Right Through Me

F O R T Y N I N E

"How in the hell did you two go from being miles apart emotionally to playing strip gold-fish in the clubs infirmary?" Amanda snapped, stirring her iced tea aggressively as the whole gang sat at a table in a little cafe. "This quite possibly is the most bipolar relationship I have ever encountered. You two are complete psychos."

"Oh, cool it, Amanda," Mia chuckled. "We all know you're just projecting your problems here, I heard some guy has caught the bachelorette's attention."

"No way," Leslie said, raising her brow at Amanda. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"This is seriously not about me," Amanda snapped. "Seriously, Lina, what the hell is going on between you and Donovan?"

Lina sighed heavily, staring past them. "I'm not sure."

"Hold on, what do you mean not sure? Look, friends don't just play strip anything. It seems you two have a lot of sexual tension," Mia said, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, but that's not healthy. Why does it seem like you two are avoiding the conversation you should've had months ago?" Leslie asked, looking her poor friend in the eye. "You can't honestly be okay with how things are. Come on, Lina, the man humiliated you the day of your accident, hell, if he didn't say what he did that day then you would've never gotten into the accident."

"It's not his fault," Lina said sharply.

"It might as well be," Amanda chimed in. "I mean, come on Lina. The man has only ever treated you like garbage."

"Than what the hell do you suggest I do?" Lina snapped. "You think I'm not mad at myself for falling in love with the man? Nothing will change the fact that I am absolutely in love with him. Nothing can. I thought the accident would change everything, but it didn't. It changed nothing."

"Well," Mia chimed in, smirking wildly.

"Oh, no. She's got that smirk again. She's got some devilish plan," Leslie commented, rolling her eyes.

"Since our dear Donovan is the president of the Southside Banshees, maybe what needs to be done is for you to show him you're the queen."

"Huh?" the three of them said together, Mia chuckling lightly.

"I mean, hear me out," she said, holding her hands out to stop them from interrupting. "Donovan is ultimately afraid to bring Lina into the whole gang life, right? So, maybe what she needs to do is show him that she is more than capable of handling herself."

"How exactly will that get her anywhere, Mia?" Amanda asked.

"Well, Lina wants Donovan to just come out and be completely and totally honest with her, right? But, he can't do that because he believes bringing her into their world will cause her more danger. So, like I said, if she can show him that she is the Queen of that club, then he will open his eyes and realize that she can't be pushed away."

"But he already said he couldn't keep me away," Lina said, furrowing her brows.

"Yes, he did, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he's willing to be open and honest to you about everything. If you guys want to continue with this relationship, you have to become Queen."

"Hold on," Lina said, shutting her eyes, trying to process what Mia is telling her. "Doesn't the President have to bring me in as Queen?"

"Actually, according to Steer," Leslie joined, twirling her straw in between her fingers. "In order to become Queen, there's a special ritual you gotta do. All the President has to do is...introduce a nominee. If the sad woman can finish the ritual, then she becomes Queen."

"How are we going to get Donovan to nominate me Queen?" Lina asked, her brows still furrowed. "What the hell kind of ritual do I have to do? When did this become a cult?"

Leslie and Mia laughed, Amanda rolling her eyes. "It's more of a trial, a series of tests. Most new members go through something like that as well, the females' version is completely different than a males version," Leslie explained.

"Did Steer tell you all this?" Lina blurted.

"Of course," she smiled. "I went through something similar, I'm actually apart of the club."

"What?!" the three of them screeched, Leslie laughing at them.

"When Steer proposed, in order for me to receive the protection of the club I had to go through the same type of...trial. It's not hard, but, in the Queen's place, it might be tougher."

"Well," Lina began, scoffing lightly. "What did you have to do?"

"It's kind of brutal," Leslie admitted. "First, you gotta prove your strength. You can't be weak when you join the club. There'll be a test of strength and devotion. I, personally, had to fight the clubs Executioner."

"The clubs what?" Lina screeched.

Leslie laughed. "It's a fancy word for the fights the girls gotta go through. You gotta fight all the other claimed women in the club, you win, you're in. You just have to survive five rounds with each."

"How many are there?" Lina dare ask, biting her lip.

"Five."

"So, you're saying, I have to survive twenty-five rounds of fighting?"

Leslie shrugged. "Like I said, Queen probably has to do something else."

"It's not funny business, you gotta be ready to join, Lina," Amanda said. "If they make you go through a trial, they probably wanna make sure you're ready to die for the club, like everyone else is."

Lina nodded, her stomach suddenly churning with stress. "I can't fight, that's for a fact. There's no way I'd survive any type of trial."

The three sighed. "No offense, Lina, but we couldn't agree more," Mia said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Then why did you suggest it?"

"Because, honestly, the only way you and Donovan are going to work out is if you prove that you can handle anything. Donovan is afraid, Lina. Afraid of losing you, he almost did several times. Honestly, it wouldn't be surprising if he deemed you too weak to be apart of his club," Amanda said.

Lina was pissed her own friend would say such a thing but she couldn't deny her, she was absolutely right. Amanda was right, they were all right. Yet why was did it seem like she had to do all the work for the relationship to work out?

"I'll be back later," Lina said, standing and grabbing her things.

"Where are you going?" they asked.

"To tango with the dumbass," she grumbled, turning and leaving the cafe.