Temptation

Lucia stared closely at the computer in front of her. All her focus was on the ranked match she was playing. She was one win away from platinum and was forced to rely on her team for that win. This was hard for Lucia to swallow. She didn’t work well with others online and found herself roaming solo in most games. Now she was stuck in a position where she had to guard a specific door while the others kept the objective safe. If the team did what they were supposed to, everything would work out just fine. It was rare for random players to do what was expected of them and even rarer to do as they’re told. Lucia could’ve talked to them and made sure they did their jobs, but random people tended to do the opposite of what she said just to piss her off. She had a moment of doubt and turned her attention to the objective and saw that no one was guarding it. She took a deep sigh and turned her attention back to the door. It wasn’t her problem. She was halfway across the map and rushing back would only expose her. As if the world was tempting her, the enemy team started taking the objective. She gritted her teeth and left her spot to take care of the threat at the objective. Fate was laughing at her on that day. As she turned away from the door, an enemy rushed in and gunned her down. If she wasn’t distracted, she would’ve been ready when the enemy came. “Damn it,” She screamed, slamming her fists against her desk. She quit the game before it could be counted as a loss. Lucia was willing to get a lower rank if she was personally at fault, but she refused to be penalized because of her team. Her roommate, Hollie, came into her room as Lucia entered a new game. Lucia didn’t acknowledge her at first, just saw her in the corner of her eye. It wasn’t until Hollie spoke up that Lucia flipped one headphone off her ear. “What,” Lucia asked, keeping her attention on the game.

“Could I talk to you for a second,” Hollie asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I kind of need your full attention for this conversation.”

Lucia’s game just started, and she wasn’t going to quit after just joining in. “Have a seat, let me finish this game.” Hollie sat on the corner of Lucia’s bed and patiently waited, shaking her leg, and fiddling with her hair.

When Lucia was done with her game, she turned around and looked over Hollie while resting her head on her fist Hollie was all dolled up with her blonde hair down and a little bit of makeup applied. “Going somewhere,” Lucia asked.

“Maybe, I just needed to ask you something.”

“Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

“We’re friends, right? I mean, you don’t just stay here because I pay half the rent.”

“Of course, we are.” Lucia leaned forward in her chair. “Hollie, what is this about?”

“I did something. Something I can’t take back.”

“Hollie, spit it out already.”

Hollie dipped her head down and folded her hands together. “Remember last weekend, when your girlfriend was here?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you know I went out that night?”

“No, I thought you went to bed.”

“I tried, but you two were getting loud like you normally do.”

Lucia gave a wry grin. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s something that’s been bothering me since before you broke up with your boyfriend. I thought I wouldn’t care as much when you got a girlfriend, but It still got on my nerves just to listen to.”

“Why didn’t you say anything,” Lucia asked.

“To be honest, I was embarrassed to bring it up. And I know I wouldn’t want to hear it from you if I found someone.”

“Hollie, don’t be like that. If I knew you had a problem with it, I would’ve done something about it. And I’ve told you that I would help you find someone. If you always put this much effort into your appearance, you’d find someone in no time. I already know a few people that would be interested in you if you just let me make the introduction.”

“I appreciate it, but all your friends are into dark shit and I don’t want any part of that. I’ve been trying to put that part of my life behind me for a long time now.”

Lucia laughed and leaned back in her chair. “Honey, you don’t know what dark is. You think my friends are bad? You’ve only scratched the surface.”

“Stop saying that,” Hollie snapped. “Every time this comes up you act like I’m a little girl you need to protect from the world. Just because I get all quiet when you talk about it doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to it. Numb would be a better word.”

“All right, we’re both adults, just spit it out then. What’s the darkest thing you’ve done?”

Hollie gritted her teeth. “Have you ever been held down as someone had their way with you without your consent?” Lucia remained silent as the expression on her face changed to serious. “Was that person a family member that you trusted? Did you think it was okay because you thought that was how the world worked?”

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I thought you were a virgin.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Lucia tilted her head, a hint of surprise in her voice. “A long time ago? You just turned twenty-one. When was this?”

“I was eleven when it started. It went on until I finally ran away at sixteen.”

“Hollie.” Lucia gently took Hollie’s hand. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s something I’ve been trying to leave in the past. But you and your friends coming over, doing things I can only imagine from what I hear through the walls. It gets even worse when your dark side comes out.”

“I know I can get pretty bad.” Lucia took pride in her dark side. She kept her hair black and white split down the middle to represent how she was equally dark as she was light. It was her way of saying that she held herself accountable for her actions rather than blaming her mood swings.

“It was just something I got tired of last weekend. It bothered me hearing you get so much enjoyment out of it when it shrouded over me for so many years. I had to step out and get some quiet.” Hollie kept her eyes at her feet the entire time and grew quieter as she spoke. “I ended up at a bar in uptown. Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead there, but I needed a drink and the liquor store was already closed.” Hollie chuckled under her breath. “You would’ve laughed at me. The place was so crowded I froze at the door. I had to make a b-line for the closest bar stool to keep myself from walking back out. I hunched myself over the counter to avoid getting anyone else’s attention while simultaneously trying to flag down the bartender. She was so busy keeping up with everyone else. I wanted to wait for things to settle down before getting her attention.”

Lucia leaned in for a hug. “Sometimes you can be so precious, you know that?”

Hollie leaned into her hug, taking a moment to appreciate her for listening.