Class Of 96': 1994 (BxB Mystery)

Chapter LI - "Lover-boy."

Of course, Molly wouldn't make it that easy. Twelve minutes passed waiting in a wet box until a driver arrived with Ollie's retro blue car. You could say Ollie wasn't too pleased to soak his seats.

Once we arrived, he immediately stormed up to Molly's room, squeaking with his wet shoes.

He slammed the door open to find her reading Oscar Wilde.

Innes was there too, eating chocolate as it melted under her nails. "Oh, hi."

"Hangover?" I smile.

"I've had worse."

"Hey, Innesa," Molly didn't put her book down. "Would you mind treating yourself to a slice of cake downstairs? It's in the fridge."

She looked stunned. "No joke?"

"Yup. Eat the whole cake, I don't mind."

In a flash, Innes was gone.

Molly took a long drag of a sigh before meeting her brother's eyes. "You're gay."

He groaned in frustration, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "Okay, wooow."

"I knew something was up with you two 'best friends'." She shot me a glance that felt like she was telepathically slamming me against the wall. I shut my mouth.

"Yes, Molly, something was definitely up."

"His dick?"

I gasped. "Molly!!!"

"Stay out of this!" She yelled back, looking back at Ollie. "You should have told me from the beginning!"

He scowled. "That I was gay?"

"No!" She threw a pillow at him. "I knew you were a fucking homosexual since the day you were bloody born!"

"I—"

"You should have told me about you and Steph's relationship." She sighed. Molly stood up and walked to Ollie. At first, I thought a punch was coming in. Instead, she gently cupped his cheeks with hurt beneath her face. "I would have supported you nonetheless."

Shocked, he stared at her in silence for a few moments. "Now?"

A faint smile melted her lips. "Of course. Of course, Ollie. Always. I love you. Hell, I find myself happy for you and . . . " She trailed off, looking at me with discomfort. I paid it back a thousand times. "Yeah, you get the point."

"Thank you, Molly." A hug suddenly wrapped Molly around, her brother squeezing her tight. She didn't hug him back, but just stood there soaking in the moment.

I watched as Ollie wore a large grin, slipping away. Molly let out another sigh. No, not the sigh of disappointment. But a raw, accepting one.

"Well, go along now. Innes might ransack our entire fridge." She gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. Molly looked at me. "There's something I wanna discuss with your dear lover-boy."

***

Thankfully, she didn't berate me with insults. She leaned against the door beside me and crossed her arms.

"Steph,"

"Molly,"

She gave a small laugh and shook her head. "I can't believe you finally saw the signs."

"Of . . ?"

"My brother liking you."

I shrugged. "Ahh, you'd be surprised to find me dull."

"Nothing about you is quite dull, Steph."

That made me smile.

"He's had his eye on you for a while. He didn't even need to tell me who he fancied. But, once you break his heart, don't leave him shattered. Kay'?"

A sense of melancholy struck me. "Molly . . . I'm not going to break Ollie's heart."

"Good." But I knew she didn't believe me. "Also, I've got something else to say."

I looked at her, waiting. What else could we possibly talk about?

"Steph, you said in your Cassius Post newspapers that the Hazard wore a black motorcycle helmet, right?"

"I—" A chill crawled up my spine. The Hazard. I forgot about that. " . . . Yes. Why?"

"Nothing much. I kept on seeing one a while back."

. . .

"Huh?"

"Huh. Yeah, 'huh'. That was my exact reaction. Huh."

The thing was, she didn't seem a tad worried. "Molly, what if—"

"Ah," She silenced me with a jab of a finger. "Don't sweat it, Steph."

" . . . " Of course I'd sweat it. Even if it wasn't real.

"Anyway," She grunted as she forced her door open as I stepped aside. "Remember how I said I was doing you a favor yesterday?"

"By waterboarding Innes with alcohol?"

"Yeah, she doesn't remember a thing."