Dear Ex-Girlfriend (Lesbian, Girlxg... - Chapter 13: Chapter 13

The backyard was silent as a tomb when Ester came back. She had a tray on her hands with a pitcher of lemonade, plus the glass of water I've requested.
Upon placing it on the table, she wiped her hands on her jeans, cocked a trimmed brow, and said, "Did I miss anything?" Ester was good at catching simple cues. Or maybe Spencer's silence was too obvious. He was usually coming up with devious schemes.
Genesis reached for the paper bag without answering, and unfolded it so she could peek inside. I was about to lean closer to her when Spencer stopped me with a touch of a hand. "Uh-uh. Not you."
"What's going on?" Ester repeated as she returned to her seat.
Genesis had parted the bag and was now looking inside. She reached for the content and retrieved a piece of paper. The said paper was unfolded.
Every second that passed brought me closer to knowing how the cat felt before it died from curiosity. Its paws were probably sweaty. Its whiskers more sensitive. Its nose wouldn't be as itchy as mine, but maybe it had other dilemmas.
Genesis folded the paper and let it fall in the bag. Her lips were set as she turned to Spencer. "When should I complete them?"
I shifted at the edge of my seat. "Complete what?"
Spencer placed his hands on the table and entwined his fingers. "By this evening, or you forfeit."
"Great," I said. "I've become totally invisible."
Genesis' chair was pushed back when she stood. She wasn't even going to talk to me or Ester. She was just looking at Spencer. "I'll give the soap box to you before then."
"I'm not expecting any less than that," Spencer affirmed.
The snippets of their conversation made me realize something. Enough to make me gape at both of them. "This is a joke, right?" I kicked the leg of Ester's chair to gain her support. "Tell them how stupid this is."
Her expression didn't change as she reached for the pitcher of lemonade and poured herself a glass. She wasn't going to intervene. That only proved where she stood in this issue. Ester was mad at Genesis too.
"Spencer," I said. "Genesis?"
Their minds were set. I could see it in their faces. They'd go through with it, with or without my consent.
I folded my arms. "If that's the case, then I'm going with Gene."
Spencer had been leaning on his seat and almost toppled backward. He caught himself by swinging his legs forward. "Stay here, Des. Genesis needs to do this alone."
Why? So she'd feel left out by her friends? What's wrong with people? Why couldn't we just forgive each other and move on? Why did we have to make things complicated? And they said I was a weirdo for liking puppets.
Genesis made a small gasp when I hooked a finger on her waistband and tugged her to me. She wasn't going anywhere anymore. I was tired of seeing her go.
The school was usually closed on weekends, so it came as a surprise when we started heading to its direction after the twins let us go. So surprising in fact, that I had to ask questions.
"How many dares are there on Spencer's list?"
"It doesn't matter," Gene said.
"Are they hard?"
"Not at all."
"Do you think it will get us in trouble?"
"Depends on what you mean by that."
Simple answers for simple questions. She was back to ignoring me.
I exhaled and tucked a thumb in my pocket. Genesis was a light switch. One minute she was bright and sunny. The next, she was closed off. But I wasn't giving up just yet. Like I told Ester before, nothing would be created in this world if people did that. Nothing beautiful.
"Where's Dindo? Isn't he supposed to be following you around?" I motioned with my hand to indicate how tall he was. "Tall, dark, and bald. Where did the handsome go?"
A ghost of a smile hinted on Genesis' lips. I thought it would progress to something more because of my lame attempt at a joke, but it was gone when I blinked. "He's back at the mansion."
"Oh. . . I guess the governor had other things for him to do."
She tilted her head to the afternoon sunshine. At that angle, I could almost see the real color of her eyes. See the real her.
"Dindo didn't have other things to do," she murmured after a while. "I ditched him."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. . ." She looked at me once. "To see you."
If there was something in-between open and closed, she was that kind of light switch. I might not understand it, but Genesis had an uncanny way of making my heart flicker.
One of the good things about Bear Creek was how every walk was enjoyable. Some places were minutes, even hours to reach when doing so, but because of little pollution, a lot of people sometimes leave their cars behind.
My head was clearer thanks to the clean air when we got to school. Handling the guard was easy too. All Genesis had to say was she left something important in her locker that Mr. Morgan wanted, and poof, we got in.
Our shoes squeaked as we went through the hallway. The janitor must have cleaned earlier because it smelled citrusy, and the floor was extra shiny. I didn't know exactly where we were headed until we stopped right outside the boy's locker room. Not good.
I yanked Genesis' belt when she reached for the knob. "Slow down, Winona. What are you doing?"
Her grip was firm as she removed my hand. "Spencer was very specific."
"Yeah, but. . . The boy's locker room? We'll get suspended for this."
"Not if we keep it a secret."
I looked behind me. "What if someone sees?"
"It's a risk we have to take." There was no arguing with her as she opened the door and swung it forward. She entered a second after.
Girls were strictly forbidden to go inside the boy's locker room. Aside from that, no one wanted to venture to the dark side, and I could see why. The lingering scent of body spray burned my nose the moment I followed her. It was too concentrated to fan out.
I tried to breathe through my mouth, but it only got worse. The taste was all over my tongue now. It made me gag.
"You can step out," Gene said. "This will only take a minute." The paper that Spencer gave was on her hand again. She glanced at it, then stared at the lockers like she was searching for something.
"I didn't come here to watch. Tell me what you're looking for, so I can help you."
"Never mind. I found it." She slipped the paper in her back pocket and went to a locker door. The number was twenty-three. Who did it belong to?
The answer came to me when she'd opened the lock. Spencer must have written the combination down. "What are you going to do with Kyle's things?" I asked.
Genesis remained mum as she took a blue packet from Spencer's paper bag and ripped it open. She then unhooked Kyle's jersey from the locker, and poured something onto it.
I stumbled to get to her side. My knees were weak when I fished the paper from her back pocket to check the rest of the first dare.
Put itch powder on Kyle's jersey, Spencer wrote. Afterwards, attach the other paper I've included to let him know that I'm the mastermind. This is payback for what he's done to Destiny. He's not my bro anymore.
Genesis was slamming the door behind her when I crumpled the dare. She didn't look remorseful or scared. "That was fun," she said.
"You think?" I followed her to the exit.
"Don't look so guilty. It's not like Kyle is innocent. Besides, sometimes you have to do awful things to protect yourself."
"Is that the reason why you changed?" I didn't know what came over me. The question hang over us like a rope around a neck waiting to be pulled. It was suicide.
Genesis, for her part, went completely still. Her back was frozen solid. Her fingers curled like tree branches. It took a second before she relaxed. "No, Destiny. That's not the reason." She continued to the exit. "Look at the mirror and ask yourself again."
I've been thinking about what she said while we continued to the street. It didn't make sense to me. What did she mean by that?
Genesis' posture told me that I couldn't ask her more questions until later. She was so guarded and closed-off. She wanted to be left alone.
I hummed the songs we used to sing when we were younger to pass the time. Songs from Destiny's Child, U2, Radiohead, and Yellowcard. Those were the shit. Genesis didn't hum with me, but every now and then her lips would move like she was singing the lyrics. I wish she could sing them out loud instead of keeping it bottled inside.
We entered another street, then a couple more, until we were taking a familiar route. My suspicions were correct when we ended outside Mac's house. Stink-o Mac, as the kids in the neighborhood called him. After all these years, his yard was still unkempt.
Genesis continued to the side of the house. Her sneakers crunched on the gravel, then muffled by the grass. I trudged right behind her.
"The front door's that way," I said.
"Yup."
The grass became higher the more we walked. This was probably the nearest I've ever been to Mac's house. The last time we went here, Spencer nearly peed on his jeans after hearing the cock of the shotgun. Not a happy memory.
Genesis might not be thinking about that when she came to the window. Why else would she rub the mold covering it and peek inside? "It looks clear," she murmured. Her fingers went to the lower sash and slid it upward. And just like that, the window was open. "I'm going inside. Wait here."
"Are you crazy?!" I squeaked.
"Nope."
Her torso was halfway in when I had the sense to grab her waist. She'd shock me into going still. "This is breaking and entering," I said.
"I didn't break anything," she reasoned. "Let go of me, Des."
"No way. You're going to get in trouble."
"I already am."
Her jeans were slipping. Curse my sweaty palms. "Why are you so desperate to continue?" I asked. "This isn't you."
"Things are not that simple," she said. "I want to make things right."
My fingers relaxed. Did she mean that?
Before I could ask her the same thing, Genesis had taken the opportunity to slid inside the window. She landed on the other side without a sound and stood to face whatever was waiting for her. "Stay there," her ghostly voice said.
Stay here, my foot. I wasn't going to leave her alone.
The house was darker than what it appeared from outside. I stood beside the window after coming in, letting my eyes adjust. Only then did the furniture's start to make sense; The beaten-up couch. The broken lamp. The pile of dirty clothes everywhere. And my God, the stench! It was ten times worse than the locker room.
"I told you not to follow me," Genesis whispered against my ear.
She stepped back when I swiveled to her, but my heart was already racing. "W-what are we doing here?" I stammered.
"Spencer wanted me to leave this." She showed me a piece of soap. It was small and circular, kind of what they give you at the hotel for free. Dad has taken me once when I was really small just for the experience.
"You could have told Spencer that you did it. He wouldn't know."
The floorboards creaked when Genesis walked. Every sound made me feel like a heart attack was coming. "He'll find out," she murmured. "According to his note, he's been sending Mac a soap every month for the past two years. He's numbered it accordingly and wants me to retrieve the last one for proof. It also has his signature."
The heck was Spencer doing on his spare time?
"Okay," I said. "We find that soap, we leave the other one here, then we get out." I glanced at the mess of a living room. "Where should we start?"
Genesis and I turned to the couch at the same time. Two roaches were courting each other there. I think.
"You take that side. I take this." She nudged her chin to the dirty pile of clothes. "We expand the search when we need to."
"Sure, but let's hurry."
It was hard not to be freaked out as I searched my designated area. There were roaches everywhere. Aside from that, flies buzzed on my ears from time to time, so I had to shoo them away while turning things over.
How could anyone live this way? Maybe Spencer was trying to help Mac in his own terms by giving the soap as a reminder. It could also be that he was just being an ass. He has his moments.
"Destiny!"
The alarm on Genesis' voice made me look. Made me listen too. Heavy footsteps were coming down the hall.
My eyes rounded at her. "What should we do?!" I mouthed.
Genesis searched around. There was only one door. Mac would find us before we escaped through the window.
"Cupboard," she mouthed.
I watched her finger point to the rectangular-shaped storage. How would that fit both of us?
Genesis seized my hand before I could think things through and ushered me to it. The breath I didn't know I was holding was exhaled when the cupboard was opened. With everything thrown around like a dump site, of course the storage would have no use.
It was a tight squeeze. She let me in first before following inside. Aside from having next to zero room, Genesis had to wrap her legs around me and pushed our fronts together. She was just closing the slatted door when Mac came in the living room.
"I know I heard something in here," he wondered aloud. His voice was rough. His breathing heavy.
Through the slats, I could see him turning every which way, searching for us. I gasped when I noticed the shotgun on his hands.
Mac pointed it to the couch. "What's that?!"
Genesis covered my mouth.
"I know you're there! Show yourself!"
I snuggled closer to Genesis, sweat pouring out from my pores. If he finds us, he would kill us. No doubt about it.
Mac aimed the barrel right where we were hiding. "Aha! There you are!" He ran straight to us, a smile on his pudgy face. "There's no getting away now!" He turned at the last second. "Come back here, you little old rat!"
My lungs felt like it would collapse when he left the room. Did that really just happen? Was I even alive?
"I think we should stay a few more minutes just to be sure," Genesis whispered. She was panting hard too. I could feel every rise and fall of her chest because she was pressed to me.
"Can you squirm a little further back?" I said.
"Why? You're uncomfortable?"
"No, uhm. . ." I looked at the slats on the door. Why did these things keep on happening to me?
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Promise not to laugh."
"Okay. What's the problem?"
My face has completely warmed when I looked at her again. Maybe I should be happy that she was concerned, but I was more anxious about me. "My bra snapped open, I think. It's been giving me a hard time before we left the house."
She snorted. "That's what you're so troubled about? Not Mac coming back?"
"Can you just move away? It goes up with each breath you take."
"How is that a problem?" she said.
"It tickles, okay? Can't you just move?"
Genesis stared at me for a long time before she nodded. "Okay, just a second."
I thought she was going to give me room to fix myself. But instead, her fingers went to her eyes to remove her contact lenses.
"There." She blinked at me. "All gone."
For her finishing move, she snaked her arms around me and lifted the back of my shirt. It caused what's underneath to raise a little too, and for a moment, I felt completely naked in front of her.
Genesis met my eyes in the dark. They were the beautiful colors I've loved again. "Never let another person this close to you again, Destiny. Okay?"
The vein on my throat throbbed as I nodded. "Okay," I said.
She traced a finger on my spine. "Just me. Only me."
"Only you. . ."