Calling in a Favour

"Look, I don't have a lot of options, you know the way there, you're basically the only person left who I know can drive, and, honestly, you're mostly silent so that kind of makes it less awkward. Please. What do you say?" I ask. I had to come up with an excuse to leave Elise on her own, I ended up saying I needed to do Drama work. I guess it's not totally a lie, since I am in the library, and we are in the same Drama group.

Gabriel still seems afraid of me, not sure I can do much at this point, but he's at least thinking about it. "Okay." He finally decides. Holy shit, for a while there I didn't think he'd do it, I guess he's not as afraid of me as I thought... Or way more afraid. I guess it works either way. "But I have a condition." He continues.

Ah. Seemed to good to be true, still, he's doing me a favour, I guess I can help him out. "Right... What's the condition?" I answer hesitantly. I'd really do almost anything to be able to tell Elise I love her at this point, but admitting that doesn't give me a good negotiating position.

"A friend of mine's having a big party for Hallowe'en. Tonnes of people. I want you all to come, everyone from yours." He reveals. Well that's anticlimactic. Oh no, I have to go to a Hallowe'en party, not like I'd thought that far ahead, but who doesn't like dressing up?

"Okay, yeah, seems easy enough, what, are you worried about numbers or something?" I respond puzzledly.

Gabriel's face tells me it's not as simple as he made out. "It's Jenny's."

Oh.

Well that changes things.

"I'd rather walk." I snarl, turning to make my exit before Gabriel answers hectically.

"Wait, wait!" He requests. "I know how things are with you two, and I'm not saying forget everything... But she's not the same person nowadays. She's been through a lot... I think it'd make her happy if you came. And I think it'd be good for you."

Very insightful, too bad I don't care. "Vegetables are good for me. This isn't worth the effort." I decline, turning away again.

"I'll sweeten the deal!" Gabriel urges desperately. Why am I still listening? There's nothing worth having to put up with Jenny for an entire night. "We have a family friend, my godfather, taught me to drive. If I call him he'll take you there no questions asked... In his Limo. He's a Limo driver."

Damn, that's a good deal. As much as I despise Jenny, I love Elise more, and I know she'd love a ride in a limousine, she loves the flashy stuff deep down. What's my alternative? Cancel? Let all of Rouge's effort go to waste? Not tell Elise how I feel? No. There's only one choice here... But I'm a haggler.

"Counter-offer. Limo takes us, we go to Jenny's party, I bring everyone. But I want you to deck out the back of the car, I mean champagne, roses, everything. And I mean you, personally." I demand. It's a big ask, but so's a whole night with the demon of my childhood.

"Okay." Gabriel answers immediately. His face is the most innocent wide-eyed grin I've ever seen on a human, this kid really wants to help Jenny out huh? She doesn't deserve a friend like that. "Anything you want, I'll make all the preparations, thank you!" He nearly squeals. "One question though, why me personally?"

Partly because I thought he'd say no, then I could negotiate down to everything but someone else sorts it. Turns out that wasn't needed. "You're the one who came up with the aquarium idea, you're probably the most romantic person I know... I guess I trust your judgement." I clarify. "I mean it though, everything. Perfect. Prove me right." I conclude, before making my exit from the library.

On the outside I'm calm and collected.

Internally I'm screaming.

I might just pull this off.

*

"Pretty sure you're allowed to be in the room when someone's taking a nap if that person's your girlfriend." Rouge scoffs. The rest of the school day was uneventful, but Elise had decided she needed a lie down when we got home, meanwhile I'm running on so much adrenaline from my deal with Gabriel that i couldn't sleep if i wanted to. Not that I can tell Elise about that.

I plop myself down on Rouge's bed as she continues working at her desk. "Yeah, but then how could I check up on you? Haven't seen you all day." I reply. I haven't seen Trish either, which is even weirder, maybe she was off sick.

"I don't need babysitting. I had a long night and I got emotional from tiredness. I'm fine." She declares directly, as if releasing a statement to the press.

"Oh, that's convenient, so you don't mind that Trish skipped school to spend the day with Skye?" I lie.

Rouge spins in her seat to look at me, rage filling her expression. "She did what?" She barks. Oh that's just too easy, I remember when she was the smart one.

"Just kidding, think she was sick, but even rested you seem awfully upset about it." I observe nonchalantly. Rouge's anger does not dissipate. I take it back, I'm still the dumb one. No smart person would antagonise someone like her.

"For your information, I was annoyed because her education is important, we can't all get by on our siblings' generosity and singing in a backwater bar. Trish is my friend and I have a right to look out for her." My sister growls.

Wow. I'm convinced. "Right, so your sudden concern for Trish's academic record and distaste for Skye is completely unrelated to your freak-out over them getting together, and your unresolved feelings for Trish?" I question her sarcastically. I'm still doing it. I'm still antagonising her. Am I insane? Eh, I don't think that's in question at this point.

Rouge's face is unimpressed with my theatrics, but more than that, I can still see a flicker of sadness. Shit, I think I made it worse.

"Hey... I'm not trying to rub it in. It's just, denial isn't going to help." I explain. The anger on my twin's face fades, but the sadness stays. I don't think that's better. "Look, I know it's hard, but you're Rouge Cray, you're the queen of this town, you're a superhero. I can't bear to watch you give up like this."

"I'm not giving up." Rouge corrects me with a confused look. "Look, I'm not like you, I can't fumble through with idiotic charm, I look at this like any problem, I need a strategy, organisation, tactics. I need a plan... I'm not wallowing in self-pity, I just... I need time to figure it out." She finishes as her expression changes to one of deep thought.

I guess that is kind of how we work, I'm all heart, she's all brain. But neither of those really work on their own, at least according to biology, I haven't checked myself. "No more solo runs." I tell her.

Rouge looks back at me with concern. "Skye's your friend, I'm not roping you in to my scheming, it's cruel."

"Fuck that. Yeah, Skye's my friend, I don't want her making a mistake and falling for someone who's only settling for her, Trish is my friend, I want her to be with who she really wants to be... And you're my sister, so I'm on board no matter what. Ride or die. We'll figure out a way that you can tell Trish how you feel without hurting anyone." I command. Despite Rouge's protests, she seems happy to have me on side.

Now we just need to think of how we can potentially ruin a fledgling relationship without hurting anyone. It can't be that hard, right?