…
• I need to show you something. •
Cora read the text again, sent by Christopher Vanguard. The sun had just risen and the only thing she looked forward to was breakfast. She pondered over whether to go meet him, or ignore him. But her delicate soul craved an apology, and perhaps that's what he wanted to do. So, she chose to skip breakfast and meet him outside his room. That's the location he highlighted.
She left her room and headed there, a little excited to see him, and a bit nervous. She walked past the other rooms and tried to make her footsteps quieter. Last thing she wanted was to leave a trail.
…
The morning that was supposed to be good suddenly dimmed. Outside Christopher's door was Freya. Cora had to halt and pinch herself just to see if that was an hallucination. But it was very real. The girls didn't expect to bump into each other outside a man's room.
Very unpleasant.
"What are you doing here?", Cora was the first to ask.
"What do you think?", Freya replied dryly.
"I thought you were mad at him. What are you doing outside his room?",
"Before this gets messy, know that he asked me to come here.",
"No, he wanted me to come. He sent me a text.",
Freya was surprised, "He sent me a text too.", she took her phone out of the cardigan, "What's going on?",
"Only he can answer that.",
Cora approached the door and knocked hard, more like banging. They faintly heard approaching footsteps then the twisting of the doorknob. They couldn't wait to just glare at his stupid face. But that's not what happened next.
Their jaws fell to the floor when Winslow opened the door. Those next seconds were a perfect definition of silence. Question marks surrounded Freya and Cora's face like halos. But Winslow wore a wistful smile. None of that seemed to be a shock to her.
"You?", Freya spat the word.
"What are you _",
"Yes. Me and your boyfriend had sex last night.", Winslow confirmed without an inch of hesitation. To verify her statement, she opened the door wide to show Christopher in bed, butt naked and fast asleep. She returned her gaze back to the girls, who were now picking up their jaws from the floor.
"I'm the one who sent you the texts from his phone.", she added,
"Why did you _",
"Have you seen yourselves lately?", Winslow interrupted Cora, "You absolutely disregarded each other over a boy. You see that boy?", she pointed at him, "He doesn't even know my name. All he cared about was sex. You think he loves one of you? Open your fucking eyes.",
Freya ran her fingers through her hair. So many things didn't make sense. She glared at the sleeping Vanguard then huffed. She was angry at him, yes, but she was even angrier at herself.
"There were other ways to make a point. You didn't have to fuck him.", Cora said furiously,
"Believe me. I know you so well. Both your eyes and ears were completely blocked. Nothing I'd say could've made you see the real him. So, there you have it. You almost lost a beautiful friendship over a guy who wants nothing but to be inside a girl, any girl.",
Winslow passed between them as she walked away. I said it before and I'll say it again, Winslow was an alien. If she was a human she wouldn't have done her friends like that. But again, I know people who'd agree with what she did. Maybe that was the only way. I don't know. I always wondered if Winslow had feelings. Her mind was tinted. There was no way for anybody to guess what she'd do next.
…
The Hive left that evening, and so did the other boys. Only the girls remained to spend the last day together, alone, without another foreign company. The rest had already heard about what Winslow did and there was no judgment. At least now, Cora and Freya were back to being themselves, the outcome of Winslow's courageous sacrifice.
That night, they sat around the bonfire, talking and reminding each other of the good old school days. They laughed and stored that beautiful memory in a video camera Zydal brought. One day, when life slows down, they promised to come back to that video and reminisce. I'm just sad that one of them won't be there anymore.
***