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❝Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.❞

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___

THE SOUNDS OF crickets chirping and a dog's distant bark fill the silence. The stars above us flicker like a thousand owl eyes watching Lexa's next words.

"You want me to what?" she splutters with raised eyebrows. The game has gotten to the point where the girls know that this is not just any sleepover; this is all planned for Phoebe to dig through them and get whatever she wants to get. I don't really know what it is that she wants, no one can ever predict her next moves and motives.

"You heard me, send your nudes to Jeromy." Ruby smirks and folds her arms over the silk, red nightdress that covers her chest. "Aren't you guys dating? This shouldn't be a problem."

I'm surprised when Lexa's glare doesn't waver; she keeps staring at Ruby with all the venom she can muster.

"No."

From the corner of my eye, I see Lilly gripping the sides of her chex lounge like if she'll let go, she'll fly away and float into space.

"No?"

Lexa shakes her head. "No."

"Aw, that's too bad." Phoebe pouts, putting a slender hand on hers. "But do you realize what this means?"

"I won't be part of your little group?" She asks sarcastically. Lilly's knuckles turn white from her deathlike grip.

This is definitely not the Lexa that I saw today in the library.

Phoebe laughs cynically. "No. That means you're officially part of our little group. Good job."

Lilly lets out a whoosh of air and her body sags in relief; she lets go of the chex lounge.

"It's Lilly's turn."

I almost laugh out loud when Lilly's expression goes from relaxed and relieved to fear-stricken and panicked. She blinks and her face changes back with a smile; it's like watching a bad TV channel that keeps buffering, one second you're looking at a frozen picture and he next, it's a whole other scene.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth?"

"Is that a question?" I tease her, finding amusement in her flustered state.

"No? I mean, no. I choose dar – truth."

"You've liked Jeromy for a long time and tried to get into bed with him multiple times, is that true?" Heidi asks.

The blood rushes to her face. "Yes."

"And when you found out that he likes Lexa, you tried to steer him away when he was drunk. Is that true?" Phoebe continues.

"I – I thought you only got to ask one question," Lilly retorts, rushing to defend herself.

"Oops," Phoebe says with a giggle, "I forgot. Drink up."

No one misses the way Lilly avoids Lexa's gaze for the rest of the night or when Lexa  leaves the group and sleeps earlier than everyone else.

Later on that night, I'm walking to the bathroom when I hear the sisters arguing. It's almost three in the morning, and I thought I was the only one awake.

". . . That's just how you are, ever since we were little you can't handle the fact that I have something that you don't."

"That's not true! Can't you see? They're just trying to get between us."

"Then, tell me what she said back there isn't true . . ." A short silence follows her words. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Please, Lexa. I – "

"You what? Don't tell me you still don't like him. I see the way you look at him, everyone does. Why can't you just be happy for me for once?"

I hear the doorknob jiggle, and I quickly step behind the door just as it bursts open. Lexa storms off to the end of the hall where we're all sleeping, and Lilly stays behind. I count to ten, then back to one again in my head before entering the bathroom.

Her shoulders raise slightly in surprise when I walk in. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm about to empty my bladder? You know, like normal people do in a bathroom."

I look at her in the mirror as she murmurs something silently under her breath and washes her hands, dark locks of coffee hair shielding her face.

"You guys were really loud in here."

"You heard?"

"Yeah. I'm going to help you, Lilly."

"You, help me?" she asks with a snort.

I cock a brow. "Yes, I'm going to help you. I hate to break it to you, but Phoebe will never let you into our 'circle'. You're social status right now is good, a somewhat popular sophomore that sits with the most admired people in school. Don't ruin it by falling into Phoebe's trap."

"I know, but it felt nice to dream," she says quietly in a sigh. "This whole sleepover thing was one of the best nights in my life, well until you guys started the game of truth or dare. I felt that maybe I'll actually be good friends with Phoebe. I didn't think she was actually that mean. Lexa's never going to talk to me now."

"And that's where I come in. What do you know about these girls?"

"Nothing, really. They're really private." She shrugs, her fingers wringed together.

"Lilly, if you really want me to help you, then you're going to need to give me something here."

Her slender fingers start playing with the hem of her polka-dotted shirt. "Well, I was in the yearbook committee last year, and I often stayed behind for the guys' football practice to take pictures. The cheerleading team also stayed behind sometimes. I thought it was only a one-time thing, but then Ruby and Raymond always went behind the bleachers to smoke pot."

I burst out laughing. "Pot? That's all you got? Everyone already knows that Ruby does drugs."

"That's not all," she says quickly with wide eyes, as if rushing to tell me more before I get bored and discard her like something negligible, "after they'd finish, they would go to the janitor's closet and . . . well, you know. And sometimes, he'd bring her flowers."

Snippets of the memory when I humiliated Raymond flash in my mind like old black and white film rolling. Raymond, the bad and privileged basketball player that everyone hates. "Raymond and Ruby? She'd always bad talk him, and even swore one time that even if he was he last one on Earth, she'd never kiss him." Why would she try to hide something like this? And what about Heidi?

"Really? Because they seemed smitten. I even caught them again last week."

"Okay, that's it. Thanks," I say, turning around, my mind swimming with thoughts as I try to find a logical point. None of what she just said makes sense.

"You said you'll help me," she calls out.

"Stay out of Phoebe's reach. Disappear into the crowd and become invisible. If you really want popularity, then have it but away from Phoebe. Don't mess with her." I start to turn around and leave the bathroom, when I hear her mutter something under her breath. "What?" My hand rests hesitantly on the cold doorknob.

"Nothing, but remind me not to mess with any of your group. Including trusting you."

I leave her in the bathroom silently, my flip flops slapping against the polished wooden floor with one surprising thought — Lilly can have her moments and prove to actually be kind of smart.

---

The sky is crisp on Monday morning, and a light, occasional breeze ruffles the aging brown leaves that litter the sidewalks of the school. It seems that Miami finally registered the fact that we're in November, and it's supposed to start getting cold. I reposition the stack of heavy books in my arm, wincing as I feel the hard corners of said books digging into the insides of my elbow. I came early this morning to have a chance to talk with Ruby. Unfortunately in this case, we don't share any of our classes.

I spot her chatting with a group of cheerleaders, leaning against the hood of her car with crossed arms and a grin. One of the girls — Elena Robbins, I think — touches her arm with a giggle, her fiery, red hair flying in the wind as she discreetly hands Ruby something in her hand.

"Can I have a moment alone with Ruby?" I ask once I walk up to them. They avert their attention to me as all laughter and chatter slowly dissipates like. Before obliging and leaving us alone, they bid small goodbyes and blow air-kisses with promises to meet later.

She looks at me questioningly, her bright sea-blue eyes cautious and her eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

"How's everything going?" I put the heavy books next to her on the hood of the car.

"We're not exactly buddy-buddies, and I doubt the reason you're here is to ask how I'm doing. What do you want?"

I smile. This is one of the few things that I like about Ruby; she doesn't beat around the bush and is honest. "You're right. What's up with you and Raymond?" I lean against the hood of the car next to her, folding my arms casually.

He shoulder slightly tenses next to me before she forces herself to relax again. "What about him?"

"You didn't tell us you guys were a thing. And now that I think about it, you guys would actually make a cute couple. I don't like either of you."

She turns her head to me, her sandy, blonde hair swishing to the side on her shoulders. It's a shade lighter than my golden, dirty-blonde head. She's taller than me with a good couple of inches — almost Phoebe's height. "Believe me, we're anything but. What even brought that stupid idea to you?"

"I have my sources."

"Well, you need to get them checked because what you're saying is invalid."

"Then, what do you call all the secret meetings, drug-exchanges, and hook-ups in the janitor's closet?" I ask, laying the final bomb.

"Are you stalking me?" she accuses incredulously, her eyes darkening to blue sapphires — in that moment, they sparkle like gems tilting under a ray of light as I saw a small angry fire igniting behind them.

"No. I've better things to do than that." I scoff.

"If you really must know," she admits, seeming to discard the thought of me being a stalker, "then I'm trying to get something out of him. I'm not with him for not the reasons you think."

As if on cue, the school bell rings, signaling the first warning to get to class.

"We'll finish this later," I say, picking up the books and stacking them back in my arms.

"India," she calls after I've crossed the length of a car. "You're not the only one that can be persuasive and cunning to get what you want."

I know, I think as I start to realize that there are lots of people like that, they're everywhere and we probably don't know it.