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[floozyfacade]

It's only a few weeks into the school term and, if Olive were sensible, she'd be studying. Today's a light day, meaning she has plenty of time to do so, if she just buckles down, and it's not like she isn't a focused, disciplined student when she wants to be. Even without these grades contributing to the college applications she won't be writing

Comments

[1struleiscardio]

It's kind of like knowing twins - I know she's not Wichita, I can tell she's not Wichita just from looking at her but...for a moment? It's really hard not to get distracted by how. Which is just embarrassing. So I'm already blushing when I wonder closer and...realise what she's reading.

"I really don't want to know, do I?"

[floozyfacade]

About the only times Olive really feels weird about wearing a two-piece bathing suit, even a relatively modest one, is when she runs into Columbus. Or Mark, but that's much rarer, since even now that they're on better terms, they don't spend a whole lot of private time together. Paired with her choice of reading material, it's a little embarrassing, even though there's no reason to be bothered. It's just one of the few things in her life she makes a real effort not to analyze, and then she worries that that effort in itself is a bad thing, so she has to try not to pick that apart, too.

"You really don't," she answers, wincing slightly, half-closing the magazine as she gestures for him to join her. "There are some things you just don't need to hear. Or read. Ever."

[1struleiscardio]

She's my friend and, bikini or not, I drop down to sit beside her. The heels of my sneakers dig into the sand. I'm actually wearing shorts today and my fingers hang against bare shins.

"I think Wichita knows enough about...everything to have me covered."

[floozyfacade]

Olive lets go of the magazine to lift her hands briefly to her ears, then lets them drop because she feels incredibly childish doing that for even a second. She has no problem with the topic of sex itself and she's hardly a prude; it was an open subject in her house, sometimes unfortunately. Actually, hearing it from Wichita probably wouldn't even faze her much. It's hearing about Wichita that's weird.

"I keep having to remind myself we have different bodies," she says through slightly grit teeth, feeling absurd for that, too, but she sees no reason not to be honest about it. "It confuses my brain. Yeah, no, I'm - I'm sure she does. And that you don't want her following these instructions, because you probably want all your, you know... equipment intact."

[1struleiscardio]

"...I don't think about you, you know," I say, and it's so embarrassing that I have to cover my face with my hands. "I just...I feel it's really important to put that out there. You and her? I don't...like...compare or anything."

I feel faintly nauseous.

"Oh, Jesus."

[floozyfacade]

It's so awkward that it goes all the way back around to hilarious again, at least for Olive. She suspects the way she lies her head down on the magazine and starts laughing probably doesn't actually help him feel any better, but she can't help it. "Oh, God," she says. "Oh, Columbus, I'm sorry. I - that's not funny, it isn't. But it totally is. Um, no, no, tha- that is good to know, thank you." She reaches over to touch his knee, fond and apologetic all at once as she looks up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply you would."

[1struleiscardio]

Actually, the way she kind of laughs at me helps. If she'd looked at me like she couldn't believe what I'd just said then I'd probably have wanted the beach to swallow me up. As it is, I can almost laugh too.

"I just...You know."

[floozyfacade]

"No, I - I know," Olive says, nodding. "Or I think I do. It's just strange to think about sometimes. All the people who look like each other but they don't and... I mean, you and Mark are... similar, but you're not. At all." There's a guy who looks a lot like Eduardo now, too, though she's made a point of avoiding him for now. Somehow that's way weirder than dealing with Wichita. "Not - not that that's even remotely the same kind of situation, but."

[1struleiscardio]

"It's like..twins?" I raise both eyebrows and make this vague gesture with my hands. "Like, you look alike but...there's no way that I'd ever mistake you? Even from behind."

And then I realise what that

[floozyfacade]

This time Olive rolls over on to her back, covering her face with the magazine as she cracks up. "Oh, my God," she says, even though she's blushing under there, too. "I - I want to ask and I don't want to ask, and if you catch me checking out your girlfriend's ass now to figure out the difference, you have only yourself to blame."

[1struleiscardio]

"Can we just...not?" I ask, still with my face buried in my hands. "Can we talk about anything but this?"

There's, like, nothing on the planet that I wouldn't rather talk about than this. Period. Anything.

[floozyfacade]

Olive peers over the edge of the magazine, nodding. "Yes," she says, "absolutely, anything, anything at all. You're not taking any classes, right? I was gonna ask how they were going and you've foiled my first topic right out of the gate." Even so, it's a safer, probably less embarrassing topic.