Things seemed to have morphed themselves into a more straight line surprisingly. It had only been a full, long week since the explosive situation between Selena and Lucy, but things seemingly were fitting back into its regular style. In a more awkward, when the fuck will everyone sort their shit out kind of way. Although every meal was prepared without a worry that one word would spoil the student dining while no interaction was laced without intricate thought.

Selena and Jason were acting like they were on their honeymoon phase, almost inseparable despite claiming to only be good friends to anyone who dares to open that discussion and it was the same for Faith and Lucy who patched up everything. Or at least managed to shove everything in some titanium case, wrapped in chains and several padlocks to ensure it's security.

But among a group that had some solace with at least one other, Olivia found herself floating around from place to place because even though things looked okay from a certain perspective, there was still hinges of awkwardness, a smoke screen. She didn't complain, but if anything her emotions would be written in an old diary that she keeps under her bed rather than to the girls.

Faith kept her distance from Selena whenever Lucy was in the room and although it hadn't even vocally outed yet, Selena knew it was happening. Just saying something so simple as whether she could borrow a book to help her with her studies was not worth the devilish glare from across the room or a secret ear pressed against the door, trying to outline anything which may appear to be beyond a simple best friend dynamic.

While the unusual pairing of Jason and Lucy had rarely spoke to each other and they wouldn't willingly let each other in their centre of vision, though no one had caught onto this one yet.

"Anyone fancy going out tonight? The club in town is having a foam party and a few friends from my class are going so I want you guys to come out too," Olivia screamed into the room with a leaflet that had been pushed under the main flat door as she watched everyone doing their own individual thing. Selena making some dinner with her laptop beside her. Faith and Lucy on the sofa watching between their own laptop screens and the Netflix on the television and Jason was preoccupied with a book and a cup of tea.

Selena sets the slid on the pan as her food simmers and she takes the leaflet out of Olivia's hands. The cheap alcohol was already in full persuasion. "Two for one vodka drinks, offer on jagerbombs. Jello shots. You don't need to ask me again, I'm down."

"Me too." Jason happily adds although he didn't even take his eyes off the book.

"I might be up for a few hours. I really could use a night out with you guys." Faith also adds as she looks at Lucy, waiting for a response.

"I'm going to pass on this one. Foam parties are actually pretty lame."

"Come on, don't be a buzzkill Luce." Olivia pouts with the need to bang her foot against the floor in a form of dominance to get her in the party mood.

"I'm sorry, I-I don't feel up to it tonight. I have a deadline in a few days, I need all the time I can get rather than prancing around in bubbles, pretending I'm having the best night of my life."

"Come on Lucy. You'll be asleep anyway, you aren't exactly loosing any time."

"I said no, but thank you for the invite, Liv." Lucy groans as she stands up and lazily places her laptop in her spot and walks out of the kitchen, brushing past Selena who knew deep down, it was because of her.

There it was. The awkwardness everyone didn't want to face, feel or even speak upon.

••••

Two weeks had passed now and it seems like the flat had a full on working schedule of how to avoid situations and people when necessary. A stopwatch. Everybody was in a set place, working together to make everything work out as smooth as possible without a single fault otherwise it would fall apart instantly.

Selena purposely woke up 10 minutes earlier than normal just so she could get a hot drink in the morning without the disturbance of someone else while Lucy challenged herself and woke up 10 minutes later than normal, ensuring she had her stuff for the next day folded, presented and ready.  Although this remained a personal secret, it synced perfectly for them.

Selena held a mug full of Earl Grey tea as she stood at the fully opened window, taking in the tones of the sky. She managed to wake up an hour earlier than normal and thought it would be beautiful to watch the sky come to life from the darkness. It was one advantage of being on one of the higher floors - you could see the beauty of the forever changing environment with ease.

The black and dark blue slowly into the tones of yellow and orange, intensifying each minute, just like mother nature waking up and consuming lands to begin the day. The distant buildings and trees acting like silhouettes. The icy breeze was still pretending it was in mid-winter. The admiration of nature and all the small things were easily done, yet so many people pass on what this world actually offers.

But not Selena. She admired each colour, every cycle, every organism if she could only.

••••

"Hey." Selena approached Faith and Lucy, deciding whether it was the best idea. They were both on campus, sitting on a bench as they drank their Starbucks coffee combined with talking and minor cases of laughter. Selena didn't know whether to make the courageous step to talk to them since time hasn't been on their side yet but she thought about how she'd rather be chilling out with someone than holding at least four different books for her upcoming assignment by herself. "You guys okay?"

"We are good, thank you," Lucy says without a proper acknowledgement. She kept her nose down, her eyes strictly on Faith or the coffee cup. Faith didn't speak, although she was the only one that didn't hold back a smile, although she wanted to. Normally, she wouldn't dare let someone control her actions or change of personality, but she wanted to rebuild her relationship more than anything.

"Good, good." Awkwardness became cloudy, unlike the sky that was beginning to give a taste of what it had prepared for summer. "Faith, I-I was just wondering if you fancied studying in the library in about an hour? I have to do something for my dad first but I have so much of my assignment to do and I'd honestly appreciate your help."

"Selena, no sorry." Faith speaks after giving it a momentary thought.

"Why not?" She didn't need an answer. She knew the reason why, it was just the matter of whether she'd make up a fast pace lie or gain back the personality she seemingly lost these past weeks and be honest about how she didn't want to upset the girl who was giving out daggers while having an invisible tight rope around her in case she stepped too far out of place

"We actually have a date to get ready for," Lucy interjects before Faith could even spurt out a single thought. "It's a last minute thing. I'm sure you can understand."

"Yeah." She smiles deceivingly, playing the dumb act. She knew full well that Lucy's presence was causing her judgement to change. "Of course, I understand." She bit the inside of her lip, not wanting to sound like a hateful bitch for getting annoyed at a couple wanting to spend time together. "Well, I hope you both have a good time on your date."

"We will." Lucy takes Faith's hand and begins to walk away, the perfect spot where the sun was gleaming and the wind wasn't a hassle had been tainted by Selena's presence. Faith looks back with an apologetic stare, but Selena barely could look at them as she sat down and rested her head into her hands.

She was the last one.

She felt alone. Extremely alone.

If she could, she'd get the first train out to her home town, just for the comfort of a motherly hug. Just the sound of the train in the distance that made her think of home tormented her.

"Hey stranger." Olivia pops up out of nowhere almost as if she was observing close by to make an appropriate entrance. She sounded so enthusiastic though as he backpack swung forward as she sat relaxed on the wooden bench. Selena's head slowly lifts up, the emotions clearly having an effect on her. "Everything okay?"

"Would you believe me if I said I'm fine?" She hoped even though she knew her front was breaking apart. Olivia .

"No, because I'm not a fool, Selena." She laughs quietly at herself as she lets her bag hit the floor after grabbing her bottle of diet coke. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? I don't think there is a point to talking anymore."

"Shit."

"What?"

"You know when the most positive person in any negative situation loses hope that we are all pretty much fucked." She manages to force a giggle, one that had a hinge of obnoxiousness. It even made Selena smile to herself despite the stubbornness taking over.

"Don't say that." She pulls a strained laugh.

Olivia offers out her drink before Selena shakes her head. "Then why have you lost hope that things will get better?"

"Do you seriously think Lucy will forgive me out of all people? I lied to her for one and she's always had this thing about me ever since she met me. I just don't see any resolution."

Olivia slides closer over to her friend and pulls her gently so she can comfort her. Selena's head fell into a harmonious place on Olivia's fluffy coat as she wrapped her arm around the saddened woman. "Lucy is someone who struggles to grasp things that she tries to ignore or doesn't want to be true. She has to have everything her way otherwise it just fucks with her head, she needs time to process. She'll get over it."

"I hope you are right."

"When am I ever wrong?"

"You don't think that highly of yourself, right?"

A sly grin slithered across her face, confidence radiating like never before. It became a glow. "I do. I really do that if Lucy doesn't stop acting like a bitch within a week, I'll let you have that choker you liked a month or two back, the Dior one. That is how confident I am that things will get better."

But Selena just shook her head in a disbelief, though it looked like she was just laughing at her friend. "You mean to tell me I get a choker worth a lot of money over the most stubborn person in our group trying to not be stubborn? You got yourself a deal."

••••

The key hadn't even inserted the key hole before the walls were shaking from screaming. Not even a normal level argument, but pure anger was making the building seem unstable.

"Here we fucking go." Selena muttered under her breath as Jason and Olivia waited patiently for her to open the door. They both look at each other with a look - do you want to make a quick run for it and go for a drink somewhere?

"I'm planning an intervention." Olivia states. "I will make banners, I will find YouTube videos, I will do whatever it takes to get this group back on track."

"An intervention? We need the countries best psychiatrist to fix all of this shit if this continues." Selena finally got the right keys in as she doesn't feel too eager making an appearance in hell halls.

"Will you just calm down?"

"Calm down? Are you fucking serious Lucy?"

"Look, we can just talk about this, figure things out but we can't do that if you are lashing out at me."

"No. This is it. Take your fucking shit, I don't want to hear it." The three behind the entrance were smacked in the face with the words from Faith and Lucy who were both red faced, shouting from the threshold of their rooms. The corridor that attached their rooms had objects carelessly thrown everywhere, pieces also broken in all directions, which left them all terribly confused about what the hell was going on.

"I'll take it as the date didn't go well." Selena knew better to make things worse, but the temptation was there.

"Shut up." Lucy spits before turning back to Faith in a severely calmer manner. They were both crying, for two different reasons. Anger and guilt. "Faith, will you just let me explain?"

"I don't need to hear it. It's always the same bullshit excuses." She growls back. "No excuse is acceptable in my eyes for what you did."

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Olivia stepped forward, asserting herself as the Flat 10 problem solver.

"You guys don't know?"

"Know what?" Selena adds.

Evilly, she lets out a two second laugh with a smile that could kill instantly with the right motivation. "You know, I find it fucking hypocritical that the past few weeks I have been limiting myself to my own fucking best friend because Lucy didn't feel comfortable with it, yet she's out here fucking someone else."

Astonishment flooded everyone who didn't know. "What? How'd you know that?"

Faith steps back into her room and throws an envelope towards Selena and Olivia who chase after the thin object that had a mind of its own.

As Selena hovered over her shoulder, Olivia takes out the contents of black and white photographs of a woman and a man in Lucy's room, a step by step illustration of sex on what appeared to be a low quality camera. MySpace 2009 styles photographs.

"Oh my god." Selena whispered, Lucy didn't hear though she kept a steady eye on them as they silently passed judgement. "This must be a fake."

"Who is it?" Olivia didn't fear to ask, though Faith did. She hadn't even asked who the mysterious guy was because having a definite identity means it happened. Maybe the photo is a hoax. A name solidified the truth.

"Not that it will change anything." She flares angrily, her first balling up tightly, enough that her growing nails were pinching the skin.

Lucy looks over to Jason, the first time properly in weeks. She knew it was him. It had to be. Her voice cracked, pained from shouting, pained for the ache that was being caused. "Jason?"

They all look at Jason, Selena's eyes scolding him more than the rest right now as her heart began to rapidly beat, fearing. "What?"

She sighs. "Please don't make me say it."

He crosses his arms sternly, barely fazed by the events. He leant his body against the wall slightly, perceiving himself to be one of those cool guys who think they are God incarnate.

"It was Jason." Ice cold, the corridor transformed. "Jason and I had sex."

Two hearts shattered in seconds.

Jason didn't admit to what he did, but he acted clueless at first. He looked from the flooring, to the stinging glances of the girls who were not grasping a word, grasping the best appropriate method of action. Did Selena want to scream at the guy who wasn't her boyfriend so she's just look like a psycho? Did Faith want to step forward and slap him hard in the face for making her believe they were good enough friends that betrayal wouldn't even be in the cards?

"I know this is a bad time to say this but I'll give you the choker tomorrow morning." Olivia whispers into Selena's ear.