“Whoa Banana! I had one for you, too,” Lily said, turning to catch up. She turned her head towards Maya and said, “Come on.” If Maya had been surprised before, it didn’t show; her face was flushed, her eyes were soft, and they were trained on Hanna.
Of course they were.
Lily caught up to Hanna and pulled her arm to slow her down. “Hey, let Maya catch up, superstar. I forgot you skated in high school.”
Hanna turned towards an approaching Maya, looking slightly guilty. “Yeah well, that was a long time ago.”
“What was?” Maya asked as she finally caught up to them. People skated around them. It’s what was nice about the retreat–Aunt Julia never overbooked it, so there was plenty of space and breathing room.
“Banana here used to figure skate in high school,” Lily said, after Hanna failed to answer.
“Whoa really? Can you show us a thing or two?” Maya asked.
“It was a long time ago, but yeah, I used to skate. I can do a couple of things. I’ll show you once we’ve skated around and I’ve gotten a feel for the ice.”
They began to move again, slow and steady and in sync.
“That makes me feel better then, if you think the ice feels good so far, or safe I mean,” Maya said. She was between Hanna and Lily and grabbed their hands. But the look on her face, Lily noticed, made it clear the hand grabbing was more about safety than affection.
“If you fall in, I’ll jump in and save you,” Lily said, and Maya rolled her eyes.
“Like I saved us from yourwhateverback there?” Hanna said, and her sarcastic laughter unsettled something in Lily. That had been a bit of a surprise: Sruti and Fe working, in equipment,together. Sruti usually worked in equipment in the main lodging area for sports.
Lily felt Maya’s hand tighten in her grip, as if bracing herself for a fall, even though they were skating just fine.
“Yeah, whatwasthat exactly?” Maya asked.
“Oh I think we know, rightLily?” Hanna emphasized Lily’s name in a way that she did not like. “Just notches in your bedpost?” She shrugged as if it was not a big deal, but Lily could tell it was in fact, a very big deal.
Lily’s mouth dried as she tried to think of the best way to explain.
Maya added, “Oh, well, Sruti was it? The pixie cut? She was alluring, and well, you have that thing for redheads, right Lil?” Maya said. Her voice was calm, but there was still a bite to it.
Were they both annoyed with her?
Before she could stop herself, her defenses were up and her playgirl took over, “I mean, who doesn’t?”
Definitely the wrong thing to say.
“Jesus Lily,” Maya muttered under her breath, but didn’t let go of her hand. Lily decided that it was because she was more afraid of falling flat on her face than holding onto her at the moment.
Definitely annoyed.
This is why she didn’tdoattachments, and by attachments, she meant multiple hookups. Look at how icy Fe—Felicity was treating her. She couldn’t help who she’d been with before. She certainly couldn’t help that they’d run into not one buttwoof her old flings. And that’s what they had been, flings. Sure, she and Felicity had been a bit more consistent, but it's not like Lily was ever going to U-haul up to Northern Vermont and put a ring on it.
“Doesn’t matter, they both clearly had eyes for you, so tell us Lily, old flings?” Hanna said.
“Not going to lie, it gets lonely up here.” Lily was annoyed now; she didn’t really owe them an explanation. She had been looking forward to bringing Hanna and Maya up here to spend some time with them somewhere that wouldn’t be too expensive for them. She had broken her rule because there wassomethingabout Maya and Hanna that made her want to give in. The closest she had ever experienced to this desire was Felicity, and that was a disaster now. Lily wondered if now the rest of the trip was ruined.
Hanna scoffed.
After a pause, Maya blew out a breath and said, “It's cool, I mean, it’s not like–” Maya took another breath and then something like defeat edged into her voice. “Whatever, let’s just have a good break, ok? I really need a break.”
The last part, that plea from Maya, immediately slammed into Lily’s defenses. Lily could feel them slowly crumbling.
“They’re two old flings from a while back. I just didn't expect to see them here, together, is all,” Lily offered, because that’s all she could really say in this moment. She was desperate for the activity at hand to get back on track somehow.
“Yeah well, it’s cool, we know we aren’t the only ones, and, of course, you have good taste,” Hanna said.
