Chapter 13

The weather was just cool enough for the two of them to ask each other if they were sure they wanted to eat outside, but sunny enough for both of them to still want to. Trevor led the way to the far table that was away from the other patrons, with Raquel not far behind. Although the typical pleasantries had taken place, she could tell that the conversation that they would soon be having would have little to do with the weather.

As Raquel poured herself a glass of tea from a pitcher that they were sharing, she listened to her friend reveal his true feelings regarding the break-up between him and Sophia. Most of his feelings of anger and regret were perfectly understandable; predictable, even. However, it was the reason driving these emotions that she didn't expect to hear. Trevor informed her of the night Amelia and Estelle had slipped something in his drink, and the kiss that they shared with Sophia. She sighed heavily as she offered a sympathetic ear.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl," she lamented as she shook her head with disappointment.

"Well... I'm sure she was only working out some anger issues with me." Trevor cautiously replied.

"What do you mean?" Raquel inquired.

Trevor took a long pause in order to gather the courage to reveal everything. "I was cheating on her."

"Oh Trevor... why would you do that?"

"I don't know... I can't even remember how this all started in the first place. I guess it just happened." Trevor glanced up from his plate to see that Raquel was staring intently at him, expecting a more reasonable explanation than that. "I guess I was just being stupid."

"Well... I'm not saying that it justifies their actions, but maybe you two should have worked this out before things got out of hand."

"How was I supposed to know?"

"Oh come on! Even I knew that Sophia had a crush on Amelia. Don't tell me that you never..." Raquel stuttered at the hurt look on Trevor's face, "... you... never? You really never knew? Trevor... love... how could you not know?"

Trevor considered this question. When did it get to the point to where he no longer knew his girlfriend? Maybe he had been so focused on work that he rarely gave himself time for anything else. Maybe it was just because he had lost interest in life, and was simply going through the motions. The two sat in silence as the world continued to go about its business around them. Trevor's eyes rested on the steady stream of people walking alongside the street. His mind was replaying random moments in his recent past. He was surprised to find that very few of them included Sophia, which was the one thing that should have been consistent among the memories. Instead, all that filled his mind were remorseful thoughts of Kaylin. He had let himself become infected with her poison, and now he had helped destroy the life of someone he loved.

Suddenly he raised his head as if he had been charged with a newfound purpose. "Raquel, listen; there's something I have to do. I'll talk to you later though, k?" he said as he dropped a ten dollar bill on the table to pay for his lunch. Before Raquel could ask where he was going, he quickly grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and left.

"Baby, let's go out." Amelia suggested to a very mopey Estelle, "You haven't even been outside in days."

Estelle had been sitting on the couch with a blanket over her legs ever since Kaylin sent her that video of her and Sophia having sex. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that said "Ask me about my apathy." She stared at the television with a permanent deadpan expression, though it was clear that her brain was far too distant to register anything on the screen. The only time she got up was when she had to pee, and the only time her face changed was when the video flashed in her mind and made her cry.

"No thank you," Estelle said with a monotone voice.

"You know, if you don't get enough sunshine you're going to wither away." Amelia said in a soft, yet, playful, voice.

This caused a tiny giggle to emerge from Estelle, despite herself. However, this loosening of the grip on her emotions caused her to cry a second later. The sight of her lover's sorrow broke Amelia's heart. She came over to the edge of the couch and hugged Estelle's head.

"Baby, it's going to get better; I promise. I'm so sorry I let this happen."

"I don't blame you... I just... I really thought that... she was the one... you know? The one for us..." Estelle spoke in between sobs.

"I know baby, I know."

Just then the doorbell rang. Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes, but let go of Estelle to go answer it. Her eyes immediately narrowed at seeing Trevor standing there. For a moment they stood, deadlocked, but then Amelia decided to step outside and close the door behind her.

"I don't know why you would even think to come here, but-"

"I won't stay long, I promise. But I have to tell you something."

Amelia considered those words, then said, "Speak quickly."

"Look... I'm not proud of this, but Kaylin and I have been plotting against the three of you ever since Sophia and I broke up."

"Oh really? And how's that?"

"Like when she embellished what she saw at the mall the other day in order to make you jealous. Or that conversation you two had about how you're too good to be held down by another woman." Trevor's knowledge of that private conversation caught Amelia off-guard. Her face must have betrayed her thoughts, for he added, "She tells me everything; it's all been part of her plan."

"And why would she do that?"

"Because she wants revenge. Same as I did. I hated you two after that night and wanted nothing more than to make all of you suffer. But I realized that what we were doing was pretty fucked up. I tried to talk her out of it, but the bitch is crazy. She kicked me out."

"Well it looks like nobody wants you anymore, doesn't it?"

"I'm not here to ask for forgiveness; I just want to set things right."

"Why?"

"Because I love Sophia."

Amelia gave him a long, hard look before saying, "Fine. Come in."

She opened the door and a very nervous Trevor followed close behind. Estelle turned and looked in their direction when she heard the door shut. She hissed when she saw Trevor.

"Why is there a boy in our house?" she asked in a voice filled with hostility.

"Relax, he has something he wants to say to us."

Estelle took a closer look and realized who it was. "What the fuck do YOU want?" she asked in a voice that was twice as venomous as the first.

"He says that he and Kaylin have been plotting revenge on us." Amelia informed her.

"Why would she do that? She's got YOU, hasn't she?" Estelle said to Trevor, in response to this.

"Not anymore. She's been planting seeds of jealousy in all three of you. Like the video she sent you. Recording that video was the only reason she seduced Sophia." Trevor explained.

"Wait - video?" Amelia inquired to Estelle, "You just said that they slept together. You never said anything about a recording. She sent this to you?"

"I didn't want to say anything. You two are friends." Estelle said as she hung her head down.

"Jesus, Estelle! You are always going to be more important to me than any friend. Don't you realize that?"

"See," Trevor interjected, "This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. She wants you two to break up."

"And what about you?!" Estelle screamed so loudly that even Amelia jolted, "What did you want to have happen?"

"What did you expect? You took Sophia away from me!"

"We didn't TAKE anything," Amelia said, "Sophia made her own decision. If she chose us over you then maybe that's not our problem; it's yours."

Trevor couldn't find any argument to combat that statement. In fact, those words made him realize how much he thought of Sophia as a possession, rather than a living person. He looked away from Estelle's piercing stare and found no comfort in Amelia's stone cold expression.

"I'd better go," he said quietly.

"Yeah, you'd-" Estelle began to yell some more, but silenced herself when Amelia looked at her and held up her hand. She walked behind him as he made his way over to the door, and followed him out.

"Look. I'm not saying that I forgive you, but I know how hard it was to come here and tell us that, so..." Amelia struggled to make herself say the words, "... thank you."

Trevor stood silently to accept the words, then nodded and walked away. For some reason, Amelia felt compelled to watch him as he got into his car and drove off. She even kept track of the vehicle as it reached the next stop light down the road. After it turned out of sight, she finally went back into the house.

"What are you doing?" Amelia asked.

"Bitch wants to play? Bitch wants to go around ruining people's lives? I can play that game. I fucking invented that game." There was a vengeful fire in Estelle's eyes the likes of which Amelia had never seen before. She sat in front of the computer clicking the mouse furiously. The video that Kaylin had sent popped up, then froze as Estelle pressed the "ctrl" and "print screen" buttons simultaneously.

"Oh? Can I play?" Amelia asked as she began to understand what her girlfriend was up to. A wicked grin spread across Estelle's face.

"Sure. Have a seat."

A faint reflection of Sophia's face blended with the images on the monitor. Her hand barely moved as she clicked on the mouse, mechanically visiting each site that was bookmarked in her favorites list. Suddenly, a small icon popped up at the bottom of her desktop to let her know that she had just received a new email.

To her surprise, it was from Amelia. She wondered if Estelle had provoked her girlfriend to tear into her. Estelle probably hated Sophia now, and Amelia would most likely be thrilled to have her to herself again. These thoughts caused Sophia to click on the delete button. The computer asked her if she was sure that she wanted to delete the email. She hesitated because she knew that never knowing the contents of the email would eat away at her. She clicked "No" and opened the message instead.

The top of the message explained what Trevor had confessed to the girls earlier. The next paragraph told Sophia that they had no intention of taking such abuse from anyone, much less an ex. So they captured a still frame from the video that Kaylin made, made some adjustments to it, and sent it to every email address in her office, including her boss.

Somewhere across town, Kaylin was opening an email from Estelle at that same moment. However, instead of an explanation for the email, there was this: