Lovers

Ch. 38: Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon- Ariana Grande

"This is for everybody. Babe, you gotta take care of your body, yuh yuh, ain't no time to deny it, that is why we talking about it. Yeah, we talking about it, so deal with it, don't try to get by it. Ain't no time to deny it, so we had to sit down and just write it."

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We stay at the coffee shop for what feels like hours. Lana and Ben join our table, and it's a bit awkward at first, considering Ben was the first to contact Issy, and his deception must have been something she didn't expect. Especially from a soft smile on his profile page.

Our lot issues small talk, but it must be made to take down someone from a common interest. She's a surfer at heart and tends to express most of her emotions from the forefront. But since the incident, she's been closed off. At North-West college, she is the leader of the feminist club, but she has recently stepped down to VP. Her favorite animal is a monkey, and she moved from New York when she was 14 years old when her parents split, and her mother wanted nothing to do with her father. She visits during Christmas break because she loves snow and her grandma's cookies.

"Enough about me, please," she hiccups from her third cup of Joe, "What about you two, how long have you been friends?" She gestures to Serena and me.

I stifle laughter while Serena chokes on her tea, spitting in your napkin.

"Oh, god," Lana facepalms herself, "embarrassing," she mumbles before giving Serena extra napkins to clean her spit-up.

"Damn, what's so funny?" Issy puzzles.

"I would not call us friends," Serena answers chokingly.

"Y'all dating?" Issy jokes.

"We dated the same boy."

"That's way worse." Issy clears her throat, twiddling her thumbs to look at.

"Well, aren't you guys back together," Ben asks me. I hadn't mentioned this to Serena, and I could feel her scoot away from me in her chair.

"This is news to me," Serena quips, turning her attention fully to me.

"It's not official," I glare at Ben's unnecessary specifics of mine Jake's relationship.

"That's great," I can't help but place the sarcasm that comes from her mouth. "But what's the point of getting to know each other. None. Let's get down to it. We all want the same thing. For Dawson to pay."

"I want him to admit what he did was wrong," I say.

"Same. I'm not fucking crazy. What he did was wrong, and him admitting his faults will validate some of my needs," Issy agrees.

"And I want him to die, but that's too extreme. You two are soft," Serena glares playfully at the two of us.

I don't disagree, but Issy's eyes narrow, "I'm not weak, I'm tired. More than you can say, I at least tried and reported him."

Serena opens her mouth, but I cut her off before she decides to kill Issy instead of Dawson, "let's not turn on each other now. That was uncalled for Issy."

"I don't need you to take sides," Serena glares.

I shush her with a finger to her, not breaking eye contact with Issy. I expect an apology.

"Sorry," Issy mumbles, but Serena just rolls her eyes, her cheeks fusions of colors.

"Give me time to figure out something that will suffice all our needs," I say.

"Time to talk with Jake," Serena quips.

"Let's not start back with Jake and I and you—- it gets messy, and I thought we were in a good place."