Audre & Bash Are Just Friends(49)

Chapter 19


Four miles south in Brooklyn, Reshma was soaking in her bathtub. Lazily, she was stirring Le Labo Rose 31 bath salts in the water with her white-polished big toe. And she was strategizing. She had to apologize to Audre. She didn’t mean to imply that Audre couldn’t pull Bash on her own. Or that she needed Reshma’s help. Reshma wanted to help. There was a huge difference.

Could Audre handle herself on her own? Maybe. But the thing was, she wasn’t as experienced, and getting her man might take forever. Reshma was wily. She was clever. And she was daring. With her tactics, she could speed up the process a little.

Why couldn’t Audre see that? she wondered, pressing her hands over her upset stomach. She’d been nauseous since their fight, but the hot bath was helping a bit. This antique claw-foot tub was her favorite spot in the house. It was the very same tub where Sparrow had lain, dry, during Reshma’s last-day-of-school party as she wept about her love of Bash.

So it was a full-circle moment when, just then, Reshma’s phone rang from its perch on her bath tray. It was Sparrow.

“I know we’re not close friends,” she was saying, “but I feel like I can trust you.”

Why? wondered Reshma. You shouldn’t.

“Of course you can trust me, doll,” she said. “What is it?”

Reshma heard Sparrow suck in a big, shuddery breath. “I was just at Target.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Target,” said Reshma, withholding a yawn. “Their throw pillows are elite.”

“No, it’s not that. I was there, and I saw Bash. With… with…”

Abruptly, Reshma sat up straight, splashing steaming water onto the black-and-white checkerboard floor tiles. “With who?”

“Audre.”

“Omigod.” Silently, Reshma clapped her hands with glee.

“I know! She knows I like Bash. She knows we shared a moment. I told her everything in confidence. She pretended to be my therapist and then went after MY GUY.”

Reshma couldn’t help but smile. They must’ve been doing the dildo challenge. “Sparrow, I know that must’ve really hurt. Can I ask you, though? Did it look like they liked each other?”

“Oh, they like each other. Audre was assaulting him with her eyes. I know that look—I’ve described it a million times in my Naruto fanfics.” And then her voice dropped down low. “They were in the sex toys aisle.”

Just as Reshma thought. Her mind was racing. Okay, clearly they really liked each other. But, once again, Reshma knew Audre would never make a real move if Bash was taken. Which sucked. More than anyone, Audre deserved love. Or at least a satisfying hookup.

Reshma was already in planning mode. “Don’t worry. I’ll get to the bottom of it.”





Reshma was bored. That was the problem. Whenever she was bored—or even sensed boredom brewing on the horizon—Naughty Reshma popped out of the bushes. She became a mischievous imp. Pagan goddess of mess.

When she didn’t have enough to do, when life slowed down for her, she got into trouble. Her only other option? Shutting down altogether. It had happened before. Everything went deep, dark purple, and the only place she felt okay was in her bed. In total darkness. With the AC turned down to a frosty sixty-six degrees. In the cold, cold darkness of her bedroom, she’d hide under a pile of blankets. Then she’d pull up every avatar-making app available, creating new illustrated versions of herself. It captivated her, seeing her face through the lens of a million different illustration styles.

And it wasn’t vanity. Her folders of animated “Reshmas” made her feel like she existed, somewhere. But she didn’t want to fall back into that pattern this summer. The good news was that she had an idea. A brilliant one.

When Audre talked about Bash, it was like a ring light appeared out of nowhere, illuminating her face like she was holy. She glowed! Audre had it bad, and no one deserved to be “in like” with a boy more than she did. It was hopeless, though, if he had a girlfriend. Audre had morals. But Reshma knew what Audre didn’t—there wasn’t anyone she couldn’t seduce.

Her plan? To lure Clio away from Bash. Once she was out of the picture, Audre would be free to date him! Yes, Audre had explicitly told Reshma not to get involved. But Audre had no idea what she was doing. She did need Reshma. And what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

And now, she and Clio were sitting on a bench at the edge of the pond. For an hour, they’d strolled around the perimeter of the lake, sprinkling the embankment with oats, birdseed, and grated carrots—the lunch of choice for the swans of Prospect Park.

“That one’s Melba,” said Clio, pointing over to the right. Melba was swimming all alone while a group of five or six swans slowly drifted by, looking swanky and standoffish.

“But why doesn’t she join them?”

“Because she belongs to an enemy family. They’ve been fighting each other for generations. But we had to remove them after an infection, so for now, she’s… flying solo.”

Reshma giggled at her pun but could barely follow what she was saying. The whole idea had been to capture Clio in her web. But as the afternoon wore on, it got harder to remember her mission. Instead, she was sinking into the tingly chemistry simmering between them. Was she imagining it? It was always hard to tell if a girl was queer, bi, bi-curious, or a Flirty Straight. The few times she’d incorrectly clocked a girl’s interest were soul-cringing.