Beware The Water

Shut Up and Listen

Shorter and Lux sat in silence as the movie on the screen of the drive in played. It was some black and white film that Lux had never seen before. She knew Shorter loved old time horror flicks so it was no surprise he had picked the screen time that it was showing at. He probably thought the film would scare Lux enough for her to lean into his arms so he could make a move. It would have been so easy, right? Lux rolled her eyes at the thought. He had probably pulled that move out on a bunch of other girls before she came along. To wash away the sour taste in her mouth, Lux took a sip of her purple soda that they had bought from the bodega before coming to the drive-in theater.

"Mind if I take a sip?" Shorter asked, trying to fill the silence with a conversation that Lux was avoiding. She passed the bottle over, refusing to look anywhere that wasn't the large screen. "Hey."

"Shh." Lux hushed, "I'm trying to hear." The movie wasn't interesting enough in the slightest for Lux to even care about what was happening, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk just to be manipulated once again.

Shorter sighed, plopping his cheek in his palm. "If you didn't wanna meet up you coulda said that." Lux scoffed and rolled her eyes again. She had been doing that the whole night. Shorter tried to act like he hadn't noticed but Lux was making it obvious that something was bothering her. He knew exactly what it was but how could he talk about the issue when all Lux wanted to do was sit in silence.

The vibrating from Lux's back pocket grabbed their attention. She quickly typed back with a soft smile on her face. Yuji had apologized to her at school about what happened the night before at the bar and grill. She accepted his apology and explained how she was just freaked out and needed time for herself. But she couldn't deny liking the feeling of a boy checking in and having her on his mind.

The incident was something Lux wanted to move on from. It wasn't going to define or traumatize her. She refused to be seen as a victim who needed protecting. From now on she was going to defend herself and not let any guy ever use her in any way ever again. That included Shorter.

"Is the movie almost over?" she asked, still typing on her phone. The conversation must have been a good one considering how Lux hadn't stopped smiling.

Shorter ignored the question and had one of his own. "Who's texting you?"

"Nobody."

The fast tapping of Lux's nails irritated Shorter. He was trying to be civil with this girl but she was doing everything she could to get under his skin. "Put the phone down." Lux looked up and raised an eyebrow. After yet another scoff and shake of the head, she went back to texting. "God damn it, Lux. I'm trying to talk to you."

Lux clenched her jaw. Throwing the phone in her purse. "What? Do I have to drop everything I'm doing just because you want my attention? Because if that's the case, I can't remember the last time you did that for me." she shot back. 

"Don't do that." he shook his head. "I told you what this was. You know I'm busy." Shorter had told Lux time and time again that his life was dangerous. That some days were more hectic than others. He wasn't the kind of guy that could schedule meet ups that had nothing to do with gang business. He thought Lux understood that but with the way things were going, he was definitely wrong about the case.

"Clearly not busy enough to go out having sex with every girl that shakes her ass for you!" Those words felt gross coming out of Lux's mouth. But that's what this situation was. It was gross. The whole thing made her sick to her stomach. She had allowed herself to be used and disrespected just because her stupid heart played tricks on her. Lux had convinced herself that the whole situation with Shorter was fair. That it was something she'd have to accept and get used to with no complaints. He could go fuck whoever he wanted just as long as Lux got a taste of his attention. That should have been good enough, right? Lux's blood boiled. She was humiliated at all the things she had allowed Shorter to get away with.