You didn't look stupid."
"Oh, really? Your ex comes in, sits on your fucking lap and looks at me like I'm fucking dirt and then you, my boyfriend, call me your other ex's name."
Declan paused, his mouth open. "Well it sounds bad when you put it like that. I'm sorry. I talked to Nyx and I told her that we need some boundaries, I'm with you now and she needs to understand that."
"Do you understand that?"
"Selene, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be in this relationship with you, I promise you that much."
"And nothing is going on with you and Nyx?"
"Nothing is going on with Nyx. Nothing has been for like a year."
She nodded towards the boombox he was still holding over his head. "Where'd you get that?"
He let out a sigh of relief as he realized she was warming up to him, though she never verbally said she accepted his apology. "You said you liked eighties movies so I figured this might work in my favour. I had to search my attic for a full hour, only to find out my sister was using it as decoration in her room. She said the theme was 'vintage'."
Selene snorted. "How old is she?"
"Seven," he responded, lowering his arms and turning off the boombox. "Can I come in?"
She glanced back into her house. Zoë was upstairs, hiding in her closet. "My parents will be home soon," she said.
"Five minutes tops," he said. "I haven't talked to you in a week. I missed you."
Selene had to give it to him, he was a smooth talker. With a sigh, she pushed the door open and ushered him in.
"Just five minutes," she repeated.
Declan glanced around with a gaping mouth. "I thought your house was big from the outside but holy shit, this is huge."
Selene waved him off as she headed to the second floor.
The first floor had too many childhood photos and she sure as hell didn't want to deal with the embarrassment just for the endgame of breaking his heart.
"Awe," Declan said behind her. "You were a chubby baby."
Selene froze. "Chubby is just a nice word for fat," she recited and turned to him.
He was staring at a picture frame that held a photo of her as a child. Her eyes closed and her head laid against a cloud pillow. He turned to her, his smile fading.
"I didn't mean to offend. And there's nothing wrong with being 'fat'. It's cute that you were chubby as a baby."
Selene took a deep breath and continued up the stairs.
Declan jogged after her. "Your dad is superintendent right?" he asked after they had reached the top of the steps. She tried to lead him to the little alcove near the stairs that had chairs they could lounge on but, he saw her open bedroom door and began walking towards that.
"Yeah, so if he sees you with his daughter you'll mysteriously get expelled."
He laid back on her bed as if it was his own, pulling her down on top of him. "I think she's worth it," he said.
She laughed. "You think you're slick."
He shrugged as his lips brushed hers.
Her heart jumped to her throat. Did she want him to kiss her?
Declan pressed their lips together slowly, his hands gripping her as if she might dissipate right in front of him.
Declan liked kissing, she discovered. He kissed her every chance he possibly had. It was probably his favourite pastime, he could probably do it forever if breathing wasn't a complication.
He quickly flipped them over, pressing his body against hers.
She gasped. Was Declan hard? For her?
He used the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth and his hand under her sweater. Selene quickly remembered she wasn't wearing a bra and based on his body pressed against hers, Declan had noticed.
Every place he touched blazed like a wildfire. Was it hot in here? She kissed him back with fervour, pulling him closer but it still didn't feel like enough.
Something in her closet fell.
Selene ran her fingers through his hair--her closet; Zoë .
She pushed Declan away, her chest heaving. Her hand laid on the middle of his chest, it expanded with every laboured exhale and her hand moved with it, his heart pounding against her palm.
She quickly dropped her hand. "Your five minutes are up," she said.
He chuckled. "You're going to be the death of me," he said softly.
"I'll walk you out."
He stared up at the ceiling, his cheeks tinting the slightest pink. "Give me a minute?"
She nodded as a blush spread over her cheeks.
After a minute or two, Declan stood and Selene walked him downstairs.
He pressed his lips to her forehead before exiting. "I'll text you when I get home."
Selene nodded and shut the door.
"You little whore."
Selene jumped and turned to face Zoë.
"If I wanted to see a porno, I'd find one on incognito tab. Not from inside of a closet," she said from the top of the staircase.
"Sorry," she said quickly, heading back upstairs.
She didn't even consider how much it would have hurt Zoë, after all, she and Declan had been dating little over a month ago and this whole plan was because Declan had broken her heart. Selene knew first hand that it took much longer than six weeks to get over heartbreak.
"Did I just witness you kissing Declan back?" she asked. "And giving him a boner?"
"It's all part of the plan. He thinks I'm his girlfriend."
"I honestly didn't know you had that in you. I thought you were so virginal. And you're not even brushing your teeth!"
Selene flopped face first onto the bed. "I really, really don't want to talk about it Zoë ."
"Fine," Zoë responded. "What do you want to watch?"
Frankly, she wanted to put on some classical music station, lay on her floor and stare at her ceiling. The constant scent of lavender attached to Zoë threatened to suffocate her, squeezing her chest and bringing tears to her eyes. Zoë 's prodding had made her uncomfortable in her own skin. Every place Declan had made blaze on her now felt like skin she had to rid. She suddenly wanted a shower. Instead, she turned over, "Bring It On?" she suggested.