The Good News

Ashley and Zack watched on, drinking their milkshake and coffee, as Heather answered the phone to the anonymous caller. They couldn’t hear who it was on the other side, just the muffled voice of a female. Seeing their blank stares, Heather put a hand over the receiver, and whispered to her friends, “It’s Chloe.”

Both Ashley and Zack were a little surprised to find out that it was Chloe on the other end of the phone. In fact, that raised more questions than it answered. They both assumed that Gavin and Chloe were back at the cabin, safe away from all the drama and conspiracy in the town. If that wasn’t the case, could they factor into what was going on with Kurt and Victoria? If Chloe was calling, something must be wrong.

Then, almost reading their minds, Heather asked the same question that was on Ashley and Zack’s lips. “You won’t be home tonight? I didn’t even realise you’d left the cabin. Is everything all right? Are you okay?”

The couple opposite watched as Heather’s face turned from concern to surprise before lightening to a smile. The dark haired cheerleader was impossible to read, though whatever it was wasn’t serious it seemed, though neither of them expected Heather to reply, “"Wow, really? Are you...I mean, I know you've done stuff but I didn't think...well, I guess it's none of my business if you want to date other girls."

Zack looked at Ashley, the petite blonde in the booth beside staring just as quizzically back at him. Chloe was dating another girl? Ashley frowned, remembering Hannah and Chloe together the night before, the memory of the lust and **** still making her head ache slightly. Is that who Heather had meant about knowing Chloe had done stuffvwith? Of course, there was the earlier instance of the whole cabin walking in on Chloe eating Heather’s pussy when Ashley went to confront her about just forgetting to divulge the text about Zack being at Lisa’s. Maybe this shouldn’t have been a surprise at all really.

But Zack was surprised. He didn’t know about the dalliance between Hannah and Chloe the night before, though he did remember the muff diving between the redhead and the dark haired cheerleader sitting opposite him earlier in the week. Still, he’d known Chloe since childhood and never had she expressed an interest in girls. That being said, he wasn’t with her 24 hours a day and some of her teammates on the soccer team were lesbians. His mind went wild, imagining her and the ten other players stripping off after a long, hard, dirty game, complimenting each other’s bodies, groping, feeling, licking, sucking. They were caked in mud and dirt. They’d all need a shower. Chloe at the centre, the shower water cascading down over her body as the ten other girls rubbed her clean, kissing every inch of her body, fingering every orifice.

He knew that probably didn’t happen, but a boy could daydream.

Heather’s voice shook him from his imagination as she began to say, “Yeah. There's been an incident involving...” The cheer captain paused, remembering that there seemed to be something between Chloe and Kurt recently. She didn’t want to worry the redhead while she was a date, and there was nothing she could do anyway. So instead, she said, “…you know what, it doesn't matter. We've got this. Don't worry about it.”

Chloe’s voice sounded unsure but accepting followed by Heather’s reply, “Super. Thanks for letting us know. Have fun.” And then, after Chloe’s farewell, “Laters.”

“Chloe is on a date with a girl?” Ashley repeated almost immediately as soon as Heather hung up. “Is she bisexual or something now?” She remembered that Hannah always said she was bisexual, though when Ashley asked her about it, she’d said it wasn’t about gender. She just liked fun people and sometimes they were men, sometimes they were women, and sometimes they were a two headed dildo called George.

“I dunno about the bisexual part, but she is on a date,” Heather said, pausing for effect as she looked at Ashley’s face, preparing for her reaction. “With Hannah.”

Ashley blinked, her head tilting slightly. “Hannah?” She echoed, taken aback. “My sister, Hannah?”

“Well, I didn’t ask for a last name, but I don’t know any other Hannah’s,” Heather bemusedly watched Ashley’s face drop, jaw open. “And apparently she’s spending the night there.”

“Wow, on a first date?” Zack laughed. “That must be one good date.”

“I don’t think it makes her easy. After all, we went back to a hotel room after our first date too,” Ashley retorted, shaking her head. “I just still can’t believe it…Hannah, really?”

“Technically, we had sex before our first date,” Zack noted, before shrugging his shoulders. “I for one am happy for her. I know I messed up earlier in the week with my handling of our relationship. For a while, I worried she wouldn’t be able to get over it, but I’m glad to see she’s getting out and moving on.”

“Me too. I don’t have anything against Chloe dating, even girls,” Ashley replied, pouting and folding her arms over her chest. “It’s just the Hannah part of it I can’t wrap my head around.”

“Chloe’s a very pretty girl. I know that as well as anyone, “Heather said, thinking of the threesome with the redhead and Kurt way back at the start of the trip. It felt so long ago and yet, she could still vividly remember how good it felt. “And if Hannah is into girls, well, I think it seems pretty natural.”

“I think it’s just a someone you know dating someone else you know thing. Like you know both of them in separate contexts, so it’s strange to think of them in the same context,” Zack explained thoughtfully. “Like how annoyed you were to see your dad hanging around Hannah, or my…”

He stopped himself from saying my mother though Heather knew exactly where that sentence was going. Ashley glanced at him, arching an eyebrow, but the dark-haired cheer captain jumped in before she could ask for more information. “Speaking of my dad, I think we should call him and find out if he can tell us where Shawn and Dustin might be.”

Zack nodded, quickly agreeing. “Yeah, we don’t have any better ideas. So, I think this is our only option really.”

Ashley reluctantly nodded. Even if Robert Ravers was somehow involved in the situation with the Riveras and the police, asking for his help this one time probably wouldn’t bite them in the ass. At least, she hoped not anyhow.

For the second time though, as Heather picked up her phone to make the call to her father, it vibrated. Her eyes went wide at the name on the screen, her voice elated, half screaming as she told her friends, “It’s Kurt!”

A mixture of happiness and shock struck both their faces as Heather urgently answered the phone, “Hello, hello, yes, Kurt, thank god, it’s you!”

A voice on the other side spoke and then another half screamed reply from Heather, her outbursts starting to alarm some of the other customers. “You’re with Victoria?! Thank fuck for that. You’re both alright?”

Zack and Ashley could only listen on to the muffled reply, and watch Heather’s face for any telltale details, but her expression was a picture of pure awe and relief.

“Hold on, we’ll come to you. No? OH, ok, yeah, you take Zack’s car, we’ll meet you back at the cabin,” Heather and Kurt fired off replies to each other and then, signing off, Heather said, “Stay safe.”

She hung up, standing and gathering up her things. “Kurt found Victoria,” she stated, as if that hadn’t already been obvious. “Come on, we gotta go.”

Zack and Ashley slid out of the booth, following Heather as the trio raced back to her car, still parked outside the newspaper headquarters, hurrying back to the cabin to see that Kurt and Victoria were safe and sound in the flesh.