Chapter 28: Tuesday Afternoon, 4:39PM

“Chili powder?”

“Have it.”

“Garlic powder?”

“Have it.”

“Onion powder?”

“Yup.”

“What about crushed red pepper flakes?”

“I think Mom might’ve accidentally used all of them a couple weeks ago.”

“Oregano?”

“Definitely have it.”

“I’m sure you have paprika, um, cumin?”

“Yup.”

“Sea salt?”

“What kind?”

“There’s kinds of sea salt?”

“Yup, depends where it’s from.”

“Oh. Um ... Pacific would be cool?”

“Yup.”

“Awesome! I didn’t know that was a thing. Um, I know you have black pepper. Ooh, we should get some kind of peppers so it can be a little spicy, though.”

“Um...”

“Actually, why stop at a little? Your mom likes spicy food, too. I wonder if they have ghost peppers here. I’ve always wanted to try those.”

“Ummm...”

“Ooh, I’ve never seen this before. What about this chili powder?”

“Laura, I think all the flames on the label mean it’s—”

“Yeah, they mean it’ll be really tasty!”

“Oh no...”

“You mean you only put lettuce and cheese in with the beef?”

“And some tomato chunks and sour cream on top.”

“Alaina, you said you made tacos before.”

“That’s a taco! What? Stop looking at me like that!”

“Hold it. What’s that?”

“A can of refried beans? Don’t you ... Why are you grimacing again!”

“Bacon?”

“Yeah, for the grease. It’ll give the beans more umami flavor. Normally I wouldn’t, but the recipe I really like needs a full day and a slow cooker.”

“Laura, how the fuck do you stay so thin?”

“Well, it’s not like I eat like this all the time. And I usually swim regularly. And do a ton of Pilates. It’s really fun once you get into it.”

“How much is a ton?”

“Maybe an hour or two every day? I used to do it while I had the TV on or something. Lately, though, I started doing it before bed to try and relax.”

“Did you just say an hour or two? Isn’t Pilates supposed to be hard?”

“It’s not hard unless you make it hard.”

“Wait...”

“Oh, Mom got back to me. She said she’s home, and...”

“And what?”

“Nothing.”

“What’d she say?”

“That was it. End of message.”

“Alaina.”

“Ugh ... She said ‘Tell Laura’ and then a lot of fire emojis.”

“Yes! See, I knew we needed that other chili powder! I still want to see what kind of hot peppers they—Alaina, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good...”

“Okay, we’ve got the avocados, lime, you said you have onions, cilantro, tomatoes, you have garlic...”

“Laura. We have onions. We have garlic.”

“Oh. Yeah!”

“This is a lot more than I was expecting to get.”

“Is it too much? I can put some stuff back! We can—”

“No, it’s fine, Laura, I guess I’ve never made real tacos before.”

“Well, don’t get your hopes up too much. The places I used to go are way better than anything I can probably make.”

“But you can cook again now. I want you to cook. So you can make even better tacos eventually, right?”

“Alaina, I ... You’re really awesome.”

Alaina shut the trunk of her car. “That was fun.” She smiled.

Laura grinned back, brushing hair away from her face where the wind was blowing it in. “It was so much fun,” she said. She fiddled with her hair. “Thanks again, Alaina. I know I kind of bought a lot...”

“Well, I was the one who said we should double everything so Mom can have leftovers during the week. And made sure we got enough eggs for you to show me how to make your omelets and fritatas.” She looks so happy! Alaina’s smile covered her face. And she looks so gorgeous in the sun like this. It was like torture pushing the cart after her, having to watch her hips swaying back and forth like that. It has to be on purpose.

“That’s true!” Laura’s grin intensified. “I hope she likes it.”

“I’m sure she will,” Alaina said. She took a step towards the driver’s side door and paused. “Hey, Laura, do you want to drive us home?” She turned back and held out her keys.

Laura approached with trepidation, her arm reaching out and then falling back. “Can I? Um ... Is it really okay?”

“Mom never said you couldn’t drive, just that you can’t be alone.” Alaina thrust her keys out and pressed them against the other girl’s middle. Her fingers came out, trailing downwards slightly against the cushy wool of the sweater. Her stomach was so flat, but it looked so soft and sexy, too! And her ... I wonder if she’s ticklish at all.

Laura hesitatingly reached up and grasped Alaina’s hand, holding it against herself. “You’re sure?”

Her hand feels a little cold! No, Laura, don’t be cold! “Definitely. It’s your home, too, now. You haven’t gone home to it yet, right? Don’t you want to do it on your own and not have someone else take you there the first time?”

Laura wavered. “I do, it’s just ... I keep worrying that as soon as I get back there—as soon as the door to that house opens—I’ll wake up. And if this is a dream, I’d rather just stay asleep forever.”

“You’d have a dream with Floyd in it?” Alaina wrinkled her nose, struggling not to start stroking her thumb along the other girl’s hand. “You have some pretty fucked up dreams.”

A gentle tug pulled the keys out of Alaina’s hand.

Laura held them up and closed her hand around them. “Okay, I’ll do it. But first, since you don’t have to drive...” She came forward and embraced the smaller girl.

A warm, cozy blanked fell onto Alaina’s mind and crushed every last worry and fear she’d ever had. She sighed and hummed happily, nuzzling her face into the taller girl’s chest. A hand rested on the back of her neck. She snuggled in deeper, wrapping her arms comfortably around the waist of the girl she’d come to care about so much over the past day.

“Thanks so much, Alaina,” Laura whispered nearby.

A pair of lips touched down on top of the blissful redhead’s hair, and the feelings intensified. She’d never been this content and worry-free before.

“Let’s get you in the car and I’ll take us home,” said Laura. She gently disengaged herself and propelled the younger girl towards the passenger seat.

The passenger door opened, and Alaina got in with a big smile on her face. The door was shut behind her. She clicked her seatbelt buckle in and began to hum a little.

Laura got in the driver’s side and shut the door behind her. She looked over at the passenger seat and smiled shyly while she adjusted the seat.

Alaina unbuckled her seatbelt, then reached over and hugged her. She had to. “I’m really, really glad you’re here, Laura,” she said, unable and unwilling to stop smiling. “I mean it. I can’t imagine you not being around now.” She held the hug for another moment. “Mmm, you smell really good,” she said softly.

Laura giggled. “You like it?”

“I love it,” Alaina whispered, inhaling deeply through her nose next to the other girl’s neck.

“Stop,” Laura protested feebly, her voice turning shy. She made no motion to pull away.

“Oops, sorry,” Alaina said, flopping back into her seat. She belted in again, and her head lolled to the side as she relaxed completely. “Couldn’t help myself.”

Laura’s face was bright red. She looked so pretty. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice still quiet and shy. She inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. “You’re really sweet, Alaina.”

Alaina smiled as widely as she possibly could at the blonde girl and closed her eyes.

“I like your smile, too,” Laura said in an even quieter voice.

Alaina giggled. “Why thank you.” Her eyes opened lazily.

Laura was looking back between the seats as she backed the car out of the parking spot.

Alaina kissed her on the cheek. Why wouldn’t she?

The car came to a stop and Laura’s face turned scarlet. “Um...” She looked over, her eyes wide. “What was that for?”

“I wanted to,” Alaina said, the same happy smile on her face.

Laura pressed her lips together, her face somehow managing to turn an even brighter shade of red. “Thanks,” she said. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then resumed pulling the car out of the spot.

The car set out and proceeded at a slow, reasonable speed towards the lot’s exit.

“Laura, don’t ever worry about anything like what happened with Floyd happening again,” Alaina said in a happy tone. “My Class—”

Laura’s hand shot out and turned the radio up to maximum volume, then she put her blinker on and steered the car over to the side of the road and stopped. She looked over with her brown eyebrows raised in panic.

Alaina frowned a little and reached out to turn the radio down after a moment. She had to tell this fragile girl she was starting to think of as a little sister in need of protecting what was going on with her Class. She knew it would make Laura happy to not have more secrets between them, to not have family that lied to her anymore. “My Class,” she said more loudly, “is—”

Laura pressed a hand over the younger girl’s mouth, shaking her head frantically. “Alaina, no!” she hissed. “Ooh, this was a bad idea,” she said softly.

Alaina murmured against the hand. She really wanted to—

“Alaina, you said you weren’t allowed to tell me about that!” Laura said, looking over with a serious look on her face.

Alaina squirmed in her seat, trying vaguely to dislodge the hand over her mouth. She knew she wasn’t supposed to say anything, but she really, really cared about Laura, and it wasn’t only from her Quirk, even if she did keep trying to pass the blame off onto it when her desires went past what was appropriate to feel towards a friend or someone who shared the same home. Someone who needed a home, needed family.

The blonde girl grimaced, then looked a little sad. “Okay, no more relax time for you for a while.” She stared at the redhead with a serious expression for a moment. “I...” She sighed. “Sorry, Alaina.”

Alaina’s mental blanket began to fade. She frowned more deeply as Laura’s hand moved away from her mouth after another moment. She was about to speak. Then she clamped her hands to the sides of her face and blushed. No, no, no! What the fuck! No, I didn’t want to do any of that! I mean, I did—I do—but I can’t! Fuck! The blanket evaporated. No! Bad Alaina! No forcing yourself on Laura when she can’t say no! You’re better than that! And you almost fucking told her? Are you fucking crazy? After what Mom said? Her chest heaved in panic. If she hadn’t stopped me ... But ... She did stop me...

Why did she stop me? She ... She’d really put even some vague mention of my not being able to talk about something above her own wants and needs and fears?

That’s...

The car was silent for a couple minutes as Laura pulled back into traffic and navigated to the highway.

“So,” both girls said simultaneously.

They both blushed lightly.

“Go ahead,” Laura said, glancing over.

“No, you first,” Alaina insisted, meeting her gaze and immediately looking away. Fuck, now it’s going to be awkward, isn’t it? No! I don’t want Laura to feel awkward at home! Or with me! Even without me fucking kissing her like that, she actually had to stop me from blurting out that I’m a fucking [Onahole]? Now she knows there’s something going on...

But she stopped me... Alaina began to fidget. Doesn’t ... Doesn’t she want to know? Isn’t the curiosity eating away at her? Isn’t she afraid now that she knows people she lives with are keeping secrets from her again? Maybe that’s what she’s about to ask... She grimaced in anticipation.

“Um...” Laura brushed some hair back behind her right shoulder. “I ... It seemed like Floyd knew Will?” She shrank down in her seat a little. “He ... He was being so weird and creepy as soon as you left. It’s kind of bugging me. Do you know anything else about him?”

Okay, that’s not what I expected. Weird and creepy? Sounds like him, but I don’t exactly know what she means? “Well, from what I know, both their fathers are senior partners at a big law firm. I guess they don’t get along? Um ... Floyd has a sister—that’s the Barbara Daniel was talking shit about—who’s around our age. She’s got a big crush on Will, but he’s not interested at all. She and her dad tried to pressure Will’s family into setting up an engagement last week, but I humiliated both of them pretty badly. And Floyd, too, like you heard. Except I was dressed a lot differently, so he didn’t recognize me today. I think that’s pretty much everything I know?” Alaina stopped drumming her fingers on her armrest and looked over. “How weird and creepy was he being?”

Laura remained silent for a little while. “I think ... It seems kind of... immature, though?”

“That sounds like Floyd from what I’ve heard.”

“Well...” Laura grimaced as she drove. “From everything he was saying today, I think he just saw my photos somewhere and got a little bit obsessed. And he saw Will and I together on TV at that basketball game last week, and he doesn’t like Will, so he was going to take me away from him, or mark me, or... something. But it wasn’t even about me. I was just ... He kept calling me by my stage name. I was just a thing for him to hurt Will with.”

She hunched her shoulders a little and shuddered. “He ... It’s not even as though he was full of lust the whole time or anything. No more than anyone is when they see me wearing lingerie like that, anyway. He really didn’t care about me at all.” Her lips curved downwards. “I was just an object for him to use.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah! And then on top of everything else,” Laura continued, her face set in a scowl, “with how scary it was, and how much worse I thought it was going to end up being, then he also ran off with the camera, so I don’t even have any of the photos! All I got for the afternoon was scared out of my mind.” She sighed. “Sorry, I know the camera’s a really small thing, but I’m trying to look for some kind of positive for the afternoon, and there’s ... There’s really just nothing. Some of those photos were really cool, too.”

I really wanted that one of her on the bed for my phone background. That’s probably not a great idea anyway, though, considering someone at school might see it. Whatever, I’d do it anyway. “Well, we did get to hang out more?” Alaina said slowly. “And I did get to see you model? You were right, it did seem cool. And you looked like you were really enjoying yourself.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t get to see the photos!” Laura said, sounding annoyed. “The lighting, the angles ... He showed some of them to me on his camera, and I think they were the best ones I’ve ever done.”

“Was he really that good a photographer?”

“He didn’t really give me that much direction,” said Laura, wrinkling her nose. “Usually there’s some kind of vision or idea for the shoot that the photographer tries to coax out of the model. But he just kind of let me do my thing.”

I saw that. If it was still possible, I think I could’ve cum just by watching you this afternoon.

“But that’s the thing,” Laura said. “The photos he showed me looked great. It was like everything was clicking for me, and I ... I felt sexier today. Like I could tell exactly how good each shot would be even before it was taken.”

Pretty sure that’s because I was there drooling over you the whole time. But you know that. “I wish I could have seen them.” I really, really do.

Alaina tapped her finger on her door’s armrest. Fuck, what does she even think of me now after today? She keeps teasing me, but that’s ... probably just how she is. She kissed me, though. Twice! But it was just to cure herself, I guess? Though I didn’t say she had to use her tongue...

“I could pose for you to take some photos sometime,” Laura said, her face turning pink again. “Um, if you want? I don’t really own anything as exotic as what I was—”

“That could be fun,” Alaina said quickly. She squeezed her thighs together. Just taking pictures. She wants me to! I’m not taking advantage of her if she wants to do it! It’s a normal thing a girl would do for her famous lingerie model friend, right?

“Okay, let me know,” Laura said, sounding a little more upbeat.

Let her know? As in... “You mean like, any time?” Alaina shot her a cautious look. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, please—

“Sure,” Laura said while nodding. “It’s not like I’m going to quit after today, so I still need to keep working on my posing. My style. Getting someone to actually take pictures for that would be way better than just leaving a camera sitting around on a timer.”

Alaina swallowed. “Um, y-yeah, I’ll let you know, then.”

“Cool! I’ll be ready for you any time.”

Fuck, she’s really not making this easy on me. It has to be intentional, doesn’t it? It has to. But why...

“What was the thing you were going to say? Before, I mean.”

Alaina blinked. Before? Was I really thinking of anything before I imagined her in that third set of lingerie on my bed, looking—NOPE. “Oh. Um. Oh right. I was going to ask if you still wanted to show me some of your yoga and Pilates later. But if you’re too tired, or if you don’t want to today, then don’t worry about it.”

After a moment, Laura smiled a different sort of smile that Alaina couldn’t quite place. “I do! And I just had a great idea for some stuff we could do.” She looked over. “How flexible are you?”

“Not that flexible, I guess? I mostly just ride my bike for exercise. And I doubled up on P.E. to finish my requirements last year, so I don’t really stretch that much.”

“Okay, so I’ll have to stretch you out a bit first. We’ll work on it, and I’ll be really gentle with you. It takes a while to get good flexibility.”

There it is again! She’s so good at making it sound innocent!

The car pulled into their driveway, and Laura parked in Alaina’s usual spot.

“We’re home!” Laura announced, smiling brightly.

Alaina was pulled along by the other girl’s enthusiasm and smiled herself. “Thanks for driving.”

“Anytime!”

“This is pretty different from how I got home yesterday with groceries.”

“It’s ... a little bit different for me, too,” Laura said, holding her key up to the door. She looked over to the girl standing next to her. “This is real, right? It’s not going to disappear or anything? You’re not going to disappear?”

Alaina grinned mischievously and poked the taller girl in her middle. Her sweater is so soft! “I better not. I still need to eat some tacos tonight.”

“And do some stretching,” Laura said after a moment, smiling cautiously. She fitted the key into the lock, then looked over at Alaina.

“Come on, my hands are getting tired,” Alaina complained while holding up her school bag as well as several bags of groceries.

“Okay, um...”

The door was pulled open from the other side.

“Hey, girls,” said Mom, smiling down at them in a pair of snug capri pants and a loose long-sleeved shirt. “Welcome home.”

Laura stared.

Alaina grinned.

“Come on, let’s get all that put away,” Mom said, putting a hand around Laura’s trembling shoulders and directing her inside. “Anything still in the car?”

“Yeah,” said Alaina, “apparently real tacos need a lot of stuff to make.”

“Okay, you two start putting it all away while I get the rest,” said Mom. She pulled the shy blonde girl into the house and walked past her out towards the car.

Laura stood on the rug just past the door, as if afraid to move. She looked around, her hands cupped over her mouth.

She’s so cute! Alaina set all her bags down carefully and reached over to give the blonde girl a hug from the side. “See? Still here!”

“You have way more spices than I thought,” Laura said, holding the container of crushed red pepper in one hand while she peered up into the spice cabinet.

“We have way more spices than you thought,” Alaina corrected, continuing to smile. She adjusted the hood on her favorite hoodie to be less bunched up.

“We do,” Laura said, her voice slightly awed. She reached up and put the crushed red pepper on the empty top shelf.

“Don’t put anything up there, I can’t reach it.”

“You don’t even like spicy things, do you? I’ll put the chili powder up here, too.”

“Hey!

“This should be everything,” Mom said, bustling in with the rest of the thick, cloth grocery bags hanging from one arm. She set them up on the island and walked around towards the girls with her arms out. “Hug time, let’s go.”

Alaina rolled her eyes, but she walked over and stepped into her mom’s embrace.

“How’d your afternoon go?” Mom asked as she squeezed her daughter.

“Um,” Laura said in an awkward tone.

Alaina stepped out of her mom’s arms. Should I tell her? Ugh, I really don’t wanna keep secrets from her anymore...

Mom turned to Laura, her arms still out. “Come on, young lady. House rules.”

Laura looked between mother and daughter in confusion.

“Mom gets a hug any time she or I get home,” Alaina said. “It’s the rule.” It used to be Dad’s rule, though.

“If you live here, you’re subject to the rules, Laura,” said Mom, tilting her head a little and fixing the slightly shorter girl with a Mom look.

Laura hesitantly stepped forward, drawing closer to the short-haired woman.

Mom moved a little closer to meet her and folded her arms around the blonde girl. “That’s better.”

Laura’s face peeked over her shoulder, eyes closed as she relaxed and leaned into the hug.

“You feel tense,” Mom said. “Everything okay?”

Laura’s eyes flew open.

I should tell her. I’m gonna tell her. “Well, Laura got a last-minute offer for a modeling job...”

Laura subtly shook her head back and forth over Mom’s shoulder.

“But it seems like the whole thing was kind of a setup by this guy who wanted to ... do some really icky things...” Alaina cringed. That’s a pretty huge understatement. “We’re okay now, though! We’re both okay.”

Mom gently pushed Laura back and turned to face her daughter. Her brows were in the process of lowering. “Icky how? And do I know this guy?”

“Um...” Alaina hesitated. “Do you know Floyd Goddard?”

Mom took a long blink. “As in, Jim Goddard’s son, Floyd Goddard? That Floyd Goddard?”

Alaina nodded.