Benefits

Ch. 17: Hide Away

Hide Away- Daya

"Where do the good boys go to hide away."

---

"How does this look?" Alice asks me.

She holds up a shirt that's way too low cut for her. But noticing that she has a smaller frame than me, it didn't matter. "Eh," I say.

She rolls her eyes at me. "You're such a prude."

"Hey, I am not!" I swat her arm. She giggles evilly at me.

It's been two days since Jake and I, you know... fooled around. And my vagina was still sore. How the fûck was it still painful? It's been two freaking days. Yesterday it was terrible, I felt like I was on my period the whole day. I kept throwing glares at Jake during class, and he just kept giving me smirks. How was I ever going to be ready for sex if my freaking vag was going to hurt? Today, it's a whole lot better, but I still felt that pitch.

It's Thursday, after school. Lauren, Alice, and I are all at the mall going shopping. I decided to buy new bras because my old ones were getting way to small.

I looked at my Target deal. If I get two, I get one free... Hm... This seems good-

"Dawn! Put down the cheap bra!" Lauren scolds me.

Confusion fills me as I hold the bra to me. "It's cheap, and I need new bras."

Alice walks over to us. "Dawny Dawn... Tsk tsk." Alice looks down with dissatisfaction. "It's time to upgrade."

"Upgrade to where?"

Lauren and Alice look at each other with a bright smile. "Victoria Secret!" They both squeal in my ear.

I cringe at Lauren and Alice but follow them when they both pull my arms towards the expensive store. I didn't want to buy a bra that was going to be 30 dollars or more. Fûck no. But I couldn't deny the support of them when I put the bra on. Alice and Lauren begged me to put on sexier ones, but I tried to find the best ones that just had minimal lace on it. I got a couple.

Next on our trip was frozen yogurt.

I loved this. I really did. Just being with my friends right now made me feel whole. It felt like Lauren, and I haven't had time to connect in a while, and I loved it.

"So," Lauren says while she is in mid-bite. "Reese... Is she a new thing?"

I furrow my brows and start picking at my yogurt. "What does that mean?"

"Meaning?" She squints her eyes, trying to focus on what she wants to say. "Is she like trying to hang out with us and stuff?"

"Yeah. Does that seem like a problem to you?" I ask her knowing she'll say no because she's Lauren, and she loves making new friends.

"Yeah, I do."

I almost spit out my yogurt at her but swallow heavily. "Why? She's a nice girl."

"I don't trust her Dawn!" Her voice raising. "When we get in a fight, Reese came along and tried to swoop you away from me."

"You're acting absurdly. Honestly." Completely ridiculous.

"Alice thinks so too," Lauren tells me.

I stare at Alice who's in mid-bite, and she stares wide eyes back at me. "No I don't, do not bring me into this."

"Whatever I just-"

And at that moment, I saw something in the corner of my eye, a wave in my general direction. I zoned out, at whatever Lauren was going on about, and saw Dawson waving towards me. I've been avoiding him for days now since the whole thing with James and Jake. "Lauren shut up for a second."