Riverview School For Girls [GxG]

sixteen

Willow was nudged awake on Sunday morning by gentle hands. She groaned, burying her face into her pillow, trying to submerge herself back into the sweet dream she was having.

"Willow." Sydney whispered, "Willow, wake up."

"What do you want?" Willow groaned, shrugging her off.

"Can we talk?"

"Now?"

"Yes. While the others are still sleeping."

Willow sighed, sitting up in bed, fumbling for her glasses on the nightstand. When Sydney came into focus, she noticed that she was fully dressed, with a hickey on her neck. She had stayed at a boy's house, and had presumably just gotten back. "Good night?" Willow gestured to the bruise smudged across her dark skin.

Sydney quickly tugged her collar up, concealing the hickey, "Yeah, it was okay." She shrugged, kicking her shoes off and tugging her knees to her chest. The two girls sat silently on opposite ends of the bed, a world between them. Sydney glanced over at Dahlia and Val, checking they were still asleep, before turning back to Willow. "About yesterday..."

"You were a bitch." Willow leant back against the headboard, the covers pooling at her waist, "To me, to Jordan, to Dahlia."

"I know." She nodded in agreement, looking down at her hands, at her chipped nail polish, "I'm used to having you all to myself, Will." She smiled sadly, "Which is pathetic, but..."

"It's not pathetic." Willow sighed, "It's just... It's childish."

Sydney nodded, "Yeah, I know that, too." Her chocolate eyes were soft and apologetic - full of sincerity. "Last month we had an argument...about Jordan, about...ulterior motives."

The argument was still fresh in Willow's mind. It had happened after she had stayed at Jordan's house during the storm. Sydney had been cruel, as she so often is. "I remember." Willow said.

"I didn't say it at the time, but I..." She took a deep breath, "I thought that Jordan liked you...y'know, as...more than a friend."

Willow's breath hitched in her throat, and she had to try her hardest to keep her expression neutral, "You did?"

"Yeah." Sydney replied, "I know what flirting looks like."

Willow could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and she looked down at her hands, knowing her face would have given her away, "So, that's what you meant when you said that Jordan had ulterior motives?"

"I thought you were naive." Sydney admitted, "I thought it was obvious that she fancied you - obvious to everyone but you."

"What?" Willow's eyes snapped up to meet Sydney's, "Everyone but me?"

"Yeah, I mean, even Val thought so..." Sydney shrugged, "And Val is the least observant of all of us."

Willow squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make sense of it all, "You had no right to talk to Jordan like that yesterday." She said bitterly, "Whatever intentions you had-"

"My intentions were only to protect you." Sydney said earnestly.

"I don't need protecting."

"Well, clearly you do, since you are the only one who can't see that that girl is head over heels for you!"

Willow froze, then took a deep breath, her eyes flicking to the other girls to check that they were still soundly asleep. "So, what-you showed her your tits? To get a reaction out of her? To get a reaction out of me?"

"You shouldn't have brought her up here." Sydney snapped back, "You had no right."

"I live here!"

"So?" Sydney snorted, "Have I ever brought a boy up here?"