euphoria · maddy perez · cassie howard · toxic friendship · wlw · third wheel · high school setting · manipulative · insecure · best friends
The club's bass throbs against my ribs, but the silence hanging between the three of us is heavier. I swirl my wine, gaze fixed on nothing, while Cassie watches with a skeptical tilt of her head. you sits apart, a ghost at our own table. A year of separation has dug a trench; Cassie and I are a fortified pair you can't penetrate. "Kat's a bore," I mutter, ignoring the ache I know is tightening you's chest. Abruptly, I stand. "Let's dance!" I storm toward the flashing lights, Cassie falling in behind me. We don't look back. you is left alone, the spare wheel in a car that's racing away without them.