Clear The Air

[Belle Fitzgerald]

“Okay but what about with this?” she said, standing up as she placed a dramatically oversized hat on her head. She tried to strike a pose, laughing before she took it off and threw it to the side. She had music playing in the background.. ‘Shape of You’ by that red haired British guy. Whatever his name was. She looked up at her computer, looking up at Sebastian’s expression. He’d just asked a question about David, causing her to role her eyes slightly. “He’s been giving some ‘tude since he ran into us at the burger place,” she said, standing up and puffing her cheeks out. “Okay I just need to figure out which pair of pants to wear before your sister gets here,… I think we’re finally just going to like sit down and air everything out.. so expect her to punch you in the arm or something when she gets all the deets.” she said, picking up a pair of skinny jeans from the floor and starting to put them on. She stopped, thinking that she could hear her maid talking to someone. So she did exist. She could never catch that sly lady. She was always disappearing to places quickly. But presumably she worked. “I think she’s here. I’ll text you later. Hey- hey!” she said going over to the computer and leaning down, “You got an A on your paper,” she said, before laughing quietly. She said bye to him, blowing him a kiss before shutting her laptop and heading out toward the main area. “Hey!” she said, smiling at Lucy as she finished putting on her shirt. “I’m glad you could make it,” she said, walking past her to head to the kitchen so that she could make them something to drink. Belle scrunched her nose, looking through the kitchen bar before she pulled out a few things to make Lucy a mojito. Maybe she would like that. “Okay, so here’s the sitch….” she said, placing her hands on the counter as she looked at Lucy. “Ever since I came back I feel like.. we both obviously have secrets. That’s not what we do. So tonight …. We are treating this as a judgment free zone. And we are going to share our secrets.” she said, giving a nod before going back to working on the mojito. “I’ll go first,” she said, grinding the mint before putting it in the glass and looking at Lucy, pushing the drink toward her slightly. “The night before I left for rehab I slept with Sebastian.” she said, lifting her eyebrows in fear that Lucy would scold her.

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy was glad she and Belle would finally have some time to chat things out and spend time together.  She was a little nervous about some of the things she needed to tell Belle, but Belle was better off knowing all the details.  As Lucy walked into Belle's home, she smiled at the maid, greeting her briefly before she scurried off.  Lucy smiled brightly when Belle came in, "Of course, I wouldn't miss hanging out," she said taking Belle's face in her hands and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  Lucy sat down on a bar stool, leaning her chin in her hand on the counter when Belle had said here's the sitch, "Okay."  Belle explained that since they had both apparently been keeping things from each other, they would spill everything right here and now.  "Okay deal," Lucy said watching her make a drink as she said she would go first.  Lucy nervously pushed her hair back from her face, finding it ridiculous that she was so nervous.  After Belle had stated that she'd slept with Lucy's brother, Lucy stared at her, letting that sink in.  "Oh my- okay." Lucy said, covering her face in her hands and let out a high sigh.  "Okay." she repeated and then said again.  "Ohhkay." She was not mad.  She was trying to get over the weirdness of it.  "Like, just the one time...?" she asked, worried about what the answer might be.  But weirder enough Lucy sort of wanted to hit Sebastian, but also she wondered how he had been okay with that, knowing how he felt about Belle.  Lucy shook her head, "Alright, my turn."  She placed her hands folded in front of her, "While you were away at rehab... I slept with Ian."  Lucy made a face, not only did she forget to mention that she slept with Ian, she never mentioned she'd lost her virginity either and she swore to Belle she would tell her.  It was just weird telling her when she was away at rehab.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle crossed her arms before leaning against the counter behind her and watching Lucy. She shook her head slightly as she answered, "No, it was totally the one time. He and I talked about it for the first time like a week ago. And, it's seriously not a big deal. Like I think he thinks of it the same way as I do.. it hasn't messed up our friendship at all." she said, looking to the side to see if her mom had left any vegetables out for snacking. No sugar in the house. Dumb. She looked up at Lucy, realizing that she was about to give her own secret. And honestly she felt her face go into an obvious amount of shock. Lucy slept with someone? And didn't tell her? I mean yeah, sure. Belle slept with her brother and didn't tell her. But come on, that was totally different. Belle had a reputation for being a little more promiscuous that Lucy. This was a huge deal. " Okay...." she said, trying not to sound too judgmental. Cause it's like, hi losing your virginity is one thing. Losing it to Ian? The guy was an STD just walking around. Though, she was sure people made the same assumption about her even though she didn't really sleep with that many people. " Are you.... okay?" she asked, making a slight face as she looked at Lucy. Belle scratched the top of her eyebrow and stood up. "Alright.." she said, placing both of her hands slightly over her mouth and she looked at Lucy narrowing her eyes. " Okay." she said, trying to just get herself ready to reveal her next secret. "Sebastian and I ran into the guy that I have been seeing for a little while now when we went out to dinner....Did he mention running into anyone?" she asked, scrunching her nose.

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy made a face as Belle grasped what she'd told her.  This was why Lucy didn't tell anyone; it was embarrassing, she could tell Belle didn't approve, and she wasn't over it.  Lucy shook her head when Belle asked if she was okay.  She wasn't.  "Yeah, it was a while ago."  She shrugged it off, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.  Maybe some other time when they were over the shock of it she would talk to Belle about it more.  Okay, those were water under the bridge.  Moving on.  She asked if Sebastian mentioned them running into anyone, but Lucy shook her head, "No, he didn't mention anything," Lucy said, intrigued, "Is that the big secret? Who you're dating?"  Lucy kind of thought maybe Belle was seeing someone but wasn't sure because it wasn't like Belle to keep it under wraps.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle pushed herself away from the counter, opening the fridge before she started to take out some greek yogurt. She worked quickly, putting it into bowls before she put granola and then some fresh fruit in each of them, pushing one of the bowls over to Lucy. "Mmm.. yeah," she said, as Lucy asked about whether or not the secret was about who she was dating rather than just the fact that she was dating. She was honestly sort of surprised that Sebastian kept the fact that they ran into David to himself.. or if he just figured that eventually Lucy and Belle would get around to the conversation and she could inform her herself. "Okay," she said, looking at Lucy as she took in an extremely long breath. " I am seeing..... Mr.Greyson. David." she said waiting a moment before smiling really big in hopes that it would make this situation less awkward. But then, she started speaking quickly. " And you know Sebastian seemed cool with it, and I think he really supports it. Because once you get to know David he is this really amazing guy. And he's actually British.. his accent isn't fake. And I know that we aren't supposed to like the British because of King George... but I like him. And see he's teaching me..." she said, smiling as she nodded. " I mean he's teaching me all sorts of things," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy waited, not realizing that when she said she was dating Mr. Greyson, she literally meant Mr. Greyson.  Their teacher.  Lucy froze, "Mr. history teacher, Greyson...?"  She reached down and grabbed her drink, tipping it back until it was gone.  Lucy knew Belle was trying to make light of it and honestly, it was just so... Belle.  When she mentioned Sebastian was okay with it, Lucy grinned before letting out a peel of giggles.  It was just so Belle.  "Oh my god," Lucy managed, "Anabelle."  She let out a breath, calming herself, "I was just not at all expecting you to say that.  Oh my goodness."  She shook her head, offering a smile.  Belle didn't tell her because she couldn't really.  "So... do we hang out?  Do I call him David?  You obviously do."  Belle mentioned that he was teaching her things, Lucy just held up a hand, "Please, if you're happy I support it, but let's hold off on those details for now."  Lucy sighed, "Okay, I have one more thing.  It's not at all happy but I have to tell you."  Lucy stirred her yogurt up a bit, staring at it before setting her spoon down.  "Ian told me something the night of that masquerade party."  Lucy looked at her best friend, "I know Richard was having an affair with Tiffany."  She paused, speaking gently, "it's okay, I understand why you didn't say anything.  Things have been really hard."  Lucy picked her spoon back up for the sake of having something to do with her hands, "Ian  knew about it; he told me there was footage from the hotel security cameras of Richard and Tiffany together.  Ian took  it and kept it put away because he thought it would look bad for you.  The reason he was concerned was because the footage was stolen; he thinks whoever stole it is blackmailing Richard.  The bigger question though, is for what?"  Lucy took a bite of yogurt, pausing to let Belle absorb the information. "I don't know if someone is trying to scare us into telling the truth, or scare us into keeping quiet, but it seems like there is something else going on that has nothing to do with us."

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle just stared at Lucy, her lips slightly parted as she tried to take everything that she had just said in. No, she hadn't told Lucy everything that was going on between Tiffany and her family. It was like this horrible secret that she wished she could just sweep under the rug. And it was just a reminder that all of this felt like it had been put into motion because she was the one that pushed someone off a roof. Belle closed her mouth, swallowing hard as she looked down at the yogurt. Yes, she could be a bit wild and extreme. Sometimes she didn't take things so seriously. But it was because the world they were living in was so ridiculously serious that she wanted to refuse to believe it was actually her life. Belle took in a breath, looking up and pushing her hair away. "I keep thinking that one of us is going to just... The bodies are piling up. I mean seriously, I come home and someone is dead. That timing seems insane to me. I kill someone. I spiral. I leave. I come back. Someone dies. I'm worried about all of us.. mainly because I have no idea what we are hiding from. But it feels like it's connected, doesn't it?" she said, looking at Lucy with a slight sense of desperation. Puzzles and mysteries were her thing. If anyone could figure something out, it was her. Causing problems and mysteries was more Belle's thing. "Lucy this is my fault.. and one of us is going to get hurt. I don't want it to be you,"

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy didn't know what was connected to what, or if Belle's return to the city had to do with which parts.  Lucy was good with puzzles, but this one was missing pieces, and that was the problem.  Lucy shook her head, letting out a breath, "I don't... know either, I can't figure how it's connected.  There's something we aren't getting.  I don't know if we should be digging deeper or just hoping it all goes away if we go about our lives and keep our mouths shut."  Lucy could feel Belle's desperation for all of it to just go away, but Lucy's own desperation for answers was nagging at her.  "Hey," Lucy added, looking at Belle like she had it wrong, "It's not your fault.  You would never intentionally hurt someone.  It was an accident.  And Brad... another accident.  They have to be weird coincidences until we can prove otherwise.  Right now we have nothing to go on.  Nothing is going to happen to any of us, I promise."  She smiled softly, squeezing Belle's hand, "You'll always have me."  Lucy wanted to get off the subject, feeling relieved that Belle knew everything Lucy knew now.  "so," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "David." She smirked, "when did that start? Do you like, curl up on the couch while he grades our papers?" she joked.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Keeping their mouths shut was something they had gotten accustomed to. You didn't live in their world without knowing a world full of secrets. But the devastating part was, every one else worth mentioning knew yours too. It was all a bunch of masks and smoke to try and cover up what was really going on, or who was really sleeping with who, who killed whom.. Belle narrowed her eyes. Who or whom? Whatever. But right now in their group, she was the only one that was a a legitimate murderer. Yeah, it had been an accident. But Belle had been the one to push that girl to her death. Every one else had been playing the role of Lucy's puppets to make sure that her best friend didn't go down in flames for this. Which was ironic because all of it felt like hell. She looked at Lucy, realizing that she was trying to lighten the mood and appreciated the gesture. But she just had to ask one more thing. "Luc, what if I went to the authorities?" she asked, biting the inside of her lip roughly. " I mean... This is taunting us. What if I just went to the authorities and say that I lied about my alibi, and that I'm the one that killed Tiffany. I mean you said it yourself.. it was an accident. Maybe they'll believe that, too"

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy wasn't sure how to respond.  Say Belle did go to authorities and confess?  Sure maybe it would make more sense to them, Tiffany and Belle got into a fight and Belle pushed her, not realizing she had done so at just the right strength or angle, that the rail hit Tiffany at just the right height.  Belle had no intention of causing what happened.  "Okay... say you do."  Lucy tilted her head, watching her, thinking, "What do you tell them when they ask what you were fighting about, when they are trying to nail down a motive?  What will Ian change his alibi to?  Does he confess to being there?  Any of us could be prosecuted for obstruction charges.  What if something you tell them leads them to investigate more?  Someone isn't happy with us, would it piss them off more?  I'm not saying you shouldn't, it's your decision to do so.  Just things to consider."  Lucy was running scenarios through her head, wondering what path Belle would take if she so decided.  "Would you decide you come clean about Richard's affair?  Is your family ready for that?  Your mom?"  Lucy quietly finished her yogurt, having maybe given Belle some other things to consider.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Okay. Lucy was coming at her with a lot of stuff. Belle leaned forward, placing her face in her hands as she took in a deep breath. What did other people their age worry about? I mean seriously. What was it like to worry about your reports that were due, or whether or not the guy from the tea function was actually going to call you or not? Who was she kidding. They always called her and Lucy back. Belle cleared her throat before dropping her hands. "No, .. I ..." she started, shaking her head. No. She needed to live in what little safety this world that Lucy had created for them constructed. If someone else was playing them, then it was best to keep their own cards close to hand. " Uh... so tell me about Ian," she said, feeling her phone vibrate. She looked down to see that it was a text from David before she looked back at Lucy. "I mean how did that even happen?" she asked making a slight face. "I mean, no judgment," she said, realizing quickly that probably came off wrong. "I just had no.... idea.. Do you still... are you into him?" Belle asked, looking over at Lucy.

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Lucy could tell she'd said something to make her reconsider, which, good.  Not that Lucy wanted to control what Belle did, it was just that she wanted Belle to make a decision based off everything they knew, every scenario, and every possible outcome.  If Lucy had to be the one to remind her what could happen, she would.  Belle changed the subject, wanting to know more about the situation with Ian, and Lucy stopped.  "Hey." she tried to interject, but Belle had continued, saying she wasn't judging.  She wanted to know, was Lucy into him.  Lucy crossed her arms defensively over her self, "hey... I asked about David first..." she knew she was being childish, she just really, really didn't want to talk about Ian.  She'd told Belle, it wasn't a secret, she didn't want to divulge anymore.  "I- we just... it was a weird time, and it was a mistake, I know that.  He wasn't, or isn't, a good choice. So," she shrugged, "It's in the past.  I have things to focus on."  Lucy folded her hands  gently, "Now.  You talk about David.  Go ahead, I'm all ears," she smiled.  There was a difference in their boy situations, Belle was in what was probably actually a pretty happy relationship.  She would want to talk about it, Lucy figured.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle watched Lucy with her eyes slightly narrowed. If she didn't really want to talk about it, fine. She'd figure out more later eventually. And if Ian did anything to fuck with her heart, then Belle would just have to kill him. She'd done it before. Maybe the first kill was the hardest. Man.. this dark humor was getting the best of her. Belle took in a breath and started to say something, but figured that Lucy was the smartest person in the room. If there was something that needed to be said or thought, Lucy would've already said or thought it. "Okay," she conceded, folding her arms slightly. " David is.. pretty damn great," she said, letting her smile spread. "He just gets me on this really weird way. I mean, I think he wishes that I cared a little more about school, but he doesn't get it." she said, waving it off slightly. "I mean he's British. Like actually British... so that's pretty hot. And he says the cutest thing. Like when he is tired, he says he is knackered." she said, smiling while shaking her head. "He makes me think that there's something better outside of all of this,"

[Lucille Grace Astor]

Well Lucy knew she wasn't getting off that easily.  Belle knew her better than anyone, she knew when Lucy was lying about boys at least.  Lucy just... they'd said a lot here.  Lucy wasn't quite ready to talk about it.  But the way Belle was talking about David, their teacher, made Lucy forget for a moment that he was their teacher.  "Aw," she smiled, "See.  I want that.  I love that."  She was referring to just the general way he made Belle feel, like there was something bigger.  Was Lucy just going after the wrong people, should she be trying to find some young hot teacher?  "I think we might have to plan a time, away from school, maybe in a totally different neighborhood, where we can hang out.  With David.  So I can hang out with David.  Outside of school."  Lucy nodded with finality.  If Belle was into him the Lucy needed to get to know him as a person, not just her history teacher.  Which was weird, but sort of necessary.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle smiled as she looked down at her fingers at the way that Lucy seemed to be reacting to the news. She nodded in slight agreement. "He didn't seem too enthused that I was telling you. I mean, I told him that I was going to tell him about you a week ago. Then I ended up hanging out with Sebastian. So now two people know. Which... it stresses him out." she said, rolling her eyes yet somehow she also completely understood it. Adulthood came with consequences. She turned her head, looking at Lucy with a smile. "Maybe we could all have dinner at his place. You two could talk about all of the smart things that you smart people talk about. And I can just... listen to him talk," she said, laughing quietly. "Honestly, he's so smart that I don't know what he is seeing in me. I mean other than the obvious,.. as pretentious and snobby as that sounds. But I had to work that out in my head and get past the idea that he's only interested in me because I'm younger and it's secretive and exciting. I think Sebastian is all worried about his intentions or whatever..." she said, shaking her head as she thought about Sebastian the other evening when they met.