Chapter 8: Part 4/4

Alice and Lily told my mum that it was me who cost us the quiz. I returned to my bedroom knowing they would probably find a way to make it up to me.

Poppy’s knickers were on my bed, waiting for our return. I pointed at them. Alice lit up, running over and picking them up. “I forgot about this,” she said, holding them up to show them off.

“What is happening?” I said, bemused. “Do you want me to take them back to her like I did with yours?”

“No,” Alice said, walking over to a small empty drawer and opening it up. “This is our competition drawer,” she said, waiting until I made my way over and stood between them. “Get a pair from everyone you fuck and they go on the side of whoever helped seduce her. Poppy’s go on my side, see?”

She dropped the knickers on the left hand side of the drawer. “Are you serious?” I asked, giving her a look that made her arch an eyebrow at me and then double down.

“We are very serious,” Alice said.

“You think we need a tally drawer?” I asked, turning to the succubus, who was somehow the normal one out of these two sometimes.

Lily shrugged, then nodded. “It will be full by the time I am finished with your annoying little girlfriend,” she said confidently.

“I doubt it,” Alice said.

“You two are fucking weird,” I said, sitting back in my computer chair. “But fine, you can keep the drawer.”

“Because you love it, and because you’re just as weird,” Alice said happily. “The drawer idea is another point for me actually.”

I pulled Alice towards me, trying to drag her into my lap. “Can we hookup now?” I asked. “You both dressed up and it’s been doing things to me all night.”

“Surprise first,” Lily said bluntly.

“Oh, yeah!” Alice said, jumping right out of my lap just as she got there. “We got you some train tickets and a hotel for a couple of nights,” she continued, taking out her phone. Alice had done most of the work, and booked everything. “You two are going to take tomorrow off school, and go down south for a couple of nights. There’s a nice beach, even if it’s still winter, but there’s also someone special down there. We found Bethany. She lives in Brighton. She runs a tennis academy in the city. We didn’t know how else to reach out without giving away that you were back so we just booked you on for a lesson tomorrow afternoon.”

Lily slowly softened as Alice spoke. I watched her swell with happiness as the surprise was revealed. There had been a few moments since her arrival when the demon was really stripped away, and her humanity bubbled with genuine emotion. Her eyes even welled up. “Thank you,” she said, swallowing a bubble that got caught in her throat. Alice smiled at her, and then the two girls hugged. That competitiveness was quickly gone. It was a tender moment. Lily sniffed a little as she pressed her face into a comforting shoulder. “That’s really nice of you. You really didn’t have to pay for stuff.”

“It’s fine,” Alice said. “It will even out with all the stuff you steal for us, and it’s not a surprise if you know before we book everything.”

“You said it was just us two going?” I asked, a little confused.

“I couldn’t make it work,” Alice said. “I had other plans already and couldn’t get out of them. I didn’t really want to cancel on anyone anyway. It’s fine with me. You two go and meet up with her, and then maybe I could stay on Sunday night when you’re back?”

“You can definitely stay,” I said. I wanted to go as a three, and share a hotel room with the both of them, but it showed how sweet she was that she didn’t want to rearrange our trip just because she couldn’t go on it.

Lily was still sniffing, and pretending she wasn’t on the brink of crying. “I really can’t wait to see her,” she said. She was still holding onto Alice’s hand. “I need to pack some stuff.”

“There’s some spare backpacks in my wardrobe,” I said. Lily went and collected one.