Page 34 of Lucy and Her Wicked Three

"Delaney, what… what—why—"

"Relax, girl." Then she pulls out a stool and sits down.

It takes a second for my confusion to morph into anger. Longer than it should considering what she did, but eventually, I catch up. "No.No. You can't be here. I don't want you here. Delaney, you need to leave."

I make a point to walk down the short hall and open the door, pointing out into the hallway, but she doesn't follow. She doesn't move at all. She doesn't smile or laugh either, she just lifts her eyebrows, and I feel like the crazy one. Like I'm overreacting.

And it ain't freakin' fair. I slam the door shut and stomp back to the kitchen. "No, Delaney. You don't get to do this. You don't get to come in here and act like I'm the one out of line. We're not friends. You spread blatant lies about my boyfriend and me. Why? I thought we were friends? Why would you do that to me?"

She softens, just barely, but covers it up immediately with that arrogant smirk. "Okay, look. I'm sorry. I came over to apologize."

I wait for the punchline, but it doesn't come. "Are you serious right now? Your apology means nothing. We aren't friends. I want you to leave."

She turns to face the counter, implying she's here to stay. At least until I hear her out. Sighing, I reach into the fridge and grab a seltzer water. I should offer her one. It's polite. She really likes the lime ones, too. But I don't. I crack open the can, pour it over ice. She says nothing, just watches me in amusement.

After a few minutes, I'm frustrated and confused and hurt, so I try again. "What do you want, Delaney?"

"To apologize."

"Okay. Apology accepted. Please leave."

She sets her cup down, props her elbow on the counter and leans into her hand. "Don't you want to know why I did it?"

"I know why you did it. Portia figured it out."

She scoffs, "Enlighten me."

"You did it for the drama. For more followers."

"I did it because I'm your friend. Mateo's not good enough for you. No, he didn't cheat with me, but do you honestly think he's been faithful?"

That's not at all what I expected her to say. And it came so far out of left field, I'm left scrambling my words.

She continues, "Look. I love you, Lucy-bear. I was looking out for you. I'm sorry you got hurt, but I honestly was trying to help."

My brain finally reboots, and I'm enraged. "Yeah, you know what? Stop fucking helping. I don't need your help. Mateo isn't cheating on me. You weren't looking out for me. If you were, you wouldn't have sent those pictures to me, spent the time it took to fake them, made them public. Did you forget you were quoted saying I was the third wheel in your relationship?" I make quote marks with my fingers.

Delaney waves me off. "I actually didn't say that, or make the pictures. This girl who's like a total fucking sycophant has been trying to get me to tag her in a few things, she was the one quoted. The pictures came out, and she said some shit, thinking she was being helpful to me."

"Delaney, I don't believe a word out of your mouth."

She grits her teeth, but her tense expression washes away and she softens, leaning forward. "Babe, I'm telling you, it was all just some big misunderstanding. A stunt that got out of hand. This girl that's like totally obsessed with me, she goes by OMGspeaktome, or something like that—it's so trite—whatever, anyway, she's been trying to get my attention, so she came up with this idea. I told her it was stupid, but she's actually really good with Photoshop, and she made those pictures."

"How'd she get a picture of Mateo's face?"

Delaney shrugs. "I don't know, she probably snapped a pic some night when you were with him. His picture is on the Northeast Global Share website, too. Anyway, she's the one that sent you the pics and made up all that stuff I said. Yes, I knew she was going to do it. At first, I told her not to, but then I started thinking about the way he treats you, and I just thought, you know what? Lucy deserves better."

Then she picks up her cup, making an obnoxious sucking sound with her straw.

"He doesn't treat me poorly, Delaney. And you had no right."

"Please," she snorts. "He's such a dick to you. He ignores you all the time, and no offense, but he's obviously a slut."

"Why obviously?"

"He's always on his phone," she points to one finger, but I cut her off.

"So am I."

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