Symbiotic

Chapter Nine

“That’s so unfair! You got punished and he didn’t? Why?”

Eve flinched. She had been expecting this reaction. But for some reason, Roxie’s anger still made her gut twist uncomfortably.

“I mean, he was able to prove that I actually did it. He had the bruise and everything.”

“We can prove that Chase is guilty! He has the photos right there on his phone! Did the principal even check?”

“He did try. Chase wouldn’t give him his phone.”

“So what?”

“The school can’t just go through his personal property without permission. They’d need to get the police involved to actually get it off him.”

“Is that… Is that something they would do?”

She shrugged, even though she knew Roxie couldn’t see it. “Honestly? They probably won’t bother, not unless a lot of people report it. It usually has to be pretty serious for that.”

“Well two people have reported it so far, so they should at least check it out!”

“Mm,” Eve murmured as she lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. The phone against her ear fell silent.

“Rox? You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, by the way. For storming off.”

“What? It’s fine.”

“No it’s not. We could have been a united front, we could’ve gotten him punished-“

“It wouldn’t have made a difference. Stop feeling guilty; you couldn’t have done anything.”

“Ha. That sounds familiar.” She paused again.

“I guess it’s obvious by now, but I broke it off with him.”

“No, really?”

Eve was rewarded for her sarcasm with a light giggle on the other end of the line, and smiled. A wave of warmth hit her heart, only to be doused with freezing water as she heard her mother turning the tv on downstairs.

Yep. Going to Hell, and don’t you forget it.

“Eve? You didn’t fall asleep on me, did you?”

“No,” she answered. Unfortunately, Roxie seemed to pick up on the hesitation in her voice.

“Are you ok? You sound a little… weird.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m just not in a great mood.”

“Oh god, why did I even ask you that? Of course you’re not ok. How can you be, after the last few days you’ve had? Do you want- I mean- gosh… I’m sorry. I suck at this kind of thing.”

“You suck at it? Wasn’t I supposed to be the social reject?”

This one didn’t seem to land, making Eve take notice.

“Quit it, will you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re… You’re not a social reject. There’s nothing wrong with you.” Her voice was fierce, determined in a way Eve hadn’t expected. She felt her heart skip a beat.

She opened her mouth to respond, only to discover that Roxie wasn’t finished yet.

“Can we meet up? Soon? I feel like there’s some stuff we need to talk about.”

“You mean about the case? Can’t wait to get back into it.” She already knew from the way Roxie’s voice shook that this wasn’t about the case. But she would take that any day over the idea that Roxie had finally found out about her deepest sin; the only one, of all her many, that she was determined she would take to her grave.

“No, it’s not. I can’t explain now, but I promise I will later.”

“Um, sure. Ok. Well-“ She heard her parents calling her from downstairs, “we’ll work that out. I gotta go, sorry. Dinner. Talk soon?”

“Oh, ok. Seeya.”

Making her way downstairs, it took Eve exactly two point five seconds to realise she hadn’t been called down for dinner. Her parents were both sitting at the table, for one thing; no one was in the kitchen dishing food out. The absence of plates didn’t help, and the stern look on their faces was the final nail in the coffin.

Oh crap. They wanted to ‘talk’, didn’t they? It had to be about the fact that she’d punched a kid in the face.

Mrs Verbeck spoke first. “Eve dear, come and sit down. Your father and I-“ she nudged her husband, and he nodded, “feel like we should discuss what happened at school today.”

Right, my punishment. She trudged to the table and took a seat. She supposed she probably should have seen this coming – after all, her parents had mentioned the idea of punishing her for her actions at school. But what came out of her father’s mouth shocked her.

“Eve, we need to know. Were you telling the truth about that boy at school? Chase Bancroft?”

“Wh-“

“If you weren’t, you won’t get in trouble. As long as you tell us the truth now. Was he taking… pictures of you, sweetie?”

Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes hit the floor. Her arms rose to curl protectively across her chest as the image of her striped bra once again flashed through her mind.

“Yeah, it’s true. I wouldn’t make something like that up.”

Her father flinched, though the movement was so small it was almost imperceptible. Eve couldn’t bear to meet her mother’s eyes, but the still posture she caught in her peripheral vision gave Eve the impression that the woman hadn’t reacted much better.

“And this boy… Did you have any kind of relations with him beforehand?”

“What? No. I don’t even like the guy.” She gritted her teeth at the mere thought of their previous interactions. Her father hummed in thought, and she finally lifted her eyes to see her mother, too curious to avoid it any longer.

Mrs Verbeck’s posture was strange; stoic, unmoved. Eve wasn’t going to lie, she had half expected to see her eternally emotional mother lying in a puddle of her own tears. But she was the least bothered that Eve had ever seen her.

The shock have been that intense, she supposed.

“Very well. Your mother and I were already discussing this, but now we’ve decided. We’ll take this to the police first thing tomorrow. If the school won’t do anything, surely they will. This is ridiculous.”

Eve released the breath she hadn’t even realised she was holding. Her chest felt empty, as if a giant tumour had been removed. The weight crashed back down as her mother spoke.

“Evie, dear… There is something else we wanted to talk about. We’re… not entirely sure about this girl you’ve been spending time with.” She held up her hand as Eve’s mouth started to open, silencing the inevitable argument before it could begin.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. We are thrilled that you’re finally coming into your own and making some friends. That’s wonderful, and we are so proud of you. But did it have to be a friend who almost immediately sent you to the principal’s office?”

Eve’s heart caught on fire. “Wait, are you blaming Roxie? I was the one who punched Chase! She wasn’t even there at that point!”

“Eve, you have never, ever been sent to the principal’s office. And then, within weeks of meeting this girl, you come within inches of being suspended. I’m sure you can understand out concerns.”

She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat. “It’s not like she told me to do it… The only reason she was involved at all was that she was dating him.”

She saw her father’s brow raise, and rushed to fix her mistake. “She’s not dating him now, obviously. They broke up.”

Her father seemed to relax at this, though a large amount of tension still remained in her mother’s shoulders.

Either way, just be careful. All we want is for you to be happy and prosperous; just don’t let anyone get in the way of that. Alright?”

“I won’t, Dad. Promise.”

Her father’s words stayed with her, floating through her mind as she waited on the park bench the next afternoon. It wasn’t like she was taking them serious or anything, she reassured herself. She just… had a lot on her mind.

It seemed the same was true of Roxie, as she approached Eve with slow and timid steps. None of the rambunctious energy she usually had in spades seemed to be present right now. Eve stood, c*****g her head at Roxie’s expression. She looked positively terrified.

“Hey, are you ok? I know you said you wanted to talk… It’s not about Chase, is it?” She grabbed her shoulders. “Rox, did he do something?”

Roxie shook her head, biting her lip and toying with her braids. “No, it- it’s not that. I promise.”

“Then what is it? Talk to me.”

She took a deep breath, straightening her posture. “I… I know. Everything’s ok, I think. I’m pretty sure. I just-ugh,” she groaned, hitting her forehead with her hand. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Eve released Roxie’s shoulders, only to take her hands instead. “Hey, I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time. It’s ok. You don’t have to be in control all the time.”

She would admit that she wasn’t entirely sure what she had been expecting from this meeting. But it sure as Hell wasn’t for Roxie to kiss her.

Every muscle in her body went still as she felt warm lips against hers. Her eyes closed almost against her will, and she melted into the kiss in seconds. It felt like a warm summer’s day against her skin. It felt… right. For the barest moment the world around them ceased to be, and they were all that existed.

Electricity ran through her as sure as the strike of a chair on death row. She jerked back, not entirely sure what emotion was coming through the hardest. Was it panic? Horror? Desire? She didn’t know how to feel.

Looking up, she met Roxie’s eyes and finally settled on guilt. The poor girl looked even more upset than she had before. Roxie closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, and met Eve’s gaze with what seemed to be the most composed expression she could muster.

“So, uh… No, then? Not feeling it?”

Eve ran her fingers through her hair. "No. I mean, yes. I mean...Oh god, I'm going to Hell." And she was. In that moment, she was certain. Because everything that she had ever been told, by her parents, by her Sunday school teachers, by every authority figure she had ever looked up to, had told her that she could not feel the way she did and go to heaven. It didn't happen.

Even though her gaze had dropped, she could feel Roxie's concerned eyes on her. "What do you mean, you're going to hell?"

"Because I liked that, Rox! I didn't want it to stop, I wanted you to keep going! And you're not supposed to like it, it's a sin, it's wrong, it's-"

Arms encircled her waist, holding her in place. She leaned into the touch even as her brain was screaming at her to not make it worse, and Roxie's much happier voice filled her ears.

"You said you liked it, right?"

"I- uh- yes." She admitted, her cheeks flaming. Roxie giggled, sending chills down her spine.

"Do you feel... bad about it? Aside from the religion complex I didn't even know you had until just now."

Eve groaned. "I didn't know I had it until just now. I thought I was being so rebellious, not going to church every Sunday because I wanted to sleep in. I guess that good old religious conditioning really gets to you." She turned to face Roxie, biting down the fear that still threatened to spill over and engulf her once more.

"But no, it doesn't feel bad. Aside from that. It felt... right. Like when I get a sketch just right. Did it feel like that for you?"

Roxie shrugged. "Ignoring the art metaphor, yeah. I mean, if I didn't want to do it I wouldn’t have. You know?"

"But did it feel how you hoped it would?" Eve pressed. And she swore to god, the goofiest grin she had ever seen sneaked its way across Roxie's face.

"Uh, better actually."

Realising she was still encircled in Roxie's arms, Eve took a step back. She was released without resistance. Putting her hands in front of her as if trying to calm a rabid dog, she stuttered slightly over her words.

"Ok. Ok. I'll be the first to say that I'm n-not sure what this-" she gestured between the two of them "is. I don't know how real it is, or how long it will last. But I like it. And I'm willing to give it a shot if you are."

Roxie damn near smirked.

"I thought you were worried about Hell."

Eve threw her hands up. "Well it's too late for that, so screw it."

Roxie broke into a laugh. "Hey, if we're going there anyway we may as well make it a fun trip. Right?”

“I guess so,” Eve admitted. “Seriously though, we should at least try to make progress with the case. It’s been about a week since we’ve done anything, and someone else was just taken.”

“Wait, really? Who?”

“Renee Ward.”

“Renee? Renee Ward? As in, the one who hates my guts?” Roxie was sure she was mishearing. Certain that if she repeated the name back enough times, Eve would realise her mistake and correct herself. But the more times that name was repeated back and forth, the more it started to sink in.

Shit,” she muttered, sinking to the bench. “Really?”

Eve nodded for what had to be the millionth time. “Definitely. It was all over the news. I know you don’t like her, but we can’t let her die. Not like Blair and- and Vanessa did.”

“I don’t hate her, you know. At least, not as much as I’ve probably made it look. We used to be friends, believe it or not.”

“No way.” But now that Eve thought about it, she did remember Roxie having mentioned something of the sort.

“Yeah. We weren’t just friends, either, we were besties. Braiding each other’s hair, friendship bracelets, the whole deal.”

“What happened?”

“I made a mistake.” Roxie paused, twisting one of her braids around her fingers. The sound of crickets started to fill the air as the sun sank lower in the sky.

“We had soccer together.”

“Past tense? I thought Renee still played.”

“She does, but not with our school anymore. We lost a game, an important one, and she was our goalie at the time. I blamed her. If it had just been me, that would have been the end of it. It would have caused maybe two weeks of drama. But I’ve always been chatty. And I ended up convincing the whole team that it was her fault.”

“I’m starting to see why she has a problem with you.”

“Right? Honestly, it was so stupid. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. But she’s never gotten over it. She was ostracized from her whole soccer team because I was an i***t. She had to switch teams, because I had way more influence than I knew how to handle at the time. I didn’t mean to hurt her, I never meant any of it. I’m not even sure how it happened, but I basically became a bully.”

Eve grimaced. “Geez. I knew the popular circles could be catty, but not like this. I knew there was a reason I’ve always had an aversion to the jocks.”

“You’re right to stay away from it.”

Roxie straightened her posture, pulling out two sets of police files. The original files for Blair, and a new set. Eve knew without looking that they contained the grisly details of Vanessa’s murder, and she swallowed.

“You wanted to bring your friend’s killer to justice, right? Besides, you’re right. All issues with Renee aside, she deserves better than to be found in a ditch.”

Eve closed her eyes and held out her hand. “Give me Vanessa’s report.”

“Are you sure? If you’re not ready-“

“I’m fine, hand them over.” Roxie hesitated, noticing the carefully robotic tone in Eve’s voice. But after Eve gave an insistent wave of the hand, Roxie bit back her concerns and handed the papers to her.

Once she had them in her hand, Eve sat there without looking at them for a minute. She took some time to mentally prepare herself for what she was going to see.

It’s going to be bad, Eve. You saw Blair’s, remember. There are going to be photos, there is going to be a lot of very graphic information. Be ready.

She opened her eyes. In complete silence, she read through the files.

It was about what she had expected. Throat slit, evidence of other injuries that likely occurred before the time of death. Found in the quarry, along with a note.

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If I had to guess, it’s a jab at Ness’s tattoo.” She took several deep breaths.

“Ok. This is ok. This is not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“I mean, you’re still conscious. That’s nice,” Roxie quipped.

“Oh great. I’m never going to live that down, am I? I’m going to be the girl who passed out at school forever.”

“Nah, don’t be silly. Only for the rest of the year, then we’re off to college and you’ll have a clean slate again.”

“Ok. So far we’ve got Blair, Vanessa, and Renee. So the first question we have to ask is, what do all these girls have in common?”

Roxie gasped.

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Eve, it’s Chase.”