The hallway outside of the Home-ec room grew quiet. Even the voices of the departing students seemed distant now, little more than a soft buzzing. Sophie stared at the Heathers, trying to process what she had just heard, and find the words to respond. The Heathers stared back, Heather M.’s disapproving frown informing Sophie that she was in much deeper trouble than she had imagined.

“It was you?” Sophie sputtered finally. “You’re why I keep forgetting things?”

Heather M. smirked. “So you noticed, huh? Yeah, every time we try to have a little fun you start bitching and moaning about how we’re manipulating people. So, yeah, whenever you had one of those little temper tantrums we fixed the problem.”

Sophie was stunned into silence, so it was Chloe who spoke up. “How could you do that to someone?”

“How? Easy. We have the Well and we can use it how we want.”

“But how can you be so cruel?” Sophie blurted out.

“Cruel?” Heather M. replied in a mockingly wounded tone. “How could you say that to your best friend?”

“You’re no friend to Sophie. You’ve been using her this whole time,” Chloe shot back.

“And you are?” Heather S. jumped in. “We gave Sophie the body of her dreams. We taught her how to be a girl. What have you done for her? No, really, what have you actually done for her?”

Chloe hesitated.
Heather M. leaned in close. Sophie could feel her breath on her. “Here’s how it’s going to work. Unless you want that thing back between your legs, you’re going to listen to me from now on. You’re going to do what I say and you’re not going to whine when I do what I want, got it?”

Chloe pulled Sophie back, stepping between her and the Heathers. “No. You can’t do that to her. I won’t let you.”

The Heathers all started laughing. Heather K. stepped forward, getting in Chloe’s face in the same way that Heather M. had with Sophie. “What are you going to do? Be Sophie’s brave knight and rescue her from the evil witches? I’m sure you’re big and tough and all, but there are three of us and you don’t know who is carrying the coin.”

She laughed her hissing laugh until Heather M. shoved her out of the way with a “Shut up, Heather,” then very pointedly looked past Chloe directly at Sophie.

“You know? I think that girlfriend of yours is a bad influence on you.”

“She is so controlling,” Heather S. added. “She doesn’t even like Sophie wearing heels.”

Heather M. tsked softly. “You deserve much better. I think it’s time we take charge of your dating life, too.”

Sophie felt tears welling up in her eyes. “No, please, you can’t take Chloe away from me.”

“You know, she could keep dating her,” Heather K. suggested. She had taken a new position flanking Heather M. “We’d just need to make a few… adjustments.”

Heather M. nodded. “You have a point. I guess that’s up to you, Sophie. You can either break up with Chloe right now or keep dating her after we make a few changes.”

She paused while she waited for an answer. When it didn’t come right away, her tone turned harsh. “Or we can just call the whole thing off and you can go back to being poor, pathetic Thomas.”

Sophie felt something tear inside her. She couldn’t allow herself to be changed back, that much was for sure. No matter how much it cost her, she couldn’t let that happen. The Heathers had her trapped. She belonged to them from now on. But she could at least keep them from hurting Chloe.

“Okay,” she said, defeated. “I’ll do whatever you want. As long as you don’t do anything to Chloe.”

“You don’t get to make demands,” said Heather M. “However, as long as you’re a good girl then we won’t have to do anything to Chloe. As long as she doesn’t interfere.”

Heather M. started walking past Chloe and Sophie, followed by the other two Heathers. Then she paused and glanced over her shoulder.

“Coming, Sophie?”

Chloe reached for Sophie’s hand. “Come on, Sophie. We’ll figure something out.”

Sophie pulled her hand away. “There’s nothing we can do. They hold all the cards.”

“Sophie, please.” The look in Chloe’s eyes was pleading, but Sophie tore herself away, following the Heathers.

“I’m sorry,” she said without looking back, leaving Chloe alone with the lockers.

 

* * *

 

Chloe stood in the hallway outside of the Home-ec room and watched Sophie walk away with the Heathers. She felt numb, unable to fully believe what had just happened. Just like that, her girlfriend had broken up with her at the behest of her toxic friends. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, desperately hoping that Sophie would come running back to her, but the hallways eventually cleared themselves of students, leaving her standing there in silence. Eventually, she forced herself to move, first one leg, then the other. Once she had some momentum going it became a little easier.

She hesitated at the school’s exit. Somehow, stepping outside felt wrong. Like it meant accepting that this was her new reality. And accepting this reality meant accepting that Sophie was under the control of the Heathers and there was nothing Chloe could do to stop it. In this way, the act of stepping through those doors felt like she was allowing Sophie to come to harm, as if there were some unseen alternative choice to go back and change what had happened, but of course, no such choice existed. She had to accept it. She stepped through the door.

She made it home safely, if somewhat slowly. She avoided her family and went straight to her room and curled up in her bed, trying to sort through her emotions.

First of all, she hurt. She hurt a lot. She’d lost her best friend and her girlfriend in a single horrible moment. Part of her was mad at Sophie, too, for abandoning her and allowing the Heathers to continue to do whatever they want. The Heathers have all kinds of power, but if the two of them had fought back, they could have stood a chance. Now the Heathers were free to keep hurting people and for what? Just so that Sophie could protect her? Flattering, but Chloe couldn’t stand the thought that only she was free while the Heathers controlled everyone else. How could Sophie make her bear that weight? Why didn’t Sophie realize that Chloe was supposed to protect her, not the other way around?

She also felt guilty. Maybe what Heather S. had said was true, and she hadn’t been as good of a friend to Sophie as she had thought. Maybe she could have pushed a little harder, helped Sophie to realize what she really wanted before she had ever gotten to know the Heathers. Maybe if she’d figured it out sooner she wouldn’t have fallen into the Heathers’ clutches.

Mostly, however, she just missed Sophie. Her mind kept drifting to all of the things they could no longer do together. No more kissing or holding hands. No more playing video games together. No more tutoring sessions. No more of Sophie watching her softball practices. The two would have to act like strangers to avoid incurring the Heathers’ wrath.

The next few days passed like this. Chloe went to school, went through the basic motions of life, then came home and brooded in her room. Sophie avoided her in Gym and sat next to Heather S. in Chemistry giggling along to her jokes, listening to her speak, looking for all the world like nothing was wrong. Those classes were the most difficult because she had to see Sophie and resist talking to her. She had hoped that Sophie might secretly text her behind the Heathers’ backs. Maybe with an explanation about how this was all part of her plan to escape the Heathers once and for all, or even just an apology, but she received nothing. Sophie was completely under their power. Chloe didn’t text her out of fear that the Heathers might see the message. At least, that’s what she told herself. In the back of her mind, she knew that she couldn’t bear the thought that maybe Sophie didn’t want to speak with her after all.

During this time, Chloe frequently thought back to when she and Sophie had first met. It had been eighth grade. The two had gone to separate junior high schools. Students from both schools went to the same high school starting in ninth grade, so at the end of every year, the two eighth grade classes were invited to a picnic to get to know one another. Chloe had gone willingly, interested in meeting her future classmates, but Sophie had been forced to go by her parents. Chloe had noticed the poor girl, dressed in blue jeans and a hoodie despite the May warmth, staring at her curiously from beneath a tree. She looked so awkward, having no one to talk to even in her own class. On a whim, Chloe had decided to introduce herself.

“Hey. I’m Chloe,” she had said.

Sophie had uncertainly smiled back. “I’m Thomas.”

“You seem nervous.”

Sophie had averted her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m pretty nervous too,” Chloe had admitted.

“You are?” Sophie had said with surprise. It was as if she couldn’t believe that someone like Chloe was capable of being nervous.

“Yeah. You want to know why?” Sophie nodded softly, obviously afraid to show too much emotion. She leaned in close. “It’s...it’s because I think I might be a lesbian. And while I’m more than OK with that, I’m still kind of scared of what people might think of me.” 

Chloe wasn’t sure why she had said that. True, she had promised herself earlier that day that she wouldn’t hide the fact that she was a lesbian. But there was a huge gap between not keeping it secret and telling someone within moments of meeting them. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had the opportunity to tell anyone yet, and was itching to let someone know. She had done it in the most awkward way possible, to the point that she started to blush a little when she thought about it now, but it made her happy to think that Sophie was the first person she had told.

It had seemed to have an effect on Sophie too. The girl had stared at her with a look of wonder in her eyes. It had paid off, too. Sophie had smiled and understood the weight of what Chloe had just revealed to her. She looked around quietly and, upon finding nobody else watching the two converse, quietly whispered back to her.

“That baseball in your backpack… want to see a cool trick I can do with it?”

One evening, as she was once again running through those events in her mind, Chloe heard a gentle knock on her doorframe and opened her eyes, wet again from tears she hadn’t realized she was spilling. Her mother stood in her bedroom doorway with a concerned look framing her face. 

“Oye, nena, dinner’s ready,” her mother said softly, her warm accent making Chloe smile.

“Okay, mom. Be right down,” Chloe sighed. She followed her mother and the smell of cooked meat and spices to the kitchen not far from her room in their one-story home. Amanita Gutierrez was a few inches shorter than Chloe with long silky black hair tied back into a thick braid. She had a wrinkle or two around her eyes, but she looked otherwise quite young for her age. Enough so that, on rare occasion people even mistook them for sisters, an error her mother wasn’t quick to dispel, much to Chloe’s chagrin. She was incredibly fierce and passionate, and Chloe knew to avoid disobeying her at all cost, lest she invite hours-long lectures about respect that usually accompanied grounding or a similar punishment. They sat down at a small wooden table next to the window where two steaming plates of enchiladas casserole lay. Chloe ran her fork through her food aimlessly as she continued to reminisce about her and Sophie’s early friendship when her mother cleared her throat.

“I worry about you, nena. You’ve been like a shell of yourself for a week now, and you never go over to your girlfriend’s house. What’s wrong, are you and Sophie fighting?” she asked, resting her hand onto Chloe’s. Her mother had met Sophie many times over the years and, even though she’d only recently started using the name Sophie when Sophie herself had come to name herself as such, Chloe had confessed to her mother some time ago what she’d suspected about Sophie’s true identity. Her mother had been confused about what exactly such a thing meant but had recognized the sincerity of Chloe’s confession, and upon seeing her shame at revealing something so personal about her friend promised to keep the secret between Chloe and herself.

Chloe sighed deeply. “Yeah… we’re not exactly on speaking terms right now.” Her mother drew in a sharp breath.

“Love, especially when born of friendship, is never easy.” Her mother rubbed at her hand gently. “But you can’t give up on it, nena. You and that girl have something special. I’ve seen it, and I want to keep seeing it.”

“Mamá…” Chloe trailed off in annoyance. “It’s not that simple.”

“Of course it is, nena!” her mother exclaimed as she leaned back in her chair and continued eating. Chloe idly took a bite. Normally, she savored her mother’s cooking, but today the taste failed to register in her distracted mind.

“The most important part of any relationship is to talk. If you don’t talk, you don’t love,” her mother continued.

Chloe crossed her arms. “Big lot of good that did with you and Dad,” she mumbled petulantly. Her mother gave her a stern look.

“Mucho ojo, nena,” her mother scolded. “Your father and I would have been able to talk, but…” she sighed deeply, be for hissing beneath her breath. “Es bastardo infiel.”

“But she won’t talk to me! It’s like nothing is even wrong,” Chloe replied in a sad tone.

“Are you sure nothing is wrong? Or is there a chance she’s only acting like nothing is?” her mother pressed.

“I don’t know. Why would she even do that?” Chloe questioned.

“Welcome to dating women, nena.” Her mother laughed. “But you mentioned these other girls, the ones all named Heather,” she added, before rolling her eyes and muttering “Tonta,” as she shook her head.

“Right? I mean, I get two girls having the same name and being friends, but three of them all being named Heather? That’s so ridiculous,” Chloe agreed. “They’re… I don’t know how to phrase it.”

“Bitches?” Her mother smirked. Chloe smiled and nodded. 

“Big time. They’ve got Sophie wrapped around their finger and I don’t know how to untangle her from them. She feels helpless, and that makes me feel helpless by extension because I’m supposed to protect her.”

“Maybe it’s time to let Sophie fight her own battles for a change. Once she figures a way out of whatever trouble they’re causing for her, she’ll call you, nena. I know she will,” her mother lovingly rubbed her head as she rose from the table.

“How do you know?” Chloe asked. Her mother shrugged.

“Women’s intuition,” she stated. “Now do the dishes. Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for that sass you gave me earlier”

“Yes, Mamá,” Chloe replied before grabbing the dishes and making her way across the cold tile floor of their small dining room into the kitchen where she started running some warm water into the sink and scrubbed away at the dishes waiting for her.

As she worked, she considered what her mother had told her. Sophie had to fight her own battles, or at least make the choice on her own to fight the Heathers. Chloe wouldn’t be able to help Sophie until Sophie was ready to be helped. However, that didn’t mean that Chloe couldn’t be ready to help her. Maybe there was a way she could prepare to fight against the Heathers. She began to draw up plans in her mind, trying to imagine what Sophie would do if their positions were switched.

Information, she decided, would be key. It was tempting to just run up and grab one of them and rifle through her pockets until she found the coin, but she had to admit that she didn’t feel confident that that plan wouldn’t backfire. She needed to understand exactly what all changes the Heathers had made. After finishing the dishes, she went up to her room and dug out a notebook to start making a list. That, she thought, was exactly what Sophie would do. First, there was Sophie herself. She had gotten her ideal body and had everyone recognize her for who she was. She had also undone that second wish for Chloe. Finally, she had altered her legal documents and old photographs. That was a lot of wishes already, and Sophie was probably the person to have used the Well the least.

She tried to think of what changes she could confirm that the other Heathers had made. There were the alterations to Sophie’s memory, of course. And the wish that Chloe couldn’t tell anyone about the Well. Sophie’s descriptions of Heather M.’s lavish lifestyle certainly seemed suspicious, too. Especially if shops closed to other customers just to cater to the Heathers. Chloe noted down “Wealth” with “Probably” in parenthesis next to it. Then there was Stephanie. She had been made poor and everyone had been made to forget her wealth. Chloe tried to remember Stephanie, tried to picture her in designer clothes, but unfortunately, she just didn’t know the girl well, and couldn’t be sure if her own memories had been altered. Chloe tapped her pencil on the notebook’s spine. What else could the Heathers have done?

She decided that the only way she would get answers was to start asking around. So the next day after softball practice she made her way to Maw’s. As luck would have it, Stephanie happened to be her waitress, so Chloe made herself comfortable and ordered something called a Tornado Burger.

When Stephanie returned with her order Chloe asked, “Hey, don’t we go to the same school?”

Stephanie looked at her carefully. “Oh yeah. Chloe, right? From the softball team?”

“That’s right, and your name is Stephanie, isn’t it?” Stephanie nodded in response. “Have you worked here long?”

“Just a few months. It’s my first job, actually. My parents have needed the extra cash ever since we moved.”

“Oh yeah? So did you move somewhere bigger or something?” Chloe asked, trying to keep her tone casual.

Stephanie thought about that for a moment. “I’m… not sure,” she said finally.

Chloe decided to drop the pretense and start asking for information directly. “Really? What do you remember about your old house?”

Stephanie took a lot longer thinking, this time, furrowing her brow. “I… can’t seem to find the words to describe it.” She smiled suddenly. “I guess it wasn’t really anything special.”

“Has anything else changed suddenly in the last few months?”

Stephanie shrugged. “Not really. I guess I had to quit cheerleading and leave the pep squad. You know, because of the job.”

Heather M. was a cheerleader and Heather S. was on the pep squad. That was a connection between them and Stephanie. But that wasn’t really helpful to her in any way. She already knew there was a connection between the Heathers and Stephanie, and that wasn’t going to help her figure out how to fight back against them. She thanked Stephanie and ate her meal, feeling a stab of pain as she removed the pickles from her burger and set them aside.

For the next week, Chloe carefully questioned people at school, filling her notebook with information about what she suspected the Heathers to have changed. When she asked about the Heathers, the results were mostly the same. Everyone knew who Heather M. was and everyone agreed that her family had always been rich, and that she had always been attractive and popular. No one could say exactly who she was popular with, as many people seemed to actively dislike her, but everyone agreed she was popular. Everyone said Heather S. was friendly and likable. She got along well with everyone and seemed to have a charm that extended beyond cliques. A few of the more edgy types found her school pride tiresome, but even they agreed that they didn’t exactly find her unpleasant. When it came to Heather K. there was a little more division. Most agreed that she, like the other Heathers, was very attractive. Some said she was distant, interested in little outside of the other Heathers. Some found her creepy, and a few considered her downright sinister. Two or three people insisted that her creepiness was what made her attractive. None of this was especially revelatory.

She had a little more luck asking about other changes. Using the “last few months” measure she had received from Stephanie she was able to pinpoint a few sudden changes that could potentially be attributed to the Heathers. One girl noted that Heather S. had been in her Algebra class for just a few days before being moved to Home-ec. One of the football players noted that a number of the cheer routines suddenly seemed to center on Heather M. The band’s tuba player told her that his favorite teacher, who had once very publicly dressed down Heather M. in front of the entire class for acting childish, had quit very suddenly a month or two back and nobody had seen her since. Almost just as suddenly (she found out from one of the girls who interned at the local daycare), the librarian, Ms. Caliers had enrolled a little girl she'd recently adopted. Chloe had decided to cease any further investigation on that ominous lead.

Another senior from the softball team noted that one of the lights in the Home-ec room had buzzed for as long as she could remember, but had stopped suddenly. Ryan Vandholt noted that Heather M.’s boyfriend Tyler never seemed to get in trouble, even when he slept in class. When she pressed further Ryan had become dodgy and mentioned that once, after a spirited football game in which he had scored a winning touchdown which had left Tyler unpleased, he began to have some “night issues”. When Chloe had tried to inquire further as to what that meant, his face turned completely scarlet and he had quickly excused himself. It seemed that the Heathers had their tendrils in every part of the school.

Growing frustrated, Chloe attempted to tell one of her friends about the Well. Unfortunately, it seemed that the wish had been effective, as Chloe found herself growing tongue-tied and unable to find the words to describe it. She tried writing it down, instead but discovered that her already-messy handwriting became illegible whenever she tried to explain it. Finally, losing her patience, she convinced her friend to lend Chloe her car keys so that she could drive her there. Unfortunately, she found herself becoming lost, and ended up driving around the poor girl for an hour, unable to find the right spot. Perhaps the Well favored intent over literal interpretations of its wishes. Or maybe Chloe had simply forgotten where it was.

Distraught, Chloe returned home and hid in her room. She had found some information, yes, but nothing that would help Sophie. She wondered once again whether she could just forcefully take the coin from whichever Heather held it, but she didn’t want to attempt that unless she was certain she was targeting the right one. Heather M. seemed like the most obvious choice, of course. She was so self-obsessed that she might not trust anyone else with it. On the other hand, she might pawn the job of keeping track of it off onto one of the other Heathers. Heather K. was fiercely loyal to her, so she seemed likely. Except that Heather M. didn’t seem to have much faith in her competence. She seemed to consider Heather S. more reliable, so perhaps the coin was on her. Unfortunately, there was no way to be sure and Chloe was once again forced to abandon that plan.

Out of ideas, she was left thinking about Sophie and how much she missed her.