Ivy dropped off her daughter and ended up in the house of a girl from school. Lana had invited her into the house. She had greeted Lana’s parents who seemed nice enough. Rather, they were really happy their daughter brought a friend over. Lana led her to her room where she sat on the floor. Lana ran to get drinks for them, and it gave time for Ivy’s mind to wander.

Lana kind of reminded Ivy of herself in a lot of ways. When she was younger, Ivy had a dark period in her life too when she wore dark eyeliner and even did a curse or two. It came from a life that had been destroyed along with that wide-eyed innocence she used to possess. Ivy’s goth years were after she had Maya. She became nihilistic and thought the world should just burn. After Ivy was molested as a child, got pregnant, and ended up having to care for that baby, it was only natural that her mind would be in a dark place.

That said, having a child also meant that a girl had to grow up quickly, and so Ivy had matured passed that phase at a rapid pace. In the end, Ivy missed two years of school, and despite being in the same class, Lana was her junior. Ivy just wanted to finish high school and then take care of her daughter in peace. That’s why Ivy didn’t have time for foolish things like boys, friends, or sleepovers.

So, what was she doing at Lana’s having a sleepover? First, Ivy had let that boy Aiko bully her into calling him her boyfriend. She was letting him, almost a stranger, watch after her daughter while she hung out with friends at a sleepover. It was even a school night, so this was especially reckless. Yet, as much as her adult brain told her that this was all bad, there was a part of Ivy that still wanted more than anything to just experience a normal teenage life a little bit before that period of her life was gone forever.

Therefore, Ivy had agreed to let her daughter sleepover at the house of a teenage boy, while she hung out with a girl next door. It was foolish and had her grandparents known, they would be furious with her. They were the ones who currently watched her daughter while she was at school, but they were too old to watch Maya all day and needed a break. Ivy had her place, but there was no way she could invite a girl to the studio apartment she shared with her daughter.

Ivy told herself Maya was just a house away. If there was an emergency, they could always call her and she’d be there in an instant. Plus, despite everything, Ivy didn’t think Aiko was a bad guy. It was kind of strange. Even though he had blackmailed Ivy to get her to date him, his reasoning seemed to not be malicious at all. He had never pressured her into a date or demanded she does anything for him. Another guy his age might have used the circumstance to take advantage of her. He would have assumed since she had gotten pregnant at a young age that she’d be easy!

However, while she feared that initially from Aiko, he had never acted that way. All he asked her to do was sit by him in class and answer his sometimes strange and confusing questions. He felt somewhat comforting having somewhere nearby to depend on. Perhaps, that’s why she had agreed to this whole thing in the first place. She had always wanted to know what it was like to have a high school boyfriend. Aiko might end up being the closest she’d ever get to experience a normal teenager’s life.

When Ivy realized Skylar was into him, she was very surprised. Skylar was considered one of the top beauties of the high school, and many guys wanted to date her. Why would Skylar want to date Aiko? Furthermore, and perhaps more surprising, Aiko wasn’t interested in dating her in return. He had chosen Ivy to date him to repel Skylar. When she found that out, Ivy became furious with him. Ivy didn’t even know why. It wasn’t a particularly big deal. He was blackmailing her, after all. Getting caught up on the reason behind it seemed childish. However, doing it to keep back another girl who liked him away made Ivy feel cheap.

That’s probably what bothered Ivy the most. It was such a seemingly normal reason. Ivy was just thinking there was more to Aiko than he let on.  There seemed to be maturity and darkness in his eyes. It felt like he had been through something tragic like he had a dark past. For a pessimist like Ivy who had experienced so much misfortune in her life, such a guy appealed to her. In a way, Ivy thought he was like her, broken and lonely. To find out he was just using her for such a childish reason pissed her off.

Yet, after asking around the school, Ivy found no proof that this was what he was doing. Skylar and Aiko seemingly had no history. None of her friends knew her to like Aiko and seemed as surprised as Ivy was about the growing rumors. Skylar had never even glanced his way. She had even been dating another person named Derek, and it wasn’t until that person got randomly angry at Aiko that these rumors started. In reality, Aiko had been as invisible to Skylar as he was to… well… Ivy.

Ivy couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment. She had been in a class with Aiko all year, but she had barely even noticed when he had been gone for a week due to an illness. Two weeks earlier, if someone pointed to him, Ivy wasn’t even confident she could have given them his name. Yet lately, he seemed to be all she could think about. It didn’t help that Maya also kept mentioning him. Her daughter could be especially mischievous, and so she wouldn’t hesitate to say things like that Ivy should get married to Aiko just to rile her up.

Either way, the thing that had caused Ivy to become uncertain about Aiko again was the appearance of Lana. Compared to Skylar, Lana was far from obvious about her affection. If there was anyone that Aiko would have used Ivy to keep away from, it should be Lana. Lana was another wallflower that Ivy had never paid attention to because she was too wrapped up in her own life. She had never noticed Lana had been losing weight. It seemed to have surprised a lot of people when she came in today looking like she did. She must have been hiding her weight loss for weeks.

Lana said her weight loss was sudden, but it isn’t like someone could lose that weight over a single weekend, right? Well, I lost that much weight when I had a baby, but that’s different. Was Lana pregnant? Wouldn’t that make Aiko the father?

Ivy immediately shook her head to rid herself of such crazy thoughts. There was no way Lana was a mother. Furthermore, it was very apparent that Lana and Aiko’s relationship was one-sided. For that reason and a few others, she was back to not quite understanding Aiko. Perhaps, some of the reason she had agreed to the sleepover also came from a hope that she could better understand him. As she glanced over at Lana, she nearly jumped. Lana was staring right back at her with an intense look.

“Is what Skylar said true?” Lana asked.

While Ivy had been lost in thought, Lana had returned with the drinks and she hadn’t noticed. How long had she been sitting there in a daze?

“What she said?” Ivy blinked as she took in the question Lana had thrown at her.

“Are you dating Aiko?” She demanded.

“Ah!” Ivy hadn’t expected her to ask such a question, and she immediately wanted to assure Lana she wasn’t but realized that would break her promise. “H-he… is…”

“I see…” Lana’s eyes dropped down.

Ivy didn’t like lying in normal circumstances, but it felt even worse because this was the first girl she had ever tried to spend time with. On top of that, Lana liked that very guy, and her lie affected her directly. That’s when a thought came to her.

“Is that why you wanted to hang out?” Ivy asked, feeling just a pang of sadness.

She had helped Lana at the school because Lana reminded her of herself in some ways. When Lana had asked her to come over, she had become excited. If she had only been invited over because of some misplaced jealousy over Aiko…

“That’s not true!” Lana’s eyes widened, and she immediately started shaking her head. “I invited you over because I wanted your help.”

Ivy blinked. “My help?”

Lana’s face flushed. “Earlier, you saved me when those guys started bugging me.”

Ivy’s cheeks heated. “It’s no big deal. I just did what anyone would do.”

“That’s the thing.” Lana leaned forward, reaching out a grabbing Ivy’s hand. “Not everyone would know what to do. That’s why… I want you to help me.”

“Help you how?” Ivy wasn’t sure what Lana was asking for.

“I don’t know…” Lana bit her lip. “How to be pretty.”

“Eh?” Wasn’t she already pretty?

Lana sat back. “Until very recently, I was overweight and just about every guy ignored me. Then, Aiko-“

“Aiko?” Ivy blinked as Lana suddenly stopped and closed her lips. “What did Aiko do?”

Lana shook her head. “I don’t even like the goth look that much. It just made the fact I was far less noticeable. Now that I’m no longer… that way… I need to figure out how to dress and act appropriately so I don’t get the wrong attention. I don’t know how to dress nicely without getting guys staring at me. I’ve always admired you. You always look pretty, but you also don’t expose a lot of skin or come off as available.”

“P-pretty…” Ivy shouldn’t have felt that happy, but it was nice to be acknowledged.

She was aware she had been high up on that so-called list of beauties too. She could have just worn sweatpants and baggy shirts and gone relatively unnoticed. However, that wasn’t what she wanted. Even though she had a daughter and had never seen herself dating a boy at her school, she still had her pride and a desire to seem attractive. It was quite difficult to maintain the balance though. She had to be beautiful, but aloof and unattainable to any of the guys. It had been two years since the last time a guy had even dared to ask her out before Aiko came along. She had never expected Lana to want to same.

“You know… you don’t have to be completely unavailable.” Ivy declared. “You don’t want to push every guy away, do you?”

“I don’t.” Ivy let out a breath at Lana’s response, but then the other girl continued. “That’s why… I need you to teach me how to catch Aiko’s interest.”

“What?” Ivy’s voice came out flat.

“You’re already someone who can call herself Aiko’s girlfriend! I have liked Aiko for longer than anyone. That’s why I want to learn from you!” Lana lowered her head, nearly bowing to Ivy.

“Y-you know I’m d-dating him, right?”

“That’s not important.” Lana declared, still looking. “Whether he’s dating someone or not, he’s still the man I love. So, even if he has no feelings for me, what else can I do except work to become someone he will have feelings for? That’s why I want to learn from an expert, someone who has already gained his interest.”

Ivy was speechless. She had been hopeful that Lana would just move on and they could be friends, but she never would expect her to be so bold. Of course, Ivy wasn’t dating Aiko. It was all a ruse. Lana didn’t know that though. She was honestly asking a girlfriend how to steal her boyfriend. It gave Ivy a strange feeling.

“H-how can you ask such a thing?” She was finally able to get out.

“Even though you are dating Aiko now, you might not always be dating him. Your relationship could end.”

“It won’t!” Ivy was surprised her voice had a bit of anger and determination in it.

She felt slightly threatened and territorial toward her fake boyfriend. This was ridiculous.

“If that’s so… then I only have one choice.” Lana glanced up at Ivy, and she found herself unable to look away.

Will she curse me with witchcraft?

“Wh-what?”

“I must get you to like me as much as Aiko… th-that way… if you can come to accept me, you can come to accept us.”

“Us?”

“Me, and Aiko… and Ivy…” She blushed, pushing her fingers together. “That way, everyone will be happy.”

Ivy reached out and took her cup of tea which was nearly lukewarm by that point and downed it in a single hit. This night was going to be far longer than she thought.