It’s an attempt to lighten the mood and distract them from Gabi bringing up her nightly activities, but it doesn’t erase the awkward tension between the three of them. A couple of thoughts settle in Charlotte’s brain. One: Lou and Gabi know about her and Riley but neversaid anything. Two: theyapparentlyhaddiscussed it with each other.
“If you two already know everything, why are you trying to torture it out of me?” she spits, hurt creeping into her chest.
“Obviously, if it was something you wanted to share, we would be happy to listen and support you,” Lou answers. “But you were clearly trying to hide it, so we didn’t want to confront you. Until—”
“You made it everybody’s problem. Again,” Gabi finishes her fiancée’s sentence. “Just now by making the most dramatic exit ever, which I have to give you massive lesbian points for…”
Charlotte rolls her eyes. “...and the last few days by fucking each other stupid. Or I sincerely hope that’s what it was, because if not, I’ll have Riley arrested for tearing you apart and pulling you inside out. My dear god.”
If the beach could split open beneath her and swallow her whole, Charlotte would be eternally grateful. Her cheeks burn so hot it almost hurts; this might be the most embarrassed she’s ever felt. The only light on the horizon is the fact that, despite Gabi’s cross way of expressing her annoyance, she can still sense that she sees the humor in the situation. Which she actually prefers over anger, or so she thinks at first, but starts second guessing soon.
“Initially we thought the fire alarm was going off,” Gabi continues, unperturbed. “Then we figured it was probably coming from our upstairs neighbors, and youknow what, that could’ve been it! You could’ve gotten away with it, until—”
“She’s been holding this up for ages, I’m so sorry,” Lou mumbles under her breath.
“Until someone shrieked a name, which Lou then had the presence of mind about to point out so I couldn’t unhear it—”
“Sweetie, I think that’s—”
“And if only it had been an ordinary name, like Lisa or Emma, but no, you left nothing to the imagination as there happen to be very few people here with the name Riley—”
Charlotte, who has already buried her face in her hands, slumps even further down. Could she bury herself here? No, scratch that. She’d prefer to roll into the sea like a washed up whale.
“I would’ve been perfectly happy to spend the duration of your sexcapade deciding whether you sounded more like a howling monkey or one of those screaming goats, but no! You made sure to give us an extremely detailed description of where, when, how, and how long you needed Riley to—”
“Gabi, I feel like she understands now,” Lou tries interrupting her again, reaching behind Charlotte to place an arm on Gabi’s shoulder.
“Oh does she?” Gabi barks. “Because we cried. Charlotte, I cried three times.”
At Charlotte’s raised eyebrow, Lou snickers. “That’s true, actually. At first we laughed so hard we cried. Then,we realized what it meant and we teared up at the idea of you two being together. Gabi cried a third time from pure exhaustion because she couldn’t sleep.”
Charlotte flops onto her back, her body limp in the sand. “Are you two done?”
Somewhere above her, she hears Gabi exhaling loudly. And then a second time. “I think so,” she eventually says. “For now.”
“So can you please go back to your own party? I feel bad enough. And if people start wondering where you are—”
“They probably think we’re fucking in a bathroom,” Lou says, winking at her almost-wife. “So don’t worry about it.”
Lou lies down on her back too, next to Charlotte.
“Just tell us what your game plan is,” Gabi says, still pressing, but not as tense anymore. Then she gets on her back next to the other two.
“My game plan?” Charlotte huffs, looking up at the stars. “You’re really asking the wrong person. Ask Riley what kind of games she’s playing.”
“I have a feeling she isn’t playing any games, Charlotte,” Lou says softly. “She hasn’t opened up about it, which tells me more than enough. She is… she looks…” Not able to find the right words, she decides to try a different route: “You have to understand: I like Riley. And so does Gabi.”
Charlotte blinks, turning her head from one to the other. “You’re… getting married in two days though. To each other.”
“Ha-ha,” Lou snickers, while Gabi kicks Charlotte’s ankle in reprimand. “I mean Riley is my friend for a reason,” Lou says. “She’s a more than decent person. Let her tell you how she feels about this. I’ll talk to her first, but then it’s up to you.”
“Please don’t talk to her,” Charlotte pleads. “It’ll look like I asked you to do that. I’m already the biggest loser of all losers. And it doesn’t matter anyway. She doesn’t want anything to do with me once we’re out of here.”
“She doesn’t?” Lou asks incredulously. “Have you asked her?”
Charlotte presses her lips together. She doesn’t want to talk about the conversation she overheard, because if she says it out loud, it will mean too many things.
“She won’t know we had this conversation,” Lou promises her. “I’ll just confront her with what I’ve been catching up on.”
